As a Herrscher, she naturally possessed numerous methods to dispel such mental suggestions.
Even if no other way existed, she could rely on the power of the Herrscher Core to eradicate those suggestions completely.
The reason the Herrscher of Wind had failed to notice earlier was mainly because most of the voice's words were things she herself agreed with.
The key lay in the fact that those voices largely echoed views she approved of—such as the beauty of freedom, the original sin of humanity, and so on. That allowed certain problematic remarks to hide within them, quietly influencing her judgment without detection.
The Herrscher of Wind had even assumed those voices were nothing more than her own whimsical thoughts.
Though she was a newly born consciousness, she was not the Herrscher of Sentience. She did not fully understand the mysteries of the mind. She had believed that human thought was supposed to be chaotic and noisy, and that misconception had given Vill-V an opening.
Yet the Herrscher of Wind still felt something was amiss within her thoughts. There remained an unknown consciousness lingering in her sea of mind.
Moreover, human consciousness was not simple. Honkai itself had no direct method of erasing human awareness. Even the Herrscher of Sentience had to battle the host's mind before being able to eliminate it.
Thus, even when the Herrscher of Wind used the authority of her consciousness stream to assault Wendy's mind, she could not completely wipe her out.
As a result, within the Herrscher's body, human consciousness coexisted with Herrscher consciousness.
But what meaning did that have?
With the Herrscher consciousness fully controlling the Imaginary brand, the human consciousness could only drift soundlessly in the depths of the Herrscher's mental ocean. Even if stirred, it could do nothing more than complain helplessly.
No—she could not even complain. She had no channel to do so, unless the Herrscher chose to see her.
The Herrscher of Wind slowly withdrew the spreading stream of consciousness. A strange light flickered in her eyes as she spoke to herself in a tone tinged with pity.
"Pitiful Wendy. The human will cannot shake the power of the Herrscher Core. Even if you awaken, what could you possibly change?"
A trace of mockery flashed in her gaze.
"To watch with your own eyes as those hands that longed for the sky destroy humanity?"
"Hehehe... ahahahahaha... how laughable. You're nothing more than a clown manipulated by strings."
The Herrscher of Wind covered her face and burst into manic laughter, her voice like snapping violin strings. The laughter echoed through the endless void—whether she was mocking Wendy or herself, no one could tell.
From this moment onward, the Herrscher of Wind no longer needed to pretend to be Wendy.
The so-called Wendy had merely been an obsession from the moment of her birth—a phantom existence, like a shattered mirror reflecting what she once was.
When consciousness is first born, it always requires a template, something to imitate, something to anchor itself to in order to seek identity.
Now, she had finally found the cognition that belonged to her.
She was not Wendy—and she would never be Wendy.
Like the Wendy in her memories, she had witnessed Wendy's "freedom," yet had never possessed that "freedom" herself.
She was a Herrscher—the spokesperson of Honkai who executed divine will.
The so-called "Wendy" had merely been shackles she placed upon herself. She did not need to learn from Wendy, nor did she need to envy Wendy.
The collar around the Herrscher of Wind's neck shattered. At the same time, her "Wendy" prison garb and bandages crumbled into pieces.
In their place, she donned a flowing, ethereal long robe adorned with shimmering emerald patterns, like a green aurora drifting around her.
An exquisite lace collar encircled her slender neck, accentuating the graceful curve like that of a swan.
Her feet stepped upon rippling void, her eyes radiating emerald light, transforming into wind-winged pupils like a star-filled sky.
Her long hair danced with the wind. A light veil draped across her shoulders like a mantle of green radiance. Upon her wrists were diamond-shaped emerald bangles, glowing with gentle light.
Now the Herrscher of Wind revealed her true self. No longer a mundane being bound by the mortal world, she was the deity who governed the wind—the Herrscher of Wind.
As for those two insignificant humans—especially the man called Kevin—she would no longer regard them with any special interest.
She would kill them now, as a gesture of gratitude for awakening her.
Before the Herrscher of Wind could listen to the whispers of the wind spirits, a radiant crimson heavy-particle beam struck her surrounding shield in an instant, producing a chilling, searing hiss.
Blazing light ravaged the air, distorting the scenery around it.
The surging particle stream blasted the Herrscher of Wind into the surrounding skyscrapers, piercing through nine buildings in succession before finally ceasing. Dust rose, rubble scattered, and she was driven deep into an underground tunnel.
Thanks to the delay bought by Vill-V and Kevin, Himeko, piloting Tethys, had finally succeeded in catching up to the Herrscher of Wind.
Minori carefully helped Kevin sit up, her voice trembling with relief. "That's great, Captain Kevin. We're saved."
"Mm... treat me first." Kevin's expression remained grim. Unlike Minori, he was not optimistic. He knew full well that the Herrscher of Wind was no easy opponent.
In that brief instant earlier, he had sensed an even more formidable threat emanating from her. She seemed to have undergone some kind of transformation, becoming far more dangerous than before.
What he needed most right now was to regain mobility—whether to flee or to fight.
"Understood."
Minori swiftly opened the MOTH squad's rapid medical kit. Inside were orthopedic stabilizers developed by the Engineering Department, protective bandages, and various reagents created by the Biological Laboratory.
She quickly injected Kevin with a hormone supplement and applied a spray that suppressed Honkai energy. Just as she prepared to strap on the orthopedic stabilizer, Kevin stopped her.
"Give me the bone-reconnection hormone."
Once the stabilizer was secured, it would mean Kevin could no longer move.
"Eh? But..."
The bone-reconnection hormone was a hormonal agent developed by Mobius' laboratory. It could immediately stimulate bone growth, temporarily fusing fractured bones together.
It sounded like a good thing.
But in reality, its effect was uncontrolled bone proliferation. It was entirely possible for a lump of bone to grow in some bizarre location.
Moreover, fractured bones were not rejoined normally. Instead, they were connected by abnormal overgrown bone tissue, which meant the bones would take on distorted shapes. If one wanted to restore them to normal later, surgery would be required to break them again and reset them properly.
To ensure proper alignment during the process, the soldier had to move their limbs—which meant anesthesia could not be administered during the procedure.
That heart-wrenching pain was no trivial matter.
"Give me the bone-reconnection hormone."