Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

Elysia.

Birthplace (?): Vladivostok-51.

Birthdate (?): November 11.

Age: 19 (?)

These were Elysia's common information found on Fire MOTH's database. She was found by a gardener and was taken into an orphanage. She later decided to travel the world once she came of age. One thing happened after another until she encountered honkai beasts, which led to her existence being found by Fire MOTH.

What MOTH did not expect was she had enough strength to match that of a Herrscher's. It remained an enigma to those who studied it.

Some assumed that her abilities stemmed from her unprecedented honkai resistance. Some attributed it to a 'power' of hers that allowed her to summon forth a bow and aim at enemies with honkai-made arrows. 

Elysia's existence turned Fire MOTH upside-down. She was used as a basis to many studies, some of which include 'honkai weapons' that would later serve as a foundation for Divine Keys and Pri-ARMs.

Tonight, her true identity comes to light.

"What are you planning to do?"

Elysia's voice no longer contained her usual playfulness. Yet, one could still hear her softness.

"Nothing. I wish everything would proceed as usual."

Elysia could not respond immediately. 

"Think of it like this." Aleph spoke. "I knew you were hiding desserts now and then. If I had any harmful intentions…"

"...You would have stolen them?"

"Exactly."

The dessert analogy somehow offended her. Then again, hearing Aleph's true intentions was far more important.

"I knew it since our first meeting."

Before she could ask another question, he already went first.

"You are a Herrscher, but… you sacrificed yourself for humanity. You died for our future."

Aleph's words contained subtle hints. From the moment Elysia learned more of what humanity could offer, she had a faint foreboding—that she would come to face a crossroad in the future.

"Major Anna." He told her a name. "It was supposed to be impossible for a human ego to exist once someone becomes a Herrscher. Guess who opened up that possibility?"

"..."

"Of course, things are different now. You died before the battle with the fourteenth. I don't have a clear answer as to why it took effect now. It might be due to how I changed the future. My existence, maybe?"

It was the first time Elysia saw Aleph speak like this. His usual light-hearted tone remained, yet she could see a tinge of confusion in his words.

It could be due to him opening up things to someone he was closely guarded before. Maybe it was due to him lessening the burdens of his foreknowledge.

"...In the end, all that matters is that we win this fight… and I can trust you for my back, Miss Pink Elf."

Elysia's eyes met his purple eyes. It was the first time she saw his taciturn side. It created a huge gap from the Aleph she knew.

"Heh. So you can act like that, Aleph."

Like a reset button, her words wiped out the serious atmosphere between them. It also caused Aleph to momentarily pause.

'My name…'

All these times, Elysia called him 'Sir Aleph'. It was the first time she called him by his name.

"Right." He recalled something as he turned to face her. "You don't need to help others with first-aid. I can deal with it by myself."

******

At one time, there were thirteen MANTISes who survived the Tragedy of Binding. The ones who felled the eleventh Herrscher who killed thousands of MANTISes.

Looking at the people opposite him, Aleph sighed in melancholy.

Kevin.

Elysia.

Sakura.

Hua.

Aside from Mobius and Vill-V who abstained in fighting, the rest of the people from that meeting took his invitation to spar. Even Major Anna, the Herrscher of Ice, did.

{"I told you once but I will tell this again. Try to keep it low."}

Mobius' voice came from their earpieces.

Beep-!

Only the silence between the two sides remained.

"Uhm. Ainsworth, you're sure about this, right?"

Kevin asked with a cautious tone.

"Yeah."

"No, it's not that. Are you sure we can handle you?"

His words nearly made Aleph laugh. Their previous sparring left Kevin a shadow.

"Yeah. Trust your powers. I can also control mine if you have any doubts."

"You said it. Can you give us a minute?"

"Sure."

Aleph looked at them as Kevin started talking to them. It was the planning phase, much like the times whenever MOTH soldiers were receiving a mission debriefing regarding an emperor-class honkai beast. Aleph's status is higher than that.

While he was waiting, he was greeted by a set of prompts.

'Hm..?'

A black spark appeared twice in his mind. In the panel that described his [Embryonic Power System], the word "locked" disappeared from one of the lines. Moreover, one of the question marks turned into two words.

[Innate Cursed Technique: Adaptation]

[Innate Cursed Technique: Star Rage]

'...'

He was speechless. 

A moment later, his heart started beating quickly.

'Is the sun rising from the west?'

First, it was his cursed energy. All three of the [Perfect Energy Boxes] gave him no less than five hundred units. Next was the cursed techniques he received.

Adaptation was the technique used by one of Megumi Fushiguro's shikigamis—the strongest one. It was also the shikigami used by Sukuna to kill Satoru Gojo.

Mahoraga.

However, it wasn't it that shook Aleph, but the second technique.

'Star Rage. This is… yeah. It's that.'

When he went to Shibuya, he wondered whether he would come across another special-grade Sorcerer. Unfortunately, he cleared out the foreign sorcerers too fast, to the point he never got to meet her.

Star Rage was Yuki Tsukumo's cursed technique. Its capabilities were only revealed when she and Choso, a cursed spirit, fought against Kenjaku.

Kashimo heard from Choso of her cursed technique—to add an imaginary mass to herself or the shikigami attached to her technique. With her notes, they knew more about it.

So long as the imaginary mass does not exceed a certain point, it would not affect the target in a physical manner. The moment it does, however, the opposite occurs.

The imaginary mass could be added with no limits, to the point…

'It can create a black hole that destroys Earth.'

Aleph snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Kevin and the rest finish their plans.

A smile uncontrollably appeared on Aleph's face.

Seeing this, Kevin had a bad premonition.

'He said he could heal our injuries…'

Only now did he realize that it had another meaning—

'He can beat us more.'

*****

A/N: Well, this is it. Bom Ba Ye was one of the few cursed techniques I was frustrated about. I never got to see it properly since Kenjaku managed to bullshit his way through it (Ehem, the Anti-Gravity CT he got from taking those backshots). It also fitted Aleph's current skillset of a close-combat fighter. Just guess what he could do with it in the future chapters (Hint: Cursed Technique Reversal). Tbf, I'm still thinking on what it could do as well as what might happen when superimposed with another technique such as Ratio or... ahem, you know...

Anyways, I should be able to write atleast one additional chapter this week, then the remaining two chapters next week.