Researchers in white coats hurried along the sterile corridors of the facility their footsteps sharp against the metal floors as they moved between different testing wings and exchanged clipped updates on the latest experiment results. Snatches of conversation drifted through the air mentioning new data from the West Asia Branch and the need for tighter security protocols around the most sensitive subjects. No one ever spoke openly about what really went on in the deepest levels where the most valuable test subjects were kept locked away.
In one such forgotten corner locked behind multiple reinforced doors in a cell that felt more like a tomb than a room the air hung heavy with the smell of rust antiseptic and old blood. A black-haired young man sat hunched over on the freezing floor. His body reduced to little more than skin and protruding bones beneath thin ragged clothes suddenly tensed. His dry cracked lips slowly stretched into a horrifying savage grin that made his sunken eyes gleam with something truly terrifying.
He had become the tenth Herrscher of this Current Civilization Era the Herrscher of Dominance also known simply as the Thousand-Person Herrscher.
Ling Ke still remembered it all so clearly even now. Late in the autumn of 2013 he had suddenly found himself sitting on a weathered bench in a quiet park right in the middle of Nagazora City. Holographic billboards flickered overhead with bright Japanese text scrolling across them while sleek autonomous buses glided past on magnetic tracks and pedestrians chatted casually on their advanced phones. Everything felt familiar yet impossibly real. He had looked around heart pounding as he realized exactly where and when he was — the world of Honkai Impact 3rd, right on the edge of the Third Great Eruption.
He had been incredibly lucky that he could actually read all the Japanese signs and advertisements swirling around him. All those years of casually enjoying the anime had paid off in the most ridiculous way possible.
Back then he had been just a casual Captain the kind of veteran player in name who still logged in regularly but never went full grinder. He loved those people, yearned to be like them, even respected them: the ones who could throw their lives away without hesitation for everything good in the world.
Because he knew he could never do the same.
So when he realized he had crossed over right before the Third Great Honkai Eruption his first thought was simple: since he couldn't be that kind of hero himself he could at least become their support.
For example — stopping Cocolia's conspiracy.
Vivid flashes suddenly surged through his mind the skies over Nagazora City tearing open as violent pillars of Honkai energy exploded upward without mercy. Countless buildings collapsed in seconds while millions of innocent civilians screamed and fled desperately through the streets their bodies consumed one by one by the raging purple disaster that Cocolia herself had created.
And because of that catastrophe one of the three protagonists Raiden Mei had awakened as the Third Herrscher ever since that day she had lived trapped beneath crushing waves of self-blame and unrelenting torment.
To the point that later she would willingly implant a miniature bomb in her own heart just to keep the Herrscher from going berserk.
Ling Ke knew that if the future followed the original timeline humanity in this era would eventually transcend destruction and even give birth to an "Earth God."
But along the way far too many people would be left with far too many regrets.
"If the help I give can redeem even a few of those regrets — like saving Miss Himeko for instance."
"Or making sure the 'Previous Era Paradise' never disappears so the heroes can witness this era's civilization surpass the Finality with their own eyes…"
"Wouldn't that make the whole story just a little more beautiful?"
That was the thought burning in Ling Ke's heart that year.
So even though Ling Ke knew Nagazora City would soon become the center of the Third Eruption he still chose not to run away.
Instead he stayed.
He remembered finding Raiden Mei while she was still just an ordinary high school girl. He approached her carefully and told her the most important things he knew.
He warned her how Cocolia planned to frame her father using economic crimes and throw him in jail. He described exactly what kind of nightmare she herself would face once her father's protection vanished.
He also gave her basic information about Honkai. After he sensed she trusted him a little he urged her to contact her father immediately and pass on everything.
He deliberately left out anything about her becoming the Third Herrscher. He didn't want to scare her into total panic.
At the time he believed that once Raiden Ryoma an Anti-Entropy executive heard the truth he would change his path.
But things went terribly wrong.
The very next day Ling Ke walked straight into Cocolia's trap.
He was suddenly surrounded by heavily armed special forces. During the desperate chase Cocolia even sent Anti-Entropy mechs after him. And leading them was that silver-haired girl he knew too well Bronya Zaychik the world's top assassin.
Back then he stood no chance at all.
As a total amateur at hiding his tracks he was caught with terrifying precision every single time.
In the end they dislocated all four of his limbs and dragged him away like a broken doll.
For the next several months Ling Ke never saw Bronya again.
Instead he lived through the full horror of Cocolia's "The Sound of the Wind" treatment. Days and nights melted together in blinding pain. They tore his fingernails out slowly one by one while screaming questions into his face. They forced endless buckets of icy water down his throat until his lungs felt like they were exploding and he choked on his own vomit. Metal rods cracked against his ribs and legs until bones snapped and blood sprayed across the concrete floor. Hot irons seared his skin the smell of burning flesh filling the tiny cell while Cocolia's voice laughed from hidden speakers promising even worse if he stayed silent. Every breath was fire. Every second felt like dying. Yet somehow he never broke.
During those endless days of agony he discovered his willpower was much stronger than he had ever imagined. Even when his body screamed for mercy he never leaked a single piece of sensitive information.
He knew Cocolia's twisted personality too well. If he told her everything that madwoman would probably cause an even bigger disaster.
And if he lost his usefulness…
Death?
There were so many times he wanted to just give up and die.
But deep inside a dark seed had already begun to grow.
He wanted Cocolia to suffer for what she did.
It was also during that period he realized with shock that truth serums and similar drugs had no effect on him at all.
Fueled by pure hatred and the desire for revenge he somehow survived those months.
Then the original Third Great Honkai Eruption finally exploded right on schedule at the end of March 2014.
So many things happened at once that Cocolia didn't even have time to retrieve him from Nagazora before she fled in panic.
A few days later another familiar face appeared Rita Rossweisse.
After the Far East Branch pulled out she came to Nagazora as a Schicksal investigator. With her skills she quickly found the abandoned underground base Cocolia had left behind.
She found him.
For one brief moment Ling Ke thought his suffering was finally over.
Instead he had only fallen into an even deeper hell.
By then his body had been exposed to high concentrations of Honkai energy for so long that he had started turning into a Deadman. Strangely the symptoms were slowly disappearing.
When Schicksal's scientists discovered him they acted like they had found the ultimate prize.
They assumed he was an Anti-Entropy experiment subject.
From that point on after being transferred to the West Asia Branch he never saw sunlight again for years.
What followed was torture a thousand times worse than what Cocolia had done.
It constantly reminded him of that story called Subhuman.
He stopped feeling like a human being. He was nothing more than a piece of meat a resource they could use however they wanted.
Until today…
"…"
In the eerie sub-space staring at the enormous all-too-familiar Theater of Dominance Ling Ke remained silent at first.
He simply stood there eyes empty pupils unfocused.
Like a puppet without a soul.
But gradually…
"Heh…"
"Ha!"
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Feeling the complete Herrscher core resting in his chest the one that could shift from "one" to "a thousand" at any moment.
Confirming beyond doubt that he was the main body of the Herrscher of Dominance core…
Ling Ke laughed.
His expression was completely insane like a raging demon.
Perhaps he had already gone mad long ago.
Because even now his eyes still held no trace of life.
Exactly like Emiya Kiritsugu in the Fourth Holy Grail War…
The dark obsession inside him had fully sprouted and grown into something monstrous. It was pure burning revenge.
Ling Ke stood before the gates of the Theater of Dominance. His face twisted in madness as he slowly raised both hands to cover it completely. His whole body jittered uncontrollably. Gradually his arms fell limply back to his sides. For one brief second his eyes flashed a violent red hue before they sank back into their empty black void.
"From now on in this world…"
"I will complete my revenge!"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
please throw me powerstones, just 200 of those for a double chapter,
also ranting: how the fuck is this fucking fic hard to rewrite, add more nuance, add introspection, add more fucking context wrraaahhh!!! took me 4 hours for a 1 chapter fuck.