With that blunt parting shot, the gate to the Domination Theater began its slow fade.
Ling Ke's pettiness was on full display. He'd dragged out the closure—deliberate sabotage. Gates like this were instant on, instant off. He'd tested it today: mimicking that Marvel sorcerer supreme, slicing open portals like a seasoned pro.
No more digressions. Now...
"No—don't!"
Bronya battered the unseen veil, but she could only watch as the rift dwindled. Until the Theater's vista vanished completely. No barrier left, she pitched forward—kneeling limp. Stunned. Adrift. Seconds stretched into eternity.
Even with the Herrscher of Reason's inheritance... She was powerless. Still.
Bronya knew her tie to Cocolia was a tangled mess. She knew her "mother" had piled sins sky-high, lives snuffed out by the score. Nagazora alone: millions of innocents, families shattered, futures erased—all her doing. Yet even armed with that knowledge... Bronya couldn't stomach Cocolia's suffering.
These years, justice's fire had warred with this knotted ache. Post-Sea of Quanta, with Cocolia's cage slammed shut, she'd clawed free of old ghosts. She could shelve it. Self-soothe on autopilot: Cocolia-mama's paid her dues.
But... Nagazora's ruins. Singapore teetering on the brink. A woman who'd sparked man-made eruptions, heedless of the fallout—again and again—jailed and called even? True reckoning?
Bronya flinched away from the probe. Yeah. It was pure avoidance. From her vantage point? It was an impossible dilemma.
She'd thought that from here on out, she could pretend this problem didn't exist. But with Ling Ke's emergence... He wasn't wrong. His very being was Cocolia's black history—and her own. Now, he was here for revenge. Nagazora's millions of wronged souls never got their shot. But he did. He'd become a Herrscher.
"Seele!"
In that instant, Bronya jolted awake. She recalled the gray-haired girl's parting words. Her target wasn't just Cocolia-mama. It was...
"No, Bronya has to get back—now. To Seele... and everyone!"
Bronya was in full panic. Her heart already a churning storm, now realization hit like a thunderclap: everyone she cared about was in the crosshairs! Too many threads tangled in her mind. She was paralyzed, soulless—mouthing her next move while her body, risen from the floor, paced in aimless loops. The sight? Gut-wrenching.
Behind her, the Anti-Entropy spec ops exchanged uneasy glances. Fu Hua didn't know how to console. But Kiana surged forward, gripping Bronya's shoulders firm.
"Bronya, snap out of it!"
These days, Kiana—scarred by her own endless trials—was no longer that carefree, gluttonous, clingy girl from before. She'd evolved into a steady, mature warrior. Her core? Unshakable. So...
"Don't worry—we'll keep Seele safe, and Lilia and Rosalia too. No harm comes to them on our watch." "But you can't lose your head."
Kiana's voice rang clear and strong: "Bronya, we've all got your back." "You're not alone in this."
Those words...
"Kiana..."
Bronya's trembling eased, just a fraction. She rallied, mouth opening to respond...
"Hahahaha, It's Show Time!!!"
"Watch out!"
Fu Hua's reflexes fired like lightning, tackling Kiana and Bronya to the floor. But the trailing Anti-Entropy spec ops...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A towering figure materialized amid the group, weaving through the corridor in a blur. This "person"—clad in a red leather jacket, dual black revolvers in hand—unleashed without mercy. Bullets flew wild, a storm of lead shredding the air. In two, three seconds flat...
Thud~ Thud~
The entire escort squad lay dead. Riddled with bloody craters, they crumpled into pooling crimson. And right then...
"Yeah, you're not alone anymore."
The red-clad figure—"Domination Puppet·Billy"—halted his barrage. He spread his arms wide, revolvers dangling from mechanical fingers like careless toys, shrugging with mock nonchalance.
"Companions, bonds—you lot love peddling that crap." "So how about this..."
The red figure seemed to smirk. He jabbed a finger at Bronya: "For your revenge... I'll just make you alone again!" "That top dog from the 'Charon Directory,' the Silver Wolf of Ural who once struck terror worldwide..."
At that, a spatial gate bloomed behind him. He backed through with a casual step...
"Starting today, I'll hunt and assassinate every active Anti-Entropy member, no exceptions." The red figure's tone dripped mockery: "Will you broadcast this 'preview'?" "I'm dying to see your pick."
Buzz! The gate snapped shut.
All around: a graveyard of corpses. Kiana, Bronya, Fu Hua—left in stunned silence.
Ling Ke was a spiteful bastard. That point? Hammered home time and again. So today's riddle for Bronya? Another no-win, soul-crushing bind. He'd announced: indiscriminate hunts and hits on every active Anti-Entropy soul.
Go public with that... Once it spread... "We've got no way to stop him—for now."
If the truth hit the whole organization... Panic would erupt like wildfire, no doubt. Not everyone had the steel to face Honkai head-on till death. And even the iron-willed? They had families, loved ones, irreplaceable bonds. "Indiscriminate"... three syllables, pure ice in the veins.
Thus, the trap snapped shut. Publicize it, and Anti-Entropy fractures beyond repair. Bury it... "And what sets us apart from Otto then?"
Nightfall, Anti-Entropy HQ, North American Salt Lake Base. Dr. Tesla was boiling over again. "Damn that psycho, he... he..." Words failed her. She could curse Otto—the five-century schemer—with every filthy slur in the book. But Ling Ke's backstory? It choked her vitriol. "He's the 'villain' we forged!"
Dr. Einstein, at her side in the conference room, rubbed her temples in agony. Karma's bite. He was the debt Anti-Entropy—and Schicksal—had racked up.
Then...
"I've heard Mei mention this Ling Ke before." Kiana broke the hush. "Back when Mei and I were in Nagazora, during the Third Eruption's full outbreak." "She regretted it so much—not trusting him, ignoring his warning out of goodwill... She blamed herself rotten, convinced Nagazora's nightmare was all on her ignorance." "We all figured he'd perished—like the city's millions." "Later..." "Later, Mei-sis quietly asked Bronya to dig into his whereabouts."
Bronya, composure fraying back, forced calm: "But nothing turned up." "No photo, no footage—Nagazora's cams wiped clean. Bronya didn't even connect him to the civilian Cocolia-mama ordered nabbed."
Their recounting hung... As Bronya's mood sank anew...
"Send the word out." Welt Yang, still Anti-Entropy's Sovereign, issued the grim decree: "Publicize Ling Ke's—the Herrscher of Domination's—'preview.' Flag the threat level." "Those who stay? Prep for the end."
Evidently... He'd chosen to amputate. And hold true to his principles.