"So I started to pay attention to Kiana, often watching her in secret... Kiana is so charming when she smiles~
Every day, I would be scolded by my mother for no reason, and sometimes even beaten. At the academy, I was also bullied by my classmates in various ways. But just seeing Kiana's smile, it felt like everything was worth it," Yuno said, cupping her face with her hands, a pathological smile on her face, full of intoxication and enjoyment.
But then, the mood shifted. Yuno's expression became ferocious. She gripped her cheeks tightly with both hands, as if she were about to tear her own face off.
"But Kiana's smile is so fake... It's all a fake smile!! Only when she's with you, with Mushoku Kika and Raiden Mei! Only then does Kiana show her true smile... I wished so much that Kiana would show me that kind of smile too, but I'm not worthy and I don't dare... Just being able to see her was a kind of satisfaction for me...?"
"Uh... Could it be that Kiana's smiles at me are fake too!" Theresa looked at Ryn curiously.
"Go try to act cute and you'll find out. Kiana definitely can't resist cute things," Ryn said with a shrug, as if to say, who knows.
"Bastard, don't ignore me!" Yuno furiously controlled the vines to stab at Ryn and Theresa. But the vines were all blocked by Ryn a short distance away.
"You keep saying Kiana saved you, but I don't see any gratitude towards Kiana from you at all." Ryn pointed at Yuno, and a gravity ten times stronger immediately pressed down on her. "Tch, even a Pseudo-Herrscher can't be directly controlled within her domain..."
"Hehe, you really are weak!" Yuno shook her body. Although she didn't know what Ryn had done to her, a mere tenfold gravity was nothing to her now. She even felt she could directly issue an order to override Ryn's control of the Honkai energy within her domain.
"Did you know? I once thought Kiana would be the savior of the world, but as I observed Kiana slowly, I discovered that she wasn't at all...
She was just indulging in her own hero game. Whenever someone was bullied, she would appear and beat away the bad guys, but she wouldn't say much to the victim... she would just leave on her own every time.
Kiana thought she had saved everyone, but in reality, she changed nothing! She stopped it this time, but there will be a next time!
She beat away the abusers, but the victims remained victims... Afterwards, they continued to be used by the abusers to vent their anger, brutally beaten, and subjected to all sorts of insults. Even when they returned home... even if they did nothing but stand there, they would still be scolded by their mother..."
As Yuno spoke, she knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face.
But she didn't cry for long. Yuno's eyes suddenly flew wide open, her eyeballs looking like they were about to pop out. She spread her arms bizarrely, laughing maniacally, and then pointed at Ryn.
"But thankfully... God chose me. She granted me power, the power to control poison and plants~ God told me to follow my own will, and I shall cleanse this ugly world...
All those hateful, damn people are already dead. Next is you, Ryn! After I kill you, I'll kill Kiana, then I'll bloodwash the entire world, and then I'll kill myself. Hahaha—"
"It seems her will has long been dominated by the Honkai, hasn't it? Ryn, give me command of Judah, let me finish her!"
Theresa extended her hand to Ryn, but Ryn gently pressed it down.
"No, that's no longer necessary," Ryn said, shaking his head at Theresa, then walked towards Yuno with a grim expression.
"You poor thing, Yuno!"
"Heh, you're actually walking towards me? You're not choosing to run, but rather to walk right into your death? I even went to great lengths to tell you my goal in detail, like a teacher wanting to impart knowledge to a student."
"If I don't get closer, how can I properly send you to paradise?"
"Hehe, in that case, why not come a little closer!" Yuno also began to walk towards Ryn.
Having mastered power and authority, she felt that she could do anything at this moment. The gravity Ryn had imposed on her, she could easily override. Since she no longer had to fear Ryn's powers, what else was there to be afraid of!
(Ryn: I just can't control the Honkai energy inside your body, so I can't directly alter your body's gravity. If you use your powers directly on my body, I can also just say a word and nullify it.)
The two approached each other until the distance between them was within arm's reach.
Yuno looked at Ryn with a mocking expression, while Ryn simply opened his arms.
"You fool."
With a soft utterance from Ryn, Judah's chains instantly appeared in his right hand, then glowed and transformed into a tachi. Meanwhile, Ryn's left hand directly pinched a small black hole. With the appearance of the black hole, the flow of time around them was immediately distorted by Ryn.
Yuno still wore her unrestrained smile, while Ryn had already delivered countless slashes.
A pitiful creature, driven mad by the world's malice...
Ryn had originally thought about trying to save Yuno, but since she was planning to harm Kiana, he decided against it. It was better to send her off to liberation sooner. That was also a form of salvation, wasn't it?
As Ryn retracted the black hole in his hand, the flow of time around them returned to normal.
Yuno felt her life force fading. She looked at Ryn in disbelief. Was this the difference between a genuine Herrscher and a Pseudo-Herrscher like her? But that feeling before... she could clearly override Ryn's powers...
Ryn lightly tapped Yuno's forehead with his finger. Yuno fell straight back, shattering into pieces.
"The world's evils entwine your being, and even the goddess of fortune never stopped for you. All things face their end, and souls return to the great void. This life is beyond help, but the next is yet unknown. Please don't give up, the dawn of salvation will eventually come. Farewell, classmate Yuno..."
Ryn recited the blessing he had just thought of for Yuno, then bowed to her. He didn't want to comment too much on Yuno's experience. A pitiful person must have their hateful aspects, and a hateful person must have their tragic side.
"Is this? A dream?!" Yuno looked at her hands and found herself lying in her own bedroom.
Just then, Yuno's mother gently knocked on her door, then pushed it open and walked towards her, saying.
"Yuno, it's time to get up and eat~ Or you'll be late for school."
"School? Late!"
"If you don't want to be late, then get up quickly. I made your favorite miso soup today~"
"Okay, Mom~" Yuno replied to her mother with a smile.
*That's right, it was just a nightmare... just a nightmare...*
Yuno gradually turned into a stone statue, which then cracked and dissipated...
"Thank you... Ryn..."
Yuno used her last bit of strength to say these few words, and then completely dissipated from this world.
Not even a trace was left to prove she had ever existed... This is the heartlessness of the world, perhaps.
And that final dream, perhaps it was God taking pity on her...