What does that mean?
Kiana's pupils trembled. The next moment, the crimson gem on her chest flashed, and the illusion before her eyes vanished abruptly.
Quickly flipping in mid-air, Kiana landed heavily on the ground, creating a small crater.
The billowing dust made the Herrscher frown. With a wave of his hand, the puppet descended from the sky, raising its hand to smash down on Kiana.
Her head throbbing, Kiana quickly retreated. The small crater instantly became a huge depression. The vibration nearly caused Mei, who was charging toward the Herrscher, to stumble and fall.
Has Kiana been facing an enemy like this the whole time...?
Mei looked back in surprise. When she saw Kiana fall just now, her rational choice was not to turn and cover her.
But now, the sheer force of the impact still made her subconsciously turn back, wasting a precious moment.
A fierce gust of wind rushed toward her. Mei's heart trembled, and she instinctively raised the Xuanxuan sword to block.
A violent shower of sparks erupted. An irresistible force sent Mei flying backward, crashing into the building behind her.
"Mei!" Kiana clutched her forehead, looking back frantically in Mei's direction.
She had the support of the Key of Genesis. With proper defense, she could take two hits without any mortal danger. But Mei was different!
Shu's Xuanxuan sword was just a weapon, after all. How could it defend against...
"The relationship between you two is truly enviable..." a low voice came from behind her. Kiana's whole body trembled. She spun around and kicked, but her foot landed on the puppet that had already blocked her way.
This kick was truly powerful. The puppet, which had taken several hits before without any damage, had its crude arm snapped off by Kiana's kick.
The broken puppet flew backward, revealing the Herrscher who had been hiding behind it. He raised a hand and gently waved it in front of Kiana's face.
["Kiana, is this what you call using it properly?!" This was the harshest thing Kiana remembered Shu ever saying to her...
Ever since she met him, Shu had always spoken kindly to them. He might get a little testy sometimes, but he had never spoken so harshly before.
Even the usually cheeky Kiana couldn't help but flinch under Shu's gaze.
After all, she was the one at fault...
"Hehe... you can't deny it worked, can you..." Kiana tried to argue, but Shu gave her no face at all.
"What if I hadn't come? Do you know what would have happened to you?!" Shu asked, his voice low. Kiana swallowed and shrank back fearfully.
"Well, I knew you'd come back..."
"You knew noth—" Shu's words burst out, then stopped abruptly. Forcibly lowering his voice, Shu took two deep breaths. "Don't pin all your hopes on 'miracles'!"
"My intuition is really good!" Kiana struggled to defend herself.]
"No!" Kiana grabbed the hand that had waved in front of her. The Herrscher was stunned for a moment, then a fist smashed into his face.
Kiana's resistance was far beyond his imagination.
The Herrscher, who had stumbled back two steps, looked grimly at the crimson light radiating from Kiana's armor.
Because of this core, the power of his abilities was already greatly diminished. Coupled with her absurdly high mental resistance, finding a breakthrough was truly difficult.
But among the three anchors that constituted the [Stage], only this one was irreplaceable... He couldn't have a "fellow" running rampant on his [Stage].
Wait... is there only one fellow...?
Meanwhile, Kiana clutched her chest, panting heavily. The scene before her reassembled itself within the illusion.
["Kiana is an idiot, a big idiot, a super big idiot," Bronya chimed in from the side in a small voice. "Kiana didn't hold back at all. She's just an idiot who charged forward with no thought of retreating."
"I... I..." Kiana was both excited and at a loss for words. Could she admit that at the time, she really hadn't thought she would make it back?
But she still had to argue. If she admitted defeat now, wouldn't she be barred from using the Key of Genesis in the future?
"Actually, this young lady is very smart!" But in the end, that was the only dry statement she could manage.
She didn't need to look to know that none of the three people in front of her believed her.
"Idiot Kiana doesn't think," Bronya mumbled softly. It felt like she was badmouthing her behind her back, but she was saying it right to her face, leaving Kiana with no outlet for her frustration.
"An idiot like Kiana's body moves before her brain can even react."
She couldn't really refute that... even her stinky old dad said it was one of their family's strengths. Kiana was actually quite proud of it deep down...
Bronya looked at Kiana's wandering gaze and sighed helplessly.
"Forget it. An idiot will never change. If she could change..."
This time, she really was speaking softly to herself. "Then she wouldn't be idiot Kiana anymore..."
*Nonsense! I'm clearly super smart—!*]
"Agh—!" Kiana let out a pained cry. Her legs went weak, and she knelt on the ground.
She clutched her head tightly as a jumble of voices flashed through her ears.
"This young lady... won't..." She gritted her teeth, trying to block out the noise and regain control of her body.
She could feel herself gradually losing control. Looking at the puppet she had been fighting for so long, Kiana could imagine what would happen if she lost control completely.
Becoming everyone's enemy... If that's the case...
I'd rather finish myself off!
Kiana suddenly raised her hand, her fingers shooting toward her own throat.
If I'm already a corpse, then Shu and the others won't hold back...
["Kiana..."]
Kiana's hand stopped abruptly. Mei's sorrowful voice was like an inescapable rope, catching her hand and preventing it from moving any further.
["Don't do this again next time... okay?"]
She couldn't tell... was this real or a memory... an illusion or Mei's actual voice?
She couldn't tell... she really couldn't tell anymore...
She saw Mei crying over her dead body, saw her listlessly clutching her remains as she tumbled over the cliff and fell into the sea.
The churning waves swallowed both of them.
And on the cliff... Shu stood like a corpse on the Herrscher's body, his eyes empty as he plunged his hand into his own heart.
---||---
The sky canopy closed completely. The Herrscher cracked his neck, watching the last anchor take form.
In a forgotten corner, Seele clutched the white-glowing notebook tightly, looking at the unconscious Mei, forcing back her tears, not daring to make a sound.