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Chapter 280 – What the Hell Just Happened?
🕑 Added 2025-08-26 15:00:15 +0000 UTCThe ruined cityscape no longer bore any trace of what was once Shenzhou’s bustling commercial hub, a vital nexus linking major urban clusters.
Countless landmarks, once-famous skyscrapers of steel and glass, had all been obliterated by the arrival of the Fourth Eruption.
Everything was buried deep beneath crumbling chasms and ruin.
The air still reeked of Honkai energy, thick and oppressive.
Deadwalkers and beasts prowled the empty streets—but a closer look revealed that these were all low-level creatures, hardly fitting for a disaster of this scale.
Of course, that was because the real threats—the apex beasts—had already been purged by the “divine apostles” of the age… the Herrschers.
It had been four hours since Nagami vanished from this point in time.
According to the normal rules of temporal traversal, he should have returned in the very next seconds after leaving.
But Tokisaki Kurumi’s Twelfth Bullet wasn’t anywhere near the level of the chat group’s power.
Her method worked differently: reaching the Far Shore of the Imaginary Tree to redefine [time], then leaping to the targeted moment.
The process inevitably took… time.
Suspended high above the devastated city was the Hyperion.
Something was wrong.
The air around the ship felt unnaturally still, quiet to the point of suffocation.
A heavy pressure seemed to freeze the entire world in place—an eerie silence that gnawed at the nerves.
On the scrubbed-clean deck, a certain spot had become a dead zone.
No one dared step within a few meters of it.
Normally, Valkyries aboard the Hyperion would be bustling about this, but now, every one of them instinctively slowed their steps, voices dropping to whispers, and eyes flicking nervously toward the center of that tense circle.
There, several young women stood locked in silence, their gazes clashing like drawn blades.
The storm clouds that were there had long scattered, and sunlight poured across their flawless faces, gilding their beauty with a faint golden glow.
“Miss Tokisaki Kurumi, was it?” Mei’s voice was soft, warm, even polite—yet her smile was so dazzling it bordered on terrifying. “I couldn’t help but wonder… what exactly is your relationship with Nagami?”
Kurumi’s lips curled in a theatrical smile, her delicate hands pressing against her pale cheeks.
Her heterochromatic eyes gleamed with mischief, tinged with what looked like coy embarrassment.
“Ara ara~ Miss Mei, asking something so personal… how embarrassing. But, since you insist…” She paused, then dropped the line like a bomb. “We’re married, of course~”
This woman was born to be a drama queen!
Just from those words makes everyone froze in place.
Instinctively, every gaze snapped toward Kurumi.
Mei’s brow twitched, arcs of lightning crackling faintly at her sides. The smile at her lips faded into silence as she stared coldly at the alluring spirit.
And she wasn’t the only one.
Three white-haired girls turned grim in unison, their expressions darkening as their gazes bore into Kurumi, sharp and hostile.
Even Bronya, her silver-gray eyes always unreadable—couldn’t quite conceal the rippling storm within them.
Meanwhile Himeko , leaned casually against a wall, arms crossed, as a smirk tugging at her lips as she watched.
As their teacher, she could hardly swoop in and openly fight her students over a man.
But that didn’t mean she planned to sit this one out.
That man… was the meat she intended to taste.
She wasn’t fighting only for herself, after all—another version of her, from another time, and another fate, had left her that responsibility.
Fu Hua on the other side simply sighed, standing at the edge, silently praying that the Herrschers wouldn’t start tearing each other apart here and now.
At the same time, she was desperately suppressing the voice clawing at her mind—the younger Herrscher of Sentience, eager to burst free.
To the little one, Nagami is her Dad.
And if someone else became Nagami’s partner… by human convention, that would make them her Mom.
‘Her Mom.’
“I am the Herrscher of Sentience!” the voice screamed.
“A fusion warrior who’s lived fifty thousand years, the Red Kite Immortal of Shenzhou, Fu Hua herself! And you want me to call some brat ‘Mommy’? Over my dead body!”
In her mind, she raged on:
‘If I say I’m Fu Hua, then I’m Fu Hua! If anyone disagrees—'
She’d just rewrite their consciousness until they did agree.
[Hey! Old timer, old timer!] the little voice suddenly chimed, brimming with glee.
[Dad helped you defend Shenzhou, restored your power, even let you wield my authority.]
[Don’t you think you owe him something?]
Fu Hua blinked, stunned, a ripple of confusion flashing through her.
What was she getting at?
[Of course, if Nagami ever needs my strength, I’ll gladly offer it. Without hesitation. I’d give him everything.]
The words were sincere, yet even as Fu Hua acknowledged them, an uneasy chill stirred in her chest.
A faint, gnawing sense of dread…
[That’s right, that’s right! People like us need to have this kind of resolve. Forget things like braving mountains of blades or seas of fire—that’s child’s play for you, old timer. No, the best way for you to repay Dad… is to offer yourself to him!]
[…]
Fu Hua’s lips twitched.
That ominous premonition she had earlier?
Yeah, it just came true.
She’d long since given up trying to keep up with Herrscher of Sentience’s wild thought process, but that didn’t stop the sudden words from hitting her like a hammer.
[…Why?]
[Think about it, think about it! In this world, there’s no one who’s worthy enough to be my mom. But Dad can’t just stay single forever, right?]
There was a hint of gloom in Sentience’s tone, but it vanished instantly—replaced with a burst of excitement.
[But you’re different! If you become Dad’s partner, then Fu Hua becomes my mom. And since I am Fu Hua… that means I’d become my own mom!]
The little Herrscher’s voice practically vibrated with joy.
Absolutely no way was she going to let some random woman swoop in and suddenly become her “mother.”
But if her mom turned out to be herself—that was a totally different story.
[You…]
Fu Hua pressed her palm to her forehead, completely at a loss for where to even start refuting this nonsense.
[Quick, quick! Old timer, go join them right now! With me here, Dad’s partner has to be you! No way we’re letting some shady outsider steal him away!]
Of course, Fu Hua had no intention of actually joining that chaotic mess.
But that didn’t stop the barrage of noisy “mental attacks” from pounding her head.
Meanwhile, Yuzuriha Inori swayed gently with her hands behind her back, her wine-red eyes as pure as stained glass.
She hummed softly, the tune Nagami had once taught her— My Dearest.
For someone like Inori, jealousy simply didn’t exist.
She didn’t care about rivals, didn’t care about politics.
As long as she could stay by Nagami’s side, that was enough.
————————————————————————
[What’s this insect babbling about? That’s my servant she’s talking about! Hey, go teach her a lesson already!]
Sirin’s voice suddenly rang out inside, shattering the “tuna’s” Kiana gloomy mood.
[Stop calling me ‘hey!’ Use my name!]
The Herrscher of Sentience snapped back irritably.
A second Herrscher suddenly butting in was the last thing she needed.
But since the two of them were, in essence, two sides of the same coin, she didn’t bother countering Sirin’s words too much.
After all, with so many threats looming, Sirin could… technically be considered an ally.
[Hmph! Forget the small stuff. What matters is showing this insect the true power of God—my power!]
Inevitably, Sirin’s ego swelled.
Nagami had used Sirin’s Herrscher core during the Second Eruption—synchronized with the four Herrscher Gems on the moon.
That wasn’t the real “Herrscher of the Void” core, but just the copy core.
The purpose was to preserve the worldline and avoid relying on Void’s abilities.
Which meant this Sirin had regained her multi-core form—a terrifying power-up, and the root of her arrogance.
But on the flip side—if Kurumi chose to Herrscherize with the Authority of Domination, stacking that on top of her Authority of Time… then it wouldn’t matter how many Herrschers stood against her.
They wouldn’t even be able to scratch her.
Not even if they ganged up.
Once she froze time and then forced “dominion” over their powers… it’d be checkmate.
And unlike before, Kurumi didn’t need to desperately split every second into two just to squeeze out more energy.
Now, she could continuously draw power straight from Nagami.
Second by second, the tension climbed higher.
Then—light erupted.
Like a tidal wave, it flooded everything, blinding, overwhelming.
When it finally faded, two figures stood revealed.
One clad in black.
One cloaked in green.
Nagami and C.C. found themselves surrounded on all sides, dozens of sharp, hostile gazes locking onto them.
It was like being encircled by a pack of predators.
Instinctively, the two shifted closer, standing back to back.
Nagami’s eyes swept the scene.
“What the hell… is going on here?”
