Honkai: Oh No, I’ve Become the Herrscher of Corruption?! - Chapter 99

Bella had just thought of fleeing when the figure before her dissolved into a wisp of black mist, shooting straight into her body.

“Why why why, why won’t you just embrace me? Ah, I know—it must be because of Sirin, right? No matter, no matter. If I rewrite every trace of Sirin in your mind and replace it with myself, won’t you become my very own Judgment-class Honkai Beast? Ahahahaha…”

Feeling something invade her, Bella panicked like an ant on a hot skillet.

“What do I do? If I really get controlled by her, the Queen… will be very upset, won’t she? Right, Enoxia once said that the stronger one’s willpower, the lower the chance of being corrupted… But… but it’s not like I can just magically boost my willpower whenever I want… Huh?”

Bella nervously shut her eyes, yet after a long while, she felt no abnormality—no gaps in her memories, no changes to her cognition.

Meanwhile, [Enoxia] had infiltrated Bella’s mind.

“Let’s see what’s inside that head of yours…”

“SirinSirinSirinSirinSirinSirinSirinSirinSirinSirinSirinSirin…………”

A tidal wave of Bella’s thoughts about Sirin surged forth, nearly sweeping [Enoxia] away.

From the moment Bella had gained the ability to think, her thoughts had revolved solely around Sirin—either Sirin herself or things related to her. Only in the deepest, most obscure corners were there fragments about Enoxia, Ivan, and a few others.

“So what if it’s all Sirin? With the Herrscher of Corruption’s power, I’ll just turn all your feelings for Sirin into feelings for me. Then, I’ll bring this rewritten Bella before Sirin, watch that pufferfish roll around crying and screaming, and finally, for Bella’s sake, willingly lower her guard and let me corrupt her… That way… Sirin and Bella will be with me forever, and I’ll always be the most important person to them…”

The plan was beautiful. But at the very first step—when the corrupting force tried to alter Bella’s cognition—it slammed into an impenetrable wall.

“Why?! Fine, if I can’t corrupt Sirin, that’s one thing—but Bella isn’t even a Herrscher! Why won’t it work on her?!”

The answer was simple: the Pseudo-Herrscher of Thunder core inside Bella, the key to her dragon-girl form. Though she was only a pseudo-Herrscher, the [Enoxia] before her was, at best, a pseudo-Herrscher of Corruption.

Just as the true Herrscher of Corruption couldn’t corrupt Raiden Mei, this pseudo-Herrscher of Corruption was blocked by the electromagnetic barrier within Bella’s body. Peeking at a fraction of her memories was already the limit.

“Oh, so you’re not the real Herrscher of Corruption? Then I won’t hold back.”

Bella activated her Pseudo-Herrscher of Thunder authority and launched a full-scale assault on [Enoxia]. As lightning closed in from all directions, [Enoxia] could feel her connection to [that place] being severed bit by bit. If she didn’t flee now, she’d be obliterated inside Bella’s body.

So, just as Bella was contemplating her next move, [Enoxia] hastily ejected herself from Bella’s body, looking thoroughly disheveled.

“Damn it! Why is it that another Herrscher gets to monopolize you forever, but I can’t? You’re just a useless waste who doesn’t even know how to use your Herrscher powers—”

“CRACK—ZZZT!”

A terrifying bolt of lightning pierced through [Enoxia]’s body, sending her crashing to the ground.

As she struggled to get up, Bella descended from above, stomping hard on her back. The ground caved in, forming a crater several meters wide.

If not for the fact that she was a Herrscher’s avatar, capable of switching between physical and data forms, her spine would have shattered on the spot, leaving her writhing in unconscious agony.

“Fine, fine, I admit it—normal methods won’t work on you. But as long as I stay in my data form, you can’t do anything to me either!”

“And I… can keep battering your mind until you obediently submit!”

With that, [Enoxia]’s body reconstituted itself, this time taking on Sirin’s appearance—identical down to the eyes and hair color.

She examined herself, nodded in satisfaction, and then lunged at Bella.

“See? Now my body can be exactly like hers. My voice, my face—I can make them indistinguishable from hers. If you stay by my side, I can be Sirin forever—your Sirin, the Sirin who holds you tight and never lets go.”

“Heck, tell me how you want your ‘Sirin’ to be, and I’ll change. I’ll alter my memories, my values, my very perception of the world until I perfectly match the Sirin in your mind. Even if—”

The moment [Sirin]’s body materialized, Bella blasted her away with an electromagnetic cannon.

“If your goal was to piss me off, congratulations—you’ve succeeded!”

[Sirin] shifted back into her data form and floated beside Bella again.

“Why? I can do things the real Sirin never could. Why can’t you treat me as her substitute, the way you do her?”

“The Queen would never speak in such a disgusting tone!”

“The Queen can be whoever she wants to be. The Queen I idealize is the Queen she chooses to be. If she wants to destroy the world, then the world-destroying her is the her of my dreams—I’ll help her slaughter everyone she wants dead and burn everything she wants gone.”

“If the Queen wants to save the world, then the world-saving her is the her I cherish—I’ll help her protect all she wishes to shield.”

“If the Queen wants to do nothing at all, then the carefree, lazy her is the her I adore—I’ll be her most devoted caretaker, doing everything to keep her happy and at peace.”

“No matter which her she is, she has nothing to do with trash like you. If Enoxia were here, you’d already be devoured!”

“B-but… Bella, your appearance, your name, your voice—they all mean Sirin sees you as a substitute for someone else! You—”

[Sirin] was startled to see the anger on Bella’s face fade.

“You know, I’d never really thought about it before. The Queen gave me her friend’s name and appearance—doesn’t that mean she wants me to be her closest friend too?”

“You’re just a stand-in! A tool for her to reminisce about the past!”

Bella blinked at [Sirin], puzzled.

“As the Queen’s possession, if I can serve as her way of remembering the past, doesn’t that mean I have value by her side?”

[Sirin]’s eyes widened. “You’re a Judgment-class Honkai Beast and a Pseudo-Herrscher—the strongest beneath the Herrschers, a one-of-a-kind existence in this era!”

Bella scratched her head. “So… what does that have to do with me belonging to the Queen?”

“Uh… So you rummaged through my mind for so long and still don’t understand my feelings for the Queen? Even for a pseudo-Herrscher of Corruption, you’re seriously pathetic.”