'Can I win?'
Both sides starred at one another, neither side making the first move.
'I've never fought anything at this level before, and father certainly doesn't count. That was more running than fighting.'
The surrounding temperature spiked dramatically as flames gathered around the Herrscher.
'Damn, I guess I should just stall until Fire Moth shows up. Hopefully I can weaken her enough for them to finish her. That would be ideal since Dr. Mei wouldn't have to rush MANTIS.'
Crimson bolts of electricity tore free in a violent burst from Mordred's body, jagged bolts lashing in every direction.
Seeing the violent surge of energy from Mordred, the Herrscher didn't hesitate to attack, unleashing a barrage of massive fireballs at her.
'Let's start off with a bang!'
"BOIL OVER! WRATH OF THE PLANET!" She raised Clarent above her head; her helmet came off as she triggered her Noble Phantasm. The treasured sword once more transformed into an evil sword filled with her hatred and rage toward her beautiful father.
"CLARENT BLOOD ARUTHER!!"
...
...
The impact was catastrophic.
Fire Moth headquarters was in a controlled chaos, barely able to maintain what little order was left.
Operators moved between stations, relaying evacuation orders as fast as routes collapsed. Heat maps flickered constantly as entire districts were marked uninhabitable due to either the scorching heat, the Honkai energy in the area or just the Honkai beasts themselves. Casualty projections climbed with every passing minute.
"All remaining civilian transports are being redirected west," an officer reported. "Eastern evacuation routes are no longer viable."
"Proceed," the commander said. "Focus on extraction over containment." With how much damage was done and how little forces they had deployed in Australia before the impact, they could only abandon the idea of containing the Honkai beasts and focus on getting any survivors out of the area.
Another voice cut in. "We've lost all visual feeds."
The commander looked up. "All of them?"
"Yes. City cameras, airborne drones, traffic surveillance. Everything was destroyed when the Herrscher manifested. And the dense Honkai energy took out what remained."
"Then what are we working with?"
"Sensors only. Honkai density, thermal readings, seismic activity."
Command was at a loss of what to do. They had been able to handle all the Herrschers before, even if it was at high causality costs, so they assumed they could handle this one. Yet, they didn't expect just how destructive this new Herrscher was, at this point they may have to consider abandoning the continent.
The only hope they could think of was Dr. Mei's Project Soldier. She had proposed the project in the past and was given the go ahead to begin research, but the project was still incomplete at this time, they couldn't rely on it.
Then, a new alert sounded.
"Commander," a technician said, hesitating. "We've detected another energy signature, a strong one."
Everyone is the room became quiet. Their minds began filling with the worst fears, another Herrscher.
"Details."
"It appeared moments ago. Origin is within close proximity to the Herrscher."
The commander's face became grim. "An Emperor-class or another Herrscher?"
"Neither" she said immediately. "This energy doesn't match any Honkai pattern we've recorded."
Silence followed.
"How strong?"
"Comparable output," she answered. "But the energy is… different."
So, an entirely new energy signature just appeared out of nowhere and right next to the Herrscher. Everyone couldn't help but think that another Herrscher really manifested.
"When will we have eyes on the city?" the commander asked.
"Recon drones are inbound," an operator replied. "Estimated time to visual range: twenty minutes, assuming survivability."
"And orbital assets?"
"A satellite will pass over the area in approximately one hour."
One hour was too long.
The commander straightened. "Assume worst-case scenario. Have our nuclear missiles ready to launch on command."
"But sir... there are-"
"I am well aware, but two Herrschers is something we cannot take on at this moment. If need be, we will destroy both Herrschers, even if we have to sacrifice the continent."
"Yes sir..."
...
...
An object flew through several skyscrapers before crashing down into the streets, creating a crater.
After a few seconds, a figure emerged from the crater.
"Damn, she hits hard..." She said as she planted her blade into the ground and leaned on it.
"You're durable." A voice boomed from above.
Mordred didn't even need to guess who it was.
"Thanks, I take pride in my endurance." She stood up and pulled Clarent out the ground and pointed it at the Herrscher. "Shall we continue?"
The Herrscher opened her mouth to speak but was quickly cut off as Mordred activated her Mana Burst, she launched herself at the Herrscher, even breaking the sound barrier with a sonic boom.
The Herrscher quickly created a wall of flames. Mordred hit the wall and sliced through it with Clarent, but killed her momentum. The Herrscher smiled, it had the advantage of flying while Mordred could only jump up at her.
But that smiled quickly disappeared as her eyes widened and she pushed her body to the side using a controlled explosion. Her eyes barely caught sight of the spear like crimson halberd that sailed past her face, grazing her cheek and drawing blood.
Stunned, she touched her cheek, then looked down at her hand. Her face remained cold even as she bled. She looked back at Mordred who was falling back to Earth, in this state Mordred was the most vulnerable.
The Herrscher raised her hand, flames coiling tightly around her fingers like a living thing.
A spear of condensed fire formed in an instant and screamed downward.
The Herrscher expected Mordred to use her sword to slash through the spear, yet Mordred blocked it using the flat surface of Clarent. The explosion propelled her to the ground faster, but left her armor burned.
Incursio was pushing itself to the limit as it not only fought to adapt to the terrifyingly high temperatures but also adapting to the Honkai energy around them, slowly building up a resistance to it. Mordred herself was surprised by her own Honkai resistance, even if females had a higher Honkai resistance, she wasn't born in this world so she didn't think her resistance would be high. She can only guess that both her endurance stat and Incursio were doing all the work.
As soon as she hit the ground, she began dodging and weaving through collapsed buildings under the constant bombardment of the Herrscher.
'Tch, I can't keep fighting like this! Fuck flying enemies!'
She needed a way to turn the tides, or at least even the playing field.
~BOOM~
The sound of a distant explosion, along with the sound of the roaring engines of aircraft.
'Really kept me waiting huh?' She wanted to complain about Fire Moth's late arrival but didn't have the energy for it.
The first to engage were the aircrafts who reached the city first. Their objective was to maintain distance and pepper the Herrscher with missiles to distract her from the ground force currently being deployed and grouping up for an attack.
The Herrscher turned her attention to the aircraft, finally giving Mordred some much needed breathing room, but even with a break, she still needed a way to effectively fight the Herrscher. Her mind raced with plans until she froze, then suddenly slapped herself.
"I have a system! What the fuck am I doing?!"