Honkai: Oh No, I’ve Become the Herrscher of Corruption?! - Chapter 95

(Switching to Sirin’s perspective…)

When her consciousness returned, Sirin found herself in an unfamiliar city, standing before what looked like a bustling marketplace. The honking of cars, the shouts of street vendors, the bickering of people haggling over prices… Sirin stood frozen in place for a long moment before her mind finally started working again.

“So… I’ve ended up in a World Bubble? Bella and Enoxia might be here too. I should look for them first.”

She took a step forward—only for an out-of-control car to suddenly careen into the street. Pedestrians scrambled out of the way, but a little girl, no more than two or three years old, remained rooted in place.

Sirin acted instantly, teleporting to the child’s side and shoving her out of harm’s way. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a white-robed figure raising their right hand—only to pause in surprise upon seeing her sudden movement before lowering their arm again.

The runaway car continued forward until it slammed into a wall with a deafening crash, finally coming to a stop. The shaken crowd murmured among themselves, craning their necks to see what had happened.

The little girl in Sirin’s arms was clearly terrified. The moment Sirin let go, she stumbled into her mother’s embrace, sobbing uncontrollably before being carried into a nearby fruit shop.

Watching the scene, Sirin couldn’t help but feel a pang of emotion. If she had been the one in danger just now… Memories of the past flooded her mind—the image of her own mother passing away before her eyes still vivid even now.

But she quickly shook her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips. She knew that if something like that happened to her now, she could still cry and fuss in the arms of another mother.

“That was impressive, miss. Thank you for saving Sally.”

It turned out the girl’s parents owned the fruit shop. Noticing Sirin’s lingering gaze on the apples, the man handed her a bag.

“Would you like some apples, miss?”

Sirin didn’t refuse his kindness. After taking seven or eight apples, she continued on her way, relieved when no one gave her strange looks.

“Phew~ Looks like no one realized I’m a Herrscher. Hehe, guess I’m pretty good at hiding it after all ☆”

Tossing the first apple core aside, she strode forward confidently.

“Asphalt roads, fruit shops, schools, cars… This World Bubble isn’t much different from the outside world. Wait—no, no, no! Why am I sightseeing? I still don’t know where Enoxia and Bella are!”

After taking another bite of her apple, she lightly slapped her cheeks, her expression turning serious again as she activated the Authority of the Void to sense the surrounding space.

“…No good. Without Enoxia nearby, I can teleport hundreds of kilometers, but I don’t have their coordinates. Maybe I should try random jumps… No, no, bad idea.”

She immediately dismissed the thought. Before entering the Sea of Quanta, Enoxia had warned her: If you enter an unfamiliar world, avoid using Herrscher abilities unless absolutely necessary. Not only would randomly appearing out of thin air draw attention, but teleporting without coordinates could send her who-knows-where.

“Sigh… Guess I’ll have to walk.”

Her brief excitement quickly faded. Taking another bite of her apple, she trudged forward.

However, the unfamiliar-yet-familiar city soon caught her attention again, and before long, she found herself absorbed in exploring the streets.

As she wandered, she saw many new and curious things, wishing she had the money to buy them.

The city wasn’t very large. By nightfall, judging from the surroundings, she had reached what seemed like… the outskirts, where people grew scarce.

Though, as a Herrscher, she didn’t need to eat or sleep, the thought of going a whole day without Bella’s cooking left her feeling oddly empty.

“The ordinary people in this city aren’t any stronger than those in Siberia, so Bella and Enoxia should be fine… Hm?”

A white-robed figure dashed past her at incredible speed, sending an inexplicable chill down her spine.

The next moment, countless searchlights blazed to life. Sirin instinctively shielded her eyes as several cars appeared out of nowhere, surrounding them with a group of white-coated researchers and dozens of heavily armed soldiers.

“Two Herrschers at once… What a pleasant surprise.”

The white robe slipped away, revealing a blue-eyed, white-haired girl with a ponytail. The moment Sirin saw her face, her eyes widened.

“You’re… Kiana?”

The girl smiled faintly and shook her head.

“I’m not her. I’m sorry for dragging you into this. When I use my Authority, run—as fast as you can. If you don’t, they’ll capture you for experiments…”

Clearly, their conversation wasn’t happening in frozen time. The soldiers raised their rifles and opened fire.

Instantly, walls of ice formed around them as the temperature plummeted.

“Bullets can’t hurt a Herrscher… Wait, how?! What kind of bullets are these?!”

A single volley shattered the ice. The lead researcher, wielding a staff-like weapon, fired a strange beam of light that passed through the girl’s body, sapping her strength instantly.

“The Lethe Sting… Oberon, you even brought that out… I’m truly honored.”

The girl gave a bitter smile as a second beam struck a bewildered Sirin. Her face was full of remorse.

“Two precious test subjects… Today really is my lucky day. Hahaha…”

But his laughter died in his throat when he saw Sirin standing completely unharmed.

“Impossible! The connection between the Herrscher core and ‘It’ should’ve been severed! Why is she still standing?! Kill her! I’ll take her corpse back for study!”

“Snap.”

Sirin flicked her fingers—and hundreds of portals tore open in the sky. Countless Honkai beasts poured out.

Oberon’s instruments immediately went haywire.

“Over 2000 HW… What… What kind of monster are you?!”

Though the soldiers’ bullets were powerful—capable of killing a Chariot-class Honkai beast in a single shot—their firing rate was painfully slow, requiring manual reloading after each round. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the battle quickly turned into a one-sided slaughter. Sirin didn’t even move as the ground before her turned into a bloodbath.

When it was over, confirming only two survivors remained, she snapped her fingers again, and the Honkai beasts retreated into the void.

Her expression was icy as she surveyed the mangled corpses. The moment she heard they wanted to use her as a test subject, their fate had been sealed.

Picking up the Lethe Sting, Sirin grabbed the white-haired girl and teleported several times, covering dozens of kilometers in minutes.

By then, the girl had recovered from her weakened state.

“I didn’t expect you to be this strong. Thank you.”

Coming from another Herrscher, the praise made Sirin—who usually struggled in fights—beam with pride.

“Oh, right. You said you’re not Kiana, so… who are you?”

The girl smiled bitterly again. *”I’m a clone created from her genes in a lab. My designation is… K-423.”*

“Then… where’s Kiana?”

K-423 looked stunned, then confused. After a long pause, she finally spoke.

“It seems you really don’t know… Three years ago, Kiana… she already died.”