Honkai: Oh No, I’ve Become the Herrscher of Corruption?! - Chapter 10

February 6, 2000 – 22:00 | Babylon Tower

Hu Bufan was about to call it a night. The new researchers had just booted up their equipment without any issues, and his inspection team was ready to pack up.

Then the detectors screamed.

Beep—beep—beep—

He whipped back around.

“Underground—!” A tall Valkyrie’s voice cut through the chaos as she stared at her monitor. “Babylon Tower’s lower levels… they’re spewing Honkai energy! 1,000HW… 2,000HW… It’s still climbing! And—no way—this is a Herrscher-level reaction!”

Her face paled.

Sure, Great Honkai Eruptions were random. Herrschers appearing without warning? Normal. Babylon Tower being a Honkai energy hotspot? Expected.

But another Herrscher?

Five days after the first one on February 1?

And it was forming underground?

That wasn’t just unusual—it was unheard of.

“Priority alert to HQ—evacuate everyone, NOW!” The A-rank Valkyrie snapped into action, fingers flying over her comms device—

—only for gravity to twist violently.

Everyone in the tower crashed to their knees. Hu Bufan barely caught himself, his instincts screaming: This isn’t just weight—the entire field’s been altered!

Crack. Crack.

The sound of fracturing metal echoed as stress fractures spiderwebbed up the walls.

What the hell is—

BOOM.

The floor buckled. A chunk of the foundation near the tower’s base collapsed inward, carving out a gaping pit over two meters wide. Two Valkyries lunged forward to investigate—

—and froze.

White mist erupted from the abyss.

The temperature plummeted.

Thermal regulators failed.

In seconds, the interior of Babylon Tower became colder than the dead of a Siberian winter.

“Hah… Hah…” Hu Bufan’s breath came in ragged white puffs as she forced herself up. Less than a minute had passed since the alarms first blared—and already, most of the tower’s occupants were dead.

Her mind raced. “It’s draining the energy sector’s reserves… which means it’s still growing stronger.”

Survival wasn’t an option anymore.

But if she could just transmit data—warn HQ—maybe the next wave of Valkyries wouldn’t walk into a slaughter.

KABOOM—

The entire floor gave way.

Under crushing gravity, escape was impossible. She plummeted into the darkness—

—only for the freezing air to flash-seal her body against the jagged rock walls.

Her vision blurred.

Her pulse stuttered.

Then—miraculously—her comms crackled to life.

“Herrscher—gravity manipulation—releasing—extreme cold—!” Theresa’s voice, frantic and fragmented, pierced through the static.

“Hello?! HELLO—?!”

No response.

The cold had already claimed her.

By 22:05, Babylon Tower was gone—vaporized in a cataclysmic explosion that lit the night sky like daylight. The only silver lining? Thanks to Sirin’s earlier rampage, the area had been evacuated. Casualties were limited to the research team and patrol units.

February 6, 2000 – 22:00 | London

The Thames River gurgled happily, its “pristine” waters (by London standards) dutifully churning with the usual sewage from a nearby drainage pipe.

Then—

“OH MY GOD, LOOK—!”

A girl rose from the river.

Ash-gray hair. Blood-red eyes. A pale blouse and violet skirt fluttering as black-stockinged legs lifted her higher, purple wings beating lazily against the night sky.

Cameras flashed. Livestreams bloomed.

Then—black mist seeped from her fingertips.

The first person it touched screamed—

—then dropped, lifeless.

February 6, 2000 – 22:00 | Oslo

The sky churned like a living thing, tornadoes ripping through the city in numbers impossible for the season. Meteorologists panicked.

None noticed the mint-haired girl at the storm’s heart—white-and-green dress fluttering, white thigh-highs pristine, her delicate fingers conducting the devastation like a maestro.

February 6, 2000 – 22:10 | Crimean Peninsula

“Three Herrschers. Ten minutes ago. Babylon Tower, Oslo, and London—simultaneous awakenings.”

Enoxia’s grip tightened on the AE report.

Five Herrschers.

In seven days.

She’d awakened on January 31. Today was February 6.

What kind of nightmare is this?!

“The Babylon Tower one…” She reread the A-rank Valkyrie’s final transmission. “Dual-core. A ‘Glacial Herrscher.’ But Anna Schariac and Chen Tianwu are literal toddlers right now. That Herrscher was supposed to emerge at Coral Island in 2017—why’s it here, in a place that just had a Herrscher?!”

Sirin, eavesdropping, went rigid. “Wait—Babylon Tower? Then that means—”

“It’s gone,” Enoxia said softly. “The entire area’s been erased. Their graves… nothing’s left.”

Bella moved to comfort Sirin, but the latter just patted her shoulder and turned back. “If we don’t intervene… can Schicksal and Anti-Entropy handle this alone?”

“No.”

Fu Hua was still missing in South America meant Schicksal’s combat strength had been significantly weakened. B-rank Valkyries were glorified cleanup crews. Even A-ranks like Cheng Lixue—who couldn’t beat a pseudo-Herrscher with the Water’s Edge—were just support units now.

Meanwhile, the new Herrschers were monsters:

The Glacial Herrscher outclassed Ana and Chen’s future version.
The Wind Herrscher was no joke like the one humiliated by a mech.
The Death Herrscher? Fighting her meant watching your back for Otto’s betrayal.

Of the “reliable” fighters left: