53. Kiana: I'll carry on Teacher Himeko's legacy... Wait, she's not dead? / 54. Otto's Absence and the Unresolved Incident

"Ahem, long time no see, Theresa, Xia Ling."

Fortunately, Himeko came to Xia Ling's rescue at this moment. "I can testify that Xia Ling... really did not know that I was still alive."

"You idiot, you didn't even tell us you were alright!"

Theresa couldn't help but give Himeko's butt a hard slap. Don't ask why she slapped her butt; it's because if it were any higher, Theresa would have to reach up.

"I actually wanted to inform you at first... but it wasn't a coincidence, I just didn't have time."

As she spoke, Himeko looked at Sirin beside her. "Xia Ling, who is this...?"

Like Theresa, Himeko subconsciously thought that this Sirin was not the Sirin from the Intrinsic World.

"This is Sirin, the one who was originally inside Kiana, without a doubt."

Before Xia Ling speak, Theresa took over the commentary.

Feeling Himeko's questioning gaze, Theresa finally began to understand Xia Ling's feelings.

"But don't look at me, I only found out recently too... But now, she should be trustworthy."

"Well..."

Even with Theresa's words as a guarantee, Himeko still hesitated when faced with the murderer who had almost killed her.

"Don't worry, Himeko, I can guarantee that Sirin is completely different now than before."

Well, it seems the one who was actually killed didn't have any objections...

After receiving Xia Ling's guarantee, Himeko was temporarily relieved.

After all, we're still on the battlefield, so it's not a good opportunity to catch up. We can only chat for a few minutes to check on each other's condition.

"But..."

Looking at the Herrscher of Domination surrounded by her water clones, mon3tr, the giant fox, and a bunch of reddish-brown energy spheres, Himeko couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

"Is this battle... even our turn to fight?"

"It's not my turn to be better. Anyway, I'm not feeling well today, so I'll take this opportunity to check on Kiana's condition."

Xia Ling breathed a sigh of relief; the intense battle earlier had indeed taken a toll on her energy.

"Given our current fighting strength, even if another Herrscher of Domination were to appear, we probably still wouldn't be able to turn the tide."

Xia Ling made a rather optimistic joke.

Chapter 53 Kiana: I will carry on Teacher Himeko's legacy... Ah, she's not dead?

After acquiring five heavyweight players, the battle against the Herrscher of Domination suddenly became one-sided.

Even Xia Ling, who had gone to the sidelines to take care of Kiana, felt that she might be being too cautious.

After all, in the original work, the dominance was only to be singled out by the four-core greatsword-wielding Kiana Cat, but he had just summoned nearly a dozen people, and apart from Himeko, they were all at least S-rank...

So this is the Chinese people's ancestral fear of insufficient firepower?

As Xia Ling was pondering, she suddenly noticed that Kiana next to her seemed to have moved slightly.

"Um?"

Xia Ling quickly checked on Kiana's condition.

The two cores have completely fused together. It seems that Kiana has completed her metamorphosis and truly become the Herrscher of Flamescion from the original work.

Seemingly due to Xia Ling's power invading her body, Kiana's eyelids trembled slightly, and then she opened her slightly bewildered blue eyes.

"Huh, Sister Xia Ling, what's this...?"

"Wait, no, where is the Herrscher of Domination?!"

Kiana suddenly sat up.

"You're finally awake. The Herrscher of Domination? If you had woken up any later, you probably wouldn't have even gotten an assist."

Xia Ling pointed to the large black figure being hammered in the center of the arena. "Look, the Herrscher of Domination you've been longing for."

"Huh? But I remember the previous Herrscher of Domination was..."

Kiana blinked, looking confused.

"It's over! There are enough S-rank rank players here to make two mahjong tables. The Herrscher of Domination has a very slim chance of turning the tide~"

"Forget about that for now. Kiana, how's your core fusion going? What happened in between? Why did you take so long?"

Xia Ling's lips curled up slightly. She saw Himeko quietly approaching Kiana from behind, so she decisively asked this slightly mischievous question.

"A lot happened... I met Teacher Himeko inside the core..."

Kiana's expression turned somewhat downcast. Why did she linger for so long...? Of course, it was because she wanted to spend more time with Himeko.

After all, that was the last time they would see each other.

"When the Thousand-Man Herrscher took out the Plague Gem, I knew that Teacher Himeko must already be..."

"I never expected that I would be able to see her last remaining consciousness in the core. She was still smiling and comforting me, just like before."

"She taught me many things, like an extension of the Last Lesson, and I even returned to St. Freya in the illusion..."

"Sister Xia Ling, I miss her a little..."

Xia Ling gave Himeko, who was stunned behind her, a look, gently patted Kiana's head, and said softly, "If you want to cry, you can cry, okay?"

"No, I can't anymore... I promised her I would keep going."

Kiana shook her head, but her pained tone clearly betrayed her feelings.

"I will carry on Teacher Himeko's legacy and continue along the path paved by those who came before me..."

"Ahem, um..."

A familiar voice sounded from behind Kiana.

The voice was strangely familiar, as if she had just heard it not long ago, but it was also strange because she hadn't seen the owner of the voice for more than half a year.

"While I'm relieved that you could say that, does that mean... I have to die?"

Seeing Himeko speak, Xia Ling finally no longer had to suppress the upturned corners of her mouth.

"The atmosphere's reached this point, how about you die again?"

Kiana's eyes widened, and she turned her head sharply.

Behind her, Himeko gave her a helpless, indulgent smile and opened her arms to her.

"If you want to act cute, now's the time, okay?"

"Wait, wait a minute, why would Teacher Himeko...?"

Kiana looked at Xia Ling, then at Himeko, feeling helpless, and her eyes suddenly became a little moist.

"Let me make this clear first, Sirin isn't here, you know? And the other Herrscher of Domination Illusion is still getting beaten up right now."

Xia Ling immediately dismissed all other possibilities that Kiana could think of.

"Xia Ling is right, so..."

Himeko took the initiative to walk over and give the bewildered Kiana a big hug.

"Life is always full of surprises, isn't it? But sometimes fate seems to favor those who work hard."

"It's been a while since I last saw you, and you've become someone I never dared to imagine... That's great, you've graduated now."

"Teacher Himeko, sob..."

Kiana buried her head in Himeko's shoulder. The joy of regaining what she had lost was so sudden that she couldn't control her emotions for a moment.

"I really thought that was the last time we'd see each other... I'm so glad you're still alive..."

"You have to thank Dr. Kal'tsit for this; they found me in the Imaginary Space."

After a while, Kiana rubbed her eyes and looked up.

"Hehe~ How does it feel, you little crybaby who just said you wouldn't cry anymore~"

Xia Ling approached Kiana with a comical expression and poked her tear-stained cheek.

"It feels... like a dream..."

Kiana mumbled.

Teacher Himeko is not dead, and Sirin has also come to her senses. The two biggest problems that troubled Kiana recently have now been resolved.

"Since that's the case, then I'll add a little something extra~"

Xia Ling grinned mischievously and said, "Take a look at the battlefield in the distance and sense it. Is there a familiar aura there?"

Kiana was stunned, staring blankly at the center of the battlefield.

"Mei's here too?!"

"Well, even though you might not be able to keep her, at least this time you can say goodbye properly, right?"

Xia Ling looked at the stunned Kiana with a smile, her heart filled with satisfaction.

Now, the Thousand-Man Herrscher are half-dead, and Kiana's regrets from the original work have all been made up for... It seems that she has achieved a perfect ending.

Even with the plot changed, after all, all signs indicate that the Thousand-Man Herrscher he was facing seemed to differ somewhat from the thousand-strong Herrscher in the original work.

"Xia Ling, if Kiana has already woken up on your end, please bring her over."

Kal'tsit's voice came through Xia Ling's communicator.

"The Herrscher of Domination has basically lost its fighting ability. You can come over now."

"Are you sure they've lost their fighting ability?"

"Uncertain. You know, the Herrscher Core doesn't follow any rules or logic."

"As long as the Imaginary Singularity exists, the Herrscher Core can continuously absorb energy... Therefore, theoretically speaking, there is no such thing as Herrscher being completely exhausted."

"Let's not dwell on the established plot at a time like this... But since it's already over, let's get started."

Chapter 54 Otto's Absence and the Unresolved Events

"Dr. Kal'tsit, we're here."

Xia Ling led Himeko and Kiana to the battlefield not far away.

In the center of the Court of Judgment, the original Herrscher of Domination had become... well, perhaps the quantifier to describe it should now be "tuo".

In short, they don't really resemble human figures, although they weren't originally very human either.

It seems that Kal'tsit is very responsible. She did indeed confirm that the Herrscher of Domination was no longer able to resist before calling Xia Ling over.

However, Xia Ling's attention wasn't on the Herrscher of Domination, because...

She's eating watermelon.

"Mei..."

"Kiana..."

Having gone through so much, the two of them have completely changed their mindset compared to when they separated three months ago.

They were no longer as impulsive as before, and they knew that there might be better solutions to many things. So, the two seemed to have a lot to talk about when they met again.

"I'm sorry, I..." ×2

The two apologized in unison.

"Tsk, what a pair of nagging old women..."

Sirin clicked her tongue in displeasure. Bella had been recruited by Welt to go with him to seal off the hangar, so she missed the final battle that Theater of Domination.

Bella wasn't around, but Kiana had already started her sweet and mushy routine, which made Sirin a little annoyed.

"Go away, I knew you two would have a lot to talk about—"

The experienced Theresa pointed to an area she had cleared out during the battle. "Let's go over there and have a good chat, Kiana, Mei... Otherwise, are you planning to leave us here as bystanders?"

"Well, it's not impossible... Ouch!"

Before Xia Ling could finish speaking, Theresa tapped her on the head.