During the Third Herrscher incident, Elysia hadn't used the Zeroth Power Level immediately, which led to the city being reduced to ashes.
So this time, when Elysia saw the Fourth Herrscher, she used the Zeroth Power Level without hesitation.
Chang Yuan, who had also arrived beside Elysia, saw the Fourth Herrscher's corpse.
"This Herrscher died without a fight, but it's also thanks to your accurate shooting, Elysia. The biggest threat is now dealt with. All that's left is to clean up the Honkai beasts in this city."
Facing those Honkai beasts, even without a Divine Key, Elysia could easily eliminate them.
Soon, the logistics team arrived to recover the Herrscher's body, while Chang Yuan and Elysia effortlessly cleared the city of high-level Honkai beasts.
By nightfall, Elysia and Chang Yuan returned to Fire Moth.
They also learned that Vill-V had already launched the Fourth Divine Key into space as a satellite.
The Fourth Divine Key's function was simple: it could rapidly restore the ecology of damaged areas.
After successfully launching it, Vill-V activated the Fourth Divine Key to restore the ecosystems of cities that had suffered severe environmental damage.
Across the world, the destroyed cities began to regain their vitality.
The land, once scorched, now teemed with life.
Soon, new sprouts would grow there.
"Phew, I really am a genius. The Herrschers don't seem as scary as you made them out to be."
Vill-V chuckled as she watched the two beside her.
When Chang Yuan first told her about the Herrschers, he had described them as terrifying.
But now, seeing how easily they were dealt with, Vill-V couldn't help but feel a bit smug.
"That's all thanks to me. If it weren't for me, would you have prepared the Divine Keys in advance? And if you had made that train-like design for the Fourth Divine Key, the Fourth Herrscher wouldn't have been so easily dealt with.
Her authority is absolute defense and the sharpest attack in physics—ideal fluid. Even a nuke might not harm her.
And the Divine Keys only appeared after the Seventh Herrscher. Before that, humanity had no such powerful weapons.
Can you imagine the cost humanity would have paid to defeat these Herrschers who wield the pinnacle of physics without my guidance?"
"Alright, alright, it's all thanks to you."
Hearing Chang Yuan's words, Vill-V thought carefully.
If things had unfolded as Chang Yuan described, the cost to humanity would have been devastating.
Take the Third Herrscher, for example—electromagnetism, one of the four fundamental forces of physics.
If they hadn't prepared the Second Divine Key in advance, and if it hadn't been in the form of a bow, most conventional weapons would have been useless against her. Even nukes might not have worked.
And then there was the Fourth Herrscher—ideal fluid, the absolute defense and sharpest spear in physics.
Literally, humanity would have suffered even greater losses.
"Phew, good thing I listened to you and didn't make the train design. Otherwise, the Third and Fourth Herrschers would have been a nightmare. But it seems the later Herrschers are even more terrifying."
Thinking about the future Herrschers, even Vill-V felt a bit overwhelmed.
The Fifth Herrscher, Ice, with weak nuclear force, could freeze an entire city—or worse.
The Sixth Herrscher, Creation and Decay, could reshape or collapse DNA sequences.
Although the later Herrschers might not be as troublesome as the earlier ones, they were still incredibly annoying.
At least, that's how Vill-V felt.
"We already have ultimate attack power, which is why I allowed you to make the Fourth Divine Key a satellite. Otherwise, I would have insisted on making it another ultimate attack weapon."
In a sense, the attack power of ideal fluid was no less than that of the Second Divine Key.
After all, in physics, it was capable of cutting through stars.
But its output had limits, so it couldn't achieve that. Otherwise, the Herrscher of the End wouldn't have been an insurmountable foe for the previous civilization.
"Wait, who said Divine Keys can only have one form?"
Realizing that Herrscher cores could be detached and reattached, a wild idea popped into Chang Yuan's head.
The Ninth Herrscher's near-death attack had swallowed the entire Mu Continent.
If they created another form for the Fourth Divine Key, one specialized in defense, could they prevent the Ninth Herrscher from devouring Mu Continent?
"Right! Why didn't I think of that? You always have the craziest ideas. I'll go ahead and create alternate forms for the other Divine Keys. That way, we can switch forms and abilities depending on the situation."
Hearing Chang Yuan's suggestion, Vill-V's eyes lit up.
This was why some people, while smart, needed others to spark their creativity.
Smart people often lacked inspiration, while less smart people could come up with wild ideas—and smart people could make them happen.
"That's great. But Vill-V, first, use the Fourth Herrscher core to create a defensive Divine Key capable of protecting an entire continent.
We don't lack offensive power, but we're lacking in defense. With defensive capabilities, our civilization will have a better chance of surviving the Honkai."
"No problem, no problem. It seems the First Divine Key will need some changes too. I plan to create an artificial intelligence and embed the Herrscher of Reason core into it.
As an AI, its behavior is governed by its source code. Maybe we can create a pseudo-Herrscher of Reason, giving humanity its own Herrscher-level combatant.
And as an AI, it would be the perfect match for the Herrscher of Reason's abilities. Hahaha, I'm such a genius."
Vill-V laughed at her own idea. Truly, no one was smarter than her.
But hearing Vill-V's plan, Chang Yuan's face twitched.
Wait, is Void Archives being killed off before it's even born?
And from the looks of it, is Vill-V planning to create a Prometheus and embed the Herrscher core into it?
If that's the case, things are going to get interesting.
Of course, Chang Yuan had his doubts about humanity having its first Herrscher-level combatant, because...