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

The evening lights were hazy and dreamlike. With the concert about to begin, the streets were filled with people coming and going. Kiana stood still, seemingly waiting for someone.

The crowd flowed past, all heading towards the venue, while the girl remained like a rock in a rushing river, trying to find a familiar face among the thousands.

"Thinking about him?" a gentle voice asked. Himeko put her arm around Kiana's shoulders.

She had just gone to a nearby supermarket with Wendy to buy snacks, leaving Kiana to wait. She hadn't expected to return to such a melancholic scene.

Reuniting with Himeko was the happiest thing that had happened to Kiana recently. They had talked for hours since meeting the previous evening, their conversation stretching into the early morning.

They had so much to say to each other, yet Kiana avoided one topic in particular—Ren.

As far as she knew, Himeko had no connection to Ren, and she didn't want to reveal his existence, keeping the secret locked away in her heart.

But Himeko was Kiana's teacher, after all. Even if she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, she could still sense the girl's unspoken thoughts. Although Kiana tried her best to hide them, Himeko, since becoming a puppet, had been paying close attention to Kiana and was aware of Ren's actions. She knew that Kiana was undoubtedly thinking about him.

Kiana was initially flustered at being discovered, but as she met Himeko's gaze, her anxiety subsided.

She asked tentatively, "Himeko-sensei?"

"It's Ren, isn't it?"

The moment his name was spoken, Kiana's eyes widened. She looked at the gentle Himeko, her voice trembling slightly. "You... you know him?"

"Of course. That boy…" Himeko paused, a hint of sadness in her voice. "We all owe him a great deal."

Kiana's body trembled as if jolted by electricity. She asked urgently, "Then do you know where he is now?"

"Let's go. We'll talk as we walk." Sighing softly, Himeko patted Kiana's head. She looked around; they were standing in the middle of the street, blocking the flow of people.

Himeko knew Ren's true identity as the Herrscher of a Thousand, and the more she learned, the more she understood how many people he had saved. Like Kiana, she had much to tell her.

"Ren, he was born from…"

However, just as Himeko was about to reveal this information, her body suddenly froze. A sharp pang of anxiety constricted her throat, the instinctive restriction placed upon her as a puppet preventing her from speaking.

Having experienced the agonizing sensation of her soul being divided, Himeko immediately recognized this as Ren's failsafe. Puppets couldn't reveal any information about him.

Unable to speak, Himeko could only remain silent. Meeting Kiana's questioning gaze, she forced a smile. "Why don't you tell me your story with him first?"

"Me and him?" Kiana fell into thought, recalling her memories.

But for some reason, she suddenly didn't feel like sharing her experiences with Ren, even with Himeko.

Seeing her hesitation, Himeko decided to skip the topic, instead asking about Kiana's understanding of Ren.

"He was a victim of that great disaster. When Himeko-sensei returned from imaginary space, he, to survive, took the Gem of Haste…" Kiana recounted Ren's origins, unaware of the increasingly strange expression on Himeko's face.

It was Ren who had pulled her from imaginary space, not the other way around. How had he become a Herrscher by taking a gem from her?

Himeko immediately realized that Kiana's information was inaccurate. But as she tried to explain, the soul-deep restriction resurfaced, preventing her from speaking.

No, he's not just the Herrscher of Flamescion, he's the Herrscher of Domination. She wanted to tell Kiana the truth, even if it meant enduring the backlash. However, seeing the sadness in Kiana's eyes as she recounted her memories, Himeko suddenly felt that the truth wasn't so important anymore.

Was Ren trying to protect Kiana?

Himeko began to rationalize Ren's actions. She knew Ren and Kiana clearly cared for each other. It was understandable for them to lie to protect each other.

But Ren was dead.

As a puppet, Himeko knew that when she had left, the Theater of the Domination no longer held any trace of the Herrscher's presence. Ren had undoubtedly died fighting the Honkai.

As for why the puppets could act independently, Ren had explained that a puppet with a sufficiently strong sense of self could break free from the Herrscher of Domination's control.

Just like Taxue, the cat, had done when they first met.

Now that Ren was gone, the Obsidian Concord was his only legacy, a gift for Kiana. Thinking of this, Himeko couldn't help but hug Kiana tightly.

Kiana, as she recounted her memories, seemed to realize something as well. Tears welled up, soaking their clothes.

"Himeko-sensei, is he really…?"

"…Yes."

The city lights twinkled brightly, but in this vast world, there was no longer a light to guide the lost child. The long, dark night stretched ahead, with no promise of reunion.

…

The concert began. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered around the venue, filling the streets and alleys.

Eden's voice soared through the night sky, healing every heart.

Sitting in the vast auditorium, Kiana felt utterly alone, even with Himeko by her side.

Meanwhile, the invisible Theater of the Domination completely enveloped the city, turning back time.

Standing on the deserted street, Ren held the Herrscher of Reason core, its spinning accelerating.

Finally, the bustling modern cityscape vanished, replaced by gently falling snow.

It was December 7, 1951, in Berlin, Germany, 24 days before the First Eruption.

A cold wind swept through the streets, chilling Ren to the bone, making him shiver.

Within the illusion, he was powerless. To complete the trial, he had to safely navigate the First Eruption, to fully utilize the 300,000 wills within the core.

"So cold…" Snowflakes landed on his palm, melting into water from his body heat.

He would embark on a solitary journey through this winter of 1951, becoming one of the 300,000 victims, his solitary will facing an unknown trial.

"First, I need to survive." He pulled his thin coat tighter around him, turned, and saw Kiana staring at him.