In the silence, Kiana had at some point closed her eyes and fallen asleep against the wall. Her body recovered faster than an ordinary person's, but the drawback was the rapid depletion of stamina.
Herta had also finished what she was working on.
She had even decided where to go next.
Outside, lightning still flashed and thunder roared. Dark clouds seemed ready to crush the entire city beneath their weight.
This battle was dragging on far too long.
With efficiency like that, no wonder the losses were so severe.
After silently disparaging those people, Herta's gaze fell upon the girl curled up in the corner, already asleep.
Now that no one else was around, the look in her eyes as she watched Kiana grew complicated. She frowned slightly.
"Something's not right."
Her relationship with Kiana was exactly as she had said. They were not particularly close, and the other party had never given her the chance to understand her.
Herta was indeed interested in her.
After all, people as special as Kiana were rare. It was not only about the so-called "path to godhood," but also about her connection with Ruan Mei.
Herta had always been curious about that.
Ruan Mei had no empathy whatsoever. Calling her indifferent was practically praise. Someone who fundamentally did not understand emotion—why had she suddenly changed?
Now, Herta seemed to understand a little.
The complexity in her expression deepened. Feeling the turmoil in her heart, she withdrew her gaze.
There was something strange about this girl.
Even Herta was startled by the thought that had suddenly surfaced, only then realizing what was unusual about Kiana.
Although she was very interested in Kiana, it was merely curiosity about the mysteries surrounding her. It was a field she had never set foot in before. How could she not find that intriguing?
Just like that Stellaron brat.
That little brat had some interesting aspects too. She found it amusing and was willing to spend time on it.
At their core, there was no difference between the two matters.
She was simply slightly more interested in Kiana, so the priority was a little higher. That was all.
But what was this now?
Herta was a smart person. Though she did not enjoy studying human nature like Screwllum, nor dissecting emotions and deconstructing the essence of life like Ruan Mei—she was a genius.
How could she possibly fail to understand changes within herself?
If she could not unravel the mysteries within her own being, how could she study greater and deeper secrets, even the mysteries of the universe itself?
She had noticed something abnormal in her attitude toward Kiana. Especially tonight, that abnormality was far more obvious.
Herta was certain this was not her own problem.
She might not understand Kiana, but did she not understand herself? She had no interest in such things. How could she suddenly change without reason?
So the problem lay with Kiana.
There was a peculiar charm about her. The longer one spent with her, the easier it was to be influenced by that charm and develop goodwill toward her.
Why call it charm?
Because Ruan Mei had clearly been affected. Yet she had shown no reaction. That meant she either had not researched anything conclusive, or she had sensed it and simply did not care.
Ruan Mei was an expert in that field.
And she was exceedingly indifferent to emotion.
Kiana was like someone with her charm stat maxed out. No matter the initial impression, as long as one stayed by her side, goodwill would inevitably rise under the influence of that charm.
No one knew how much time had passed.
Kiana finally woke from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes and immediately looked up, searching the room for Herta.
But there was no one in sight.
An uncontrollable panic enveloped her. She shot to her feet, startled to find that after one night's rest, her injuries had improved considerably.
The pain was no longer as unbearable as the day before.
"Dr. Herta?"
Her physical condition could wait. The most urgent matter was finding Herta.
She had no idea where Herta had gone.
A fear of being abandoned rose in her heart.
She did not dare call too loudly. That would attract the monsters. But if she spoke too softly, only she would hear it.
Just as she was about to go search for her, a door inside the room suddenly opened.
Herta stepped out.
Seeing that she was still here, Kiana's heart finally settled. Thankfully, Herta had not left and had not encountered any danger.
"You still have the energy to look for me. Seems you've recovered well." Herta did not glance at her. She walked straight to the table and tossed her some biscuits. "Eat something. Once you're done, we'll set out."
"Is it over outside?"
Kiana caught the biscuits and instinctively looked toward the window. With the heavy clouds overhead, it was difficult to judge the time.
But the thunder and lightning still raging did not look like things were completely finished.
"More or less. But it's not that simple." Herta pulled out a chair and sat down, tearing open a packet for herself to replenish her strength. "That Herrscher is absorbing the Honkai energy of this city to grow stronger. Once she undergoes another metamorphosis, that will probably be this world's end."
Kiana froze mid-bite and looked up at Herta in disbelief. "Th-then that means..."
"Humanity won. And also lost." Without even looking up, Herta knew what she wanted to ask. "Reinforcements arrived in time and did win the battle against the Herrscher. The problem is they failed to kill her. She escaped instead."
"No one knows where she's hiding. The more Honkai energy a Herrscher absorbs, the stronger she becomes. According to my calculations, without external interference, at most half a month."
"Half a month?"
"That's right. In half a month, she'll likely undergo another transformation and become even stronger."
Clenching her hands tightly, Kiana asked anxiously, "So we only have half a month left?"
Herta nodded without the slightest urgency. "Theoretically, yes."
"Then what should we do?" Kiana panicked. "Do we do nothing? Or should we cooperate with the others?"
"What do you think we should do?"
"...Work together with the others and eliminate that Herrscher first?" Kiana suggested cautiously.
"You want me to cooperate with them?"
Kiana fell silent. She knew about the conflict between Herta and the Federation. After Herta's counter-question, she found herself unable to respond.
"What happens to humanity has nothing to do with me."
"But you're also human." This time, Kiana did not echo Herta's words. Instead, she looked at her with worry. "If we do nothing, you'll also..."
As for what would happen to herself, Kiana did not care much. She did not know who she was or why she had been born into this world.
But she hoped Herta would survive.
She was a good person. And the last hope of this world. There was no need for her to die alongside those people out of momentary resentment.
She was this world's only savior.
"Theoretically, we only need half a month. But those people will directly bombard this city." Herta still did not lift her head. "There's still a fight left between them."
But it would not drag on for long.
The more chaotic things became, the stronger the Honkai would grow.
Sooner or later, a victor would be decided.
For now, however, none of it concerned her. Herta had no intention of intervening so early. Having slipped out of their control, she needed a safe place to accumulate strength.
So—for the moment, they would not interfere.
And in truth, they could not.
Kiana loosened her grip. The biscuit in her hand had already been crushed into powder from her unconscious clenching, but she did not mind.
After a brief silence, Herta suddenly stood and glanced at her, finding it somewhat strange. Normally, Kiana talked quite a lot.
Why was she so quiet today?
Could it be because she planned to stand aside, and that had made Kiana unhappy, leaving her unwilling to speak?
...No. What did that have to do with her?
Herta frowned slightly. "I used some materials to build an amplification device. This time, we can teleport farther."
They could not remain here.
Heavy firepower might rain down at any moment.
Turning this place into a living hell was only a matter of time.
"Where are we going next?"
"You'll know when we get there."
After observing her for a moment and confirming that Kiana's physical condition was stable enough for long-distance teleportation, Herta stopped wasting time.
She led her into the room she had just been in. Inside stood a device that looked extremely crude—no casing, wires exposed, assembled from ordinary materials.
Kiana stared at Herta in astonishment. She had built this while she was asleep? Using nothing but common materials?
That was incredible!
Stepping into the cleared space, Herta glanced at Kiana, who stood frozen at the doorway, unsure where to step, and extended her hand. "Why are you still standing there? Come here."
"So amazing..."
Afraid of bumping into anything, Kiana walked carefully. As soon as she approached the open space, Herta grabbed her hand.
"The more amazing part is yet to come."
After adjusting the device, the familiar door appeared once more. It looked more solid than the night before.
Last night, a Honkai Eruption had just occurred. The Honkai energy density across the city was extraordinarily high, so there was no need to worry about power.
Herta pulled Kiana straight through the doorway.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the door vanished. The device sparked and emitted black smoke from overload, burning out completely.
In such crude conditions, constructing a one-time-use device with what she had on hand was already the limit.
This time, the teleportation distance was indeed far.
The Honkai energy intensity dropped sharply, and the sky was no longer shrouded in dark clouds. The sun and a few white clouds were visible.
"Where is this?"
Confusion filled Kiana's face as she looked around.
Compared to the city that had just experienced a Honkai Eruption, the Honkai energy here was much lower. But compared to before any eruption, it was still significantly higher.
And judging from the desolate surroundings—this place had been abandoned for a long time.
"Obviously, it's a ruined city." Herta surveyed the area and nodded in satisfaction. "It fell during the early stages of the Honkai outbreak. No one's been here for years."
It was a small county town, relatively intact, but with no trace of human activity for five or six years, the entire place looked bleak and barren.
Most of the original residents had been corrupted by Honkai energy and turned into walking corpses. A minority had abandoned their dangerous home and relocated to the remaining human bases.
When she first arrived in this trial world, it had already been on the brink of collapse. Only thirteen human cities remained, struggling to survive.
Now, there were only eleven.
And that number might continue to fall.
"Are we staying here?"
"It doesn't matter where we stay. Places with better conditions are full of people. Here..." Herta waved a hand dismissively. "We'll just renovate somewhere and make do."
She had no personnel at her disposal. In fact, she had never intended to rely on others. She had never taken the assistants around her to heart.
And it was precisely because of that—
because of her excessive arrogance—that she had been betrayed.
"Just the two of us?" Kiana followed her deeper inside, asking uneasily, "Won't we run out of time?"
Herta shot her a light glance. "We'll just build a few robots."
"Robots? But we don't have materials, do we?"
"That's a valid point. But perhaps you've forgotten something you once said." She continued walking without pause. "Isn't the Honkai supposed to be omnipotent?"
"Huh? Me?"
Honkai... omnipotent?
Kiana scratched her head in complete confusion. She did not remember ever saying such a thing.
After selecting a suitable location and marking it as their temporary base, Herta prepared to renovate it. But before that, there was something else to do.
She took out a purple vial.
Holding the syringe filled with pale violet transparent liquid, she seemed to weigh something silently.
"Is that... a Honkai resistance serum?"
"Something like that."
"Not exactly?"
"Do you know how artificial Herrschers are created?" Herta held the vial, looking at Kiana with a faint, ambiguous smile.
Kiana shook her head blankly.
How could she possibly know such classified information?
She had only heard that it involved a near-impossible experiment. Those who survived gained Herrscher-like power.
"This is a gene modification serum I developed two days ago."
When?
Kiana's eyes widened. Had Herta even entered a laboratory? She had no memory of it.
"In effect, it's similar to the artificial Herrscher surgery—both alter the human body. But I lacked sufficient materials at the time, so the result is considerably weaker."
"If you inject it, will you gain power?"
Kiana misunderstood something. Yet she felt no fear. Instead, she stared at Herta intently, waiting for her answer.
"It's not for you."
"Then it's..."
"After researching the Honkai for so long, I've never personally experienced its power."
Without expression, Herta injected the pale violet serum into her own body. As it entered her bloodstream, it felt like molten lava flowing through her veins.
Her face turned deathly pale as the serum spread. It was as if her blood had been ignited, burning through her vessels, threatening to reduce her to ashes.
"Herta!"
Kiana's eyes widened. She rushed forward to steady the suddenly pale Herta, panic rising in her chest, unsure what to do.
"Why didn't you let me do it?" She helped her sit down, flustered. "You haven't even tested this serum, have you? What if something goes wrong?"
"Then I'll wait outside for you."
Enduring the searing agony, Herta refused to cry out. She clenched her teeth and gripped Kiana's hand tightly, her gaze dark and resolute.
"If I fail, then I fail. But I want you to avenge me. Letting them die so easily would be far too merciful."
She had always held grudges.