"Dammit, dammit, dammit!"
"What in the world is that thing on you? Why—why are my puppets starting to lose connection?! Even the freezing power of the Herrscher of Ice has no effect on your ability?!"
Watching the puppet stomping its feet in a frantic rage, Lynelle let out a spiteful chuckle.
"If you insist on asking... I can only put it this way."
Lynelle cleared her throat.
"From beyond this world, we have obtained the power to negate the world itself."
"Stop speaking in riddles!" The puppet was clearly even more agitated.
"If you want to laugh, just laugh! No need to mock us in such a roundabout way!"
"Not at all, really. In fact, your level of intelligence is several times higher than I estimated, to the point where I'm wondering if you all ate something and mutated..."
Lynelle glanced at the still-fidgeting puppet and smiled.
"I know you've already noticed I'm projecting something with all my might, and I don't mind telling you—if you attack me now, there's a high chance you could interrupt me, even kill this Bronya I'm currently possessing."
"But let me remind you: for a Herrscher of Reason, a body is little more than a consumable. Break this one, and I'll just craft a new one."
"After all, you still can't seize our Authority. However... every second you waste on me means dozens more of your puppets being tainted by my energy."
"If I'm not mistaken, you were born several months ago, weren't you?"
"If you take action here, all we'll lose is a body the Herrscher of Reason can remake in minutes. But what you'll lose... are the thousand hosts you've painstakingly gathered over these past months."
"Let's hope you won't be saying 'it's fine' while secretly rolling around in agony in your Theater of Domination, hm~"
"When it comes to sharp tongues, you'd make a better Herrscher of Domination than I do..." The puppet's face twisted into an eerily human expression of gritted teeth.
"So you'd better not give me an opening. Otherwise, I'll tear that mouth of yours to shreds."
Despite Lynelle's repeated taunts, just as she had guessed, this era's Thousand—the collective of Domination—was clearly far smarter than the original Herrscher of Domination from the main story.
In fact, compared to that entity which only showed its face at the very end, the Thousand here displayed a much richer sense of humanity.
And precisely because of that, even though Lynelle—with her "specialized attack against wicked women" attribute—had mocked it to this extent, the puppet before her still retained its rationality.
It chose not to attack Lynelle, instead focusing all its energy on severing the connections to those puppets already "infected" by Lynelle's power.
"Wow, not even a shred of mercy for a beauty like me? How cruel!"
"Are you even human?" The puppet sneered.
"The power inside you has nothing to do with humanity... At least, I've never seen a person reattach their own head so quickly after it was cut off."
"Huh?"
Lynelle's eyes widened. "Is that how you treated her body?!"
"Don't worry, that's not all." The puppet revealed a malicious grin.
"Once we've thoroughly studied your power, we'll do many more... delightful things to her. Don't worry, we'll save some videos for you."
"No, actually, what I meant was..."
Lynelle immediately accelerated her energy output.
As the girl's actions became less and less concealed, the phantom of the Second Divine Key—the Cosmic Juggernaut—began to slowly manifest.
"If I were the Herrscher of Domination, I wouldn't tamper with that body... The Destruction energy inside was already triggered by your improper handling. And now, you're even draining what little Blessing of Abundance remains within it."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"What I mean is..."
As Lynelle's words fell, the mimicked Cosmic Juggernaut began operating at full capacity.
"Your Theater of Domination is probably about to get a visit from Raven's island and Ningguang's Jade Chamber."
With that, the girl's figure vanished abruptly.
At the same moment, at the theater's center... Lynelle's now-lifeless body twitched, and a small player slipped out from under her skirt.
Then, Lynelle's voice, tinged with a hint of excitement, gradually spilled out from it.
"Everyone, [Listen to Me]..."
A voice carrying some strange psychic force instantly soothed the noisy clamor of the puppets.
"I am… the Blazing Sun, destined to rise!"
--+--
"Wh-what's going on?!"
In the imaginary space, Bronya, feeling a violent tremor rock the floating stratum she was on, jumped in fright.
"Probably because the Theater of Domination just saw the sun..."
Lynelle's rather weak voice echoed in Bronya's mind.
"Wait, Lynelle-sis, your voice—"
"Don't panic, I'm fine. The self-destruction just now was indeed my main body, but don't worry, it's just a fatal injury. It'll probably be repaired after some time."
Lynelle's voice paused, then turned serious.
"However, due to a certain special mechanism, once my body is destroyed in this way, my consciousness will also fall dormant for a period. Before that, I need to give you some instructions."
"Lynelle-sis..." Bronya gently bit her lip. "T-tell me. Bronya will relay every single word to everyone..."
"Huh?"
For a moment, Lynelle wasn't quite sure if the girl was genuinely grieving or just pulling her leg.
"First, let me repeat: I'm not dead yet! Well, okay, I am dead, but I'm not completely dead! Why are you acting like you're listening to my last words?!"
"Ehe?"
"No 'ehe' allowed! Now, onto serious matters. Through entering the Theater of Domination twice, I've confirmed something: the Theater of Domination likely wasn't created by them, but came into being with them."
"That theater is now destroyed by my explosion."
"So in future encounters with the Herrscher of Domination, while it may still use its Authority to seize abilities, you at least won't have to worry about it appearing and vanishing unpredictably like before."
"The Herrscher of Domination isn't skilled at applying its Authority."
"The power of the Herrscher of Rock it used during the previous fight was probably weaker than your mimicked Star of Eden."
"So even with three Authorities in its grasp, it won't be a match for Cecilia and the others."
"With the mobility granted by the Theater of Domination gone, you can besiege them without worrying about reprisals."
"Also, the puppets inside the Theater of Domination just now definitely weren't the total number. Many more are likely hidden around the world..."
Recalling a plot from a certain fanfiction she'd read in her past life, Lynelle hurriedly added, "In fact, you should be wary of them burying themselves deep in the polar regions, or even launching themselves into the Sea of Quanta."
"Mhm, Bronya remembers, Lynelle-sis."
"Good. Then I can rest easy and go... Wait! Bro—!"
Lynelle's voice suddenly faltered, then, already weakened to the extreme, it surged with a trace of panic.
"Oh no, oh no... Why hasn't that ability recovered... Agh—! This is bad, why is the Corruption Virus tied to my physical body?!"
"B-Bronya, you absolutely must remember one thing!"
"Once you get out, contact Seele immediately. Have her find Mobius. You must tell her... No—"
Lynelle's voice cut off abruptly.
--+--
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.