A deafening explosion rang out. The eyes of everyone in Kolosten were focused on the mountain top where the cathedral once stood — or rather, where the ruins of the cathedral once stood!
The shockwave spread out in all directions. The sturdy cathedral was blown to pieces in an instant, leaving nothing but rubble.
Even those who had retreated hundreds of meters away from the cathedral were blown away by the blast. Many were sent tumbling in the air!
But no one cared about such minor things. There was now something much more captivating in the sky. It was a box that glowed with a dark purple light. It was surrounded by smoke, as if something inside was breathing.
The smoke billowed, the light condensed, and with an even greater surge of energy, a colossal fox-like beast, as big as a mountain, formed in the sky and let out a deafening roar!
The fear and oppression that it brought had never been felt by anyone present. It was the power of a Herrscher!
The Herrscher of Corruption, the one who had completely destroyed the civilization of the Previous Era, had reappeared in this era!
"Otto, did you make that thing?!"
Seeing the monstrous beast that was almost a hundred meters tall, Eleanor widened her eyes in disbelief. As a Valkyrie, she had killed countless Honkai beasts, but she had never seen one so enormous.
And even more oppressive than its size was the Honkai energy that she could now see with the naked eye!
Eleanor knew immediately that she was no match for this beast. If she were to fight it, she would be killed in five minutes, no, probably in three minutes!
If this thing was a weapon created by Otto, then the man was more terrifying than she had imagined…
But there was both bad news and good news.
"What, is that…?"
The good news was that this thing didn't seem to be Otto's creation. Looking at his shocked expression, he was still probably within the bounds of humanity.
The bad news was, since this thing wasn't Otto's doing, then it was something that nobody had expected, and they didn't know how to deal with it…
"You idiot, stop spacing out and run!"
In Otto's mind, Void Archive was roaring frantically. "That's a Herrscher! The Herrscher of Corruption from the Previous Era!"
"Why is that thing here?!"
"How should I know?! She was supposed to be dead! You're going to die if you don't run!"
"You damn fool!" Otto cursed, then immediately ordered everyone to retreat.
But to be fair, it wasn't Void Archive's fault. Although it contained all the knowledge of the Previous Era, there were always things that were missed. The Herrscher of Corruption was one of those things that was missed.
The reason was simple. The Herrscher of Corruption had destroyed all the cities of the Previous Era. She had destroyed the civilization. In that situation, people didn't have the time or manpower to update Void Archive with new knowledge.
Besides, while they had planned to use the Herrscher of Corruption's core to create a Divine Key, they had never finished it before their civilization was destroyed. The unfinished product wasn't recorded in their knowledge database.
But no matter the reason, the fact was that the Herrscher of Corruption had reappeared thanks to Otto and Void Archive's carelessness.
"Ah! What is that thing?!"
"Honkai beasts! There are Honkai beasts…"
"Save me! My arm is--"
Otto didn't have time to think. Screams and cries erupted from the crowd.
The appearance of the Herrscher was always accompanied by a Honkai outbreak. Before people could evacuate, hordes of Honkai beasts twisted into existence from the shadows and charged toward them.
Moreover, with the power of the Herrscher of Corruption, the rate at which humans were being corrupted increased rapidly. In the blink of an eye, many zombies appeared from the crowd.
Though firearms were effective against humans, they couldn't even break the skin of these powerful Honkai beasts. Without surprise, the scene turned into a one-sided bloodbath.
The only thing they had to be grateful for was that the crowd was full of Valkyries. Though they were struggling to mount a counterattack, they could at least protect the others as they retreated.
"No, Otto, you can't run away!"
Void Archive's voice rang out in Otto's mind. After being shocked by the appearance of a Herrscher from the Previous Era, it had regained its composure. "You need to defeat her here."
"Defeat her? Are you listening to yourself?!"
Otto furiously pointed at the giant beast that was taller than Schicksal's Cathedral. "She'll crush me with one swipe of her paw!"
"But you need to stay here."
The Imaginary Key said calmly. "The Herrscher of Corruption has just awoken from her seal. She hasn't recovered her full power. She's at her weakest now. Your only chance is to suppress her now, at any cost, or else humanity will be annihilated."
"Isn't there an immortal in Shenzhou?"
"If she was here, then everything would be resolved, but she won't make it here before the Herrscher of Corruption has turned Europe into her puppet."
"…"
"I wanted you to run so that you can wait for the Red Immortal to come, but after thinking about it, that only works against other Herrschers. It's useless against the Herrscher of Corruption." Void Archive said seriously.
"She can back up her consciousness in anything that she infects. By the time the Red Immortal gets here, the Herrscher would have copied her consciousness thousands of times. Unless she kills every living thing in Europe, it'll be impossible to destroy her."
"I know that you want to run away with Lihua, but it's impossible. If you let the Herrscher of Corruption run wild, you'll die by her hand."
Otto clenched his fist. He didn't want to get involved in this. The only thing that mattered to him was Lihua. He wanted to live with Lihua. He couldn't care less about the lives of others.
If it wasn't for the fact that Lihua was locked in a safe dungeon, he would have run to her by now. It was ironic that a place he used to lock her up was now protecting her...
But with the nest overturned, would the eggs still be safe? If the whole of Europe was destroyed, would he and Lihua survive?
"Do we have any chance?"
"Though it is low, there is a possibility." Void Archive was relieved that Otto had made a decision. Its purpose was to defeat the Honkai. If Otto gave up, it didn't know what it would do.
"Leave that Valkyrie with the Black abyss White Flower by your side. Evacuate everyone else while the Herrscher of Corruption hasn't started attacking. That way, they won't be infected by the Herrscher."
"You and that Valkyrie will need to hold off the Herrscher while we wait for Kallen to come with the Oath of Judah. With three Divine keys, we might be able to suppress this Herrscher when she's weakened."