Otto set down the controller in displeasure. He could not even enjoy slacking off and playing the Kallen Fantasy game series properly.
Things had been a little boring lately. Should he send someone to check on Theresa's actual situation? He had heard she had brought back two more pseudo-Herrscher. It would be better to stay alert.
Meanwhile, Bai Chen returned to his room and took out a pink card. He decided to give it a try.
Stigmata: Judgment Shadow Dance
After transforming excitedly, Bai Chen realized something was wrong. The feel of controlling his body was somehow off again.
Bai Chen had overlooked one thing. Although it was not shown on the card, Judgment Shadow Dance was actually also the Herrscher of Thunder.
When Bai Chen used powerful transformations such as Herrscher abilities, he was already affected by their memories and emotions. All the more so now, when his soul was incomplete.
Bai Chen looked coldly out the window, unable for a moment to tell whether the scenery before him was unfamiliar or familiar.
Walking to the window, Bai Chen touched the crimson eyeshadow at the corner of his eye. Complex memories flickered in his cold gaze.
Knowing that his current state was not right, Bai Chen wanted to cancel the transformation immediately. Yet an inexplicable emotion in his heart stopped him from doing so.
"..."
Bai Chen let out a breath and stopped struggling. In any case, the transformation would automatically end once his stamina ran out.
He strolled into the dormitory hall, gently brushing his fingers over the seats and furnishings around him. A nostalgic look passed through his eyes.
Then Bai Chen followed his instincts and began handling the kitchen utensils, preparing dishes that someone in his memories liked.
Just as Bai Chen was nearly finished preparing everything, the sound of Kiana talking with someone came from outside the door.
When the voices reached the entrance, they suddenly stopped. Kiana let out a delighted cry.
"Wow, it smells so good! Mei! Mei, you're cooking this early today?!"
Seeing Mei in the kitchen, Kiana disregarded all decorum and pounced onto Bai Chen from behind, wrapping her arms around him. Two soft masses were pressed and distorted between them.
"Wow, they're all my favorites! Mei really knows me best!"
Kiana poked her head out from behind Bai Chen, looked at the dishes, and cried out happily again.
Bronya, who had returned with Kiana, wore a strange expression. She felt that Sister Mei seemed a little taller, and her clothes were different from when they had met earlier.
"Kiana, I can't cook if you hold me like this."
Bai Chen turned around, raised a hand clad in black-and-red armor, and gently patted Kiana on the head.
Kiana covered her head, about to complain that it hurt, but when she saw Bai Chen's face, she froze in place with an infatuated expression.
"Mei, you're so beautiful like this."
Confrontation
The slow-witted Kiana only felt that Mei looked much colder and more glamorous now. Compared to the gentle Mei from before, she had a different kind of beauty. Haha, she liked Mei in both outfits.
After Kiana returned to her seat in the hall, Mei removed the armor from her hands and brought the prepared dishes to the table one by one.
"Why did Sister Mei start cooking so early today? Teacher Himeko and the others haven't returned yet."
Bronya, who had noticed something was wrong, asked probing questions.
"The situation is a little special today."
Bai Chen did not directly answer Bronya's question. No joy or sorrow could be heard in his cool voice.
Strange. Bronya found it strange. After observing carefully, she was almost certain that the Mei before them was definitely not the Mei they knew.
Then it could only be Bai Chen. Did Bai Chen have the ability to become Mei? But the one acting now was definitely not Bai Chen. Was someone taking over his account like Kallen had?
But if it was like Kallen, then there had to be something similar to a consciousness inside Bai Chen first, right?
Bronya tasted the food Bai Chen had made, and a glimmer flashed in her eyes. It was delicious! Better than Mei's cooking!
Of course, this body belonged to Mei from a few years later. Her cooking skills had naturally improved over those years.
As if afraid someone would steal her food, Kiana stuffed dish after dish into her mouth. Then she noticed that Bai Chen was not eating with them, but simply watched her with a gentle smile.
"Mei, aren't you eating? Is something wrong?"
Seeing Bai Chen's expression, Kiana inexplicably felt a trace of sadness, but she did not know what had happened.
"No, it's nothing. I'm happy just watching Kiana eat the food I made like this."
At the same time, Bai Chen revealed a smile painful enough to make one's heart ache.
"Mei..."
Even Kiana could sense that something was wrong. She felt that something must have happened to the Mei before her. Was Mei going to leave?
"Everyone, I'm back."
At that moment, Mei's voice sounded from outside the door, throwing the entire hall into chaos.
"Mm... it smells so good. Did the class monitor cook today?"
"Mei?!"
Kiana looked toward the Mei at the door. That was right—the Mei at the entrance wore the everyday clothes they had seen her in during the day, and she had that familiar gentle temperament.
With the comparison right in front of her, Kiana immediately realized something was wrong with Bai Chen.
"Kiana? You... you!?"
At first, Mei found it strange that no one had greeted her. When she noticed Bai Chen sitting across from Kiana, she was so shocked that she could not speak.
"...Is that Bai Chen?"
Only Bai Chen's special transformation ability could explain such a strange phenomenon.
Just as Mei prepared to approach Bai Chen for a closer look, Bronya immediately stopped her.
"Sister Mei, be careful. There's something wrong with Bai Chen right now."
"I didn't expect to see you so soon. Hmm? Want to give it a try?"
Bai Chen slowly stood up from his chair, speaking words no one else understood. White lightning emerged from his body with a roar.
Boom!
As Bai Chen glanced sideways with lightning in his eyes, a bolt as thick as a bowl appeared out of thin air and struck directly at Mei.
"Mei!"
Reacting quickly, Kiana leaped forward and knocked Mei to the ground, dodging the attack. She stared at Bai Chen, whose oppressive presence was overwhelming, in shock.
"Is he Bai Chen? But he doesn't seem like him at all. He seems more like Mei, only... lonely."
Kiana did not think Bai Chen was the one controlling the person before them.
Her intuition was not wrong. Bai Chen was indeed being carried along by Mei's memories and emotions. It was the side effect of using a powerful transformation while his soul was damaged.
"? Me? Are you going to keep hiding under Kiana's protection? Keep hiding until you lose Kiana completely!"
No, calling him the Herrscher of Thunder at this moment was more accurate.
The Herrscher of Thunder stared at Mei coldly and sorrowfully, speaking of a possible future.
"...Lose Kiana completely!"
Although Mei did not know what had gone wrong with Bai Chen, she could confirm one thing: this person had definitely come from the future!
"What do you mean, lose Kiana completely?!"
Hearing that she might completely lose Kiana in the future, Mei gritted her teeth, climbed up from the ground, and glared angrily at her other self.
"When facing Honkai in the future, because of your powerlessness, Kiana will be one step away from death. So you will be forced to leave everyone you know and return to living alone... Are you satisfied with that answer?!"
The Herrscher of Thunder looked at her with contempt. She blamed no one. The only person she hated was the powerless self who could do nothing.
"Don't joke around! How could something like that happen in the future?"
Mei, who cherished her current life more than anything, naturally could not believe in such a cruel future.
Mei was not wrong. With Bai Chen's involvement, the future could not possibly turn out that way. But... memories she should never have possessed surfaced in the Herrscher of Thunder's mind.
But if things continued developing as they were now, then in the future, you will ultimately lose someone who is most important to us.
"It won't happen? Then prove that this future truly will not happen."
Leaving those words behind, the Herrscher of Thunder walked into the woods outside the window.
Unwilling to accept it, Mei followed her out with anger burning in her heart, carrying a wooden practice sword.
Kiana and Bronya exchanged glances and followed as well, to prevent anything from happening to either of them.
Incidentally, Bronya sent Himeko a message. Himeko had now thrown aside her work and was rushing over at top speed.
"Bai Chen, you little brat, can't you let me have one moment of peace?!"
On Mei's side, the instant she stepped into the woods, a blade of light accompanied by a clap of thunder stabbed toward her.
Seeing the familiar sword technique, Mei hurriedly dodged. Only in that instant did she realize in shock that it was not a blade at all, but the Herrscher of Thunder's lightning-wreathed palm!
Before Mei could recover from the first attack, the Herrscher of Thunder withdrew her hand and struck again, slashing across Mei's stomach.
"Urgh!"
Mei's clothes were immediately ripped open across her abdomen, and the powerful recoil sent her flying into a tree.
"Mei!"
Kiana, watching from the side, worriedly stepped forward and tried to help Mei up.
"Kiana, don't come over. This is something I have to do myself."
Using her bamboo sword to support herself, Mei struggled to rise from the ground. Her eyes seemed ready to spit fire.
"Again!"
Power of the Future
Whoosh!
The Herrscher of Thunder's attack fell upon Mei's bamboo sword like a thunderbolt of immense force. The electricity spreading through the field gradually slowed Mei's movements without her noticing.
"Hey, coward, can't hold on anymore?"
While Mei struggled to withstand the Herrscher of Thunder's attacks, a proud voice rang out in her heart.
It was Mei's Herrscher persona, or perhaps the stigmata consciousness. But it did not matter. It was only a name.
"You're clearly the Herrscher of Thunder, yet you can be affected by such a weak current. That's truly embarrassing."
Having watched everything from the sidelines, the Herrscher consciousness naturally did not hold back in mocking Mei's main consciousness.
"Shut up."
Mei staggered as she thrust the bamboo sword in her hand toward the Herrscher of Thunder, but how could such an attack possibly hit her?
With a slight sidestep, the Herrscher of Thunder easily avoided the attack and kicked Mei to the ground.
"You cannot fight that power. Come on, let me out and use the power of the Herrscher of Thunder!"
Just as doubt began to arise in Mei's heart, the Herrscher of Thunder grabbed Mei, who lay on the ground, and hauled her up!
The Herrscher of Thunder stared into Mei's eyes and rebuked her. "Do not beg others for power!"
"Power must always be controlled by yourself!"
After saying that, the Herrscher of Thunder struck Mei away with another palm. But this time, a current was also sent into Mei's body.
That current moved through Mei's body in a regular pattern, as if guiding her to do something.
"If you cannot even control this, how will you control the future fate of your companions?!"
With every attack, the Herrscher of Thunder sent currents deeper into Mei's body. Mei, who had initially only been barely able to defend herself, gradually began moving more smoothly.
Although the Herrscher of Thunder's attacks left Mei in terrible pain, Mei could feel that she was holding back.
Mei understood what was happening. She could clearly feel that the Herrscher of Thunder pulled back her moves and restrained her strength in many places.
Though being hit still hurt.
Mei now felt like an apprentice being taught hand by hand by a teacher, gradually guided toward the proper way to use her power.
"Ha!"
Before you continue