Honkai Impact: The Serpent's Tale

Chapter 36: One More Visit

"I believe you two are already aware on how Legion Herrscher operates, right? It lives in its own domain and seizes power from other Herrschers. Not only that, but there are also many of them. Individually they're rather frail and weak, but they excell at working together and from the shadows." Said Jackal, wanting to make sure Alex and Mei were caught up on everything as they waited for the elevator they were on to reach its intended destination.

"Correct we're aware. I also know that back in the Previous Era, the Legion Herrscher wasn't capable of this level of cooperation and planning." Said Mei.

"Well, that's to be expected. The Herrschers of yesterday didn't fight other Herrschers who rebelled against the Honkai. It's only natural that they'd have evolved over time. It's as if the Legion Herrscher of today was specifically born to counteract your existence, praying on Herrschers and taking their powers."

"Correct. Because of that though, something doesn't add up."

"I'm listening."

"If the Herrscher's main goal is to snatch other Herrscher powers, then wouldn't they have targeted World Serpent first?" Asked Mei as Alex seemingly understood where Mei was coming from.

"Yeah she has a point. Isn't a big part of Kevin's plan for Project Stigma recquire taking cores from any and all future Herrschers? The puppets logically should've raided this place ages ago." He said.

"Aside from mine, the Serpent currently holds three other Herrschers cores. Infiltrating this place wouldn't be difficult for the puppets at all. Despite all that though, they never did a thing. In fact they even referred to me as an unexpected guest when I entered their theater by accident. Adding all of this up, it doesn't make sense." Added Mei.

"I see. You make a great point. Here's what I think. Firstly about the cores, I think it's pretty clear that they're only interested about the powers a core holds and not the core itself. In their eyes, a core with a proper vessel is much more valuable than a core on its own." Explained Jackal.

"Is it because a core on its own cannot output the same amount of energy that it could if its within a host?" Asked Mei.

"Correct. Why settle for a neutered core when they could just aim for a full powered one?"

"In that case, Mei should've been targeted by them long ago. Even when we entered the theater, they didn't show much enthusiasm or effort to take her powers. In fact they weren't even subliminal about it at all. They were practically telling Mei to do use them despite us being clearly aware of what they were plotting." Said Alex as Mei nodded.

"With how obvious they were making it, it made me think that they were trying to cover up a fact." She said.

"That being the fact that they can't actually take your Herrscher powers and were just bluffing the whole time? There, that's your answer." Said Jackal.

"I suspected as such."

"The process of them snatching a Herrscher's power is like a wrestling match. The stronger side will win and reap the benefits while the loser will lose everything and suffer the consequences." Explained Jackal.

'It's all starting to make sense now. They were able to snatch Bronya's powers and manipulate my psyche via my infected arm because their Herrscher Energy was way stronger. However when matched up against Mei who's more in tune with her powers, they have no chance in taking hers.' Thought Alex.

"So it seems as if that when against one that holds stronger energy than theirs, they have no choice but to back down." Said Mei as Jackal nodded.

"This basically tells us that there are indeed risks that they can't take. Who knows what happens to them if they lose the power struggle. They're aware that a fully awakened Herrscher such as you can easily beat them. They fear you, for now at least." She said.