"It's gone—it's been stolen!"
The doll pouted, looking utterly wronged. "And yet you call yourself righteous while stealing other people's things~"
"Thief! Robber! You deserve the death penalty!"
"Forget it. Since you want that piece so badly, I'll just give it to you. However…"
"There's a price to pay!"
Just then, Kiana felt her mind flicker.
"What—?!"
She immediately realized that the Herrscher of the Void's personality—suppressed by the feather—was awakening once more!
Seeing this, the doll grinned triumphantly.
"You can say you don't care all you want, but you can't lie to yourself, you know~"
"The very moment we showed you that gem, your heart—your soul—cried out. And that gave her the opening she needed… didn't it?"
Kiana: "..."
The doll wasn't wrong. For an instant, those words truly did shake her heart.
Even though she managed to suppress it almost immediately, the Herrscher within had already seized that fleeting chance.
"Heeheehee… Now then—let's welcome the star of our next performance~"
"Welcome—the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin!"
As the doll's voice faded, Kiana's outfit began to change.
Her sky-blue eyes turned to molten gold, and that regal gown belonging only to a Herrscher draped itself over her shoulders.
"The Herrscher of the Void!?"
A haughty voice spilled from Kiana's lips:
"Ding ding ding~☆ That's right~☆"
Seeing the story take this turn, Eden couldn't help feeling a little worried for Kiana.
But the chat was flooded with messages like:
[All hail our Queen~]
Even though the Herrscher of the Void was a pure antagonist, she remained one of the most beloved characters among players.
Of course, it wasn't just because of her overwhelming queenly aura.
Eden quickly clicked into the next chapter.
The scene opened inside Kiana's consciousness—where she came face to face with the Herrscher.
And the moment the queen spoke, the chat exploded again:
[Step on me, My Queen~][Her Majesty is a masterpiece~]
To the Herrscher of the Void, what were the so-called "Herrschers of Dominance"?
Just a bunch of weaklings reeking of insect blood.
With those words, the prestige of the Herrscher of Dominance plummeted straight to rock bottom.
And paired with the BGM "Queen's Descent," her aura shot straight through the roof.
Even Elysia couldn't help but whistle in awe.
Could Kiana… really defeat the Herrscher of the Void?
In the game, the queen first sparred lightly with Kiana—just enough to test her.
Then, she switched tactics, becoming the embodiment of a poetry recitation class monitor, using elegant, venomous words to attack Kiana's psyche once more.
But Kiana was no longer the same girl she used to be.
She had already accepted, faced, and embraced who she truly was.
She wasn't just "Kiana."
She was test subject K423—an extension of Sirin.
She willingly carried the sins the Herrscher of the Void once committed.
So when others called her the Herrscher of the Void, she didn't deny it.
When the Herrscher of Dominance said she killed her own teacher, she didn't deny that either.
Her words made the Herrscher laugh mockingly.
"Oh, and here I thought you'd say something profound~☆"
"Fine then, since you claim to be Sirin—let's see how you intend to fulfill her wish, to destroy the world she failed to erase~☆"
Kiana: "Yes. That's exactly what you've always done."
"You take Sirin's name to vent your hatred, but that's only your desire."
"Sirin's dreams were filled with seething darkness, yes—but there was light too. Gentle, peaceful light."
"She longed for another chance—to live as an ordinary girl, to have a normal, happy family."
"She longed for happiness, for hope. She repeated the words Cecilia once told her, again and again…"
"All of it was etched into the Core's memory—crossing time itself to deliver her final prayer to the future, giving birth to a new consciousness—"
"—That's me."
"I am… the second chance Sirin longed for."
...
At that moment, both Eden and the audience felt as though they were seeing Kiana for the first time.
Yes—Kiana, who had once been carefree and naive, whose biggest worry was passing her next exam.
Her time at St. Freya Academy—wasn't that the very dream Sirin's heart had longed for most?
But then… the queen's awakening destroyed everything.
Himeko's death.
Her friends from St. Freya lost their home.
All of it had driven Kiana into crushing guilt, to the brink of ending her own life.
But now—
"I will face everything I once ran from. The memories I sealed away, the tangled lives we shared…"
"I will overcome them all—and accept the real me!"
When Kiana declared this, countless viewers in the stream were moved to tears.
Eden's heart swelled with pride.
In that moment, Kiana was no longer just a character in a game.
She had become real—a living, breathing person before their eyes.
Eden smiled through her tears.
"Eden…" Elysia's voice was soft, worried.
"I'm fine," Eden said, laughing as she wiped her eyes. "This Kiana… this story is incredible…"
She clicked to the next scene—Kiana and the Herrscher were still arguing within the depths of her consciousness.
The queen took her on a journey through the past—
from the moment Siegfried rescued her from the test tube.
The Herrscher of the Void denied her, again and again.
She accused Kiana of ruining Siegfried's family.
Sirin had killed Cecilia, and Kiana had cost Siegfried his only daughter.
But Kiana didn't waver.
Yes, those things made her feel guilty—they were the reasons she once refused to face her past.
But that weakness was exactly what had allowed the Herrscher to take hold in the first place.
"Still… I won't forget their kindness. I don't want to forget it!"
"It was their choice to risk their lives to save me that made me realize—I can be recognized as a human being."
"What I should do isn't wallow in guilt—but pass on that kindness."
"I'll do everything I can to make sure there won't be another Sirin in this world!"
When she finished, the Herrscher still sneered.
The scene shifted—to a sea of fire.
"Do you remember this~☆?"
"Eastern Siberia, 2010—the day I first awoke and took control of this body~☆"
"That man—after losing his daughter, he hid you here, refusing to give you up~☆"
"But you were discovered in the end. And you remember what happened next, don't you~☆?"
"Those annoying Valkyries… I killed them all~☆"
"The captain of that strike squad could've killed me—but when he saw you were just a little girl, he hesitated. So of course—he died~☆"
"And your dear daddy—he killed Bella and Sirin, so I cut off his arm without hesitation~☆"
"All of it was your fault. Don't you feel ashamed? Ordinary? Happy? Loved? You're not worthy of any of that."
"To this world—you're nothing but a threat."
Kiana: "..."
She drew a deep breath, eyes unwavering.
"Yes. She knew you existed—and yet she still gave me a name, taught me how to fight, and told me to use my strength to protect the ones I love."
"She even left me to keep me safe… She knew your hatred would awaken because of her…"
"After that, I met Mei and Bronya. We came to St. Freya, met Himeko-sensei, and swore to fight for everything beautiful in this world…"
"I still have our promise—so I won't lose to you!"
The Herrscher scoffed. "St. Freya~"
"Wasn't it you who destroyed all of that~☆?"
Kiana didn't deny it.
The Herrscher chuckled again. "Well then, it's time—time to revisit your most painful memory, the one truth you still can't face."
The scene shifted once more—to the deck of the Hyperion.
As the music 'The Last Lesson' began to play, and Himeko's back appeared on screen, Eden's heart trembled.
That memory wasn't just Kiana's pain—it was the moment that shattered every player's heart.
"As you can see, she's about to step onto that battlefield—fighting with all her might, dying for nothing, a complete failure~☆"
"Himeko-sensei… was not a failure!"
"Then tell me—what did she save~☆?"
"After her death, St. Freya fell apart. Mei betrayed you. Bronya drifted away~☆"
"No!" Kiana snapped back, voice fierce. "Himeko-sensei saved me. They all saved me!"
"Heh~☆"
"You had the chance to end it all, didn't you~☆?"
"That day, you knelt in the burning ruins of Sky City, raised your gun, and tried to end both me and yourself~☆"
"But you didn't pull the trigger. Because you wanted to live. Because she wanted you to live—to carry that guilt for the rest of your life~☆"
"And that's why you'll never truly get rid of me~☆"
Kiana: "..."
"Well then~☆"
"It's time to finish this~☆"
"Do you remember the squad captain I mentioned earlier~☆?"
The Herrscher smirked.
"Her name was Ragna. A Valkyrie instructor of Schicksal—and Himeko's teacher~☆"
Kiana's pupils dilated.
Eden's heart clenched.
No way… that's too cruel.
The Herrscher continued, voice dripping with mockery.
"You killed her, destroyed the whole strike team. Only Himeko survived~☆"
"She lost her teacher, her comrades, her home. She had to leave HQ and wander all the way to the Far East…"
"And there—she met you again~☆"
"Ha ha ha…" The Herrscher's laughter was pure scorn.
"See? Her life, her destiny—all of it danced in your palm~☆"
"You took her friends, her teacher, and in the end, her life~☆"
"The hero you worship, your ideal martyr—she burned herself out and left you nothing but endless guilt~☆"
...
[That's too much…]
[MiHoYo… how could you do this…]
[That twist hurts so bad QAQ]
[Kiana, Himeko… this fate is just too cruel!!]
Even Eden felt her heart ache.
This blow was too much—not only deepening Kiana's guilt but also wounding everyone who watched.
Even Elysia puffed her cheeks in anger. "That's it—I'm not talking to him for two whole days!"
Eden barely heard her. She was too absorbed in the story.
"In a fate this cruel… can Kiana still hold on to her beliefs…?"
...
"Kiana~ In the past six months, I've watched everything you've gone through—loss, separation, failure after failure~☆"
"You risked your life for strangers, drove away your friends, and still… they feared you, rejected you~☆"
"They cast you out, blamed you for their misery, and still accepted your protection without hesitation~☆"
"They'll keep breaking, crushed by malice—and in the end, they'll blame you for it~☆"
"Remember that woman who showed you kindness? The staffer at Salt Lake Base~"
"She was one of the puppets. She leaked Anti-Entropy's intel, letting Herrschers invade the base twice so easily."
"This—this is what Himeko-sensei's sacrifice bought you~☆"
"No one wants to be saved. All your so-called goodness will just be trampled by malice. The ideals you cling to—they mean nothing to the world."
"So tell me, can you still say it—'to fight for all that is beautiful in the world'?"
...
The Herrscher's words cut deep.
From Sky City to the Anti-Entropy base, everything she said was true.
Kiana had been feared, shunned, even betrayed.
Even the one who seemed to accept her turned out to be a puppet.
But Kiana didn't hesitate for even a moment.
"I choose to believe!"
Her voice was firm, her resolve unshakable.
"Good and evil both exist—just like you and me."
"You're right—the world isn't perfect. That's why beauty is something people long for."
"Because good and evil coexist, I have to work harder to create a tomorrow without tragedy."
"I believe everyone deserves a chance to make the world a better place—kindness passes from one person to the next."
"That captain, Ragna—she did. Himeko-sensei did. And because of her, I'm standing here now."
"That's why I believe!"
"As long as I still stand—their flame will never die!"
At that moment, the viewers' hearts burned as one.
Eden was deeply moved.
"So this is… The Flame-Chasers' Eternal Fire…"
[Kiana… QAQ]
[Even I almost believed the Queen—but Kiana's words reignited everything inside me. The theme song 'Everlasting Flames' is playing in my head again QAQ]
[Absolute perfection! MiHoYo, you magnificent devils!]
[May all that is beautiful be blessed QAQ]
[I'm laughing and crying at the same time… MiHoYo, you really got us this time!]
[I've already recommended Honkai Impact 3rd to all my friends. The story is just too good! No invincible protagonist, no cheap power-ups—every victory feels earned!]
[Welcome to Honkai Impact 3rd~]
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