Gazing at the Herrscher of the Void, who looked almost identical to her, a glimmer of confusion flashed in Kiana's blue eyes.
What vessel? Was it like a jar for food? What was this strange woman rambling about?
However, the mission objective was to defeat this strange woman and reclaim the Gem of Haste. As expected, she had to fight!
At this moment, noticing Kiana's daze, the Herrscher of the Void became even more arrogant.
"It seems you've understood."
"I certainly understand. Let's duel!"
Kiana said coldly. She could feel an intense sense of oppression sweeping over her.
Even with the Herrscher of the Void standing still, the rapidly stagnating Honkai Energy felt like needle pricks, exerting a pressure that made Kiana's body want to sink to its knees.
In short, she was little more than an ant before this woman.
"The last time we met was in Sky Dome City, wasn't it? After so much time, your death-defying struggle hasn't changed a bit."
"Kiana, you run and run, but where can you go? In the end, you still yield to the pain and kneel before the cracks in your heart—before me."
The Herrscher of the Void's voice was like a spring from the deepest underworld, cold yet piercing straight to the heart.
If Kiana could understand, she would have certainly retorted.
But this was something that would happen three years later; right now, Kiana didn't understand a single word.
"You're so noisy! If we're going to fight, then fight! Shut up already!"
Kiana couldn't help but speak out. Seeing that the Herrscher of the Void seemed to want to say more, she charged forward abruptly.
"Gun Kata!"
The twin pistols in Kiana's hands spat out searing flames. Taking advantage of the Herrscher of the Void's lack of preparation, she swung her right leg with extreme speed, aiming to smash it hard against the Herrscher's chest!
Half a second before, the Herrscher of the Void hadn't moved at all, as if she hadn't realized Kiana was attacking.
"It worked?" Kiana felt a surge of joy. Her body's movements didn't stop; instead, she increased her force.
But in the next half-second, an orange-yellow phantom suddenly moved, as if tearing through a rift in space, shifting exactly five steps away.
Space Blink!
Just that small distance caused Kiana's kick to hit nothing but air.
The Herrscher of the Void's indifferent golden eyes showed no emotion.
"What a pathetic loser. With such feeble strength, the conviction in your heart is nothing more than this."
Her sneer echoed in Kiana's ears.
Before the words had even faded...
Kiana's eyes froze. Although her thoughts were active, she couldn't make any movements.
The space around her seemed to have its time dimension forcibly stripped away; a cage of gathered Honkai Energy had frozen space itself.
This was a true birdcage, and she was but the bird within.
Then, the last thing Kiana saw before her death was a Honkai spear being hurled toward her.
Boom!
Space was sliced apart.
The deep flames of the Spear of the Void easily pierced Kiana's fragile body.
As if cutting through tofu, her body was ground into powder.
Kiana first felt a world-shaking throb of pain, then her five senses vanished as she fell into the abyss.
"Mission failed; penalty: Honkai Energy erosion intensified!"
...Kiana returned to the Challenge Space, blankly opening her blue eyes.
The theater dissipated, and that Herrscher of the Void was also gone.
What happened?
"Is... is it over?" Kiana asked, blinking.
The onlookers were speechless at the sight.
They felt sorry for Kiana, yet were helpless against her recklessness.
They had wanted to gather information, but only saw the Herrscher of the Void insta-kill Kiana with a single blow.
Although she was a Herrscher and everyone expected this, it was just too fast.
Finally, Mei couldn't help but walk up to Kiana to check her condition: "Kiana, do you feel any discomfort?"
"No, hmm~ it's just that the feeling of death is a bit scary. After a moment of darkness, there's nothing left."
Kiana spoke honestly; she really didn't feel much, mainly because it was so fast her thoughts couldn't even react. Bronya and Fu Hua also asked for a long time but got no useful information.
A moment later, Fu Hua summarized: "First, we don't know if the information given by this Challenge Space is real, or if it's a space generated by some kind of Honkai."
"According to what it said, this is something that will happen in 2017."
"2017? This year is 2014, so that means three years later?!" Kiana's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yes, as expected, idiot Kiana didn't notice the information from the Challenge Space just now," Bronya complained coldly.
Fu Hua paused: "According to Schicksal's intelligence network, the Tenth Herrscher of the Previous Era was indeed the Herrscher of Domination, possessing the power to control a thousand ordinary humans. This point is correct."
"Class Monitor, how did you know?"
Fu Hua ignored Kiana's curious question about textbook knowledge and continued: "The word 'again'! It shows Kiana has already entered the Dominion Theater, but for some reason, she can only enter again."
"But the Herrscher of Domination didn't kill Kiana; instead, it chose to awaken Sirin to form an alliance—that Herrscher of the Void. To achieve this goal, the Herrscher of Domination hopes to destroy Kiana's will."
"This means there is some kind of implicit connection between Kiana and the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin," Bronya added.
"Yes, destroying Kiana's will can awaken Sirin and form an alliance with her."
Fu Hua nodded, agreeing with Bronya's view.
"Eh? So I'm that amazing? Hehehe~" Kiana scratched her head and giggled.
After saying that, she suddenly thought of something and asked: "By the way, what about Aunt Himeko's Gem of Haste? What is that?"
"The Gem of Haste is something similar to the gem Mei has," Bronya explained.
"Is Sirin Kiana's sister?" Mei suddenly looked at Kiana.
"No~ Dad never said I had a sister, but it's possible, because it's Dad after all."
Seeing Kiana's reminiscent expression, Fu Hua said bluntly: "But Kiana, if this is true, three years from now, you must defeat these two Herrschers."
"Do you... really have the strength for that?"
Everyone's hearts sank at the thought. Defeating a Herrscher was no easy task; if humans could easily win, the peak civilization of the Previous Era wouldn't have been annihilated.
"However, I guess this Challenge Space is a parallel timeline of some future. For the future, everything can be changed. As long as we prepare now, maybe we can uproot the Herrscher of Domination while it's still maturing and multiplying."
"..."
While they were discussing and speculating.
Yunduo was boredly fiddling with her fingers.
She knew what would happen in the next few years.
She also knew of the emergence of new powers and the burnout at the end of the light.
Facing the pain of Himeko's death, the confusion that led Mei to draw her blade, and the regret of insufficient strength.
Shuhu noticed a faint gold flashed in Kiana's eyes; until then, Yunduo's mood couldn't help but become irritable.
Looking at the innocent and cute Kiana, she thought of the mature and silent Herrscher of Flamescion.
If growth requires a price, were these prices a bit too heavy for her?
But Yunduo didn't want to experience what had happened once before.
For her, whose mind far exceeded ordinary people, it was very heavy, let alone for them.
Numb!
"Next, I'll go."
After a moment of silence, Yunduo said to everyone.
"Eh? Yunduo, how can you do that?" Kiana's little head shook like a rattle.
"I'll just... just give it a try," Yunduo brushed it off.
Finally.
Unable to withstand Yunduo's request.
Thinking that everyone would enter the Challenge Space sooner or later, Kiana agreed.
---------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 30 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon.
patreon.com/TLScarlet
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!