What Have You Been Teaching Them?!

Kongming, the strategist, tightened her grip on her feathered fan and let out a cold snort. She didn't bother responding to the obvious taunting.

While the other guy seemed to know more about Mr. Assassin than she did,

…So what?

"Don't make me out to be some kind of entertainer. I also want to make the world a better place, just like everyone else!"

Luo Mo clenched his fist, a smug pride blossoming on his face. He tried to add weight to his words.

However, everyone else intentionally looked away, avoiding eye contact with him.

Only Irene maintained her smile, her gaze lingering on him, her captivating rosemary scent wafting through the air. Her intriguing eyes seemed to pierce straight into Luo Mo's soul, making him feel a pang of guilt.

"Ahem, never mind that, let's forget about it," he stammered, repeating himself as he quickly and discreetly changed the topic. "Let's go back to watching those two have their heated argument."

Right, everyone should be focusing on Kiana now, watching how she stays true to herself and turns the tide in a seemingly disadvantageous situation.

"Sigh, if my two nieces were actually having a verbal duel like in the game, not counting the fight that comes afterward, I think Cecilia would be quite pleased," Theresa said with a sigh, shaking her head.

After Sirin's enrolment, she had been paying close attention to their academic performance. They were neck and neck, evenly matched.

…

The gentle breeze brushed through every corner of the living room, finally settling on the ends of the pink hair, softly kissing the sweetness.

A look of surprise crossed a face that was usually calm and unbothered. This wasn't just her reaction; those who were a little slower to understand were also puzzled. The straightforward story of the Herrscher and the battle for control had suddenly become more complex.

Elysia had every right to be perplexed by the situation:

"I don't get it. Why does she say Kiana is just an extension of Sirin? That's strange. And Little Sirin's words were a bit mean. Everyone tried their best, but it's impossible to focus all the attention and hope on Sirin alone..."

She sighed, expressing her disagreement with the idea that Sirin couldn't be helped or saved.

While she sympathized with Sirin, she believed that those who tried to help her shouldn't be held accountable for failing to pull her out of the mire. And a large part of Sirin's guilt should fall on those who had done her wrong.

"Sirin is kind of pitiful. After all, she suffered so much malice back then. Resenting those who couldn't save her, well, it's understandable."

Pardofelis rubbed her head in confusion and then smoothed the fur on her tail. Her tail was only half its usual length, which made her want to cry, but what she really couldn't understand was why Kiana said she was also part of Sirin.

Did it mean that both of them existed because Sirin's consciousness split off, reaching for completely different desires? It was all very strange.

"Hey—, what do you think?"

Vill-V poked Mobius. This was a question she should have researched. It was time to ask the expert.

"What do I think? Just picture it like two parts of your personality having a fight, but neither side really wins. What's there to think about?"

"It's the nature of that plan... A consciousness that can't create another consciousness, and both of them are just Sirin's memories? Heh, they end up in the same place, but they took different paths to get there."

Mobius responded in a bored tone, lifting her eyes slightly.

Her snake-like eyes still held a lazy glint, showing no real interest in the topic.

"Two personalities? Oh, is that what you think?"

Vill-V brushed off the subtle insult in Mobius' words, as she was used to her speaking this way.

She chuckled and asked, "So, is it really the same destination?"

"Heh—, what is the definition of humanity? Is it longing for human society, conformity, love? Or is it possessing those inherent flaws? Think about it. Wasn't she human when the Herrscher first emerged?"

Mobius said this casually, as if it wasn't surprising at all. She concluded,

"So, the plan for artificial Herrschers still results in the emergence of a human Herrscher."

A faint sparkle appeared in her serpentine eyes. Did it matter to that person if Kiana was an extension of Sirin? No. What mattered was that she had human emotions and relationships.

For the plan, those were the things that defined humanity.

-----

Kiana firmly shook her head, rejecting Sirin's mocking words about the three people who had helped her. She refused to accept Sirin's insults.

She calmly defended herself, her long speech revealing the thoughts she had been pondering over time.

Every time she woke up from a dream, she couldn't help but think about Sirin—what kind of person was she?

"But their images remained in Sirin's heart, in the softest part of her."

"In the endless darkness, Sirin kept dreaming, dreaming again and again. The warmth you scorned was the treasure she craved most in her dreams."

"She longs for a new beginning, to have friends and a normal, happy family, just like an ordinary person."

"She craves hope, she craves happiness. She keeps repeating the words she heard from Cecilia."

Ich liebe dich

"All of this is etched into her core memory, spanning time, sending her final wish into the future, giving birth to a new consciousness."

Taking a deep breath, Kiana faced the Herrscher who stood proudly in the air and declared with unwavering certainty,

"I am the 'second chance' that Sirin longed for. You see everything as a black-and-white conflict, but the human heart is never that simple."

"We are two souls born from Sirin's desires, two branches growing from the same tree, stretching in different directions."

"We share her emotions and memories, but we have taken vastly different paths."

"In the end, what influenced you—the pain of the experiment, the temptation of Honkai, or the hatred also etched into your core?"

Kiana asked in confusion. From the very beginning, she sensed a deep-rooted hatred in Sirin. But if Kiana was right,

did it mean Sirin…truly experienced human malice first-hand?

"Those fragmented memories, to me, are warm dreams; to you, they are like a scorching curse."

The Herrscher of the Void didn't react to her words, merely saying blandly, her magnetic voice echoing through the air,

"…Even the same memory appears as different landscapes through 'different eyes'."

But this statement undoubtedly confirmed the truth of Kiana's words.

She and the other, they simply shared the same memories.

She was no longer the original Sirin.

[Sirin truly hates humanity, so she triggered the Second Honkai; but she also craves love, wants to embrace Cecilia again, the human she cherishes…but the Herrscher of the Void doesn't have that kind of emotion]

[Whoa, Kiana's words are so good! The scales in my heart are tipping towards Kiana again. Kiana, the embodiment of justice!]

[The protagonist's signature verbal technique: Talk No Jutsu!. The once clumsy Kiana has truly grown up! Her growth and willpower have reached a level that amazes us all]

[I can Finally join the comments! 3rd wall break... Ahem. here we go. You Can Do It Kiana! grab HoV hand and pull her into a hug, just like Naruto! use your talk No Jutsu to make the Herrscher your half personality like Seele. Turn her into Tusanderi!] 

[Come of Herrscher of the Void. join the humanity! you don't need to hate all of them, just the bad one like Otto. came and be part of Kiana again like dark Kiana. hehe~] 

-----

"Who do you think is telling the truth?" Cecilia asked, gently rubbing Sirin's freshly washed hair. The smooth purple strands were so lovely that she didn't want to stop touching them.

"…Mom, what do you think?" Sirin mumbled, keeping her head lowered and letting Cecilia stroke her hair.

Were they both... her? Even though she had always felt that the version of herself in the game wasn't exactly accurate, she hadn't expected there to be two different versions of Sirin now.

Was this all too dramatic? Sirin thought to herself.

"Neither description fully captures Sirin. She's petty, loves revenge, but she's also lazy and always wants to go back to her home."

"She truly cherishes her companions and truly loathes deceit. But she doesn't hate the world. She just doesn't like a world that doesn't accept her. Once she has someone she cherishes, she cares more than anyone else, she can't bear to lose them."

Cecilia smiled faintly, stroking her hair. She was as docile as a kitten, burying her head,

a kitten afraid of leaving home.

"Mom, how can you say that?" Sirin gently pushed Cecilia, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"But Sirin likes to depend on others too. Even though she acts tough, she gets lonely without someone to lean on."

Cecilia gave Sirin's nose a playful pinch.

"…It can't be helped. It must be because they're important to me. That's why I can't accept you leaving." Sirin let out a soft sigh, feeling a burden lift from her heart.

She didn't know if it was exactly comforting, but the main storyline had painted a daunting picture of the Queen in her mind, making her feel even more guilty about the disaster she had caused. She didn't want to become someone who only knew how to seek revenge.

-----

The Herrscher of the Void wasn't affected by Kiana's words. Her attention was now on Kiana's transformation.

"I don't know who you are, and I don't care," she declared coldly. "My purpose is to destroy everything, to bring about the end of this world."

Kiana remained silent, just staring at her. Seeing this, the Herrscher of the Void repeated her viewpoint:

"Humanity inflicted pain on Sirin, causing her to lose everything; they must also bear her wrath and pay the price. No one can escape this vortex."

"The chain of hatred will never end. You are merely creating new suffering, just like the humans you despise."

"Heh, Kiana, count them. Family, teachers, friends... how many people have you affected so far, pulling them into this never-ending nightmare?"

The Herrscher of the Void let out a disdainful laugh, counting the hatred and disaster she had caused.

"You watch helplessly, unable to stop it, powerless... oh, right, and then there's this little guy."

As if suddenly remembering something, the Herrscher of the Void raised her hand.

A giant dragon appeared out of thin air, its blue and white scales layered upon each other, its magnificent and colossal body standing tall in the field, roaring towards the sky.

The dragon that she had encountered in Nagazora City, the one that had shielded her from a fatal blow,

it was Benares, the dragon that was unusually docile around Kiana.

But now, it had become her enemy.

Kiana, using the Herrscher of the Void's power, drew her two pistols. She charged forward and quickly overwhelmed the dragon, which cried out in pain.

"Even if you are also Sirin, so what?"

"You don't have the same kind of obsession. Your core has chosen me!"

The Herrscher of the Void sat in the void, watching the battle between the girl and the dragon, a smile playing on her lips as she watched Kiana struggle and the dragon, defeated by Kiana's dual pistols, gradually succumb to its fate.

Kiana could now reliably suppress the apparition of Benares.

"What's wrong? Not going to finish it off? Are you hesitating?"

Her words, light and teasing, reached Kiana's ears.

Kiana ignored the Herrscher, focusing her attention on the weakened Benares. She had no intention of attacking again.

"...If we are truly equals, then I should be able to do the same things you can," Kiana said with determination.

"All this time, it wasn't the Herrscher core rejecting me, it was me rejecting them. I was afraid of the echoes of the past, afraid of accepting the fact that I'm connected to you. I was afraid of that power, filled with guilt and impossible to wash away."

"I thought I had made up my mind, but deep down, I was avoiding it without realizing it."

"But if I can't face this, I'll never be able to defeat you. I can't move forward, I can't achieve her dream. The promises, the beauty, the hope, the friends... I have to embrace it all."

"I will face all the past I don't want to face, those memories I've hidden away, the life that's intertwined with yours!"

"...I will overcome them, accept the real me!"

Kiana declared resolutely, her eyes shining with starlight and moonlight. She would bear it all. She would do it, and she would succeed.

Because... behind her stood countless people who supported her and helped her.

She would face herself, conquer herself.

The feeling of letting people down had happened once, and that was enough. She wouldn't let it happen again!

[Face herself, bear everything? Does that mean she'll be held responsible for what Sirin did too...]

[Kiana won't fail again. Last time, she lost Himeko Sensei, and that left a permanent scar on her heart... If she fails this time, how could she ever accept it?!]

[A fantastic performance, a battle of words!]

[Go Kiana! beat the s#^% out of your evil twin and bring sense to her!] 

[put your comment here]

[TL: Yapping Battle between two Tuna!]

-----

Inside Theresa's villa, everyone looked on in amazement. Both Kiana and Sirin's words were truly captivating.

It was hard not to wonder how Sirin, who had never attended school, and Kiana, who was constantly skipping classes, had become such eloquent speakers without anyone noticing.

"...Actually, putting that aside, I'm more curious about what you've been teaching them in Herrscher class?" Kallen asked, flipping through the Valkyrie curriculum list with a puzzled and confused look on her face.

The classes couldn't be described as jam-packed, but rather, they were quite odd.

She had allowed Luo Mo to take charge of half the curriculum at his insistence, but weren't some of those classes a little strange?

And were they actually helpful?

What Have You Been Teaching Them?

"Exactly, Grandma, I agree! Many of the classes seem a bit out of place! Are we really going to use them?" Theresa chimed in, having wanted to ask this question for a long time.

"'100 Effective Ways to Soothe Your Second Personality,' 'How to Avoid Being Deceived by Pretty Girls,' 'A Thousand Poses to Comfort Girls,' 'Environmental Adjustment for Relieving Personal Stress,' 'How to Become a Herrscher'…"

Kallen rubbed her temples in pain, feeling a headache building up.

She felt a headache coming on, all of a sudden.

"I just want to know, are there even textbooks for these classes?"

Kallen closed the class schedule, choosing to ignore the evening self-study session to enjoy Honkai Impact 3rd.

"Obviously not, so I hired professionals to compile them. She was very happy to help~"

Luo Mo chuckled, indicating that the textbooks were custom-made.

As for the writer? It was, of course, Elysia and the others. He had even considered asking Kalpas to be the combat teacher.

But on that day, Kalpas saw all the students and his face turned dark.

He glared at Luo Mo several times and decided to leave immediately. It was a place more torturous than the previous civilization.

A whole class full of Herrschers?

Wasn't he the one who hated Herrschers the most?

Anyway, that suggestion was scrapped. Elysia wanted to be a teacher, and based on the books she had co-authored, she was certainly qualified.

But Luo Mo politely declined and told her that teacher-student relationships were not allowed.

Tsk, Elysia looked away with a hint of disappointment, but she insisted that she definitely didn't have any romantic feelings.

-----

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