I Am Honkai

South Asian Subcontinent, Kerala, Padmanabhaswamy Temple

Legend has it that this temple was built in the 16th century by order of the ruler of the Travancore Kingdom, which governed the region at the time.

For centuries, local lore has claimed that the Travancore king buried vast amounts of treasure—tons of gold, silver, and jewels—within the thick walls and underground chambers of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

Why does this temple feature countless serpentine reliefs and colorful paintings? Is it due to the South Asian subcontinent's traditional reverence for snakes.

Most people focus only on the temple's vast treasures, ignoring one crucial detail:

Why did the Travancore king choose this site for the temple? Why bury tons of priceless treasure here?

Because beneath the temple slumbers a "Snake."

...

Beneath the temple, In the dim, ethereal glow of the underground chambers, a mass of pitch-black shadow lay coiled atop the control hub of an ancient shelter, radiating an unspoken aura of oppression.

This was no natural creation, nor even a standard fusion warrior.

Luminous eyes opened within the darkness. A woman's reflective gaze, filled with longing and reminiscence, caught the light of a projection flickering before her.

"Fifty thousand years... and it still comes to this."

Above ground, in the upper-caste living quarters surrounding the temple, a nearby tributary appeared far cleaner and more pristine than the murky, polluted main flow of the Ganges. The tranquil ripples glistened under the sunlight.

Golden rays from the setting sun stretched out like a serpent from the horizon, draping the land in a veil of twilight.

Slender leaves of an unknown species grew abundantly, their vibrant greenery a stark contrast to the burned-out soil from fifty millennia ago. Some of these plants lined the riverbanks near the temple, others flanked the staircases or dotted the courtyards.

Yet the woman's gaze was not on this serene landscape. Her focus was on the humans of the present era, whom she scrutinized with a critical eye.

Sadly, her conclusions were less than satisfactory. Or, more accurately, they failed to align with her comrades' predictions. She, however, had long harbored the most pessimistic view.

During the previous era, humanity had descended into infighting even on the brink of extinction. What reason was there to believe the next generation of humanity would fare any better?

Perhaps they would fare even worse.

"A stratified social order, piles of waste, crowded and foul living conditions, people with lifeless, apathetic expressions—even ignorant masses...."

"Look at it, Mei, Kevin, Elysia... The 'S.A.V.E' Plan' (PS: a general term encompassing projects like the Ember Plan and the Stigmata Plan), the hope you all placed in humanity, has only yielded this."

"A society of concrete and steel, with living spaces that compress every inch of existence. Humans cluster in these tiny grids like ants. You don't even need to think to understand what this represents. Civilization? It hasn't changed at all."

Sharp emerald-green fingertips slid across the screen, producing a soft shhhh sound. The images shifted continuously, transforming mundane fragments into light and shadows that reflected in the woman's gradient eyes.

Her pupils were particularly striking—rare vertical slits that transitioned from green to pink, deep and enigmatic, impossible to decipher.

Anyone meeting her gaze would likely think of only one word: Snake.

And her identity was self-evident: Mobius, the Tenth Flame-Chaser, bearer of [Infinity].

The foremost scientist of the previous civilization, second only to Dr. Mei, particularly in the field of life sciences.

"No, you've always known. Just as your intuition suggested, you simply didn't want to admit it—the real reason humanity cannot defeat the Honkai."

It seemed that fifty thousand years of dormancy had left Mobius restless. She muttered incessantly to herself, her tone alternating between calm indifference and sharp mockery. Her true thoughts remained inscrutable.

"Is the root of tragedy the Honkai? The End? Is that truly it? No! The root of it all lies in humanity's inherent flaws."

"As long as human civilization cannot unite completely, gather every ounce of strength, and act as one, it will never defeat the End. No single person alone can make it happen!"

The strength of the Honkai scales with the growth of civilization, perpetually outpacing humanity by a margin.

Civilizations fracture under internal strife, death, disagreements, betrayals, and selfish motives. Honkai doesn't care—it accounts for everything in its calculations.

Through her years of research with Dr. Mei, Mobius had long suspected this truth.

Her snake-like eyes narrowed slightly as she let out a cold chuckle. "But how could that ever happen? If even a single family cannot avoid conflict, how can billions of humans manage it?"

Mobius knew all too well that as long as humanity retained its dark, selfish nature, civilizations would continue to resemble goldfish—biting again and again at poisoned bait. Humans are greedy, and their desires are insatiable...

With a malicious smile, Mobius sneered, "This? Progress? They're not even as capable as we were."

"Even those swine, despite their infighting and power struggles, still maintained a certain baseline competence. These people? They're unbearable to look at."

Mobius voiced her disdain with sharp scorn.

It was clear that she was extremely dissatisfied—if not outright repulsed—by the current state of the civilization in her region.

This was her first impression upon awakening. If she had emerged in Europe, the Far East, or North America, her initial observations might have been more favorable.

"With humanity's current behavior, no matter how you calculate it, achieving unwavering unity is impossible. If the End even shows the slightest leniency... boom, humanity will tear itself apart."

Indeed, even in the absence of the Honkai, new Pandora's Boxes would undoubtedly be opened, unleashing fresh disasters upon the world. Civilization would be ravaged repeatedly until its eventual destruction.

"And clearly, the End understands this. Conquering humanity with its own human armies? Truly a clever move," she mused.

Mobius's fingers passed through the holographic projection, pausing on the auxiliary troops, servitor soldiers, and particularly the Astartes warriors displayed on the screen.

"Without a doubt, there are traces of Honkai energy. They're modified warriors... but they seem more human than fusion warriors?"

Her fingers, covered in emerald-green gloves, interlocked as she leaned against the console. Asking herself, she then raised her head and concluded,

"Indeed... evolution is humanity's only path forward. Standing still guarantees extinction."

At that moment, a voice interrupted, "Doctor, please be cautious of the Imperial Army under the Final Herrscher, especially the Astartes Legions. Based on estimates, each of their legion commanders is at least as strong as Kevin Kaslana."

A raspy voice pulled Mobius from her deep thoughts. She lifted her head in mild surprise, turning toward the other side of the projection screen. Standing there, cloaked in black with a bone-white single-eyed mask, was none other than Grey Serpent.

"Oh?"

Mobius's gaze, filled with curiosity, lingered on her "lab rat." She inquired, "Are you sure? Not the Herrscher of the End, nor her subordinate pseudo-Herrschers, but the commanders of these big hulks? What did you call them—Astartes?"

Although her relationship with Kevin was lukewarm—merely nodding acquaintances at best, and she privately regarded him as Mei's stubborn lackey—a simple-minded brute—Mobius could not deny Kevin's strength. Bearing the Sigil of [Deliverance], Kevin had unparalleled combat power.

Even with the Moonlight Throne's anti-Honkai weapons specifically designed to weaken him, Kevin's full-force strike had managed to incapacitate the former Herrscher of End for 12 hours. Mobius admitted she could never achieve such a feat.

"Yes, Doctor. The Astartes Legions. Each legion has unique colors, combat styles, and doctrines. Thus far, I've encountered over ten, the highest-numbered being 'XIX.' At least nineteen legions, and nineteen legion commanders."

"Their success rate is that high..." Mobius's expression flickered briefly. "Did Kevin use [Judgement of Shamash]?"

"He did." As he spoke, Grey Serpent uploaded the last bits of data his destroyed body had recorded into Mobius's control hub.

In an instant, the main projection screen fragmented into a dozen smaller displays. On these screens, heavy-armored giants in various color schemes advanced under the leadership of their commanders, crushing everything in their path.

What most caught Mobius's attention was Kevin Kaslana being assaulted by two such giants.

The battle between them reduced cities to dust, evaporated oceans, and made the earth itself wail in agony. Watching this, Mobius concluded that neither the blue-armored giant wielding an oversized [Judgement of Shamash] nor the iron-gray Titan could be defeated by her in direct combat.

After all, the powers Mobius had fused with didn't provide catastrophic destructive capabilities. Instead, they granted her strange immortality.

Once, after discovering her resurrection ability, Mobius had repeatedly tested its limits by provoking Qianjie into killing her again and again.

Tch... Typical behavior for a mad scientist.

Mobius's resurrection relied on "serpent molting." When she died, she could shed her "skin" and return to life. The downside was the immense energy consumption required during the process—and her resurrection left her physically younger each time.

Eventually, after emerging from the training chamber, Mobius had regressed from a mature adult to the form of a child.

"Well, that's certainly... daunting."

Staring at the scene of Kevin being overwhelmed, Mobius remarked with a sigh, "Upload any additional information you have."

"The state of this era's civilization is utterly dreadful."

While humanity had avoided total annihilation like in the previous era, and most cities and industrial facilities remained intact, Mobius found no solace in this.

At this moment, Mobius almost wished the Herrscher of End had chosen to destroy the world again, as it had in the previous era.

An intelligent enemy was far more terrifying than one singularly focused on destruction.

What she feared most was that this time, the Herrscher of End wouldn't merely scrape the surface of the earth but dig deep, scouring every last trace of humanity.

"Evolution... Humans can evolve, Honkai can evolve, and naturally, the Herrscher of End can evolve as well."

Damn it. This is utterly unfair.

"Doctor, all plans have failed. My recommendation is to wait—"

Before Grey Serpent could finish, the shelter's detection systems suddenly blared with a piercing alarm.

"Detected: a strong Honkai energy surge!"

Mobius, leaning against the console, frowned sharply and demanded, "Who?!"

"Oh my~ oh my~ it seems Sleeping Beauty has finally awakened. If it weren't for Grey Serpent, finding your true body would have been quite the challenge."

All the Flame-Chasers' stasis pods originated from a once-apocalyptic weapon, the Fifth Divine Key: Key of Stagnation—[The Great Hibernation].

To atone for her mistakes, Vill-V, the creator of the Fifth Divine Key, dismantled the weapon and transformed it into multiple stasis pods to preserve the seeds of life.

A true act of forging swords into plowshares.

This was why the Flame-Chasers had remained undetected by the Herrscher of End, slumbering unchanged for fifty thousand years.

Zzzzzzzt—!

Through the iridescent spatial portal stepped Selene, her gauntlet piercing deeply into the shelter's control hub. Streams of azure data instantly flooded the facility.

Selene surveyed the dim surroundings before finally locking eyes with Mobius.

"Isn't that right, little... Sleeping Beauty?"

Her appearance was identical to her memory construct in the Elysian Realm.

Mobius possessed the petite body of a loli, with long green hair styled in soft waves adorned by a trident-shaped accessory. She wore a revealing black-and-white dress accented with glowing green details.

"The Herrscher of Reason..." Mobius muttered gravely, her brows furrowed.

From the posture and actions of this Herrscher who had invaded her shelter, Mobius caught a hint of Elysia's shadow.

It wasn't the same Elysia who had pranked her multiple times, but that subtle, maddening playfulness. Selene's gaze felt like she was examining a doll in her collection.

Quickly, Mobius composed herself. Who was she?

Elysia may have schemed countless times to make her wear a pink dress, but she had never succeeded.

Her pride was unyielding. No verbal exchange would catch her off guard.

"Hehehe, oh my~ Big Sister from the outside, no need to be so blunt.... As a delicate maiden as lovely as a flower, Mobius can still get shy, you know."

The green-haired loli flashed a dazzling smile, waving her hand coyly. She winked one snake-like eye at Selene, sticking out her tongue in a serpentine gesture.

"But really, Big Sister, how rude of you to intrude on someone's little nest like this. Poor me was so scared! Why didn't you send word ahead of time?"

"Tch...." Selene's expression remained unchanged.

She sensed an overwhelming incongruity from this green-haired loli. There wasn't the faintest trace of a delicate, innocent demeanor. How to describe it? It was like Theresa—someone far older yet perpetually pretending to be young.

Of course, Theresa was naturally childlike due to her physique. This green-haired loli, however... was definitely faking it.

"Hmph."

"Still mimicking Elysia's speech patterns, I see. But like me, your acting skills are poor," Selene chuckled softly, her brow growing colder.

"Perhaps it's best if I return to methods I'm more comfortable with—physical negotiation."

When the snake feels itchy, what's the solution?

Of course—it's—

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