A boy sat aboard an interstellar ark powered by Honkai energy — no, for the people of 「Amur」, it should be called "Imaginary Energy" — watching helplessly as his homeworld, the dwarf planet 「Amur」, was extinguished in the embrace of 「Finality」.
"System, report remaining 「Amur」 population." The boy whispered, his voice tinged with sorrow.
"Main planet [Amur] survivors: 1 individual, yourself. Satellite I 「Pachuña」 survivors: 0." The emotionless system responded. "Your mission is to utilize ice giant and gas giant gravity assists to exit the solar system and select a new homeworld."
"Are we to hide like this forever? I'm just an ordinary student who wanted to live my own life…"
"But time grants us no such luxuries."
As silence fell, the system continued, "Each step forward trends toward predetermined conclusions. Yet before reaching terminus, we retain agency to imbue outcomes with divergent meanings through our choices."
"Never thought I'd get counseling from an AI." The boy chuckled wryly.
"Observing your regression to carefree, cerebellum-deficient charm brings me solace."
"Next time shut your f*cking vox module!" The boy scowled with kitten-like petulance.
"(Ignoring) Data indicates nearest single-star system at 6 light-years. Post-solar egress, ark will cruise at triple third cosmic velocity. Estimated duration: 145 starlories (Note: 1 starlory ≈ 248 Earth years)."
"Hey! You listening?!"
"Sir, please enter cryopod. Human lifespan can't endure half a stellar century. As [Amur]'s sole survivor, we must preserve this seed before temporal decay…"
"Your metaphors suck!" The boy protested.
"Apologies, I believed it humorous. Shall I attempt another icebreaker joke?"
"SHUT UP!!!"
-1 Hour to Cryostasis-
"System, do those three rocky planets in Sol's habitable zone host intelligent life? We could only observe through telescopes — especially that blue world. How does it maintain such a massive satellite? Can a terrestrial planet naturally possess such a big moon?"
"Answer: the third planet's moon likely formed from protoplanetary collision. Larger body assimilated debris while residual material coalesced. Calculations suggest lunar stabilization enables this planet's axial consistency and seasonal regularity."
"Lucky them… Unlike us with artificial fusion-sun orbital heaters, our seasons dictated by solar proximity — fleeting summers, endless winters. No one ever witnessed full seasonal cycle." The boy sighed. "Why not colonize those worlds?"
"Warning: Per Planetary Protection Protocol XI — prevent exocontamination to preserve astrobiological research integrity. Additionally, prevent reverse contamination from deep-space missions. Furthermore, detailed planetary data remains inaccessible."
…
"So if Plutonians planned exodus, how'd you reach Earth?" A white-haired youth named Kevin Kaslana — one of the boy's closest friends since arriving at the third planet — inquired excitedly. Beside him stood Su, a gray-haired medical student.
"That frigid Kuiper Belt dwarf… Unimaginable hosting civilization." Su marveled.
"I'm not native 「Amur」 — or Plutonian as you say. Our ancestors arrived exosolar. While technology permitted constructing orbital fusion-sun habitats… Still freezing… Wait — your people don't classify my world as a planet?!"
"Ahem, Let's focus on your story." Su deflected.
-Red Alert-
"Warning! Warning! Meteoroid impact! Meteoroid impact! Cryostasis interrupted." The system blared.
"Huh? Arrival?" The boy rubbed sleep from his eyes, confronted by Saturn and its rings. "Bro, we're still at sixth planet!"
"Secondary alert. Hostile meteor swarm detected. All combat personnel arm with Honkai-resistant weaponry."
"All personnel my ass!" The boy griped internally, brandishing dual Soulsteel blades. On deck, he channeled Honkai energy into X-shaped slashes, bisecting asteroids.
"Odd… Not asteroid belt territory. So where did they come from?" His muttering ceased as violet meteor streaked closer — his nightmare made manifest.
"「Finality」…" The boy trembled. Even survivors weren't spared?
…
"And… Your ark destroyed, you were riding on two-stage rocket with gene bank, preparing to flee to Mars, but Jovian gravity assist miscalculation slingshot you to Earth, crash-landing near MOTH HQ?" Su struggled to comprehend.
"Affirmative."
"That cocoon-like object encasing you?" Kevin pressed.
"「Amur」 tech, kiddo." The boy evaded.
Truth lingered unspoken — the "cocoon" resembled 「Finality」's handiwork: a prototype Cocoon of 「Finality」. Revealing his Herrscher nature would mean 「Amur」's true extinction…
…
The violet meteor pierced his torso, spacetime freezing. Consciousness plunged into mysterious void.
Before him materialized gray-haired girl, holographic Pluto-Charon system betweenthem.
"Greetings, successor of [Amur]."
"Who… Where…?"
"I am CHARO, unmanifested 「Finality」 of 「Amur」."
The boy reached for blades but halted.
"Peace! I come penitent. We never imagined civilizations beyond three inner worlds. Our negligence destroyed yours."
"Apologies change nothing!" The boy seethed.
"Your civilization's flame cannot reignite. Yet compensation awaits."
"Compensation?! My home's gone!"
"You shall become 「Amur」's new Origin."
Before bewildered eyes, she split her Herrscher Core into twelve fragments — Reason, Void, Thunder, Wind, Ice, Death, Flame, Sentience, Earth, Domination, Binding, Corruption. Each held 1/12 original power, their aggregate surpassing singular Herrscher.
"Activation conditions?!" The boy demanded.
"Unknown~" She chimed.
"YOU SON OF A…"
"Oh, by the way, I want you to do me a favor."
"No way." The boy refused directly.
"But you have had a Herrscher Core~ You don't have the choice. Additionally, you'll assist Earth's civilization — Herrschers against Herrschers."
"Using me after destroying my home?!"
"Third planet faces similar fate. You won't regret this."
As she explained Earth's plight, the boy interjected, "Does every inhabited world have… your kind?"
"Correct. Three rocky planets — Forsa, Earth, Lux — all hosted civilizations. [Forsa] and [Lux] already perished…"
"What purpose this cyclical destruction?!"
"Not destruction — embrace. Beyond Sol lurk entities exploiting Imaginary Energy. The Will selects civilizations strong enough to withstand Finality's trial."
"Fear of Dark Forest theory?"
"Unfamiliar concept. Regardless…"
"Just forget it. At this point, I have no other choice." The boy answered.
"Oh yeah~ That's the happy decision. See you~" She said and teleported the boy out of void.
The girl's playful theatricality faded as she gazed at the empty space where the boy had stood. She knew she had lied — lied about her name. She was not CHARO. She had altered her voice and appearance precisely to evade his recognition.
"Why withhold the truth?" the Will of Honkai intoned.
"I cannot bear to disappoint him…" The girl's voice softened. "My only wish is to ensure his survival. This… is my repayment as his sister."
Before protest, spatial expulsion occurred. Returning to reality, the violet meteor annihilated his ark, hurtling toward Earth.
"No no no! Not crash landing!!!"
Suddenly, a big crush.
"「Amurian expletive」 " Darkness claimed him.
…
Then Kevin and Su discovered him.
"By the way, I still don't know your name," Kevin Kaslana remarked with a playful grin.
The boy smiled faintly. "I am—"
[Memory Interrupt]
"Mr. Zerocy Chihiro Hades!" A sharp voice yanked him back to reality.
"Present! What's wrong?" The boy startled.
"Refrain from daydreaming during interviews!" Theresa Apocalypse chided.
"My apologies, Overseer."
Indeed, his name was Zerocy Chihiro Hades. Originally Zerocy Hades, he had appended "Chihiro" — his mother and sister's surname — to honor their memory. Since arriving on Earth, Zerocy had mastered English and Mandarin, and awakened six Herrscher Authorities: Reason, Void, Thunder, Wind, Ice, and Death. Though their potency paled against Earth's native Herrschers, he wielded them deftly in secret. Even as modern Herrschers began exhibiting human emotions, humanity's fear of them remained undiminished from the Previous Era.
After the 9th Herrscher's emergence in the Previous Era, Zerocy had been trapped in the Quantum Sea during a battle on the Mu Continent. His body cycled endlessly between quantum dissolution and reconstitution — a torturous loop lasting 50,000 years. By the time he harnessed the Herrscher of Reason's power to rebuild his form, it was already the 21st century of the Current Era.
Thank the imaginary gods I'm only a half-baked Herrscher, he mused. The Quantum Sea's rejection of tree-born Herrschers is brutal. A few more Authorities, and my mind would've shattered.
He'd initially sought ways to return — Kevin, Elysia, Su, Mei, and Kosma still haunted his memories — but the new calendar system baffled him. 2014 CE? Library archives revealed the bitter truth: his comrades had failed. This was a new cycle, already scarred by two Herrschers.
"Did you say… teacher? This position requires adulthood. State your age," Theresa pressed.
Can't exactly say 'fifty millennia'… Zerocy internally groaned.
Theresa demanded address, family records, and ID — trivialities for most, but for Zerocy, it might as well have been a duel with the Herrscher of the End. Sensing suspicion brewing, he feigned underage status to abort the interview. Survival now depended on mercenary work: assassinating criminals and Honkai Beasts under a black cloak's anonymity. Thus, the vigilante "Ferryman" rose to infamy across the Far East… until February 2014 brought unforeseen change.
March 2014. The Third Honkai Eruption begins…
To Be Continued.