Chapter Summaries

Kiana and Seele stopped the runaway performance mechs and helped evacuate the civilians, after which Kiana began to accept her golden eye with Seele’s support. They found a key among the flyer distributor’s torn clothes, and while Kiana went to report the incident, Seele saw a chance to spend time alone.

• Kiana told Seele she was no longer afraid because her friends stood behind her, but alarms soon sounded as the performance mechs rampaged through the plaza.
• Kiana and Seele disabled the mechs without hurting anyone, and Seele reassured a little girl that Kiana’s golden eye was magic.
• Kiana let the girl admire her eye, then made its golden light fade and smiled as an ordinary person.
• The livestream chat joked about Seele’s kindness toward Herrschers, while Hanser explained that Boss Lin had forbidden her from bringing Seele to Mount Taixu.
• Kiana and Seele found the flyer distributor’s torn yellow clothes and a key with an apartment number; Kiana left to report the incident, telling Seele to stay put.
• Seele realized she had a chance to spend some time alone.

Seele consulted Veliona about the rogue mechs and Kiana’s struggle with Sirin, then went to the university to investigate John Doe. She learned that he had been absent for about a month, but his disappearance remained unexplained.

• Seele asked Veliona to assess the mechs’ strange behavior and whether they could help Kiana control Sirin, but Veliona took offense at being compared to Sirin and pressed Seele to define what she meant to her.
• Kiana told Seele she would review surveillance footage and sent John Doe’s student ID, asking Seele to question him as a witness.
• Seele went to the university with Veliona’s company and began asking students and a teacher about John Doe, but they barely remembered him.
• A student recognized John Doe from an unpopular elective and said he had been absent for about a month.

Seele and Dark Seele investigated a missing student’s apartment, where Anti-Entropy mechs attacked them and they found a broken puppet. The landlady revealed that the student had died a month earlier, and Seele discovered a ticket to the Theatre of Domination for a performance titled “Foolish Jack.”

• Seele and Dark Seele learned that the student had moved out and had not attended campus for over a month, then went to his apartment.
• Anti-Entropy mechs appeared in the corridor and attacked Seele, reassembling after she destroyed them.
• Seele entered the apartment and found a broken puppet resembling those from the beginning of the main story.
• The landlady told Seele that the student had died a month ago, despite Seele recently meeting someone using his name.
• Seele took an admission ticket from the puppet and read its performance title, “Foolish Jack,” and the strange rhyme printed on its back.

Seele decided to investigate a dead girl’s suspicious death and report it to Anti-Entropy, while Veliona sensed a hostile presence and recalled her origins. Veliona’s memories revealed how she first encountered Seele during her abduction and witnessed Bronya rescue her.

• Seele told Veliona she would investigate the dead girl’s death with Anti-Entropy, despite the danger.
• A malicious voice taunted Veliona, and she realized an unseen presence had been watching them.
• Veliona remembered awakening in a dark void and first hearing Seele’s voice at the orphanage.
• Veliona recalled seeing Seele bound and abducted, and realizing they shared senses and pain.
• Bronya burst into the room and killed the armed soldier before he could fire.

Bronya learned that wielding the Herrscher of Reason was exposing her to fragments of Joyce’s consciousness, and she grew worried about Kiana’s greater risk from her multiple cores. Meanwhile, the team investigated attacks by animated Honkai Beast statues and suspected the attacks had been announced in advance through a play.

• Bronya dreamed of a ruined city and a blue-haired young man, then told Welt about her recurring dreams during training.
• Welt identified the young man as Joyce, the first Herrscher of Reason, and explained that Bronya was seeing echoes left in the core’s consciousness.
• Welt warned Bronya that Mei, the Class Monitor, and especially Kiana could experience similar effects, with Kiana facing greater risk because she had multiple cores.
• Animated Honkai Beast statues attacked people in Salt Lake City, prompting Anti-Entropy and the Sovereign to investigate their source.
• Tesla reported that a congressman who had bought a statue fled with it, only for it to awaken and attack him before Theresa intervened.
• Seele recognized the attack in a rhyme from a play whose tickets had been found in an apartment, and Einstein suggested the play might have been a crime announcement.

Einstein revealed that the puppets contained suspected Herrscher Cores, prompting Bronya and Seele to investigate the Clue Workshop. Seele fought through a strange void and encountered the Theatre of Domination, which made her vanish and left Veliona alone.

• Einstein reported that the damaged puppets held crystals suspected to be Herrscher Cores and warned that a new Honkai eruption might be imminent.
• Bronya and Seele entered the Clue Workshop and found themselves in a vast, lightless void.
• Seele resisted Veliona’s offer to take control, fought through enemies, and entered a warped passage to retrieve intelligence for Doctor Einstein.
• Seele encountered a puppet identical to the one found earlier, which announced the Theatre of Domination and warned her not to escape.
• The screen went dark, Seele disappeared, and Veliona was left alone as the puppet’s voice addressed her.

Seele was trapped in the Theatre of Domination, where a puppet attacked her and taunted her about Veliona, but a familiar presence helped her wake beside Bronya. As the investigation continued, Kiana was recognized by a Salt Lake Base worker as the hero who had saved Arc City.

• Veliona resisted the puppets’ accusations as rifts opened around her, while Seele fought the puppet and the Honkai Beasts in another space.
• Seele lost consciousness and awoke at the workshop entrance with Bronya, then told her about the strange battle and the presence she believed had saved her.
• Seele and Bronya found a new theater ticket reading “The Mouse and the Eagle” and sent the clue to headquarters for analysis.
• Seele continued the investigation with Kiana, and they recovered another theater ticket after following the trail of an out-of-control mech.
• At Salt Lake Base, a logistics worker recognized Kiana as the Herrscher of the Void and thanked her for saving Arc City; Seele urged him to call her Kiana and reminded her that people saw her as a hero.

Kiana and Seele shared a warm meal, but afterward Veliona lashed out at Seele and returned to the ruined theater, where the puppet exploited her fears of being unwanted and nameless. The puppet revealed that the [Threads] had already wound around Veliona, leaving her alone in her self-made void and seemingly unable to escape her anguish.

• Kiana thanked Seele for standing by her, and the two went to find food while the livestream viewers discussed Kiana and praised Boss Lin.
• After the meal, Seele tried to share her happiness about life at the base, but Veliona angrily accused her of depending on Kiana, Bronya, and Cocolia.
• Veliona secretly returned to the ruined theater and confronted the puppet, which taunted her about being unwanted, nameless, and no longer needed by Seele.
• Veliona shouted at the puppet, and Hanser noticed that Veliona's subtitle color was beginning to match the puppet's.
• The puppet told Veliona that the [Threads] had already wound around her and that the [Theatre of Domination] awaited her.
• Veliona returned to her self-made void, saw the damage she had done to her chair, and screamed for everyone to disappear.

Seele reassured Veliona that she valued and needed her, but fell asleep before Veliona could answer, leaving Veliona afraid she would eventually disappear. Veliona took over Seele’s body, defaced a photograph instead of her face, and resumed their usual morning routine by startling Seele awake with a caterpillar.

• Seele spoke to Veliona about their shared identity and asked what name she liked, then fell asleep before Veliona emerged.
• Veliona left the Abyss of Consciousness, found Seele asleep, and admitted she feared being forgotten and disappearing as Seele grew stronger.
• Veliona vowed to protect Seele, then panicked over her own sentimental words and took control of the body.
• Veliona stopped herself from writing on sleeping Seele’s face and instead drew a pig’s head over a photograph.
• The next morning, Veliona startled Seele awake with a caterpillar, and Seele laughed while Veliona teased her.

Einstein confirmed that the threat was the Tenth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Domination, and that its next target was Anti-Entropy’s Salt Lake Base. As Seele and Bronya investigated the evacuated base, they encountered animated mechs and a rift linked to the Theater, whose sudden flash swallowed them.

• Einstein revealed that the puppet’s core fragment matched the Herrscher of Domination and reported that the enemy was heading for Salt Lake Base.
• Tesla and Einstein ordered a full evacuation, while Kiana and Theresa escorted evacuees and Seele and Bronya stayed behind to guard the base.
• Seele began confessing to Bronya that she had not rescued her from the Sea of Quanta alone, but Bronya interrupted when discarded mechs activated.
• Seele and Bronya destroyed the mechs, then followed Veliona’s warning toward a presence connected to the Theater.
• Bronya fired Heavy Bunny’s cannon at a black rift, and a blinding light swallowed Seele and Bronya.

Bronya was drawn into the Theatre of Domination, where Jerry Barbara mocked her and unleashed endlessly regenerating enemies. After Bronya attacked the doll and disrupted his performance, her Herrscher powers vanished and she felt a piece of her soul being torn away.

• Bronya found herself alone in an illusory theatre, where Jerry Barbara announced that she would be its star and mocked her record of failures.
• Bronya calmly questioned Jerry Barbara and inferred that his performance had revealed clues about the theatre’s nature.
• Jerry Barbara summoned regenerating mechs and Honkai Beasts to attack Bronya as she searched for a way out and for Seele.
• Bronya reconstructed heavy cannons, fired at Jerry Barbara, and ran him over with her motorcycle.
• The laughter stopped, Bronya’s motorcycle and Herrscher armor vanished, and she felt something being torn from her soul.

Bronya and Seele fled the vanished puppet and encountered more puppets voicing workplace resentment, creative burnout, and painful family favoritism. Their stories shook the livestream audience, and Hanser and Sister Zhou urged viewers to face real hardships while seeking a way toward a better world.

• Bronya’s power drained after the puppet disappeared, so she took Seele and fled into a dark entrance that led to another corridor.
• A puppet raged about workplace mistreatment, prompting a livestream-watching boss to promise fairer work and meals and to arrange a psychological evaluation for Rock Lee.
• Bronya and Seele passed a puppet lamenting endless design revisions, and viewers recognized the character’s despair as familiar creative burnout.
• A third puppet described being overlooked in favor of an older sister before wishing that sister would disappear, stirring painful memories among viewers.
• Hanser said the story sought to acknowledge social problems while encouraging people to pursue light, and Sister Zhou urged viewers to build defenses against real-world hardships.

Bronya and Seele tried to escape the Theatre of Domination after discovering that the Dolls could steal Herrscher powers, but the exit Bronya found led to an invisible barrier. With Bronya’s body rapidly turning into a puppet, they were left trapped and running out of time.

• Hanser realized that the employees needed acceptance, goodwill, and hope rather than treatment.
• Seele and Bronya encountered Dolls who mocked them and revealed that they had stolen Bronya’s power.
• Bronya found a break in the space and told Seele to hold off the Dolls while she located the exit.
• Dolls and Honkai Beasts attacked, and Bronya began turning wooden as her link to the Herrscher Core was severed.
• Bronya and Seele reached the platform, but Seele’s strike failed to break the barrier while Bronya’s corruption spread.

Seele entrusted Veliona with full control of their body, believing Veliona could defeat the puppets and trusting her despite the risks. Veliona awakened in the real world and began tearing through the puppets, but their endless numbers drove her into a frenzy.

• Seele asked Veliona to take complete control, promising to sink into the deepest layer of consciousness and accepting that she might never wake again.
• Seele told Veliona she trusted her and that she wanted everyone to know her; Veliona chose the name Seele for herself.
• Seele gave Veliona control, and Veliona’s appearance and weapon transformed as her stigmata awakened.
• Veliona attacked the approaching puppets with her chain and claw, destroying them while taunting them.
• Veliona wondered who was controlling the seemingly endless puppets, then dismissed the thought and fell into a violent frenzy.

Veliona fought through Lili’s quantum shadows and confronted the puppet, whose taunts no longer shook her. After mocking Lili and chasing her down, Veliona destroyed the shadows Lili summoned and struck just as Lili tried to call a Honkai Beast.

• Veliona defeated the quantum shadows and puppets that attacked her on the platform.
• Lili appeared and tried to provoke Veliona with insults about being a counterfeit and Bronya rejecting her.
• Veliona said she hated Lili and threatened her, showing that Lili’s taunts no longer unsettled her.
• Veliona chased Lili as the puppet fled and summoned more quantum shadows.
• Veliona tore apart the shadows, and Lili tried to summon a Honkai Beast before Veliona struck her.

Veliona killed the puppet Lili and teamed up with Bronya to escape the collapsing Theatre of Domination. Back at Salt Lake Base, Bronya revealed she had long recognized Veliona and asked to hear her story.

• Veliona decapitated Lili and headed for the exit, but Bronya arrived and saw through her attempt to pose as Seele.
• Bronya reminded Veliona that they had met in the Sea of Quanta, and the two agreed to escape the Theatre of Domination together.
• Veliona and Bronya broke through the puppet blockade and returned to Salt Lake Base, where Veliona left the wreckage for Bronya and the others.
• Bronya recalled Veliona's old food pranks and other differences from Seele, explaining that she had noticed the two were distinct but had kept Seele's secret.
• Veliona admitted she was Seele's other side, a second personality born from a mutation in her stigmata.

Bronya spoke with Veliona about her devotion to Seele, and Veliona shared the name she wanted Bronya to use. After Seele finished reporting the day’s events, she resolved to tell her friends about Veliona and hoped they would accept her as part of their lives.

• Bronya told Veliona that she understood her harsh behavior as a way of protecting Seele, and Veliona asked Bronya to keep looking after her.
• Veliona said Bronya could call her Seele, Dark Seele, or White Seele, then returned control of the body to the sleeping Seele.
• Seele completed her report about the base incident and worried that she had described Veliona’s role inaccurately.
• Veliona told Seele that the report was truthful and urged her not to reveal Veliona to their friends.
• Seele insisted that Rozaliya, Liliya, Kiana, and the Doctor deserved to know that Veliona lived inside her, and said they were together the complete Seele.

Seele and Veliona discussed their involvement in the unfinished crisis caused by the Herrscher of the Thousand People, while the Dolls staged a tribunal and chose to continue their sabotage. Mei then questioned Kevin about the missing Gem of Haste, and PD became excited by the possibility that Himeko might return.

• Veliona reassured Seele that she had turned down the Dolls’ requests, though she still felt uneasy about something one of them had said.
• The Dolls gathered in the Theatre of Domination, held a chaotic tribunal, and voted to continue creating chaos rather than start an all-out war.
• The Dolls launched coordinated attacks that night, setting fires and worsening disorder across several locations.
• Mei told Kevin that the search for the Gem of Haste had found no trace of it, despite the core’s apparent disappearance into Imaginary Space.
• PD recognized the Gem of Haste as part of Himeko’s battlesuit and grew excited by a leak suggesting she would soon appear again.

Mei confronted Kevin, who told her that Sirin was dead and that the Imaginary Space had erased everything, then investigated the Dolls and was dragged into the Theatre of Domination. There, a Doll invited her to join them before enormous Honkai Beast puppets attacked her.

• Mei insisted that the Gem of Haste belonged to Sirin, but Kevin told her Sirin was dead and nothing remained after the Imaginary Space swallowed everything.
• Mei searched for evidence in the following days but found only despair, while PD reassured viewers that Himeko would still appear and Lin Yuhao refused to reveal his address.
• Mei and Raven infiltrated an abandoned warehouse, where touching a Doll pulled Mei into the Theatre of Domination and separated her from Raven.
• A Doll recognized Mei, invited her to explore the Theatre, and urged her to join the Dolls.
• As Mei questioned who the Doll’s friends were, enormous Honkai Beast puppets awakened and attacked, and Mei narrowly dodged their first strike.

Raiden Mei rejected the Doll’s offer to trade Herrscher Authorities and fought its creations. After Mei destroyed the puppets with gunfire, she shot the Doll, leaving it exploded.

• Raiden Mei cut down the Honkai Beast puppets with her sword and followed the Doll through the theater.
• The Doll told Mei about its origins and offered to make her and Kiana ordinary people in exchange for Mei’s Herrscher of Thunder Authority.
• Mei questioned the Doll’s plan and refused to hand over her power, insisting Kiana would not lose to it.
• The Doll summoned two powerful puppets, but Mei shot them down with electric-charged bullets.
• Mei fired at the Doll, and it exploded.