"Where is this?" Kiana wandered in a somewhat strange space. She could tell that this should be St. Freya Academy, but what was with that snow?
Shouldn't she be resting? Thinking of this, Kiana suddenly realized that she must have fallen asleep and was dreaming. Hmm, but why would she dream about snow?
Could it be that she had been playing too many games recently? No, that's not right. She shouldn't have played any games with a lot of snow recently.
Just as Kiana was about to take her next step, the surrounding scene suddenly changed drastically, turning into a dark cage.
"..." Kiana's eyes flashed with confusion. In front of her were several very, very small beds, squeezed together like cribs.
To the side was a small window, reinforced with sturdy metal. Even the glass had wire mesh embedded within it. This place looked like a prison.
"It hurts..." Right at this moment, a voice came from behind Kiana. Kiana turned to look in the direction of the voice and saw several figures wrapped in bandages lying on the ground.
And none of those figures' chests were rising or falling, as if they were already dead. Only a purple-haired girl in the center was still muttering words that seemed to be squeezed out from her throat.
"It hurts... Mom... I'm so...!"
Looking at the small figure collapsed on the ground, a sudden pang of pain hit Kiana's heart. And just as she tried to step forward to comfort her, a cold male voice came from outside the sturdy door.
"This test subject is no good either."
Hearing that man's voice, a burning surge of pain and anger rose in Kiana's chest. She rushed to the door, pounding it forcefully and questioning the outside: "What exactly did you do?!"
But there was no response from outside the door, leaving only the gradually weakening sounds inside the room. After a while, the girl recovered a bit. She shakily propped up her upper body, trying to check on the other children.
She called out their names. Reaching out to touch one person's shoulder, she received no response. All her fingertips felt was a stiff and cold sensation.
In that instant, the young girl seemed to understand something, her cries becoming increasingly mournful: "Bella, Bella!"
"No, no, no." Sorrow also welled up in Kiana's heart. She wanted to embrace that girl, but right at this moment, a chill flashed across the top of Kiana's head, and then with a thud, she collapsed onto the ground.
Irene stood beside Kiana, the Bodhi imprint in her hand gradually fading away. She turned her head to look at the space not far away: "Why bother? I say, what should I call you? Kiana, or should I call you Sirin, or perhaps the Herrscher of the Void?"
"A mere ant." Another figure of Kiana appeared in the direction Irene was looking, only Kiana's brilliant blue eyes had turned into an incredibly oppressive dark gold.
"Hmph, did you forget getting beaten up by me last time?" Irene spread her hands, looking at the Herrscher of the Void with a face full of smiles. "But why are you hiding? Afraid of getting thrashed by me again?"
"Don't be too arrogant. Last time, I was merely sneak-attacked by you." Bringing up this matter, the Herrscher of the Void immediately stomped her feet in frustration; she had been completely bewildered.
She had absolutely never expected that the first thing Irene—who was lying on the ground about to become a Herrscher—would do after waking up was to attack her. Moreover, her abilities were so bizarre; in that situation, even though her mind was active, her body was completely unable to move.
Even if she had a hundred percent of her strength, she wouldn't have been able to exert even ninety percent of it back then; it was completely useless.
"I won't give you the chance to sneak attack me again this time." As the Herrscher of the Void spoke, several Lances of the Void appeared beside her, intending to strike first and gain the upper hand.
That power of Irene's was truly too bizarre. Possessing Sirin's memories, the Herrscher of the Void knew about the Herrscher of Death's abilities, but Irene's abilities were absolutely not on the Herrscher of Death's skill list.
But she simply didn't believe it. That bizarre ability surely couldn't be activated regardless of distance. As long as she wasn't hit by that move, she didn't care about a mere half-Herrscher at all.
"Mm, you're right. I really can't sneak attack anymore." Irene's face carried a smile. "So this time, let's have a one-on-one duel. You alone, dueling against all of us."
Before the Herrscher of the Void could understand what Irene meant, she heard several voices echoing around her.
"Magic time is over!" A girl with light blue hair suddenly appeared from within the space nearby. She was holding an incredibly magnificent staff in her hand, and at this moment, she swung that staff directly toward her.
"What?!" Before the Herrscher of the Void could react, that staff smashed into her body, sending her flying backward. And immediately after, she heard another voice.
"With the heart as the scabbard, nurturing the sharp blade. The highest good is like water, invincible wherever it goes!" Dark clouds suddenly appeared in the sky. Lixue held a sword seal gesture, and countless Ruoshui Swords materialized in the air like raindrops, swarming toward the Herrscher of the Void.
The Herrscher of the Void looked at the Ruoshui Swords flying toward her. She immediately opened her hand, and a massive spatial portal instantly unfurled in front of her. If the Taixuan Sword God manifested in reality, this move could indeed be used to evade it.
It was just a pity that this was, after all, a consciousness space. The countless Ruoshui Swords treated the spatial portal as if it were nothing, piercing straight through the portal and stabbing into the Herrscher of the Void's body.
"Hmph, have a taste of our Explosive Blossom!" Irene stood together with [Irene], and simultaneously threw the flowers in their hands toward the Herrscher of the Void.
Enduring the pain, the Herrscher of the Void opened her hand, trying to isolate that flower through a spatial portal. She needed time to give herself a chance to catch her breath.
But unexpectedly, before the two flowers could enter the spatial portal, they collided with each other, condensed, and then violently exploded.
The crystal needles shot out from the explosion collided with each other, condensing and exploding again, just like a flower brilliantly blooming in mid-air.
"Sister Irene and the others are truly terrifying when they fight. Good thing I'm not getting involved." Pardo stayed beside Kiana, watching the group beatdown unfolding before her.
It wasn't that she didn't want to join in. It was just that besides Little Corruption, the other two were both using large-scale area-of-effect attacks. Pardo was genuinely afraid that if she went up there, she would end up getting caught in the crossfire.
Staying to the side was also Klein. Klein was holding a small clipboard, recording the scene before her: "Judging from the intel obtained from Miss Irene, even if you really rushed over there, Miss Pardo, you probably wouldn't get hurt, right?"
"Mm-mm, no way." Pardo shook her head vigorously. Rushing up in this kind of situation and instantly getting blown into a honeycomb was no joke. She didn't want to experience it, nor did she want to risk that possibility.
Besides, someone had to watch over Kiana anyway, so she would naturally take on this responsibility without hesitation.
"But, aren't you going to join in, Klein?" Pardo looked at Klein. "As the Herrscher of the Legion, you couldn't possibly have absolutely zero combat capability, right?"
Pardo and Klein were fairly well-acquainted, and since they were of similar age, she didn't call her 'Sister' like she did with the others.
"Because I don't know how to fight." Klein shook her head. Klein had always been a researcher; even factoring in those two assassination experiences, she was still just a researcher.
Expecting her to know how to fight... hmm, you might as well believe that Mobius would honestly attend every single meeting.
Although it was a bit embarrassing for a Herrscher—after all, she couldn't even deal damage or fight—as Klein, she felt this was perfectly fine. After all, she only needed to work and work overtime. If fighting was absolutely necessary, they could talk about it then.
"And to be honest, the scene before us feels a bit bizarre."
"Mm, you'll get used to it." Pardo waved her hand. "I can roughly understand you, Klein. Two Herrschers ganging up on another Herrscher—this isn't a sight that ordinary people get to see."
"By the way, do Sister Irene and Sister[Irene] count as one person or two?"
"Theoretically speaking, they count as one." Klein looked at the situation in front of her; there was no need for her to intervene anymore. That Herrscher of the Void had completely given up on even trying to resist.
It couldn't be helped. With the Authority and Honkai energy the current Herrscher of the Void had left, how could she possibly turn the tables while being ganged up on by two Herrschers and a Sword God?
Furthermore, whether it was Irene or Little Corruption, both possessed Bodhi imprints. Inside the consciousness space, the two of them inherently received buffs. As for Lixue, the Taixuan Sword God inherently possessed the ability to strike the consciousness.
The Herrscher of the Void struggled to lift her head from the ground. On her left was Lixue, with countless Ruoshui Swords floating around her. On her right was the violent magical girl wielding a strange staff.
And directly in front of her were the two Irenes standing back-to-back, with dozens of paired black and white flowers floating beside them.
"What... what exactly are you trying to do?!" The Herrscher of the Void looked at[Irene]. "Your powers were clearly bestowed upon you by God! Why would you betray God?!"
"You mean betraying the Honkai?" [Irene] spread her hands. "Because there's no need to. Having my dearest is enough for me. However, seeing as we're of the same kind, I'll give you a heads-up."
"This world is different now. Being a Herrscher of the Honkai has no future; you'll just end up getting beaten to death."
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
"Haven't you already been completely crushed by humanity once?" [Irene] spread her hands. "Don't underestimate humanity too much. If you don't believe me... dearest, what do you think?"
Irene crossed her arms over her chest. She understood what her other self was thinking. Save the Herrscher of the Void? Hmm...
After pondering for a moment, Irene nodded toward [Irene], then turned to look at Lixue: "Sorry, Lixue. Could you just treat this as my own selfish desire?"
Lixue froze slightly, turning to look at Irene: "Are you sure you want to do this? You should know what the Herrscher of the Void has done in the past, right?"
"But she ultimately isn't the Herrscher of the Void, so I want to try." Irene looked at Lixue. "And it's precisely because I know what the Herrscher of the Void went through in the past that I want to try even more."
"..." After pondering for a moment, Lixue nodded and took a step back. The surrounding Ruoshui Swords also retreated in tandem.
Following that, Irene shifted her gaze to Little Corruption. Little Corruption shrugged at Irene: "Why would you think I wouldn't agree? Right?"
"Many thanks." After Irene nodded, she and [Irene] walked toward the Herrscher of the Void. "Now then, let's have a chat."
"I don't need your charity." The Herrscher of the Void gritted her teeth as she looked at the approaching Irene. Her current state of lying on the ground at the mercy of others brought back extremely unpleasant memories.
The cold fear of wanting to resist, yet being pinned onto a freezing operation table by them, completely powerless, able only to feel the scalpel slicing across her skin.
She had long since ceased to believe in the goodwill Irene was trying to express. Besides the Honkai, who did that woman think had ever given her a chance? Those humans always claimed that their research was so that humanity could take revenge on the Honkai.
Because the Honkai had taken the lives of many people. But why couldn't she take revenge on them? Did the knives they used on her not count as harm? Did the people they sacrificed not count as harm?
In the very beginning, she merely wanted revenge. Why did everyone have to stop her?
"Are you really unwilling to let me come a little closer?" Irene looked at the Herrscher of the Void, who currently resembled a pufferfish desperately puffing up and raising its spikes, trying to block out all danger.
"You're just like that bunch of guys." The Herrscher of the Void looked at Irene with anger in her eyes. "You just want to obtain my power. Don't play the good guy here!"
"Playing the good guy?" Irene crouched down, looking at the Herrscher of the Void. "Do you truly believe that there is only malice in this world... Herrscher of the Void, or rather, Sirin?"
"Heh." Sirin looked at Irene stubbornly. "So what? You beat me up like this, and now you're here hypocritically expressing goodwill. What do you think?"
"That's because you wanted to hurt Kiana." Irene looked at Sirin. "I don't want things to develop to that point. You could perhaps say that I'm being a bit hypocritical right now, but... do you still remember why you woke up?"
"Because Sirin still hates. She hates the humans who turned her into this." Sirin half-propped up her body, glaring at Irene. "I still hate! It was you who took everything from me! Why can't I get my revenge?"
"If you say that your awakening, Kiana's awakening, is because Sirin still hates..." Irene looked at Sirin. "Then do you still remember, 'Ich liebe dich'?"
"I..." Sirin really wanted to say that she had forgotten, but no matter what, she couldn't seem to get the words out. She still remembered that final embrace amidst that freezing cold.
She still remembered the end of that illusion, how she—even though she could have chosen to do nothing—still rushed over like a mother to embrace her with warmth.
And at the end of her memories, amidst the pale world and the roaring explosions, that final glimpse of the starry sky and the 'Ich liebe dich' that echoed in her ears.
Sirin suddenly lunged violently, tackling Irene to the ground. Seeing this, Lixue hurriedly tried to raise her sword and step forward, but her movements were stopped by Little Corruption.
Sirin gripped Irene's clothes tightly, tears welling up in her eyes at some unknown point: "She's dead! What use is there in saying those words now?! She's dead!"
"Mom is dead!"
Cecilia, who brought her that final touch of warmth, was dead. What use was there in saying all this?
Why did she have to come over? Why, when she clearly could have run away? Why?!
Sirin pulled tightly on Irene's clothes and lowered her head deeply, leaving only the faint sound of sobbing.
Feeling her clothes getting wet, Irene raised her hand and gently stroked Sirin's hair. "You're still willing to call her Mom, right? Your awakening wasn't because of Sirin's hatred, was it?"
"In the darkness, what exactly did Sirin reminisce about over and over again? Was it the pain and hatred that brought her lifelong fear, or the warmth she could feel after wishing to start over again?"
"I..." Sirin opened her mouth. She wanted to deny it, but the words reached her lips, only to be swallowed back down. Instead, she asked, "Human, what exactly are you trying to do?"
"I want to... save you, help you, care for you. Pick whichever one you think sounds best."
Irene looked at Sirin, who still had tear tracks hanging from the corners of her eyes. "At least after seeing your tears, I feel that I won't regret this."
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