Kiana felt like she had passed out, yet she also felt awake.
More accurately, she felt like she was dreaming.
"Where is this...?" The white-haired girl looked around.
Kiana felt as if she were in the midst of a galaxy, surrounded by countless twinkling stars—upon careful observation, she realized those "stars" were actually tiny bubbles.
They floated in the air, seeming to contain something inside, yet shrouded in a misty haze, making it difficult to see clearly.
"My parents are still fighting; I need to wake up quickly..."
Kiana didn't get lost in the scenery; she looked at her body and tried pinching her thigh to wake herself up.
"Ouch, that hurts, but why haven't I woken up...?"
"Because in a sense, you have always been 'awake', how could you wake up again?"
"Who?!"
The white-haired girl turned her head alertly and was surprised to see a familiar figure.
A girl with purple hair hugged her legs, resting her chin on her knees, her golden eyes drooping, gazing at the ground. She remained motionless, curled up in a ball.
"...Sirin?"
Kiana looked at the girl, her lips moving a few times, unable to find the right words for a moment.
The girl with purple hair raised her head, glanced at Kiana, her golden cross-shaped pupils exuding an extremely cold killing intent, emanating a powerful pressure from her petite body, just like the enemies Kiana had encountered before coming here.
—Herrscher.
The nemesis of humanity, the apostle of Honkai, the vanguard of world destruction.
The white-haired ball's throat tightened, unable to help taking a half step back.
"Hmph."
Sirin buried her head in her knees again, her eyebrows and eyes drooping.
In the end, she was no different from those people.
"...Sister Sirin, are you okay?"
"...?"
The girl with purple hair raised her eyebrows, noticing Kiana cautiously calling out to her.
Sirin easily sensed the immense pressure Kiana was under; her legs trembled, sweat beading on her forehead, yet she still cautiously approached the girl sitting on the ground.
Sirin pondered for a moment, as if she could read something from the white-haired girl's actions.
[In any case, Sirin is my sister!]
Sirin couldn't help but retort, "Who said you're my sister?"
The sudden rebuke didn't scare Kiana; instead, she revealed a somewhat silly smile, "You haven't changed after all. That scary look just now was just to scare me."
"I'm not trying to scare you."
"Swish—!"
Kiana watched as the white-gold lance, tinged with a hint of gold, pressed against her throat, freezing her in place.
"After all, in the eyes of the Herrschers, humans and insects really aren't much different—oh, maybe humans are even more annoying than insects."
Sirin calmly remarked, extending her hand, and the white-gold lance followed Sirin's wrist, circling around Kiana's neck.
Kiana knew the power of this thing; as it approached, she even felt the spear tip scrape off the sweat on her neck, but instead of cutting off the two braids she had tied, as she imagined, it simply dissipated, nonchalantly bypassing her hair.
"Your hair is quite pretty, I like it."
The golden cross in Sirin's eyes dimmed, and she shook her wrist rather uninterestedly, causing the white-gold spear to dissipate into the air.
Kiana breathed a sigh of relief; the feeling of a sharp object against her neck was indeed uncomfortable. She looked at Sirin again, took a step and sat down beside the purple-haired girl, imitating her posture and sitting on the ground.
"Um... Sirin... Sister."
The white-haired ball's brain raced, and after a few seconds of consideration, she asked softly, "Do you know where this place is?"
"Good question."
Sirin adjusted her posture, tilted her head back, and stared at the glowing bubbles floating like stars, answering, "But I don't know where this place is either."
"This..."
Kiana frowned, somewhat anxiously asking, "Is there a way to get out of here? After all, the situation outside is still urgent..."
"I don't even know that girl with blue-purple hair, she should be someone you know, right?" Sirin said indifferently, "What does her safety have to do with me?"
"No, it's not just Mei!"
Kiana finally found a way in, persuading emotionally, "Dad and Mom are also fighting to protect Mei. Sirin, we should find a way to leave here as soon as possible..."
"..."
For Sirin, the word "parents" was both familiar and unfamiliar.
Sirin raised her arm again, and the golden ribbons flew into the air under her control, fetching several shimmering bubbles. She picked one up with her index finger and thumb, carefully observing it.
The texture felt smooth to the touch, like some kind of flexible plastic. Sirin brushed away the mist covering the bubble, and now both she and Kiana could see what was inside the bubble clearly.
A man sat atop a pile of jewels and coins, reaching out to scatter these treasures, looking very happy and content.
Sirin felt somewhat disappointed and tossed this bubble aside, picking up another one. This time, the protagonist inside the bubble was a girl, her arms spread open, flying back and forth at the tips of skyscrapers, freely controlling her own trajectory.
Sirin and Kiana exchanged glances, understanding something.
Sirin hugged all the bubbles picked out from the empty space, golden light emanating from her fingertips, dispelling the mist inside the bubbles.
They saw a girl leaning happily on someone, people swimming in the sea, otakus playing games in reclining chairs, successful individuals in suits and ties, greeted by cheers...
"These are dreams made by people linked to this consciousness space..."
A somewhat tired voice sounded from behind them, and the two girls turned their heads to see the gray-haired girl appearing somewhat disheveled, landing on the ground.
"You are... Mom's friend!"
Kiana recalled for a few seconds, finally finding the information of this gray-haired girl from her overloaded brain, but she seemed to have forgotten the other's name, staring wide-eyed in urgency.
"Her name is Fu Hua, Cecilia said you are her friend... Of course, I also remembered some other things."
Some rather "fiery" past events.
Sirin's expression was complex; she clenched her fist for a moment but ultimately abandoned the dangerous thought of directly attacking. She asked softly, "So, are you causing trouble now?"
"How can you say it's causing trouble? I just linked the consciousnesses of Kiana, you, and me together, and then slightly dug into the depths of the consciousness space..." The Herrscher of Sentience gestured with a somewhat grandiose air.
"Of course, it's a bit troublesome to establish a mental link without Fenghuang Down, I just look a little disheveled... uh, I should say my 'business' isn't quite proficient yet."
Sirin didn't care about these things; she asked directly, "Your purpose."
"Finding a way to defeat the Herrscher—"
Seeing the increasingly unfriendly gaze of the purple-haired girl, 'Fu Hua' chuckled awkwardly, scratching her head, and added, "I mean, to defeat the Herrscher of Thunder."
"Don't you want to defeat her?"