The child awakened her ability before she was even born—while still in the womb.
A natural-born ability user.
The Queen of Blades could sense the child's power. It was extraordinarily strong—dangerous, even.
Of course, that danger was only relative to this body of hers.
Her true form was among the most formidable Honkai lifeforms in the biological hierarchy of the Houkai Universe—a collective-and-individual hybrid Honkai swarm that combined the advantages of both.
Created by Mobius and Rvy, the Queen of Blades had inherited parts of their personalities. She possessed a deep fascination with the evolution of life.
In her eyes, the humans who had awakened abilities were the future of this world. Those who had not awakened would eventually be eliminated.
Hearing the Queen of Blades say that her own child posed an even greater problem, Maria Schariac frowned slightly.
"What do you mean by a power of pure calamity?"
Though the child had been an accident, she was still her child.
The Queen of Blades smiled enchantingly. "It simply means the little one has tremendous potential in the future."
"..."
So you don't actually know either.
Maria Schariac was already used to this way of speaking. When the Queen of Blades spoke like this, it usually meant she wasn't entirely certain herself.
If she were certain, she wouldn't talk in riddles.
Maria guessed her child had likely awakened an ability native to this world.
She wasn't particularly surprised.
Ever since they had descended, the emergence of Honkai energy had caused the number of ability users in this world to surge explosively.
On top of that, her child's genes came from the Queen of Blades. It wouldn't be strange for her to be born with some innate power.
"Have you thought about a name for the child?"
Maria Schariac asked.
"A name?" The Queen of Blades tilted her head in thought. "How about Apocalypse of Omen?"
"Has anyone ever told you your naming skills are terrible?"
Maria Schariac replied flatly.
"No. Isn't it a good name?"
The Queen of Blades tilted her head.
"It sounds more like a code name than a human name."
"I think it's fine. If you don't like it, we can let fate randomly generate her name."
Maria Schariac fell silent for a moment.
She thought of the name Kiana Kaslana—and the fate it represented.
Perhaps names really did matter.
"Alright."
She nodded.
As human social order collapsed, the world descended into an apocalyptic landscape.
Ordinary humans had made various preparations against ability users.
If the threat had only been ability users born among humans, they were confident they could suppress them once more.
But faced with enemies that descended from the heavens and overturned the table from the very beginning, many of their preparations instead became catalysts for their own destruction.
Weapons originally designed to counter ability users were modified and abused. Network communications were seized and rendered unusable. Attempts to control public opinion and rally ordinary humans into unified resistance proved impossible.
At that point, many realized their era had ended.
The rulers of the future world would be the new humans they once regarded as monsters.
Upon realizing this, humanity began to spiral into extremity.
If that was the case, then better to die together.
Mushroom clouds rose from the planet's surface from time to time.
The sky grew dim and lifeless. Acid rain fell. Toxic ash and radiation blanketed the wastelands left behind by nuclear detonations, making survival extraordinarily difficult.
Yet the existence of Honkai energy allowed many to adapt to the new world.
Ordinary humans, however, mutated under the mixed environment of Honkai energy and radiation. Their bodies transformed into upright-walking creatures resembling rats.
Those who had awakened abilities remained unaffected.
With the end of the old era, on December 24th—
Maria Schariac's child was born.
The child's name was generated randomly by a computer. Perhaps because they were in the Far East, the result leaned toward a Far Eastern style.
The final name was—Houraiji Kyuushou.
One month later, the Queen of Blades' child was also born.
She named her Delta.
Unlike Houraiji Kyuushou, who was a blank slate newborn, Delta retained the memories of her previous life. Her mental state was unstable.
The spores she released possessed traits of both flora and fauna, exerting enormous influence over the surrounding environment and organisms.
Simply by existing in this world, she could reshape the planet's entire ecosystem, guiding evolution in the direction she desired.
The Queen of Blades gathered these spores and, combined with Honkai energy, dispersed them across the post-nuclear wastelands, rapidly restoring the planet's ecology.
A new world.
Within a lush green forest, a group of rat-men clad in green clothing crouched among the branches, firearms in hand.
Their eyes glowed with crimson light as they stared at a distant village.
The leader among them fixed his gaze on the humans in the village whose bodies showed no signs of mutation. Jealousy and savagery flashed in his eyes.
"Kill them!"
He raised his rifle and pointed it toward the village.
Bang!
The bullet pierced straight through a village wall.
Hearing the gunshot, the humans inside the village fell into panic.
Some ran. Others fled in chaos.
Though they had survived, many of the new humans possessed abilities ill-suited for combat and could not withstand gunfire.
After the brief turmoil, the new humans of the village also took up weapons and began fighting back against the rat-men.
Gunshots rang out in rapid succession, mingled with cries of battle.
This group of rat-men consisted primarily of ordinary humans from the old world, especially former military forces. They believed the current state of the world—and their own transformation—had been caused by the new humans. They harbored extreme hatred toward them.
The new humans who had survived the apocalypse likewise believed the world's ruin was the fault of these cursed remnants of the old humanity.
They despised each other equally.
...
Human settlement.
Upon receiving news that a nearby village had been attacked, Iselin immediately ordered her subordinates to dispatch forces to eliminate the enemy.
"These rats just won't stop, will they?"
Iselin stood inside the command room of a military base.
After ordinary humans had smashed everything in reckless desperation, the balance of offense and defense had reversed.
She had moved from the shadows into the open, using the military base as a center to gather refugees and establish settlements for new humans.
The remaining old humans, meanwhile, had shifted from open power into the shadows, killing and sabotaging everywhere—waging guerrilla warfare against her.
"Want me to handle them?"
Beside her, Nina asked.
"No need. The ones we sent out are enough to deal with them."
Iselin shook her head.
"Mm."
Nina nodded.
Those people had already lost the vast majority of their technological weapons and numerical advantage. Relying solely on firearms, they were no match for the new humans.
After all, they weren't the only ones who could use guns.
The new humans could as well—and they had abilities on top of that.
If someone died, Iselin didn't particularly care.
No sacrifice was unacceptable.
Except her girlfriend, Nina.
Even though death wasn't truly death, if Nina were gone and she had to continue this mission alone in this world—
She might as well die and return together instead.