Honkai: Oh No, I’ve Become the Herrscher of Corruption?! - Chapter 20

Within a radius of a hundred meters, the ground turned a deep crimson. Countless golden gears of varying sizes floated in the air and along the edges of the barrier, arranged in an orderly pattern. Chains extended from the gears, their spear-tipped ends embedded in the blood-red ground.

The blizzard had stopped. Welt halted the power of the Star of Eden, yet the surrounding gravity remained normal—undeniable proof that the Divine Benediction Barrier was operating successfully.

Seeing that Theresa could still stand while gripping one of the chain-spears within the barrier, Enoxia let out a sigh of relief. When Theresa had charged forward while the others retreated, Enoxia had already guessed her intentions. But since it was only February 8th, she worried that Theresa might not have fully mastered the Divine Benediction Barrier yet and was pushing herself too hard. Fortunately, her fears proved unfounded.

“Even though the cold is gone, it feels like my body is being torn apart. Just standing here drains all my strength.” Inside the barrier, Theresa leaned heavily on the chain-spear, gasping for breath as sweat beaded on her forehead.

“I only have a minute… I need to hurry.” She yanked the spear from the ground and forced her leaden legs forward, trudging with immense effort toward the Herrscher of Glacial Meteors.

Seeing Theresa on the verge of collapse, many wanted to help. But they knew the Divine Benediction Barrier made no distinction between friend and foe—the moment they stepped inside, they would lose all combat ability. Not only would they be useless, they’d become a burden. Yet watching their comrade endure unimaginable pain alone while they could do nothing was its own kind of torment.

Using the chain-spear as a crutch, Theresa dragged herself forward step by step. A distance of just over ten meters took her nearly half a minute.

“This ends now.” She raised the spear high and drove it straight into the Herrscher’s left chest.

What should have happened next was simple: Oath of Judah would completely seal the Herrscher’s Honkai energy. Without energy, no ability could be activated. The crisis would be resolved, and the Herrscher core could be extracted for research.

If nothing went wrong.

The moment the spear made contact, a sinister black mist erupted from Judah’s core, flowing down the chains and into the Herrscher’s body. The chains thrashed wildly, no longer under control.

“Impossible! How can the Herrscher still have energy fluctuations inside the Divine Benediction Barrier?!”

Where there had been no facial features before, a pair of emerald-green serpentine eyes snapped open. The instant Theresa met that gaze, a sharp pain pierced her chest. Her expression twisted in shock—her connection with Judah had been severed.

“Judah, what’s wrong?!” she screamed inwardly, gripping the chains tightly. But in the next moment, a repulsive force erupted from Judah, hurling her backward. Already at her limit, Theresa lost consciousness. Barely thirty seconds later, the Divine Benediction Barrier collapsed.

Everything had happened too fast. The only thing Theresa could be sure of was that the energy fluctuation from the Herrscher of Glacial Meteors… was not Honkai energy.

Reacting swiftly to the sudden turn of events, Welt adjusted the gravity around them with the Star of Eden, sending Theresa’s airborne body drifting further away. Cecilia leaped into the air, catching her safely before landing back on the ground.

The moment the barrier fully dissipated, a blizzard fiercer than before erupted. Combined with the attacks from the glacial needles and meteoric ice lanterns, Siegfried and the others could barely defend themselves, let alone mount an offensive.

“Ah… Cecilia, you ended up saving me after all.” Theresa slowly opened her eyes, realizing she was cradled like a baby in Cecilia’s arms.

Seeing Cecilia shielding her while fending off the Herrscher’s attacks, guilt welled up inside her. She tried to move her legs, to stand on her own, but her exhausted body refused to obey.

“Wait, where is everyone?!” Enoxia suddenly realized that with Theresa out of commission and Cecilia occupied, she was the only one left who could attack the Herrscher. Hiding behind a controlled Emperor-class Honkai Beast, she fired arrows during brief lulls in the enemy’s assault.

The Honkai-energy-infused arrows did minimal damage—better than nothing, but against the Herrscher’s terrifying regeneration, Enoxia knew her attacks were meaningless.

As for using her own Authority to corrode the Herrscher of Glacial Meteors? Absolutely not. Corrupting a newly born Herrscher of Death who had wanted to die had already pushed her to her limits. For an unawakened, single-core Herrscher like her to attempt corrupting a dual-core Herrscher that had gained unknown power? Without weakening it first, success was impossible.

Beneath its serpentine eyes, a hollow gap opened—perhaps a mouth. It clamped onto one of Judah’s chains and slurped it down like noodles. To everyone’s shock, it swallowed the entire Divine Key of Binding.

But soon after, it convulsed as if it had eaten something foul, violently expelling Judah’s chains. However, it deliberately aimed the spewing chains—straight at Welt.

Against a Herrscher that could also manipulate gravity, Welt—though an excellent support in neutralizing debuffs—struggled to deal damage using the Star of Eden. No matter how he countered its gravity, it could counter back in the same way. Same techniques, no way to break the stalemate. Caught off-guard while constructing a pseudo-Divine Key, Welt was instantly ensnared by the chains and dragged toward the Herrscher. Bound by the Divine Key, he couldn’t move—only watch helplessly as he was devoured.

After swallowing Welt, the Herrscher shuddered violently before vomiting out the entire Oath of Judah. The cross-shaped weapon now lay on the snow, wreathed in a sinister black aura, barely recognizable as the same Divine Key.

“This is bad!” Seeing Welt taken, Enoxia tried to seize an opening to rescue him, but it was futile. Not that she was worried—Welt was infamous for his resilience. He wouldn’t die from something like this. He’d probably revive in no time.

But without Welt, the battlefield descended into chaos. Whether due to absorbing him or not, the Herrscher of Glacial Meteors unleashed even greater power. A blue beam shot into the sky as its body rapidly expanded, its Honkai energy levels skyrocketing.

Simultaneously, gravity across the battlefield multiplied. The ground cracked under the pressure, and everyone except Enoxia was crushed to the ground as if bearing a mountain’s weight.

Two meteoric ice lanterns dropped, spinning like tops as they homed in on the Valkyries. Above, countless ice crystals gathered at terrifying speed, forming a mass over ten meters in diameter—and still growing. Unlike in games, the Herrscher could attack with multiple abilities at once. Enoxia was certain: once this charged attack landed, no one except her would survive.