The sudden suicide of the Herrscher of Domination naturally caused quite a stir. In an instant, both Mobius and Eden moved to stop it.
However, the Herrscher's actions were simply too fast. By the time they turned their heads, the ice dagger had already plunged into her head.
And in that single moment, this era's Herrscher consciousness surged forth, cooperating with the resentful wills of the previous generations. Under this pincer attack, they successfully broke through the mental barrier Aponia had established.
[You have become the final host of the Herrscher of Domination.]
[Talent 'Herrscher of Domination' Awakened]
[Warning! Due to the immense power of the resentful wills, they have usurped a portion of your authority.]
"Not good, my hand!"
Fu Li's mind was still in a hazy state. In a flash, the resentful wills successfully seized control of his arm, unleashing a weakened version of the Herrscher of the Void's power.
A small black hole formed in an instant, about to swallow Fu Li whole and transport him to an unknown location.
"What's happening? Li!"
Seeing Fu Li about to be devoured, Pardo, who was closest to him, gritted her teeth. Without a second thought, she instinctively grabbed his arm.
Although she didn't know what was happening, she was absolutely, positively not going to be abandoned again.
"Pardo! Let go! You're too weak!"
Mobius, having reacted, lunged directly at Pardo, trying to push her away. But in the next second, she passed straight through the space the two had previously occupied and fell heavily to the ground.
"Dammit, I was careless."
Climbing up from the ground, Mobius's expression instantly darkened.
The entire sequence of events had happened too quickly. Less than three seconds had passed between the Herrscher's suicide and Fu Li's sudden rampage. Everything felt as if it had been meticulously planned, catching all of them in its scheme.
Normally, Mobius would have definitely been able to react in time. But this was her first time becoming something akin to a reincarnator so early on, and her excitement at seeing Li had made her momentarily let her guard down.
"It was my mistake, but..."
Realizing her error, Mobius immediately picked up her portable console. While tracking the locator in Pardo's battle armor, she shot a cold glare at Aponia.
"Aponia, don't you think you owe me an explanation? If it were you, you surely could have foreseen this situation, right? Why didn't you stop it?"
At that, Eden, who was equally anxious, also turned to look at Aponia.
Faced with their questioning gazes, Aponia merely let out a soft sigh. While there was worry on her face, there was no sign of panic.
"Ladies, please calm down. Although their journey will be difficult, it is a destiny they must face. Believe me, Li's importance to me is no less than it is to you. In fact, one could say that I am the one who cares for Li the most."
Hearing this explanation, Mobius's hands, which were flying across the console, paused for a moment. Some of the anxiety in her heart dissipated, and rationality took over once more.
"Tch, save it, Aponia. The one who cares for Li the most is obviously me."
With that, Mobius gave neither of them a chance to retort, pushing the console forward.
"Found them. They've been teleported by the Void Herrscher's ability into the sea, several hundred kilometers away. Pardo's armor has a life support system, so we don't need to worry. As for Li, even if he's unconscious, he can survive in the sea for at least a day."
"Alright, leave the rest to me."
"Mm, I'll leave it to you, Eden."
"Rest assured, I will definitely bring them back."
Seeing that it was finally time for her area of expertise, Eden didn't hold back. After memorizing the coordinates, she directly entered her Semi-artificial Honkai Collapse Form, transforming into a small whale and soaring towards the deep sea.
After so many lifetimes of practice, she had long since mastered this form. And no matter how much humanity's technology advanced, the ocean would always be the domain of its native creatures.
An hour later...
When Eden arrived at the map's location, several speedboats and helicopters from a nearby branch were already there. But no matter how much they searched, they couldn't find them.
"Captain Eden, we're sorry. We've thoroughly searched the surrounding area. We're picking up a signal, but we just can't find them."
"Can't find them? How is that possible?"
Eden, now back in her human form and clad in wine-red soft armor, floated in the water. She looked down at the watch on her wrist, and the heart that had just settled sank once more.
The armor's locator showed that Pardo's signal source was less than five meters away from her. Yet, even so, with her vision, she couldn't see a thing.
Instantly, all sorts of weakened abilities that could conceal one's presence flashed through her mind.
Herrscher of Domination individual L-211, Herrscher of Wind's transparency ability, controlling light refraction to become invisible... Individual L-561, weakened Herrscher of the Void ability, can hide in Imaginary Space...
When 999 different weakened abilities were all concentrated in a single entity, the Herrscher of Domination became terrifyingly difficult to deal with. Hiding would be ridiculously easy.
The only saving grace was that if they didn't want to disappear completely, they couldn't kill Li. But Pardo was useless to them. What if...
Eden shuddered, not daring to think any further. She quickly dialed Mobius's communicator.
"Hey, Mobius, we have a problem over here."
---o---
While the outside world was thrown into chaos by their disappearance, inside a quantum space deep beneath the sea...
A giant bubble enveloped a small island that looked as if it were made of candy. There was no life on the island, only a massive egg encased in dragon wings.
And within the egg, Fu Li held Pardofelis in his arms in a posture like he was cuddling a small cat. Both of them had their eyes tightly shut. Only the occasional tremor of their bodies and their suddenly quickening breaths proved they were still alive.
However, while their bodies were still living, their minds had been trapped in another cage entirely.
"Ugh... Li, please... don't leave me."
At the edge of the vast Domination Theater, Pardo curled her body into a ball. Her tail and ears were wet and droopy, giving her an especially fragile and pitiful appearance.
In the end, among all the MANTISes, Pardo could only be considered ordinary. As ordinary as a mortal, living an ordinary life, with only a bit of enviable luck.
But when she encountered a truly dangerous situation, even luck could fail from time to time.
"Where... is this..."
As if sensing danger, Pardo slowly opened her eyes and saw another... herself?
And that self currently had wings sprouting from her back, sitting suspended in mid-air. The long hem of her dress trailed on the ground as she propped her head up with her hands, looking down at her with an unreadable smile.
Seeming to notice that she had finally woken up, that "Pardo" tilted her head and said in a playful tone, "Welcome to the Domination Theater."