"It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"
"Why? Why did you leave me?!"
"Mommy, save me! Mommy, where are you?"
"I hate you! I hate all of you! You all deserve to die!"
Pain, despair, anger – countless emotions converged like a tidal wave, drowning thoughts, suffocating the soul.
Amidst the desperate cries of humanity, Ren's consciousness sank continuously. He was like a victim drowning in the deep sea, only able to watch himself fall until the light finally vanished from his eyes, until the world became nothing but darkness.
An indescribable exhaustion gnawed at his spirit, dragging him, along with his sense of self, into deeper darkness.
"What are you still struggling for? This world is so flawed. Only destruction can grant it true balance."
An ethereal voice whispered constantly beside his ear, seeming to weep, yet also pleading.
"That is not for me to decide. Destruction or not, that is the purview of gods," he replied.
"But there are no gods in this world! If They existed, why couldn't They hear our prayers? If They existed, how could They watch us die?"
"We prayed to the gods, yet only the Theater of Domination answered us. If there truly are gods in this world, then You are the only one."
"No, you are mistaken. I am merely a shadow walking in darkness, an ordinary person yearning for the moonlight."
"But without You, who else can save us?"
"Of course, it's..."
...
"How do you feel?" The voices in his mind gradually receded like a tide, replaced by the questioning voice of the woman beside him.
"Fine," Ren replied casually, slowly opening his eyes. After letting out a long breath, his gaze fell on the figure beside him.
"Really? The peak mental energy readings just now reached nearly five times the intensity of a Herrscher. If the Lord hadn't had so much faith in you, I would have thought you were about to transform into the Herrscher of Finality in the next second." Hare clicked her tongue, making no effort to hide the surprise on her face.
"Did I say anything strange while I was absorbing?"
"Huh? Someone as powerful as you talks in their sleep too?" Despite her teasing tone, she obediently pulled up the surveillance footage from while Ren was unconscious. "Relax. Besides muttering that girl's name a few times, there wasn't anything particularly noteworthy."
After speaking, her gaze towards Ren became meaningful. "To forcibly absorb another Herrscher's authority and maintain such composure... I fear even the Lord couldn't achieve that."
"You're curious?" Ren didn't answer directly, just offered a light, noncommittal question.
Yet, this simple question sent a chill down Hare's spine. She immediately dropped the joking tone and obediently turned away, no longer looking at Ren.
"Since you are the executor of Project Stigma, just do your job. If you really want to know, I'm not opposed to telling you, but knowing too much isn't conducive to survival."
"Apologies, I overstepped."
A few minutes later, the Honkai Energy within his body finally calmed down. Ren stretched and sat up from the laboratory instrument.
This was one of World Serpent's secret bases, also one of the ruins of a Previous Era shelter. As for why Ren was here, it was naturally because of Project Stigma.
As is well known, the twelve Herrschers are actually projections of the Herrscher of Finality. To preemptively replace Finality, all twelve Herrscher powers need to be gathered. And the Herrscher of Dominance's ability is precisely to command the powers of the other Herrschers. In a sense, the Herrscher of the Legion itself is the closest existence to Finality.
However, touching upon truth is not so easy. Setting aside whether all authorities can even be gathered, even if they could, the Herrscher of Dominance's own capacity has limits. If it were the disorganized rabble from the original timeline, they likely would have exploded into fragments upon the first absorption due to conflicting authorities.
But Ren's appearance changed everything. Whether it was his soul, once that of a god, or his authority directly linked to the Imaginary Tree, both made him the only being capable of reaching Finality. This was precisely why Kevin reached an agreement directly after their second encounter, reformulating Project Stigma.
Though calling it Project Stigma was perhaps no longer accurate. More precisely, it should be called Project Dominate Finality.
And Ren was here now precisely to absorb the first Herrscher Core.
Currently, excluding the Herrscher of Binding, the cores of all twelve Herrschers had already manifested. Aside from Reason, Void, Thunder, and Sentience – the four with established hosts – almost all other authorities were under Ren's control. What he was absorbing this time was the Core of the Herrscher of Stars, once possessed by Chen Tianwu.
Although 'absorption' sounds simple, Herrschers themselves have no inherent hierarchy. Even as the Herrscher of Dominance, Ren couldn't just absorb a peer-level Herrscher Core out of thin air. The only recorded instance was the Herrscher of Ice and Stars, which manifested through fusion.
But fusion implies a change in authority. If Ren did that, his power of Dominance would also change. Therefore, to achieve true absorption, he had to bypass the Herrscher aspect itself, using his own being as the vessel to withstand the impact of the Herrscher Core.
"As you absorb more, your sense of self will become more fragile. The slightest lapse in concentration, and you could be completely consumed by the Honkai."
Hare analyzed, "I believe you've already felt it. During absorption, your own Dominance authority also loses control. In this process, your consciousness might be contaminated by other Herrscher of the Legion puppets. To prevent you from being assimilated by your own Dominance ability before being overwhelmed by other Herrscher authorities, I suggest you wait at least half a month before absorbing the second core."
"Half a month?"
"What, too short? Of course, if you need more time, longer is perfectly acceptable. But according to the Lord's predictions, Finality will arrive early, in at most half a year..."
"No. I don't have that much time left. Schedule the next absorption for three days from now."
Hare paused, her expression turning serious. "While I know you are powerful, absorbing two cores in such a short time... even you cannot possibly withstand such immense Honkai Energy."
"That is not your concern. You just need to execute."
"This isn't about execution or not! It's about the fact that if you lose control, you yourself become the greatest threat!" Seeing Ren's insistence, Hare couldn't afford to be subtle anymore.
"..." Ren was about to say something when a sudden, intense stuffiness hit him. He bent over, covering his mouth, and began coughing violently.
Blood seeped through his fingers, dripping onto the floor.
"This- I'll get you treatment immediately!" Seeing this, Hare panicked, immediately turning to activate the medical equipment. But Ren stopped her before she took two steps.
"No need." After the coughing fit, his body finally felt somewhat better. Ren wiped the blood from his hand and sighed. "This is why I need to speed up the absorption. If I delay any longer, I might leave this world before the absorption is complete."
"Maybe don't think about absorbing for now? World Serpent's medical technology is excellent. I think you should receive treatment first."
Shaking his head slightly, Ren asked in return, "Do you get sick?"
"I am an Ideal type. Of course, I don't get sick like humans."
"Then neither do I. I am also not human, or rather, not a human of this world. Simple treatment won't work on me. Kevin and Number 17 likely realized this long ago, which is why they started Project Stigma at this time. What World Serpent needs to do now is follow my requirements and complete the plan as quickly as possible. Do you understand?"
"...Understood."
Hare wasn't human and struggled to comprehend human emotions. But Alexandra's reprimand from years ago was forever branded onto her soul.
"You have no right to decide the fate of a life."
Those words originally referred to the then-unborn Bronya, but they applied equally well to Ren now.
She had no right to decide Ren's choices.
Seeing Hare finally fall silent, Ren let out a long breath. He paused for several seconds, then took a small object from his pocket.
"Give this to Kevin."
"This is... a hair clip?" Hare took the object, examining it with a frown.
It was undoubtedly a hair clip, and a very plain one at that. It was conical, with a hollowed-out golden star in the middle, looking like something an ordinary girl might wear.
"Tell Kevin, if one day I truly lose control, give this to Kiana."
"It is the final failsafe... and the only thing that can kill me."