Honkai: Oh No, I’ve Become the Herrscher of Corruption?! - Chapter 59

“Oh? Instead of running away, you’re approaching a Herrscher?”

As Kalpas snarled those incendiary words and closed the distance, Sirin summoned a barrage of Void Lances, hurling them toward him. Little did she know what awaited her.

With a single stomp of his right foot, Kalpas unleashed a shockwave that shattered the lances mid-air before they could even graze him.

Sirin’s heart lurched. She immediately took to the skies, but before she could launch another attack, Kalpas was already beside her, firing searing flame projectiles. Only a hastily erected Imaginary Barrier saved her from being scorched.

As Kalpas landed and leapt again, Sirin teleported frantically, barely dodging his fist. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and an indescribable dread seeped into her veins—a fear she hadn’t even felt when facing Welt’s pseudo-black hole.

Kalpas gave her no time to think. A meteor shower of flame rounds rained down from all directions, forcing her to blink nonstop to avoid being hit.

“Pathetic. Can’t even entertain me, Herrscher?”

His taunt only fueled Sirin’s agitation.

“Damn it… I need to get closer. Wait—I’ve got it!”

A translucent spear materialized in her hand. She teleported point-blank and thrust it at Kalpas—only for the weapon to phase harmlessly through him. Sensing the failed strike, Sirin tanked a punch head-on behind her barrier before warping away.

After several repetitions, the spear still did nothing. Kalpas, now wise to her game, didn’t even bother dodging the next strike.

“Heh. Fallen into my trap!”

The moment Kalpas grew complacent, Sirin activated her reality-warping ability, solidifying the spear—and impaling him clean through the chest.

But her smirk froze. The spear was stuck. She couldn’t pull it out.

“HAHAHAHA—HAHAHA!”

Panicking, Sirin tried to teleport away, but Kalpas anticipated her. A blistering heatwave erupted from his body, hurling her backward.

“Annoying as a mosquito, but at least that kept me irritated. And here I thought you’d do better, Herrscher.”

A light flashed across his mask—then his entire body darkened to crimson. To Sirin, Kalpas in his Mantis form was a demon straight from hell.

“Don’t run. Face me!” He stomped, and a Pillar of Cataclysm erupted from the ground.

In one motion, he hurled it skyward and shattered it with a punch. The fragments rained down like meteors, trailing fire across the entire airspace. Paralyzed by fear, Sirin’s Herrscher abilities faltered. Instinct screamed at her to flee—but there was only one safe zone.

A trap Kalpas had set.

He lunged the second she teleported, appearing right before her.

BOOM!

Sirin was kicked into the ground, cratering the earth. Her barrier might as well not have existed. She now mirrored Yamcha’s iconic pose.

Kalpas, unrelenting, strode toward her and raised his foot—only for an invisible wall to block his strike. No matter how he punched or kicked, it held firm.

[System Restore]

From the sidelines, Enoxia tapped a key. Instantly, Kalpas reverted to human form, his rage subsiding.

“Tch. Whatever.” He scoffed and walked off. Enoxia then restored Sirin’s stats with a keystroke.

Sirin staggered up, shaking her head before grabbing Elysia’s arm. “Bella—where’s Bella? Is she okay?”

Enoxia patted her head gently. “Relax. In this data realm, nothing happens to her. Come on—she’s waiting.”

Back in the lobby, Bella, who’d been pacing anxiously, rushed to Sirin the moment she appeared.

Though Enoxia healed her injuries, the psychological scars from Kalpas would need Cecilia’s comfort to mend.

Before the challenge, both Enoxia and Elysia had warned her: “Just surrender if it’s too much. We’ll save you.” Losing to a boss wasn’t shameful—it was just a game. But Sirin, ever overconfident, learned the hard way what happens when you face the man who tears Herrschers apart.

If Sirin had at least lasted minutes against Kalpas, Bella’s fight was a one-sided beatdown from start to finish.

Transported to a grassy arena, her opponent was Kosma—a boy even slighter than Kalpas. Like Sirin, Bella underestimated him… until he activated his Mantis form.

She blasted him with dragonfire, but Kosma dodged effortlessly, closed the gap, and slapped her into the dirt.

In this era, only two Judgment-class beasts existed: Bella and Chiyou. But the previous civilization had seen far worse. Kosma’s Vishnu genes alone evolved into a Cataclysm-level threat.

What followed was pure domination. The blue monstrosity pummeled Bella so brutally she couldn’t tell who was the human and who was the beast.

Thankfully, Kosma wasn’t Kalpas. He retained control post-transformation and left the battlefield once Bella was down, returning to guard Greysio.

“Oh dear… Kalpas might’ve been too ‘enthusiastic.’ Do you think Sirin will…?” Elysia trailed off, but Enoxia understood.

If there was one thing certain about Sirin, it was that no amount of humiliation could crush her ego for long. She’d always bounce back—and inevitably overestimate herself again.

But the idea of her staying down? Impossible.

After all, if she could regain her arrogance so quickly after a beating, didn’t that mean her confidence healed fast?