The Final Word of the Herrscher of Dominance

"Kiana... she's really doing amazing," Durandal said, her eyes fixed on the screen where Kiana stood tall and proud. Her sister was doing well in this world. 

"Kiana's doing great, yeah... but, am I really not going to appear?"

Unexpectedly, Theresa started to get serious. She rested her chin on her hand, pondering the situation.

Could it be... because she's not a Herrscher?

Come to think of it, non-Herrschers aren't worthy of the main battlefield, are they? Even Fu Hua only got to go because she borrowed the Sentience Herrscher's gem.

Luo Mo, who had been listening quietly, spoke up, trying to comfort her. "How could you say that? There are still important things only the Principal can handle."

But his words didn't sound entirely reassuring for her. 

"Uh... the victory celebration? Well, it should be Kiana and the others as the main characters, after all, they put in so much effort."

Theresa scratched her head sheepishly. She wouldn't steal her students' glory... but she wouldn't mind saying a few words. Heh, she's always wanted to give a speech to the people like her grandma did.

"No... it's Himeko's funeral."

Luo Mo solemnly corrected her.

Theresa froze, blinking as she looked at Luo Mo's face. It was as if she hadn't heard his words.

"Himeko... Sensei's funeral?" Kallen murmured, the words carrying a weight that seemed to crush her.

Then, she let out a tired smile. "What a cruel joke..." 

"Now that we know where the target is, we must bring it to an end no matter what."

Luo Mo declared resolutely.

His eyes were unwavering, secretly hoping to snag some more emotion points.

But bidding farewell to Himeko also meant the protagonist team would grow again.

That's a good thing.

All that remained was Theresa, looking utterly lost. So she's only allowed to speak at Himeko's funeral?

No, no, the important thing is... why does Himeko need to die again?

...

Sirin watched Kiana in the game, her hand clenching unconsciously.

She couldn't quite figure out what she was feeling. Was it admiration for her sister's new strength? Jealousy? Or maybe just pride? It was a jumbled mix of emotions that she couldn't quite name.

She didn't believe Kiana's initial enthusiasm when she brought over the rough draft. How could she become like that? Then... then what about her, could she still justify being a NEET?

Originally, having two useless people in one family was fine. But now that one of them was actually doing something amazing, the other one had to step up. 

And Kiana, despite all the challenges in the game – facing down disasters, the Sentience Herrscher, even Sirin herself, and the Herrscher of Dominance – she'd overcome them all. She'd defeated them. 

While she felt proud of her sister, a sense of urgency crept inside her.

"What's wrong, Sirin? Are you happy for Kiana?" Cecilia asked gently.

She too was proud of Kiana and happy for her. As a mother, she wanted to help her daughter shoulder the weight of her responsibilities, but to see Kiana become... well, she couldn't even put it into words. 

"Hmph, I was thinking, how could she become like that in the video without the power of the Herrscher of Void?" Sirin said, puffing out her cheeks.

She couldn't believe how powerful Kiana had become. 

"Well, don't worry about that," Cecilia said with a reassuring smile. "Kiana became a hero not because of the Herrscher of Void's power. She's got other abilities now. Haven't you noticed?" 

"That's true... but Big Sisis so strong, even without becoming a Herrscher," Sirin admitted. 

"Oh, little Sirin," Cecilia said, poking Sirin's forehead playfully.

"Why are you still acting like you did in the game? Are you afraid you won't be able to slack off anymore?" She gave Sirin a mischievous Smile. 

Recently, her two daughters had been making incredible progress in their studies, viewing each other as rivals. It was like an arms race.

"No way, I, I'm really thinking for her sake. After all, she's my little sister," Sirin mumbled, her cheeks turning a little pink.

She felt caught.

Honestly, her first reaction wasn't this. An initial aversion had sprung to mind, but when considering a specific target, it shifted to this... how could she make it sound like she only knew how to laze around?

"Oh? Is that really the case?" Cecilia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Really! How could I lie to Mom?"

-----

The fight was over.

The Herrscher of Dominance had been defeated, no doubt about it. Kiana looked down from her perch at the last broken puppet, sunlight bathing her like a returning warrior.

"You lost," she said, her voice soft but firm. She held her giant sword high above her head, gazing at the broken remains of the puppet.

It was no longer a threat, just a defeated creature.

The battle between good and evil had ended. Kiana had won, but it hadn't been easy. 

"We lost... yes, we lost..."

The puppet's voice was filled with disbelief and confusion. It had been so confident, so arrogant before. Now, it was just a defeated shell.

The malice that had filled it was gone, replaced by a sense of loss and bewilderment. 

"But what did we lose to..." the puppet mumbled, its voice getting weaker. "Did we lose to justice, to hope, or simply to strength...?"

It couldn't understand. It was so confused. They had been so powerful, so many of them. Why had they lost? 

"You wouldn't understand," Kiana replied. 

"But we want to understand, Kiana!" the puppet pleaded, its eyes staring blankly at Kiana, filled with a longing and a strange kind of envy.

"Kiana, we envy you... why do you always win?"

"No matter what obstacles you face, you never give up. No matter how bad things get, you always find a way to turn things around."

"I was never alone," Kiana said quietly. 

"But we weren't alone either... we had... a thousand companions..." the puppet said quickly, almost desperately.

Yes, they were companions too...

They had fought together, they had been strong together.

But in the end, it wasn't enough. 

"What binds you together isn't an ideal, an understanding, or trust in each other's hearts."

"You were merely gathered for a common purpose, to vent a shared, extreme emotion."

"Those aren't called companions."

"..."

The last puppet remained silent for a moment, then spoke with difficulty,

"I see... but Kiana, let me ask one more thing..."

"With your so-called belief, so-called companions, so-called protection... can you truly defeat Honkai?"

"We might have failed, but the next enemies are far more contradictory, far more powerful."

"... At that time, will you still be able to stand against them with these intangible things?"

"I won't give up."

"And, this is absolutely not intangible."

"This is the proof of what makes us human."

She wasn't afraid of the future, of the even greater challenges that lay ahead. 

She knew that her belief in herself, in her friends, in the power of humanity, was real and strong.

It wasn't some flimsy idea, it was something that burned within her, a fire that would never be extinguished. 

"Haha... Kiana. To be honest, you almost convinced me," the puppet said, a soft laugh escaping its lips.

It wasn't the sinister, eerie laugh it had used before. It sounded almost...human. 

Maybe, in the end, it had felt something close to human emotions. 

Whether those last words were true or not, Kiana couldn't be sure. But the puppet's voice held a strange sincerity.

"I envy you... you're right, we're just puppets of Honkai. What binds us together are those annoying strings..." the puppet continued, its voice fading. 

"Strange... which side am I on? Is it because I'm about to die that I'm thinking about these strange things?"

"Hahaha, ha, but human malice won't disappear, Kiana..."

"You'll understand soon... no... you've always understood. There are many more trials awaiting you."

"Ah... ah... he's coming..."

"The golden threads are already wrapped around me..."

The puppet hung its head, silent, patiently awaiting its end.

Kiana stood silent, her great-sword raised high.

It pointed towards the last puppet, now just a broken shell, and towards the theater curtain that had fallen, a symbol of the fallen enemy.

The Herrscher of Dominance, once a symbol of human malice, was overcome by Kiana and her companions. Just as she had promised, she would never give up.

Pain had marked the path ahead, but the embers of hope still burned bright.

Countless people had fallen along the way, their sacrifices etched in the hearts of those who lived. But even more had surged forward, carrying the will of those who came before them, marching towards a distant horizon. 

Darkness might try to hold them back, but dawn would always come. 

[I don't understand why she loves this world. Maybe, as Bronya said, she's a fool. I really like this character, I can't explain why. Maybe it's that lost souls want to draw near to the light!]

[The puppet was an embodiment of malice, but it wasn't pure... and the information it revealed at the end – golden threads? Could this be the emergence of a new Herrscher?]

[After overcoming this, there are many more... sigh, I thought we were heading towards the final conclusion, but then BAM, I got hit in the face with reality. ]

[Comment]

-----

In the Golden Courtyard,

Kevin watched the dawn break in silence, his mind filled with countless thoughts. Perhaps he was remembering their past victories,

But even those memories were just that... memories.

But this time... had there been something different?

Had the puppet, the vessel of the Herrscher of Dominance, shown an unexpected flicker of humanity, of emotion? 

He thought back to the Herrscher of Death, the one who had tormented him for so long. 

Was there a connection, a thread of shared experience, between the two? Could a being of such immense power, such pure destruction, actually experience feelings? 

Kevin didn't know. he was left with more questions than answers.

"Oh, golden threads? I have a bold idea!" Vill-V's eyes sparkled, her voice overflowing with excitement. 

"Your idea is far too bold, I think it won't work!" Mobius immediately rejected her suggestion.

There was no need to think about it, Vill-V would definitely come up with some ludicrous plan.

"Actually... the golden threads remind me of Judah, the Herrscher of Restriction... the only problem is, the Herrscher of Restriction won't appear. So the answer is clear, it's Theresa, the final mastermind! This would explain why she hasn't appeared yet!"

Vill-V quickly finished her 'thorough' deduction, tapping her magician's hat with her right hand, then pointed with a single finger.

"..." The room fell silent. Everyone stared at Vill-V, speechless. 

Mebius rubbed her temple, speechless. Vill-V had definitely hit upon the real mystery – the absence of a key figure.

But she had somehow twisted it, throwing out a completely unrelated person as the culprit.

What a twisted sense of humor! Surely, no one would agree with her theory…

After a moment's thought, she nodded, fully agreeing with Vill-V's outlandish theory.

"Wow, so that's how it is? I never expected Theresa to be the most evil one. Well, it seems like Luna Kindred and Kongming are also suspects. Why don't we discuss it with Luo Mo, and let me properly interrogate them!" Elysia declared, her voice brimming with enthusiasm.

Vill-V blinked, taken aback. Elysia had, without a second thought, accepted her completely absurd idea.

She had already planned to say, "I was just joking with you guys", but Elysia had agreed, leaving her stuck.

She knew, deep down, that Elysia's enthusiasm wasn't for Vill-V's theory itself, but rather for the opportunity to 'interrogate' their suspects. 

"Ahem... actually, if you think about it carefully, Theresa shouldn't... shouldn't have that much cunning."

"Then wouldn't that mean the shadow behind it is too deep even for Vill-V to see? We should be even more cautious. To be safe, let me interrogate her students, too - Mei and Kiana!"

Elysia readily picked up on her words, her face beaming with a smile.

There was no need to ask, Elysia was definitely thinking of something sinister.

Vill-V quickly took off her hat and began to examine its intricate structure with a studied air, refusing to get in the conversation. She pretended to be struck by sudden inspiration, completely engrossed in her hat.

"...Alright, stop messing around, Elysia, let's talk about something serious." Mebius sighed, watching the two of them play their little game.

Vill-V, of course, had expertly dodged the issue, disappearing into the intricacies of her hat.

The rest, besides Griseo and Pardofelis, didn't believe a word of it, but simply watched quietly.

-----

The sky was a pale blue, with just a few fluffy clouds drifting lazily across it. It felt like the clouds were taking a quiet moment to watch what was happening below.

A gentle breeze rustled through the tall grass, like a soft whisper of prayers being sent to the heavens. 

This was the funeral for Murata Himeko, a woman everyone called Himeko Murata.

She was a force of nature, like a shooting star that blazed across the night sky, leaving a brilliant trail that only she could make.

Her life was so full of energy and passion, and it felt like it was over too soon. But even though she was gone, she would never be forgotten. 

Theresa stood tall, her voice ringing out across the crowd. "We're all here today to remember a dear friend, a true hero, someone whose name will always be remembered."

Her gaze swept across the faces of those gathered, each one filled with sadness and respect.

Behind her, a broken great-sword lay on a marble platform, surrounded by beautiful white and yellow flowers.

The petals danced in the breeze, falling softly around the blade. 

"I will not recount her life story, nor will I list her contributions, because these are things everyone has witnessed."

Theresa's voice was steady, tinged with longing and regret.

She shared a story with everyone: the story of meeting Himeko at the beginning. She had witnessed her transformation from a warrior, and she had even tried to deliver her an invitation.

But she soon regretted it. Himeko's actions were clearly not in line with traditional teachers.

Lateness, drinking, staying out late...

Theresa shook her head, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "Even though all her students adored her, I couldn't help but think, 'She's the furthest thing from a traditional teacher you could imagine!'"

But then Theresa's smile returned, a hint of pride in her voice. "But it was this kind of teacher who truly saved her students."

"It was this kind of teacher who taught us the meaning of companions, the meaning of battle, the meaning of ideals."

"And it also taught us... the meaning of beauty..."

Theresa gazed at the broken blade, her voice soft and slow.

In a few short sentences, she summed up Himeko's life.

She sighed softly through her nose, delivering the final verdict.

"There was no better teacher than her."

She offered Himeko a bottle of fine wine, pouring a bit out as a gesture of respect, before stepping back and offering it to the others. 

Kiana walked towards the platform, her eyes fixed on the broken sword. She remembered touching it once, hearing the sound of it shattering.

"I once made mistakes because of my confusion, I once lost myself because of my fear..."

"It was you who lit up the sky for me in the darkness, who illuminated the path ahead for me in the stillest night."

"You taught me how to move forward."

Kiana continued her eulogy with a heavy voice, her words clear and distinct.

"Himeko-sensei... the sky you left behind is still clear. We will continue to move forward along the path you carved."

Kiana stepped back, allowing others to come forward and pay their respects. One by one, they placed their own memories at the foot of the platform: wine, erasers, flowers, photo albums. 

In this moment of remembering her,

people were allowed to indulge in the sorrow of loss, recalling their experiences with her, big and small.

Whether those memories were funny, beautiful, or embarrassing and awkward,

It didn't matter anymore if those memories were from before or after her death. All that remained was the warmth of their love for her, burning bright in their hearts. 

-----

"Himeko-sensei... you..." Kiana was enveloped by the scene in the video, immersing herself in it.

Whether it was her own words or Auntie's, it felt so real. She couldn't help but imagine the scene of Himeko-sensei truly leaving.

"Hey—Kiana, stop, stop, I'm not dead yet!"

Himeko quickly covered Kiana's mouth, stopping the real-life eulogy dedicated to her.

"Wuu-wuu (I know, let go of me!)" Kiana tried to speak, but Himeko's hand was firmly over her mouth.

"But, it's surprising that Theresa could say those words, it really is." Himeko finally released Kiana, her eyes wide with surprise.

She stared at the objects on the stone platform in the video, the wine bottle, the erasers, the flowers, all placed there as tokens of remembrance.