Herrscher of Origin, Raiden Mei.
This game character template came from the end of Honkai Impact 3rd's original Part 1 story.
In that story, Raiden Mei arrived at the Land of Origin, received the approval and blessing of the memory of Elysia, and officially inherited the power of "Origin."
It was also during that process that the famous scene, "Answer me, Elysia," happened.
And before that…
The story before that could be called one of the roots that pushed Ling Ke onto the path toward doomsday.
Simply put, before Raiden Mei entered the Land of Origin, this happened.
Because of Gray Serpent's plan, she entered a "dream."
There, she went through a series of trials and finally spoke with her "other self."
During that conversation, several hidden truths from her early years were revealed. In other words, it was a patch for the plot.
First, the reason Raiden Ryoma implanted the Gem of Conquest into Raiden Mei's body when she was young was not because this father of hers had suddenly gone mad. It was because the young Raiden Mei had inherited an incurable illness from her deceased mother.
Raiden Ryoma only used such an extreme method to save her life.
Just as in the Previous Era, Mobius had to perform MANTIS surgery on Griseo in order to save her life.
Then…
The original Raiden Mei was not actually the "housewife" personality from the main story.
She was not gentle. On the contrary, she was extremely proud and looked down on many of the things around her.
Her way of interacting with others was closer to the Herrscher of Thunder personality.
Calling others "trash" was nothing strange for her.
Because of that personality, and because of her family background, she earned the nickname "Raiden Queen" at Chiba Academy.
As for the gentle, fragile "cook" who appeared later, the girl who could never have been called "Raiden Queen," that was a protective personality formed after Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned, after she lost the support she had always relied on, and after she was repeatedly bullied.
Raiden Mei herself had even said that if the two consciousnesses had not merged, then she, this personality, would have been the real "latecomer."
So…
Ling Ke had transmigrated more than half a year before the Third Honkai Eruption.
At that time, Raiden Ryoma had not yet been imprisoned. He was still his daughter's protector.
And Raiden Mei, who had always lived as the young lady of ME Corp in a privileged environment, had not yet become the "cook" who would care for others later.
With her pride at the time, she would not even bother to take that sudden "nonsense" seriously.
Back then, she had a hidden chuunibyou streak that she was too embarrassed to reveal. Although she did find the "settings" Ling Ke described interesting, she did not want to bother her father, who was busy every day and often did not come home for weeks at a time.
Instead, it stirred up a rebellious mood in her.
You want me to contact my father?
So I have to do it just because you say so?
I refuse.
And so…
And so, there was that phone call to the police.
That phone call, tangled in cause and effect, became the beginning of everything.
Ling Ke only learned these things later, after using his Omniscience to trace time backward.
To be honest, it was fortunate that he had already succeeded in taking revenge. All of this only left him feeling speechless. He did not feel much else.
After all, before he transmigrated, when he had first gotten into Honkai Impact 3rd, although he did not like the Final Chapter very much and had not played it much, he had still seriously played through the story up to the end of the Elysian Realm arc.
And then…
In the Sinful Anthem chapter, Raiden Mei had a special paper-cut animated sequence that explained her past in detail.
At that time, whether she was with her classmates or with the Homu Sword Saint, who was actually Raiden Ryoma in disguise, Raiden Mei had always shown that gentle "housewife" personality.
But in the Final Chapter, because of that inexplicable plot patch, in order to match the nickname "Raiden Queen," they turned her "housewife" personality into what they called the "latecomer."
Those two parts did not match.
The character did not match.
The story did not match.
The timeline did not match.
Only the nickname matched.
It was like picking up a sesame seed and throwing away a watermelon.
If this had only been a game, then this kind of contradictory plot could simply be called a retcon.
But when Ling Ke arrived in a real world…
The information he had did not match reality.
Of course, even with that hidden truth he had not known at the time, one thing still had to be said.
The me from back then really was foolish to the extreme.
I could not see through false appearances. I followed the empty talk of the crowd. I arrogantly believed that the story would unfold according to my own fantasies.
And in the end, that ridiculous worship I held earned me a hellish journey I would never forget.
A lonely walk through the abyss.
Ling Ke had mocked himself for this many times.
Even so…
The me from back then, the me I completely abandoned, the me so naive he was almost stupid, had not done anything wrong.
Perhaps, from Raiden Mei's perspective, considering her personality at the time, she had only made a few judgments that were not especially reasonable, yet still made sense.
Proud judgments.
But from Ling Ke's perspective…
"I wanted to help you, and you harmed me?"
Those eight short words.
Even though Ling Ke had not known what Raiden Mei had done at the time, the dark seed had already been planted.
Afterward, watered and fertilized by many diligent "gardeners," the pain inflicted on him and those disgusting pretty words gradually made that seed sprout and grow strong.
In the end, when Ling Ke learned the truth from Cocolia, it became the greatest malice in this world.
Malice enough to destroy the world.
And now…
"What do you think of this form, Raiden Mei?"
"She is one of your future possibilities."
In the mountain forests outside Berlin, Raiden Mei gripped her great katana tightly, frowning as she looked at the surrounding Domination Puppets, those Herrschers of Origin.
Ling Ke raised one hand and continued,
"Perfect. Since this rare and suitable opportunity has come, I will tell you what another future possibility looks like."
He pointed at himself.
"In another future, the Herrscher of Domination chosen by the Will of Honkai was not me, this self-important outsider."
"It was a… no, it was a group of people who had lost hope in the world. People who, like me, believed this world was no good."
"Or rather, people who believed this world was only good to a certain few."
"A mob."
"Kiana, that is, K-423, overcame the darkness of the past with the help of her companions. She inherited the power of the Gem of Haste, became the multi-core Herrscher of Flamescion, and defeated that mob."
"After that, Otto, who secretly stole the fruits of victory, fulfilled his long-cherished wish and also disconnected the extremely troublesome Herrscher of Binding."
At this point, Ling Ke turned his head and looked at Kevin Kaslana, who stood nearby.
"Isn't that absurd?"
"Think about how much you paid back then. Think about how many lives you piled up just to barely survive that long night called the Tragedy of Binding."
"But in the Current Era, all it cost was the death of one villain who already wanted to die, and they got a simple happy ending."
"…"
Kevin remained silent.
"Of course, the even more absurd part is still to come."
Ling Ke turned his gaze back to Raiden Mei.
"During your frequent visits to the Elysian Realm, you had already been infected by the Herrscher of Corruption."
"In the end, the Herrscher of Corruption, which once destroyed humanity's last hope in the Previous Era, was destroyed in the cradle before it could cause much damage."
"It was destroyed by the memory avatars of the thirteen Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm, who recreated the Herrscher of Human: Ego at the cost of their own lives."
"After that, Kevin officially began Project Stigma and used himself as the final trial. Even though he did not hold back much, you still crossed Finality with the help of many higher-dimensional beings."
"With that, the long war against the Honkai came to an end. K-423 became Earth's god. Everyone was happy, everyone was laughing, and everyone became a hero who saved the world."
"How wonderful."
"Truly wonderful."
"It sounds just like a beautiful fairy tale, doesn't it?"
Having said this, Ling Ke changed his tone.
The malice in his words began to surface.
"Yes, the ending was beautiful."
"But in your era…"
He looked at Elysia, who was standing directly across from him.
"It was because of the self-sacrifice of a Herrscher of Human that all Herrschers in the Current Era gained the possibility of recovering their humanity."
Elysia remained silent.
Ling Ke continued,
"Again, because of the self-sacrifice of a certain 'ordinary person,' the arrival of the Herrschers became an open-book exam."
"Similarly, because of the self-sacrifice of a group of remnants from the past, that troublesome Herrscher of Corruption died in the cradle before it could create too much harm."
"And in the end, it was still that certain man who was cold on the outside and warm on the inside…"
"It was his self-sacrifice that bought your peace."
Once, an old soldier who had been frozen for decades had lamented:
"When I woke up, I only heard that we had won. But no one told me how much everyone had paid for that victory."
And now…
"Well then, Raiden Mei."
Ling Ke, whose revenge had long since been completed, now looked like an explorer curious about new knowledge. A wicked smile appeared on his face.
"Can you tell me how you feel?"
"You, who could have had such a happy future, surrounded by so many people…"
"Somewhere deep down, don't you wish you had never met me that day?"
"…"
Raiden Mei did not answer immediately.
After a long time…
"Yes."
She let out a long sigh, as if she had finally let go of something beautiful in her heart.
At that moment, she looked straight at Ling Ke and said, word by word,
"As you said, if that was the beautiful future you… no, that 'we' could have seen…"
"Then I really do think it would have been better if I had never met you that day."
Hearing this answer…
"Ha!"
Ling Ke laughed.
Clearly, he was not angry at all.
Instead…
"Finally."
"You have denied your past beliefs with your own mouth, Raiden Mei."
Ling Ke clapped his hands, applauding her.
"Congratulations."
"You have finally grown."
"Or rather… fallen."
At the same time, there were several things in his heart that he did not say.
The final step is complete.
From now on, in my "script," Raiden Mei is no longer a protagonist.
So, I can almost…
Completely destroy you.
At that moment, Ling Ke had already arranged the next part.
The next scene of the "script"…
Was for the sinner to destroy herself.
For the thunder to fade.
In other words, for Raiden Mei, who had given her answer…
The final despair.