If Only She Had Also Died in That Disaster

"Speaking of which, hasn't the Herrscher of Domination changed a lot compared to what we had before?"

Elysia pondered aloud, her finger lightly tapping the air to aid her thinking. The way she tilted her head in thought was incredibly cute and playful, genuinely giving off the feeling of an eighteen-year-old girl.

Vill-V shrugged. "They've changed a lot, and they focus more on the Herrschers. But why wouldn't they? Honkai can't stay the same forever." Her attention, though, was elsewhere—on the strange aftermath of the Herrscher of Domination's apparent demise.

It puzzled her. The anti-entropy faction should have sensed the concentrated Honkai energy, but there had been no reaction.

It was clear that this time, there might be a plan involving the puppets itself… an escape route already prepared. If she didn't die, she would have had enough time after that conversation with Kiana to link her so-called threads to Kiana.

And if it were her, how would she eradicate those puppets completely? Vill-V's eyes flickered slightly. Should she make a shredder? No, no, that would be too cruel...

Forget it, judging by how Mobius looks, there's no need for her to intervene. Based on their mutual… understanding,

She concluded that the other party's method would definitely be to release a virus of erosion.

With that settled, Vill-V turned her thoughts to home renovations. It was important to protect their memory units from the virus. Besides, she had only focused on high-end decor before, leaving little room for practical adjustments.

At the very least, she had to add the feature of raising the stage at any time! Vill-V's eyes also showed a determined look.

-----

The Dominion Theater should have been empty, a place of quiet shadows. But instead, a chilling laugh broke the silence.

"Hehehe... Hahaha... We did it... The death of a thousand has brought about the rebirth of one."

A lone figure rose from the bodies of its fallen companions. It crawled, twisted, danced, and cheered in a way that was both dark and joyful. The sight of the dead all around meant nothing compared to the victory it had achieved.

The union of everyone is stronger than anyone.

"The thread... has already entwined around you..."

She said with a grim smile, full of meaning.

The scene changed, focusing on someone who had been gone for a long time. In Kiana's dream, she relived the life of someone named Sirin.

Sirin had been an experiment for a Organisation called Schicksal, then became the Second Herrscher, a being that everyone feared. She went from not knowing anything to being full of anger and wanting revenge.

The pain that humans had caused her, she paid back a hundred times over. Even now, the cold lands of Siberia still show the marks of the Honkai energy she unleashed.

Even though Cecilia played the role of a mother in the illusion to accompany her, she still couldn't escape the struggle of fate in the end.

In the end, this lonely girl who just wanted love died holding onto the words,

"Ich liebe dich" (I love you).

Kiana had this same dream over and over in the darkness, until she finally woke up. When she looked in the mirror, she saw a girl with purple hair staring back at her. It was Sirin.

The person Kiana had tried so hard to forget, the one from her past, was standing in front of her again. It was like Sirin was both a memory and real at the same time.

[Did the Herrscher of Dominion merge into one entity from a thousand? This vividly illustrates the principle of eliminating the root of the problem. Why not just drop two nuclear bombs in the Dominion Theater?]

[Sirin? Is my queen finally making her appearance again? Haha, humanity, welcome the queen's arrival!]

[The world gave her pain, so she responded with hatred and malice; but there were also those who gave her love, prompting her to show a faint trace of kindness...]

-----

"Me? ...Yeah, according to the voice acting, I should be making my appearance now too."

Sirin said, stopping her petting of Bella to focus on the game. Her voice held a mix of excitement and relief. She was proud of her voice acting, even though she knew how the story would end.

More than anything, she wanted Cecilia to tell her she did a better job than her sister.

"You two really don't get along, do you?" Cecilia sighed, feeling a little defeated. She knew that in the game, there was no way these two could make up after everything that had happened.

It was getting harder and harder to imagine them living together peacefully, since neither one wanted to give in.

But this wasn't a game; in the real world – in this world – they wouldn't fight until one of them died.

Cecilia thought back to how their relationship had always been like that. She wondered if it was her fault, if she hadn't been a good enough parent. Now, she started to think that maybe something from parallel worlds was affecting them.

But she decided not to dwell on it too much, just let things play out.

"Hehe – even though I'm the bad guy, I think those lines I said were pretty smart. Maybe Kiana only beat me because she's the main character; she couldn't argue against my logic," Sirin said confidently.

But it wasn't clear why she was so proud, since someone else wrote those lines, not her.

"Mom can see it now. Sirin, you're quite the literary figure in the game. Your popularity online is almost as high as the protagonist's... if not for that final lesson short film."

Cecilia looked at Sirin seriously for a moment before expressing her confusion.

"But if the you in the parallel universe is so reasonable, why are you always cursing and swearing in the game..."

"Huh? Uh..." Sirin stammered, not knowing what to say.

It wasn't her fault she didn't have much education – studying was boring, and playing games was way more fun.

Besides, wasn't not destroying humanity the best thing she could do? Why would she force herself to get upset and become a Herrscher?

But she dared not say this in front of Cecilia.

…..

"Huh? I thought it was all over."

Kiana, disappointed, pouted and said, "Tsk—there's still a lot of voice acting content left."

"Hey, this is just the start! I haven't even showed up yet!" the Herrscher of Sentience chimed in. "What's the rush? At least let me have my moment."

"Wait, you're going to fight the Herrscher too?" Kiana asked, surprised.

"Hello! That old antique is me, remember? Of course we're in this together!" the Herrscher of Sentience replied, sounding both sassy and sure of herself.

-----

In the game, several days passed, but the anti-entropy group didn't feel like celebrating their victory.

Bronya's Herrscher of Reason powers showed no signs of recovery, which was clearly abnormal.

They tried to figure out what was causing the problem, but nothing seemed to make sense, making the situation even more worrisome.

Meanwhile, Kiana was having trouble sleeping because of her dreams, and she couldn't understand what was going on with Sirin. One night, she heard weird noises outside her bedroom door.

Carefully, she opened the door and found herself in a place she knew well – the Dominion Theater.

Black pieces were floating everywhere, and narrow hallways disappeared into the darkness. A giant platform hung in the air, and the same Puppets she had seen before reappeared.

Everything was getting creepier and creepier.

…

The small Puppet smiled, watching the wary Kiana.

Its head spun around, and the words it spoke left the half-Herrscher Kiana, who was ready to fight, stunned.

"I know you, Kiana. You're the hero who saved our city – you're the Herrscher of the Void!"

Kiana was shocked. "You... lived in ARC City?" she asked.

The Puppet began to tell its story. It had been an ordinary high school student living in the suburbs of ARC City. Life had been normal, happy even. But one day, monsters attacked the school, shattering her peaceful existence.

"At that time," the Puppet began, her voice filled with sorrow, "teachers, classmates, and so many others were crying and screaming under the rubble... I could only cry, unable to do anything."

"When I thought I would end up like them, fading away, you came and saved me."

"You smiled, patted my head, and said, 'It's okay,' 'You did great,' 'Help is on the way.'"

Her voice softened with warmth. "You didn't look much older than me, but your smile was strong, brave, beautiful, and bright. It was like a ray of sunshine shining down on me."

The Puppet seemed to truly relive that moment, looking at the girl with mismatched eyes with admiration and hope in her own eyes.

At that time, she had found the courage to wipe away her tears and face life again. To her, Kiana was the embodiment of hope.

She believed that as long as she tried hard, everything would get better.

Kiana watched the Puppet intently. For some reason, she chose not to interrupt, instead listening silently until the Puppet had finished speaking.

"I was wrong... The me that survived became the target of everyone's hatred,"

"I was the only one from the school who lived, and the families who lost their children supported and comforted each other... except for mine."

"'Why was she the only one who survived?' Such words spread in unseen places and even turned into hatred. "

"They couldn't blame the Honkai for what happened, so they took their anger out on my family,"

"My parents lost their jobs, we had nowhere to go, and we didn't even get any help... My mother cried every day, and my father became angry and started drinking—"

"...One time, I heard my father mumbling drunkenly, 'If only she had died in that disaster too.'"

The Puppet's sadness turned into despair. It desperately wanted Kiana to understand its pain.

"The disaster didn't crush us, but our fellow humans did."

"At that moment, my heart broke, and it felt like a voice whispered in my ear – 'Welcome to the Dominion Theater.'"

"I thought... if you hadn't saved me, maybe my parents would have been better off... Later, I heard you stopped that bomb, saving so many lives, but making my suffering last even longer."

"Your so-called heroic act brought me even more pain."

"The worst parts of human nature are far scarier than any disaster,"

It shouted, accusing the world and the Kiana who once saved it, with all its anguish and sorrow.

"This world never had true redemption from the start."

"If living hurts more than dying, why did you save me?"

"If the future is darker than the present, why did you tell me to look for the light?"

"We're both unwanted, we shouldn't even be in this world."

"If you call yourself a hero, then why... did you save those horrible people who hurt my parents and ruined their lives?"

"Being hated, isolated, and abandoned is the most fitting end for you, the most fitting end for us!!"

The Puppet's voice was hoarse and strained, pouring out its pain and anguish.

Its eyes, like meticulously carved gems, stared unblinkingly at Kiana's face.

Kiana shook her head, telling herself that the girl wouldn't be so fragile, that the Puppet was just amplifying her negative feelings...

But deep down, a nagging doubt crept into her mind. Had she, in her attempt to help, actually pushed this young girl into even greater suffering?

[Beautifully written, perfectly capturing how some people act in the real world.]

[…There are so many like this online. I can't judge them all. They can't stand to see others happy and want everyone to be as miserable as they are..]

[Bring out the Herrscher of Domination core, let's join forces! This world is terrible, X X X X X!]

[Kiana did nothing wrong; she saved most people… but this girl who became a Puppet… it's so sad.]

[People like that are truly awful! They lose their own child and wish for others to lose theirs too!]

-----

"Kiana..."

Mei murmured, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Is the Puppet's extreme emotions and malevolent side really like this?"

"Did I truly do something wrong?"

Kiana was somewhat confused. In ARC City, she had given so much, even leading to Mei leaving in the end... and yet she was still criticized by others?

She could understand the fear and quiet hostility she faced from Anti-Entropy in the game.

But to be criticized by the very people she saved?

Simple-minded Kiana couldn't comprehend this.

"Don't let the Puppet's words get to you, Kiana," Fu Hua said calmly. "They are the enemy."

"Exactly, exactly! Those guys are obviously setting a trap for you. Why think so much about it? If you really want to listen to her, you can just keep her mouth. Puppets can probably talk with just a mouth, given how chatty they are."

The Herrscher of Sentience, still with a playful grin, remarked. As long as it didn't involve Fu Hua, her solutions were always simple, direct, yet effective.

"I'm not affected, it's just... different from what I thought. I thought that by helping them, their lives would be better."

Kiana forced a smile, though she felt a bit sad.

But she quickly pulled herself together, smiled again,

"...But I'm still going to try and make the world a better place. Didn't she say I was the light in her eyes? Maybe it's just that the light I shine isn't bright enough yet."

….

In the Golden Courtyard, the once-laden dining table now held only half of its fruit. Even Eden, who usually never let go of her wine glass, had put it down.

They had heard stories like this many times before, stories that were all too familiar.

"What a sad story," Elysia sighed, her gaze seemingly drifting beyond the walls to the bright blue sky.

But even the sun's rays couldn't reach the darkness hidden in people's hearts. Suffering doesn't always lead to hope; sometimes, it leads to even deeper despair.

As Elysia had said, the hardships brought on by the Honkai were temporary, but the hatred between people could tear families apart and break the bonds between loved ones.

"But it's a story that feels very real... That ticket clerk who talked to Kiana was probably her. Coincidences like that don't happen twice," Mobius commented, thinking the story sounded quite believable.

"Hmph, people like that are everywhere, impossible to get rid of... Those who are too scared to fight the Honkai but are quick to turn on their own kind!" Kalpas growled angrily, his inner fire seemingly reigniting.

It reminded him of the former high-ranking officials who were better at dealing with their own people than fighting the Honkai.

"The Herrscher of Domination, controlling the evil in people's hearts. But who among us is completely free of evil?" Aponia sighed helplessly.

"Let's see how they handle that evil. They should be able to overcome it," Kevin said coldly, though there seemed to be a hint of warmth in his eyes.

In the previous civilization, they had lost their humanity to the Herrscher of Domination, causing widespread panic and fear, even affecting their strongest warriors.