Herrscher of Dominance in Honkai, starting with the abduction of Kiana

The Herrscher of Dominance's power is puppetry, but its most unique aspect is actually stealing the abilities of other Herrschers.

However, the Herrscher Ren's most frequently encounters is the Herrscher of the Void, and he can't use his power on Kiana, so opportunities to use it are limited.

But infrequent use doesn't equate to weakness, especially for Ren's. His being chosen by the Honkai will to become the Herrscher of Dominance was no accident.

Gazing at the Herrscher of Sentience buried in the rubble, Ren's eyes were full of vigilance. Daring to attack Kiana, he wouldn't hold back like he did that rainy night.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his pupils were already filled with gold.

"Bastard!" Little Senti, who had been heavily kicked by Ren's and sent crashing into the bushes, was filled with rage. She immediately charged out again, spear in hand.

But the moment Little Senti cut through Ren's threads, the Herrscher of Dominance's authority took effect.

Relying on her combat experience, Little Senti abandoned her sneak attack and chose direct melee combat.

However, every time she was about to take down Ren's, she would always make mistakes for various reasons.

She didn't realize that her consciousness was being interfered with by Ren's; she only thought that the opponent was too agile and she couldn't hit him no matter what.

This made her more and more anxious as she fought, angrier and angrier, until she finally revealed an opening and was once again blasted into the ruins by Ren's, falling silent.

"Down for the count?"

The bushes obscured the Herrscher of Sentience's figure, only dust filled the air.

Ren's hadn't held back at all; even relying solely on the Herrscher of Dominance's power, it seemed to have completely robbed Little Senti of any ability to resist.

When the dust settled, the figure in the ruins revealed her true form, limbs broken, neck twisted, dead as could be.

"It should have been like this from the start."

Ren's sighed softly, turning to walk towards Kiana.

But in the instant he turned around, a dark red starlight suddenly ignited.

Danger!

A sharp spear blade pierced through the ruins, shooting towards Ren's at supersonic speed.

Even Ren's couldn't react to such speed and was directly hit in the head by the spear, pinned to the peak of Mount Taixu.

"Ha, hahaha! You actually lost; you fell for it."

With a loud bang, the "corpse" with twisted limbs suddenly transformed into red Herrscher energy flames and exploded.

At the same time, Little Senti, who had successfully ambushed him, walked out from elsewhere, laughing loudly.

Looking at Ren's pinned to the mountaintop, her eyes were filled with joy, but even more so with surprise.

This spear strike was her full-power attack, but she hadn't expected Ren's to be completely unguarded, to be instantly killed so easily.

Originally, she had only intended to weaken the opponent with a sneak attack.

But now that victory and defeat were decided, everything had settled.

The only problem was that the other party was Kiana's companion, but now he had died at her hands. If Kiana were to ask about it...

After the initial excitement, Little Senti quickly realized the seriousness of the problem.

The pressure Ren's had exerted on her was too strong, to the point that she was completely unable to parry.

But now that she had really killed him, she felt somewhat uneasy.

Helplessly, Little Senti could only walk to Ren's side to see if there was any way to preserve his consciousness, at least to give Kiana a chance.

However, when she approached, she discovered that Ren's, nailed to the mountaintop, was expressionless. Even though his whole body was hung on the cliff face, there was no sign of struggle.

More than a corpse, he looked like a toy.

Someone so powerful, would he really not even struggle before death?

"No, how could it be... his face isn't even..."

Little Senti immediately realized something was wrong, but before she could react, Ren's "corpse" suddenly exploded.

Caught completely off guard, Little Senti widened her eyes, directly engulfed by the invisible shockwave.

She tried to use her authority to block, but found that the authority she usually wielded so skillfully was like loose sand, impossible to grasp firmly.

Facing the impact, it crumbled at the first touch.

"Puh!"

Little Senti spat out a mouthful of blood, her whole body becoming weak.

But despite such a violent explosion, Mount Taixu remained unchanged.

Everything that had just happened was merely Ren's stealing the Herrscher of Sentience's authority and using her own trick against her in the realm of consciousness.

"Damn it! Consciousness projection is clearly my ability!"

The disheveled Herrscher of Sentience fell to the ground, her face grim.

She had just used a consciousness projection to defeat the opponent, thinking she had successfully ambushed him, but she hadn't expected to be outsmarted by the same method.

Moreover, the projection she created was only a rough shadow, but the opponent's was almost indistinguishable from the real person.

Am I really the Herrscher of Sentience, or is he the Herrscher of Sentience? Shouldn't the consciousness domain be my home turf?

Even if she was stupid now, Little Senti realized that her ability had been stolen.

She couldn't help but think back to the first time she saw the fake Kiana, when her combat skills had also been easily stolen by the opponent.

It was just that back then, the opponent had borrowed the power of the Herrscher of Reason. Although she was surprised, she could understand it.

But now, even her authority had been stolen…

Authority…

Herrscher…

Little Senti's expression grew paler.

Now that things had come to this, even if she kept deceiving herself, she had actually sensed the familiar Herrscher energy within her body.

She was ultimately not Fu Hua, but the Herrscher of Sentience.

"She was right. I'm really not Fu Hua, and I can't be friends with Kiana either."

Looking at Kiana, who was unconscious in the distance, Little Senti's heart turned cold.

This was her territory, yet she didn't even know how Kiana had fallen unconscious. As a friend, she was too incompetent.

But regardless, she had never attacked Kiana, yet the other party had relentlessly attacked her.

Feeling wronged, Little Senti couldn't possibly run away with her tail between her legs like this.

She didn't want to be a loser; she didn't want to become the person she hated most.

No matter what, this battle would be her final battle as Fu Hua.

From now on, having lost her identity, she would no longer have any reason to stand before Kiana, and could only be homeless, like a rat in a dark corner.

Therefore.

"The past me experienced failure and lost everything. But now, I will control everything. I will—"

"Twist all of creation!"

Completely unleashing her Herrscher authority, Little Senti held nothing back, directly activating her power to once again envelop Mount Taixu.

In an instant, the mountain forest, which had only been shrouded in a light mist, completely vanished, leaving only crimson cliffs.

The sky turned dark red, and below the towering Mount Taixu, everything was filled with snow, bottomless and deep.

On the mountainside, broken swords were everywhere, seemingly recording the weapons Fu Hua had worn out over thousands of years.

And in the distance, a solitary peak stood proudly, with a huge sword blade at its summit.

Countless chains wrapped around the sword, connecting to the tops of several surrounding mountains. The chains interlocked, forming solitary, chain bridges.

Mount Taixu, Sword Peak.

Even Ren's couldn't resist this massive illusion and became part of the vast illusion.

"Come on, since you want to fight, then let's fight! Here, we will decide victory and defeat, life and death!"

Seeing that Little Senti was getting serious, Ren's naturally had no reason to back down.

He didn't use amplification, but faced her as the Herrscher of Dominance.

The depths of his eyes were already filled with the golden light of a Herrscher, but without the pupil纹 symbolizing the Imaginary Tree.

Dense threads continuously winding and extended from his fingertips, piercing into the void.

In the next second, in the dark red, misty sky, a grand theater vaguely appeared.

"Re—"

Just as the decisive battle was about to break out, Ren's heard Kiana's weak voice in his ear.

Because Kiana had fallen unconscious, she hadn't been dragged into the illusion.

Ren's pupils contracted, and he directly abandoned the Herrscher of Dominance's theater he had half-summoned.

Using the amplification of his original power, he forcibly broke free from the illusion created by the Herrscher of Sentience and returned to Kiana's side.

"Kiana, I'm here."

He gently hugged the girl, but the girl's call was just a sleeping murmur, not an awakening.

Looking at Kiana's weak appearance, Ren's felt a pang of heartache.

The decisive battle that was just about to erupt was instantly thrown to the back of his mind.

What Herrscher of Sentience? None of it mattered to him. He only wanted to protect the precious remaining time they had together.

"Ren's… Ren's, wait!"

Kiana had a very, very long dream. In the dream, the world was burned to the ground by a mysterious fire, leaving only ruins and scorched earth.

She searched for a very, very long time, and finally arrived at a dilapidated city.

The end times had arrived; all things withered and decayed.

At the highest point of this city, she saw Ren's sitting majestically on a throne of ruins, like a god, sorrowfully watching the world fall into destruction.

A throne built of all things destroyed, a throne built of corpses.

On the ground, the skeletons of dead humans were everywhere. The only things remaining were a group of monsters that were seven or eight parts similar to Ren's.

They slaughtered each other, writing an endless saga of madness.

They devoured flesh and blood to offer to the god on the throne.

They killed their own kind, only to make themselves more like Ren's.

They were the filth of the world, yet they attempted to plot to become gods!

The world revered the god, but Kiana clearly saw that Ren's on the divine throne was constantly weeping.

So she ran towards the location of the throne, running and chasing without stopping.

However, no matter how hard she tried to catch up, she was just like those monsters who had fallen into madness, and could never get closer to him.

Until she was exhausted, she desperately called out Ren's name, but could only watch him get further and further away from her, eventually falling into boundless darkness along with the world.

"Kiana?"

In the boundless darkness, she faintly heard someone calling her name.

In the next second, Kiana suddenly woke up from a nightmare.

She opened her eyes wide, her pupils trembling violently, like a drowning person who had just been rescued, gasping for breath.

Only when the shadows of the lingering nightmare gradually receded did light and shadow return to everything before her eyes.

Kiana, who had regained her senses, pressed her hand to her forehead, trying to calm herself down.

When her mood had completely settled, she noticed the person beside her.

"Class Monitor?"

The person who appeared beside her was unexpected.

After a brief moment of surprise, Kiana immediately asked, "You've awakened?"

"Mm, thanks to you, the energy lost from the Fenghuang Down finally overflowed, and I was able to break free from the constant consumption of the First Limiter."

Fu Hua wore her Azure Empyrea robes, a faint smile on her face.

Looking at Kiana's weary face, she reached out and gently tested her forehead.

At this moment, Kiana realized that she was in a small Taoist temple, with a thin blanket covering her body.

Her gaze passed Fu Hua, and through the red lattice windows, she could still see the white clouds floating in the distant sky.

"This is Mount Taixu? Class Monitor, have you seen Ren's?"

Confirming her location, Kiana couldn't help but ask.

She didn't know who the black Fenghuang Down belonged to, but the memories within it were impossible to ignore.

The memory of the throne, the weeping Ren's, even if it was fictional, was still deeply imprinted in her mind.

At this moment, she only wanted to see Ren's again, to see him smiling by her side, only then could she feel at ease.

To her surprise, Fu Hua just nodded slightly, gesturing for her to look outside.

"This is not the real world, but a space simulated by the Fenghuang Down. Do you remember the Mind Space I constructed for you back in ARC City?"

"Of course, my seven days of special training! I've grown a lot; it's all thanks to Class Monitor's careful guidance."

Kiana got out of bed and walked out of the Taoist temple's courtyard with Fu Hua.

Outside the temple was the familiar martial arts training ground.

The wide Bagua diagram on the ground was spotless, seemingly carefully swept.

In the distance, the mountain forest was lush and green, and the sounds of birds chirping echoed occasionally from the forest.

The sky was clear, with white clouds floating, quite evocative of a celestial immortal's dwelling.

But that was all it was.

Leaving this place, the outside world would only be a vast expanse of white.

The sunlight was as bright as spring, but the sun couldn't be seen.

The birdsong was pleasant to hear, but it was just playing on loop.

"This is my Mind Space," Fu Hua said. "When using the First Limiter, I transferred my consciousness into the Fenghuang Down, using this method to possess your body."

"Fenghuang Down? I didn't realize the place Class Monitor is in would be so boring; I should have realized it sooner."

She had originally thought that the space within the Fenghuang Down where Fu Hua resided was infinitely large, but she hadn't expected it to be confined to such a corner.

"Actually, you get used to it after seeing it for too long. Over thousands of years, I've long become familiar with every plant and tree here. No matter how it changes, it doesn't make much difference to me."

"Since this is Class Monitor's Mind Space, why am I here?"

Fu Hua sighed, a hint of worry in her eyes, "When you were filled with Fenghuang Down energy, I had actually already awakened from my slumber, but when I tried to establish a connection with you, I discovered that your consciousness was in a dream.

I don't know what you dreamed of, but your consciousness seemed to have been invaded by an unknown force, and the damage was very severe.

I wanted to help you escape the dream, but even I almost got trapped in it, so I couldn't rescue you in time.

It wasn't until the dream shattered that I used the power of the Fenghuang Down to pull you here.

Don't be fooled by your just waking up; in the Mind Space, you've already been asleep for a month."

"A month?" Kiana's heart tightened. In that case, wouldn't Ren's be...?

"Don't worry, have you forgotten? The flow of time in the Mind Space is different from the outside world."

Fu Hua said somewhat helplessly. Even after so long, Kiana's impatient habit didn't seem to have changed.

"Your consciousness was too severely depleted. If you had woken up directly, it might have caused irreversible damage. I could only pull you into the Fenghuang Down first, and use a large amount of time to recuperate. As long as another month passes, the damage to your spirit should be completely healed."

"But..." Kiana hesitated.

Although the flow of time in the Mind Space was different from the outside world, even if she stayed for a few more months, only a few hours would have passed in the outside world.

But as time went on, her memories would definitely become blurred.

Right now, she urgently wanted to see Ren's. Asking her to wait another month, she simply couldn't calm down.

"Kiana, I know you care a lot about that boy named Ren's, but your primary goal right now is to take care of yourself. And..."

Looking into Kiana's eyes, Fu Hua's expression was complicated.

"And that boy is not as simple as you imagine."

"Class Monitor, do you know something?" Kiana immediately asked.

"Do you remember when we had an intense conflict in ARC City?"

"Of course, back then, because of Schicksal's betrayal, my nerves were extremely sensitive, and I subconsciously treated Class Monitor as an enemy as well."

Recalling that past experience, Kiana was also a little embarrassed. Had so much time unknowingly passed already?

"Yes, back then, I was a bit narrow-minded and liked to preach to others based on my own experiences, completely failing to notice your emotions."

"But Class Monitor, you later..."

"That's right. The reason why I changed my way of speaking is because someone pointed out this flaw in me.

Moreover, the reason I offered to teach you Tai Xu Sword Qi was also because someone asked me to."

"Ah? Class Monitor, weren't you always by my side?"

Listening to Fu Hua recount the situation back then, Kiana was somewhat stunned. She didn't remember Fu Hua having contact with anyone other than herself.

"That's true, but have you forgotten? Besides me, who was the person you were in most contact with back then?"

Fu Hua sighed softly, saying the answer Kiana didn't want to hear, "Ren's, right?"

"The person who invaded my Mind Space back then hid their identity, and even appeared in your image. He threatened you, but the condition he demanded was to improve your strength."

"His words were as cold as possible, but he still asked me to be more considerate of your feelings when communicating with you."

"It's hard for me to imagine who else besides him could do such a thing."

Kiana fell silent, gently shaking her head in denial, "But Ren's shouldn't possess abilities in the realm of consciousness, let alone easily hack into your Mind Space."

"That's why I say he's not simple. The Fenghuang Down is a Divine Key. Under normal circumstances, possessing you wouldn't be discovered by others.

But he seemed to have known I was by your side for a long time, and provided you with help in his own way."

"He cares about you, in a way that goes beyond common sense. Do you remember the first time you met?"

"The time he was attacked by Honkai beasts, right? Actually, he already told me, long before meeting me, he knew my identity as the Herrscher of the Void. His meeting me was only to repay my kindness."

"Is that really the case?"

"Kiana, emotions don't lie. Ren's hides it well, but there's a famous saying in Shenzhou, 'The one involved is confused, while the bystander sees clearly.' Outsiders see many things more clearly.

He definitely didn't meet you for the first time then, and his identity is not as simple as you think. The reality might be even deeper than you guess."

Listening to Fu Hua's words, Kiana suddenly remembered the night she went to see Himeko with Ren's.

Ren's had revealed many secrets to her, including his goal—the Imaginary Tree.

Kiana didn't know what the Imaginary Tree was, but since Ren's had been pursuing it all along, it meant he had countless connections with the Imaginary Tree.

In a daze, a scene suddenly flashed in her mind.

Under a boundless golden tree, Ren's was gazing at withered branches, and the words she hadn't been able to hear that night seemed to echo in her mind.

"Before this, I have met you thousands of times."

Was it an illusion?

It should be.

However, when Fu Hua mentioned it again, she suddenly felt that at some point, Ren's had indeed said such words.

"Class Monitor, let's just leave it at that. Ren's identity is not important. Even if he has many more secrets, it won't affect my view of him."

"Mm." Fu Hua herself was just mentioning it in passing. Seeing that Kiana didn't mind, she didn't elaborate further.

She had a good understanding of her own position. Since the Previous Era, she had never been good at things like emotions.

Elysia once said that she was like a piece of wood that wouldn't open its mind.

Stubborn, rigid, only knowing how to become the way others wanted her to be.

But even someone like her could feel Kiana's inner conflict at this moment.

"Are you really okay with it? Kiana."

Fu Hua recalled her brief encounters with Ren's. First, in ARC City, and then the second time in ARC City.

Both times, he had appeared in disguise, but from beginning to end, the time of his appearance was always when Kiana needed help the most.

She looked again at Kiana, who was slightly lost in thought, and sighed in her heart.

"Kiana, what exactly are your feelings for him?"