In her field of vision, she saw two all-too-familiar figures bound and tangled in strands of silver thread. Suspended in midair like marionettes, they were forced into twisted, grotesque poses, unable to move and at the mercy of others.
"Mm..."
Stifled groans of extreme pain escaped their throats from time to time, as thin as a flute's note, as faint as a mosquito's buzz. They tugged at the heart and shattered it.
"Bronya... Class Monitor..."
Watching the scene before her, the girl softly identified them. Her sea-blue eyes revealed the killing chill of a harsh winter.
At the same time, uniform, monotonous mechanical puppets began descending from the ceiling of the Theatre of Domination. Like swarms of fearless ants, they piled upon one another and surrounded the girl from every direction, leaving no gaps.
"Without the power of a Herrscher, you're nothing but an ordinary weakling."
Not far behind her, an especially massive mechanical puppet—the Herrscher of Domination—appeared and sneered in a low voice.
Several silver threads clung to its sharp, hook-like claws, woven and intertwined like a spiderweb. Its pitch-black mechanical body seemed cast from some unknown material, gleaming with a deep, cold light.
It looked indestructible and impossible to confront. Its eerie crimson eyes flickered faintly, seemingly filled with malice and curses toward the world.
Simply standing there, it exuded an unprecedented oppressive force, as though one stood before an abyss, leaving the mind trembling.
"Ah..."
As if to provoke Kiana, it slowly tightened the threads in its palm. Silver light slid along them, and the bound Bronya and Fu Hua once again let out uncontrollable groans of pain.
At the sight, Kiana immediately clenched her teeth and shouted furiously, "Let them go!"
"You have conviction, but no power to act on it."
The Herrscher of Domination continued