"This place is about to collapse. Let's get out first."
Even with one Herrscher of Dominance missing, Jiang Qiao adhered to his style of seeing things through completely. Under the influence of the Herrscher of Death and Life's Authority, the entire 'Theater of Domination'—this Imaginary Space—was undergoing a transition from life to death. Buildings crumbled, and the space itself imploded and died out.
As a crucial part of the Herrscher of Dominance's Authority in this era, perhaps even the most important part, the destruction of the Theater would severely cripple their already limited combat capabilities. Although the space could theoretically be rebuilt as long as the Herrscher of Dominance existed, doing so with only one instance remaining... especially under Jiang Qiao's watch... was practically impossible.
"Oh..." Using the Herrscher of Dominance cores in hand, the three returned to the real world.
However, a figure was already waiting there. Gazing at the dazzling blonde hair, [Seele] wasn't surprised. After such a major incident in Australia, it would be stranger if Durandal, Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie, didn't show up.
Likely, the puppets had detected Durandal's approach and deliberately chose to shift the battlefield—after all, dealing with Kiana and Bronya, two relative soft targets, was different. Durandal didn't have Herrscher Authority for them to steal.
Fighting Durandal head-on, even with the power of the Herrscher of Rock's core, would be tough.
Therefore—their strategy was actually simple. Use the Herrscher of Rock's power to cause destruction, inflict massive losses on humanity, create their ideal environment, and simultaneously use the disasters to tie up Schicksal's Valkyries, keeping them busy dealing with crises everywhere.
Using this opportunity, if they captured the traitors Kiana and Bronya, gained the power of the Herrscher of Reason, and freed the sealed Herrscher of the Void, the Honkai side's combat power would undoubtedly gain an overwhelming advantage.
And Ana Schariac... [Seele] glanced at the girl beside Durandal. He doubted the wooden dolls targeted her solely due to Chen Tianwu's resentment. The measures he'd placed on her might fool any human instrument, but they could never deceive a Herrscher.
Considering the former 'Fifth Divine Key', [xxxxx] (originally Hibernation Pods), its weaponized form before Vill-V converted it was so dangerous that only someone absolutely benevolent like Su could be trusted with it. It held the power to potentially destroy an era in an instant.
However, although the Herrscher of Dominance's plan was well-laid, they unfortunately ran into Jiang Qiao. As a result, Jiang Qiao, 'piloting' [Seele], wielding the plus-ultra version of the Herrscher of Death and Life born from the Tree and Sea, simply wiped them out.
"Kiana...!" Durandal's eyes lit up upon seeing the white-haired girl. Honestly, as a hidden sis-con, she missed her little sister dearly. Unfortunately, their opposing factions and busy schedules prevented any visits.
Of course, what likely frustrated Durandal more was—they supposedly exchanged communication channels. Even if they couldn't meet, having a long phone call with her big sister shouldn't be a problem, right? During her breaks, she'd often stare at her communicator, hoping for a goodnight call from her sister, but... not a single trace!
"..." Unlike Durandal's radiant excitement at seeing her sister, Kiana's expression stiffened. She knew about their relationship, of course—Jiang Qiao had told her long ago. But unlike 'Kiana' who could comfortably call Durandal 'sister this' and 'sister that', this relationship was incredibly complex for the white-haired girl, who knew certain things but struggled to accept them or figure out how to act.
She did feel happy, expectant, but facing each other like this, Kiana's feelings became complicated.
This reaction was undoubtedly a huge blow to Durandal, who had been eagerly anticipating meeting her sister. After all, she had pictured the incredibly cute 'Jiang-Kitten' sister. Instead, Kiana greeted her with a constipated face, looking like she wasn't happy to see her at all... For a sis-con, this dealt maximum damage.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but glancing at [Seele] and Bronya, decided against focusing too much on Kiana for now.
"The Herrscher of Reason from Anti-Entropy... and..."
Not much to say about the Herrscher of Reason; Durandal had beaten her once before—looking now, she seemed to have improved somewhat... still felt a bit average. What truly caught Durandal's attention was [Seele], dressed in a snow-white gown, looking like a goddess.
Just seeing 'her', Durandal felt the Abyss Flower in her hand stir restlessly. As if it wanted to go to the other girl... This unprecedented situation left Durandal bewildered and feeling complex emotions. She understood what it meant, of course. Divine Keys had affinities.
Among all users of Abyss Flower, besides the previous owner, Senior Cecilia... her mother... the one with the highest affinity was herself. When she first touched Abyss Flower, it trembled gently, as if saying: I am your spear now.
And yet... Abyss Flower, right in front of its owner, just looked at someone else and immediately showed signs of wanting to switch sides.
This gave Durandal, who considered Abyss Flower not just a weapon but a comrade-in-arms, perhaps even closer, an uncomfortable feeling of 'being NTR'd'. And it wasn't even the other party's doing; Abyss Flower itself wanted to go over...
"Abyss Flower seems to like you very much." Durandal looked at [Seele], feeling complex emotions. Though there was an inexplicable sense of familiarity, she stated the fact.
[Seele] smiled, raised a hand, and Abyss Flower flew out of Durandal's grasp, coming to rest before the girl. The blooming flowers on the weapon were proof enough of Abyss Flower's joy.
"Old friend, long time no see." Slender, jade-white fingers gently stroked Abyss Flower's metal surface. [Seele] chuckled softly, as if greeting it.
This was only natural. After all, Abyss Flower once belonged to Elysia. Possessing Elysia's power, Jiang Qiao had an extremely high affinity with Abyss Flower even without Origin's intervention.
And now, faced with [Seele], the plus-ultra Herrscher of Death and Life merged from Tree and Sea, Abyss Flower was like seeing something tailor-made, practically drooling at first glance.
"..."
"What exactly happened here?" Durandal bit her lip, didn't comment further, and professionally began her duties. It was clearly necessary to understand the situation in Australia and the whereabouts of the vanished Herrscher reaction.
"Mm, as you can see, the disturbance is mostly over."
"The Herrschers responsible... they're all here." [Seele] readily shared the information with Durandal; after all, they were on the same side. In her cupped hand, the Herrscher of Rock's core and the 998 distributed cores of the Herrscher of Dominance were clearly visible.
"...It's over?" Durandal was surprised and slightly skeptical—naturally, worried about loose ends. Still, she nodded. "That's good."
She didn't dwell on suspicion. At most, there was a hint of regret. For Durandal, another party defeating the Herrscher beforehand wasn't unacceptable, as long as the disaster was stopped. The only issue might be her constant craving for strong opponents; she had hoped to face this Herrscher but only arrived for cleanup...
Well, it wasn't a total loss. Seeing her long-missed sister wasn't a wasted trip.
"Mm, you probably want to chat properly with Kiana. Coincidentally, I need to repair this land and mitigate the disaster, so... I imagine you two need some private space." With that, [Seele]—Jiang Qiao—smiled and walked away. Bronya glanced at Kiana, then at Durandal, and tactfully followed Jiang Qiao.
Bronya had no interest in others' family drama. Rather than being an obstacle, it was better to follow Jiang Qiao... Don't misunderstand, Bronya isn't trying to get closer to that guy, just giving idiot Kiana and her sister some privacy!
However, the shocking 'scars' left by the Herrscher of Rock robbed Bronya of the chance to get closer to Jiang Qiao and happily cling to him. Just as she was about to strike up a conversation, he stood on a mound of earth and spoke softly:
"Do you hear the land crying out?"
"Do you hear the children's screams?"
"Do you see the cities falling apart?"
Hearing these words, Bronya was baffled. She looked at the ruined cities, feeling heavy-hearted but not understanding Jiang Qiao's point. After a moment's thought, Bronya could only try to sound profound, attempting to follow the conversation: "Indeed, after the Herrscher of Rock's devastation, this land is scarred and broken."
Jiang Qiao—[Seele]—smiled helplessly in response. Then...
He raised Abyss Flower and plunged it into the cracked earth.
The next moment, the ground began to shake. Bottomless fissures started closing, sunken rocks began to rise. Using the power of the Herrscher of Death and Life, along with the Herrscher of Rock's power in hand, he repaired the land—a task that would normally take the Fourth Divine Key months. But before the might of the Herrscher of Death and Life, wielded by Jiang Qiao who possessed other Herrscher Authorities, it took mere moments.
Of course... the Honkai Energy consumption was equally immense. Thanks to the Herrscher of Dominance's actions, the Herrscher of Rock core was already drained.
Fortunately, as the epicenter of the eruption, Australia itself held vast amounts of Honkai Energy. Plus, with Sumeru and the Imaginary Authority acting as relays, he obtained enough energy to repair the land and quell the disasters currently spreading across the globe.
However, the collapsed buildings were obviously beyond repair. Instead, the power of creation birthed trees and flowers. Frightened wildlife cautiously returned to their former homes.
—Standing on a high slope, looking down upon the land, Australia seemed to have returned to a time before human footprints marred its surface.
"Seel... cough cough, you're pretty amazing." Witnessing this, Bronya looked utterly shocked (Alexander shocked face), but noticing Jiang Qiao's teasing gaze, she coughed twice and praised him sincerely.
Of course—this feat, affecting all of Australia and indirectly the entire globe, truly did shake Bronya. The power of a Herrscher... could achieve something like this? Honestly, before this, Bronya's understanding of Herrscher Authority wasn't comprehensive.
She hadn't witnessed the true might a Herrscher could wield. Even possessing such power, she hadn't explored its limits... As long as Bronya wins, that's all that matters!
However, the encounter with the Herrscher of Dominance had taught Bronya a painful lesson. Having learned her lesson, Bronya decided to turn over a new leaf and start working hard. At the same time, staring at the smiling [Seele], she couldn't help but swallow nervously.
'Jiang-Seele', clad in the Herrscher of Death and Life attire that perfectly accentuated her exquisite figure, with her stunning face and captivating aura... Miss Bronya really couldn't handle it! Really want to reach out and touch... But that bad-tempered Seele is there... Bronya felt annoyed. Damn it... why didn't the other Seele get taken away too when she swapped with this guy!
Bronya's palpable resentment seemed to materialize, somehow irritating Veliona inside [Seele]. Hmph, some shameless little btch must be eyeing my 'Seele' again!*
While Bronya and Veliona waged their silent war... Durandal wasn't feeling great either. Although her progress with Kiana was somewhat smooth—she now understood that the super cute 'Kiana' she met before was someone else substituting... Recalling the events in London now filled Durandal with a complex mix of anger and fondness.
After all, she had been completely played by a substitute 'sister'. But then again—being with the real Kiana, she actually started missing... even having the bold thought, if only the Kiana before me was 'Kiana'.
Couldn't be helped. Kiana, while cute, was incredibly reserved around her, awkward even... She wouldn't even call her 'sister'! 'Kiana', though fake, really called her sister! One was an awkward, stiff sister, the other was a 'multi-faceted', perfect-fantasy-fulfilling super-sister 'Kiana'. Who would you choose? Even an idiot could figure it out, right?
However, realizing this bold thought, Durandal startled herself. No, Durandal, look at the real Kiana before you! How can you be thinking about 'Kiana' while spending time with Kiana?
Struggling to restrain herself, yet unable to stop her imagination, Durandal chatted intermittently with Kiana, filled with a complex mix of struggle and slightly illicit feelings.
...Forgive me, Kiana. Even though my heart is thinking of [Kiana], the one sister likes more is still you!