Disclaimer: 'Honkai impact 3rd' is the property of Hoyoverse, Singapore. I do not own any characters in this story except the minor OCs here and there.
Herrscher of Thunder
FIRE MOTH BASE – 2021(Previous era)
Welt had been present in the command room since the start of the incident, giving directives to the different sections and coordinating with General Alexei to move the troops.
"Sir, we got a massive Honkai spike from Nagazora city." an operator in the front of one of the terminals reported.
"How much?" Welt asked.
"300 Relts, Sir." the operator said.
'So, not enough to make a Herrscher, but-'
"Prometheus, calculate the chances of a Judgment class Honkai beast appearing within Nagazora."
"Yes, doctor." The A.I replied before doing the calculation and replying
"Doctor. The Prometheus has deduced that the probability of a Judgement class Honkai beast based on the Honkai energy distribution in the city is 95.48 per cent." the projection of the girl responded.
"So, it really is one." Welt gripped his hand. Judgment-class beast at this time was bad news. The last one they encountered was COCYTUS; which appeared in the Andes nearly six months before the second eruption and was taken care of by Kevin. But that came at a great cost of the near annihilation of Kevin's squad, with Kevin himself getting gravely injured in the process. Even though they were well equipped now, the power of a Judgment class was not something to be scoffed at.
"Prometheus, can you formulate a primary mitigation plan in case of engaging the supposed Judgment class beast?"
"Based on the nature of Herrscher this time, the Prometheus has deduced that the judgment class beast should also have control over lightning. More analysis is required for further speculations but by the Quantum Probabilistic calculations, the Prometheus has deduced that an approximate distance of 10 meters should be maintained while engaging the said beast." the projected girl said.
"Even I'm of the same opinion. And I deduce that the output voltage of the lightning it can produce should be around 15 million volts." Welt said agreeing to the deductions of the A.I.
He continued "Well then, I will go and tell general Alexei about our primary assumptions and suggest him to take the primary precautionary measures. In the meanwhile, keep running the calculations to create a model for Herrscher emergence and possible case scenarios when engaging it."
"Yes, doctor." the projection acknowledged and disappeared from the room.
'How is it going to turn out this time, Kevin?' Welt thought as he made his way to the general's office.
A few minutes before the appearance of the Third Herrscher (NAGAZORA- JAPAN) - 2021 (Previous era)
"What the fuck is with this bastard?" Kalpas said as he dodged yet another lightning bolt fired at him.
He had been fighting the beast for a while now, and something was wrong. Every time he would give the beast a fatal wound, it would miraculously recover and seemingly return from the dead. It was as if the beast was immortal or something. This fact coupled with his inability to beat it over the past half an hour was making him more and more irritated.
"Tch. DIE ALREADY." he shouted as he punched hard, making a hole in the beast's body for the umpteenth time. The beast hissed in agony and fell down, green body fluids splattering all around. But that was where things went awry. The fluids that were pouring out from its body reversed their direction and went back to the beast. The wounds closed in on themselves and the beast hissed before rising again to Kalpas' annoyance.
"Snake bastard." Kalpas clicked his tongue as he smelled the funny smell in the air again, which meant that a lightning attack was coming again. He dodged to the side again, but to his surprise, the attack didn't come. He looked up and what he saw shocked him. The serpentine beast just swallowed the ball of lightning. Its body then started to glow in shades of green with the veins on its body glowing brightly. Kalpas understood that the beast had powered up somehow and things just got more difficult.
Then without warning the beast smacked him with its tail with agility and speed that was impossible for a creature of that size.
"Gah! Ack!" Kalpas was thrown into one of the destroyed buildings causing it to collapse on him. The beast was staring at the destroyed building while in a coiled posture reminiscent of a cobra. Then it noticed that the rubble started moving, and the human came out with a crazy expression on its face.
"hehehe….." Kalpas started to laugh
"Good. Very good, now I can get a fight to the death. Absolutely wonderful. HAHAHAHAHA." He laughed like a maniac.
"Come Honkai snake bastard. I will roast you alive. Taste the wrath of my rage. HAHAHAHAHA." He said as he poured Honkai energy into his gloves beyond its safe threshold causing the flames to burn hotter.
HISSSSSSSS.
The beast hisses loudly and moved to bite Kalpas and crunch him down with its fangs. However, when it tried to bite him, it was burned deeply by the flames that were produced by the flames.
"What's wrong? That all you've got?" Kalpas taunted. At this, the beast spat out some kind of mist from its mouth which filled the entire scene with greenish smoke.
"What cough… cough… the hell-" he couldn't finish the sentence before he kneeled down on one knee, pain coursing through his body.
'Tch, poison. How typical of a snake.' he thought as he held his breath so as to prevent further inhaling of the poisonous cloud. He then channelled Honkai energy into his gloves reigniting the flames and burning away the poison cloud. The air cleared as the cloud was burned away by the flames, and Kalpas was able to breathe again. He saw the snake beast then coil around itself again to strike with his tail.
"Tch, this half a building tall-" Kalpas suddenly stopped as he noticed something.
'Wait? Half a building? Wasn't it the size of an entire building tall when we started?' he questioned himself.
That was when he noticed that the beast was relatively smaller than it was when he started fighting it. Does it regress back every time it dies and becomes smaller or was it the aftereffect of him inhaling the poison? He decided to test out his theory.
"TAAAAKEEEE TTTHHHHIIIIISSSSSS." Kalpas shouted and punched another fatal hole in the beast. The beast died and was resurrected as usual much to his annoyance. But he realized that it was smaller than before dying, meaning that his assumption was correct. Then if he keeps killing it, it will finally shrink to a size that will make it burn entirely to death feasible.
'Sometimes I wonder if I'm a genius.' he thought to himself. He then charged into the beast aiming to kill it multiple times more before exterminating it for good.
…
This was it Kalpas decided. The beast was now of the size of a regular Emperor class, which meant that he can burn it entirely easily. The beast struck again with its tail followed by a lightning bolt shot which shot Kalpas hard burning him.
"RRRGHhhhhh." he grunted as he felt a thousand volts of electricity course through his body. Luckily his battle uniform had some kind of insulation that helped to mitigate the lightning surge and to prevent his heart from going into cardiac arrest, but it still burned like hell. But he got the opening he wanted; the beast's guard was wide open.
"Haha. You fell into my trap Honkai bastard. BBUUUUUURRRRNNNNNNNN!" he shouted as he pushed the gloves to the extreme and produced flames that engulfed the beast whole.
The beast hissed in agony and tried to get away, but was locked by Kalpas in place. It tried to use its regeneration but to no avail as it was burned continuously by the flames. Finally, its eyes dimmed and it fell to the ground silent. Kalpas was on his guard for some time in case of any sudden movements from the beast but relaxed once seeing that it was dead for good.
"huff, huff…... How do you like that Honkai bastard?" Kalpas growled as he fell on his back propping himself on a piece of the rubble.
"Finally, that taken care of. I huff… huff… will huff…. huff… rest a little before getting up." he decided.
As he was thinking about what to do next and contact that hero-boy. There was this huge surge of Honkai power from the north of the city followed by a blast of some kind that burned his radio.
"Shit!" he exclaimed. Then was when he saw it.
Large clouds shaped like funnels were coming down in the northern part of the city from where the blast came earlier. It was then followed by thunderbolts firing wildly everywhere. They were far more powerful than this beast's and then the whole city was bathed in pink light. He had never seen something like this. Is this the Herrscher that everyone talked about? But that means the one who will fight it will be-
"Fuck." he tried to get up only to fall again. It seemed that fighting with that serpentine Honkai beast had sapped away all his energy. And combined with the fact that he had inhaled a little bit of the poison cloud earlier meant that he would not be moving from here for some time.
'Dammit.' He realized that the only thing he can do now is to leave things to that hero-boy. A shame, he really wanted to fight the so-called Herrscher himself but now that he was immobilized, he had to let that guy fight against it alone.
'Y-yeah. It's a shame that I won't be able to fight it. I-It's not like I'm worried about or anything for that hero wannabe Hmph… that's right.' he thought as he looked towards the horizon in the direction where the greatest battle of this eruption was about to go down.
"Don't screw this up and die out there, Kevin." Kalpas said as he shut his eyes to get some rest.
FIRE MOTH BASE – 2021 (Previous era) (At the same time)
General Alexei made his way to the command room at a fast pace after the alarms started blaring through the entire base. This could only mean one thing: that something big has happened. And considering the type of situation they were having now; they could only have one big thing happen now.
HERRSCHER.
The apex of Honkai, its apostles that descend following an eruption wielding powers far beyond human understanding. They have dealt with the 2nd Herrscher not even three years back, the wounds it left still fresh to many; to think they had to fight one so soon again. Herrschers desired only one thing: total annihilation of humanity, and they spared no effort to make it come true. The fight against the Honkai was truly getting desperate, general Alexei noted as he entered the command room.
"General." everybody present there saluted him including Dr. Welt once he entered.
"At ease. Dr. Welt how's the situation." he asked Welt.
"Sir." Welt acknowledged before continuing "At 1700 hours, our Honkai sensors picked up an abnormal surge in Honkai energy in Nagazora. The honkai energy kept increasing until it crossed threshold value, which was then followed by a Honkai surge and an E.M.P blast which fried all electronics in the area."
"Have we restored communications with the forces present in the area?" general Alexei asked one of the operators present.
"We are trying to the best of our capabilities sir, however with all communication equipment fried within a 100 km radius around the city, it is proving to be difficult." the operator replied.
General Alexei then turned to welt and asked:
"Which one is it this time?"
"From the knowledge I have as a Herrscher myself, the one this time controls electromagnetic fields and related phenomena; hence explaining the E.M.P burst."
"Hmm. And what have you named it?"
At this welt looked at the general and said in a grave voice:
"HERRSCHER OF THUNDER."
…
Mobius was making it to the command room as fast as she can, her face morphed into a worried frown. She was in her lab making her plan on how to get the judgment-class beast of this time when Nuwa came barging in the lab exclaiming that a new Herrscher had appeared in Nagazora. Why did it have to be there of all places? Now that idiot will fight it alone again and will get heavily wounded again. Just the thought of him being on life support as she could only wait for him to open his eyes was too much to bear. Why did things always happen this way? However, she had no answer to that. She hurried her steps as she saw the command room come into view. As she stepped inside the room, she was greeted by a very familiar sight from two years ago.
"Not working either. All communication equipments are dead."
"How about the Honkai-powered communicators?"
"they are also not able to function properly due to huge honkai energy fluctuations."
"What is the current honkai reading?"
"700 Relts, Sir."
"Prometheus, can you find some alternative?"
"We can use live satellite imaging by using the satellites G-101 to G-220 to position over Nagazora. The Prometheus however estimates that it will take around half an hour for the satellites to get into position."
"Dammit."
"Dr. Welt, we need the visual fast; by the time Prometheus is proposing we can get the satellites in position, the battle will already be finished."
"Yes, general."
She saw Welt and General Alexei in a heated discussion. It seemed that they have lost communications from Nagazora due to some E.M.P surge. This was turning just into a repeat of two years ago.
"General, we have an incoming transmission from Nagazora."
"What? Are you certain?"
"Yes sir. It's Corporal Elysia."
"Put it on speaker immediately."
"Yes sir."
As the operator patched the communication through the main speaker, she heard that bit- ahem girl's voice.
"This is bzzzt….. Elysia bzzzt… the Herrscher bzzzzzt… Major Kevin is trying to fight bzzzt…."
"We cannot hear you clearly, Corporal Elysia." General said.
"Requiring rein bzzt….. I repeat requiring bzzzt…"
"Corporal Elysia? Come in Corporal."
"bzzt…zzzzt…." the voice became completely static before cutting off entirely.
"Re-establish the connection quickly." Welt shouted.
"It's impossible sir. It was only possible now because they contacted in a small window of minimalized Honkai energy disturbance."
Mobius' anxiety grew exponentially. At least last time they had managed to get a visual, but this time they were completely in dark. They didn't know where Kevin was, and whatever that girl was saying send alarm bells ringing in Mobius's head. It almost seemed like he had already started fighting the Herrscher.
Mobius backed away and sat on one of the seats in the back of the room. She clasped her hands together in the form of prayer and prayed in her mother's native language:
"Feuch an cùm thu sàbhailte e, a spiorad na coille."
She just sat there repeating it as a chant to protect her beloved from any harm and waited for any news.
OUTSKIRTS OF NAGAZORA - 2021(Previous era) (Same time)
Elysia just watched the clouds gathering in the northern portion of the city. There was a surge of some kind that had destroyed all of their communications equipment earlier. The Honkai reading meters were going wild, and there was this unsettling feeling of dread in the air amongst the soldiers present. When the clouds had gathered in a vortex and descended followed by a blinding light that dyed the entire city in a pink hue, she understood at once what was happening.
The 3rd Herrscher had arrived.
The clouds were present in the northern part of the city, but that was where-
'No.' she gasped. It was where he was, and that meant that he was going to fight it. And if she knew him well enough which she did (Self-proclaimed), then he was there alone. This caused her worry to grow at a rapid pace. She understood that he was stubborn enough to send the other soldiers away and fight it all alone.
But what if he was hurt badly?
She had heard whispers of how much he was wounded and was nearly at death's door after fighting the second Herrscher; however, it seemed he had not learned his lessons. She had tried to contact the HQ earlier, but the Honkai energy disturbance was too much for maintaining a connection. She didn't even know if they had heard her request for reinforcements or not. Thus, she decided to head to the northern part of the city to help Kevin fight the Herrscher. She wouldn't able to bear it if something happened to him in the event of her being not present there to protect him.
Just as she was planning to tell the soldier named Roberts to take the command here, a new voice called out to her:
"Better not go there Elysia, you'll just get in his way."
Looking at the source of the sound, she saw Kalpas dragging himself with the help of a soldier offering their support.
"Kalpas, what happened?" she asked concerned. Even if he didn't see her as a friend, she still considered him one.
"Just got into a scuffle with a persistent Honkai bastard." he said.
"And what happened to the said 'persistent Honkai bastard'?"
"What else? I burned it to death."
"Oh, Kalpas. Never change~." she giggled a little.
"Hmph."
Kalpas then spoke again:
"What I said before, don't go there."
"But-"
"Even if you go there, what can you do? We don't know how to fight a Herrscher. Hell, we don't even know what type of power it has. Let him handle it; he has done it once, and he will do it again."
"But what if he gets seriously injured? What then Kalpas?" she asked in a voice lightly tinted with dejection.
"Even then do you think you can do anything, Elysia? Believe me when I say I'm more frustrated than you for not being able to fight the Herrscher. However, we are not strong or have enough experience yet." Kalpas said in a serious and sincere voice.
Hearing him speak like this made Elysia realize that what he is saying is true. Even if she can fight and win against multiple Emperors alone, Herrschers are a different matter. She knows very well that she will be just a burden to Kevin, just one more person to protect because he was that stupidly kind to get hurt protecting others. But that didn't mean her heart agreed with it. It ached so badly just thinking about him fighting all alone while believing that nobody will care if he dies, because nothing could be further from the truth. Commander Himeko, Commander Ato, General Alexei, Dr. Welt, Griseo-chan, Seele-chan, Mobius and even Kalpas (even though he won't admit it) will be saddened. But most of all, she would be devastated. She didn't know if she could ever recover mentally in case something happened to him.
"Then what do you suppose I should do?" she asked Kalpas.
"Wait." his reply made her throat constrict. This was the thing she hated the most: waiting while being able to do nothing; but it seemed that it was the only way now.
Elysia looked towards the horizon in the direction of the place of fated battle and prayed while holding her chest tightly with her left hand, her face morphed in agony and a few droplets of tears appeared in her eyes.
"Пожалуйста, вернись ко мне в целости и сохранности, мой принц."
Kevin made his way to the highest level of the parking lot where the Herrscher was waiting for him. The air was full of static, which made Kevin deduce that this Herrscher controlled everything relating to Electromagnetism. He had to be prepared to face electrical discharges in a hundred million volts which were enough to burn him to a crisp. However, he couldn't fail here, for the sake of everyone who died in this eruption as well as for the future of Humanity. As he stepped into the roof he recited his oath as a sort of ritual to remind him of why he was fighting.
As a warrior bold, I will live by my oath I swore.
Purge the vile Honkai, and Burn down the false gods.
My brothers lay in the fields, as humanity's brave shields.
For the light that we all sought, even if I die, I will never yield.
'Okay, let's go.' he mentally prepared as he stepped in front of the Herrscher. It noticed him and spoke in the same inhuman voice he remembered.
" How are you still alive worm? "
"…"
"No answer; very well then, die." the Herrscher said as it fired a bolt of electricity towards Kevin only for him to cut it with Surtr. Seeing that sword made the Herrscher seethe with rage.
"So, you are the dog the god told me about."
There was it again, that existence: God. Who was it that it commanded the respect of Herrschers? Even Welt-san had been confused about it. he knew about this god instinctively due to his Herrscher powers but not more than that. They had been trying to come up with an explanation for the past two years but to no avail. However, Kevin didn't have the time to dwell on this as he felt static in the air signalling another thunderbolt attack. He dodged to his left and the lightning flew past him scorching the ground he was standing on.
"Tch. Persistent worm." the Herrscher clicked its tongue. It then slashed with her hand creating an arc of extremely high voltage electricity that vaporized the path it travelled, breaking molecules into ions. Kevin ignited Surtr and slashed hard cutting the arc in two. This was only made possible by his mastery of control of Honkai energy without corrupting and the strange mark on his hand. Seeing its attack cancel by the swing of a sword made the Herrscher back away a little.
Kevin sensing that the Herrscher was intimidated a little, charged forward and slashed with Surtr. However, the attack was blocked by a wall of electricity which dissipated the flames coming off the blade and stopped the momentum of the blade. At this Kevin took out APOLLO with his other free hand and fired at the Herrscher. The bullets distracted the Herrscher allowing Kevin to perform an attack of his sword style.
" Caladbolg."
An arc of flames coursed forward to the Herrscher as it tried to erect the barrier to defend against it. However, it could not completely block it and the flames exceeding 800 °C licked its skin causing it to scream in agony and rage.
"I will evaporate you to nothing, Worm!" it exclaimed as it fired another heavy electricity arc towards Kevin. Seeing the attack he dodged, but the attack changed directions mid-way to hit on his exposed back.
"rrrgh." he grunted a little as electricity of thousand volts in magnitude coursed through his body. If he was a normal human being, he would have been charred beyond recognition; but with his talents, he was able to withstand it but not without taking damage. His back had a nasty burn due to the heating effect of the electricity. However, Kevin didn't register it as he could feel nothing and slashed again in that split-second window to land a little cut in Herrscher's outstretched hand.
"You pathetic Woooorrrmmmmmmm!" the Herrscher shouted lividly.
She then started to charge some kind of attack. Kevin instinctively knew that something big was coming and put all of his concentration to manipulate Honkai energy with the help of his mark to make a barrier to protect himself.
"DDDDIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE." The Herrscher shouted as it released an orb the size of the parking lot. The amount of electricity in that orb had enough power that it ionized everything that it touched: the paved rooftop, the railings, the entire building itself and a huge portion of the surroundings. Then it burst with all of its condensed power.
BOOOOOOM.
The blast with immense electric power atomized everything in the surroundings including the ground itself. The ionized atoms started acting as active radioactive material leaking all types of Electromagnetic waves.
The Herrscher descended to the huge crater that it had created with the ball of discharge she had created just now. Finding everything destroyed she laughed.
"Ahahahaha. Is that all you could do worm?" the Herrscher mocked the insect who dared to go against her. Really, humans and their limitless arrogance. She was contemplating where to proceed next when she heard a sound. Making its way through the rubble of the destroyed ground was that insect? How?
"What?" she was mildly shocked. Then the insect raised his head and glared at her.
How dare he? She was now absolutely raging. She will make his final moments a never-ending nightmare.
…
Kevin had blocked most of the attack, but not completely. Thousands of Volts coursed through his body as he felt his heart get into cardiac arrest. If his heart stops here, then it's all finished. His crusade, his promise, his oath. No. he will never let that happen until he has eradicated the Honkai. He mentally asked his comrades whom he carried with him for their strength.
' Lend me your strength, my fallen friends, brothers. Lend me your strength ***. '
He saw a flash of tousled brown hair and heard someone say in a whisper.
' Always my brother. '
The mark on his hand glowed brightly as he poured every bit of his concentration to maintain the barrier as the blast ionized everything to the atomic level around him. After the attack had ended, he dug his way through the ionized ground. The entire surroundings were radioactive for a few moments before settling down due to excess Honkai energy. He looked up at the being who was the cause of all this.
"What?" the Herrscher was mildly shocked.
Kevin decided that he had held back enough. He had to finish this fight quickly so as to prevent the deaths of more people. Thus he grabbed Surtr stabbed to the ground, raising and pointing it towards the Herrscher.
He then activated the full release of Surtr. The flames grew hotter than ever before, reaching temperatures of up to 1500 °C. the surroundings started melting. Seeing such power from the sword, the Herrscher tried to fire another electric discharge but was dissipated in mid-air as the flames consumed it entirely. The Herrscher was now thoroughly shocked as it showed on its face. Kevin called out the command required to fully release its power
"MODE: RAGNARÖK".
The flames grew hotter still with temperatures rising well beyond 2000 °C by the excess Honkai energy that Kevin pumped into the blade.
"It's over Herrscher." He said those three words before he slashed downwards. The Herrscher tried to block it again by deploying its electric barrier, only for the arc of flames to cut through it like a hot knife through butter and strike its body burning it badly. The Herrscher howled in pain.
"AAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH…... YYYYYYYOUUUUUUUUUU WWWWWWWOOOOORRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMM." she shouted in rage. Then she started creating another one of those orbs. Kevin knew he had to act fast, thus he fired APOLLO onto her hand destroying the partially formed orb. Hundreds of volts of electricity discharged everywhere but he was now able to block it completely using Surtr.
The Herrscher seeing all its attacks failing suddenly started to charge up Honkai energy in its body. Kevin tried to fire APOLLO again to interfere with this process, but the wildly firing electric arcs stopped him from doing so. Then there was a huge pillar of pink-purplish lightning that shot up to the sky with the Herrscher in the centre of it. as the pillar died down, the Herrscher stepped out in what could be only described as traditional Japanese armour. It had a huge curved Japanese sword called a Tachi floating beside it. the Herrscher laughed maniacally while taunting him.
"You are going to experience a living nightmare you worthless worm." it said as it took a stance by bending forward while motioning its hand in the form of drawing a Tachi. Kevin put the Surtr forward to stop the strike but it was too late already. The Herrscher was already behind him motioning its hand sheathing the blade which was followed by the sheathing of the floating sword.
"Wha-" Kevin could only utter as he saw his body being cut in multiple slices. Blood sprayed in the air like water and he fell down with a thud, with deep gashes and cuts all over his body. Even though he felt nothing, he still felt moving his body was extremely difficult.
"Tch. That is one annoying power you have worm." the Herrscher exclaimed.
Kevin was feeling dizzy, losing a lot of blood due to the multiple cuts on his body. Moving was now almost impossible and he couldn't think anymore. However, with mustering all of his remaining strength he stood up with Surtr as a crutch
"This time I will cut down you into nothing, Worm. Repent for ever thinking you ever stood a chance." The Herrscher said as it motioned its hand again in a sword-drawing fashion. Kevin poured all the Honkai energy he could manipulate into his mark which shone brightly. However, the cut this time was followed by an arc of electricity. Hundreds of millions of volts of electricity coursed through his body again and even though his mark was able to mitigate some of it, he still got burned badly and fell down again suffering a cardiac arrest.
Seeing the worm fall straight dead filled the Herrscher with glee as it laughed again:
" Hahahahahahahahaha."
Kevin was in a white space again. The last time he was here, it was during the fight against the Second Herrscher. He balled his hands and made a fist striking the ground with it.
"Dammit." He punched the ground again and again. Why was he so weak? Hadn't he trained rigorously these past two years so what happened in the second eruption didn't happen again? Then why was he defeated by the Herrscher? If this keeps up, then how was he going to keep his oath?
All these thoughts made Kevin feel discouraged. He felt as if no matter how much he did, it was not enough. That no matter how powerful he became it was still not enough. He had lost to two Herrschers continuously two times a row. Maybe Elysia or Kalpas would have been a better choice to become Major instead of him. As he was thinking such things, a hand gripped his shoulder.
"Giving up again, Kevin?"
He looked up to see him—his brother in all but blood.
"I lost against the Herrscher again. You all lend me your power and I still lost."
"So you are going to give up because of that?"
"What do I do then, ***? No matter how much stronger I become, I still fail at the most important part."
"Hey, Kevin? Do you remember those story books we read while we were there?" *** asked. At this Kevin nodded, he had read those thousands of times. They were children's stories of great heroes who defeat the big demon in the end and rescue the princess. At that time Kevin wished to be like them so badly, those heroes who were strong, brave, kind and protected people from evil. He thought if he becomes someone like them, he will be able to save all his friends. But it all ended up in a failure anyway. They all died in the end and left him behind. And coupled with his experience in fighting the Honkai, he gave up on that dream thinking it to be a mere fantasy of a naïve child.
"What do you think separates those heroes from the common folk?"
"They were extremely lucky, everything worked in their favour like magic. I now realize that it isn't how real life looks like."
"You may be right. But Kevin, do you remember that one story with the hunchback." At this Kevin's memory jogged up. That story intrigued Kevin as a child. The hunchback of that story was hated by everyone around him because he looked ugly. In that story he lost many things precious to him, he was defeated many times and he broke down many times. But after some time, he would stand again and continue on. Kevin felt the story resonate with him and he liked the hunchback for some reason. Now he realized why; it was because the hunchback had the most important thing to become a hero.
COURAGE.
"Kevin? Do you think heroes in real life are like gods? No, they are also humans. They make mistakes, they fall down many times, they doubt themselves then, they feel insecure, they feel ashamed of themselves. But even after all of those they get up again and continue forward. Do you know why?"
"Why?" Kevin asked like a lost child.
"It is because they BELIEVE."
"Believe." the word sounded mystical to Kevin. Had he ever believed in anything, in himself? He found the answer: no, he never did.
"Yes, they believe." *** continued "they believe in what they do. They believe that in the end what they do will have a positive impact. They do not do it to rescue the princess or to defeat demons. Real-life isn't black and white like that. They believe that in the end what they have done will be worth it, even if nobody accepts them. Because in their hearts they knew that it was right."
*** then stretched his hands towards Kevin while asking.
"So, Kevin. What do you believe in?"
"I-I-I-…I believe that the Honkai will be defeated."
"So then are you going to lie down like that now?"
"No." Kevin said as he took his brother's arm and stood up. He finally found the two things that he had been missing until now: Courage and belief. The surroundings started to dissipate in darkness indicating that he was going to wake up. As they were parting up *** said one thing that would be etched into Kevin's soul for the entirety of his existence, even in his next life.
"Heroes are not those who never fall. They are those who always get back up after they fall."
As the world faded away, he heard a whispering voice filled with melancholy:
"Farewell... my Brother."
There was a huge surge of Honkai energy from the worm's body. It was almost as high as her, but how is that possible? It was not a Herrscher like her, nor was it connected to their god. As she was contemplating, the sword that the insect held suddenly ignited and started sweeping flames in every direction. She decided to cut it again with her blade only for her powers to dissipate completely in those flames.
"What?" now it was terrified. This amount of power was impossible. It was almost like their big sister's.
"No that's impossible. Nobody can rival the 14th. I will kill it before it becomes a big threat to us."
Deciding thus, she charged another one of those orbs and ran it through her blade charging it to deal extreme lightning damage.
…
Kevin woke up feeling a high amount of Honkai energy coursing through his body. The mark on his hand shone a bright blue. He knew that it was twice that *** had saved him, and he won't be able to do it again. After all, real life is not some story. Thus, from here on out he had to plough through on his own. However, that was fine, he had found his belief and courage after all. He will never lose to a Herrscher again.
He took the flaming Surtr in his hands again and swung it to his side. The flames created a ring around him and the Herrscher trapping them within. He looked at the Herrscher, his eyes glowing a bright blue and his mark nullifying the Herrscher's Honkai energy.
"DIEEEEEEE YOUUUUU WORMMMMM." the Herrscher roared as it slashed again with the same attack. Kevin however just swung his sword in a horizontal slash, destroying the slashes by that oversized Tachi and even shattering it completely burning away the remnants. The flames then burned the Herrscher badly making it howl in pure agony as it found itself being completely overpowered.
"ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH." it screamed in pain. Then it saw Kevin approaching with steady steps. Blood was flowing from the many cuts on his body. Any normal person would have been dead by now, but he moved on with his belief powering him. He will not fail his comrades in Moths and *** again. He WILL BURN DOWN THIS FALSE GOD.
The Herrscher in a last-ditch attempt condensed all the Honkai energy as it charged the air molecules to an extremely high energy state, and fire it towards Kevin. The result was essentially a railgun which fired superheated plasma. The Herrscher then fired the railgun with all the power it could muster towards him.
Thousands of millions of high voltage electricity-powered superheated plasma barrelled towards him, evaporating anything in its path. Kevin just held Surtr in a vertical position to act as a shield. Seeing this the Herrscher laughed.
"hahaha... Not even your powered-up form will be able to deflect it. Now die along with your stupid power, pathetic worm."
"Who said I was trying to deflect it?"
"Wha-" the Herrscher watched in horror as Kevin just blocked the entire attack with just his sword. The plasma literally just stopped there and dissipated into the air. Kevin was not even pushed back, as the blade of the sword absorbed the entire momentum of the plasma. His hand holding the sword just moved a few mm back like a spring absorbing the excess momentum.
After the attack dissipated, Kevin lowered his sword and started moving forward again. Seeing him the Herrscher tried to scuttle back, only to meet a wall of flames. As it saw his eyes, it finally saw the hatred and rage that he held against the Honkai. Sensing its demise was now imminent, it let out one defiant statement.
"No matter how many of us you defeat, you will never win against the Honkai. You will lose against our big sister."
"I will burn her down as well."
"Hmph. Do your worst worm."
Sensing that the Herrscher had nothing more to say, Kevin raised his sword to use his ultimate attack. The blade roared with raging flames, an indication of the Herrscher's imminent demise.
"Excalibur-"
Glowing sky-blue eyes bored down at the 3rd Herrscher for the last time.
"-Galatine."
A huge downwards slash carrying raging flames came down on the Herrscher. It didn't even have the chance to scream, as it was charred beyond recognition in a moment. The surroundings became a living pyre that snuffed every life except for him.
He looked around himself to see the aftermath of his battle against the 3rd Herrscher. The entire sector had become a burning inferno. And the surroundings had been destroyed that would take years to heal. Kevin wondered if he did the right thing, but decided against it. He just had to believe in what he was doing. He understood that he won't be given a second chance again against Herrschers as he looked at the shining mark on his arm. He had to master this power before the next Herrscher.
Kevin stood in the middle of that inferno for an unknown period of time. Finally, he felt something hit his face. Bringing his free hand to his face, he saw what it was: a raindrop. After that little by little the rain started to fall dousing the flames. As the last flames died down, it marked the end of the third eruption.
Kevin finally found strength leaving his body completely. His grip on Surtr loosened which fell down on the ground with a clang. He himself then started falling backwards.
"KEVIN!" he heard someone exclaiming his name and then something cushioned his fall. He smelt a familiar scent of lilies, and through the corner of his eyes, he could see strands of pink.
"Ely….sia…"
"I'm here Kevin. I'm so so so sorry that it took this long. It's all right now, nothing is going to hurt you anymore." the voice said quivering.
"It's….done….."
"Yes. You defeated the Herrscher. You protected us all. Thank you. Thank you so much, Kevin."
"…"
"You have done so so much, so please rest now." Elysia said in a soft voice and then gently put his head on her lap as she looked at him with a sad yet gentle smile. He then saw something land on his face; looking up he saw tears in Elysia's light blue eyes which were dropping like silvery raindrops. He didn't like it for some reason and so with all his remaining strength, he lifted one of his hands and wiped away the tears in her eyes.
Elysia just took his hand on her face and said while sobbing into it:
"You idiot."
"Yeah…" he said as his eyes closed due to exhaustion and blood loss. Elysia was alarmed initially but was relieved a little when she saw his chest rise and fall albeit slower than usual. She just stroked his face gently.
"How's he doing?" a voice asked from behind. Turning her head, she saw Kalpas standing there.
"He had gone unconscious due to exhaustion. But it's nothing to worry about." she said while looking back to Kevin's prone form.
"A lot went down here today." Kalpas said surveying the surroundings, which were utterly destroyed. He could only imagine the strength of the 3rd Herrscher. And by looking at the condition of its corpse, he could only wonder how hot the flames of Surtr were as it left the Herrscher charred like that.
As the night dragged on, the sounds of many transport crafts could be heard bringing reinforcements. However, everything has already ended by the time they landed in Nagazora.
The third eruption had ended, but the war with Honkai was getting more and more desperate and the future Herrschers were going to be stronger still.
The two looked in the direction of the incoming reinforcement troops and wondered how the future was going to turn out.
To be continued….
Hello everyone, welcome back to 'A Warriors Destiny'.
Finally, we have reached the end of Nagazora and the third eruption. From now it will be pure AU with some major changes to the main storyline, starting from the next chapter where Kevin will meet the self-proclaimed Magician cum genius and our favourite birb. I'm hoping you all who are reading this are excited to see how the story unfolds as I am.
As always if you like the story please leave a follow, favourite, and/or review.
Thank you for reading, until next time.