It Started With Devils & Artefacts

Silvermane guards watching the walls could only watch with growing terror as the transport vessels kept bringing armoured soldiers and dropping them outside the city walls.

They just kept on coming and coming, like a well-oiled machine, but then the sky brightened in red as meteorite-like objects started to fall and land in explosive fashion, creating clouds of rain as it was melted snow.

From the clouds of water, sounds of robotic joints moving spread through the icy wastelands. War machines started to move out.

These were upgraded versions of Spider Walkers and the Yaegers. With Marcus' faction officially entering the interstellar phase, all the war machines were upgraded.

They were bigger, more complex and much more durable. 

Even the most expendable, the Yaegers, had a durable version of graviton armour. The Motion to Magic and Kinetic to Magic systems were revamped to produce more energy, as graviton armours require a constant flow of energy into the Sacred Gear alloy.

The trick of graviton armour is that energy flows to the metal, and the metal releases the energy in frequencies, creating gravitation fields.

Powerful AI software is introduced to ensure that such armour doesn't mess with or interfere with the planet's actual gravity fields.

Every single Yaegar has quantum computer chips to assist in graviton energy fluctuation. The same principles apply to Spider Walkers, as these monsters wield the same technology.

Marcus made sure his toys were up to date with his latest scientific achievements, including recent nanites and even upcoming self-evolution upgrades.

Nothing is going to stay between him and the ever-expanding expansion and research to make better stuff!

"Isn't it beautiful?" Marcus asked the ash-haired girl as they took the stairs and looked at the endless-looking army beneath the city walls.

Bronya's eyes widened to an absurd level as she saw rows and rows of orderly lined-up Knights of G.A.T.

"... H-How many did you bring of them?" she asked him. The girl was slightly worried that if she denied his request, these men would turn on her city.

"These are men from the Mothership, not my Flagship. So it's not even 20% of the available troops." He explained with a smirk, as he loved just gazing at his knights and mechs!

"...Then?"

"I have enough manpower to run over the entire solar system from a single mothership." He clarified.

"If you think that I brought these soldiers to threaten your city, then you are mistaken. These men are simply part of my entourage." 

"...Your…Entourage? Like bodyguards? Or show of force!?" She tried to grasp the sheer numerical difference.

"B-But the logistics! The resources! Food…and!" She tried to comprehend this stuff before her eyes started to spin from overthinking.

"Irrelevant." He replied without breaking his gaze from his knight, who started to march… in all directions. If Stellaron and Fragmentum think they can overrun the wilderness, then they are mistaken. First, he will clean the planet's surface and then the underground.

"...Irrelevant!? You don't care if they die!? They are your men! AND Your automaton out there!" 

"You misunderstand what my Master meant." The maid spoke from behind Marcus.

"My Master is a creator. He would never ask other people to fight for him. Only a weak individual would do that," she said with a slight smirk.

"...Weak… Invidividual…then…" Her eyes bulged out as she realised that all of those armoured individuals were… his creations!

"So you understand, they are equipped to fight to win and to die if need be. The mothership works like an afterlife.

If an unknown enemy kills one, his consciousness will be transferred, and he will be reborn in the most literal sense." 

Bronya slowly moved her head and looked at Belfast. One could see how gears were spinning in her mind. The girl had several flashbacks about attending the burials of brave Nevermore Guards who laid their lives for the city.

If she had soldiers like these, who were created for this specific purpose, no more men would need to die on battlefields!

"That's very convenient. But what about their maintenance? Weapons?" she asked with growing curiosity. The city's heir is growing intrigued by his creations.

"Their armours have nanites, miniature automata, that produce things by converting kinetic energy into matter they can use. As long as they move in some way or form, they will have infinite energy."

"...That's not fair…" By this point, all she could say was that this was unfair to the enemies who needed to face these unfair soldiers.

"War always was and always will be unfair. The one who is the most advanced will always win." He explained to her what he thinks about 'fairness in war'.

"...True… I won't deny that."

Bronya didn't argue, as it made sense. She eventually moved her gaze on him. Now that those 'doors' were opened, she looked at him as her most likely future… husband.

Her gaze scanned him from several angles. She was trying to take in all the details she could before he said anything.

"Do you still need more proof that I have what it takes to change your city's situation?" he asked her without even looking or caring how she was observing him. The inventor was already used to how his girls were looking at him.

"...I…" 

She snapped out. Her thoughts needed to be rearranged for a second. She looked down at her shoes for a moment before lifting her head and looking at him.

"I will agree. I agree with terms that I will be in charge of my city even… when… I marry you if this is what you want." She fought back her blush masterfully.

"Hmm, I understand. We will discuss what you wish to implement in your city. What you will get will depend on how well you do your duties as my future fiance."

Her eyes hardened for a second. She realised that it was not simple! In other words, she couldn't get everything after a simple ceremony.

"What? You thought I was that easy?" He joked, making her shake her head in denial.

"No, I understand, and I was not planning to neglect my duties." 

When she said that, Marcus smiled. He knew that was the case. That is why he is helping in the first place; he knows Bronya is a good girl.

"Good, now then, let's go to your office." He motioned to walk with him.

Bronya looked at the moving army in the distance, huge spider walkers walking and smaller mechs alongside them.

If he had such a system for soldiers, then what about regular people? What can he do for them?

~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~

On another branch of the Illusionary Tree, Sirin's army arrived in Earth's orbit. 

The first thing that greeted them was the debris from the space station.

"Doesn't look that different from our earth." Hisako looked around. She expected a slightly more alien world. She had enough time to think about what Sirin's world would look like as the white-haired girl had unique eyes, which added to that 'alien' effect.

"Hah, let me take you to the moon. You will see what I mean. This civilisation had colonies on the moon and in the depths of oceans." 

The chef girl slightly nodded. She was not THAT impressed. Her sense of wonder had slightly dulled after living in the same household as Marcus.

"Regardless, we can explore things once Technocracy's flag is raised above every single government-related building." Sirin stood up from her throne and walked to the large windows overlooking the planet below and the warships in orbit.

"Begin the invasion, kill every single honkai monster, capture every single colourful person, conquer cities, kill all people who have weapons, and leave surrendering people alone.

Are my orders clear?" The Herrscher said with a sharp tone.

""'YES, Mistress!"" The officers almost giddily replied as they swiftly relayed the orders to the fleet.

Hisako paled when she heard that. This was her world, and she ordered a total war?

'Just how much she hates it?'

"Is it… necessary?" The pink-haired girl asked with discomfort.

"It is. Because Honkai won't stop, I will disarm people, destroy the army and take over its place.

I will kill a couple million to save billions," Sirin replied with crossed arms while watching the armies start to deploy.

"I am a failure as a Herrscher." She turned her head and looked at Hisako with a pained smile.

"Well, it shows that you are a human."

The pink-haired chef tried to raise her morale, but all it did was make the white-haired girl grimace.

"Don't do that. I am supposed to destroy humanity, not join it." Sirin shook her head while saying that.

Hisako blinked a couple of times. Where did she hear that!? But then she got a flashback of magma world!

"...Star Wars reference?"

"...You don't look like someone who watches sci-fi…" The Herrscher commented while looking at her.

"I have my moments."

"I see…"

~~~

The war against Honkai was in full swing. The Sixth Herrscher was killed without much hassle, but then IT happened: The Fire Moth task force in Australia was destroyed in pyres of flames. One of the captains of the task force became the Seventh Herrscher, the Fire Herrscher. It was nothing like the Fire Moth had seen before. In mere moments, cities burned to the ground, and the fire spread rapidly, so it wouldn't take long for humanity to lose the entire continent. 

So the Fire Moth proceeded with a very risky experiment: they were thinking of fusing Honkai monster DNA with their best soldiers.

To make them into Super Soldiers.

However…

"Ma'am! Ma'am! We have a big problem!" An officer ran into the blue-haired girl's office. The office was a mess, full of research papers, holograms with DNA strands, and other stuff related to genes.

"What is it?" The blue-haired girl had glasses and a high ponytail. She was dressed in a lab coat, not that it could hide her well-developed assets.

"W-We are being invaded!!!"

"...What? But the early honkai—"

"Not that! There are spaceships above cities! Aliens are invading!"

For a second she had a blank look on her face, before snapping out and checking her computer.

Her eyes bulged out, seeing tons of messages from all over the world.

"...What in…"

She could see pictures of dagger-shaped and rectangular spaceships with strange lights being emitted throughout their hulls. These spaceships were dropping something on the cities below, and she could see shuttles being launched from the hangars on the sides of these warships.

It was a full-scale invasion, and it is happening all over the world!

"...Call everyone back, we need to fortify! The base can't fall!" 

'What of Honkai? What happened to Captain Himeko?'

The blue-haired girl swiftly checked the data, and to her surprise, the fires in Australia stopped! 

'What did they do?"

Her eyes bulged out. How fast did they deal with a Herrscher!?

"Mei, what is going on?" A white-haired man's face popped in a hologram. 

"Kevin! We are under attack." The girl said with a panicked voice. Dealing with Herrschers and Honkai is one thing, but alien invasion? That's another! The Earth is not organised in that way! MOTH more and less absorbs the military to assist in dealing with the Honkai threat.

"But we are—"

"It's not Himeko! Aliens are invading, Kevin!"

"..."

"Check the news!"

Kevin needed a while to realise that Earth was being invaded from two angles now. One could say that his eyes had hardened as he slowly started to feel despair creeping into his mind.

But then the news stopped as the signal was interrupted.

Seeing this happen, MEI rushed out from her office and towards the surface as their base was underground.

Kevin followed after her as he needed to make sure that nothing happens to her.

The pair eventually meet at a corridor interconnection. Kevin, the white-haired man, was to become the first Super Soldier, but he was undergoing his medical test before this.

Now, that was out of the window as they rushed to the surface. The moment they arrived, they could see the MOTH soldier herding, panicking people inside for shelter. The pair ignored all that as they looked at the sky… 

What they saw made their legs tremble. It was a huge spaceship floating above the city. It was enormous, casting a massive shadow over everything. It was one of the parts of the mothership…

"..."

"..."

"Mei! Kevin! We need to get in! I heard there is a massive army approaching our location!" 

The pair snapped out and looked at the Pink-Haired girl, who was uncharacteristically serious.

"Elysia?"

"That's me! But for now we need to retreat and fortify!"

She grabbed the pair and was about to pull them in, but at that moment, a female voice spread through the whole area.

"You three won't be going anywhere."

Elysia's whole body trembled as she, along with the other two, turned around and looked up. They saw a girl in white and black clothes descend from the sky. She had several lances floating behind her. Her orange-gold eyes gave her identity away.

"...You are a Herrscher…" MEI spoke in a confused tone. But, there is only one Herrscher at a time and they wield a law and Honkai Monsters. Was she wrong?

'But the data…'

MEI was certain this was the case! 

Though Kevin looked at the girl, he had this strange feeling. 

Did he see her before, somewhere? She looks oddly familiar…

"Indeed. But don't mistake me for the low intelligent creatures you were facing before." She spread her hands and introduced herself.

"I am Sirin, Future Empress of the Cosmos, this world will serve me as a gift to my future husband. You all will be a gift to him."

'What does she mean by that? A Herrscher who serves some sort of faction? Is that even possible? Don't Honkai mess with their minds?'

MEI pointed her Honkai reader at Sirin, and tried to scan the amount of Honkai particles she had.

But the reader didn't pick up a think.

"Fufufu, to think that Raiden Mei is alive in this specific time. Hmm, I wonder, are you her reincarnation? No more precisely is she your reincarnation?" Sirin placed her fingers on her lips, there has a borderline cruel look.

She can't wait to mess with her!

'Raiden Mei? What is she talking about?' As MEI wondered Kevin got in front of MEI, protecting her from the Herrscher.

When Sirin saw this, she had a flashback of Kiana protecting Raiden Mei in a similar fashion.

That made her see red, especially since one of her last memories of Raiden Mei is when she betrayed her and Kiana, became a Herrscher, and joined an enemy!

"So that's how it is~."

Sirin snapped her fingers and the warship above them reacted. 

The warship's section opened and launched several nail-like objects. Seconds later, they slammed into asphalt around the MOTH's base. The middle section of the nails rose and opened, revealing mechs.

"Let's see how you fare against my mechs!" 

A horned humanoid-raptor-like machine slowly stood up. The mech's eyes glowed as it showed its bladed hands.

[M.T.M Reactor Online]

[Combat AI Support Online]

[Inniating Graviton Armour Support]

[Inniating Purge Protocols]

[T.A.M.I 'Yaeger' Online]

Four mechs walked forward and faced the trio, but at that moment, MOTH soldiers rushed out from the base entrance with heavy weaponry and opened fire.

But all the fancy bullets of their which are made to face Honkai, simply flew around the Yeagers.

"...What the…!" MEI exclaimed with disbelief as she wanted to see how her weapon face against these machines.

"The bullets flew around them?" Kevin looked shocked and confused.

"It's like there is a force that makes them move like that." Elysia observed the whole thing with slightly narrowed eyes. She wondered what these people were; she couldn't even sense them! And she was a Herrscher!

"...Gravity, these machines emit gravity waves," Mei stated with a serious tone.

"Not bad. Mei, my future husband, has mastered gravity, time, space and life itself. All of that is reflected in his creations~." The floating girl bragged in front of MEI. The White-Haired Herrscher has this urge to brag in front of Mei, even if its not the Mei she knows, the girl is still a Mei…

Her subconsciousness is making her do this. 

"Now Yaegers, bring me those three to me, I shall keep them as pets before bringing them to Marcus." 

[Roger, it shall be done, Mistress.]

The machines dashed.

"Quickly, you three! Get back! We will hold them as long as we can!" 

The MOTH soldiers got in front of Kevin, MEI And Elysia.

"Wait…"

"Let's go, Kevin, Elysia! We need to fortify and find… something to get ourself an edge!" 

The pink haired girl and Kevin nodded at the researcher as they dashed back into the base.

"Fufufu, cat and mouse game? Fine by me. Sadly, these people have no idea that no amount of time will help them."

Sirin chuckled as she watched how the soldiers were pointlessly trying to defend themselves.

"Kill them all."

With clear orders given, the mechs started to slaughter the MOTH soldiers.

After quickly disposing of soldiers, they looked at the sealed doors, which had several layers of concrete and other materials.

"If this is the case."

The girl unclipped a small white and golden ball she had on her waist. She was using it as an ornament.

"Come, Benares!"

Sirin threw a ball, and her white Dragon manifested.

"I want you to break those sealed doors! Use your Beam of Destruction."

The white dragon was like a 'Pokemon' and its attacks work in similar fashion.

The 'Honkai Dragon' opened its mouth, and a ball of black and red aura gathered before shooting a black and red beam. The beam started to melt the sealed entrance.

"Let's see how long they will last."

Sirin ordered more troops to her location as she watched how the entrance was being opened.

~~~~~~A Few Minutes Ago, in Australia~~~~~~

The will of Honkai corrupted and turned the fierce Himeko into the Seventh Herrscher, the Herrscher of Fire. This transformation turned her into a monster of fire that indiscriminately destroyed everything in its path.

But before this could get out of hand, warships entered the atmosphere and launched a full-scale invasion.

The Star Destroyers and the support vessels launched their troops alongside the mechs.

For a regular person, it looked like the end of the world, as the world was burning. Then, from the sky, massive machines descended, looking like flaming meteorites.

As Himeko walked towards her next target, a large coastal city, armoured men with rifles and jet packs opened fire on her.

They were shooting waves of energy, and while it did not damage the Herrscher, it did have an effect… that is, it dissolved bonds of Honkai particles. 

Unlike other forces in this world, Technocracy is fully independent of any and all needs of this particle. That is why it can employ overwhelming power towards the very Honkai.

That is what Sirin wants. It took her three days to arrive at this reality, and she used that time to develop anti-honkai ammunition. It's more complete and completely shreds bonds between particles.

Aurora quite easily developed such a thing. It only needed a sample of honkai, and they got it the moment they entered reality. All of the space vessels quickly adapted to the new formula, and now their shielding takes care of it, making them free of the Honkai influence.

The shots from the rifles caused the flames around Himeko to be slashed away. For outsiders, it would look like someone is taking large chunks of flames off her!

*Inhumane Roar*

The Herrscher, who was like a wild animal, felt a threat to its existence and lunged at the Assault Knight with a flaming sword.

Several yellow nets slammed into her before she could deliver a swing, wrapping her in a tight bond. The nets swiftly removed Honkai particles from her, making her lose her Herrscher status and her inhuman looks.

"Target secured."

The squad of knights landed next to the knocked-out Himeko. 

"Send a shuttle for pick up."

"Requesting further orders." 

[Enter the city; there are more targets inside its perimeter. According to the initial scouting, a famous idol has her concert in the city; acquire her.]

The High Command sent pictures of this idol. She had velvet-coloured hair, amber eyes, and a considerable size burst.

[There should be one of the living MOTH soldiers. Acquire her as well; she has blue hair and is talented in Martial arts.]

"Orders understood."

The leader knight motioned for them to split up. One group went to the city, and the other went to look for the downed soldier.

~~~~~~Meanwhile, all Over the World~~~~~~

Spider walkers, with their metallic screeches, walked through the streets and blew up any resistance. The upgraded Mark II models were enormous machines that could rival small skyscrapers. They had improved and versatile main cannons, small beams that could shoot from a bunch of areas around the body, and missile pods on their backs. They were the main artillery that destroyed buildings and any defensive installations.

They were followed by Yaegers, which can take down mid-size enemies and lastly, the elites, which didn't made their appearance yet, the XC-02.

The most upgraded units in the entire arsenal, after the invasion of the Underworld and the Afterlife, Aurora used the data of those conflicts to improve the specs and install the latest technological advancements.

The AI turned these machines into butchers regardless of opposition. They were so potent for conflicts that Sirin decided not to use them, as the war would end before it even started.

Even now, it's already looking like humanity has nothing to offer, as Honkai has drained them to the point that the invasion was like a punch to the gut and made the entire civilisation gasp for breath.

As the world is rapidly conquered, a pink-haired girl with a katana is rushing through the streets towards her home.

"...Damn it…" She swore under her breath as she saw knight-like individuals scouting before her. There were four of them, and they had pikes from unknown metal, and their tips were some sort of plasma.

These guys were dangerous.

'I have no choice.'

Her speed dropped as she grabbed a stone and threw it into the trash can in the alley.

The sound of stone crashing into metal attracted the knights.

However, it had a different effect than she had expected.

The knights looked at the trash can and then looked towards her location.

The four knights separated into pairs and started to explore two locations.

"Target located. "

The girl with long pink hair looked at them with wide eyes.

'What is with that vision!? Are those helmets equipped with thermal sensors?'

Seeing no choice, she pulled out her sword and lunged at the incoming knight.

An energy pike collided with an Honkai-imbued katana. The honkai on the sword's tip started to melt as the blue-and-white-dressed girl jumped back and looked at her katana with a frown.

'They are equipped to deal with us as well,' she thought, quickly realising that this invasion was not random.

An curious thought appeared in her mind as she realised that these aliens could have sent Honkai as some sort of advanced vanguard! Now that they were losing badly, they decided to do a full-scale invasion!

"Damn you all!"

She proceeded to use the katana as a decoy before gunning for the energy pike in the knight's hand.

However, as her hand went for the knight's hand, her eyes bulged as she saw that she couldn't reach it! It's as if there is an invisible force field around the knight's body!

"What are you, people!?" She exclaimed with anger as another knight swung his pike's blunt side at her.

The girl dodged with a backflip, then tried to approach them in a different way, after several close calls she realised that they were not trying to kill her!

A small smirk appeared on her lips as she became fearless and proceeded to lunge at them with her whole body.

Her eyes gleamed with mirth as she was able to touch their armours.

With a successful approach, she wrested the energy pike from a dumbfounded knight.

The girl swiftly rolled off the knight and stood up. With a new weapon in hand, she took a couple of swings.

'Impressive. It barely weighs anything!' She realised she didn't need too much force to deliver devastating blows.

"Give up, Sakura. Your resistance is futile." Other knight said to her as he took a fighting stance.

"Hah, we shall see."

The girl lunged at the knight, but at that moment, the knight moved much faster, and her eyes bulged out as the blunt end of the pike ended up in her gut.

Sakura coughed up saliva as she struggled to breathe. She took several steps back before turning around and dashing away.

"...Target is leaving the vicinity. What are your orders?"

The knight didn't chase her as he asked for instructions.

[Let her run and lead to other targets. A squad of seek-and-destroy units are to be tested out for the first time.]

For a second, the knight didn't say a thing as he simply gazed at the distance.

"Poor thing, she should have not resisted."

~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~

***Tremble***

"They broke through the last heavy-duty doors." Dr. MEI said with a heavy tone.

"You know, we could just try to have a civilised conversation." A green-haired girl asked with a small smirk.

This was Dr Mobius, who was very, very excited to hear that there was a Herrscher who could speak and hold a proper conversation.

"You just want to do your research on her, " another doctor, Su, said with a sigh.

"And you don't? Before the network went down, all of the Honkai levels started to fall drastically around the planet. Do you realise what this means?" Dr Mobius spoke with a serious tone.

"It could be that they are the ones who unleashed Honkai in the first place," Kevin said with a deep frown. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if this is the case.

Before they could speak, more strange animal sounds spread through the base. 

***Rumble***

***Rumble***

"...The earth is trembling?"

***Roar***

A heavy roar of beast spread through the deepest level of the bunker.

Before long, the last mid-sized heavy steel doors shattered as people could see that it was a mace… on a tail?

"...Is that…"

"A dinosaur?"

For a second, everyone was baffled to see an Ankylosaurus on the other side of the doors.

"Fufufu, my hubby's toys are useful, don't you think?" Sirin, with a jovial tone, got everyone's attention.

"Little by little, I got all of you captured." 

She said that as she pulled out a tablet and showed it to them.

"Himeko, Pardofelis, Kalpas, and all of your other little soldiers, which look interesting enough. I have them all captured." Sirin giggled, loving the look of disbelief in their eyes.

"...H-How on Earth did you capture Kalpas?" Kevin asked with disbelief. That guy was too angry to be knocked out.

"We used tranquilisers meant for large lizards." The Herrscher said with a careless shrug.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Can we discuss this?" The green haired girl dressed in lab coat asked Sirin as she walked forward and through the destroyed doors.

She looked around and saw larger-than-men feathered dinosaurs guarding all the exit points. Apart from them, there were white and orange-gold heavily armoured knights with tower shields.

Oh, and some less armoured ones with rifles pointing at her…

Totally…not overkill for whatever is left of her group…

"Discuss what?" Sirin moved her head to the side and looked at her curiously.

"We could work on this together. Your faction has the means to dissolve Honkai, which means you have a complete understanding of what Honkai is! We could help you with your research!" The green-haired scientist said with an excited tone; she could barely hide the madness behind her voice.

"It appears you misunderstood something…" Sirin slightly moved her chin up, showing a very arrogant smirk.

"?"

"You WILL be coming with me either way. This world and all of its inhabitants shall be under my Technocracy's banner." 

"...Oh, then I surrender. As long as I can do my research, I do not care." The green-haired scientist raised her hands, showing that she was surrendering.

Making her allies, her helpers, and everyone else look at her with a range of emotions.

"Dr Mobius, you can't be serious! We don't know if they are responsible for Honkai in first—"

A sublance nailed one of the scientists by his coat against the wall.

"Do not speak nonsense, you filthy human! Honkai has brainwashed my mind and manipulated my emotions! It was my future husband who saved me and brought me to his world!

There are three things that I hate in the whole multiverse! Honkai is one of them! I shall stamp that filthy particle out of existence! If I can't do that, then I shall enslave it to do my bidding to the end of times!!!" 

The girl's orange-gold eyes glowed as supernatural pressure erupted from her. The entire base started to tremble as she could barely control herself.

"... Well, that explains her relationship with Honkai," Su said to Kevin, who slowly nodded his head. This is a good development, but…

He has no plan to be someone's slave…

"Do we have a clear understanding?" Sirin took a deep breath as the shaking stopped.

"Then can we talk about our surrender and how people will be treated?" The pink-haired girl clapped her hands in the most friendly way possible, making Sirin look at her as if she had no idea what was happening! Or something is wrong with her head…

~~~

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