The knight commander, who had chosen to stay behind and hold off the zombies, suddenly erupted with a strange burst of energy.
This invisible force spread outward, invigorating the nearby knights and soldiers—their bodies surging with strength, like men overwhelmed with adrenaline.
How should one describe it?
Plain. Simple. Unimpressive.
No special effects. No grand aura. Just a mediocre ability.
The Will of Ruler observed for a moment, then ordered the zombies to retreat.
These humans' strength... was nothing to fear.
Once the Seraph-class Honkai Beast army was ready, she could easily flatten the entire world.
Seraph-class Honkai Beasts, though the lowest among the ranks, were still noble aerial units.
In this world—where supernatural powers were weak and aerial forces or anti-air capabilities were scarce—they could annihilate human armies with ease.
"The power of faith, huh?"
Watching the knight commander's newfound strength, the Will of Ruler understood why so many innocent women executed by the Church had not returned as vengeful spirits.
In a world where ghosts existed, that was peculiar.
Wrongfully burned as witches—their resentment should have been immense.
But she realized the reason: the faith, reverence, and emotional energy of others acted as a layer of protection around the guilty.
Kings, emperors, ministers, and Church leaders all carried such invisible shields.
It resembled the concept of 'fate energy' from the novels she once read—power gathered unconsciously from the people, accumulated over time, bestowing fortune upon those of high status.
And it restrained the energy of resentment and curses.
However, zombies were not creatures of this world's negative energy or spiritual order.
A ghost might fail to kill an emperor—but a zombie could easily send him straight to Hell.
As the zombies retreated, the remaining knights cheered.
"They're running!"
The knight commander frowned. Why were they retreating?
He wasted no time, rallying his remaining men to follow Iron Maiden's trail toward the nearby town.
Another day passed.
Rvy finally arrived with a thousand-strong army, meeting the Crusader Knights.
As soon as the two sides saw each other, words were unnecessary—they immediately began to fight.
The Crusaders relied on the town's low walls for defense while sending riders to the Church to request reinforcements.
When news spread that the Church of Revelation commanded an army of monsters—and might even be behind the Black Death—the Church immediately sent envoys to contact kings across the continent, urging them to join the crusade.
But those kingdoms, each weakened by the plague and internal strife, had no intention of aiding the Church.
They had their own problems to deal with.
The heretics were the Church's enemies, not theirs.
If not for the Church's political influence, they would have ignored its call entirely.
No ruler would commit troops without proof that the Church of Revelation was truly responsible for the plague.
However, upon learning that the Church of Revelation could cure the Black Death, many kingdoms secretly dispatched spies and envoys to investigate.
They wanted to see for themselves.
If it was true... then perhaps salvation lay there.
...
Inside a grand castle—
Incarnation walked slowly, arms folded across her chest, a calm smile on her lips. Behind her, the castle's knights and guards lay dead upon the floor.
As the strongest force in Europe under the Will of Ruler's control, Incarnation naturally would not spend her days idly praying in the Church.
Upon receiving her orders, she began purging the nearby nobility.
Would that offend the nobles' respective kingdoms?
Of course it would.
But so what?
Not just nobles—even kings.
In the Will of Ruler's vision of a perfect world, such people had no place.
Her gaze turned toward the Far East.
Each day, after redistributing her Honkai energy, she instructed Ai Enma to halt her advance and remain within a captured city to rest.
Ai Enma, to her, was an unstable factor.
Her parents' souls were still held by the Hell Spider.
The Hell Spider had once tried to use them to threaten her—but the Will of Ruler's possession of Ai Enma had ruined that attempt.
To deal with that accursed creature once and for all, she had given an ultimatum to the local mages and onmyoji clans:
"I'll give you one year. If you can't destroy that spider... then I'll destroy you."
The Will of Ruler had no clear method to deal with the Hell Spider. Her usual approach was to use her own reality-warping field—simple brute force, overwhelming and absolute.
But with Honkai energy insufficient and the interdimensional passage too narrow for her true body to pass through, that method was currently impossible.
If that was the case, then she would leave it to the local onmyoji and mages to handle.
If they failed—
Then she would simply handle them.
She might not yet know how to destroy the Hell Spider of Hell—but she certainly knew how to deal with living humans.
Threatening them with destruction was enough motivation.
Whether they succeeded or not was of little concern to her.
...
"Mom, when can we go over?"
"Soon."
The Will of Ruler examined the interdimensional passage between the two universes.
It was nearly stable.
Kiana Kaslana's body didn't contain strong Honkai energy—sending her through should be safe.
Her consciousness entered Kiana's body.
When she opened her eyes, she found Sirin hugging her waist affectionately, nuzzling against her.
This body had long since become Sirin's favorite pillow.
"Sirin."
"What is it, Mom?"
"Where are my clothes?"
"Mom, your clothes were dirty after wearing them so long, so I took them off for you."
"..."
Kiana Kaslana fell silent. With her reality-warping field, her clothes couldn't possibly get dirty.
With a thought, the Divine Prayer outfit from Honkai Impact 3rd appeared on her body.
In the Houkai Universe, it was only her and Sirin—whether they wore clothes or not didn't matter much.
Her daughter probably just thought that clothes worn too long would get dirty.
...Hopefully, that was all.
Kiana met Sirin's innocent gaze.
"?"
Sirin tilted her head.
Seeing that, Kiana quickly looked away.
She really needed to stop reading so many yuri novels.
Her head was full of indecent thoughts!
"Sirin, let's get ready. We're going to that world."
"I've been ready!"
Starlight shimmered around Sirin, and a magical-girl-style violet dress formed around her. She twirled in place, grinning brightly. "Mom, do I look pretty?"
"Beautiful. My daughter looks adorable no matter what she wears," Kiana replied with a nod.
"Mom, let's go!"
Since Sirin was a fragment of the Will of Ruler herself, her true form was also a being of pure Honkai energy.
The interdimensional passage between universes was like a bridge that could only bear 100 tons—yet the Will of Ruler's true body weighed millions, and Sirin's, hundreds of thousands.
Forcing passage would collapse the channel instantly.
So Sirin divided a small portion of her power, creating a temporary vessel capable of crossing between universes.
Once through, she could gradually reintegrate her full Honkai energy.
Hand in hand, Kiana Kaslana and Sirin vanished together.