Honkai: Oh No, I’ve Become the Herrscher of Corruption?! - Chapter 32

“Hmph, trying to run? Lightning Whirlwind Slash!”

With Sirin simultaneously wielding the powers of the Herrscher of Wind and the Herrscher of Thunder, the skies above Siberia erupted with lightning and thunder. The true Lightning Whirlwind Strike slammed squarely into the fleeing Herrscher of Ice, sending it flying several kilometers through the air before it crashed heavily into the ground.

As Dr. Einstein had predicted, no Herrscher—no matter how fast—could outrun the Herrscher of the Void, who could teleport at will. The Herrscher of Ice fled desperately while Sirin chased it down, pummeling it relentlessly. Even with its terrifying regenerative abilities, against a quad-core Herrscher, the best it could do was not die.

“Haha☆! Who knew you’d get so weak after shrinking? Even without throwing you into imaginary space, I could take you down all by myself!”

Sirin hadn’t grown stronger—her enemy had just gotten weaker. And so, once again, her ego inflated. The safest, most cost-effective plan would’ve been to toss the Herrscher of Ice into imaginary space and grind it down slowly, but the overconfident Sirin immediately dismissed that idea. She believed that while the Herrscher of Ice had strong regeneration, it had to have a limit. Following the Anti-Entropy doctor’s logic, as long as she pushed past that limit, she could destroy it.

Her judgment wasn’t entirely wrong. If it truly couldn’t be killed under normal circumstances, why would it flee after the self-destruction plan failed?

What she didn’t consider, however, was that killing it “honorably” would consume far more Honkai energy than she imagined. She chased it over 200 kilometers, crippling it hundreds of times—yet it still kept bouncing back.

“Still regenerating? Fine. Let’s see how many more times you can heal. I will defeat you this way!”

Each time the Herrscher of Ice recovered, it didn’t fight back. Instead, it released freezing mist to obscure Sirin’s vision and continued fleeing. No one knew where it was trying to go.

…

Schicksal Headquarters, Floating Island

Otto sat lazily on his throne, listening to Amber’s report.

“Lord Overseer, Anti-Entropy’s plan failed. The Herrscher of Ice sacrificed its collapsing body to escape. Squads A-12 and A-13 have lost contact.”

Though Anti-Entropy’s plan had failed, the Core of the Herrscher of Earth had fallen into the First Herrscher’s hands. The Herrscher of Corruption’s whereabouts were unknown, but it was presumed to still be inside the Herrscher of Ice. As for the Herrscher of the Void’s battle tactics against the Herrscher of Ice… they were somewhat… clumsy. Should Schicksal intervene?”

Otto swirled his glass of red wine and replied unhurriedly, “No need. If the Herrscher of the Void were any smarter, things would become… inconvenient. Mutual destruction is the outcome I desire. Amber, how is the armory?”

“All systems normal. As per your orders, we’ve implemented the new terminal. It exclusively controls high-yield weapons like Honkai fission warheads, making deployment more efficient. However… Lord Overseer, even with the upgrade, if the Herrscher of Corruption attempts to hijack it, Schicksal still has no countermeasures.”

Seeing Amber’s worried expression, Otto merely chuckled.

“I never intended to stop her in the first place.”

“Then…?”

“If she wanted to destroy the world, no one could stop her. The fact that she could control nuclear launches yet hasn’t pressed the button only proves one thing: she and the First Herrscher are the same—capricious, uncooperative, and… well.” Otto drained his wine and rose from his throne. “I’ll be leaving shortly. You’re in charge here.”

“Herrscher of the Void, Herrscher of Corruption… Don’t disappoint me. Instant regeneration from any injury, hm? I wonder if it can even…”

Amber bowed deeply as he walked away.

February 9, 2000, 12:00 PM

Sirin had been chasing the Herrscher of Ice since dawn, and by noon, she was fully committed. Over and over, she blasted it to pieces, only to watch it resurrect each time. But now, its regeneration had slowed significantly, and its speed had dropped. A triumphant grin spread across Sirin’s face.

“A hundred times wasn’t enough? Then a thousand. A thousand wasn’t enough? Then ten thousand. Weren’t you healing just fine earlier? Keep going! Why stop now?”

Pumped up, Sirin raised her hand, summoning another massive lightning orb—but just as she was about to strike, a wave of exhaustion hit her. The orb vanished instantly.

“Huh? What’s… happening? Why… can’t I—?!”

Among all those fighting the Herrscher of Ice, Sirin, with her four Herrscher Cores, was by far the strongest. But her efficiency in using Honkai energy was the worst of any Herrscher so far.

If quantified like a game—where Honkai reserves and damage output were given numerical values—using Welt Yang (the First Herrscher) as a baseline:

• Welt: 100 damage = 1 Honkai energy.
• Sirin: 100 damage = 3, 5, or even more Honkai energy.

Her massive reserves had let her brute-force her way through battles despite the waste. But the Herrscher of Ice wasn’t a normal single-core Herrscher. Even with its stats severely depleted, Sirin had run out of energy.

In theory, the Herrscher of the Void should never exhaust her Honkai energy. But theory ≠ reality. Expecting Sirin—who’d never set foot in a school—to master her powers in days was asking too much.

And just as Sirin faltered, the always-fleeing Herrscher of Ice turned around. Countless ice spikes shot toward her. She barely managed to teleport a few dozen meters before collapsing mid-air like a wounded bird.

“WHY CAN’T I—?!”

Panic and rage didn’t grant her any sudden power. The Herrscher of Ice fired a single ice needle, piercing Sirin’s heart—then fled without a second glance.

In short: This should’ve been an easy win. But Sirin, being reckless and overconfident, had thrown the game.

…

Meanwhile, Bella, flying at full speed, suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest. Since Sirin had stopped moving erratically, she quickly located her.

“My Queen! What happened?!” Seeing Sirin lifeless, Bella panicked.

Fortunately, while Sirin was reckless in battle, she did value her life. After obtaining the Gem of Serenity, she’d stored a portion of Honkai energy in a unique form. Just before her heart was pierced, she used it to activate the Herrscher of Death’s power—regenerating her heart.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Bella kneeling beside her, face twisted in anguish. A mix of guilt and shame flooded her.

Four cores against one, and she still got counter-killed? This was beyond embarrassing.

“Bella… I’m sorry for worrying you.” Sirin gently stroked Bella’s cheek as she stood.

“No! It’s my fault for not arriving sooner. If I’d taken that hit for you—”

Sirin hooked a finger under Bella’s chin, cutting her off.

“I forbid you from doing that. If an attack can injure me, what makes you think you could survive it? You are never to leave my side without my order. Understood?”

“…Yes.”

“I need to recover my energy. Stay with me.” Humbled, Sirin sat down to recharge while Bella stood guard.

Meanwhile, Enoxia (who’d been absent for several chapters) followed the energy flow to what could be considered the Herrscher of Ice’s brain. But the moment she glimpsed its memories, her eyes nearly popped out.

Her two earlier hypotheses:

1. What if a Herrscher’s host wasn’t human, but something with preexisting powers?
2. If Welt could travel to the Honkai Star Rail universe, couldn’t a Pathstrider—or even an Emanator—theoretically come here too?

The Herrscher of Ice’s vessel fulfilled both conditions.

Why did it have such insane regeneration?

The answer was simple:

It was one of the Abundance’s followers.