Puppet: Murata / Probing ...

She died...

At the moment of realizing this, even Su Jue, whose heart had already blackened, could not help raising a sense of regret; it was hard to articulate the origin of this feeling. Clearly his target was only the Plague Gem, and he cared not a whit about Murata Himeko's life or death, yet the moment he saw that figure, he still felt a vague sense of loss.

Perhaps this was simply pure human emotion, but for Su Jue at present, it was no longer needed—he repeated to himself in his heart.

Yes, I no longer need these human emotions.

A large number of Imaginary Monsters were already lingering around Himeko's corpse, though they seemed temporarily inactive, probably because the residual warmth still lingering on the God-Slaying Armor kept them from daring to approach.

They were like vultures waiting for their prey to exhaust itself and die; the moment the Plague Gem grew calm, they would devour Murata Himeko's corpse down to the bone. No wonder that in the original world, by the time the Herrscher of a Thousand found Murata Himeko, only the gem remained.

Yet now that Su Jue had arrived in time, he could probably still leave her with an intact body, allowing her to die a dignified manner.

Power erupted; Su Jue eliminated all the surrounding monsters with fists and kicks until no more Imaginary Seeds appeared, after which he dragged his exhausted body to Murata Himeko's side.

The Crimson Knight: Moonlight Eclipse God-Slaying Armor covering her body had shattered inch by inch, losing its former glory entirely and turning completely into dust. Dense Honkai cracks clung to her entire body like a spiderweb; even after her death, the torment from the Honkai had not ceased.

The Godfall Sword: Surtr had long since turned into gravel, leaving only a broken hilt dropped on the ground. Su Jue squatted down and picked it up; upon touch, it possessed only a rough stone texture, completely lacking the former glory described as "the scorching blade emitting a brilliant red light, its vibrating sound resembling a swan song."

"Pity." With a silent sigh in his heart, Su Jue cast his gaze back onto Himeko once more. The fiery Plague Gem had also fallen silent alongside the Crimson Knight, and after the armor shattered, it rested upon her chest.

With a calm expression, Su Jue placed his hand upon her. The temperature of the Plague Gem was extremely high; the instant Su Jue touched the gem, blisters formed on his skin from the scalding heat, yet he did not stop. Feeling his skin sizzling like roasted meat, he finally picked it up.

Yet the moment he grasped the gem, red light instantly struck toward him like lightning; Su Jue did not even have time to react before his throat was gripped.

"..."

"Resurrection of the dead?" Su Jue calmly uttered those two words, and then he felt the force gripping his throat grow increasingly intense. Before him, Himeko—who should have long since shown no signs of life—had actually reached out and grabbed him by the neck. Although her orange-red eyes were extremely dim, at this moment, they seemed like a last flash of lucidity, faintly holding a hint of vitality.

The grip on his throat was immense, and Su Jue clearly felt that he could no longer breathe, yet a smile hung at the corners of his mouth as he stared fixedly at Murata Himeko, the mockery unmistakably evident.

Slowly, his blood was struggling for oxygen, and his complexion even turned somewhat purplish, yet Su Jue showed not the slightest intention of letting go of the Plague Gem, as if saying that even if you take my life, I will still take the gem away.

Naturally, he was not truly gambling his life with Himeko. After a second or two, the force gripping his throat suddenly slackened. The burst before the last flash of lucidity was fatal, but he had guessed correctly; even if Himeko were not dead, it was impossible for her to possess the strength to resist.

Her arm dropped limply, and only her dim eyes stared straight at Su Jue with a trace of fury.

"Herrscher..." Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz; if the Imaginary Space had not been sufficiently quiet, Su Jue would not even have been able to hear it clearly.

Without the slightest intention of concealment, the powers of the Herrscher of Domination were displayed to the fullest. Like a standard villain in movies and television, Su Jue proclaimed his terror to the dying protagonist, "To have fallen heavily into the Imaginary Space for so long and still not be dead, I must admire the tenacity of your life, but what can even you do now? Do you want to stand up once more and kill me?"

"Hair ornament..."

Muttering for quite a while and preparing to put on a small airs, Su Jue felt somewhat awkward; after saying so much, the other party's attention was actually on an inconspicuous hair ornament.

"Hmm? You mean this? I snatched it from a white-haired little girl—oh, they call her the Herrscher of Void, and they are hunting her down all over the world. By now she's probably died in some corner, how pitiful. When I saw her, she seemed ready to shoot herself in the head."

Hearing Su Jue's words, Himeko—who had already entered her final moments—actually looked as if she were about to be angered back to life, the orange light in her eyes becoming even more intense.

"Qi—" Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Su Jue.

"Alright, don't worry about her; anyway, even if she didn't commit suicide, once I obtain the Plague Gem and dominate your body, I will personally eliminate her as well."

"Imagine, when Kiana sees her most respected and guilt-ridden teacher appear before her once again, pointing a weapon at her, will she voluntarily give up resistance and welcome her own death?"

He smiled grimly and wickedly, as if he were already imagining that scene in his mind, but in reality, his peripheral vision still lingered intentionally or unintentionally on Himeko's eyes. That trace of orange-red grew increasingly intense, which represented that Himeko's mental activity was becoming increasingly violent.

Pain, sorrow, anger, the despair of the near-death moment, and the worry for the person she cared about.

What that meant for the Herrscher of Domination needed no further elaboration.

"I forgot to tell you, after the Kiana you protected survived, she has completely broken ties with everyone at St. Freya. She is a traitor to Schicksal, while they are the heroes who defeated the Herrscher of Void. For former friends to turn into what they are now, it truly is laughable."

"And you, you can only watch helplessly as she dies in such a stifling manner, only to be reduced to an experimental subject of Schicksal after death, continuing research on the Herrscher of Void. I imagine you should understand Schicksal's methods more clearly than anyone."

His smile grew increasingly intense, while Murata Himeko no longer possessed any strength to resist, and could only listen hopelessly to his declaration.

A rich shade of gloom gradually surfaced from the depths of her eyes.

Chapter 38 Puppet: Murata

"...Are you deliberately provoking me?"

Suddenly, just as Himeko was only a step away from giving birth to a puppet, such a sentence abruptly popped out of her mouth. After these words left her lips, the greyish color in Himeko's eyes faded quite a bit; seeming to realize that the Herrscher before her was deliberately guiding her, she forcibly suppressed her emotions.

"..." An expression of astonishment appeared on Su Jue's face at the appropriate time, but it immediately transformed into a sneer, "True or false, you are already powerless to change it, are you not? I am the Herrscher of Domination, born for the sole purpose of toying with human hearts. A few young Herrscher girls—with just a little guidance, they can plunge into an endless abyss."

"And you, who have always protected them, can do nothing. What use is suppressing your emotions? After you die, I can still dominate your body; it is merely the difference between a living puppet and a dead puppet."

Upon hearing his words, Himeko fell into a brief silence. Su Jue was right; she simply had no room for choice. However, "A living puppet?"

"That's right, have you not noticed? Deep within your heart, that long-hidden other self of yours—the self who lost everything at the age of nineteen—she is so gloomy, as if shrouded in thick dark clouds. When you are killed by her, she will become your replacement, slaughtering that group of Herrscher little girls with matchless hatred."

"Then what if I kill her?"

"Simple enough, you take her place as the puppet in my hands, the end result is the same. It's just that you can watch yourself kill them with your own eyes. I imagine that will be even more interesting, is it not?"

It was as if the devil's whispers lingered by her ear; clearly possessing a youthful face, he harbored such dark intentions. He would definitely do this, and Himeko realized this point.

However, if she could pretend to look controlled, could she save those children at a critical moment?

Seeing that Murata Himeko was truly beginning to ponder this question, no person noticed the faint smile at the corner of Su Jue's mouth.

In fact, Su Jue was fundamentally not that omnipotent. Although he truly could control Himeko, that shattered corpse was essentially already a broken toy that might break upon a gentle touch. Furthermore, with Himeko's firm and extraordinary willpower, his desire to forcibly create a puppet was sheer fantasy; the final result would definitely be losing both wife and troops, gaining nothing at all.

Although his objective in his own plan was only the Plague Gem, if he could really trick Himeko into voluntarily becoming a puppet, that would be a top-tier A-Rank Valkyrie, and paired even with the Plague Gem, it could create a low-tier version of the Herrscher of Flames.

In any case, once she became a puppet, she would be completely controlled by him, so there was no need to worry about betrayal.

"Right, if you don't believe me, this is the information left behind for me by that white-haired little girl. You couldn't possibly not recognize her voice."

He tossed his phone to Himeko; anyway, it was merely an unexpected extra bargaining chip, and handing it to her did no harm.

"Kiana..." Himeko's voice was dry. That girl was the child she worried about most; with no one to protect her after her departure, had she finally fallen into a conspiracy after all?

Feverishly moving her fingers, she quietly tapped the play button, listening to the farewell Kiana had left for Su Jue.

The message was very short, but Himeko repeated it over and over again.

"How is it? I didn't lie to you." Looking somewhat uninterestedly at Himeko, Su Jue could already imagine the attachment and painful expression of the other party after staying in the Imaginary Space for so long and hearing Kiana's voice once more.

Appreciating other people's pain and despair had no meaning for him; he was not some heinous devil, he was merely striving for self-preservation and survival. As for subverting human civilization, it could only be said to be going with the flow. In any case, the Honkai Will was only responsible for paying wages and not for management; wasn't slacking off on the job an ordinary, everyday affair for a lying-flat Herrscher?

Yet when Himeko looked at him again, not only was there no pain whatsoever, but instead it was filled with deep strangeness, "You haven't listened to this recording yourself, have you?"

"..." What?

Bang—

Just as Su Jue was still somewhat puzzled by her words, Himeko, using strength of unknown origin, grabbed the phone and smashed it fiercely toward the ground. Following this smash, Su Jue's secondhand phone used by a girl didn't even have slag left, completely announcing its destruction.

"Alright, I agree to become your puppet, on the premise that you grant me a certain degree of freedom." After destroying Su Jue's private property, Himeko spoke of her own accord.

"You've got to be kidding..."

"Don't you want to know what that recording actually is?"

"..."

To be honest, because of Murata Himeko's abnormal performance, Su Jue genuinely produced a trace of curiosity for a moment. What kind of message could possibly make Himeko completely alter her previous attitude of preferring death to surrender, and voluntarily choose to become a puppet?

Just as Su Jue was still hesitating, thick dark clouds completely covered Himeko's pupils; this was her actively arousing the dark emotions deep within her heart. And within the Theater of Domination, countless threads fluttered continuously, gears turned incessantly, and a new blank puppet gradually took shape.

This was a situation Su Jue had never anticipated. Since ancient times, only the Herrscher of Domination had the right to choose a host; when had a host ever been able to forcibly become a puppet? Just because she was once the holder of the Plague Gem?

However, he merely felt astonished for a moment. Since the other party had delivered herself to his doorstep, what was he—the controller—to worry about? Was he afraid that he had too many subordinates and was living too comfortably?

"You promised me that you would grant me a certain degree of freedom." Himeko's voice gradually grew calm. After voluntarily linking her soul to the Theater of Domination, the Honkai Energy's erosion of her willpower lessened drastically. And this incomplete body had achieved complementarity due to the birth of the puppet, actually halting the momentum of the Honkai.

The corner of Su Jue's mouth twitched slightly, "No, I didn't..."

Himeko did not speak, simply staring straight at him with her orange eyes, even making him somewhat doubt himself as to whether he had truly said those words.

"Fine, I'll give it to you. Anyway, whenever I want, I can take over your control permissions at any time." After being stared at until he could barely hold his composure, Su Jue could only stubbornly agree. In any case, becoming a puppet meant being completely controlled by him, and so-called freedom was nothing more than not interfering too much in ordinary times.

Yet after his reluctant agreement, he similarly failed to notice the slight look of relief in the depths of Himeko's eyes.

She was gambling, using Kiana's judgment as a basis, wagering that Su Jue's essence was not purely evil, and now she seemed to have won the gamble.

"So what on earth was the content of that recording?" Confirming that she truly grasped Himeko's life and death, Su Jue asked with some curiosity.

"Go ask her yourself."

"...Do you know the cost of deceiving a Herrscher?"

"Anyway, you can control my body but not my memory; either way, you can just kill me."

It's over, I feel like this operation has gone down the drain.

Chapter 39 Probing

One day later, Su Jue's room was lively for a change.

Today was the weekend, and the weather outside was also very pleasant. Sunlight shone in through the glass windows, sweeping away all the gloom and making the entire room bright and spacious. More importantly, the home gained a bit of human warmth; aside from [Father] and [Mother], who still retained their wooden puppet forms and remained lingering within the Theater of Domination, the rest—[Griseo], [Himeko], and [Tread Snow]—were all at home. Coupled with Su Jue himself, it somewhat resembled a family of three sitting around the dining table for a meal.

Lunch was naturally cooked by Su Jue himself; Himeko's culinary skill level was completely at a disaster level, and Griseo only knew how to paint. As for Tread Snow, it was better to just let it stay by itself.

After establishing a contract with the Herrscher of Domination, the puppet belonging to Murata Himeko was also born within the Theater of Domination. However, although she agreed to become a puppet, Himeko was extremely resistant to the matter of transferring her consciousness into the new wooden puppet body, and up until now she had been resisting it.

Su Jue did not choose to forcibly stuff her consciousness into the puppet, and could only repair her injuries as much as possible, allowing her to barely move in the manner of an ordinary person. As for combat, she could not be counted upon; she would only be transferred into the puppet body when needed.

Stacking up the plates after finishing lunch, Su Jue looked at the unhurried Himeko and could not help whispering a complaint, "Did I bring back a burden? Not only does she eat a lot, but she also won't move."

Sighing, Su Jue could only pull a stinky face with a displeased expression.

Crack.

The sound of a glass photo frame colliding with the ground was quite crisp. Su Jue turned his head abruptly; on the table, the white paw that had just finished doing bad things had not yet had time to retract before meeting Su Jue's eyes, which were brimming with fury.

"Tread Snow! What are you doing!" Looking at the shattered glass all over the floor, Tread Snow—who had just quietly pushed it down—licked its small paw nonchalantly, sporting an expression that said 'I am merely a little cat, and I didn't do any bad things.'

Already in a bad mood, Su Jue grew somewhat anxious, placed the plate in his hand onto the table, and grabbed toward it.

"Meow~" Yet Tread Snow's footwork was quite exquisite; borrowing leverage back and forth among several old cabinets placed in the home, it left Su Jue behind and landed steadily upon a soft cushion. Raising its head proudly, it meowed at Su Jue with a disdainful attitude, its two front paws treading back and forth on the soft meat pads.

"Damn it, you are a puppet cat, not a real cat; don't pick up these bad habits." The youth grew somewhat frantic, repeatedly trying to reach out and grab the little cat back, but upon seeing the smiling expression on Murata Himeko's chest, he ultimately abandoned the idea of snatching the cat back from her exaggeratedly large breasts.

"This stinky cat actually learned how to knead." Seeming to be angered by his own puppet, Su Jue complained powerlessly, picked up the broom from the corner of the room, and carefully swept up the shattered glass.

On the other hand, Murata Himeko, who was resting comfortably on the sofa, laughed nonstop as if watching a good show, "Hey, Herrscher, didn't you say that all your puppets are controlled by you? It seems not to be the case right now."

"Hmph!" Having lost face, Su Jue could only let out a soft hump, speaking stubbornly, "This is merely a small accident; as long as I use my ability, there is nothing I cannot control."

"Is that so? I don't believe it." A flash of contemplation flickered in her eyes, as if Himeko's interest had been piqued. She looked at him with a provocative gaze, "Come and try to control me, you can do anything to me."

Having finished speaking, she even cast a flirtatious wink at Su Jue, completely adopting a self-destructive attitude, though in reality, she had developed doubts regarding Su Jue's specific method of domination. Although after signing the contract with the Herrscher of Domination, she clearly felt that the threads of domination had already connected her to the core, rendering her completely subject to it.

Yet Tread Snow's mischief had given her a new conjecture—perhaps Su Jue's control over the puppets was not entirely absolute?

Seeming to feel that his dignity had actually been offended by a puppet, Su Jue stood up somewhat angrily, strode over to her in a few large steps, and stared fixedly at her with a very fierce gaze, "You are playing with fire. Do you know what this means for a hot-blooded adolescent boy?"

Unfortunately, Himeko did not care about his attitude at all, meeting his gaze with those orange-yellow pupils, "What does it mean? Just tell me then."

"Hmph." Accompanied by Su Jue's soft hump, a golden light lit up from within his pupils, and Murata Himeko felt her body stiffen. A strong sense of sluggishness filled her entire body until finally, it was as if she had been injected with an overdose of anesthetic, rendering her completely unable to sense her own physical body. Transparent threads emerged from the Thousand-Will Core, gradually winding around her current puppet body and replacing all of her own perception. In a mere second or two, Himeko lost control of her body.

"The ability of domination is supreme; as long as you are connected by my threads, as long as I am willing, you absolutely have no possibility of breaking free." As if to prove his ability, Su Jue controlled Himeko's body to stand up from the sofa. "You cannot escape the control of the Herrscher core."

Threads...

She immediately memorized this keyword in her mind, and Himeko attempted to search for the connection between herself and domination, unknowingly actually finding some clues.

"That stinky cat merely broke free from the control of the threads temporarily; when I reconnect with it, it'll have to pay the price." At this moment, the completely unaware Su Jue was still frantically leaking his own secrets, failing completely to notice that Himeko had already begun harboring ulterior motives.

"Alright, now you know what I said is true, so you just obediently listen." Releasing control over Himeko, Su Jue waved his hand uninterestedly.

"...You're not going to do something to me?" A trace of astonishment flashed through her eyes, as she felt somewhat surprised that Su Jue directly released control. Of course, Himeko was not hoping that the other party would do something to her, but rather that this youth actually lacked defensive awareness to such an extent, letting go so easily of someone who knew his secrets.

"How boring. Wasting life on such meaningless trifles is something only you humans would choose." Picking up the plate he had put down earlier, Su Jue lifted his chin toward Himeko, "If you have nothing to do, clean up the glass. This stupid cat doesn't wear shoes; if it cuts itself, I'll have to repair it."

"Alright." Pausing in silence for a moment, Himeko wore a smile upon her face. As a cunning adult, a mere small matter allowed her to form a rough understanding of Su Jue.

"Although he's a Herrscher, he seems like nothing more than an ungrown brat."

Chapter 40 Old Photograph

Having fought against the Honkai for so many years, Himeko knew all too well the terror of the Herrscher; even her own father had died at the hands of a Herrscher. Yet Murata Himeko was all the more a good person; she understood that many times, the tragedies created by the Honkai could not be blamed on any single individual, just like when she brought Kiana—who bore the powers of the Herrscher of Void—and even Mei—who had awakened as the Herrscher of Thunder—into St. Freya Academy.

Aside from their identities as Herrscher brought by the Honkai, they were merely teenagers of a dozen or so years old, and at such an age they should have been enjoying a cozy youth and possessing a relaxed school life.

Even Herrscher could be guided through care and education; this was the conviction she had always upheld. After becoming a teacher to the children and spending days and nights together with them, she had only grown more steadfast in this belief. They had lost family, left friends, and gathered together at St. Freya Academy to fight against the Honkai.

They were all warriors fighting against the Honkai, harboring dreams and yearning for a better tomorrow. And as their teacher, she was willing to use herself as a flame to illuminate the road ahead for them.