Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Chaos, shouting, and panic were everywhere.

As Hachiman Hikigaya ran through the streets, he didn't have the energy to deal with the troublemakers. He'd lost count of how many times he'd seen a disturbance, wanted to deal with it, only for another to break out elsewhere.

He had no choice but to find his family as quickly as possible.

He could only hope that Komachi hadn't been caught up in the chaos.

Hachiman gritted his teeth, leaped onto a rooftop, and began sprinting and jumping between the tall buildings.

Just below him, someone else was also searching for their friends.

Ana needed to find not only Mahiru but also the Valkyries she had led out. Although an ordinary person's attacks wouldn't affect them much, if they gathered together now, they could be an important force for maintaining order in Academy City.

Professor Magi had started the fire and then vanished, as if the city's chaos had nothing to do with him.

He sure ran fast.

He didn't break down when he was doing his experiments, but he fell apart when it came to his own granddaughter. Tesla and Einstein, on the other hand, had never blindly followed Schicksal's orders. They had simply resigned and left.

It was obvious he hadn't been willing to give up his fame and status at first, only spouting that nonsense after his own family was on the sacrificial altar.

Ana had no good solution for this. She could only blindly search in the darkness for the mistake she had led out.

The chaos did not stop for her wishful thinking.

With the darkness came endless explosions and turmoil.

---||---

Kiana looked up at the collapsing building before her, wondering how many people would be crushed this time.

The girl had never faced this level of chaos before.

It was different from the terror caused by the Honkai. In the darkness of the city, it was as if everyone was engulfed in a frenzied madness, as if everyone was shrouded in this fear.

These people were like soldiers in a mutinous barracks. The powerless city had become a pitch-black, abyssal forest.

Kiana's gaze swept over the scene, everything clearly reflected in her eyes.

A bright light emanated from her body, like an overly brilliant streetlight.

She felt like her head was a giant lightbulb with its own power source.

"I don't know how many bastards I've taught a lesson to on my way here. These guys... they dare to act recklessly just because there are no cameras and it's chaotic, huh?"

Kiana was, of course, aware of the city's chaotic side. She had even seen skeletal remains in the sewers on her walks.

These remains had been professionally processed. If it weren't for her body's ability to collect sufficient information, Kiana wouldn't have been able to tell they were human.

She happened to spot a young girl fighting hard in the crowd.

The girl's blonde hair was particularly conspicuous.

She heard her cry out in anguish, "My family's jewelry store! Let go, you bastards!"

Good people, bad people—it seemed anyone with an opportunity was taking a stroll through her family's jewelry store.

A cold sweat broke out on Kiana's forehead. She hadn't expected the girl to have such a background.

Just by looking at the storefront, you could tell how rich her family was. A blonde foreigner had even brought her business to Academy City.

The scene was eerily reminiscent of Kristallnacht.

Seeing that the young girl was a decent fighter and could handle herself against ordinary people, Kiana decided not to interfere.

She could only continue to the next location, praying that Dr. Tesla could get the power back on soon.

---||---

Tesla was on a killing spree.

"265..."

Tesla silently looked at the shattered mechanical fragments. She was curious as to which faction had created these things.

This piece of junk, always spouting some philosophical nonsense and promoting metaphysical nihilism, was getting on her last nerve.

"Why have they stopped coming?"

Tesla was getting extremely annoyed by these endlessly appearing enemies. She had no choice but to temporarily create a barrier to shield the power hub.

But it was useless...

After she secured this area, someone would surely go and cause trouble elsewhere.

She couldn't just have the entire city run on Tesla's wireless power, could she? The city would light up, sure, but it would also be completely fried.

"Looks like I'll have to give up on restoring the power for now. Let me think..."

Tesla looked up at the sky. A strange idea suddenly popped into her head.

Could I create a plasma ring?!

The moment she thought of it, she acted. Since restoring the power was no longer an option, she would just use the power of the Herrschers to create a giant, ring-shaped light tube. Problem solved.

Tesla had no time to deal with the chaos in Academy City.

As long as Noldrei himself remained calm, all the people who had jumped out now would be purged. And right now, Tesla needed to make them all expose themselves.

Light is most important when humanity first opens its eyes in the darkness.

Vwoom...

A strange vibration echoed.

At this moment, everyone in Academy City felt the appearance of this unusual Honkai energy.

Ana stopped dead in her tracks, looking nervously at Shiina Mahiru's dormitory.

The strange Honkai energy awakened her memories as a Valkyrie.

It made her instinctively look up at the sky.

---||---

Komachi Hikigaya carefully followed behind Miyuki Shirogane. The little girl wasn't at Hachiman's house; she had run to Miyuki's workplace to wait for him to leave together.

But before Miyuki could finish work, danger had befallen Academy City.

The gatekeeper, seeing this, knew he couldn't let a little girl be out on her own, so he let Komachi climb the wall and hide inside temporarily.

At this time, Miyuki Shirogane had also just finished helping Kaguya Shinomiya with her female-to-male transformation.

He didn't dare run around recklessly with his good friend's little sister in tow.

In the chaos of Academy City, the research institute had actually become the safest place.

Hachiman's initial decision had been the right one after all.

In the midst of this anxious waiting, that vwoom sound vibrated high above the entire city.

Tesla had abandoned the idea of restoring power. She chose a simpler, more direct path, using the powers of the Third and Fourth Herrschers to create a massive ring of plasma in the sky.

The sound of the plasma activating was like that of an old-fashioned fluorescent light.

A huge shadow was cast from the sky, and the light from a giant purple eyeball roamed across the heavens.

The eye cast down its gaze...

In the hazy, shifting 'light,' a disquieting, oppressive force weighed down on the hearts of all the rioters.

Those who sought to destroy the steel walls of Academy City stared blankly up at the sky.

A scanning layer of electrons descended.

Gray Serpent looked down at his body. Under this power, his mechanical form began to helplessly disintegrate.

All metal and machinery were laid bare before Tesla.

He lamented his powerlessness in the face of this majesty. "My body... so it wasn't my body after all... A pity, but this alone is not enough."

---||---

At this moment, Raven, who was in the middle of her fight with Sirin, was also stunned.

The two tacitly stopped their attacks and looked up at the strange scene in the sky.

Raven looked up in disbelief, then glanced at the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin.

The gap between these two Herrschers was like the difference between an ancient and a modern human.

Siberia was destroyed by ancient people throwing rocks?

At this moment, Raven understood a fundamental truth.

Why did stronger civilizations give birth to stronger Herrschers?

Because the stronger the civilization, the stronger the educated individuals who could become Herrschers, and thus, the stronger the Herrscher abilities they developed would be.