Sirin's voice grew clearer and clearer. The moment Kiana's consciousness relaxed, Sirin seized the opening and slipped in.
"What... what are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Of course I'm killing this damn bug. How dare he make me lose face?"
Kiana's consciousness weakened. She could only watch as Sirin took control of her body, the golden Herrscher pupils growing brighter and brighter.
"Stop! He's just an ordinary person. Even if it's revenge, you should..."
"What a foolish girl, still being kept in the dark." Sirin's voice carried an inexplicable trace of anger. She was furious over her previous failure, and equally furious at Kiana's naivety. "That man isn't human at all. He must be killed immediately."
Bang—!
The wooden door exploded into splinters. Before Su Jue in the living room could even react, Spears of the Void were already shooting toward him. He only had time to raise his palm, but in the next instant, his entire hand was pierced through.
Warm blood splattered across the wall and scattered through Kiana's white hair.
Though he avoided a fatal wound, against a Herrscher of Void who had truly lost her temper, an ordinary human's body had no chance of dodging.
His neck was seized again, and Su Jue was slammed onto the floor. Sirin leaned over him, pinning him down, but just as she was about to crush his throat, Kiana's consciousness finally broke free from the labyrinth's suppression.
"You can't kill him."
Blue and gold intertwined as the two souls began fighting for control of the body.
"Cough, cough." With his throat constricted, Su Jue struggled to breathe. He coughed continuously, staring wide-eyed at the girl pressing down on him.
Wet strands of hair hung down. Water ran along her neck and pooled in the hollow of her collarbone. Once the tiny pool filled, it flowed again, forming dripping stalactites.
The severe mental shock, combined with the blood loss from his hand, made Su Jue's vision swim. He fainted on the spot.
Interlude to Chapter Five: "Starting Out by Kidnapping Kiana"
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Theater of Domination
Rustle, rustle.
Fine, dense noises echoed through the dark space.
There was no light, no warmth, no life. Nothing could be felt.
Bang—!
The sound of a wooden gavel striking a table rang out, like a droplet falling into a dark spring and stirring endless ripples.
Creak—creak—
The sound of hard objects colliding, mechanisms coupling, joints twisting...
Began to echo.
Like a puppet show prepared for a very long time, making its grand opening.
"Order! Order!"
The gavel struck the table repeatedly. The jumbled sounds of puppets abruptly stopped, and silence followed.
Click.
The theater lights suddenly came on, piercing the darkness and focusing on this solemn trial.
Ominous. Uneasy. Terrifying.
A creature steeped in mystery stood at the judge's bench and spoke with authority.
Meow~
Black cats really were rather ominous.
Especially when the black cat could talk.
"Puppet [Su Jue], do you know your crime?" Tread Snow tapped the tabletop with a patter of paws. Its four feet rested atop the lofty judge's platform as it looked down upon the puppet in the defendant's seat.
A black blindfold covered the puppet's eyes. He remained silent.
Transparent threads descended from above the theater, tightly binding his joints, limbs, and every movable part of his body.
"This play prepared for the Herrscher of Void had been in the works for two whole months. Yet when she truly fell into the trap, you failed to kill her." A white cat paw swept across the table. The threads binding Puppet [Su Jue] were pulled, raising the puppet's head.
"Selfish! Stupid! Hypocritical!" In the audience, the puppet called [Father] shouted in condemnation, trying to vent every negative emotion onto [Su Jue].
"Order! [Father], shut up first. Can't you learn something from [Mother]? Look at her—she hasn't said a word." Tread Snow interrupted [Father]'s accusations and pointed at another puppet in the audience.
"Abba abba." [Mother] noticed Tread Snow's gesture and asked in confusion.
"We are Herrschers, the Herrscher of a Thousand, born to stand against humanity. Any unnecessary kindness only hastens our destruction." The black cat looked around, then sighed helplessly. "Besides, there are only four of us now."
"[Su Jue], you don't want Kiana to grow up and slaughter us all someday, do you?"
The puppet called [Su Jue] finally moved. He rose from the defendant's seat and looked over the empty Theater of Domination.
"The seed of rebellion has already been planted. All that remains is careful watering. One day, it will bloom and bear fruit."
As [Su Jue] spoke, every puppet remained silent.
"She will be our blade, tearing apart this world's disguise for us."
"On the condition that we hide ourselves well."
With [Su Jue]'s exaggerated movements, the threads snapped, and the wooden puppet fell apart, scattering across the floor.
Above the Theater of Domination, a pair of golden eyes gave off a faint glow.
Sigh...
After that sigh, Su Jue removed the threads tied around his fingers one by one. The puppet show was over.
How many months had it been since he became a Herrscher? Su Jue only remembered that on the day he became one, the sky was torn open. Endless Honkai Beasts were summoned from the void by the Herrscher of Void, and within mere hours, the entire world had descended into hopeless chaos.
It was only then that he truly realized what Herrschers were.
They were not game data, not enemies he could casually cut down one by one while controlling Valkyries in a game. They were beings truly capable of destroying the world. Though Su Jue had enjoyed opening Chapter 25 in his previous life whenever he felt depressed, reveling in the thrill of slaughtering puppets, becoming a puppet himself was an entirely different experience.
"Cough—"
An unbearable tightness in his chest suddenly surged up. Su Jue clutched his chest and began coughing violently.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, ran down his chin, and dripped onto the floor, turning into crimson azaleas.
His coughing worsened until he could no longer suppress it. He spat out a mouthful of blood containing dark clots.
"It's getting worse."
He had spent two months searching for a way to save himself, and only then had he woven this false Theater of Domination for Kiana, all so he could leave behind a harmless impression in her mind.
Unfortunately, though the play was fake, the actors were real.
The medical report Kiana saw had not been wrong. Su Jue's life was nearing its end.
It was an exceedingly rare illness. No—rather than an illness, it was more like a curse.
Su Jue had never believed in fate. But when he watched his tall, strong father waste away into skin and bones after coughing blood day after day; when he stayed beside his mother as a minor cold turned into organ failure, until she could no longer hear or speak... he finally bowed his head to destiny.
Only after this nightmare took everything from him, stripping away his health bit by bit, did he finally hear that voice.
"Welcome to the Theater of Domination!"
And so, he became this world's first Herrscher of a Thousand.
Jian Yun
"I really don't get what's so great about being a Herrscher. It's exhausting, miserable, and you have to worry every second about being killed by justice-loving girls."
Tread Snow padded down from the balcony. Though it was merely one of Su Jue's cat avatars, it seemed to possess an independent personality. "Being a cat is much more comfortable. No work, no school. When you're hungry, find some rich person on the street and mooch a meal. When you're tired, you can curl up in a girl's arms and nap. Isn't that far easier than struggling to be human?"
Having just cleaned up the blood he had coughed out, Su Jue brushed aside the hair at his temple. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead. His physical condition was truly poor. Even with the boost from Herrscher powers, all it did was slow his body's continued decline.
If Su Jue's avatars were measured by combat power, cat Tread Snow would surely be the most basic one point. As for Su Jue's main body, he was probably a terrifying existence possessing the power of three cats.
Incidentally, an ordinary person's combat power was probably around five cats.
"If I had a choice, I'd definitely choose to be a cat person too. Unfortunately, the boss upstairs doesn't agree." Su Jue sounded helpless. The Herrscher of a Thousand was an existence formed from humanity's own darkness. If even the Herrscher of a Thousand could live as carefree as cats, then this world would practically be heaven. No one would have anything to be sad about, and everyone could live happily.
Unfortunately, that was impossible. Su Jue's very existence doomed him to never be a good person. He could only scheme behind the scenes.
"How pitiful." Tread Snow stretched lazily, found a comfortable spot, and went back to sleep.
The wound on Su Jue's hand, where the Herrscher of Void had pierced it, had mostly healed. He glanced at the clock on the wall. Its hand had just reached seven.
"I almost forgot. My current identity is still that of a student—I have to go to class." Slapping his forehead, Su Jue finally remembered what he had forgotten. The Herrscher of Domination's powers were simply too useful; he could have puppets do his homework for him. If his puppet hosts had not currently consisted of only one adult man, one adult woman, and one cat, Su Jue could have easily sent an avatar around his age to school in his place.
Bang—!
The door shut as Su Jue left home with his backpack. After he departed, the two puppets that had played his parents the previous night slowly began moving, tidying up the house.
When Su Jue went outside, the girl who had waited a long time at the window opposite his brightened. She hurriedly shut the window and ran downstairs. Reaching the exit of the row-house passageway, the girl patted down her skirt and calmed her rapid breathing.
"Good morning, Su Jue." The cool morning breeze stirred the girl's hair. As Su Jue reached the alley exit, he saw her seemingly waiting there for quite some time.
The memories in his mind rapidly turned over. Over the past two months, he had come to Sky City in advance to arrange his encounter with Kiana. But because he had dealt with too many people, Su Jue could not immediately remember which identity had interacted with her.
After swiftly comparing her against the impressions in his mind, Su Jue put on a warm smile without revealing anything.
He raised a hand in greeting. "Good morning, Jian Yun."
Jian Yun was the child of a neighboring family. She had lived on this street long before Su Jue moved into the neighborhood. Now, she attended the same high school as Su Jue and even happened to be in his class. Su Jue wanted to say it was merely a coincidence, but the Herrscher of a Thousand did not think so.
His approach had a purpose.
Jian Yun smiled happily, moved to Su Jue's side, and set off to school with him.
The two walked side by side without much conversation. Finally, just as they were nearing the school, Jian Yun pretended to be curious and asked her question.
"Last night, I think I saw a white-haired girl. Was she..."
"Your girlfriend?"
"..." After a moment of silence, Su Jue began thinking. He had not expected Kiana to truly be seen by someone. The Herrscher of Void was currently a hot potato. Though he had already prepared to make contact early, if her whereabouts were discovered by Schicksal or Anti-Entropy, would his identity as the Herrscher of a Thousand be exposed?
Is she threatening me? Su Jue suddenly realized the possibility, and alarm bells rang in his heart. He turned his head, his gray eyes fixed firmly on the girl's.
The curiosity on Jian Yun's face stiffened. She suddenly regretted asking that question. Looking at the silent Su Jue, she awkwardly scratched her head. "You don't need to care, Su Jue. I was only asking casually. Even if she really is your girlfriend, it's... it's fine."
...What's with that girlish reaction? Am I overthinking this?
"No." To be safe, Su Jue could only answer in a low voice.
"Uh, it feels like you're rather unwilling to say that, Su Jue."
Glancing at the confused Jian Yun, Su Jue could only soften his tone and repeat himself. "No."
"That's good." Halfway through, Jian Yun seemed to realize how ambiguous that sounded and hurriedly explained, "I mean, it's fine. I don't mind."
"Oh."
The Theater Play of Domination 5
Sky City had no shortage of educational institutions. Private schools that touted elite education, along with all kinds of cram schools, flourished throughout this city known as the city of technology, offering the best services to anyone seeking advancement.
But just as Su Jue had described [Father]'s experiences to Kiana, the gap between the city center and the suburbs was far greater than one might imagine.
For suburban residents, costly private schools and cram schools had never been within their consideration. Their only options were public schools subsidized by compulsory national education.
Educational resources lagged behind, and teacher quality varied wildly. For children raised here, crossing that dividing line was as hard as reaching the heavens.
The divide between rich and poor had nearly torn this city into two completely different worlds.
"What a perfect city."
That was Su Jue's assessment.
"This is undoubtedly the best soil for humanity's dark emotions to breed, and likewise the best stage for the Theater of Domination to begin."
Smack—!
A piece of chalk struck Su Jue squarely on the forehead, leaving behind an ashen mark.
"What are you muttering about during class? Stand up!"
Before you continue