Honkai: Oh No, I’ve Become the Herrscher of Corruption?! - Chapter 86

With the successful conclusion of the Elysian Realm’s first “Culinary King Championship,” the vast space soon emptied, leaving only Elysia, Enoxia, and Vill-V behind.

“I can understand why Sakura didn’t come—after all, Rin needs time to adjust to her new environment. I can also understand Aponia’s absence. As Griseo put it, ever since Rin arrived in the Elysian Realm, the depths of the ‘Profound’ have grown darker and colder. Clearly, Aponia believes she bears undeniable responsibility for Rin’s death and wants to make amends for her past mistakes. Yet, she fears repeating history—that her good intentions might backfire and hurt Rin again. But the others…”

Elysia smiled faintly. “That just shows you don’t understand them well enough. Take Eden, for example. As perfect as she is in many ways, she’s surprisingly shy when faced with new experiences. If we hold a few more events like this, you’ll definitely see her join in~”

Enoxia thought for a moment and nodded. Among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, Eden was indeed the most conservative in certain aspects. Yet, ironically, this very conservatism coexisted harmoniously with Elysia’s love for novelty, Mobius’ defiance of norms, and Vill-V’s endless creativity—a curious sight in itself.

“Hua didn’t come because she periodically erases her memories with the Fenghuang Down and probably forgot about the event. Su… well, if it were the real Su, he might’ve been interested. But what about Pardofelis? I thought she’d barge in halfway through Kevin’s noodle-cooking to ‘stock up,’ but she never showed up…”

Elysia didn’t answer. Instead, she left with a mysterious smile.

“Seems like Vill-V still has something to discuss with you. Once you’re done here, remember to come to my room.” With a playful wink, Elysia strode away, her steps light and carefree.

Even without using her Authority of Corruption to probe, Enoxia could sense Elysia’s unusually excited mood. Clearly, she had something important to share later.

[Restoration]

With a wave of Enoxia’s hand, the space transformed once more—reverting to a magician’s grand stage. When she turned to Vill-V again, her gaze shifted subtly.

“You’re… the Conductor? Did Baiwei enjoy herself?”

Vill-V (Conductor) nodded slightly. “She said it’s been a long time since she had this much fun. She’s deeply grateful for your help. Combined with the Expert’s satisfaction with your research on the Herrscher of Corruption’s core, as well as your contributions to the Elysian Realm and the other Flame-Chasers… as repayment, all versions of Vill-V are willing to fulfill three requests for you—so long as they don’t violate our principles and are within our capabilities.”

Even as mere memory constructs, “Professor V” was someone whose limits were defined only by imagination. If she could conceive it, she could achieve it.

“Also, regarding the question you posed to Elysia earlier, Mobius and I have discussed it and formed a preliminary hypothesis.”

Enoxia’s eyes lit up, urging her to continue.

“Let’s start from the beginning. Due to the Authority of the Cocoon of Finality, civilizations do not develop continuously but in cycles—each lasting approximately 50,000 years. Unfortunately, by the time our civilization discovered this truth, we no longer had the time or resources to delve deeper.”

“Another fact is this: When the first Herrscher emerged in the Previous Era, our civilization had no prior knowledge of Honkai or Herrschers. It wasn’t until the third… or perhaps fourth Herrscher was defeated that someone proposed the idea—could Herrschers and Honkai Beasts be ancient demons reawakening? To investigate, specialized organizations were formed to conduct archaeological digs worldwide.”

“You mentioned that in the Current Era, aside from World Serpent, organizations like Schicksal and Anti-Entropy have also inherited fragments of the Previous Era’s legacy—such as the First Divine Key, Void Archives, and the Ninth Divine Key, Eden’s Star…”

“A brief aside—while I know it’s somewhat inappropriate for us, as memory constructs, to influence the Current Era, I must admit, the man you described—Otto Apocalypse—fascinates me. Gaining Void Archives’ recognition, repairing the damaged Judah, and establishing Schicksal as a well-oiled machine… What an intriguing individual. Though I’ve no interest in politics, I’m aware of the infighting within Fire MOTH. Yet, all his actions were motivated by… well, let’s just say such sentiments would’ve been unimaginable in our era of cold rationality. Ahem—I digress.”

“In any case, whether they genuinely believed in the ‘ancient demons’ theory or were merely along for the ride, these efforts yielded nothing. As you said, our civilization started from absolute zero—no traces of prior knowledge about Herrschers or Honkai remained on Earth.”

“Initially, Mobius and I theorized that the Herrschers of the pre-Previous Era were simply too powerful, erasing all traces of human civilization. But this explanation has flaws.”

“As you know, Elysia’s existence was a statistical miracle. In other cycles, Herrschers would’ve been mindless puppets of destruction—not sentient beings. Thus, they wouldn’t deliberately suppress humanity’s attempts to pass down knowledge. The only possibility is that their indiscriminate devastation incidentally wiped out all information.”

Enoxia nodded in agreement. She understood well that the Cocoon’s purpose was to embrace civilizations, not exterminate them. It wouldn’t actively prevent one era from leaving legacies for the next.

“However, stronger Herrschers imply stronger civilizations—and stronger civilizations would’ve developed spaceflight earlier. The people of other cycles couldn’t have been fools; when Earth became unsalvageable, someone would’ve inevitably thought of escape. During Finality’s descent, Griseo aboard the Ark remained unharmed. With more advanced technology, more people could’ve boarded such arks, venturing even farther. Thus, ‘overpowered Herrschers’ can’t be the reason.”

“Then, based on your existence, we proposed a second hypothesis: What if, in a prior cycle, the first Herrscher to emerge was the Herrscher of Corruption—seizing control of all electronic devices before humanity could react? Under such circumstances, not even the simplest spacecraft could leave Earth.”

“But we quickly dismissed this idea—because of Elysia, and because of the Cocoon’s age.”

*”The Cocoon has existed for at least hundreds of millions of years. With 50,000-year cycles, that’s over a thousand iterations. Statistically, it’s impossible for every cycle to be unlucky enough to face the Herrscher of Corruption first. Just as our era had Elysia, other cycles must’ve had their own improbable miracles favoring humanity.”*

“No matter the cycle, when the end comes, heroes and geniuses will rise. Even starting from scratch, any method we could conceive, they would’ve thought of as well.”

As Vill-V’s analysis continued, Enoxia’s frown deepened.

“Finally, we found a possible answer in your own experiences. Recall what you told us—that as long as you don’t assume your current form, you can stroll past Schicksal’s bases undetected, fooling all instruments. Correct?”

Enoxia nodded.

“Whether in combat or research, we rely on tools and equipment. But what if the civilizations before ours lacked the means to detect the truth?”

Enoxia’s eyes widened. “But if their technology was primitive, their Herrschers would’ve been weaker—or nonexistent… Wait, you mean—”

Vill-V smirked. “What if a civilization was so underdeveloped that no Herrschers emerged before Finality? They’d have no means to convey any meaningful knowledge to the next era.”

After a moment of contemplation, Enoxia’s expression shifted to one of shock.

“Vill-V, I do need your help with something now—and likely Mobius’ as well.”

“When’s the next available entry window into the Quantum Sea?”