Yiselian looked at the portal that had suddenly appeared, then at Ryn, then back at the portal...
"This... isn't this... a bit too absurd! The existence of the Second Herrscher is surprising enough, but why is she so cooperative!"
Sin threw her dagger into the portal. After confirming through her connection to the dagger that there was likely no danger inside, she kicked Yiselian in.
"You talk too much, algae-head. In you go."
"Aaaah! Help me! Help me—"
Accompanied by Yiselian's screams, Sin jumped in after her.
Penglaiji Ryn: "Why are they so impulsive... aren't they afraid of danger?"
"She already invited us over, what's there to be afraid of? Off you go~"
Ryn left a beacon on the ground, then pulled Penglaiji Ryn into the portal as well.
——————————————
*Thump—*
Yiselian fell out of the mid-air portal. Before she could even get up...
*Thump—*
Sin patted her bottom and jumped off Yiselian's back.
Coming to her senses, Yiselian scrambled away on all fours. One Sin was already more than she could handle; if the two Ryns landed on her as well, she might as well check out early.
Ryn, holding Penglaiji Ryn, floated down from the air and landed, watching the quadrupedal Yiselian with a contemplative expression.
The genius is on the left, the madman is on the right. As expected, even Yiselian couldn't escape it?
La la~ la la~
A light, ethereal song drifted down from above.
In front of Ryn and the others was a massive blue power core, engraved with the name 'Sirin'.
And Sirin herself was sitting atop the power core, singing a nursery rhyme, awaiting their arrival.
"Lost travelers in a dream, welcome to Sirin's world. This is a world of dreams, where whatever Sirin wants, she can have. Everything is as free and easy as a fairy tale."
Sirin smiled and waved, greeting the group.
"You're the materialization of the Herrscher Core, aren't you! If we take care of you, everything will be solved."
The hands on the clock in Sin's eyes began to turn. A space of absolute stillness enveloped Sirin, and at the same time, Sin threw a barrage of daggers, all of them stopping in the frozen space.
Time began to flow again, and dozens of daggers surrounding Sirin from all directions instantly stabbed toward her.
"How unfortunate. Like this place, I faded away long, long ago."
Faced with the daggers from all sides, Sirin maintained her smile, not even glancing at them.
And the daggers aimed at Sirin all passed through her as if through thin air, landing on the surroundings.
"And so are you... If you continue to interact with this world, you will be devoured by it, and you will never be able to return."
"Don't you talk nonse—ugh... what's happening..."
Sin's daggers fell to the ground as she clutched her head, writhing in pain. Scattered and chaotic memories flooded her mind.
"Your memories have begun to resonate with this world. If you delve deeper, you will fall into the same fate as your past..."
"Sirin, what did you do to Sin!"
"Nothing at all. This is the fate she was meant to face. From the moment she stepped into this world, she could not escape this karma..."
In the past, here... Sin was killed by Bronya...
Because Bronya still exists in this world, Sin has been defined by the world as dead. Sin, having come from the real world, was now receiving the memories of her past self who died, and was about to repeat that fate... to be killed by Bronya...
"A boring causal relationship..."
Ryn walked behind Sin and placed his hands on her temples, helping to alleviate the Honkai's erosion and the mental pollution.
Sin could resist the Honkai's erosion with her own strong will, but she could not escape her fated death on her own...
Yiselian had already begun to activate her connection with Femirins. If anything went wrong with Sin, she would immediately have Femirins kick Sin out of the Stigmata Space.
"It's already irreversible... The same goes for you. You will all return to nothingness with Sirin."
As Sirin's voice fell, the entire space changed, shifting into an empty, ethereal dimension. The group stood on a barren sky island...
This was the power of the Herrscher of the Void: to connect to the Imaginary Space and manipulate the Imaginary energy within to transform space itself.
"This is the perfect world Sirin has created... Fall into an eternal slumber with me here! At least this way, you won't feel that kind of pain anymore..."
"A perfect world with just a few weeds? This isn't a perfect world at all! The true perfect world in my, Penglaiji Ryn's, heart is nothing like this!"
Penglaiji Ryn took out her dual blades, flourished them, and charged at Sirin. Ryn was calming Sin, and Yiselian was a non-combatant. It was up to her now.
"A fight between you and me is meaningless..."
Sirin dodged Penglaiji Ryn's attack. Just as she was about to speak again, a greatsword came flying at her.
She waved her hand to parry the greatsword thrown by Penglaiji Ryn, only to see Penglaiji Ryn spinning through the air, daggers in hand, coming down to slash at her.
*BOOM—*
Penglaiji Ryn rolled a few times on the ground and returned to the group's side.
Although she had been hit by Sirin's attack, Penglaiji Ryn didn't feel injured at all; she had only been knocked back.
Penglaiji Ryn was about to charge again but was stopped by Ryn.
"This is your Stigmata Space, yet she can control everything so freely. Doesn't that mean she's basically your Stigmata Consciousness? Why are you fighting her! Use your talk-no-jutsu and persuade her!"
"But isn't our goal to destroy the Herrscher Core? Since she's the materialization of the core..." Penglaiji Ryn's words trailed off as she looked at Sirin with her mouth agape in surprise.
"Does that mean... the Herrscher Core has completely fused with me?"
Sirin nodded, sighed, and then dispelled the diva princess form she had created as a disguise.
A flash of light, and Sirin revealed her true form to the group. It was not her own appearance; when the Herrscher Core was eroding Penglaiji Ryn, Penglaiji Ryn's Stigmata was also eroding and influencing the Herrscher Core in reverse.
Penglaiji Ryn's Stigmata had not yet awakened, so it had no consciousness. Thus, the remnant of Sirin within the Herrscher Core had, in a state of confusion, become Penglaiji Ryn's Stigmata Consciousness...
"Yes... Nothing can be changed now. Penglaiji Ryn's body has been taken over by the Honkai. Using my power means being eroded by me. That is the price of a Herrscher's power.
But now we have become one. If the Herrscher Core is destroyed, I will die, and so will you. But if the core isn't destroyed, you will die, and if you die, I cannot live. In the end, we will both walk towards death..."
This was the truly unchangeable outcome. No matter what, everyone would eventually die...