Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

'...I knew something was wrong.'

Aleph's golden pupils stared directly at the woman in front of him. She vaguely resembles Agatha, Sirin's childhood friend in the Current Era whom she turned into a Gem Herrscher. It was that the Agatha in front of him was older.

'That's not a Herrscher Core.'

His Elemental Sight keenly eyed the red rhombus-shaped crystal inside her. In terms of appearance alone, it was similar to a Herrscher Core.

Only…

'It's different.'

Aleph had seen an active Herrscher Core up close thanks to Major Anna. A quick comparison was all it took to know it was not a Herscherr Core.

'A natural stigmata and a huge supply of honkai energy… but I can tell its upper limit wasn't like this. It's temporarily opened up…'

His previous doubts from before arose at this moment.

For example, the nature of Gems and Herrscher Cores.

In the Current Era, the connection between the two was displayed by Mei. When she became the Herrscher of Thunder, a Herrscher Core was formed. Consequently, it caused the Gem of Conquest to disappear.

In simpler terms, the two could not exist at the same time.

'How could they—?'

Aleph's musings were cut short. The senior Fire MOTH researcher, Agatha, grasped her chest. The red gemstone inside her chest began showing cracks. The honkai energy supplied into it directly seeped into her body.

"Keuk..!"

Numerous purple lines appeared all over her body. It was a sign of honkai corruption.

'She's cascading!'

There was one case when a Herrscher Core cascaded. It nearly affected half of Asia, a continent forty five million square kilometers huge.

Due to the gem breaking down, it created a situation similar to it.

"Move away!"

Aleph's shout awakened the dazed Hua. She thought that the situation was more or less taken over, but it was not.

Still, she complied with Aleph's commands. Each step she took sent her gliding for several dozen meters.

'I can't do anything else but this…'

A sheathed Yamato appeared on his right hand. His left hand immediately clasped the sheathed blade, interlocking both of his fingers.

"Ryouiki Tenkai." (Domain Expansion.)

Within a split second, a black spherical curtain enveloped three kilometers of the burnt city.

*****

Eastern Continent, Chongqing City.

At this moment, the entire city was burning intensely. No signs of life could be detected within the entire city. Only the newly created honkai beasts populated the city. 

Honkai undeads could not even be created due to the degree of damage done to the corpses. Only the select elite undeads survived the extreme movement of air molecules.

It was akin to a city-wide gas leak. There weren't any clues prior to its appearance whatsoever.

Just then, a comet of ice crashed down in the city center.

BOOM-!

RUMBLE-!

The deprivation of heat counteracted the blazing flames. Honkai energy collided into one another.

A huge cloud of steam was set off in the city as a result.

In the midst of them all, Kevin sharply looked at his surroundings. He held a black-blue greatsword with his two hands. His senses scoured for the enemy.

It didn't take long before he locked on it.

"Huh..?"

It was a girl dressed in a Fire MOTH uniform. Kevin recognized her, simply because the number of times they had been together numbered a dozen.

"Major Himeko's adjutant..?"

"Heh. If it wasn't Captain Kevin. Your nicknames really suit you."

Crackle-!

Fwoosh-!

The flames blazed stronger. Although Kevin's pressure did not increase, it was more of showing her stance:

I killed everyone here.

"Adjutant… No, Miss Rong. Why?"

"Why? Isn't that something you should ask yourself?" She replied in a sarcastic tone. "Are these people worth protecting?"

Her plain black hair caught wisps of crimson flames, but they didn't burn.

"Tell me. Are those higher-ups worth it? No, it's not just them. Haven't you seen what the public says nowadays? That MANTISes are monsters? That the Fire MOTH are just exploiting their taxes?"

Rong began speaking of the problems Fire MOTH faced since the day they publicized honkai. Despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of their soldiers died. This number continues to grow even now.

"They don't know anything! Nobody!"

The extremely high temperature reached its new peak. The entire city is slowly turning into molten magma. It was no longer just the air molecules—everything in her scope was now affected.

Honkai energy levels began to increase sharply.

Fuzz-!

'It's not working.'

Kevin tried to contact the mission control, but to no avail. He looked towards Himeko's adjutant.

"I am giving you a chance." She said to him. "We were comrades once. Step back, and I won't fight you."

Her words were met by a light sigh.

"It is precisely because we were comrades that I should take you down. Your answer is not the right one—"

At that moment, a thick silicon shell was formed by the honkai energy emitted by Kevin. His body turned into a humanoid honkai beast. Feather-like structures decorated his head and feet, showcasing the original appearance of his ICHOR.

All of their talks allowed him to finish this transformation in one go.

His cold blue eyes stared at the woman who was once a colleague.

"—and it never will be."

*****

Domain Expansion.

It was the most advanced cursed technique utilization known to date. It involves utilizing one's innate cursed technique to form a field advantageous to oneself.

Aleph had long realized Domain Expansion during his visit to Shibuya. Later on, with Albion's power, it turned out to be even more powerful.

Zoom-!

One cut.

An invisible wave struck Agatha swiftly. In a natural manner, the cracked Gem of Haste was split from her body. 

Aleph's figure reappeared right beside Agatha. He grabbed her collar and threw her to the edge of his domain.

A small hole appeared in which she passed onto.

"Alright."

With the worries gone, he looked at the cascading Gem.

"It shouldn't have been like this. Then… yes, it must've been caused by the source of honkai energy."

Aleph could no longer use his prior foreknowledge to explain things. He placed this at the back of his mind, intending to deal with this honkai cascade first.

"Great Sage."