Chapter 53 (volume 2)

"So ... where should I start the explanations?" Ryusuke asked.

Right now, they were all at Yae Sakura's house within the stigma space. Ryusuke, Yae Sakura, Yae Rin and Kallen on one side of the table while Welt, Einstein and Tesla were sitting on the other side of the table. As for Fu Hua, she was sitting a little away from the group.

A little silence enveloped the room. Nobody in Welt's group knew what to start talking about, they were completely surprised by the situation they were in and when Welt was about to speak, Fu Hua suddenly started to speak.

"In this case could you explain to me about the other presence of a Herrscher that I feel inside you?" Fu Hua asked decisively. When she entered the stigma space, she was momentarily surprised, but she quickly recovered, and she tried to understand it. Fu Hua being a MANTIS of the Previous Era and also the bearer of the eighth Divine Key, Fenghuang Down, had an excellent perception for Honkai energy and things related to the mind.

That is why when she tried to feel everything in the place, and she was shocked for a moment when she felt the Honkai energy belonging to another Herrscher. And although her memories were missing in some ways, she was still sure of one thing when she felt the presence of this other Herrscher.

'This Herrscher is an enemy that must be destroyed no matter what!' Those were Fu Hua's thoughts.

"What?!" Welt's group was shocked by what they heard. When Welt concentrated on looking for the presence Herrscher, he found it, it was very well hidden but there was really the presence of a Herrscher.

"Wow, you've already got to the point. Well, in that case I think we should start with the introductions. Sakura-san, could you start first?" Ryusuke was not shaken by Fu Hua's direct question, he had been waiting for it since he invited her into the stigma space.

Yae Sakura didn't take long to start talking.

"I am Yae Sakura, and I am... I am the miko of Yae village." Yae Sakura introduced herself in a simple manner, although she hesitated for a moment at the end of the presentation since she no longer wanted to be associated with Yae village. She only said that because Ryusuke would probably talk about their past in a little while.

After Yae Sakura it was Yae Rin's turn.

"I... I'm Yae Rin ...I'm Oneee-chan's younger sister... It is a pleasure to meet you." Yae Rin presented herself in a shy and somewhat disturbed way. It is the first time that she had talked to people besides Ryusuke, Kallen and Yae Sakura, and also the Herrscher of Corruption. She was a little nervous about the visits that came from the real world, and she was even more nervous because of Welt and Fu Hua.

During those years when she met Kallen, Yae Rin from time-to-time heard Kallen mention about the times when she fought as Valkyrie to protect people against Honkai, although the war that Schicksal started against Shenzhou was wrong in many ways, Kallen never failed to praise Shenzhou's Celestial Immortal and it was thanks to her that Kallen's eyes opened to see the true colors of Schicksal. So Yae Rin was a little nervous, because even though Kallen spoke very well about Fu Hua and how strong she was.

Yae Rin knew that Fu Hua tried to do something with Ryusuke in his room at night, but she doesn't have much grudge for her, after all she was caught very easily by Ryusuke. Considering that she was taken by surprise, Yae Rin felt even a little sorry for her, after all someone strong like her didn't even stand a chance against Ryusuke, although Yae Rin had to admit that Ryusuke was really an absurd existence by the world standards.

As for Welt, the reason she was nervous was because he was a Herrscher. Although Ryusuke said Welt was on humanity's side and that he was not a threat, Yae Rin was still suspicious of him. Centuries of suffering generated by the Herrscher of Corruption made her have a natural distrust against any Herrscher, the only exception was Ryusuke but since he was still human and he saved her and her older sister, thus allowing Yae Sakura to finally live a happy life, so she doesn't feel anything against him.

Yae Rin quickly sat next to Yae Sakura. Now it was Kallen's turn.

Kallen got up with a confident smile and then she introduced herself.

"It is a pleasure to meet you my name is Kallen Kaslana. I don't know much about the world today other than what Ryusuke told me but I hope we can get along." Kallen spoke with a friendly smile.

After greeting the Anti-Entropy people, Kallen looked at Fu Hua and spoke with a smile.

"I never really imagined that we would meet again that way, Heavenly Immortal." Kallen spoke with a slightly awkward smile while she put her hand behind her head. Kallen learned how Fu Hua was captured and how she ended up in that situation.

Kallen didn't really want Fu Hua to be stuck in that kind of situation, but she knew it would be too dangerous for Ryusuke if she could act freely.

"I... I really didn't expect to meet you again, Kallen Kaslana." Fu Hua spoke calmly. Although on the outside she looked calm on the inside she was desperately trying to understand what was going on here.

'Why is Kallen Kaslana here? How can she be here after all these centuries?'

After the small interaction that took place between the two, Fu Hua was able to determine that Kallen was not a computer program created by Ryusuke but a real person. And judging from what she saw so far, it is likely that that person is the Kallen Kaslana that she met five hundred years ago.

'If possible, I really don't want Otto to meet her, nor can I imagine what reaction he would have, seeing her.'

Fu Hua thought about how Otto would react when he would see Kallen and she feared that she might even have to submit to Ryusuke depending on how things go, this was one of the scenarios that she doesn't really want to happen. For Otto, even though he was crazy, he was still the leader of one of the main anti-honkai organizations in the world, in addition to the fact that he was one of the most intelligent and influential people in the world.

Fu Hua also noted the existence of Yae Rin and realized that she is very similar to an artificial intelligence program, but she didn't seem to behave like a robot that followed certain repetitive patterns.

Kallen then returned to sit next to Yae Sakura.

"Well, I have already introduced myself already. How about you start with your introductions?" Ryusuke spoke while he looked at Tesla.

"Hmph, in this case I will start..." Tesla spoke while she stood with her arms crossed.

"I am Frederica Nikola Tesla, the greatest inventor in human history, the incarnate genius, the world changing, as well as one of the founders of Anti-Entropy! You can be honored to meet this great inventor who is before you!" Tesla had a big proud smile while she stood before everyone. The eyes of admiration and surprise in Yae Rin's eyes helped to inflate her ego a little. This improved her mood a little.

After Tesla sat down, it was Einstein's turn to perform.

"My name is Lieserl Albert Einstein. Unlike a certain colleague, I will not exaggerate facts about myself. I am just a scientist. I am also one of the founders of Anti-Entropy. That's all, it's a pleasure to meet you." Einstein spoke with his usual calm expression. Unlike Tesla, his introduction was much humbler.

"Hey Mophead! Are you trying to start a fight?!" Tesla was clearly angry at Einstein's words. She raised her right fist and her left eyebrow twisted.

"I just told the facts." Einstein did not seem to care about Tesla's gaze and she continued with her calm expression, not giving much importance to Tesla's impending outburst of anger.

"People, let's calm down. There are still people who haven't introduced themselves yet." Welt tried to contain one more of the impending fights that would arise from them both. He was used to doing that.

Although the two would always fight, they were good friends who had known each other for decades, they always provoke each other but they really did splendid teamwork.

"Hmph!" Tesla crossed her arms and snorted.

Einstein just sat down.

*sigh*

Welt just sighed, he had long since become accustomed to these situations.

"Now it's my turn to introduce myself, right? I am Welt Yang; the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy and... I am also the successor to the first Herrscher, Welt Joyce. I know it can be hard to believe that a Herrscher wants to fight for humanity, but I am serious about what I say, and I ask you to be patient to see that I am serious about me helping humanity. And also... It is a pleasure to meet you." Welt introduced himself, he had a serious expression and a sincere look while he spoke to everyone.

"You don't have to worry about that Welt-san, everyone here knows that you're a nice guy." Ryusuke spoke to cheer up Welt.

Kallen and Yae Sakura already trusted Ryusuke's words, as for Yae Rin she had her doubts, but she decided to trust Ryusuke's words.

Einstein and Tesla were a little happy when they heard Ryusuke's words. During all these decades, Welt always had to work hard, not only to learn to control his own Herrscher powers but also to gain other people's trust in building Anti-Entropy. Many people were suspicious and afraid of Welt because he was a Herrscher, but over time and with Welt's perseverance and personality, people began to genuinely respect and admire him as the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy.

"Thanks Ryusuke." Welt thanked him with a hopeless smile.

After Welt finished his introduction, it was Fu Hua's turn...

"My name is Fu Hua... That's just what I have to say." She had a stoic expression.

'She must be trying her best to hide her identity from the Anti-Entropy people, but it is a pity that she will reveal everything in a little.' Ryusuke thought while he felt a little sorry for her futile actions.

"Well, it looks like it's my turn to introduce myself..." Ryusuke spoke.

Everyone paid a lot of attention to Ryusuke. The reason they were all gathered here and now was him...

"Welt-san I want to apologize to you because I was not completely honest with you. There were some details that I lied to you..." Ryusuke spoke.

"Let me introduce myself again, I am Aikawa Ryusuke, an ordinary boy who at any given day woke up to the stigma of the Herrscher of Binding in his hand..." Ryusuke raised his left hand and showed his stigma Herrscher. At that moment he had an expression of frustration and a little anger, because his original plans were to live a peaceful life but now he had to stress his time thinking about how not to screw up in this almost apocalyptic world.

Honkai really fucked up with his plans.

"In addition to being the candidate to be the Herrscher of Binding I have another identity, which is..." Ryusuke stopped his words for a brief moment. Even he still had a small trace of hesitation and fear in revealing the truth to others. Although he already knew that Welt would not attack him and that Fu Hua was already neutralized, he still had a little fear of being attacked suddenly. But he needed to overcome this fear and hesitation so that he could fulfill his desires and that he could protect those who were precious to him.

"My other identity is that I am the prison of the twelfth Herrscher of the Previous Era. Yes, you didn't get it wrong, the twelfth Herrscher of the Previous Era is trapped inside my body."

Welt, Fu Hua, Einstein and Tesla. All their mouths gaped at Ryusuke's words, of all the things they imagined they could never expect anything like that.

Among all of them, the one that became the most tense was Fu Hua, who despite not remembering anything from the Previous Era, instinctively understood that the twelfth Herrscher is the Herrscher most dangerous of all excluding the last Herrscher, of course.

'How long will it be for them to get out of this shocked state.' Ryusuke thought while looking at the four visitors.

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(Author's note: sorry for the delay. A lot has happened in the past few days. Updates may be slow but I will not stop writing.)

(And just to inform you I am now posting those artificial image generator images on my Twitter. I post one image a day. If you want to see the link is down here.)

https://twitter.com/JTeles98?t=Xa01YV8sRu-7VxMXX9NMYA&s=09

(E/D: That's hell you're walking into.)

(If you like my images you can comment on what you think.)