To avoid any unforeseen issues, the Herrscher of Dominance Angelia chose to temporarily switch identities with the Herrscher of Fire Kiana on her own initiative.
After all, there was no rush.
After returning, she had been steadily working on "conquering" the Kiana who had taken her place.
Only by building sufficient trust and intimacy with her could she gain greater room to maneuver in their subsequent actions and achieve the goal of switching identities at will.
In this complex chessboard tied to the Honkai, she needed to seize the initiative and guide everything in a direction favorable to herself.
...
Teyvat.
The Divine Emperor Kiana rested her chin on her hand as she watched the projection transmitted by Keqing.
Keqing asked bluntly, "What do you want me to do?"
Earlier, while in Nagazora City, Keqing had gained a preliminary understanding of the Honkai world from Einstein and Ai. That knowledge made her realize that the problems in this world were far more troublesome than she had expected.
The Divine Emperor Kiana remained calm as she replied steadily, "The future of humanity should be decided by humanity itself. Has that not always been the belief you upheld?"
After a brief pause, she continued, "Right now, you hold the choice that will determine the future direction of that world's humanity. Of course, if you choose to stay out of it and refrain from interfering, that is perfectly fine as well. The final decision rests with you."
Keqing frowned slightly. "Aren't you worried something might go wrong?"
A meaningful smile curved the Divine Emperor Kiana's lips. "What? Are you afraid?"
Keqing's expression sharpened. "Afraid? I simply refuse to act blindly. Every decision can set off a chain reaction and determine the life or death of countless people. I must weigh it carefully."
The Divine Emperor Kiana nodded. "Then take your time and consider it. Be bold. Even if something unexpected happens, I will cover for you."
After the communication ended, Keqing, still in the Honkai world, fell into deep contemplation.
The reason this world was so difficult lay in the force behind it—the Will of Ruler, whose attitude toward humanity was ambiguous at best and faintly hostile at worst.
Although her understanding of the Will of Ruler remained incomplete, the intelligence she had gathered suggested it was a force extremely similar to the Finality Empire.
Thinking back to Teyvat, although the Seven Nations had never engaged in full-scale war, small conflicts were frequent.
If two colossal powers like the Finality Empire and the Will of Ruler were to clash, the consequences would be unimaginable. Who knew how many lives would be lost in the flames of war?
At this moment, Keqing felt as though she were following the Fatui of Snezhnaya into another nation to sow chaos. One careless move could trigger disaster, not only failing to solve the problem but setting the entire situation ablaze.
However, since the Divine Emperor Kiana had already made her stance clear, Keqing decided to follow her own heart and act according to her judgment.
Not long afterward, Keqing led part of Chiba Academy and members of the Human Contract Alliance into an unknown world.
The moment they arrived, Melin Cavendish curiously surveyed the surroundings. "Is this the world you chose for us?"
Keqing nodded. "That's right. This is Earth from another universe. You should be able to tell at a glance."
Tesla quickly took out her instruments and began scanning. Moments later, she said in confusion, "Strange. Why does this world not even have bacteria?"
Keqing shrugged helplessly. "Just like humanity, they've all gone extinct. All life in this world originated from a god. When that god committed suicide, all life vanished with it."
A flicker of curiosity passed through Melin Cavendish's eyes. "The people of this world were created by a god?"
"Yes," Keqing answered simply.
Einstein asked, "May I ask why the god of this world committed suicide?"
Keqing explained slowly, "The old god of this world chose a human to become the new god and take its place.
"After ascending to the divine realm, the new god witnessed too many tragedies and concluded that humanity no longer needed a god. So it chose to end its own life.
"What it did not expect was that it was the origin of all life. Once it died, all life perished as well."
The group fell silent.
A god was the origin of life?
Einstein asked again, "Are there any other gods remaining in this world?"
She was already accustomed to the varying origins of humanity across different worlds. What concerned her more was whether any deities still existed here.
After thinking for a moment, Keqing answered truthfully, "The creator of the god likely exists in a higher dimension."
It was precisely because this world might contain a higher-dimensional creator of gods—and thus numerous unknown risks—that no one had ever attempted to develop it.
In truth, many worlds might harbor similar mysterious higher-dimensional existences. Since they could neither be seen nor touched, people simply treated them as nonexistent.
Einstein and the others did not dwell too much on this world. They had come merely to take a look.
They still intended to persist with their plan to resolve the Sirin issue and cultivate the Final Herrscher.
As for the Human Contract Alliance's plan to join the Finality Empire and escape the Honkai world, they neither supported nor opposed it.
After all, the Honkai world was already completely under the control of the Will of Ruler. Humanity's every action and even its thoughts could very well be manipulated.
After briefly exploring the lifeless planet and finding nothing worth investigating—since even the most basic flora and fauna were absent—they soon chose to return.
The scene shifted to the Valkyrie training grounds of Chiba Academy.
After training, Maria Schariac sat in the rest area. In her mind, she replayed the scene of her younger sister battling Cecilia's daughter.
She realized more clearly than ever that there was an insurmountable limit to human strength.
No matter how hard she trained, she could not catch up to them after they had already become Herrschers.
"Damn it!" Maria Schariac felt irritation and unwillingness surge within her. Anna, Kiana, and Angelia at Chiba Academy had all become Herrschers. Only she remained an ordinary human. The stark disparity made her feel utterly useless.
At that moment, two girls sat down on a nearby bench and began chatting. One of them said mysteriously, "Have you heard?"
"Heard what?" the other asked curiously.
"In another world, as long as we have enough Honkai energy, we can become Herrschers beyond the Thirteen Herrschers!"
"Really? Who told you that?"
"Shh~ Don't ask so many questions. Just know that it's possible."
"Fine, but you said it has to be in another world, and we'd need enough Honkai energy. It's already hard to obtain Honkai energy in our own world. Who would provide it to us in another world?"
"Sister Angelia is a Herrscher. She has plenty of Honkai energy crystals. Any Herrscher can condense Honkai energy."
...
Maria Schariac frowned slightly after overhearing the conversation.
Using Honkai energy crystals to become a Herrscher in another world?
After a moment of thought, she slowly stood up and walked toward the exit of the training grounds.