"Seele, be careful! I didn't expect the Herrscher of Thousands to pull us in directly—there must be some kind of plot. Stay close to me— Seele?"
Wendy turned her head, only to find that the small girl who was supposed to be following behind her was nowhere to be seen.
"Spatial powers, huh? Truly impossible to guard against."
Wendy took a few deep breaths to calm herself.
This was going to be difficult.
Wendy had planned to use the absolute destructive force of her Ideal Fluid to brute-force her way through the Theater of Domination and find a way back to reality.
Now, that plan was off the table. It would be too easy to accidentally harm Seele. Injuries would be secondary—the main issue was that the unyielding properties of the Ideal Fluid made it uncontrollable. A single mistake could tear Seele in half.
"Tch!"
Wendy narrowed her eyes. With no other options, she had to keep moving forward in hopes of finding Seele's whereabouts.
<+>
"We—Wendy! Where are you?"
Seele gripped her enormous scythe tightly as she wandered through the shattered, empty theater. The desolate, silent scenery made her feel uneasy.
"Gulp!"
"Seele... don't be scared! You can do this!"
Seele patted her chest to steady her nerves, mustering her courage as she continued to search through the theater.
What she didn't notice was an invisible thread tied to her wrist, faint energy flowing through it.
She also failed to realize that her other, more brash and sharp-tongued self, who would usually seize every opportunity to mock her, had fallen completely silent
<+>
"Huh? This is the Herrscher of Death's mental domain? Why are there so many white dresses and stockings— Oh, crap!"
Bang!
Clang, clatter—
A massive black metallic claw crushed a doll that had poked its head inside. Then, with the rattle of chains, it slowly withdrew.
Snap!
Veliona snapped her fingers. The room filled with personal belongings—mostly intimate clothing—collected by the other Seele gradually faded away, replaced by a dim, shadowy world.
"Where... am I?"
Clad in a black dress, Veliona radiated murderous intent as she asked.
What she really wanted to know was where her other self had gone. Why had she suddenly lost contact with her? On top of that, she felt... different. It was as if she now possessed a physical body—not the sensation of occupying her other self's form, but rather a transformation from spirit to tangible existence.
To be honest, Veliona didn't like this feeling at all.
"You've gained a physical body! No need to thank us—consider it a little welcome gift."
Boom!
The doll that appeared was torn apart once again by the massive metallic claw.
Outside the mental domain, the observing dolls broke into animated chatter.
"Damn! As expected of the Herrscher of Death, absolutely brutal!"
"This shows she's been suppressed for too long. She must be filled with hatred toward that cowardly personality!"
"Hahaha! Promising, very promising!"
"Convince her! We still have to deal with the Herrscher of Wind—that's the real challenge. We should try to resolve this side with minimal conflict, ideally by striking a deal."
The dolls pushed and shoved until they finally selected an individual known as the "Orator" to cross the boundary between the Theater of Domination and the mental domain.
"Please remain calm, Herrscher of Death. I'm here to negotiate!"
Boom!
The metallic claw stopped just short of the Orator's raised white flag. The overwhelming force stirred a gale around her, howling in her ears.
Moments later, the claw slowly withdrew. Veliona, sitting with her legs crossed on the other metallic claw, casually approached the Orator.
In truth, Veliona was not a patient person. However, the uncertainty of the situation made her uneasy, and she needed to understand what was going on.
"Where is my other self?"
Veliona cut straight to the point, her expression emotionless.
The Orator, however, felt a surge of delight.
'As expected, her greatest hatred is directed at the timid personality that has been restraining her! Excellent!'
"Ahem! I know you care about Seele Vollerei. Rest assured, she's yours alone. We won't touch her."
"...Hmm."
Veliona hummed noncommittally, her expression unchanged. Yet the small hair antenna atop her head swayed involuntarily.
Yours alone... Yours... yours...
Though her face remained stoic, Veliona was nodding internally.
From her other self's experiences, she already knew the being before her was the so-called Herrscher of Thousands. Still... this Herrscher was unexpectedly good at talking!
She made up her mind: after finding out where her other self was, she'd leave this Herrscher a whole corpse as thanks for the compliment.
"As you know, the world isn't kind to Herrschers. Many of our kind have already been sacrificed, and you've been confined to that weak, useless version of yourself, forced to—"
"Where is she!?"
Veliona grabbed the Orator by the neck with one hand.
Forget the previous decision—this person had absolutely no idea how to talk.
Weak and useless—that's something only she could say! No one else had the right to criticize her other self!
"Cough—Calm down! I'm just telling the truth. I know this experience has angered you deeply. You must constantly want to crush her into—"
Boom!
The Orator was crushed into a paste—oh, more precisely, puppet paste, though it didn't make much difference.
"Such useless drivel!" Veliona said impatiently. Her eyes turned to the pitch-black mental world, a bloody red gleam shining in them, and a sinister smile curling on her lips.
"I've found you all. Come, let's play together! I just love adorable toys!"
Outside the mental world, chaos erupted among the Herrscher of Thousands.
"Crap! She's coming out!"
"Why is the Orator so useless?! She claims to be eloquent, but look at her now!"
"What do we do? Fight her?"
"No way! Why waste our energy? Her obvious target is Seele Vollerei, the one who's been restraining her. Let's lead her there and let them tear each other apart! We need to focus on Wendy—that's the real challenge!"
"Agreed!"
"+1!"
The Herrschers moved quickly, connecting the path of the black-dressed Veliona to the shattered theater area where her other self was located. Then, most of their attention shifted to the unassailable Wendy.
<+>
In the shattered theater, white-dressed Seele had already wandered in circles twice. Finding no one, she stood still, looking around in confusion.
"Wendy... are you okay? How do I get out of here?"
Suddenly, a pitch-black passage opened in front of her. She immediately raised her scythe, preparing for combat.
"Come play with me— Wait— You're here!?"
Veliona, dragging a massive metallic claw, nearly collided with the timid, scythe-holding white-dressed Seele.
Seele: (๑•.•๑)...
Veliona: (๑ʘ̅дʘ̅๑)!!!
In the corner, a few hidden puppets watched their confrontation with great interest.
"Fight! Fight! Hurry up and fight!"
"Damn, the Herrscher of Wind is fierce! Our ice powers aren't holding up at all!"
"Relax! Let her kill. If those two start fighting, the Herrscher of Death's power will eventually fall into our hands. Then we can deal with Wendy and become a super Herrscher with three powers combined!"
"The future is bright! Bright indeed!"
"Wait! What's happening? The black-dressed one is knocking on the white-dressed one's head... That doesn't look like a duel."
"The white-dressed one looks like she's about to cry—oh, they're definitely going to fight now. Wait, what?! Black-dressed Seele, what are you doing? Isn't the metallic claw supposed to attack? Why are you flailing around like that!?"
"She's hugging her... Suddenly hugging her?"
"She's blushing! The black-dressed one is blushing!? Wasn't she just saying I love adorable toys a moment ago? What did they even say to each other? Damn, I suddenly really want to eavesdrop!"
"Stop gawking! She's coming this way! She's coming for us!!"
Boom!!
"I just love adorable toys! Hahaha!"
Veliona laughed loudly as she stomped on one of the puppets' heads, black energy seeping into the space around her.
Behind her, the white-dressed Seele clutched her scythe, cautiously following along like a shy little princess trailing behind her brave knight. The dark knight was now carving a path of destruction for her.
<+>
Tn: If you want to see more chapter of this story, please go to my Patreon[1], just for $5 each month, you can read till the latest chapter.
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 307: This Is a Coup[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-131269637[3]
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-131269637
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-131269637
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=expanded