This city was verted into a defensive front in the western ti. pared to the eastern ti, it had more natural ndmasses. The wild beasts that evolved due to the honkai energy were their least of worries.

  The number of honkai beasts in such a pce exceeded that of normal. Add to that the two secutive major honkai eruption, coupled with a few small-scale eruptions, it was enough to destroy small towns and amass a huge number of undead.

  The area beside the highway was filled with hundreds of green trees.

  Now, more than half of them y to the ground in half along with the huge tempr-css honkai beasts.

  Looking at the huge span of colteral damages, Dystopia knew what it was to fight alongside Aleph.

  The tter was staring in a certain dire, sing the remaining honkai beasts in his sight.

  “Sir Aleph.”

  “Hm? Oh. You’re Elysia’s adjutant, am I correct?”

  “Yes.”

  Bam-!

  A loud sound disrupted their talks. They saw a huge honkai beast in the shape of an eagle crashing down into the city. It fell down into several ten-storey buildings before its momentum died down. A rather rge dust cloud arose from the city.

  The strong honkai energy immediately suggested who took a.

  “My job isn’t finished yet. I’ll go meet everyone once I finish ing them up.”

  He poiowards the swathes of honkai beasts and undead. The tter took the bulk of their numbers.

  “I uand.”

  After she was greeted with Aleph’s smile, the tter’s figure swiftly disappeared from her eyes.

  ‘That strength…’

  Dystopia couldn’t help but think how exaggerated it was pared to his prior feats.

  *****

  ‘It’s not bad to unwind.’

  Aleph did not sweat much during this battle. pared to his current strength, emperor-css honkai beasts were no longer his match; even the Herrschers, given they came at him in batches of one or two.

  Only the Herrscher of the End and the Co posed a threat to him.

  [Achievement Obtained: Easy Difficulty?]

  [Easy Difficulty?: Defeat aire army all by yourself without any difficulties.]

  [Achievement Obtained: Modder]

  [Modder: Use fshy attacks to win in a fight.]

  …

  Several achievements popped up in his sight. Their rewards weren’t as signifit as to the ones he got before.

  Though, there are still times when Aleph mao receive a few ‘etric’ rewards.

  One such example came from the [Modder] achievement.

  [Visual Effects: Every time you perform an attack using Yamato, all visual effects are enhahis sensory disruption affects life of all levels.]

  ‘...Really?’

  Aleph deadpa this seemingly useless reward. Uhis plicated mood, he crushed the [Major Energy Boxes] that he got at this moment.

  [Cursed Energy (verted): 15,450 → 15,650]

  The five boxes gave him a total of 200 energy units. It was a small amount pared to what he got now, but it was better than nothing.

  Tap.

  Aleph nded ihe city. The one who waited for him was a familiar pink-haired woman.

  As usual, her beauty caught the eyes of many. Aleph was no exception, though it urely due to it. Her previously ‘strong’ charm became objective in his eyes.

  “You… must have held back.”

  Elysia ged the words she was about to say when she felt his drastic ges.

  Back then, she was able to see through Kurumi’s information barrier. It was given she could have a grasp of Aleph’s strength.

  She saw the traces of ‘something strong’ at that time. She surmised it was one of the reasons h became very strong.

  Now…

  It was as if she was staring in front of a mountain-sized dragon.

  “Eh? You’re right this time.”

  Aleph sensed Elysia’s previous emotions before. He wondered why she suddenly ‘ged’ just like that.

  ‘It’s firmed, then…’

  He chose not to speak of this to anyone else.

  “Anyways, Mobius should have sent the details to you. Sakura, Vill-V, and Kevin underwent this procedure already.”

  “Hum.”

  It was a rare serious time. Elysia listeo Aleph’s expnations without interrupting him.

  “This is our failsafe for now. It should be fio use it on others once we deal with possible traitors.”

  “No worries. I got it.”

  Soon, the two arrived in the lowest basement floor of the Fire MOTH’s headquarters in this city. It was a huge hangar filled with dozens of crates. taiherein were obsolete maery that were kept as seal objects within this branch.

  “Ahem. You should prepare yourself. You will e out naked ohe process ends.”

  His warning was met with Elysia’s teasing.

  “Hm? Are you going to peak?”

  “Of course not.”

  Aleph’s gaze saw his right pinky finger beiangled with four thirings. He already felt guilty about what he did with Hua.

  At the very least, he should have given Mobius and Mei a heads-up and wished for the best. He did not do that. Now, he repared to face it.

  “Is. It. True~?”

  Elysia leaned slightly forward to him.

  Unfortunately for her, Aleph was locked in his thoughts—rather, worries. It was an added yer of defense against her teasing, and as such, it wasn’t as effective as before.

  “Yes, yes. If there’s someone in this world who wouldn’t peek at you, it would be me.”

  He replied with a proud tone as he took a chair out of the er of the room.

  Elysia was half-disappointed and half-fused with his responses.

  Little did she know that after all those intimate tacts, Aleph’s mental fortitude was increased. Add to that the extra yer of defense, she could not affect him much at all.

  “Are you ready?” He asked.

  “Yes, sure.”

  “Alright.”

  Click.

  It didn’t take long before she was covered with a bck co. Aleph’s gaze stayed on her.

  ‘A Herrscher turned MANTIS… How special would its effects be?’

  Elysia was the only MANTIS who took in an ICHOR from a Judgement-css Honkai Beast, Mahesvara. It was the only avaible sample withiire Fire MOTH, to boot.

  While Kevin possessed cheat-like talents, Elysia had her specialties as the ‘First Herrscher’.

  It was for such a reason they were inally ranked one and two, respectively.

  Of course, Aleph’s existence pushed down their ranks by one.

  Soon, idle thoughts filled his mind. They tered on one important question of his:

  ‘Why does the Co act against me?’

  The description from the game stated how the Co of Finality longed for a panion—an equal of sorts. Kiana, who mao bee the Herrscher of Finality, passed its test and received its embrace.

  It wasn’t wrong to say that Aleph could fill in that role.

  Yet, the Co began ag hostile against him. Not only that, numerous anomalies also occurred, which supported the previous fact.

  ‘Something must’ve happened. Was it me? Did I do something?’

  The vague and chaotic dream regarding the sea of stars and his colorful soul became rooted in his mind.

  ‘Thinking about it is useless. I’ll know about the answer once I…’

  Aleph’s gaze passed through the thick soil and numerous crete before arriving into the bright white moon shining in the sky.

  *****

  A/N: Welp, I had a flu yesterday. The drowsiness and body pain ed me to the bed after uni. Expect two chapter debts that would be repaid anytime soon.