Honkai: Oh No, I’ve Become the Herrscher of Corruption?! - Chapter 8

February 5, 2000 – Crimean Peninsula

Enoxia let out a quiet sigh of relief as she looked down at the unconscious forms of Sirin and Benares.

“Good. I gambled right.”

Even without the Immortal’s presence, Otto had still found a way to let Sirin escape—just as she’d predicted. The fact that they’d made it here meant her bet had paid off.

Holding out the Core of Thunder, Enoxia watched as it dissolved into Sirin’s body the moment it made contact. The girl’s breathing gradually steadied.

“Huh. No trip to the moon, no help from the Will of the Honkai, yet she can still absorb another Herrscher core with zero resistance? Guess she’s just naturally built for this.”

She glanced around the secluded hideout.

“With the Immortal (Fu Hua) away and no way for Schicksal to track us if we lay low… this Second Honkai War might as well be over.”

The thought brought her no joy. The last thing she wanted was to watch Sirin and Schicksal tear each other apart while Otto—the real architect of this tragedy—walked away unscathed for another seventeen years.

Just thinking about Otto made her blood boil. His experiments on Sirin, his manipulations of Welt Yang, the countless lives he’d ruined—all for his selfish obsession.

Yet, grudgingly, she had to admit: the world still needed him.

At least for now.

Theresa, barely into her twenties, wasn’t ready to lead Schicksal. Without Otto, the organization would fracture—possibly even collapse into civil war. With nine more Herrschers still to come and the Immortal missing, humanity wouldn’t last long enough to implement the Stigmata Project.

“But hiding forever isn’t an option either…”

She toyed with the idea of negotiating with Otto directly—demanding Sirin’s freedom in exchange for… what?

The thought died as quickly as it came.

“First, even if he agreed, he’d never honor it. You can trust Otto’s love for Kallen, but never his word. Betrayal comes as naturally to him as breathing.”

“Second, I’m just some washed-up college student in this life. He’s a 500-year-old master schemer. I’d walk out of that ‘negotiation’ with a leash around my neck and a receipt for my own sale.”

Her one advantage was foreknowledge: she knew his ultimate goal was reviving Kallen. But that realization brought its own horrors.

“Without the Will of the Honkai’s guidance, he’ll still eventually grasp the truth: the dead can’t return. ‘The world permits a new vessel for consciousness, but not the gathering of scattered will’—that’s this world’s iron law. Given time, he’ll pivot to Plan B: creating a new timeline.”

And for that, he’d need a certain embittered Herrscher of the Void…

Decision made, Enoxia shelved the Otto problem. For now, staying hidden was their best move.

“At least he doesn’t know about me yet. Though…” She grimaced. “With Void Archives, he’s probably already guessed an Erosion Herrscher exists. Good thing I can rewrite my own data signature.”

Babylon Tower – Same Time

A certain lobster-haired scientist’s scream echoed through the halls:

“Chicken-head! Two days! It’s been TWO DAYS! If not for that ambush, Joachim would’ve captured the Second Herrscher by now! Move your ass!”

Tesla hammered at her keyboard to no avail.

“Panicking won’t help, Doctor Tesla.” Einstein sipped her tea and approached the bed where Welt Yang lay. “How are you feeling, Overseer?”

Being kidney-shot by Otto’s sneak attack hadn’t been pleasant. Even as the Herrscher of Reason, Welt’s recovery was slow.

“I’ll live. Perhaps this is for the best. Next time we meet the Herrscher of Void, with more patience on both sides… maybe we can avoid fighting altogether.”

“Joachim, you’re barely standing and still worrying about others?” Tesla stormed over, thrusting out an apple she’d carved into something resembling abstract art.

As the two bickered, Einstein turned to Theresa. “Any updates from Schicksal?”

“Same as Anti-Entropy. All electronics were down—even the theft alert for the Gem of Thunder failed. Searching for a teleporting Herrscher on foot is… impractical.” Theresa sighed. “It’s been two days. If she’s recovered while we’re still organizing search parties…”

Einstein nodded. “Pre-Civilization records suggest only the 12th Herrscher—Erosion—could cripple global systems so swiftly. Yet it caused no destruction. Almost as if… it wanted Sirin to escape.”

Modern understanding of Herrschers came entirely from fragmented Pre-Civilization data. Of Erosion, even those archives said little.

“Huh? Chicken-head, communications are back! Our call to New York went through!” Tesla’s sudden shout interrupted their musings.

Theresa’s device buzzed too. “Grandfather? Yes, I’m unharmed. Still at Babylon Tower…”

She hung up, relieved. “Schicksal’s systems are stabilizing. Aside from the missing Gem, there’s no damage or casualties. Grandfather agrees—this bears Erosion’s fingerprints.”

“Ha! Some ‘Herrscher.’ All that fuss for nothing!” Tesla immediately began typing. Then her smirk vanished. “What the—?!”

“Problem?”

“The Second Herrscher’s signature… it’s gone! Vanished from detection grids entirely!”

…

How did organizations like Schicksal identify Herrschers before they displayed powers?

Through monitoring systems.

And if every Honkai-energy detector on the planet had been… adjusted to ignore three specific signatures?

That’s how Enoxia had waltzed out of Schicksal HQ with the Gem of Thunder undetected.

Devices wouldn’t flag her, Sirin, or Benares—no matter how much power they used.

Against regular Valkyries, she’d simply overwrite their motor functions, erased their memories, and walked away.

As long as she avoided Cecilia, Otto, or the Immortal, Schicksal’s most secure facilities were her playground.

Of course, with more Herrschers coming, permanently disabling detection systems would make her the Honkai’s greatest ally.

So she’d spent those two days carefully rewriting every scanner’s parameters worldwide—adding a very specific whitelist.

Now, the Second Honkai War could end with a whisper, not a bang.