she is dead...
When he understood this, even Su Jue, whose heart had turned dark, could not help but feel a sense of regret. It was difficult to describe the origin of this feeling. His goal was obviously only the Plague Gem, and he did not care about the life or death of Wuliangta Jizi, but when he saw that figure, he still felt a little lost.
Perhaps this is the purest human emotion, but for Su Jue at the moment, it is no longer necessary - he repeatedly emphasized this to himself in his heart.
Yes, I don't need these human emotions anymore.
There were already a large number of imaginary monsters wandering around Ji Zi's body, but it seemed that they had not taken any action yet. Perhaps it was because of the residual heat still remaining on the God-killing Armor that they dared not approach.
They were like vultures waiting for their prey to die of exhaustion. The moment the Plague Gem became calm, they would devour Himeko Inoue's body. No wonder in the original world, when the Thousand Herrschers found Himeko Inoue, only the gem was left.
But now Su Jue arrived in time, and maybe he could leave her body intact and let her die in a decent way.
Bursting with strength, Su Jue killed all the monsters around him with punches and kicks. Only when no new imaginary seeds appeared did he drag his tired body to Wuliangta Jizi.
The God-killing Armor, True Crimson Knight Eclipse, covering her body had been broken into pieces, no longer as glorious as before, and completely reduced to fragments. Dense and dense cracks of the collapse clung to her entire body like a spider web, and even after her death, the torture from the collapse did not stop.
The divine sword Surtur had long since turned into rubble, leaving only the broken hilt falling to the ground. Su Jue squatted down and picked it up. It felt only rough stone in his hand, and no longer had the glory that he had described at the beginning: "The hot sword edge emits a blazing red light, and the ringing sound is like a dirge."
"What a pity." With a sigh in his heart, Su Jue turned his gaze back to Ji Zi. The fiery Plague Gem also fell silent along with the True Red Knight, and fell on her chest after the armor collapsed.
Su Jue looked calm as he placed his hand on her body. The temperature of the Plague Gem was very high, and Su Jue's skin was blistered the moment he touched the gem, but he did not stop, feeling his skin sizzling like barbecue, and finally picked it up.
However, the moment he grasped the gem, a red light struck him like lightning, and Su Jue was strangled before he even had time to react.
"..."
"Resurrecting from the dead?" Su Jue said these two words calmly, and then he felt the force strangling his neck getting stronger and stronger. In front of him, Ji Zi, who should have no signs of life, actually stretched out her hand and strangled him. Although her orange-red eyes were very dim, at this moment they were like a last ray of light, with a hint of spirit.
The force that was strangling his neck was very strong, and Su Jue clearly felt that he could no longer breathe, but there was a smile on the corner of his mouth as he stared at Wuliangta Jizi, with obvious sarcasm in his eyes.
Gradually, his blood had difficulty supplying oxygen, and his face even turned purple. Su Jue had no intention of letting go of the disease gem, as if to say, even if you take my life, I will take the gem away.
Of course, he didn't really want to gamble his life with Ji Zi. After a second or two, the force that was pinching his neck suddenly loosened. The burst before the last breath was very fatal, but he guessed correctly that even if Ji Zi didn't die, she would not have the power to resist.
Her arms fell weakly, and only her dim eyes stared at Su Jue with a hint of anger.
"Herrser..." Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's whisper. If the imaginary space had not been quiet enough, Su Jue would not even have been able to hear it clearly.
Without any intention of hiding, the power of the Ruler of Domination was fully revealed. Like a standard villain in a film or TV series, Su Jue proclaimed his own terror to the dying protagonist, "You have been seriously injured and fallen into the imaginary space for such a long time, but you are still alive. I have to admire your tenacity of life, but what can you do now? Do you want to stand up again and kill me?"
"Hair accessories..."
After mumbling for a long time, Su Jue, who was preparing to fill a small cup, felt a little embarrassed. He had said so much but the other party's attention was on the inconspicuous hair accessories.
"Hmm? You mean this? I stole it from a little white-haired girl - oh, they call her the Herrscher of the Void, and they're hunting her all over the world. I don't know where she's dead now, so pitiful. When I saw her, she seemed ready to shoot herself."
After hearing Su Jue's words, Ji Zi, who was already on her deathbed, seemed to be so angry that she came back to life. The orange light in her eyes became even stronger.
"Qi..." Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Su Jue.
"Okay, don't worry about her. Even if she doesn't commit suicide, I will kill her myself after I obtain the Plague Gem and control your body."
"Imagine, when Kiana wishes that the teacher she most respected and felt guilty about appeared in front of her again and pointed the weapon at her, would she voluntarily give up resistance and welcome her own death?"
He smiled grimly and evilly, as if he was imagining that scene in his mind, but in fact his peripheral vision was still vaguely on Ji Zi's eyes, and the orange-red color became more and more intense, which meant that Ji Zi's mental activity was becoming more and more intense.
Pain, sorrow, anger, despair at the moment of death and worry about the people you care about.
There is no need to elaborate on what this means to the Ruler of Rule.
"I forgot to tell you that after Kiana, whom you protected, survived, she completely broke off relations with everyone in Saint Freya. She was a traitor to destiny, and they were the heroes who defeated the Herrscher of the Void. It's really ridiculous that your former friends have become what they are now."
"And you can only helplessly watch her die in such an aggrieved way. After death, you will become a test subject for Tianming to continue the research of the Herrscher of the Void. I think you should know Tianming's acting skills better than anyone else."
His smile grew more and more intense, and Muliangta Himeko no longer had any strength to resist and could only listen to his declaration in despair.
A hint of deep darkness gradually emerged from her eyes.
Chapter 38 Doll: Infinite Tower
"…Are you deliberately provoking me?"
Suddenly, when Jizi was only one step away from creating her doll, she suddenly said this. After saying this, the gray color in Jizi's eyes faded a lot, as if she realized that the Herrscher in front of her was deliberately misleading her, and she forcibly suppressed her emotions.
"..." A look of surprise appeared on Su Jue's face at the right time, but then it turned into a sneer, "Whether it is true or false, you are powerless to change it, right? I am a dominant Herrscher, born to play with people's hearts. A few young Herrscher girls can fall into the endless abyss with just a little guidance."
"And you who have been protecting them all this time, can't do anything. Even if you suppress your emotions, what can it do? After you die, I can still control your body. It's just the difference between a living puppet and a dead puppet."
After hearing his words, Ji Zi fell into a brief silence. Su Jue was right. She had no choice at all. However, "A living doll?"
"Yes, didn't you notice? In your heart, there is another self that has been hidden for a long time, the self who lost everything at the age of 19. She is so dark, as if shrouded in a thick cloud. After you are killed by her, she will become your replacement and slaughter those little Herrscher girls with great hatred."
"What if I kill her?"
"It's very simple. You replace her and become my puppet. The ending will be the same, but you can watch yourself kill them. I think this will be more interesting, isn't it?"
It was as if the devil's whispers were lingering in her ears. Although he was a young man, he had such a dark mind. He would definitely do this, Jizi realized.
However, if he could pretend to be controlled, could he save those children at the critical moment?
Seeing that Wuliangta Jizi really started to think about this question, no one noticed the faint smile on Su Jue's mouth.
In fact, Su Jue was not so omnipotent. Although he could really control Ji Zi, the broken body was basically a broken toy, which would break if touched lightly. And with Ji Zi's firm and extraordinary will, it was nonsense for him to forcefully create a puppet. The final result would definitely be that he would lose both his money and his life.
Although the goal in his plan was only the Plague Gem, if he could really trick Himeko into becoming a puppet, she would be a top-level A-class Valkyrie. Even with the Plague Gem, he could create a low-profile version of the Herrscher of Fire.
Anyway, once it becomes a puppet, it will be completely under your control and there is no need to worry about rebellion.
"By the way, if you don't believe me, this is the message that the little white-haired girl left for me. You can't mistake her voice."
He threw his cell phone to Ji Zi. It was just an unexpected bargaining chip, so it didn't hurt to give it to her.
"Kiana..." Ji Zi's voice was dry. That girl was the child she was most worried about. After she left, no one protected her. Did she finally fall into the conspiracy?
He moved his fingers with difficulty, quietly clicked the play button, and listened to Kiana's farewell to Su Jue.
The message was short, but Jizi repeated it over and over again.
"How is it? I didn't lie to you." Looking at Ji Zi with some boredom, Su Jue could already imagine the other party's expression of nostalgia and pain after hearing Kiana's voice again after staying in the imaginary space for so long.
Appreciating other people's pain and despair has no meaning for him. He is not a devil who has committed a heinous crime. He just wants to protect himself and survive. As for subverting human civilization, he can only go with the flow. Anyway, the Honkai Will is only responsible for paying salaries and not management. It is not uncommon for a Herrscher to slack off at work.
However, when Ji Zi looked at him again, not only was there no pain, but it was filled with a strong sense of weirdness, "You haven't listened to this recording yourself, right?"
"……"What?
boom--
Just when Su Jue was still a little confused by her words, Ji Zi grabbed the phone and smashed it to the ground with strength that came from nowhere. After this smash, Su Jue's second-hand phone for girls was completely destroyed without any residue left.
"Okay, I agree to be your puppet, on the condition that you give me a certain degree of freedom." After destroying Su Jue's personal property, Ji Zi said to herself.
"Are you kidding..."
"Don't you want to know what that recording is?"
"..."
To be honest, because of Wuliangta Jizi's abnormal behavior, Su Jue was really a little curious for a moment. What kind of message could make Jizi change her previous attitude of not obeying before death and actively choose to become a puppet?
While Su Jue was still hesitating, a thick cloud completely covered Ji Zi's eyes. This was because she took the initiative to arouse the dark emotions in her heart. In the theater of domination, countless silk threads kept flying, gears kept turning, and a new blank puppet gradually took shape.
This was something Su Jue had never expected. Since ancient times, only the Ruler had the right to choose the host. When did the host become a puppet by force? Was it because she was once the owner of the Plague Gem?
But he was only surprised for a moment. Since others had taken the initiative to come to him, what should he worry about as the controller? Was he afraid that too many of his subordinates were living too comfortably?
"You promised me that you would give me a certain degree of freedom." Ji Zi's voice gradually became calm. After actively connecting her soul to the Domination Theater, the erosion of her will by the collapse energy was greatly reduced. And this incomplete body, because of the birth of the doll, formed a complementary relationship, and actually stopped the momentum of collapse.
The corners of Su Jue's mouth twitched slightly, "No, I didn't..."
Ji Zi didn't say anything, just stared at him with her orange eyes, which even made him doubt whether he had really said this.
"Okay, I'll give it to you. Anyway, I can take over your control anytime I want." After being looked at with some difficulty, Su Jue could only agree stubbornly. After all, becoming a puppet meant being completely controlled by himself, and the so-called freedom was nothing more than not interfering too much in normal times.
After he reluctantly agreed, he also did not notice the slightly relaxed look in Ji Zi's eyes.
She was gambling, using Kiana's judgment as a basis, betting that Su Jue was not a purely evil person, and now it seems that she made the right bet.
"So what exactly is in that recording?" After confirming that he really knew Ji Zi's life and death, Su Jue asked curiously.
"Ask her yourself."
"...Do you know the price of deceiving a Herrscher?"
"Anyway, you can control my body but you can't control my memory, so why don't you just kill me."
It’s over. I feel like this operation has failed.
Chapter 39: Testing
One day later, Su Jue's room became unusually lively.
Today is the weekend, and the weather outside is also very good. The sun shines in through the glass windows, sweeping away all the darkness, and the whole house is bright. More importantly, the house is a little more lively. Except for the two puppets [Father] and [Mother] who still retain their puppet form and remain in the Domination Theater, the rest of [Gray Xiu], [Ji Zi] and [Ta Xue] are all at home. Together with Su Jue himself, it is a bit like a family of three sitting around the dining table for dinner.
Lunch was naturally made by Su Jue himself. Ji Zi's cooking skills were completely disastrous, Grayshuin could only draw, and as for Taxue, it was better to leave it alone.
After establishing a contract with the Ruler of the Rule, a puppet belonging to Himeko Infinite Tower was also born in the Rule Theater. However, although she agreed to become a puppet, Himeko was very resistant to the idea of transferring her consciousness to a new puppet body, and has been resisting it until now.
Su Jue did not choose to force her consciousness into the puppet. He could only repair her injuries as much as possible so that she could barely move like a normal person. As for fighting, he could not count on her and would transfer her consciousness into the puppet's body when needed.
After stacking up the plates after lunch, Su Jue looked at Ji Zi who was at ease, and couldn't help but complain in a low voice: "Did I find a burden? Not only does he eat a lot, but he can't move either."
With a sigh, Su Jue could only look sour and unhappy.
Click.
The sound of the glass frame hitting the ground was quite crisp. Su Jue turned his head suddenly. On the table, the white gloves that had just done something bad met Su Jue's angry eyes before he could retract them.
"Taxue! What are you doing!" Looking at the broken glass all over the ground, Taxue, who had just quietly pushed it down, licked his paws as if nothing had happened, with an expression that said, "I'm just a little cat, I didn't do anything bad."
Su Jue, who was already in a bad mood, became a little angry. He put the plate in his hand on the table and grabbed it.
"Meow~" However, Taxue's body movements were quite exquisite. He used the old cabinets placed at home to gain leverage and threw Su Jue behind him, landing steadily on a soft mat. He raised his head with a proud look, meowed at Su Jue twice with disdain, and stepped on the soft meat mat with his two front paws back and forth.
"Damn it, you're a puppet cat, not a real cat, so don't get into these bad habits." The boy was a little crazy, and wanted to reach out and grab the kitten back, but when he saw the smiling expression on Wuliangta Jiko's face, he gave up the idea of grabbing the cat from the other's exaggerated pectoral muscles.
"This stinky cat has actually learned to step on milk." Su Jue seemed to be angry with his own puppet. He complained weakly, picked up the broom from the corner, and carefully swept up the broken glass.
On the other hand, Himeko Muryota, who was leaning back on the sofa at ease, seemed to have watched a good show and couldn't stop laughing. "Hey, Herrscher, didn't you say that all your puppets are under your control? Now it seems that's not the case."
"Humph!" Su Jue, feeling embarrassed, could only snort and said stubbornly, "This is just a small accident. As long as I use my ability, there is nothing I can't control."
"Really? I don't believe it." A trace of thought flashed in his eyes. Ji Zi seemed to be interested and looked at him provocatively. "Come and try to control me. You can do anything to me."
After saying that, she also flirted with Su Jue, with a completely suicidal attitude, but in fact, she had doubts about Su Jue's specific way of domination. Although after signing the contract with the Ruler of Domination, she clearly felt that the thread of domination had connected her to the core and was completely controlled.
But Taxue's disruption gave her a new guess - maybe Su Jue didn't have complete control over the puppet?
As if feeling that his dignity was offended by the puppet, Su Jue stood up angrily, took a few big steps to her, and stared at her with a very ferocious look, "You are playing with fire. Do you know what this means to a hot-blooded adolescent boy?"
Unfortunately, Ji Zi didn't care about his attitude at all. She looked at him with her orange eyes and said, "What does it mean? Just tell me."
"Hmph." As Su Jue snorted, golden light lit up from his eyes, and Wuliangta Jizi felt her body stiffen, and a strong sense of sluggishness filled her whole body, until finally, as if she had been overdosed with anesthetics, she could not feel her body at all. Transparent silk threads emerged from Qianlu's core, gradually wrapped around her current puppet body, replacing all her perceptions, and within just one or two seconds, Jizi lost control of her body.
"The power of domination is supreme. As long as you are connected by my thread, as long as I wish, you will never be able to break free." As if to prove his ability, Su Jue controlled Ji Zi's body to stand up from the sofa. "You can't escape the control of the Herrscher Core."
silk……
Ji Zi immediately remembered this key word in her mind, and tried to find the connection between herself and domination. Unconsciously, she actually found some ways.
"That stinky cat has only temporarily broken free from the control of the silk thread. I will make it pay the price when I connect to it again." At this time, Su Jue, who was completely unaware of the situation, was still frantically revealing his secrets, and did not notice that Ji Zi had begun to have evil thoughts.
"Okay, now you know what I said is true, so just be obedient." Letting go of Ji Zi, Su Jue waved his hand in boredom.
"...You won't do anything to me?" A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, and she was a little surprised that Su Jue had let go of her control. Ji Zi certainly didn't want the other party to do anything to her, but this young man was so unguarded that he easily let go of someone who knew his secret.
"It's boring. Only you humans would waste your lives on such meaningless trivialities." Su Jue picked up the plate he had put down and raised his chin towards Ji Zi. "If you have nothing to do, clean the glass. This stupid cat doesn't know how to wear shoes. If it gets scratched, I'll have to repair it."
"Okay." After a moment's silence, Ji Zi smiled. As a cunning adult, this short incident gave her a general understanding of Su Jue.
"Although he is a Herrscher, he looks like just a kid who has not grown up."
Chapter 40 Old Photos
After fighting against Honkai for so many years, Himeko knows the horror of the Herrscher, and even her father died at the hands of the Herrscher. But Himeko Muliangta is a good person, and she understands that many times the tragedy caused by Honkai cannot be attributed to a certain individual, just like when she brought Kiana, who had the power of the Herrscher of the Void, and even Mei, who had awakened the Herrscher of Lightning, into St. Freya's Academy.
Apart from their identities as Herrschers brought about by the Honkai, they are all just teenagers, at an age where they should be enjoying a comfortable youth and having a relaxed school life.
Even the Herrscher can be guided through care and education, this is the belief she has always held. After becoming the children's teacher and spending time with them day and night, she has become more convinced of this. They have lost their loved ones and friends, and gathered together at St. Freya Academy to fight against the collapse.
They are all warriors fighting against the collapse, they hold dreams in their hearts and long for a better tomorrow. As a teacher, I am willing to use myself as a flame to light their way forward.
