To stop Otto's insane plan, Theresa adopted Dr. Einstein's suggestion and split the team into three units.
Bronya led the orphanage scouting team, Tesla and Einstein handled logistics, while Kiana and Fu Hua formed the assault team.
The gameplay perspective first followed Bronya's group.
Players moved the characters toward the target location, only to be shocked—their enemy was Otto!?
Fighting Otto? This was too satisfying!
Their enthusiasm immediately soared to 100,000%. Every kind of attack was thrown straight at Otto's soulsteel face.
Of course, some noticed that these Otto puppets were named [Fool].
So... was Otto mocking himself?
Seemed like he was self-aware after all—he knew he was doing something obsessively deranged.
Faced with this kind of knowingly evil, unrepentant, world-destroying lunatic, there was only one thing to do: divine punishment!
Fueled by that thought, the players beat Otto down even more smoothly.
Unfortunately, the Otto soulsteel puppets just didn't have enough HP—at least not for these fired-up players. Before they could even get into it, the battle ended.
MiHoYo, give Otto pink... HP bars already!
Elysia: ???
Bronya's team continued advancing into the town while cleaning up the Otto puppets.
Until they reached a large plaza inside the town.
Then—an unexpected event.
A semicircular barrier rose from the ground, trapping them inside.
As they wondered what was going on with the barrier—
A crack appeared at its center.
Elysia's expression changed slightly upon seeing it.
"Don't tell me this is... that place?"
She muttered and had her character click near the crack to enter.
Scene transition.
A familiar location jumped onto the screen.
[Welcome to the Theatre of Domination! Jajajaja!]
[Seeing this scene again gives me a headache—bad memories surfacing.]
[Modeling team: I worked hard on this, gotta use it multiple times.]
[Back in this familiar place again. Is Not-Victory going to lose again?]
[Lose? Please, it's called Not-Victory. Be precise with terminology! (doge)]
...
"So it really is the Theatre of Domination."
Elysia was surprised, but not that surprised.
She had Bronya start exploring this familiar zone.
Soon, Bronya arrived at the theatre's main hall.
A familiar voice rang out: "According to this theatre's tradition, shouldn't I say... [Welcome to the Theatre of Domination]?"
"Knew it! Rita Rossweisse!"
At that moment, a CG appeared.
Rita sat elegantly atop the theatre, strings of domination in hand, donned in her Spina Astera battlesuit.
The moment she appeared—
The live chat exploded, whether they were Rita fans or not. Truly, Sister Rita delivers!
"Ahem."
Elysia suddenly cleared her throat. "I need to take a sip of water."
[???]
[Tactical hydration.]
['I need a sip of water'... I'm dying of laughter.]
Bronya and Rita exchanged words.
Rita claimed she only wished to remain neutral and fulfill her maid's duties, asking Bronya to stay in the theatre peacefully.
Bronya, of course, refused.
With no agreement, a battle was inevitable.
And now, infused with some unknown power, Rita was a whole new being—despite wielding the Herrscher of Reason's powers, Bronya couldn't easily defeat her.
The players who were joking just moments ago now had serious faces.
[Is Duck-Duck really going to lose again?]
[No way, no way. Sister Rita is the 50/50 god. She goes even with anyone. Duck-Duck can't lose. At most, it's just Not-Victory. (funny)]
[Legend of Not-Victory vs. the 50/50 God! Let's gooo!! (doge)]
In the story, the stalemate continued. Bronya was forced to bring out her trump card. Just as the players were excited to see what it was, the scene shifted.
Players: ???
You're really cutting here?
MiHoYo writers—you've gotten way too good at cliffhangers!
Perspective switched to Seele.
Black Seele said she could just take Seele and leave, but Seele wanted to bring everyone else too.
"Please give me a bit more time. I want to try—see if I can bring everyone out."
Seele said it so sincerely, what could Black Seele do?
"Alright, alright, whatever you want."
"Thank you, Seele."
"Geez..."
Black Seele's helpless yet doting expression—
"Seele and Black Seele are so shippable!"
Elysia's eyes sparkled. Her smile was pure auntie mode.
"Be normal," Hokuto reminded from the side.
"You really don't think the two Seele are shippable? Or is it because you wrote this script, so you don't feel anything?"
"Well… that's not quite it."
Speaking of which, if he really felt nothing, he wouldn't have egged Seele on to seek out 'Seele' in real life.
Hmm... wonder how that's going now.
It's been a while since he told her to persist and be relentless.
'Seele': Don't let me find out who told her to do that!! o(￣ヘ￣o＃)
"Just a reminder—you're still live."
"Ah... cough, right."
Elysia composed herself. "I am a righteous, professional, morally upright streamer. I'll just fangirl in private after I log off."
Hokuto: "..."
In-game—
Seele and Black Seele wrapped up their talk, locked in the plan to rescue others from the theatre, and soon found Rozaliya and Liliya.
Then Rozaliya dropped the iconic line:
"Can Honkai explain everything?"
The players burst out laughing. The Vodka Girls' tone was so unlike everyone else's in Honkai Impact 3rd.
Perspective finally returned to Bronya.
Bronya revealed her trump card—Simulated Star of Eden!
Cue a memory flashback: Welt, Seele, Kiana... one by one.
Buffs maxed out!
Here stood the third Herrscher of Reason, Bronya Zaychik.
With her own will, she chose the same path as them—she chose this world.
This was the proof of her step forward.
This was the weapon wielded by two Herrschers of Reason.
This was the star that could defy the laws of physics and rewrite the world!
Players snapped to attention. Could this be the moment Not-Victory finally wins?
They were already typing "Cool cool cool cool..." on their keyboards.
But then—
Rita emerged completely unharmed? And continued calmly, gracefully trying to persuade Bronya to give up.
Players: ???
MiHoYo writers… are you anti-Bronya or something? Full buffs activated and she still loses?
The players couldn't help but want to "speak their minds."
Just then—the in-game BGM changed.
Duck-Duck's theme kicked in.
"Have you ever seen—how stars shatter?!"
"Ninth Divine Key, Star of Eden. Zero-rated power mode—Simulated Black Hole: Liberation!"
Bronya revealed the real Star of Eden and, with the music swelling, blasted apart the entire Theatre of Domination in one strike!
Turns out the simulated Star of Eden was just a feint—meant to lower Rita's guard.
Her real trump card was the genuine Star of Eden.
[OHHHHHHHH Duck-Duck won!!]
[Rita didn't use her full strength, Bronya didn't go all-out either—but Bronya did win (tears).]
[Farewell~! Theatre of Domination!]
[Theatre of Domination: finally wrapped filming.]
...
The chat was on fire.
Bronya finally broke the 'ominous' streak of the Herrscher of Reason!
They were so proud.
It was a small step for her—but a giant leap for Duck-Duck. Maybe she really will rise up now!
Just thinking about it was thrilling.
The story continued.
Bronya and Rita, due to the theatre's collapse, fell into the Sea of Quanta.
They talked again—Rita graciously acknowledged her loss, but hadn't given up. She planned to trap Bronya in the Sea of Quanta.
At that moment—the girl who once shattered the Sea of Quanta with seven punches appeared!
The trio assembled, and players couldn't resist sending this comment:
"Honkai's Ice-DPS future convenes for a Sea of Quanta conference"
Seele's arrival shocked Rita—she didn't expect someone who could freely traverse the Sea of Quanta.
Still, she didn't try to stop Seele from taking Bronya. Seeing it was pointless, she just chilled.
Sister Rita truly is one of the few Honkai characters with both parents alive.
She knows how to adapt.
Bronya's arc concluded for now.
The game perspective shifted to Kiana and Fu Hua.
Fu Hua found Kiana fiddling with the device Dr. Tesla had sent—a tooth-white wristband.
It seemed to have several extra functions.
For example... it could monitor the wearer's vitals, assess their mood, and auto-compose music.
Supposedly, it always played tracks matching the wearer's emotional state.
Elysia was fascinated by this bonus feature.
"Sigh~~ if only this existed in real life. I'd love to know what music would play for me."
"Right now..."
Hokuto spoke up: "Probably 'Elysia'."
"What's that? A song? About me?"
Faced with Elysia's surprise, Hokuto recited a line with barely any inflection.
"Lazy pose, light and shade, stitched to the hem of my dress
Steps grow faster, I invite you, innocence too honest to guess
My existence, please look forward to it, don't walk away
Whimsy and mystery, are what earn the most affection..."