The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

"What!"

The stumps were flying in the air, and Guinevere was slightly distracted. Before she even had time to feel the pain of having her arms cut off, she was roughly pressed to the ground by the large group of dolls that rushed towards her.

Thousand Herrscher seems to like to use an indescribable number of dolls to overwhelm the target. Although such a combat method is boring and monotonous, this tactic also has its unbreakable side in the face of absolutely large numbers.

At least not Kiana, who had just gained the power of space and then quickly lost it, and Guinevere, who only retained a very small amount of power of death, could resist.

The Herrscher's laughter stimulated the two of them from all directions, but Kiana couldn't even raise her head to look at Guinevere.

All he could feel on his cheeks was the cold floor tiles, his head seemed to be crushed directly by the doll, his chest had been completely crushed, broken ribs were pierced from the back, and several dolls were even stabbed to death...

But it was all to no avail.

finished?

Kiana's brain became dazed due to lack of oxygen. She was not used to the way of existence that stored consciousness in the core instead of the brain, not to mention that she probably couldn't do it now.

tap--

Light footsteps stopped in front of her. There was no doubt that they were the Herrscher.

What does it seem to be saying...

Ah, it seems to be saying - "I only have this ability, but it is better to deal with the traitor first than you."

The arms of the doll that were pressing the head were slightly relaxed, as if the Herrscher deliberately wanted her to witness all this.

Raising her head slightly, Kiana saw the blond doll that was about to turn around, and the torn space above its head.

However, the next moment, the Herrscher also looked over his head with confusion.

"No...what is going on!"

Everything was originally going according to the Herrscher's script, but at this moment, something suddenly interfered with it that shouldn't exist.

The Herrscher suddenly turned his head and stared at Kiana, and said with resentment:

"It's you! It must be you! Why doesn't [Domination] work!"

But when it saw Kiana's confused expression that was almost identical to its own, it quickly turned to look at Guinevere and kicked her in the face:

"It's you, the traitor! It must be you, the traitor! How did you do it! You actually took away the power that should belong to [us]!"

what happened? Isn’t the power of space controlled by the Herrscher? Wasn't that space rift opened by the Herrscher?

If not, then why can't Kiana herself use this power? Could it be Guinevere? No, if that was the case she would have gotten away long ago. It can't be...

It may be a little late to think about this now, but it seems too early.

Everything happened within two seconds. Before the Herrscher's shouts and curses had dissipated, a roar that did not belong to humans came from the other side of the space rift——

"Roar!"

It was the roar of a giant beast, but this roar, even though it was separated by a space, made the whole floor shake.

And that roar is no stranger to Kiana——

"Benares!"

The deafening roar sounded again, and the next moment, a blue-white figure poured into reality from the other end of the space. After the huge wings were fully opened, the wings had long been submerged into the darkness at the end of the line of sight. The dragon's body roared close to the ground. However, a large number of dolls were thrown into the air by the air current carried by Benares, and the same was true for the group of dolls that suppressed Kiana and Guinevere. As for the doll possessed by the Herrscher, it was immediately crushed to pieces by the strong airflow.

good chance!

Guinevere realized this immediately. She climbed up from the ground with one hand, and then used her remaining left hand to take out a crimson gem from her chest pocket and threw it out without hesitation.

"Kiana!"

Before the gem was completely released, Guinevere was knocked down again by more dolls, so the trajectory of the gem was much lower than the original, as if it was tumbling in the air and rolling towards Kiana.

Although she still didn't fully understand what happened, let alone why Benares appeared here, this did not prevent Kiana from seizing this opportunity, leaping up and reaching out to grab the gem.

But as soon as he took one step, his feet were grabbed by the doll again, making him unable to move forward. Not to mention, his whole body inevitably fell forward.

Can you catch it? Can you catch it?

The crimson gem seemed to be only an insignificant distance from the fingertips, and seemed to be separated by a vast distance, completely impossible to intersect in motion.

Kiana's eyes flashed - no, she can't give up at this time, everything has not been finalized yet, even if the gem misses her fingertip, it will still roll to her hand after it falls on the ground!

"whee--"

However, a section of the doll's arm broke through the darkness and stood between Kiana and the plague gem. Then, the face of the doll with a cane smile also appeared from the darkness.

"!?"

Done!

Kiana still tried her best to reach forward. She didn't know what would happen after catching the plague gem, but it was undoubtedly the last hope.

However, the Herrscher's arm happened to block the parabola of the Plague Gem... If nothing else happened, the Plague Gem would eventually fall into its hands.

Is it just... over?

"So this is the only level of your belief? Really, after being forced into such a panic by these disgusting guys, how can I have the nerve to tell Cecilia that you are her daughter when I meet her? Tsk! ——Fortunately, I saved my life and didn’t leave in a hurry.”

Such a voice sounded in Kiana's mind, and the tone was as angry and disdainful as ever. Normally, it would definitely sound annoying, but at this moment, Kiana just shouted in her heart in surprise. That name:

"Sirin!"

"snort!"

She seemed to hear a pretentious cold snort ringing in her ears, and then, Kiana felt a cold hand, firmly holding her stretched out wrist, pushing her hand forward, and actually stepped directly over the Herrscher With his arm, he reached the plague gem.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

In the Herrscher's sight, it only saw two space cracks opened on both sides of the arm that was about to touch the plague gem. The plague gem fell into the crack on one side and flew out from the other side, directly It fell into Kiana's hands.

"asshole!"

When the gem fell into the palm of my hand, it felt cold at first, but in an instant it became as hot as fire.

The Herrscher's indignant screams and resentful expression were frozen, and then everything around him, whether it was the dark theater, the intricate walls, or the countless puppets, all disappeared.

The field of vision is pure white, and the white world surrounds Kiana. There are a few outlines in the pure white. The outline seems a bit unfamiliar, but it seems quite familiar.

Kiana's body was also intact. When she got up from the ground in a daze, the blank space around her began to fill with color again.

The green of the vegetation, the brown of the masonry, the red of the teaching building, the gray of the aisle arches and the imitation of ancient Roman aqueducts, and the black of shadows that are everywhere and inescapable.

"This is... St. Freya Academy?"

Kiana stared blankly at everything in front of her. She was already familiar with the consciousness space, but she still didn't understand why she came back here.

Her self-awareness does not have any tendencies or impulses, so what created this St. Freya Academy in the space of consciousness is...

"Kiana."

The call behind him was smooth and ordinary, as if it were an everyday call. It was a little unexpected, but not that unexpected.

Kiana knew why she was here.

Her vision became blurry in an instant, and she turned her head as quickly as possible. When she saw the fiery red, her eyes could no longer move.

That is……

Is that the memory left in the core?

Reason told Kiana this, because no matter how paranoid she was and didn't want to believe it, everyone around her kept telling her to accept the fact that Wuliang Tajizi was dead.

But despite this, she still hoped for a chance to see her again. Like it is now.

She still had too many unanswered questions.

There are so many thoughts I want to say but can't even be organized into words at this moment.

So she wanted to see her again, even if it was just to say goodbye.

So Kiana took a step forward.

Then the corners of Jizi's mouth moved, revealing a smile that Kiana was all too familiar with.

"Ji Zi..."

Kiana tried her best to call out the name, but after a brief pause, she neither called him by his name as rudely as before, nor did she add the suffix "aunt" behind the name as a prank.

She just read out the identity seriously and hard:

"Jiko...teacher..."

But what do you want to say further? The words were stuck in my throat, and I couldn't form them even after trying for a long time.

The figure in front of me was too familiar and too clear, as if it was still yesterday, as if she had never left.

Seeing this, Ji Zi raised her eyebrows and showed a helpless and gentle smile.

"Did I...appear too suddenly?"

Kiana quickly shook her head vigorously.

"That's good."

Jizi pursed her lips and smiled, then looked at Kiana's much thinner face and her hair tied into a high ponytail, and sighed softly:

"You have changed so much."

"Himeko-sensei hasn't changed at all."

Kiana replied casually, but quickly realized something, and lowered her gaze with some dejection.

"Yeah, then I'm quite happy. After all, at my age, if I'm a few years older, I'm really going to become an aunt. It's good to [no longer change] at this time."

Kiana bit her lip.

Under what circumstances will a person's age be frozen, and his body will no longer grow, age, or undergo any changes?

"..."

There is only death.

"…………"

Kiana knew this very well.

Something as white as snowflakes floated in the air. The moment it touched my body, it felt slightly cool. But when I reached out carefully to pick it up, I felt that it was flying white petals.

"This is just an afterimage of consciousness, right?"

"Um……"

Ji Zi snorted lightly, her expression a little helpless, but she seemed to be enduring and suppressing something.

She turned to smile:

"At least time doesn't flow here."

"..."

"However, we can still have a conversation like this. ... I'm sorry that I couldn't be with you all the time and stay with you until the end."

"No...it doesn't matter."

Kiana blew her nose and replied with suppressed crying.

However, Jizi smiled again:

"It still has something to do with it. After all, a teacher's duty is to do everything he can to protect the safety of his students until she becomes mature and until she can fly into the sky on her own strength... But I fell down Halfway through, I’m really not a qualified teacher…”

"No, Mr. Bujiko...it's enough for me to see you again like this, even if it's just a farewell."

Tears were flowing silently, but her sight had never been so clear before.

Jizi sighed quickly, but her smile became casual and soothing:

"Really, I'm not the only one who thinks you've changed a lot. It's only been a few days... No, it's hard to say. After all, we didn't see each other for half a year before that. Anyway, Kiana... You have indeed grown...much more mature than I could have imagined."

"If possible... I wish this maturity could come earlier..."

"No, that's good enough."

Himeko smiled quietly.

"Perhaps you have guessed that the space we are in at the moment is located at the deepest part of the Herrscher's core, so I can feel another change in you... You finally defeated the Herrscher of the Sky. ?"

Kiana nodded proudly, but quickly shook her head.

"Something happened between me and her, so... it can't be called a [victory], but... let's call it a [hug]."

"That's good. Since it's your mature decision, I, we will support you no matter what."

"..."

The two of them smiled wordlessly at each other, but the silence spread quietly.

What a strange feeling.

It was obvious that both of them could see the urge to talk in each other's eyes, and even from a distance, they could see the thoughts surging in each other's minds through their eyes, but when they parted their lips, nothing was said. Not coming out.

In fact, regardless of how much the two of them had said before, upon closer inspection, it was just lengthy pleasantries.

Kiana suddenly remembered what the squad leader said - "I feel more timid when I'm close to my hometown, and I don't dare to ask anyone."

Although what happened at this moment has nothing to do with returning home, the emotion of not daring to speak is probably similar to a certain extent.

No, it may not be consistent.

There are indeed countless things they want to say between them, and time here does not flow.

But no matter how many words you say, they are not really "countless". They always have their end. Time here does not flow, but Kiana will return to reality sooner or later.

It seems that every additional word spoken is like the trembling second hand on the countdown...

But remaining silent all the time didn't seem to be an option.

After a while, Jizi raised her hand and pressed Kiana's shoulder, trying to start the conversation.

But Kiana seemed to have misunderstood something, and fell directly into Jizi's arms.

Her chest was wet with tears, Himeko just smiled helplessly, then gently held Kiana in her arms, patting her back gently.

"Kiana, do you miss Saint Freya?"

"Well... we have never been back since that incident, and Mei even left us for a time... What will it look like now? Without the Valkyrie to protect it, it might be in ruins... …”

"But it doesn't matter. Time here stands still. Come on, come and walk around here with me. It's exactly the same as in your memory - because it was originally a world shaped by my memory."

Himeko said while patiently combing Kiana's hair. She untied the hair tie, combed Kiana's long hair that was frizzy due to the battle, and tied it back into a ponytail. He even patiently shaped the small patch of dull hair on her head to make it look taller and straighter.

Then, she took Kiana's hand and extended an invitation to her.

"How about it? Would you like to hang out here with me as a teacher again?"

"Of course I do."

Kiana replied wiping her nose.

Jizi smiled and let go of her hand. At that moment, Kiana instinctively became frightened. She wanted to reach out and hold Jizi again, but she quickly put her hand down.

Children will always grow up, birds will always fly into the sky, and... students will always leave their teachers and face the rest of their lives alone.

Jizi seemed to have turned her back and didn't see Kiana's little movement, but the corners of her mouth were slightly raised.

She stretched, and in order to attract Kiana's attention, her tone was somewhat exaggerated:

"I really miss it! This campus is filled with youth."

"Well, yes. I still remember that at that time, I always wanted to grow up quickly... but I didn't expect that growing up would be such a painful thing."

"Then if you had it to do over again, would your choice change?"

Walking under the imitation aqueduct, Ji Zi turned around in the shadow of the building and asked.

"Probably not, wouldn't it look like [me]?"

Kiana answered without hesitation, so she and she both chuckled.

It's just that there is still some sadness in the smile.

They continued to walk forward. Once time starts to flow, it will not go backwards, but in their memories, there is something beautiful that is similar to the backwardness of time.

They walked through the dormitory building and looked at the window of Himeko's dormitory. Kiana talked about how many times she found Himeko's room with the lights on all night when she was secretly getting takeout in the middle of the night. She was about to be moved, but Himeko said it was just because she was drunk. I just forgot to turn off the light. In the awkward silence, Kiana couldn't figure out whether Himeko was telling the truth or just trying to avoid the scene being too sensational.

They walked through the grass that was not lush. Jizi said that Kiana always hid here when she was skipping class and could catch her instantly. She asked her why she didn't find a more secluded place to hide. Kiana only said that it was here. Sunlight is best. As for whether this is the case, Jizi doesn't insist on knowing.

They stood on the wide road and looked at the high wall. Himeko said that Kiana always climbed over the wall from there, so Theresa raised the wall three times in a row. Kiana screamed that no wonder it was getting harder every time, but she couldn't help but ask why she didn't continue to increase the height. The answer is actually very simple, "Because she is afraid that you will get hurt."

As we walked, we inevitably came to the training ground used for practical courses. Himeko jokingly said that this is the only class where Kiana doesn't get distracted. Kiana also laughed at herself and said that although she likes practical training the most, she has never defeated the squad leader and the others...

As they chatted, the topic shifted to a companion they were both familiar with.

The conversation had never been so easy, but with each word, Kiana's feeling of uneasiness became more and more intense. Finally, she couldn't help but ask a topic that might not be very appropriate:

"Actually, I always knew... I was the one who received the most help from everyone... Mei, Bronya, Seele, monitor, Principal Theresa, and Teacher Himeko. I know it's all thanks to you and me. Only then can we get here and keep going...so...so I feel very worried sometimes."

"worry about what?"

"Worrying...that I'm not doing a good enough job."

Kiana took a deep breath, bent her left arm, passed her forearm around her waist, gently held her right arm, and lowered her head confidently.

"If I could figure something out earlier, if I could grow up earlier, if I could become more mature and stronger...Mei wouldn't have to go to World Snake, Bronya wouldn't have to lose her legs, and neither would you, Mr. Himeko. ...Everyone doesn’t have to worry about me anymore. So sometimes, I feel like I’ve failed everyone...especially...I am obviously the Second Herrscher who has brought disaster to the world..."

"Kiana!"

Himeko's voice became much louder, like a roll call in class, making Kiana stand up straight consciously.

But her subsequent words became gentle again:

"Kiana, let me tell you something - something about myself."

"You probably don't know yet... That's right. I didn't even have time to tell anyone. Those three don't seem like people who would spread such things casually."

"Ah for what?"

"Kiana, I am just like you. I am an artificial person created for [a certain purpose] with a false identity and a false name."

"ah?"

While Kiana was puzzled, Himeko winked proudly and mischievously. This kind of little girl's action did not feel out of place for an old aunt like her who was theoretically thirty-two years old. ,because……

"Well, although I started developing the model thirty-two years ago, it was actually born in 2005, so I am two years older than you... Ah, I am twelve years old and you are ten. Think about it this way, Fortunately, all the previous blind dates fell through, otherwise those guys would probably have to work on sewing machines for the rest of their lives, right? "

"Why can you still think of these things at this time!!!"

The originally heavy and sad atmosphere was swept away, Kiana shook her head with a flushed face, and temporarily forgot about the matters of life and death.

Ji Zi's face became slightly more serious.

"The purpose for which I was developed is not important, so I won't tell you. All I can say is that I am a clone of a warrior from the previous civilization named Himihu. However, due to this level of identity, Because of the common ground between you and me, I can also say things that no one else can tell you.”

"Um……"

"Listen up Kiana."

Himeko leaned forward and looked at each other silently with Kiana, neither of them looking away.

"Kiana, have you ever thought about why you are Kiana and not Siren or K423? Of course you can call yourself by these names, but you know that your essences are different."

"I...I have thought about it, but I didn't understand it."

"Then tell me, why am I Himeko? Why am I Himeko and not Himiko?"

"Uh...this seems to be the same problem, right? I don't understand."

Jizi smiled and shook her head, stretched out her hand and patted Kiana on the head again:

"It's because of you, because of you, Theresa, Mei, Bronya, Seele...because in your perception, I am Himeko, not Himiko. Because we have something in common, about [ Himeko’s memory, the memory that actually happened, so I am Himeko.”

"It sounds a bit complicated, but it doesn't seem to be difficult to understand..."

"Most things in this world are not difficult as long as you are willing to learn them. I'm just afraid that some idiot doesn't want to do it."

Gently flicking Kiana's forehead, Himeko continued:

"The same goes for you, Kiana. You are not Sirin, not K423, because we share the same memory about [Kiana]. It is precisely because of this that everyone will worry about you, and everyone will not care about gains and losses. As you said, the logic is not complicated, and it even feels like nonsense literature. I also understand your nervousness. The more people believe and help you, the more you will feel like you are carrying a heavy burden. .That’s why you should remember——

"You are never alone. The anti-entropy that has become your partner and comrade, the principal Theresa who always thinks about you, the reliable monitor Fu Hua, Bronya who is not good at expressing but is always taking action, the caring Xi'er, who cares for everyone, and Mei Yi, who is gentle and strong, even for you now...and Xilin, who was once an enemy in the past, but is now helping you.

"Everyone is closely surrounding you, and the heavy sense of responsibility that comes with it is difficult to ease and eliminate, but you must also understand that no one in this world will trust another person for no reason. , unless they see something in that person that is worthy of their trust and protection. This is true for me, and so is everyone. We believe that you can do it, save more people, and make the world a better place. You have indeed done it - don't doubt yourself. Everything you have done in Skydome City, every drop of sweat you have shed in the past six months to control the power, and everything you are doing to solve the Herrscher of Domination... you I have saved many people, so trust yourself sometimes.”

"I understand...Mr. Himeko, I understand."

Kiana nodded her head obediently. As a student, this was the first time she listened to the teacher's words so seriously. She tried her best to remember, no, she must remember every word the teacher said.

But the next moment, Jizi's palm gently patted her head.

"Okay, there's no need to take these words seriously."

"Well?"

Smiling at the confused Kiana, Himeko ruffled her bangs and said softly:

"I should have understood from the moment I noticed your changes. Now you have already understood what I just said. In fact, your understanding in some aspects will be deeper than mine, and you can conclude that The answer is different, maybe more mature, but understanding does not mean relief. You still rely on me as a teacher, so you confide these unresolved confusions to me, and it is precisely because I am a teacher. Even if I know this fact, I still have to say those words - there is no way, even if it has the slightest possibility of helping you, I have to do it, although in front of you who have already come up with a better answer, what I said It may seem a little childish, but who makes me a teacher?”

Kiana's tears flowed down again unsatisfactorily.

Yes, Ji Zi is right.

Those words were a bit late for her now.

However, the tenderness and emotion contained in those words were not even half false.

"No, I don't feel childish... No matter what you said, Mr. Himeko, I will remember it."

"Oh - you, if only you were so obedient when you were in St. Freya..."