That Kiana became a Herrscher vessel came as no surprise to Enoxia—after all, the girl had way too many “buffs” stacked on her. In fact, if K423 hadn’t turned into a Herrscher under these circumstances, that would have been the real shock.
So without hesitation, Enoxia digitized herself and, under countless stunned gazes, slipped into Kiana’s body. If she could use the Herrscher of Corruption’s authority to overwrite the Herrscher core within Kiana and erase the Herrscher consciousness outright, then no matter which core it was, she’d gain an additional superpower. So whether the core’s appearance was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen.
Clearly, [Enoxia] had thought the same—and acted accordingly.
Kiana was just a three-year-old child. Though she had lost her father early, Cecilia had stayed by her side almost constantly, ensuring her quality of life far surpassed that of most children in Atlantis. She carried no deep psychological scars, only hope for life and the future.
Thus, Enoxia’s attempt to overwrite the Herrscher consciousness aligned with Kiana’s own will. Without hesitation, she mobilized every ounce of Honkai energy she could, charging straight for the Herrscher core.
Yet before she could reach it, Enoxia found herself frozen in place—then consciousness slipped away.
Soon after, she awoke within the network. Clearly, she had died once.
“Impossible. Even if I failed to corrupt the core and got backlash, that should’ve only happened after contact. How could I be wiped out before even touching it—?”
She tried to return to the Special Affairs Bureau through the network, only to find all its electronic devices completely disabled. She had double-checked before entering—everything had been functioning perfectly.
Digging deeper, Enoxia discovered that within a 100-kilometer radius centered on the Bureau’s reception hall, all electronics had failed. Atlantis was already descending into chaos.
Above the Bureau, massive golden gears and countless chains loomed in the sky.
“This world bubble’s luck… Ugh. The first Herrscher to emerge was Corruption, and the second… is Binding. This world bubble is beyond saving.”
To compare it to the main timeline’s events, this was like Kiana, Raiden Mei, Bronya, Fu Hua, Seele, Theresa, Himeko, Siegfried, Durandal, Rita, Welt, and the rest of Anti-Entropy’s scientists all gathering for a meal—only for someone at the next table to suddenly become a Binding Herrscher vessel. Even if they tried to flee, there was no way to teleport beyond the 100-kilometer range before the Herrscher activated its authority.
Within that radius, all Honkai energy would be nullified, while other forms of energy would be weakened to varying degrees. Honkai-based weapons would instantly become scrap. MANTIS soldiers, whose bodies contained Honkai beast DNA, would suffer systemic failure and die within a minute. As for ordinary humans? Their bioelectricity would vanish.
And once bioelectricity disappeared, so too would every vital function—heartbeat, respiration, digestion, absorption, excretion, reproduction, muscle contraction, nerve conduction, glandular secretion, even metabolism and energy transfer. The only outcome was death.
Enoxia pondered: If she were in this situation, she’d first seize the chance to corrupt anyone capable of causing trouble, establishing a provisional government with herself at the helm. Then, she’d gather every non-Honkai weapon in Atlantis, modify them at any cost, and bombard the Binding barrier until it broke.
A quick check of the records confirmed that [Enoxia] had done exactly that. After months of relentless effort—just before Atlantis’ economy collapsed entirely—they finally developed a powerful non-Honkai weapon, shattered the Binding barrier, and watched as the gears above faded away.
The moment the barrier fell, Enoxia raced back to the Bureau through the network. But the second she emerged from its computers, an overwhelming stench flooded the air, forcing her to disable her olfactory sensors to keep going.
The Binding Herrscher had always puzzled her.
First, it was a fundamental rule that Herrschers released massive amounts of Honkai energy upon birth and thereafter. The Binding Herrscher was no exception—after all, its own barrier didn’t affect itself. The Honkai energy it generated wouldn’t be nullified by its own barrier, though another Binding Herrscher could erase it.
Theresa’s ability to neutralize the Binding Herrscher’s barrier with the Stigmata of Holy Sacrifice in Kolosten was proof enough.
Second, in high-concentration Honkai environments, humans were highly likely to turn into zombies, and Honkai beasts would spawn en masse. This held true for every Herrscher’s emergence.
So here was the question: What would happen to the zombies and Honkai beasts born from the Binding Herrscher’s awakening if they spawned inside a barrier that completely nullified Honkai energy?
The Bureau’s current state provided the answer. Logically, after months of decay and high Honkai concentrations, the place should’ve been overrun with zombies and beasts.
Yet the opposite was true. Within the barrier, not a single zombie or Honkai beast remained. The moment they spawned, the barrier erased them. The only thing immune to the barrier was the Herrscher itself—any external Honkai energy was instantly nullified.
Entering the reception hall, she found several more corpses. As Bureau operatives, their Honkai resistance and physical conditioning far exceeded normal humans. Even after months, their bodies showed only slight decay.
Among them, Angelia and Cecilia’s remains were the most intact. Since the loss of bioelectricity was instantaneous, they hadn’t suffered much, their faces still bearing smiles—as if time had frozen forever on Kiana’s birthday.
As for Kiana, the sole living person within 100 kilometers, her eyes were vacant, her mind shut down, leaving her vegetative. The fact that she hadn’t moved an inch in months was already a small mercy.
Unsurprisingly, after extracting her genes, [Enoxia] had chosen to grant her a quick end.
The large-scale immersive experience concluded here. Enoxia had to admit—the despair had gotten to her.
She turned to [Enoxia] and spoke quietly, “If you’ve got any more surprises, now’s the time.”
But [Enoxia] only shook her head slightly, studying her expression. “After securing full control over Atlantis, I tried accessing information about the entire world bubble—and what I found was even worse.”
“The Binding Herrscher’s devastation was just the beginning. As the Honkai ran rampant, I realized the entire world bubble was… collapsing.”
“You know, in the Atlantean language, there’s another name the people of Shenzhou might recognize more—Atlantis.“
“Though it exists only in Plato’s writings, even without the Honkai, this world bubble’s fate would’ve mirrored the legends: after flourishing, it would eventually sink beneath the sea, lost forever.”
