Herrscher of Dominance in Honkai, starting with the abduction of Kiana

The bells' echo drifted across the snow-blanketed city as gentle sunlight washed over Berlin once more.

Last night's blizzard seemed to have left no trace on the city—yet something intangible had been taken away.

Ren walked among the bustling crowds, his hat pulled low to shadow half his face. His eyes downcast, he let out a soft sigh before quickening his pace toward the distance.

Kiana was gone.

No matter how hard Ren searched, he couldn't sense even a whisper of her presence. She had vanished like scattered foam, leaving not even a trace in the city.

But of course she had. She was just an illusion born from the trial's convergence with Ren's memories. Now that he had seen through her identity, there was no reason for her to remain.

Her disappearance meant his remaining trials would proceed without complications—objectively a good thing.

"Right. Just another false memory."

Ren whispered to himself.

Yet somehow, a void had formed in his heart. With no enemies left, he should have felt relieved.

On the second day, Ren found an abandoned cottage. He lit the fireplace and used his earned money to recreate a familiar atmosphere. But even the most nostalgic setting couldn't quell his growing unease.

By the third day, he had grown increasingly silent, eventually shutting himself away completely.

The fourth day saw him attempting to repair the broken snow globe, restoring its battery and spring mechanism. He carefully repositioned the two scattered figurines inside, placing them close together once more.

On the fifth day, a Honkai eruption struck the city, but lasted less than ten minutes before vanishing completely. Ren thought it might be a sign that the First Herrscher hadn't truly disappeared, but reality proved otherwise—Kiana was truly gone.

By the sixth day, his restlessness peaked. He felt as if he'd forgotten something crucial. Taking a burning log from the fireplace, he deliberately threw it into the room.

Soon, the entire cottage was consumed by flames, just like that day.

The bright fire reflected in his eyes, burning away everything—including all his memories with Kiana.

But just as he prepared to bid farewell to the past and calmly await the final moment, an unexpected figure appeared before him.

"Ys?" Looking at the familiar youth, Ren's fists clenched unconsciously. This man had been the catalyst for everything.

Yet this version of Ys seemed completely different from before. Seeing Ren's anger, he merely smiled faintly and corrected him: "You can call me Joyce."

"Welt Joyce, the First Herrscher." Ren's eyes narrowed dangerously. Now that he'd confirmed Kiana was a Herrscher, Joyce's sudden appearance was highly suspicious.

Seeming to sense Ren's doubts, Joyce extended his hand, explaining: "Don't worry. I'm not the impending Honkai eruption—I'm just one of the three hundred thousand consciousness fragments."

His outstretched hand transformed into blue light, gradually becoming transparent—a phenomenon clearly outside the illusion's parameters, proving his words.

"Then why seek me out?" Once the trial ended, the Core of Reason and its consciousness would become irrelevant to Ren. He had no intention of erasing these consciousnesses, but if Joyce merely wanted to survive, he shouldn't have approached now.

"I simply want to reveal some truths. But first, I must ask—do you truly believe Kiana was that Herrscher?"

"What do you mean?"

"Or to be more direct: do you really think she was just an illusion?"

"After all, truth and lies are separated by a single thought."

In that instant, countless images flooded Ren's mind as he carefully examined every memory of his time with Kiana.

The snow, Christmas.

When had he started believing she was the Herrscher?

It began with the snow globe—but what if the Honkai energy wasn't the cause of eruptions, but rather protection for the glass sphere?

If she wasn't playing the role of Herrscher, then...

The clouds shrouding the sky suddenly parted. All his doubts found their answers as Ren pressed his hand over his eyes—his normally gray irises had begun shifting toward a deep crimson.

...

"Cough, cough."

In an unknown corner of the city, crimson blood splattered against the ground, a horrifying sight.

The white-haired girl stumbled, nearly collapsing. She braced herself against a nearby wall, barely managing to stand.

"Just a little more... just a bit longer." Kiana mumbled, her face paper-white, her eyes dim. Terrifying Honkai corruption marks spread from her palms to her wrists.

Yet remembering Christmas's end, she forced herself to press on, channeling what little Honkai energy remained to move forward.

The closer they got to the end, the more frequent the Honkai eruptions became—a sign of the illusion's impending collapse.

To prevent Ren from noticing anything amiss, Kiana had vanished from his sight after Christmas, secretly using her powers to contain the increasingly frequent eruptions.

"Once the trial ends, it'll all be over."

But Kiana's very existence relied on Honkai energy. Frequent use of her powers made her increasingly incompatible with the illusion, pushing her closer to complete dissolution.

This dissolution wouldn't just mean leaving the illusion—it would erase everything she had experienced here. All her memories from these twenty-some days would vanish completely.

She understood this perfectly, yet chose this path anyway.

"Why couldn't you just kill me on Christmas?" Kiana panted, seemingly complaining, yet her eyes held no real resentment. Instead, they sparkled with an peculiar light.

...

The seventh day: January 1st, 1952.

The First Honkai Eruption began.

An unimaginable storm assaulted the city as terrifying Honkai energy poured in like a tsunami. In less than ten minutes, most buildings lay in ruins as countless Honkai beasts leaped from the void, indiscriminately harvesting all visible life.

The towering clock tower gradually collapsed with a thunderous roar, mixing with the screams of hundreds of thousands to create an apocalyptic requiem.

Yet even in this world-ending catastrophe, someone still tried to save the city.

Surging Honkai energy erupted from Kiana's body, becoming a lighthouse in the storm, forcefully attracting and absorbing the massive waves of energy like a vortex. She turned herself into a vessel to contain the First Herrscher's eruption.

She couldn't save everyone, but she could try to save the one who mattered most.

The Honkai energy meant to flow into Ren was absorbed by her instead—meaning the trial's final test, the Herrscher's awakening, would no longer pose a threat.

Flames engulfed the city amid countless collapsed buildings.

As her Honkai energy depleted, Kiana's body grew increasingly translucent, gradually fading toward transparency.

"Goodbye."

Thud.

Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around the girl's body in a tight embrace.

She looked up in surprise, a bittersweet smile spreading across her face.

"So you came, Ren."