Honkai's Thousand Laws, Kidnapping Kiana at the Start

Crack—

The Spears of the Void created by the Herrscher of Void were far sturdier than mere architecture. The incoming stone pillar was shattered into rubble by a powerful blow, but as the pillar broke, the figure that followed it arrived in an instant.

"Herrscher of Void!" With a thump, a fist met the incoming spear. The moment they made contact, Kiana felt a sense of dread. She braced herself with both hands against the Spear of the Void, retreating several steps. Without hesitation, a golden flash flickered in her eyes, and another Spear of the Void was created, thrusting fiercely towards Su Jue.

However, Su Jue, in this state, had no intention of defending; it was pure offense.

Bang—

Another punch landed. Kiana's hands trembled under the immense force as it struck the Spear of the Void, and she was forced backward. The good news was that the second Spear of the Void successfully hit Su Jue's back, embedding itself in his shoulder blade.

Pain? He felt nothing! Wounds? They were nothing!

Su Jue ripped the Spear of the Void from his body, ignoring the splashing blood. He then gripped the spear and hurled it fiercely at Kiana.

Vwoom~

A spatial rift appeared, swallowing the spear Su Jue had thrown. Kiana intended to return it, but Su Jue had already closed the distance.

Fists, elbows, knees—all were weapons of attack.

Originally, Kiana could still defend with the Spears of the Void, but under Su Jue's life-risking fighting style, her resistance gradually became futile. Until, after a final heavy punch, the short spear flew from her hand, arcing through the air and embedding itself in the concrete floor.

Seeing Kiana unable to fend him off, Su Jue showed no mercy. He grabbed her by the neck with one hand and slammed her violently against the wall.

Thrown through the air, Kiana crashed into the concrete wall, which instantly cracked, sending debris falling.

"Cough cough..." Coughing continuously, Kiana felt as though her internal organs had been severely damaged, but she hadn't lost her fighting ability. "The real fight is just beginning."

Looking at the white-haired man wearing a mask before her, Kiana took a deep breath to regain her strength.

He's angry. What is he angry about?

Chapter 56: Endings and Farewells

No one could answer that question, not even Su Jue himself.

Was it because Kiana had betrayed him? But she had no idea Thousand Calamities was Su Jue, and helping a friend was only natural.

Was it because he had failed in his attempt to seize the Puppet Machine? But Su Jue knew that wasn't important at all.

Perhaps it was just a deluded individual who had gotten too invested, genuinely developed feelings, and was now enraged out of humiliation.

Angry because of his own fanciful notions, angry because of his own arrogance.

"How foolish. A spider hiding in the shadows dares to covet the sun."

Clearing his mind, abandoning thought. The Theater of Domination had no room for emotion; only the clattering of puppets colliding was eternal.

After a brief respite, the two closed in again. This time, there was no retreat. Every move, every strike, was aimed at taking the other's life.

And after fighting with all their might, Su Jue finally realized that a warrior of pure strength and a Herrscher who wielded authority were ultimately different.

Even though she hadn't fully mastered the power of the Herrscher of Void, when Kiana wielded the Spears of the Void like a sword, each attack caused interference in space. This spatial fluctuation wasn't intense, but for Su Jue, who fought with brute force, even this slight disturbance was enough to alter the course of the battle.

Bang—

The ravaged surroundings collapsed again. After a loud crash, this time it was Su Jue who was sent flying backward. The continuous spatial fluctuations had almost distorted the light. After dozens of clashes, a mistake finally occurred. The Spears of the Void interfered with his punching angle, and with an opening exposed, he took a solid heavy kick from Kiana.

"It's over." The Spears of the Void pointed directly at Su Jue. Accompanied by the appearance of spatial cracks, several spears pinned Su Jue to the wall. His shoulder, his thigh—they were almost pierced through. Any movement would result in severe injury.

"But you still held back," Su Jue sneered, slowly tearing his body from the piercing spears. Instantly, blood gushed out, the torn wounds looking grotesque and terrifying.

"Are you crazy? You'll bleed to death without me even lifting a finger." Su Jue's madness exceeded Kiana's expectations. In many places, she could see the white bone, yet he seemed oblivious. Despite being covered in wounds, he didn't take a single step back.

But Su Jue, now drenched in blood, didn't want to say more. He simply got up, swung his fist, and brought it down with immense power.

However, as Su Jue swung his fist, Kiana saw through the black mask and recognized Su Jue's eyes. They were familiar gray eyes. This momentary lapse in concentration meant she no longer had time to dodge Su Jue's attack.

"Kiana!" Fu Hua's startled cry brought Kiana back to her senses, but Su Jue's desperate final blow was mere millimeters away. Her golden right eye flared, and a brand-new Spear of the Void shot out.

However, the anticipated searing pain never came. The fist stopped in front of her.

And the Spear of the Void she created had pierced the enemy's heart, its gushing blood splattering all over her.

"What a shame." Blood trickled from Su Jue's lips. He lowered his head, looking at the chain spears that had pierced him and the spear in his heart, thinking with self-mockery: So, I still messed up after all.

"Kiana, are you alright?" After tending to the injuries of Bronya and Mei, Theresa finally found an opportunity to join the fight. This move completely broke the balance. Su Jue, caught completely off guard, was shot dead by Judah.

The taut nerves finally relaxed. Kiana let out a sigh, looking at the enemy pinned in place by several chain spears, and instinctively took a step back.

"I'm fine..."

Click.

Something fell to the ground. Kiana looked down and saw only a star-shaped hairpin, completely shattered by her Spear of the Void attack, lying in the pool of blood.

It looked so familiar.

Kiana froze in place.

"Heh heh, how could that be." Kiana let out a stiff, dry chuckle, her mind going blank. "How could he possibly be here? He couldn't be here, he couldn't be."

"Kiana, what's wrong?" Seeing Kiana's strange expression, Fu Hua and Theresa quickly asked.

But Kiana could no longer hear any voices. She trembled, reaching out a hand towards the black mask.

She was afraid. Afraid that behind that mask was truly the boy she remembered.

As Kiana just grabbed the mask and was about to take it off, a ball of intense flame descended from the sky, forcing everyone back. When they turned around again, the impaled corpse was already engulfed in the burning flames.

"That's not fire, that's a person." Flamescion, who was skilled in using fire, reacted first. Although these flames looked fierce, their temperature wasn't very high. It was less an attack and more a way to cover their tracks.

Reminded, Theresa immediately launched an attack, but the person wielding the flames dodged them all.

"Goodbye, everyone. It's best if my colleagues leave with me." A mature female voice came from within the flames. Kiana had never heard this voice before, yet it felt strangely familiar.

"Teacher Himeko!" she called out instinctively, but the woman's movements were not delayed in the slightest. The low-temperature flames instantly spread, turning this area into a sea of fire.

Amidst the flickering flames, Kiana could only see a wisp of red hair fluttering in the wind. The man with gray-white hair, who should have been dead, opened his eyes. After meeting her gaze, his gray eyes closed again immediately.

BOOM!

The flames exploded again, hiding everything. When the fire gradually weakened, the place was empty.

"Kiana, come back with us." On the streets of Sky City, it was already midnight, and there were very few pedestrians. Theresa kept trying to persuade Kiana, who seemed preoccupied.

"The Principal is right, it's too dangerous for you to stay in Sky City alone." Bronya, holding her damaged Hedgehog, also urged her.

Mei, who should have been closest to Kiana, seemed lost in thought, but upon hearing their words, she also wanted Kiana to leave with them.

Seeing her companions looking at her with worried eyes, Kiana smiled. "It's okay. I've discovered some very important things here that need investigating. And you saw, my control over the Herrscher of Void's power is slowly growing stronger. When I fully master it, I will return."

No one noticed that in her hand, she was tightly clutching a star hairpin stained with blood.

After failing to persuade her, the others had no choice but to give up. However, now that Kiana's safety was confirmed, they were somewhat relieved. With Rita missing and their group being too conspicuous, they would only endanger Kiana if Schicksal started searching for them. They could only agree to find her after they had dealt with their own matters.

"Next time I come, I will definitely have the power to protect you." Before parting, Mei solemnly grasped Kiana's hand. Her face held no trace of the past resentful reluctance, but a more determined expression.

"Yes, I believe you, Mei."

"Do you want to go find that person?" After the Hyperion crew left, Fu Hua asked softly.

"Yes, whether it's him or not, I need to ask clearly."

Walking alone on the empty street, Kiana let out a long sigh. It felt as if she had experienced so much in just one night.

She looked up and saw the side of an alley.

Art supplies were scattered all over the ground.

Chapter 57: Aftermath

The world is a garden of forking paths, where schemes and eternal time intertwine. Before making a choice at a crossroads, no one can see the scenery ahead. Only when one embarks on the chosen path does time become set, and you will never know if your choice was right or wrong, or if your choice might be someone else's trap.

"You seem very happy?" Su Jue's expression darkened as he watched Himeko sitting on the sofa, happily playing with a cat. Was she enjoying seeing him embarrassed?

"Of course not~ I'm smiling because I saw my long-lost student. Don't believe me? Look into my eyes, they're very sincere~" Perhaps Su Jue's current harmless appearance gave Himeko confidence. Despite her injuries not having healed, she had learned to tease a pure young boy. She leaned her face close to Su Jue, her large eyes looking at him wateringly. Su Jue could even feel her breath on his face.

Raising his hand expressionlessly, Su Jue pushed Himeko back onto the sofa, not giving her a kind look. "You'd better be aware of your status as a puppet, maintain your distance, and honestly do what you should do. You've already experienced the punishment of Domination, and I don't want to repeat it."

"Tch." Himeko let out a bored click of her tongue. Although she was dismissive verbally, the memory of the soul-piercing pain from before made her body honestly show a hint of fear. She honestly moved back.

After the series of events last night, both the [Himeko] puppet and the [Thousand Calamities] puppet, the two strongest combat bodies, were seriously injured. It would take a considerable amount of time for them to recover their combat effectiveness.

Himeko was currently using her original body, her entire body wrapped in bandages like a mummy. However, this was merely for comfort. The soul damage caused by the domination threads was not easily healed, even though Su Jue had done his best to help her recover.

Himeko, now quiet, held Treading Snow in her arms, gently stroking its fur and playing with its cat ears. They sat in silence. After a few minutes, unable to stand the quiet, she looked up at Su Jue, who was frowning at his desk, and asked with some confusion, "What's wrong? Is it really that serious if you haven't obtained the Puppet Machine?"

Hearing her voice, Su Jue glanced at her and handed her the document he was reading. "I thought you were smarter than that."

"Hey, I was a top university student before. Are you insulting me?" Himeko casually took the document from Su Jue and placed it on the cat's head, slowly reading it. However, after reading only a part of it, her brows furrowed tightly. The further she read, the worse her expression became.

"Is this real?" Himeko's face showed disbelief. She even forgot about the cat, flipping through the document repeatedly, making sure she wasn't mistaken.

"What do you think?" Su Jue retorted.

"No matter how you look at it, using the entire city's population as experimental subjects is too insane. No sane person would make such a choice." Himeko shook her head repeatedly. It wasn't that she didn't believe the document's authenticity, but she fundamentally believed such a thing was impossible. "If millions of people were involved, any problem would be noticed immediately. At that point, neither Schicksal nor the Land of the Divine would allow such a thing to happen."

"..."

Su Jue's silence made Himeko's heart lurch. He was a Herrscher who wasn't good at lying, and now he hadn't raised any objections to her doubts. This meant the contents of the document were likely true, and that the organization called World Serpent truly intended to use the entire Sky City as a testing ground.

"By the way, your good students are about to run into trouble too." Su Jue took the document back and swiped his hand, opening a spatial portal connected to the Theater of Domination. After throwing the document in, he continued, "Have you ever wondered why I gave up on the Puppet Machine last night?"

"Wasn't it because you couldn't beat it? Even your own puppet was killed by Kiana..."

"Cough." Su Jue's face flushed, and he quickly cleared his throat, interrupting her. "That was just an accident. Even if she hadn't appeared, obtaining the Puppet Machine wouldn't have been easy. That thing was a bait released by World Serpent, and it's not easy to get your hands on."

"But you failed."

"I told you it was bait, you can't just touch it."

Glancing at Su Jue, Himeko held Treading Snow's small paw and waved it. "But you failed."

"Meow~"

"See? Even Treading Snow said so, and you still won't admit you failed?" The cat's cooperation made Himeko very happy. Of course, Treading Snow just looked at her blankly, 'What does this have to do with me? I'm just a kitten who can't understand human speech.'

"Al~right, I failed, I failed." Su Jue sighed, feeling a bit exhausted, and decided not to argue with Himeko. "That thing has a virus file planted by Gray Serpent. If your students are smart, they shouldn't try to crack it themselves, otherwise, things would probably be in chaos right now."

Hearing Su Jue's words, Himeko's expression also showed concern. Although she had confidence in the children, according to the document Su Jue had shown her earlier, World Serpent was a group of madmen. It was hard to imagine what they would do to the Puppet Machine, and their ultimate goal was unknown.

Unfortunately, no matter how worried she was, it was useless. Himeko was currently restricted to the side of the Herrscher of Domination, and even if she wanted to help, she couldn't.

"Oh, right. You used the Plague Gem's power last night, so you should have gotten the item by now." Su Jue was a bit exhausted from fighting on multiple fronts last night, so he hadn't paid much attention to Himeko's side, only giving the order to retrieve the Gray Serpent Ocular Implant. He wasn't sure if it had been successful.

"Tch, asking an A-rank like me to fight an S-rank Valkyrie from Schicksal? Even a puppet machine should have some basic rights," Himeko grumbled, snapping back to her concern for the students. But her tone quickly shifted, a mocking expression appearing on her face. "However, that arrogant guy probably never imagined he'd be defeated by an A-rank."

She took out a gray mechanical sphere from her pocket. This was the ocular implant Gray Serpent used to control puppet machines. After killing Gray Serpent, Rita had taken the ocular implant. However, it was merely a key; the real data was stored at Gray Serpent's stronghold, and it was impossible to read effectively without proper classification. That's why she had set a trap to lure Theresa and the others to find the puppet machine, allowing her to simply wait for them to come to her.

Yet, she had indeed waited for her "rabbit," but what followed the rabbit was Su Jue, a fellow traveler who took advantage of the situation.

"So you killed her?"

"You're overthinking it. No matter how badly things go, she's still an S-rank. A starving camel is still bigger than a horse. Besides, someone else who had a similar setback was waiting for me to rescue them."

How dare you.

Chapter 58: A Long-Lost Student Life

Plans are never absolutely perfect. All Su Jue could do was constantly adjust the direction of his plan, guiding events toward the outcome he desired.

He was neither a calculating schemer nor a heartless observer. Being in the play meant having the resolve to be a character within it.

Click—click—

Within the theater, the sound of puppet joints colliding echoed.

Upon his return, the puppet [Su Jue] had been standing alone on the stage of the Theater of Domination, performing his solo play.

A setback? No, that was merely an outward appearance. In Su Jue's view, the gains from this operation were far more important than the so-called puppet machine. He was the Herrscher of Domination; what he needed wasn't powerful weapons or practical tools, but to compensate for his own shortcomings as much as possible.

And this time, an emotional loophole, one he hadn't even noticed himself, had been exposed. This was a good thing for him, and his greatest gain. Like a moth drawn to a flame, he could easily burn himself to ashes. While Su Jue had set a trap for Kiana, he himself was like that moth, drawn to the light emanating from the girl.

Emotions, for the Herrscher of Domination, were the most potent poison.

This faint light would cloud his perception, interfere with his calculations, and ultimately lead to him being consumed by the flames. If this continued, when that sword of Flamescion was raised high, he would be the first to fall beneath it.