When the students returned after getting their thermostat devices, they found three admirals and a marshal waiting for them on the deck.
Ryn had his back to everyone, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, sitting on a white plastic chair from a food stall. The Star Sword was stuck in the deck, leaning against his hand.
Kiana the Heavenly Emperor stood to Ryn's left, wearing a pair of sunglasses, her hands on her hips with an air of smugness, a cheeky expression on her face that just begged to be punched.
Mei stood to Ryn's right, one hand resting on the hilt of the tachi at her waist, staring straight ahead. Just by standing there, it felt as if thousands of sword glints were pointed at anyone who looked at her.
Bronya sat on the large hands of Project Bunny, floating above the others in the rear. The loyal Project Bunny, like an old butler devoted to its master, quietly served as Bronya's mount. But once Bronya gave an order, or if anyone showed hostility towards her, Project Bunny would transform into a powerful war machine and annihilate all enemies.
Even more striking than their domineering poses were the long capes on the backs of Kiana, Mei, and Bronya. There were no fancy decorations or embellishments.
But one look at Kiana's purple cape was like gazing into an infinitely changing starry sky. Mei's cape seemed to be a vivid, snow-covered plain. Bronya's was a calm sea surface, but with infinite killing intent hidden beneath the waves.
"I suddenly feel like this thermostat device isn't so great anymore."
"Indeed, those capes are so cool. I want one too."
"Huh? When you see Lord Ryn, doesn't some BGM pop into your head?"
———————————————
As the Hyperion sailed on, the temperature dropped lower and lower, already breaking minus seventy degrees Celsius.
The joking on the deck came to an end, as the Hyperion had already entered the central area of Benares's recent Honkai energy radiation.
Now, even without instruments, one could see with the naked eye that a huge entity was waiting for them several kilometers ahead of the Hyperion.
Dense and innumerable Honkai Beasts were gathered together, neat and orderly, in distinct layers.
As if on a pilgrimage, they respectfully looked towards Ryn and the others' destination…
A giant tornado, hundreds of meters in diameter, with an impact range covering more than half of the Siberian snowfield, had stirred up countless amounts of ice and snow, forming an extremely harsh natural disaster.
The tornado shot straight up into the heavens. The sky was a dark, oppressive mass, with powerful lightning occasionally flashing, illuminating the world.
But what fell from the sky was not just hail and lightning, but also countless huge, burning meteorites…
Even before the operation began, the target had been confirmed to be Benares based on the Honkai energy fluctuations. And now, the various abnormally harsh natural disasters also confirmed that this was the work of the demonic dragon, Benares.
But why did this massive natural disaster just stay in place, in defiance of common sense, and not continue to spread outwards?
If Benares wanted to, with no one to stop it, it could destroy the entire Siberia, and even Russia.
But it only created the disaster, attracting everyone's attention.
Benares danced within the ice tornado, lightning accompanying it, acting as its escort. At the same time, raging flames erupted from its body, becoming the only bright spot in the dark sky under the storm clouds.
It was a demonic dragon created by Sirin, and its sole purpose in life was Sirin alone. Feeling Sirin's presence, the reawakened Benares was ecstatic and wanted to fly to her side to protect the Queen who had given it everything.
But halfway there, Benares sensed that its Queen was also heading towards it. Although it didn't know why the Queen didn't call for it, the Queen must have her reasons.
Siberia was the place where the Herrscher of the Void descended, and it was also Sirin's territory. Here, over half a million Honkai Beasts had been spawned by Sirin's power.
They were always waiting for Sirin's call. As long as Sirin's portal opened before them, even if the other side was a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, an army of Anti-Entropy mecha, they would charge forward without hesitation, to fight for their Queen.
Benares sensed Kiana approaching, and also sensed the dormant Herrscher of Thunder and the god-like Ryn by her side.
Since Kiana was bringing other Herrschers back to her territory, it was likely that the Queen wanted to display her power to them.
So Benares gave the order, summoning all the Honkai Beasts in Siberia to gather for a grand Honkai Beast military parade.
Everything was just to make the Queen happy. If she could praise it, that would be even better.
———————————————
In the current civilization, only two Judgment-class Honkai Beasts had appeared on record. One was Chiyou, whose body was like a moving continent, capable of causing great earthquakes with every move, and was then instantly killed by Ryn.
The other was this one, Benares, who insta-killed Welt, only for Welt to perform a sit-up and summon the colossal mecha 'Heavenly Father' to pin it to the ground and humiliate it.
(Getting defeated by Old Yang and being beaten half to death by Siegfried's Might of An-Utu is one thing. But in the game's story, Benares exposed all its cores, which were then shattered by Fu Hua and an artillery squad, leading to a near-death state. I really couldn't hold back my laughter.)
Both the natural disasters caused by Benares and Benares itself terrified every student present. Kiana, Bronya, and Mei were no exception, but the light shining in their eyes was somewhat different from the others…
While others were scared and nervous, Bronya and Kiana thought Benares was cool, and Mei was thinking about getting a dragon-form Honkai Beast as a mount in the future…
Upon seeing the group, Benares let out a warning roar at the Hyperion. It didn't know why its Queen was mixing with humans. Had the Queen given up on her revenge against humanity? But that didn't matter anymore. The joy of seeing the Queen again had already made Benares unable to think.
The less powerful students had already lost their courage to fight in the face of Benares's dragon roar. Although they stood strong without screaming, their bodies erect, the weapons they held tightly in their hands were already trembling, their grips slackening.
"Take a deep breath. It's normal to be scared. No one can remain as calm as still water, completely at ease, when facing an existence they cannot defeat, a situation of certain death.
The purpose of bringing you here this time, besides letting you understand what a truly top-tier Honkai Beast is like when it radiates its battle pressure, is..."
Ryn said, while extending his hand towards Benares, which was roaring and diving towards the Hyperion from the air.
"There's one other thing… and that is, to tell you something… You just need to do what you can. Those beings you can't fight against, beings you might even have to sacrifice your lives for… leave them to us teachers."
Ryn's eyes were sharp as he pointed his index finger at Benares.
Benares didn't understand what Ryn was saying, nor why he was pointing his index finger at it. It just wanted to get to its Queen, to touch its Queen.
And then… it saw Ryn's index finger point downwards…
"To me… kneel!"
And then… it felt its body become so heavy it was beyond its comprehension…
And then… it was once again buried under the thick snow, deep within the earth, and lost consciousness.