Bronya also asked: "Kiana, are you sure it's okay?"
Kiana nodded: "Mm, don't worry. I've got this."
Seele looked at her worriedly: "Kiana…"
Kiana gave her a gentle smile: "Don't worry, Seele. With all of you here, I feel much more at ease."
Seele nodded: "Mm, Seele will do her best too!"
Welt said: "It seems the discussion has reached a conclusion. In that case, this encirclement operation will be carried out three days from now."
…
The TV screen switched to inside the Theater of Domination.
Today's assembly hall was exceptionally quiet.
The puppet at the judge's bench spoke: "The reason I've called everyone here today—you probably already know. We received information that the Herrscher of the Void will soon be transported to a certain base in the Arctic."
The excited puppet shouted: "This is blatant provocation!! Are we just going to swallow our anger?"
This time, no one opposed him—not even a single word was spoken.
"In their eyes, we're just minions, just mice chasing after cheese! That's why they dare to set such an obvious trap so arrogantly!"
"But if we let even this opportunity slip by, wouldn't that make us worse than mice?!"
"Since they dared to offer it, we have to dare to take it! And we absolutely have to succeed!"
"When they realize that what stepped into the trap wasn't a mouse, but a grizzly bear—that's when they'll regret it!"
After this impassioned speech, the courtroom became even quieter. Even the judge's bench fell silent.
"Well said!"
The one who stood up was actually the calm puppet who had opposed him before: "We should let those arrogant people know the consequences of underestimating us!"
"We should show them what true unity looks like!"
The other puppets immediately responded: "Exactly!"
"Well said!"
Waves of agreement rose one after another, flooding the courtroom.
"Yeah, yeah, we've had enough of being looked down on—"
"We have power now, we have like-minded companions—"
"This is something only we, united as one, can accomplish!"
"Well said! Well said!"
The puppet at the judge's bench slapped the desk: "Good! Then this time, we pass unanimously—with full votes—to launch an attack on the Herrscher of the Void!!"
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Aboard the Hyperion, all combat personnel were on full alert.
The journey to the Arctic was already more than halfway done. Amid everyone's tension and unease—
Tesla suddenly shouted over the comms: "They're here!"
Countless mechs controlled by the Herrscher of Domination, along with flying Honkai Beasts, came sweeping in.
"You've invited us so warmly—how could we possibly stand you up?"
A puppet landed first on the stern deck, looking at Bronya who was guarding there: "Hmm? Isn't this… the little girl whose motorcycle got stolen, and that patient who refuses treatment?"
Tesla's voice rang out again: "Attention! Multiple additional enemy signals detected. They're about to engage on the stern deck!"
Bronya immediately warned: "Seele, enemies are heading your way."
"I know. Don't worry, Big Sis Bronya!" Seele took Rosalia and Liliya and directly went to meet the enemy.
The puppet controlled several mechs, Honkai Beasts, and zombies to surround the three of them: "Yo, long time no see, little black-and-white princess. Taking the kids out for a walk?"
Seele completely ignored them.
Her only goal was to clear these things as quickly as possible so Kiana wouldn't run into danger.
Under these circumstances,
Both Bronya and Seele's sides quickly finished clearing their opponents.
They then reported: "Deck and stern have been cleared."
Tesla was shocked: "Huh? The radar still shows these enemies present!"
"Huh?"
Bronya thought of a possibility: "They've entered the ship's interior."
The TV screen returned to the inside of the Hyperion.
Kiana was inside a simple electromagnetic barrier. Although this was a bait operation, everyone still did everything possible to avoid direct contact between her and the puppets.
Theresa stood guard outside the barrier.
Looking at the now mature Kiana inside, she sighed: "You're really calm. In the past, you probably would've charged out already."
Kiana laughed: "True."
"But since this is the plan I proposed myself, I have to carry it through properly to the end—"
"Hehehe~" A strange laugh suddenly came from all directions.
Theresa reacted immediately—puppets! They had already infiltrated here!
"Hehehehehehe—" The laughter continued, but no puppet could be seen.
Theresa vigilantly scanned around and finally locked onto the source: "It's the ventilation ducts!"
As if their game of hide-and-seek had been discovered, puppets twisted and poured out from the ventilation ducts in all directions.
"Poor thing, poor thing, the pitiful child left as bait by everyone."
Kiana wasn't affected at all and said: "Haven't you taken the bait already?"
The puppet replied: "As long as the fish eats all the bait… then it's not taking the hook!"
Theresa immediately planted her cross in front of her: "Then let's see if you have what it takes!"
The puppet mocked: "A little elementary schooler who's not even as tall as her own cross dares to block our way?"
Theresa watched as countless densely packed puppets laughed and pressed in from all sides. Mixed among them were quite a few Honkai Beasts…
They tried to break through the defense, continuously pressing against Kiana's barrier.
Theresa could only swing her cross, using Judas's chains to pierce the nearest Honkai Beasts.
Tesla's urgent comm came through: "Theresa! The puppets have invaded the ship's power system! Their target—is the barrier around Kiana!"
"What?"
Theresa quickly looked over: "The barrier… disappeared?!"
In that very instant,
Kiana only heard what seemed to be everyone saying something over the comms.
Her entire body was enveloped in white light. When she came to, she had already entered the Theater of Domination.
A puppet stood high above: "Sigh, I'm almost tired of saying it, but for your sake, I'll say it one more time. Kiana, Kiana—welcome to the Theater of Domination—!"
"The bait has sunk right into the fish's belly~"
"Hahahaha, everyone come look—this is the gift Anti-Entropy gave us—"
Clap clap clap clap clap—strange applause echoed through the theater, rising and falling from unknown sources.
"How about we hold another meeting to discuss how to deal with this girl!"
An excited puppet immediately shouted: "Dismantle her the same way they dismantled us!"
"Tie her up and study her bit by bit!"
Piercing shouts filled the space, followed by chaotic footsteps gradually approaching.
Kiana completely ignored them.
She still had her own plan.
She quickly ran toward a wide-open area.
A puppet asked curiously: "What, are you trying to pick a nicer feng shui spot for your grave?"
Kiana said calmly: "Yeah, I picked it for you guys. Like it?"
The puppet burst into mad laughter: "Ah…? Hahahaha—! Oh man, you're so cute. Everything about you has changed, except that useless brain of yours."
"Take a good look at our numbers compared to yours—oh~ I almost forgot, you were never good at counting anyway. No wonder you can't keep up, haha!"
"Fine, fine. Since you've chosen such an open stage,
"Let us give you a proper math lesson!"
Kiana wasn't affected by their words at all.
Instead, she focused on gathering her power. After a few deep breaths—
The authority of the Herrscher of the Void activated instantly!
A massive portal suddenly appeared above the Theater of Domination. The Hyperion passed straight through it and arrived directly overhead.
All the puppets were stunned: "What? This… how is this possible?"
Tesla's voice also came through Kiana's earpiece.
Communications were fully restored.
Tesla issued the order: "Hyperion, commence aerial support mech drop! Take a good look—this is specially customized just for you lot. If you've got the skills, try hacking one!"
Countless mechs were airdropped from the Hyperion.
As soon as they landed, they opened fire on the puppets. Countless energy cannons bombarded the entire theater.
Then Theresa and the others jumped down from the deck as well, surrounding and protecting Kiana while sweeping up the remaining puppets.
Under this coordinated assault, the entire battlefield was completely one-sided.
Kiana looked up at the puppet high above: "It's over, Herrscher of Domination. Want to count again—do you still think you have a chance?"
The puppet let out a piercing laugh: "Ahahaha… it's not over yet…"
Kiana aimed her pistol at her: "You've already lost."
The puppet said unwillingly: "No… we'll give everything… to make you one of us… Kiana!"
As soon as the words fell,
The Hyperion's main cannon fired, obliterating this puppet along with all the surrounding ones.
The entire battlefield instantly fell silent.
Creak creak~
One last puppet, missing an arm, stood up: "Haha… hahaha…"
Kiana glared angrily: "What are you still laughing at? Didn't you see you're the only one left?"
The last puppet kept laughing: "Hahaha… yeah… yeah… just like always… just me again—exactly like back in Arc City!"
Arc City??!
Kiana's heart jolted.
The puppet continued: "Kiana… what was all this for? You eliminated us without any hesitation… as if we were emotionless monsters."
"Think carefully, Kiana… is that really the case?"
"We clearly have beliefs, we have will, we have companions…"
"And yet you so easily kill us for those muddle-headed, hopeless humans. Is it worth it?"
Kiana said coldly: "Are you done?"
"Hehehe—think carefully, Kiana… think carefully…"
Bang—
Kiana decisively pulled the trigger. With a gunshot, the puppet collapsed to the ground.
Its shattered body faintly reflected the theater it could no longer see.
"…It's over."
Tesla watched as the reactions of all 500 puppets disappeared and became excited: "Success! We did it! Great job!"
Afterward, Kiana returned to the Hyperion's deck, and everyone left the Theater of Domination together.
Everyone was immersed in the joy of having eliminated the Herrscher.
But the audience watching on TV felt somewhat underwhelmed.
"That's it? I thought this Herrscher would be way stronger. The plot feels kind of flat."
"Maybe dog director has run out of ideas. Doesn't even know how to blade anymore."
"No… isn't this straight-up false advertising? How is this supposed to depress Kiana? Nonsense."
"What does this plot prove? That no matter how many rabble there are, they can't beat real genius."
"To be fair, these Herrschers of Domination were kind of interesting, but they were just too weak."
"Where's the blade? Wasn't this episode supposed to have one? I even prepared my emergency heart pills, and this is it?"
"This is way too tame. I admit Seele is cute, but this isn't what I expected."
"What the hell? Dog director must've been replaced. This doesn't even feel like the one that used to make me furious."
"…"
Not just the audience.
When Kalpas saw this, he was dumbfounded: "That's it? It's over? The Herrscher is eliminated? What kind of trash Herrscher is this? I sharpened my blade for nothing. Can't dog director write something with actual effort?"
Mobius also found it strange: "Did Hessian actually get sick? How could he write such a normal plot? Something's off."
Elysia was equally surprised: "Is this really the plot my husband wrote? Is this really something he directed? It's way too normal."
Eden thought for a moment: "Ellie, maybe your husband recently got his head caught in a door. Take him to the hospital to get his brain checked."
Mei was also incredibly surprised: "Kiana, this is the plot that depressed you? Aren't you being a bit too fragile?"
Kiana said directly: "This hasn't even finished airing yet. And Himeko-sensei still has her part—she hasn't appeared yet."
"What?!!"
Some of the actors who didn't know the details were stunned: "Himeko is going to appear?"
Kiana nodded: "Mm~ Just keep watching. Don't let the warm moments earlier fool you. This dog director really isn't human!!"
Hearing her say that, everyone finally felt like it was starting to hit right.
They continued watching the TV.
Kalpas even started sharpening his blade again.
On the TV—
Thanks to this victory, for a full two weeks, there were no more incidents of attacks by the Herrscher of Domination.
People gradually let their guard down. Anti-Entropy successfully held a banquet inside the base. Everyone had a great time and was very relaxed.
Before the banquet ended, Kiana returned to her room to rest first.
She walked to the edge of the bed. Outside the door, a few lingering sounds of party laughter could still be heard.
Outside the base, a silver moon hung quietly in the sky, gently casting moonlight over the Salt Lake.
Kiana knew that under this same moonlight, she had once fallen asleep alone accompanied by the cold neon lights of Arc City, and had also woken up rubbing sleepy eyes on the soft bed in St. Freya.
In a daze, she could hardly remember which were dreams and which were real.
Only this bright moon had never changed.
She silently clenched her fist: "Mei… Himeko-sensei… I will definitely bring you both back."
Gulp gulp…
Dark tides enveloped Kiana.
The feeling of everything disappearing brought an inexplicable sense of peace.
The expansion of space came to a halt, the flow of time nearly stopped, and even the boundaries of the self became blurred.
In the boundless darkness, Kiana had a distant dream.
This sensation felt familiar. Countless nights, she had been dragged into this dream again and again.
In the dream, fate was cut into fragmented pieces, pouring down like fine sand, only to quickly slip through her fingers.
Brief, cold, fleeting like fireflies.
That was the life of a girl.
That was not the life of a girl.
Those were the memories of a certain Herrscher named [Sirin]—
"It hurts!"
"It hurts!!"
"It hurts!…"
As the words emerged from the darkness on the TV faded, what followed was the painful moaning of a young girl.
Unending pain occupied her entire consciousness, carving deep bloody scars into her memory.
Tears kept pouring from her eyes, blurring her vision.
A researcher said emotionlessly: "This test subject is no good either."
As his footsteps faded away,
The piercing pain surged wave after wave, more intense each time. Every cell in her body screamed miserably, trembled, and struggled desperately for release.
"It hurts… Mama, it hurts…"
"Mama… Mama…"
She didn't know if it was a psychological illusion, but constantly crying out for her mother's name actually seemed to ease the pain a little.
The girl struggled to prop herself up and looked toward the other children who had undergone the examination with her.
"Aurora, Agatha, Bella… are you… okay?"
No one answered.
She tentatively reached out to touch the shoulder of the person next to her, but all she felt was an ice-cold, stiff sensation.
"Bella, Bella…"
The girl was familiar with that touch.
When her mother left, her hand had felt just as cold.
It meant—she would never come back.
"Bella… Bella… wuwuwuwu…"
Tears she thought had run dry kept falling, dripping onto her wounded body, turning into memories of the past…