Because Otto and Prometheus continuously restored cities, the influence and status of Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent across the world completely surpassed that of the Human Contract Alliance and even national governments.
For the restored cities, Otto deliberately chose those that had been bombed by the Human Contract Alliance using Honkai fission bombs. On the surface, they were still governed by various national governments, but internally they had already fractured beyond repair.
At the same time, the theory of Honkai evolution was gradually being accepted by humanity. Under the baptism of the Honkai, large numbers of Stigmata users began to awaken, and the social structure quietly began to change.
These Stigmata users possessed power far beyond ordinary people, becoming targets fiercely contested by various factions.
The mass emergence of Herrschers of Dominance further convinced many people who did not understand the Honkai that the theory of Honkai evolution was real.
...
Nagazora.
Chiba Academy.
Laboratory.
Einstein frowned as she examined the data collected from Angelia Schariac.
Through their Herrscher Cores, the Herrschers of Dominance constructed the Theater of Dominance, allowing them to share abilities with one another.
Although the strength of each individual ability could not compare to the authorities of other Herrschers, they made up for it with sheer variety. As long as they were used skillfully and combined properly, concentrating them onto a single person could produce terrifying results.
The Current Era's Herrscher of Dominance resembled a collective of one thousand Pseudo-Herrschers, each wielding different abilities—similar to the Herrscher of Dominance from the Previous Era.
The only difference was that they had lost mental links and shared consciousness, replacing them with power links and shared abilities.
After observing Angelia for some time, Einstein found her normality strangely unsettling.
Angelia Schariac's issue was most likely connected to the woman named Vita.
Without knowing Vita's true intentions, they arranged another interdimensional exploration as a test.
Theater of Dominance.
With her identity as a younger sister of the same family, Angelia could easily approach Ana Schariac and leave a mark upon her.
Then, using her ability to manipulate dreams, she secretly contacted Ana late at night.
Without anyone noticing, she lured the girl into the Theater of Dominance and established a connection.
"Sister Ana, this is our Theater of Dominance."
Angelia spoke gently.
Ana looked around, feeling an unsettling strangeness in the air.
The concentration of Honkai energy throughout the space was extremely high. The vast blue-white expanse was filled with floating platforms formed from massive purple cubic crystals, and at the very center hovered an enlarged purple Herrscher of Dominance core.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"Sister Ana, don't you want to become stronger?"
Angelia's eyes sparkled as she pointed toward the enormous purple core. "We can help you."
Alarm bells rang in Ana's mind. She took a step back. "Angelia, you should know that I can barely handle my current power. I can't withstand anything stronger."
She was already close to her limit in controlling the power of the Herrscher of Ice.
But Angelia continued stepping closer, still wearing her gentle smile. "You don't need to worry about that, Sister Ana. I won't hurt you. I swear it."
She walked up to Ana and gently took her hand. "Please trust me."
Sensing no hostility, Ana chose to trust her younger sister this once.
"..."
A strange force traveled along her arm, and the pressure of losing control over Honkai energy suddenly lessened.
"How do you feel, Sister Ana?"
"How did you do that?"
Ana was astonished.
"It's a secret."
Angelia withdrew her hand.
Through the authority of domination, she had taken control of the Herrscher of Ice's core and authority.
She shared Ana's burden—and in return gained a portion of the Herrscher of Ice's Honkai energy and authority.
There were one thousand Herrschers of Dominance. Once the Honkai energy was distributed among them, the pressure on any single individual became minimal.
A Herrscher Core was like a faucet without a switch. Honkai energy was the water flowing from it. They simply needed to consciously regulate its output.
Angelia had not seized Ana's core or authority outright.
She had not yet established connections with the other Herrschers.
It was still too early to act.
Under Vita's guidance, Angelia had exploited a kind of loophole to evolve the Herrscher of Dominance into a dual-core structure.
She possessed one Herrscher Core within herself, and within the Theater of Dominance she had created a second, even larger core—using the entire Theater of Dominance as a reservoir to store Honkai energy and amplify the output of all Herrschers of Dominance.
Now, having linked herself to the Herrscher of Ice's core, Angelia had become a triple-core Herrscher—two Herrscher of Dominance cores plus the Herrscher of Ice core.
Three days later...
The interdimensional passage opened once more.
This time, only Raiden Mei, Kiana, Seele, Bronya, Angelia, and the Herrscher of Sentience were sent.
Herrscher of Fire Kiana, noticing that the Herrscher of Sentience resembled her teacher Fu Hua, took the initiative to greet her. "Hello..."
"Hello what? This young lady's name is Herrscher of Sentience!" she declared proudly, rolling her wrist with a hint of arrogance. "Remember it!"
"Mm. I'm Herrscher of Fire Kiana Kaslana. Nice to meet you. May I ask—do you know Teacher Fu Hua?"
"What do you mean 'know'? Can't you see it? Fu Hua is my mom!"
"Eh?! You're Teacher Fu Hua's daughter?" Herrscher of Fire Kiana's eyes widened in shock.
"Tch. Are you blind?" Herrscher of Sentience frowned impatiently. "Don't I look like her?"
She did.
Aside from temperament, they looked almost identical.
Although Herrscher of Fire Kiana was surprised that Fu Hua had a daughter who was the Herrscher of Sentience, it was a private matter. She felt embarrassed to pry further. "Sorry, it's just... you look so alike, so I was curious about your relationship."
"At least you know what's good for you."
Hearing that, Herrscher of Sentience felt much better.
The floating battleship passed through the interdimensional passage.
They entered a new world.
Bronya connected to the world's network to gather intelligence.
All kinds of information related to a so-called Girls' Generation, girl bands, idols, and other music-related content appeared across the battleship's main screen.
At that moment, Herrscher of Sentience suddenly spoke. "I wanted to ask earlier. That person hiding in a room instead of staying with us—are they with you?"
Raiden Mei looked around at those present. Bronya, Seele, Angelia, Kiana, Herrscher of Sentience. Everyone was there.
"There's someone else?"
"Yeah! Didn't you notice?"
The group exchanged confused glances.
"Wait here. I'll bring her over."
After a while, Herrscher of Sentience returned to the bridge, dragging along a beautiful girl with blue hair in a single ponytail, wearing a blue-and-white dress and black over-the-knee stockings.