***
Quarantine Hall – Side Room
Elysia sat quietly in her chair, watching Kevin, Mei, and Su as they rested on their own. Kevin and Mei leaned on one another, while Su lay sprawled across four chairs, using his jacket as a makeshift pillow.
They'd finally managed to get some real rest. Mei had pulled an all-nighter before the sync test, with Kevin staying behind to support her. Su had also worn himself out worrying—someone had come by a few hours ago with an update on his parents. Thankfully, they were safe; caught in traffic returning from a night shift when the eruption occurred, they'd been spared. The relief had only hit Su recently, and he'd drifted off not long after.
Elysia, however, now had time to think. Specifically, about Thor—his power, the sudden shift in demeanor from serious to teasing after he defeated the Herrscher. His acceptance of her actions, even the deliberate teasing... Yes, he'd teased her before, but this felt different.
"Is he from Cocoon?" she wondered. He might be, but she dismissed the thought. Cocoon operatives were typically hidden, stoic, and disciplined.
"Then again… maybe he's an experiment. His background is a mystery. All the Councillors are scrambling to get their hands on Mobius's MANTIS (Massively Augmented Neo-Tech Integrated Soldiers) . Maybe they succeeded?" They have after all been syphoning the funds from the 4th and 5th institutes.
She snorted mentally. "No, no. He's definitely the type to go, 'Follow YOUR orders? Fuck off. Might as well kill yourself now if you're gonna try that.'"
The mental image made her stifle a laugh.
"Still… if he's not a MANTIS, then what is he? He toyed with a Herrscher like it was nothing. Sure, they might have been newborn, but they were still a Herrscher, y'know."
Her head throbbed. She stopped thinking.
Beep—
Her phone buzzed with a notification. She glanced at the screen and smiled.
Thor: [I'll be there soon.]
"No matter. He'll tell me in due time... just like I'll tell him."
She drifted into a daydream, her eyes glowing faintly completely unaware.
***
Break Room
"Looks like I'm going to Shenzhou, huh… Herrscher."
She flinched.
That amused tone said everything—she'd been caught. She gave up the act with a sigh but tried to save face by faking a slow stretch and letting out a clearly staged yawn.
He chuckled but didn't call her out. Her cheeks reddened a bit from the embarrassment.
She sat up properly and scanned her surroundings: a couch, another beside it, a round table with four chairs, a kitchen. A break room. Typical, if not for the sofas.
"Where am I?" Her voice was shaky, uncertain.
"A Fire Moth base. You remember them—the Honkai-fighting organization." He nodded toward the wall-sized insignia behind her.
"Why would they plaster it across the whole wall?" she thought, baffled, before turning back to him, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Why am I here?"
"Funny story, really." He pointed at her. "You're a Herrscher."
Her breath hitched.
"Seems I don't need to say much more... but I will anyway," Thor said, launching into a smooth explanation of what happened—how he held her off (a lie), bought time for an evacuation (a half-lie), and their tense showdown (he lies as easily as he breathes).
Strangely, she felt nothing when he mentioned people dying during her transformation.
Learning what happened—and that he was responsible for minimizing casualties—she exhaled slowly. Bowing slightly where she sat, she thanked him.
He waved her off. "It's fine. Not a big deal. Don't worry about it."
She nearly teared up. "He's so humble." She definitely misunderstood something.
"Anyway, Herr—wait, what's your name? I can't keep calling you 'Herrscher' forever."
"Aurora." Instant answer.
"Aurora, huh..." His thoughts briefly wandered to an AI he'd co-developed with his eccentric sister. The way she blushed when the AI called them "Mother" and "Father" was adorable. "Now that's a coincidence."
"Tell me, Aurora—what do you remember?"
"Uhh…" She thought hard. "I… I think I was angry."
Then, "Oh. I've been having these dreams—nightmares, really. But it's been years since I dreamed at all, so I ignored it. Figured it was nothing."
Clearly, it wasn't.
She reflected on how stupid she'd been to ignore the signs. Maybe she should've acted sooner. But then again, who would've thought that way right off the bat?
Thor nodded as he continued listening, trying to piece together his own theory about Herrschers and how they came to be.
***
Aurora's Mindscape
An Empty White Plain
Her Herrscher persona—Alter We'll call her—watched the outside world through Aurora's eyes. She observed Aurora embarrassing herself. Thor teasing her. And most infuriatingly, he lied about their clash… and Aurora bought it. Even praised him.
"Tsk." She clicked her tongue. Nothing she could do now. All she could do was watch.
She summoned the same couch Aurora sat on and flopped into it. In this space, she could recreate anything Aurora had ever sensed—seen, smelled, tasted, heard, or touched.
Just the memory of Thor made her shudder involuntarily. His attacks hadn't merely injured her—they'd bruised her pride.
Still… one thing she wouldn't blame him for: the voice had stopped. That hateful, commanding voice. The one that ordered her to destroy humanity.
It had gone silent the moment she relinquished control.
She turned toward a glowing violet core behind the sofa. It looked stronger now. Once the size of a pinky, it had grown to fill her palm.
Her connection to it had deepened. Her strength, too. Slowly but surely, it was increasing. Did it have a limit? She didn't know. She assumed this change affected the real body as well, but without control, she couldn't confirm it.
For now, this was fine. She wanted Thor to entertain her. The man who beat her, crushed her conquest—he had to be something interesting.
A soft giggle echoed through the white void.
"Do entertain me, Thorald." Her fear had become fascination.
***
Quarantine Hall
Back in the real world
Night had fallen. Emergency tents lined the area, providing evacuees a small measure of privacy. Luckily, a nearby shelter had a whole warehouse full of them.
Whether anyone was screaming in their sleep, no one could tell—each tent came with a noise-suppression system.
Thor and Aurora had just arrived. He was following Elysia's Honkai signature to one of the few side rooms.
Aurora looked around with guilt—this was her doing. But Thor's earlier words came to mind:
"If you want to feel better, then improve yourself—or don't. Up to you. Haha—not like they can do much except try to nuke you anyway."
She'd choked on her water when he said that.
Now, she hugged her arm. "Even if you say that... I still feel responsible."
"Hey." Thor tapped her shoulder. "Let's go."
He led the way, Aurora trailing behind.
***
Elysia had sensed them long before they arrived. Aurora was practically leaking Honkai energy—hard to miss. Thor, by contrast, was obvious for the opposite reason: a silent void in a sea of turbulence. That alone gave him away.
She got up and opened the door preemptively, letting Thor and the Herrscher inside. She eyed the now mobile Herrscher closely, noticing the constant shift in expressions, from guilt, to sadness, to reluctance and acceptance.
Thor was checking on the trio, just to make sure they have no issues concerning Honkai. Beside Kevin's weirdly dense muscle tissue, nothing was out of the norm. 'He really did trade brains for brawn.' Entertaining the thought.
He took a seat where Elysia was sitting previously, shortly after Elysia closed the door and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder like it was the most normal thing to do.
Thor didn't stop her—why would he? A beautiful, affectionate girl hanging off him? He wasn't exactly complaining. Besides, he had promised not to reject her next time… so technically, he was just keeping his word.
Aurora felt like a third wheel, she was awkwardly shifting in her seat–flushed as she peeked occasionally at the two while thoughts not safe for children ran through her head.
"Is she stable?" Elysia asked.
"For now. Her Herrscher persona is still there, but if she acts up again, I'll handle it."
He showed her a rune that shimmered briefly on Aurora's forehead. Aurora reached for it—it flashed red, shocking her.
"Ow!" She rubbed her hand.
"It suppresses her so there's no need to worry Ellie, just leave her training and rehab to me."
"Okay~" she hummed.
"I will make sure to have fun teaching her." He glanced at her.
'Ahh. So much potential, so little discipline. A diamond in the rough—wait… since when did I care about this kind of thing?'
He froze. 'Ugh. I'm turning into her.'
A shiver ran down his spine. 'Nope. Nope. Not happening. Never. I refuse.'
If his teacher saw him now,
"Hahahahaha, my dear disciple! I always told you—we're the same! Cut from the same cloth, chasing perfection, training the best to be the best! Come on, take me up on that offer — you won't regret it~!" A maniacal face splitting smile on her face.
He visibly shuddered and shook his head, banishing the mental image.
"Thor?" Elysia was confused as to why he shivered.
"It's nothing… just reminiscing." He spoke plainly. Elysia watched him intently before saying "Okay" and going back to how she was.
Over time they started to relax, Elysia began questioning Aurora casually. Aurora was uncomfortable at first, but with Thor's reassurances, she got more comfortable–talking with Elysia, as she felt lighter. They talked all throughout the night making sure not to wake the sleeping trio.
***
As they all stood by the landing platform waiting for the stealth VTOL to transport them to HQ, Kevin and Su were giving Thor THE look. The reason, Elysia was practically hanging off of him. They were shocked enough when they woke up to Elysia sleeping in his arms.
They both thought there was something between the two of them with how they both went off together to "Shop for Cosplay" multiple times a week almost since they met. But they didn't expect this, or well for it to happen this fast.
We also shouldn't forget to mention Aurora standing just behind Thor. Kevin and Mei originally thought she was the Eden he talked about, but turns out she's not Eden but Aurora.
Eden was off to the side chatting with Himeko.
As they watched the 3 women gathering around Thor, all of them being "Country toppling beauties" in their own right. Kevin was stuck between calling him a bastard or a god.
Su however understood Elysia's actions, she had competition and she took the prize(Thor) first. Mei–she didn't care much. She understood Thor somewhat, if he is attracted to a girl he'll go for her, he's also fine with the concept of having a harem for himself. This was actually a conversation the two had before he introduced her to Kevin and Su, during the planning process for her nanobots.
Soon after, just as Thor was beginning to feel uncomfortable with how Kevin has been staring at him for the past hour–Commander Satou arrived.
"Is this everyone?" He asked Thor, noticing his 'company.'
"Yep pretty much, I don't know…
Su!" He called out to him.
"Yeah?"
"Are you coming with us now or do you want to go and see your parents?" He knew Su was still worried for his parents. Even if they were confirmed to be well and in a safe zone. Thor wanted to make sure if he really wanted to go with them.
"I…I uh…Thor–" Su was conflicted.
Thor patted his shoulder. "It's fine Su, if you want to check on your parents in person, do so. You can also come out with us at any time. Ain't that right commander." His tone at the end becomes more authoritative.
"Yes Sir." 'We didn't discuss this.' He sweatdrops Thor's tone.
Satou gave Su his contact information, for the inevitable day.
Thor picked up a low hum in the air as very small distortions in wind speed and direction changed. He looked to the close horizon and sensed the VTOL finally arriving. 'For it to take this long, is Shenzhou really in China?' He had been standing there for the past hour waiting.
The cloaking of the VTOL dropped as it landed aweing Kevin and Aurora.
As the ramp lowered Su said his goodbyes for now before following a soldier who would guide him to the transport.
They all strapped in ready to take off as Himeko questioned "Why the hell am I here?!" She blamed Thor.
"What do you mean why? Of course you would be here. You brought us here, so you need to come with us right." He was grinning at her.
"Bastard! Tsk" She knew he was responsible, but what she really wanted to know is 'HOW?? I would understand if he was associated with FireMoth, but he's not. Even that Herrscher girl is here. Ughhhh' As her face shifted, Eden was witness and could only smile wryly at her teacher's actions.
Thor just laughed at her.
The commander gave them a small briefing on the 5 different institutes and that the 4th and 5th are the only ones not based in the Mu continent, and that they would be heading to the 5th institute specifically.
After that was done he left and the ramp lifted shut and the VTOL took off activating it's cloaking tech on its way to Shenzhou.
***
End
***
A/N: Volume 2 has begun.
This is earlier for sure compared to the week I stated but with the update chapter I put out earlier I felt the need to put this out as I had stuff in that aux chap that won't make full sense without some context.
I do have the next 4 chapters ready, just some editing and then I'm done with them.
Chapter length will fluctuate heavily. From 2K up to 10K max in future as would rather not drag stuff on longer than needed.