"Hehehe, you've fallen for it, fallen for it!"
Just as the puppet raised its hand, that sharp, piercing voice rang out beside Lynelle's ear.
"Come play a game with us—"
Bang—
Another gunshot, only this time, the bullet was aimed at the puppet's abruptly raised hand.
"Be careful. Their movements have been odd since a moment ago," Wendy's voice came from behind Lynelle.
"Did you notice? The 'game' they keep mentioning seems to refer to some kind of ability... And just now, it seemed very eager to touch your body."
Because Wendy's sniper rifle's caliber was so large it could practically serve as a cannon, the shot—even though it was only aimed at the puppet's hand—sent the frail puppet flying back from the sheer force.
However, the puppet's head remained undamaged and continued emitting that shrill noise.
"That's right, that's right!"
"You're so clever, I like clever people! Because clever people always die by their own cleverness!"
"Hehehe, hehehehe... You think you saved her? Actually, she'd already fallen for the trap long ago!"
"Now then, come play a game with us—"
Amidst the puppet's frenzied cries, the entire theater seemed to shudder into operation, letting out a tremendous roar.
But when the roar subsided... silence returned instantly.
Nothing seemed to have happened to the puppet, Wendy, or Lynelle.
"Uh... When you said 'fallen for the trap,' you didn't mean that even contact through an ability counts as touching, did you?"
At that, Lynelle raised her hand.
"Actually, I hadn't made a move against you just yet. See for yourself—these crystals are just wrapped around the outside of the threads, not actually touching them…"
"But your reaction did confirm one thing for me. As a puppet, you really can't sense your controller's condition, can you? Otherwise, a little trick like that wouldn't have fooled you."
"..."
This time, the puppet fell into genuine silence.
"Darn it, darn it! Why are you so cautious? It's not fair! I'm the one who set the trap for you!"
"Ah, well... let's just say I've read the script?"
Lynelle averted her gaze somewhat guiltily.
Truth be told, she hadn't overthought it.
The reason she was specifically on guard was that in the original storyline, both Corruption and Dominance had abilities that activated upon contact.
So, out of caution, Lynelle had avoided directly touching the threads.
Unexpectedly, before she could even test things out for a few more seconds, the puppet had jumped out on its own.
"Cheating, you're cheating!"
The puppet began shouting, but before long, its expression shifted again.
"Ah, forget it. You two are tough nuts to crack anyway... I was skeptical before, but now I believe it. But it doesn't matter. You have other companions, don't you?"
The puppets started laughing uproariously.
"Well then, have fun in the Imaginary Space!"
With the puppets' wild shouts and cries, the ground beneath Lynelle and Wendy's feet abruptly shattered.
Without giving the two time to react, Lynelle felt the Theater of Domination "spit" her and Wendy out.
"..."
"Lynelle, back there, why didn't we..."
Looking at the sandy-hued expanse of Imaginary Space around them, Wendy held her Deadzone in one hand while manipulating a whirlwind with the other to keep them from being swept away by sudden turbulent flows.
"You mean, why didn't we stay there?" Lynelle looked up at Wendy, her expression grave.
"True, though there's a time limit, if I wanted to, I could briefly gain some spatial manipulation abilities. Staying in the Theater of Domination wouldn't have been too difficult, but..."
"Are you worried about the Herrscher of Domination's authority?" Wendy immediately understood.
"Exactly. Due to the nature of the Herrscher of Domination, their individual power is extremely weak."
"So, even without using the Corruption authority, I could roughly read its surface thoughts. Back then, when it thought I'd touched it, its confidence soared to an unimaginable level..."
"Think about it. Since they could design an environment so tailored to target you, they should at least have some knowledge of my abilities too."
"Yet even so, they were utterly confident I'd fall to this ability... Honestly, I'm a bit wary myself. What kind of trump card does it have?"
"Wait, Lynelle."
Wendy frowned slightly and directly grasped Lynelle's slender wrist.
"I know what you're thinking... But no. Neither I nor Kiana would agree to you doing that."
"Hey now, I haven't even said anything yet..." Lynelle sighed helplessly.
"Hmph, my understanding of you isn't limited to just the physical..." Wendy gave a light hum.
"Maybe it's because Schicksal and Anti-Entropy have both grown stronger recently, so the last few crises haven't been so dangerous. But I haven't forgotten your style, Lynelle…"
"Let me tell you, if you dare test the Herrscher of Domination's ability on yourself, I'll report you directly to Lady Cecilia—"
"Whoa, no no no..." Lynelle quickly raised her hands in surrender.
"I'm afraid of you all... Really, even though I can revive, having me handle this kind of thing is the optimal solution..."
"No, Lynelle. Haven't you considered that the opponent's trump card might not be meant to kill you?"
Wendy shook her head. "What if their ability seals your power? Or, through some means, turns you into one of their puppets?"
"Don't forget, even if you can revive from death, you have to die first. But there are plenty of ways to make death impossible..."
"If you were really controlled by them and couldn't escape, would you want us to kill you ourselves and then wait for you to revive and recover? At least I couldn't do it... If I had to do that, I'd go mad."
"Alright, since that's the case..." Lynelle sighed.
"Let's first leave the Imaginary Space and return to the Salt Lake Base. At the very least, we need to update everyone on the situation."
As she spoke, Lynelle instantly crushed a card in her hand. A mass of cyan Phase Flame began spreading over her body, then enveloped her and Wendy, vanishing from the spot.
However, something unexpected awaited them...
"Has it really been that long since we entered the Theater of Domination?"
Looking up at the sun high overhead, both Wendy and Lynelle couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
"You go inform the doctors and the others. I'll quickly handle affairs in Oceania, and then we'll depart immediately."
"Mm." Lynelle nodded and immediately took out her terminal, only to find several missed calls from Einstein already displayed.
"Einstein? Wendy and I were attacked by the Herrscher of Domination. We were taken to a strange theater somewhere in the Imaginary Space... Is everything alright on your end?"
"I'm afraid not." Einstein's voice was silent for a moment before she spoke.
"Right when you were attacked, Salt Lake Base and St. Freya were simultaneously assaulted by the Herrscher of Domination as well. And not just once, but twice."
"Their objective seemed extremely clear. The first attacks on both Salt Lake Base and St. Freya utilized controlled, locally stored scrap mechs, but they deliberately leaked the energy signature of a Herrscher core."
"Looking back now, those energy signatures were likely meant to draw us out."
"And after assessing both locations..."
"They chose to attack Salt Lake Base?" Lynelle instinctively guessed, since in terms of combat personnel, Salt Lake Base—with only Bella, Welt, and Bronya stationed there—was surely weaker than St. Freya, where Kiana, Mei, Fu Hua, and Ana were all present.
But then, Einstein refuted Lynelle's guess.
"No, they didn't invade Salt Lake Base... Instead, they infiltrated St. Freya and attacked one individual."
"...Ana?"
"That's right." Einstein sighed.
"Right now, Ana's condition is... rather complicated. It's hard to explain over the terminal... You'll probably need to come back in person."
A few hours later, the aircraft carrying Lynelle and Wendy landed at the port of the Far East Branch. As soon as she disembarked, Lynelle was promptly whisked away by an anxious Tesla.
"Our situation is as I just described. The Herrscher of Domination seems to have a special ability that activates upon contact. And this 'contact' isn't limited to physical touch—abilities and weapons likely count too."
"But I don't know what the outcome of such contact would be. I can only confirm that the Herrscher of Domination is extremely confident in this ability."
"If that's the case..." After hearing Lynelle's account, Tesla pondered for a moment.
"Then Ana's condition is likely the result of being touched by the Herrscher of Domination."
"According to Kiana and the others' description, after dealing with the first attack, Mei volunteered for night watch."
"Ana, having the lowest mastery over her abilities, went back to the dorm to rest. But not long after, Little Senti noticed that Ana's mental fluctuations had vanished."
"And by the time they went to check..."
Tesla opened the cultivation pod in front of them with a bitter smile. "Ana... had already become like this."
Looking at the chestnut-haired girl sleeping peacefully inside the pod, her body encased in a layer of black, hard ice, Lynelle reached out a finger and gently touched the icy surface.
"That's strange. This ice layer wasn't generated by her. It's caused by an autonomous overflow of her core's authority... If my sensing is correct, this seems more like a self-preservation mechanism triggered by the Herrscher core under stress?"
"Correct." A voice came from behind Lynelle.
"Based on my current observation of her physical condition, Ana is now in a state of deep coma. And her Herrscher core... You might not believe it, but her core authority has been 'stolen.'"
"Fu Hua?" Lynelle turned around, calling out sweetly.
"Mm. I'm glad you're safe." Fu Hua patted Lynelle's shoulder.
"Combined with your earlier intel, the Herrscher of Domination's trump card is likely the ability to steal other Herrschers' authorities through contact."
"That's really troublesome..." Tesla's voice paused. "So, if that's really the case, does it mean all Herrschers are unable to act against it?"
"I'm not so sure." Lynelle gently shook her head.
So far, the Herrscher of Domination's abilities seemed fairly clear.
Aside from the speed of authority theft being faster than in the original story, it hadn't shown many other peculiarities.
"Think about it. The Herrscher of Domination's three targets so far: me, Wendy, and Ana... Aside from the attack on me being impromptu, Wendy and Ana share a common trait."
"This trait might be hard to spot just by looking at us, but if we compare Ana with Kiana, Mei, and Fu Hua—who weren't attacked—the issue becomes obvious—"
"The Herrscher of Domination's chosen targets are all Herrschers who haven't fully mastered their cores, or in other words, haven't undergone evolution."
"Your theory is possible, but whether it's true remains to be seen..." Tesla mused. "But regardless, our current strategy needs to be defensive... So, Fu Hua, I'm counting on you."
"Mm." Fu Hua nodded, stepped forward, and a feather materialized in her hand.
"Using Fenghuang Down, I can read the memory fragments deep within Ana's mind. Through these memories from the time of the attack, we might find some evidence regarding the Herrscher of Domination's authority."
"Actually, Little Senti might be better suited for this task, but considering the Herrscher of Domination's influence on authorities, Fenghuang Down is more reliable."
As she spoke, Fu Hua placed Fenghuang Down against Ana's body.
The crimson feather immediately emitted a faint, shimmering light, and Fu Hua closed her eyes tightly, seemingly searching through memories.
A moment later... Fu Hua's expression became troubled, and she opened her eyes.
"What's wrong, Fu Hua? Did... you not find the relevant memories?"
Seeing Fu Hua's unusual expression, Lynelle quickly asked.
"No... Although the memories are somewhat blurred, I did find fragments of Ana's memories from the attack."
"It's just... I'm not sure I fully understand what the Herrscher of Domination's authority actually means."
As she spoke, Fu Hua couldn't help but recall the fragments she'd just seen.
[Hehe, hehehe... You've fallen for it, Ana-chan!]
[Come play a game with us. The rules are simple...]
[2 > 0.5...]
[Hehe, you lose! So, we'll gladly take your authority, okay?]
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.