44. Go say goodbye to Teacher Himeko... This is your last chance / 45. Xia Ling: Hey, check out this high-speed deer

"And this question was answered in that dream."

"Is it... the dream that Sister Xia Ling and Sister Elysia wove for me?"

"That's right. Near the end of the dream, Sister Xia Ling explained to me in detail the principle behind the dream and the reasons why she did what she did."

"Actually, I knew earlier that Sister Xia Ling wanted to save you... So at that time, my focus was actually on something else."

"That's the method Sister Xia Ling used—removing the memories left behind by Sirin from the core, allowing you to decide the course of your life."

"The truth is, after removing the core interference with you, your development trajectory, personality and experience are almost identical to mine."

"While Sister Xia Ling certainly played a part in controlling the direction of the dream, she never interfered with the choices you made at any crucial juncture."

This leads me to my second question—why are you so similar to me?

"Things have progressed to this point, the answer is quite obvious, isn't it?"

Kiana gazed at Sirin, her tone questioning, but in her eyes, she was very confident in her answer.

"Pfft—looking at it this way, the process by which you arrived at the answer seems a bit like self-praise."

"Not really... When faced with certain choices, don't we all unanimously choose the less-than-correct answer?"

"Ah, speaking of which, I'm sorry I couldn't save Mei for you back then."

"It's okay... That's why I was able to reflect on my problems afterward... Since I couldn't keep it back then, I can just try to win it back later."

The two, who had been gazing at each other silently, suddenly smiled at each other, as if there were a mirror between them.

"Of course, when it comes to this kind of thing, even if I have some guesses, I don't dare to be certain... after all, there's no precedent for this kind of situation."

"You're really cautious... even though you've dreamt about almost all of Sirin's life experiences."

"If I had more time, I could have confirmed it... Of course, I didn't need to do it later, because I took a shortcut."

"A shortcut?" Sirin asked curiously.

"Hmm, I've found a reference point— Seele."

Kiana said a name that Sirin had never expected.

" From Sirin, I overheard her let slip that Seele also has another personality inside her... Of course, I had my own suspicions as well."

"So, I went to ask Bronya privately... After learning that it was about you and me, she didn't hesitate to ask Seele for me, and Seele and Black Seele personally answered my questions..."

"With their examples as a reference, I finally understood our relationship and resolved all my initial doubts about the extent of your interference in my life..."

"You are not a simple foreign soul, and I am not some experimental subject that was awakened by accident—we are one, different branches growing from the same tree."

Chapter 44 Go say goodbye to Teacher Himeko... This is your last chance.

"Yes... that's why Bella is so affectionate towards you, because you're also a part of Sirin..."

Sirin's tone carried a hint of jealousy, but upon closer reflection, she found this act of being jealous of herself somewhat amusing.

"So now you know why I said I had to leave... If you want to ascend to immortality and fully master the core of the Herrscher of the Void, then having me inside your body is undoubtedly making things more difficult for you."

"This might be a bit ambiguous. To be precise, you must have complete control over your body."

"In this situation, even if you agree to share a body with me, I will need to go into a deep sleep every time you use your abilities... Judging from your expression, you must have already learned about this from your companions."

Kiana stared at Sirin and asked a question.

"So... what will happen to you after you leave your body?"

"You are not a Mental Perception type like Sirin, and you have never had the experience of surviving independently outside the core... As for my ascension, there is no rush."

Now that things have come to this, although Kiana's feelings for Sirin are somewhat complicated, given Kiana personality, she would never watch Sirin die for such an absurd reason.

"Don't worry about me. Sister Xia Ling left me something. If everything goes well, I should be fine."

"But... you are different. Given the current situation, you must fully grasp the core. Otherwise, neither your companions nor Sister Xia Ling will ever have a way out in the Theater of Domination."

"Besides... never mind, I won't spoil it for you, let her tell you herself."

Sirin glanced at the door, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.

"She?"

Kiana tilted her head. "Is it... Sister Xia Ling? Sirin? Or Elysia?"

"None of them... Have you forgotten something? Before you fell unconscious, in addition to the two cores inside your body, you were also holding a core in your hand."

Seeing Kiana's sudden change in expression, Sirin added, "Now, that core should also have been fused into your body."

"Fragments of the host's spirit and thoughts will remain within the core. There's such a wisp of consciousness within the Plague Gem; I can sense it..."

"Although she was not the core's host, at that time, perhaps due to extremely strong emotions, a wisp of her consciousness was recorded and captured by the core."

"Teacher Himeko..."

"Yes... go say goodbye to her. Maybe this is your last chance."

Sirin paused for a moment, then added, "Please also apologize for me; I won't disturb you in that core consciousness space."

"I... will pass on the message for you."

"Wait a minute, Kiana, there's one more thing." Sirin called out to Kiana as she watched her retreating figure.

"Actually, there's more than one thing I need to apologize to Himeko for."

"Do you remember when you lost control as a child and caused Sigfried to lose an arm?"

"The leader of the Valkyrie team that died in the snowfield was Himeko's teacher, Ragna."

"What—" Kiana turned around abruptly. "Why don't I know about this? I should have all your memories..."

"I really don't know, because I don't know that person." Sirin lowered her head in shame. "But... Himeko knows. I read it from the memories left inside the Plague Gem."

"... I see."

Kiana didn't say much, she just walked towards the door of the house.

Under Sirin's gaze, Ling-Mengyi Er⊙III (II) Lin Si Ba, she slowly pushed open the door.

On the other side of the door, she saw the familiar St. Freya, and... a familiar back view.

"It's empty again..."

As Kiana walked out of the room, Sirin's expression turned somewhat forlorn.

"Well, it's my own fault... Kiana accepting me is the best outcome. It's just a pity I couldn't apologize to Himeko..."

Sirin took out a pink crystal flower, which Xia Ling had once left for her.

At that time, Xia Ling told her that if she decided to face reality, she should contact her through this crystal flower.

"Well then, it's time. Let me see what method Sister Xia Ling plans to use to solve this big problem of mine."

Sirin slowly poured her power into the crystal flower.

"Huh? Why... is there no response?"

Sirin picked up the crystal flower with a puzzled look, examining it from left to right, but still couldn't see anything wrong with it.

"It can't be expired, can it...?"

"Oh no! I just made a big promise to Kiana, am I doomed now?!"

Sirin clutched her head and let out a mournful cry.

So, what is the culprit that caused Sirin's lamentation doing now?

"Hehe, you want to get over there? No way!"

"The puppets are just expendable items to us. You can kill as many as you want, but... there's absolutely no way you'll get past us."

"You can just watch as Kiana's body is taken over and she becomes the Second Herrscher again, hahahaha!"

In the Theater of Domination, Kiana's body was surrounded by layers upon layers of puppets, giving Xia Ling no chance to get close.

In the original work, it was Duck Duck and Fu Hua, whose powers had been taken away, who came. Naturally, there was no need for the Thousand-Man Herrscher to be so on guard. But this time, it was Xia Ling and Theresa who came, so it was different.

Theresa's Divine Prayer Barrier can ensure that even if Sirin awakens, she can be subdued immediately. As for Xia Ling's unpredictable abilities, the Thousand-Man Herrscher dare not gamble on whether she might suddenly pull out a Mental Perception item to pull Kiana back.

Therefore, in the strategy of the Thousand-Man Herrscher, there was no intention to allow Xia Ling to get close to Kiana from the beginning.

The reason for this physical enclosure was to prevent Xia Ling from recklessly using the Seven Thunders of Retribution to clear the area...

Given the current situation, if Xia Ling dares to use the Seven Thunders of Retribution, regardless of whether she accidentally injures herself, she will almost certainly injure Kiana.

"We're still a bit far off... Xia Ling, if I use the Divine Prayer Barrier to clear the way for you, how confident are you that you can bring Kiana back?"

"I'm not very confident. After all, your opening of the Divine Prayer Barrier doesn't mean I don't have to take a detour... The situation will only get worse than it is now."

"Let me think..."

Xia Ling was silent for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hey, I have an idea!"

"Theresa, pretend you're about to activate the Divine Prayer Barrier, and distract the doll's vision."

After giving a low instruction, Xia Ling began rummaging through her backpack. Before long, she successfully found two Cipher Plate that had been stored away for a long time.

"Hey-hey..."

Chapter 45 Xia Ling: Hey, let me show you the high-speed stag.

As we all know, there are two things that are most dangerous when facing this kind of behavior of using a human wall to protect a target.

One type is spatial ability, but since this takes place in a theater, spatial abilities are subject to certain limitations.

Another method is to ignore the collision volume.

Although this kind of thing usually only appears in gaming terminology, Xia Ling actually knows someone who has this characteristic, and she can even summon that person.

Taking advantage of the fact that the dolls were focused on Theresa, Xia Ling quickly took out two slightly different Cipher Plate.

These two Cipher Plate are probably familiar to most roguelike players. They are the two special Cipher Plate used to unlock the Ending Two in Sami's Integrated Strategies: [Scar] and [Emptiness].

Of course, Xia Ling didn't bring out these two Cipher Plate to create an Ending Two in the Theater of Domination. In fact, the combined effect of these two Cipher Plate in reality is quite simple and brutal: to summon people.

Triggering the Cipher Plate will summon the collapsed Tree Scar tribe leader, "Mokuren" Ektirnil.

However... there's a problem with this Cipher Plate. The boss of the Ending Two... doesn't have enough damage, and he's also a monster with complex mechanics.

Moreover, in most cases, Xia Ling's abilities can serve as a superior substitute for his, which means that after drawing these Cipher Plate, Xia Ling has almost never had the opportunity to use them.

However, things are different now.

Looking at the layers upon layers of dolls, Xia Ling could barely suppress her smile.

[Beginning the announcement]

[Triggered the Kowald Chronicle of World Affairs]

Calamities and tribulations descend upon the earth, clouding the souls of travelers. Their deeds and actions vanish from the world, their thoughts and anxieties return to nothingness.

As Xia Ling softly chanted, the two white Cipher Plate gradually merged into one, and a figure with a touch of pale green appeared between the two.

"Huh?! Xia, Xia Ling, what's this again?"

Although she was already used to Xia Ling's strange abilities, this sudden transformation still gave Theresa a Cipher Plate shock.

"This is a high-speed male deer."

Xia Ling said with a straight face, "Just think of it as... a local specialty?"

"What kind of local specialty would be a living person?!"

"To correct a mistake, strictly speaking, this person cannot be considered a living person."

Xia Ling sighed and patted Ektirnil on the shoulder.

"Little Ai, don't move, let me give you a buff."

As she spoke, Xia Ling called out to the system and then decisively selected a good item.

[Collapse Paradigm: Horrific Entity, triggered. Current object: Ektirnil.]

As the Collapse Paradigm was triggered, an ominous red mist instantly appeared around Xiao Ai's body.