Anna and Chen Tianwu originally met during a Honkai disaster.
She rescued Chen Tianwu, who had been trapped within the disaster zone, and gave him half of her treasured necklace as the stake of a bet between them.
Everything was originally moving in a good direction.
Until Anna accepted the photo Chen Tianwu handed her and saw who was in it.
Regret surged up. Without taking back the other half of the necklace, she left.
At this moment, under the intentional lure of the Herrscher of Ice, that scene from back then returned again, appearing before her eyes.
As if everything were happening right now. She was still standing in the disaster-stricken area of the Manila Honkai Eruption... To make it realistic, the Herrscher of Ice deliberately controlled the consciousness space to recreate the scene.
If not for that moment Anna's heart faltered, she wouldn't have been able to change things so easily.
Anna quickly reacted, trying to wrest control from the Herrscher of Ice.
Had her emotions been balanced like before, she could have fought the Herrscher of Ice on equal footing.
But now, her thoughts were in chaos and her mental strength was greatly weakened.
The Herrscher of Ice didn't care at all. What she wanted was not just control of this body.
Outside, Chen Tianwu tightly gripped the half-necklace, trying to approach the peacefully sleeping girl.
Theresa glanced at the half-necklace. The insignia of the Shariac family.
As an A-rank Valkyrie, Anna's standing within the Shariac family was decent.
After all, if there are no S-rank Valkyries present, A-rank is already the peak.
Someone like Himeko could temporarily reach a power level capable of contending with S-rank through equipment advantage.
Suddenly, a strange chill surged through the room.
Danger!
"Careful!"
The moment the words left her mouth, visible cold air instantly filled the entire room. Theresa reached out to pull Chen Tianwu away, but a chain blocked her. The next moment, more chains layered and sealed the area completely, leaving no view inside.
Trouble.
Theresa's heart sank. Things were turning in a bad direction.
Worse, Judah wasn't at her side, and she didn't understand mental-type battles.
All she could do was...
"Hold on, I'll go get help right now!"
Bang!
Smashing through the wall, Theresa sprinted away, her shadow flashing across the corridor.
Zzzzz!
Whoosh––!
The moment the sound spread, the fastest person in St. Freya Academy arrived.
"Headmistress, what happened?!"
Mei looked at the frosty aura around Theresa, then at the rising white mist not far away, her voice solemn.
She knew Theresa planned to bring someone into the room today, hoping to wake Anna.
But clearly things were not going in a good direction.
"Not sure yet. After I brought him in, Anna suddenly erupted. We don't know what's happening inside. Mei, I'll leave the lookout to you."
"Headmistress."
"Hm?"
"I don't think there's anything left to watch."
"??!!!"
Following Mei's gaze, Theresa saw thick cold air flowing out of the room, reacting with the surrounding temperature.
A figure flew away at high speed along the trail of cold air, face tense.
No need to look closely, both of them knew who it was.
....
Catching them off guard, the Herrscher of Ice now only cared about running in that direction without being caught.
If she could unleash all her power, she wouldn't mind giving that academy a devastating blow.
Unfortunately, she couldn't.
Her ability to move and use power was only possible through Anna's side of the consciousness channel.
On her own side, Fu Hua had sealed her tightly using Fenghuang Down.
In this area, even if she gained more power, she couldn't win against Fu Hua.
The God Key forged from the previous era's Herrscher of Sentience core was also a consciousness-based weapon. The title Herrscher of Ice already made clear her specialty.
After her initial failure, the Herrscher also understood, coming out without absolute certainty of victory was foolish.
At the very least, she needed to hold an advantage either in numbers or strength.
Otherwise, she would only repeat the previous outcome.
Regarding the seal of Fenghuang Down, she had confidence. After all, she now held a weapon that could shake Anna's mental state!
"Roar––!" As she was pondering where to hide temporarily, a roar shook the entire place.
A surge of heat erupted from behind her, followed by violent air ripples.
No time to think, her body reacted instinctively, using solid ice to form into a shield.
Bang!
The ice blocked the sudden blast, pushing the Herrscher of Ice backward.
Looking up, she saw Benares beating its massive wings, cold murderous intent in its eyes.
Her expression changed instantly.
"Damn it!"
Why was that dragon here? Flying around in the sky like that, weren't they afraid of being seen?!
Internally cursing wildly, she kept moving.
Chilling frost burst out, forming shimmering chains midair. Some shot toward Benares, others blocked the sky, trying to buy time.
Not far from St. Freya was the coastline.
But "not far" only applied to someone who could fly.
Seeing the sea reflecting the future beneath her, the Herrscher of Ice exhaled in relief.
With her authority, as long as she hid underwater, those people could never find her.
During that time, she could study the seal, and...
"This time, I really owe you." She lowered her head, looking at Chen Tianwu in her grip.
World Serpent member, Night Owl. The Herrscher of Ice couldn't stop smiling.
If he hadn't come to St. Freya today, she wouldn't have been able to escape.
As thanks, she would let him know the truth of that incident back then.
Consciousness space.
Anna's expression was vacant, terror flooding her heart. The memories she would never forget surged up.
....
At the same time, several people were rushing to pursue.
"With Fenghuang Down affecting her, she shouldn't be able to use full power. For now, she'll definitely be weakened."
On Benares' back, Fu Hua analyzed calmly.
"Up ahead is the ocean. She must be trying to use her authority to enter the sea. That would interfere with our search." Theresa's face was tense, fists clenched.
Carrying Judah, she scanned the sea surface without pause.
"Relax, Headmistress. Her escape wasn't your fault. No one could've predicted things would go wrong after that man entered. We'll find her, and once the situation's stable, we'll figure out what happened." Yuna comforted Theresa.
No one had expected this.
No one imagined Anna, who had once been able to restrain the Herrscher of Ice, would still let her escape even with a seal in place.
Given Anna's will, there was clearly something hidden behind this.
But whatever it was, the most important thing now was finding the Herrscher of Ice as soon as possible and sealing her again before the consequences spread.
....
Imaginary Tree.
Godzilla, having returned to his lazy life, raised his head slightly. With his incredible intuition, he could feel strange things from far away.
And those strange things always brought strange effects.
Like now, at the end of a certain branch of the Imaginary Tree, something was silently drifting toward its destiny.
Continuously releasing her aura... in truth, she was only channeling energy, but in Godzilla's sharp perception, it was no different from broadcasting her location.
And the direction she was headed pointed directly toward what was happening in that world right now.
He didn't have much opinion on the matter, except... That thing was being way too arrogant.
His eyes narrowed slightly, the golden vertical pupils dimming with oppression.
Godzilla couldn't stand anything acting so arrogant on his territory.
....
Deep beneath the sea.
A special "terrain."
A frost-white landscape appeared, something that clearly did not belong to this ocean region.
The unconscious release of cold froze the currents, and every nearby living aquatic creature instantly became a delicate ice sculpture.
The Herrscher of Ice stared at the frozen Chen Tianwu, thinking about what method she should use to make him truly experience what happened back then.
"Stop."
Within the consciousness space, Anna took a deep breath and tried to negotiate once more.
"With your power, it's impossible to stand against Lady Theresa and the others. If Lady Durandal and the others learn what's happening here, you'll be surrounded again. You couldn't withstand them even at your peak, and now, when you can only use part of your power, it's even more impossible."
"If you turn back and break away from Honkai's control, humanity will still give you a chance."
Anna might not be the brightest most of the time, but she still understood the impact a living Herrscher could have on the world's balance of power.
If every Herrscher under Honkai defected to humanity's side...
Such a terrifying disaster could be limited to its smallest possible range.
It would be beneficial to the world.
The Herrscher of Ice wasn't moved.
"Heh." Ignoring Anna, she continued studying the seal. Soon, she was nearly out of patience.
Suddenly, a familiar fluctuation resonated, from her very soul.
The Herrscher of Ice's expression trembled, surprise, disbelief, and excitement flashing through her eyes.
That was the power of the will of Honkais.
Finally, under her gaze, that power gently flowed into... Chen Tianwu's body.
Guided by that power, Chen Tianwu had a dream.
A dream where he was still in Manila back then, struggling desperately.
....
Meanwhile.
"Found it!" Sakura abruptly opened her eyes, her gaze locking onto the source of the fluctuation.
"There's a Honkai energy convergence point there!"
Not just her, Kiana and Mei also sensed the massive surge of Honkai energy.
The surging Honkai energy felt like... Like it was about to create a new Herrscher!
"For Honkai energy to gather on this scale... someone is tampering with it." Theresa's expression grew tense.
To gather Honkai energy to this extent, even if Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent worked together, it still wouldn't be possible.
This already surpassed the limits of current technology.
Meaning there was only one possibility.
"Another Honkai Eruption!!! It should be the doing of the Will of Honkai."
It couldn't be the Herrscher of Ice.
If Honkai wanted to empower the Herrscher of Ice, it would've done so back at the academy, not now.
Which meant there was only one truth: Chen Tianwu, the one she abducted!
Their eyes met. Tension filled them all.
One Herrscher was already troublesome enough, if a second Herrscher appeared and they teamed up, the situation would become unpredictable.
....
Meanwhile, upon receiving the report, Durandal set out immediately.
Watching her disappear into the sky, Rita's eyes carried a faint trace of worry.
After a while, she let out a sigh.
When had the time come that even an S-rank Valkyrie could no longer enter the battlefield?
Rita faltered at the realization.
Currently, there were only three S-rank Valkyries in the world.
Durandal and Theresa had unique talents and held God Keys, invincible on the frontline.
Which meant... The only one who didn't was her?!
Once she understood that, Rita's expression instantly darkened.
She needed more training.
....
Hum.
Crashhh!
The raging sea suddenly fell silent, the fierce waves halted. The planet's heavy gravity pressed down on their bodies, the power called gravity silently weighed down on every person present.
They reacted quickly, but even so, the crushing weight trapped them.
Before they could find a countermeasure...
Bang!
Without warning, Fu Hua and Mei, closest to the source, were forced back by the suppression of the waves and gravity.
"Everyone, be careful!" Theresa shouted.
The next second,
BOOM!
The ocean roared, crushed by gravity.
Under their stunned gazes, the massive sea slowly split apart, torn into two halves!
A majestic power revealed itself, overwhelming everything.
"This is... power!"
An exhilarating voice rose from the sea surface, filled with rage, as if it intended to tear the sky apart.
And indeed, that was what it was doing.
Gravity rampaged freely, displaying its power across the clear sky.
A presence belonging solely to this world.
"The Herrscher of Ice?" They were shocked.
"That commotion just now... was caused by the Herrscher of Ice?" Yuna asked, bewildered.
Fu Hua nodded slightly, voice low.
"I'm afraid the Herrscher of Ice devoured the newly born Herrscher."
Herrscher's power could merge with each other.
As survivors of the Second Honkai, Fu Hua and Theresa understood this better than anyone.
Back then, the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, rampaged unchecked on Earth by using six Herrscher cores.
The Herrscher of Ice enjoyed the attention of the world, but upon hearing Fu Hua's words, her eyes narrowed.
'Heh. Since you love talking so much, I'll deal with you first.'
Her time spent reflecting had taught her one truth:
'Strike first, always!'
"Die!" Gravity and Ice fused together.
Under Honkai's guidance, the two authorities merged nearly perfectly. At this moment, the Herrscher of Ice possessed what she believed to be the strongest power.
"Look out!"
Seeing her movement, Theresa's pupils shrank. She instinctively wanted to block the attack.
But gravity was invisible, instantaneous!
BOOM!
Without any warning, even with her guard raised, Fu Hua could not respond to the sudden strike.
In the others' shocked gazes, Fu Hua's body helplessly fell downward.
Fu Hua's pupils dimmed.