NOVEL NEXT Chapter 412: Herrscher of a Legion
The subtle clicking sounds were incredibly eerie in the pitch-black space. It sounded like countless wooden puppets shuffling and jostling each other, their movements growing closer with each passing second.
"What is this...?" Kiana furrowed her brow, the strange noise all too familiar.
Just two days ago, she'd been trapped in a similar dreamscape. Caught off guard, she was almost dragged into the abyss of consciousness. Only thanks to Time Fracture had she managed to break free from the strange voice guiding her through that nightmare.
"So, that bizarre dream wasn't a coincidence," she realized. "It was this black feather, subtly influencing my consciousness."
Kiana didn't know the feather's origin, but its ability to be absorbed like Fenghuang Down meant it held someone's sealed memories.
This thought made her heart clench. She vividly remembered the final scene from her dream—Ren sitting amidst ruins, weeping.
If this feather belonged to him...
But this wasn't the time to dwell on it. Escaping this space was her priority.
Pushing the thought aside, Kiana extended her right hand. A small flame ignited, casting a dim light on her surroundings. In the few seconds she'd been lost in thought, the strange things had already closed the distance to within 10 meters.
The darkness obscured their full appearance, but the flickering flames revealed their source—crude wooden puppets.
Their limbs were stiff, their movements jerky, and they lurched forward like marionettes controlled by a novice puppeteer.
"She's here," a muffled male voice echoed.
"I told you she'd come back," a childish girl's voice chimed in.
"Shh, don't startle our guest," a young boy's voice whispered.
The puppets spoke amongst themselves, like hundreds, maybe thousands, of people whispering. But to Kiana, it was just noise—a cacophony of sound.
"What are you?" Kiana asked, echoing her question from the previous dream. This time, however, she held a blazing greatsword, ready to incinerate the puppets if things went south.
"We are the shadows of humanity, monsters born from the sins of mankind," a clear, girlish voice answered.
"But we're not monsters!" the childish voice immediately retorted. "They call us monsters, but they are the real monsters."
"Humans are all like that, full of lies," a resentful, boyish voice snarled.
Kiana's head throbbed as the puppets continued their bickering. Ren had been right; absorbing Fenghuang Down while her body was in such a weakened state was taking a severe toll on her consciousness.
To make matters worse, she had absorbed an unknown feather, a decision she may soon regret.
Boom!
While the puppets argued, Kiana slammed her greatsword into the nearest one. Blazing flames reflected the golden light in her eyes.
The death of their companion finally silenced the puppets. They recoiled into the darkness, fearfully distancing themselves from their burning comrade.
"Tell me how to leave," Kiana demanded, abandoning any attempt at conversation. Threats would have to do.
That single blow had shown her that despite their eerie nature, these puppets weren't strong. If she weren't so drained, she would have carved a path through them like she did in the previous memory space.
"She killed Chris."
"She's a monster..."
The whispers started again. Kiana narrowed her eyes, ready to make another example, when she heard their next words.
"She's like us. A monster."
"Like you?" Kiana paused, suddenly understanding what they meant. "A Herrscher? So many Herrschers?"
In her experience, Herrschers were incredibly powerful individuals, like herself.
But these puppets were numerous and weak, completely unlike any Herrscher she'd encountered.
"Wait... I remember Himeko-sensei talking about a unique Herrscher from the previous era." Kiana cursed her past self for not paying more attention in class.
[The Herrscher of a Legion]
The image of a pink-haired girl flashed through her mind. Kiana remembered discussing the Herrschers of the previous era with Elysia in Fu Hua's memories.
[They weren't the most powerful Herrschers, but they caused the most widespread destruction.]
If these puppets were the Herrscher of a Legion, it would explain everything.
But why would Ren appear in a space created by the Herrscher of a Legion?
A sense of unease washed over Kiana, heavy and oppressive like the black fog surrounding her.
She looked around, the fog obscuring the puppets' heads. All she could see were countless identical wooden bodies.
The eerie sounds hadn't frightened her before, but now, a chilling thought arose. What if she saw Ren's face among these puppets?
"Look, she's scared."
"What's she afraid of?"
"Maybe she knows someone among us."
"How pathetic, hahahaha."
The Herrscher of a Legion chatted amongst themselves, their laughter grating on Kiana's already frayed nerves.
"Shut up!" she snapped.
"She's getting angry! She's getting angry!"
The puppets only grew more boisterous.
Kiana raised her greatsword, ready to silence them by force. But as she swung, a wave of weakness washed over her.
The more she thought, the heavier her consciousness became.
Ren's words echoed in her mind: interaction with consciousness was incredibly dangerous. If she couldn't maintain her state...
"No, they're deliberately draining my mental energy."
The thought of Ren brought a sudden clarity. She finally understood.
The Herrscher of a Legion, the puppets—they were all just constructs of the black Fenghuang Down feather, meant to erode her will.
"You..."
The puppets tried to speak, but a wave of intense flames consumed them.
Understanding the truth, Kiana closed her eyes, refusing to listen, to sense, to think. No matter what the puppets did, she would ignore them.
When she opened her eyes again, they were a clear, cerulean blue.
"Flamescion, unsheathe!"
Burning flames engulfed the space, scattering the black fog. The once-boisterous puppets burned like ordinary scraps of wood.
The space shattered like glass, each shard reflecting the flames' light.
"Is it over...?" Kiana murmured, then stopped.