"Okay."
Seele drew her scythe and charged out together with Kiana. The two of them headed in different directions to take control of the mechs.
These mechs were originally designed for fireworks performances and didn't have very high combat power.
The two quickly resolved the chaos.
"Thank you, big sister!" As soon as Kiana knocked down the last mech, a little girl came over to thank her.
"Hm? You are…?" She hadn't even noticed that she had just saved quite a few people.
The little girl said: "Mommy said that good children should thank people properly. You saved me just now, big sister! Eh? Are your eyes injured, big sister? They're two different colors!"
Kiana's heart jolted. She hurriedly covered her golden eye with her hand.
Seele, however, said gently: "Aren't they pretty? This big sister is a magician. She used magic to save you just now!"
Kiana looked at Seele in shock… She had never thought someone would call this eye beautiful. Clearly… it was a sign of calamity.
The little girl shouted excitedly as expected: "So pretty! Big sister's eyes are like gems!"
This kindness coming from Seele, this admiration from a child, made Kiana happy as well: "…Haha, then little sister, watch closely—big sister's eyes can change to other colors too—"
Clang clang—
She released her partial Herrscher form.
Her pupils returned to blue.
The little girl became even more excited: "Wow! So cool! Can I learn magic when I grow up too?"
Seele patted her head: "As long as you keep being a good girl, you definitely can."
The little girl nodded obediently: "I understand! I'm going home now to help Mommy with chores! Goodbye, big sisters!"
The two watched the little girl skip away happily.
Kiana said to Seele sincerely: "Thank you…"
Seele replied: "I didn't do much. Let's go check on the mechs now~"
The two approached the mechs.
After a careful inspection, the mascot costume that had been handing out flyers earlier was now torn to shreds. Strangely, though, there was nothing inside—as if it had never been worn at all.
Seele picked up the costume and looked it over. A key fell out from inside, with an apartment number written on it.
She guessed: "This person probably ran away? But losing the apartment key is going to be troublesome. Since we still have time, should we go return it? We can ask about what happened then."
Kiana agreed: "You're right. But I need to find the person in charge here first to get the full details. I have to report back to Anti-Entropy. Wait here for me for a bit."
"Okay!"
After Kiana left, Seele had nothing to do for the moment.
She decided to go talk to Dark Seele.
In her consciousness, she found her: "You've been unusually quiet today."
Dark Seele clearly carried some emotion: "Isn't that just what you wanted? Not interrupting you and your new—friend."
Seele quickly said: "That's not it at all. When you don't talk, I don't even know who to discuss things with."
Dark Seele asked: "Discuss what?"
Seele said: "What happened earlier felt a little off. I vaguely feel something's not right… I want to hear what you think."
Dark Seele recalled the events: "I didn't notice anything either. Those mechs started moving on their own. I didn't see anyone operating them."
"Hmm… okay…"
Seele thought for a moment and said: "Also, you heard what Kiana said earlier, right? She's really troubled about how to fight against her other personality. So I was thinking—maybe we could help her somehow?"
"Ah…?" Dark Seele raised an eyebrow.
Seele hadn't noticed yet and continued: "After all, when it comes to controlling the dominant will of the body, we have more experience."
Dark Seele instantly became angry and questioned: "…What do you mean by that? In your eyes… are me and that thing called Sirin the same kind of thing?"
Seele hurriedly said: "Eh? That's not what I meant…"
Dark Seele continued pressing: "Dangerous, violent, cold—you're comparing me to her?"
Those were the exact words Kiana had used to describe Sirin earlier.
Seele quickly shook her head: "No! Sirin keeps hurting Kiana, while you protect me. You're completely different!"
"Then tell me—what exactly am I in your eyes?" Dark Seele's gaze held expectation.
But what came was Seele's hesitation…
Dark Seele grew anxious: "…Hey, why are you silent at the worst possible moment?"
Seele quickly said: "That's not it, I…"
Dark Seele waved her hand impatiently: "Enough, enough. I knew it would be like this. Sigh, whatever. At least I won't abandon you. What would you even do without me?"
"But next time, don't ask questions like that. I don't like hearing them."
"I…" Seele quickly apologized: "I'm sorry. The question you asked… I really can't answer right now. But I'll think about it seriously, work hard to think, think desperately. I'll give you an answer. Just give me a little time!"
"So annoying…" Dark Seele muttered alone after Seele left.
On the other side.
Since it would take some time for Kiana to find the person in charge, she asked Seele to return the key to the apartment first and ask the attacked person about the situation.
Seele followed directions with the key and eventually found the apartment it belonged to. After going through a battle, she finally arrived at the door.
"Hmm… according to the number, this is it."
"Excuse me—"
She inserted the key, opened the door, and stepped inside. Immediately, her attention was drawn to a bizarre puppet in the room.
The puppet looked extremely strange—its arms and legs were all broken and lying on the ground.
"Don't move!"
Dark Seele warned Seele: "Be careful. There's a smell in this room… the smell of death!"
Thump thump thump…
Footsteps suddenly echoed from the hallway.
Seele drew her scythe and turned around, only to see a woman.
She quickly put the scythe away.
The other person spoke: "Oh my, I'm the landlord here. Are you here looking for the child who lives in this place? Are you a friend of that child?"
Seele nodded: "Uh, yes, I'm here to find him. Oh, right—landlady, did you hear any noises earlier?"
Noises?
The landlady shook her head: "No? I only heard the sound of you opening the door…"
"Huh?" Dark Seele said in confusion: "We were fighting for our lives over there and you didn't hear anything?"
The landlady continued on her own: "But you're actually here for that child… Sigh, that's really unfortunate. That child passed away a month ago."
"Eh?!" Seele exclaimed in shock.
The landlady said: "Yes. I was the one who called the police. By the time they found him, it was already too late… He was lying in bed, completely still, like he was just sleeping."
Seele became even more confused. Not long ago, she had spoken with him while he was handing out flyers…
The landlady continued: "The police ruled out foul play. They contacted his relatives, but the relatives just took him away. All the stuff in the room was left here and no one wanted it."
"The school sent someone too. They told me not to make a fuss, saying it would affect the graduation rate. The person's gone, and that's what they care about?"
"Poor thing. Family didn't care. School didn't care."
"Since you're a friend of the child, feel free to go in and look around. Anyway, I'll have to clear everything out in a while."
"Sigh, I don't know if this place can even be rented out again."
After finishing, the landlady shook her head and left.
Standing at the doorway, Dark Seele frowned tightly: "Sure enough, she's telling the truth. Someone really did die in this room."
Seele said in confusion: "But earlier at the plaza, we were talking to him. The person in charge also said he'd been working there recently."
Dark Seele guessed: "So that means someone has been impersonating him this whole time?"
Seele became even more confused: "But what's the point of doing that? Is it to lure us here?"
The whole incident was full of mysteries, making it hard for the still relatively inexperienced Seele to figure out.
Dark Seele, however, noticed something unusual: "…Hey, great detective, that puppet is holding something."
Seele looked over. Sure enough.
She went over, took the item from the puppet's hand, and examined it: "This is… a performance ticket?"
Dark Seele said in disgust: "Theater of Domination… what a disgusting name."
Seele flipped the ticket over: "There's writing on the back. Performance title: Fool Jack?"
"Fool Jack, Fool Jack, the fool Jack obsessed with pumpkins. He lifted his beloved pumpkin, and the pumpkin bit off his head in one gulp."
Dark Seele said with even more disgust: "What the hell is this? It sounds so creepy!"
Seele guessed: "Uh, is it like a show synopsis or something? But a performance like this is really…"
Dark Seele warned: "Tch, I've got a bad feeling about this. Seele, you'd better not get too involved with this. It's going to get very troublesome."
Seele said: "Whether I get involved or not… I just want to help one more person as much as I can."
Dark Seele said impatiently: "The person's already dead. What can you even do? Just leave it. It's not your fault anyway."
Seele said seriously: "But that feels too cold. If Sister Bronya hadn't been there back then, I might have disappeared silently like this too…"
"At the very least, I can investigate the truth behind her death. Yes, this is very likely a trap, but that's exactly why there might be some unknown secret behind it."
"Thank you. I know you're just trying to protect me, afraid I'll get hurt if I get dragged into trouble."
"But I'm not the Seele who only knows how to hide anymore. I'm not afraid of getting hurt, and I'm not afraid of trouble. I don't want… to regret anything."
"Of course, I won't push myself too hard either! This incident has already gone beyond what I can handle. I'll report it to Anti-Entropy so we can analyze and solve it together. Is that okay?"
"Seele…" Dark Seele realized Seele had become much more mature, much stronger than before, as if…
"That's right, just like you're thinking—she no longer needs you." An abrupt voice suddenly rang directly in Dark Seele's mind.
"Hm?" Dark Seele became alert.
The voice continued: "Who still chats with a toy doll after they grow up? Toy dolls eventually get thrown in the trash. We're all unwanted people. We're all people who shouldn't exist in this world."
"Hated, alienated, abandoned—that's the most fitting ending for you, the most fitting ending for us!"
Dark Seele shouted: "Who's talking?!"
Seele was startled: "What's wrong?"
Dark Seele asked in confusion: "You didn't hear that?"
Seele asked blankly: "Hear what?"
"…Nothing. Aren't you supposed to report to Anti-Entropy? Hurry up and go…" At this moment, Dark Seele was more focused on the voice from earlier.
Back at the Salt Lake Base.
Seele reported everything that had happened today.
At the same time, she learned that while Bronya was attending an event with Welt, the Honkai Beast sculptures on display had suddenly come to life and gone berserk.
Einstein speculated that these incidents were connected to the intelligence Schicksal had provided.
She then dispatched Bronya and Seele together to investigate the factory where the sculptures were made.
"Action team has entered the target street. Requesting next instructions!"
Bronya arrived at the location, collected surrounding information, and reported back.
Einstein said over the comms: "The soil sample you just collected has been analyzed. Its composition is completely identical to the soil traces extracted from the performance ticket at the apartment."
"We can now confirm this is a series of premeditated, connected serial crimes."
"Proceed to the target workshop as planned. The workshop has been confirmed as the source of all Honkai Beast sculptures currently circulating on the market."
"The workshop owner is Mirari Mo—world-class female sculptor. She disappeared completely a month ago with no further trace."
"The situation inside the workshop is unknown. There is a possibility of armed resistance. Please proceed with caution."
"Understood." Seele responded: "Although it's a dangerous mission, being able to fight side by side with Sister Bronya like this… I'm a little happy."
Bronya nodded: "Mm. Bronya also wants to see how much Seele has grown recently."
Seele said: "Although it's not that kind of happy… but Seele also wants to see Sister Bronya's fighting style up close."
As Bronya approached the workshop, she said: "Last night, Kiana told me about what happened with you. She gave you very high praise."
Seele was a little surprised: "Really? Last time Kiana clearly had the harder part. I didn't do much…"
Bronya said: "Not only did you fight bravely, you also accompanied her, helped her relax. That's something only the attentive Seele can do."
"Kiana always carries too much alone. She needs companionship and rest."
Seele understood: "So Sister Bronya took this mission because you were worried about Kiana?"
Bronya said: "Mm, perhaps… I have a bad feeling. Dr. Einstein probably noticed it too. This time's enemy is probably not that simple—I don't know why, but Bronya has this strange feeling."
As they spoke, the two arrived at the workshop entrance.
As Bronya counted down—three, two, one—the two of them pushed open the workshop's large doors together.
"Eh?"
Seele stared in shock at the sight before her: a massive theater floating in midair: "This… is inside the workshop?"
Dark Seele said: "Don't be stupid. That building couldn't possibly contain a space this big. This… is a sealed alternate space? There's no visible exit within sight. Tch, it's turned into the most troublesome situation."
Seele also noticed that Bronya was gone.
She hurriedly advanced through the theater, fighting as she searched for any sign of Bronya.
During this time, Dark Seele very much wanted to help her fight, to protect her like before. But the current Seele had grown. She insisted on fighting herself. This feeling… made Dark Seele feel as though she was no longer needed…
Just then.
A puppet appeared eerily at the end of the passage, then vanished into a corridor.
Seele quickly chased after it and entered the passage.
The puppet revealed a creepy smile and spread its arms wide: "Welcome to… the Theater of Domination."
Seeing this, the audience instantly felt their hair stand on end.
They flooded the chat group:
"What the hell is this puppet? Why does it look so creepy?"
"Damn, it scared the hell out of me. That twisted smile—who the fuck could make something like this?"
"Why is this episode so creepy? Everything feels off. Didn't they say Kiana was going to get knifed? I haven't seen it yet—now it's Seele who keeps getting targeted."
"Something's wrong. Definitely wrong. This puppet doesn't look like anything healthy."
"You're all focused on the puppet. Meanwhile, I'm heartbroken for my Dark Seele. Her mood is clearly getting worse and worse. Is this episode going to knife Seele?"
"Very possible. First let Seele and Kiana get close, then turn her into this creepy puppet that everyone has to destroy. That would be way too knife-y."
"Fuck you! Don't knife my Seele! Don't give the dog director any ideas!"
"No way. Bronya's there—she'll definitely protect Seele. But this puppet… everything about it is disgusting. What kind of mental state do you need to create something this creepy?"
Not just the audience.
Even the actors at the company were startled the moment the puppet appeared.
When making the props, Hessian had specifically asked Vill-V to make the puppet as scary as possible…