With that one blunt answer, the Space Gate leading to the Theater of Domination began to shrink — slowly.
Clearly, Ling Ke's heart was wicked.
He was dragging it out on purpose.
When he actually needed a Space Gate in a hurry, the thing could open and close in an instant.
Today he'd even tested it — taking a page from Sorcerer Supreme Wong in next door's Marvel Cinematic Universe and using the gate's edge to play at cutting.
But enough of that.
Right now——
"No — don't!"
Bronya pounded desperately on the invisible barrier, but all she could do was watch the Space Gate shrink smaller and smaller.
Until the view into the Theater of Domination vanished completely.
With nothing in front of her anymore, her body pitched forward. She dropped to her knees.
She stared at nothing. Couldn't snap out of it.
Even with the power of the Herrscher of Reason...
She still couldn't do a single thing!
Bronya knew, with painful clarity, that her feelings toward Cocolia were impossibly complicated.
She knew this 「mother」 of hers had done far too many terrible things. Had killed far too many people.
Nagazora alone — millions of innocent people who lost their families and their futures because of her.
But even knowing all of that...
Bronya did not want Cocolia to suffer.
For years, the sense of justice in her heart and this tangled emotion had been at war with each other.
After the 「Abyss City Incident」, when Cocolia was finally imprisoned, Bronya had begun — slowly — to step out of the shadow.
She could stop thinking about it.
She started telling herself: Mother Cocolia had already been punished.
But...
The destroyed Nagazora. And Singapore, which had nearly shared the same fate.
A person who could repeatedly, recklessly trigger engineered Honkai eruptions — with zero regard for innocent lives — and receive only imprisonment. Did that really count as punishment?
Bronya didn't dare follow that thought to the end.
Yes. She'd been running from it.
Because from where she stood, this was a dilemma with no perfect solution.
She'd originally thought that from now on, she could pretend the problem didn't exist.
But with Ling Ke's appearance...
He wasn't wrong.
His very existence was Cocolia's — and her own — shameful past made flesh.
Now, he'd come for revenge.
The millions of wronged souls in Nagazora had no chance.
But he had a chance.
He had become a Herrscher.
"Seele!"
In a single instant, Bronya jolted awake.
She remembered the final words that gray-haired girl had left behind.
Her target wasn't only Mother Cocolia.
There was also——
"No — Bronya has to go back, get to Seele... and everyone's side!"
Bronya was in total freefall.
Her heart was already in pieces, and now the realization hit — the people she cared about were all in danger.
Too many questions tangled in her head at once.
She was paralyzed by them. Even though she'd already spoken her next move out loud, after pulling herself off the ground her body kept pacing back and forth in the same spot — as if she'd lost her soul.
Looking at her like this was enough to make anyone's heart break.
Behind her, the squad of Anti-Entropy special-ops who'd followed exchanged uncertain glances.
Fu Hua didn't know how to comfort her.
But Kiana stepped forward quickly and pressed both hands down on Bronya's shoulders.
"Bronya — calm down."
The current Kiana had been through too much herself to be the person she once was. She was no longer the carefree, gluttonous, sleepy, spoiled, ignorant girl of before.
She had grown — gradually, painfully — into a steady and mature warrior.
Her heart wasn't so easily shaken anymore.
So——
"Relax. We'll protect Seele. Liliya and Rosalia too. We won't let anyone get hurt."
"But you can't lose your composure."
Kiana said, firmly: "Bronya — everyone will help you."
"You are not alone."
Hearing those words——
"Kiana..."
Bronya, still trembling, barely managed to come back to herself.
She'd just opened her mouth to respond——
"Hahahahaha, It's Show time!!!"
"Get down!"
Fu Hua's reaction was instantaneous — she tackled both Kiana and Bronya to the ground inside the cell.
But the Anti-Entropy special-ops who'd followed them——
"Bang bang bang bang bang!"
A tall figure had materialized among the group and was already flashing, spinning, and vaulting through the corridor.
Red leather jacket. A black revolver in each hand.
No restraint. Full firepower.
A rain of bullets scattered everywhere.
In two, maybe three seconds——
"Thud~"
"Thud~"
Every single Anti-Entropy special-ops soldier was dead.
Bodies riddled with bloody holes, they dropped one after another into spreading pools of blood.
Right then——
"Yeah. You're no longer alone now."
The red-clad figure... 「Domination Puppet · Billy」 stopped firing.
He spread both hands wide, the two black revolvers hooked loosely on his index fingers, and shrugged.
"Companions, bonds — you people love messing with that stuff."
"Then how about this..."
The red-clad figure seemed to smile.
He raised one hand and pointed at Bronya. "The revenge aimed at you... mm, I think I'll just make you alone again."
"The one who topped Charon's List. The world's number one assassin who once made countless people tremble... the Silver Wolf of the Urals."
As he spoke, a Space Gate rapidly unfolded behind him.
He stepped backward into it——
"From today onward, I will indiscriminately hunt and assassinate all active members of the Anti-Entropy Organization."
The red-clad figure seemed to be mocking them. "Will you make this 「notice」 public?"
"I look forward to your choice."
"Buzz!"
The Space Gate closed.
All around — corpses, everywhere.
Only Kiana, Bronya, and Fu Hua remained. Silent.
Ling Ke was a person with a very black heart.
This point had already been emphasized countless times.
So today, the impossible problem he left for Bronya was, predictably, another dilemma. Another gut-wrenching one.
He'd announced that he would next indiscriminately hunt and assassinate all active members of the Anti-Entropy Organization.
If this news went public...
If...
"We currently have no way to stop him."
If every last person in Anti-Entropy — top to bottom — learned this fact...
Extreme panic would tear through the organization.
Not everyone had the resolve to fight Honkai to the death.
And even those with unshakable will... they still had families. Loved ones. People they couldn't bear to lose.
Indiscriminate... those three short words were enough to make one's blood run cold.
And so, the dilemma appeared.
Go public — and Anti-Entropy would fall apart from the inside.
Stay silent——
"Then what difference is there between us and Otto?"
That night.
Anti-Entropy Headquarters, North American Salt Lake Base. Dr. Tesla had overheated again.
"Damn it, that maniac, he... he..."
She didn't even know how to curse anymore.
When it came to Otto — that old fox who'd already lived for over five hundred years — Dr. Tesla could spit any filth she wanted.
But once she learned what had happened to Ling Ke...
"He's the 'villain' we personally shaped, ah!"
In the conference room, Dr. Einstein stood to the side, rubbing her temples.
Karma and retribution.
Ling Ke was the 「karma」 left behind by their Anti-Entropy — and by Schicksal.
Then——
"Ling Ke — I've heard Mei mention that name before."
Kiana spoke up. "Back then, Mei and I were still in Nagazora. The Third Eruption was in full swing."
"She deeply regretted not choosing to trust him. Not listening to his warning... she blamed herself. She believed the disaster in Nagazora was caused by her own ignorance."
"At the time, we all thought Ling Ke had died — just like the millions of other Nagazora citizens."
"Later..."
"Later, Big Sister Mei privately asked Bronya to try tracking down this person."
Bronya had recovered somewhat by now. She steadied herself and spoke carefully: "But there was nothing. Not a single lead."
"He didn't even have a photo on file. All surveillance footage from Nagazora had been destroyed. Bronya didn't even know he was the ordinary person Mother Cocolia had ordered captured."
After hearing both of them out...
Seeing Bronya's mood sink low again——
"Announce it."
Welt Yang — still Anti-Entropy's Alliance Master — gave the order. There was no other choice. "Make the Herrscher of Dominance's 「notice」 public. Note its threat level."
"Those who are still willing to stay — prepare to face death."
Clearly...
In the end, he chose to cut off his own arm.
He held fast to his original heart.
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i.... uhhh.. can't continue anymore. continuing tomorrow...sweating..... it's 10:00 PM right now, i need to wake up 4:00 AM. translation tommorow!