Chapter 198: Counter-Strategy for the Herrscher of the Legion
"It's fine — it was nothing," Irene said, shaking her head. "I did tell Mr. Kevin about it at the time, but honestly, I wasn't holding out much hope that he'd actually find you."
Irene made no attempt to hide her feelings on the matter. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing worth hiding. She wasn't exactly the selfless, saintly type — if she had been, she would have gone along with Kevin herself back then.
At the time, she'd told Kevin partly to make sure he knew about it and could give it a try, and partly just to give him something to do. There was nothing to conceal — every last one of the people living in her head already knew, and Kevin himself had probably figured out roughly as much on his own.
Without any real intelligence to go on, searching the Sea of Quanta was genuinely, literally boundless — every bubble a different world, stretching on forever.
All Irene had been able to tell Kevin was that there was a Bubble Universe out there somewhere with Griseo in it. Where? Unknown. How far? Unknown. Any distinguishing features? Unknown.
If you wanted an analogy: it was like telling someone there was a needle somewhere in the ocean, and when they asked where, you said you didn't know — didn't know what it looked like, didn't know how to look for it, could only search by brute force.
That was just plain making someone's life difficult.
"But if it weren't for you, Miss Irene, Uncle Kevin would never have come looking for me in the first place." Griseo shook her head. She could sort out the logic of it clearly enough.
Whatever Irene's reasons had been for passing on the information that she was still alive — and wherever she'd gotten that information from — the fact that Irene had been willing to say anything at all was already a help. Without it, given the situation she'd been in, she would likely have had no choice but to wait until the ship was completely destroyed and the stasis pod automatically shut down by force.
Only then might she have had a chance to wake up — and then she'd have had to find some way out of the Bubble Universe, and after that, figure out how to locate the Proper World amid the endless expanse of the Sea of Quanta.
And judging from the state she'd been in when she woke, the odds of her actually getting out on her own weren't exactly great.
"Okay, okay, Irene, stop being so modest." Elysia poked Irene on the head. "This was important, Irene. The role you played was indispensable."
"Yes, yes, alright." Irene nodded, smiled, then turned to look at Griseo. "The important thing is that you made it back alive. Though I imagine Kevin didn't have any spare time — he brought all seven back with him, I take it?"
"Seven?" Griseo tilted her head, looking at Irene with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean?"
"Ah, never mind." Irene looked at her. "Simply put — whoever captured you ran an experiment and used your ability to create seven copies of you."
"Seven copies. Their relationship to you is a bit complicated — they were born by borrowing your power. What that makes them to you is really up to you to decide.
"I didn't mention it at the time, though, because I genuinely wasn't holding out hope that Kevin would find you." Irene shrugged. Those little Vitas weren't going to be in serious trouble anyway — there'd be other chances to get them out. And with Kevin going there in person, Sa wouldn't have the nerve to come back and take anyone, not even with ten times her usual courage. Besides, Vita herself would be watching over the little ones — it wouldn't come to anything serious.
As for Vita herself — well, that depended on the circumstances. If she was willing to turn over a new leaf, pulling her out wasn't out of the question. And if she wasn't willing — well, the palm-cannon that showed up in the original story didn't necessarily have to stay the same size, now did it.
"...I see." Griseo's eyes flickered slightly — she clearly had thoughts on the matter — but she also understood that now wasn't the time to act on them.
She had been young back then, but now she was undeniably worthy of the name Flame-Chaser. Her first responsibility was still the world she loved. Everything else would have to wait — because if they couldn't even protect their own world, she wouldn't have the capacity to worry about anything else.
"Um, Sister Irene." Just then, the little Griseo being held by Griseo's hand looked up at Irene. "I want to paint a picture of Sister Irene. Is that alright?"
"Paint a picture?" Irene looked at little Griseo and nodded, then raised her head and smiled at the adult Griseo. "Together? Though I wonder — after sleeping for so long, has your technique gotten rusty?"
"Miss Irene is questioning my skills." Griseo put her hands on her hips. "Don't underestimate me. I wasn't just sleeping on that ship all those years, you know."
"Then let's go to my studio." Little Griseo looked at Irene. "Follow me."
— Elysian Realm · Between Dawn and Infinity —
Wendy and Kosma stood facing each other, staring. Both Wendys stared at Kosma, who hadn't moved from his spot.
It wasn't that either of them was particularly tongue-tied — the Wendy who'd been worked through her issues, and the one who'd long since passed that stage, were both actually reasonably chatty. The problem was that the person in front of them simply wasn't talking. Both of them had tried to engage him in conversation, but the most they'd gotten out of him was a grunt.
Yes. Just one single grunt.
But from his expression, it seemed like he wanted to say something — and just when they'd gotten their hopes up, he'd seem to swallow it back down again. How were they supposed to respond to that?
They'd already worked out who he was — clearly one of the Flame-Chasers Sister Irene had mentioned. But what was with the silence? Was he satisfied with them or not? Could he at least say something?
On top of that, the portal to the other areas hadn't opened either, so they couldn't leave. They could only stand there.
Just as the silence among the three of them was stretching toward something close to a permanent fixture of the universe, a spatial rift opened nearby, and little Griseo led a small group of people through it.
Griseo turned her head — and spotted Wendy and Kosma standing frozen in place.
"Sister Irene." Both Wendys looked at Irene with visible relief the moment she appeared. Finally, someone who could hold a conversation. No more silent standoff.
"Hm, so you two were here." Irene glanced at them, then turned to look at the wordless Kosma, a somewhat baffled expression crossing her face.
"Don't tell me you three have just been staring each other down all afternoon?"
At those words, all three of them simultaneously turned their heads away. Irene looked between the two Wendys and Kosma, and for a moment was at a loss for words.
After a sigh, she turned to Kosma: "So Kosma — what made you seek out Wendy?"
"I remembered something." Kosma pulled his gaze back and glanced at Irene. He'd actually come to spar with Wendy — after all, he'd come within a hair's breadth of dying at the hands of the Herrscher of Wind back in the day.
If someone hadn't come to his aid, he'd have either been torn apart by the tornado itself or bludgeoned to death by the debris it threw around. He'd been nothing but flesh and bone back then.
But when he'd actually seen both Wendys — identical in aura, identical in presence — his mind had short-circuited. Two Herrschersof Wind? In the Current Era? Were Herrscherscoming in twins now?
That unexpected sight had thrown him off, and then Wendy hadn't made a move either, and somehow all three of them had just... gotten stuck like that. The Wendys were waiting for Kosma to say something. Kosma was waiting for the Wendys to do something. Wendy had actually said a few words, asked him some things, but those things were hard for Kosma to answer clearly. He'd managed some vague responses, and then silence had fallen again — leaving Kosma equally unsure of what to do next.
So yes, the three of them had simply frozen up like a glitched program. With the two of them not speaking, Kosma had started wandering through his memories of his younger days — reminiscing about a time when he'd had no power at all, yet had thrown himself in armed with nothing but a pile of explosives. If no one had come to his aid back then, there would be no him today.
Ah. Looking back now, he really had been quite naive in those days.
"Alright, alright — you two can go," Irene said, waving a hand with mild exasperation. Kosma had nothing to teach Wendy; their combat styles were completely different. Kosma was a pure physical fighter, relying on the exceptional physical conditioning that came with being a MANTIS. Wendy's combat system shared absolutely nothing with his.
"Stop keeping Wendy here," Irene told Kosma. "What you actually need right now is someone who shares the same Honkai Beast genes as you — there's one over in the main hall. Going to teach her would suit you a lot better."
"Is that so? Understood." Kosma nodded, gave Wendy one last look, then turned and opened a portal to leave. The moment Kosma was gone, Wendy let out a quiet breath.
"Well, I didn't expect the first person I'd run into to be quite that... particular," Wendy said, shaking her head. "I had no idea how to talk to him."
Irene thought through the whole situation and shrugged at Wendy. "Honestly, everyone here has their own quirks. Kosma just happens to be the quiet type."
"That said, thinking about it — there really isn't anyone in the Realm who'd be a great fit as a coach for you."
None of the Flame-Chasers had ever used the 4th Divine Key, and there was no combat-focused wind fighter among them — as far as she could recall, the 4th Divine Key had been repurposed into a weather satellite. There didn't seem to be anyone who'd used it in actual combat.
"If you two want to train, you might as well go find Vill-V. Bronya should be over there too." Irene opened a portal as she spoke.
Both Wendys nodded and stepped through.
Elsewhere, the two Griseos had set up their easels and were now debating what pose to put Irene in — a discussion that was growing increasingly heated by the moment.
"A painter, hm?" Elysia nudged Aponia with her elbow. "How did I never notice before that Griseo could get this intense about something like this?"
"I don't know." Aponia shook her head.
But at that moment, it seemed the two Griseos had finally reached a decision, and they turned to Irene simultaneously.
"Sister Irene / Miss Irene — would you please move over there?" Both Griseos pointed to one side at the same time. Irene nodded and walked over.
The two of them propped up their canvases and began painting Irene's portrait. Every so often, one of them would extend a brush toward her — and the moment they did, Irene could feel something being drawn out from within her.
The aura around both of them was shifting, subtly but unmistakably.
Irene raised an eyebrow. So this was Griseo's Staining — fascinating. She found herself genuinely curious what a portrait painted with those colors would look like.
— Elysian Realm · Main Hall —
"Oh my, Kosma — didn't expect to see you here." Little Senti turned toward Kosma as he stepped through the portal. "Let me guess — Irene sent for you?"
"Mm." Kosma nodded, then his gaze moved to Theresa. The moment their eyes met, he understood — this was the person Irene had meant.
So Kosma walked over toward Theresa.
Little Senti watched him go and shrugged. Those two trying to communicate was going to take some doing. But for now, more pressing matters needed attention.
Little Senti turned back to Mobius. "So — is there a way? Is there really no way to just directly flush out the Herrscher of the Legion?"
"Oh, the Herrscher of the Legion?" Mobius swiped the holographic display aside. "To identify them, just expose whoever you suspect to a Honkai energy environment. That'll do it."
"The Herrscher of the Legion is still a Herrscher, when all is said and done. Their total Honkai energy is relatively low, but their Honkai Adaptability is top-tier — that's just the nature of what they are. They're Herrscherswhose Cores are remarkably small, which keeps their Honkai energy low — but because they're still Herrschersunder the skin, their Adaptability is exceptional."
"That makes sense." Little Senti nodded. In other words: find anyone whose Honkai Adaptability has recently improved dramatically, or who can endure high concentrations of Honkai energy without issue — and that person almost certainly has some connection to the Herrscher of the Legion.
"But that sounds like it can only be used as a defense? Not for actively hunting them down?"
"Exactly — as you say, this method can only guard against the Herrscher of the Legion infiltrating, not actively seek them out." Mobius nodded. "I don't have a detailed picture of what form your current-era Herrscher of the Legion has taken.
"Get me a sample. Only then can I give you a proper answer. You've probably already noticed — the Herrschersof our time and the Herrschersof yours are completely different creatures now."
"Bring me a sample, and we can conduct the corresponding research." Mobius looked at Little Senti. "Though honestly — if you can actually capture a sample, catching the rest of them shouldn't be too hard either.
"There's a fair chance you'll have the Herrscher of the Legion problem wrapped up before we even finish our research."
"Alright." Little Senti nodded. It wasn't the better-than-expected solution she'd been hoping for, but it was better than having no countermeasure at all.
It was just that the problem had gone from fishing a needle out of the ocean to fishing for a specific kind of fish in the ocean — still impossible to actively hunt, but at least it provided some protection against ambushes.
The most dangerous thing about the Herrscher of the Legion was their ability to hide. Break that, and the threat they posed would be cut in half.
"Getting a sample shouldn't be too hard."
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