Actually, even before Kiana fought the Herrscher of Rimestar, Ren had already noticed that something was off with the girl's state.
Flamescion, the power he had custom-made for Kiana, had consumed most of his energy during this period. Logically speaking, after handing it over to Kiana, the power it unleashed should theoretically be able to instantly kill the Herrscher of Rimestar.
However, in reality, although Kiana's performance was still dazzling, it was quite different from what Ren had expected.
Perhaps it was the perfect conclusion of the Coral Island plan that had made him lower his guard. He didn't realize that something was wrong the first time he noticed this situation.
After all, even Ren himself, when coming into contact with a brand-new power, even with the assistance of the puppet, needed some time to adapt. Therefore, he simply assumed that Kiana had just obtained the complete Flamescion authority and was still unable to get used to this power.
But as time passed, Kiana actually became frequently distracted in battle, and even almost got successfully ambushed by the Herrscher of Rimestar earlier. He finally realized that the situation might have exceeded his original expectations.
Flamescion was not a particularly powerful authority in itself. It was just a legacy, a form of passing on the beliefs of the predecessors to the successors. Its uniqueness lay in its ability to perfectly fuse the power of the inheritor with the power of the successor, thereby breaking through the original limits.
In essence, the complete Flamescion was actually an authority that fused multiple powers. Its core was still the power provided by the multiple gems within Kiana's body.
However, because Ren had considered that he might never meet Kiana again, he had removed the destruction within the Gem of Serenity, transforming it into Flamescion, and integrated part of his own Herrscher of Dominance authority into it. This was why the Gem of Serenity that Kiana obtained could gain abilities similar to cheat-like powers.
His original intention was to leave Flamescion as a farewell gift, leaving it by Kiana's side to protect her.
And this kind of self-righteous protection had obviously changed Kiana's original life trajectory. She seemed to simply regard Flamescion as some kind of powerful authority, a legacy left by Ren.
It wasn't until now, when he saw Flamescion, which should have fused multiple powers, only exhibiting the flame authority in the girl's hands, that he knew Kiana was very likely to have fallen into some kind of misunderstanding.
After the Pacific Ocean battle, Ren had planned to completely sever ties. But in the previous plan, in order to get rid of the Honkai Will's persistence and thus emotionally deceive himself, the after-effects of this plan were more serious than Ren had anticipated.
During that time, it was when his own emotions and emotional fluctuations were at their most severe.
His guilt, his exhaustion, were constantly interfering with his judgment.
During this period, both Kiana and Ren were too exhausted. It was not until the later dreamscape made time stand still that they were able to get a chance to breathe and heal each other's hearts.
However, it was also the dreamscape that finally made Ren face his feelings for Kiana. He no longer chose to escape, but instead used his own method to help that girl.
That was why he planned the current Coral Island incident.
His main body advancing towards the Imaginary Tree was not simply advancing. While intercepting the Time Crystal, he also inadvertently glimpsed the fear hidden in the Imaginary space.
He eagerly wanted to obtain new power and improve his own strength in order to better protect Kiana.
And in order to make Kiana herself grow up as well, he meticulously arranged all the enemies she needed to encounter, intentionally or unintentionally guiding everything according to the route he had set.
He eagerly wanted to use his abilities to influence others, and in reality, this was a manifestation of arrogance.
As early as the beginning, Ren understood that the humanity and divinity of a Herrscher were extremely delicate. A slight carelessness would drag him into the abyss of destruction. The authority of Dominance was both a gift and a curse. It could dominate the consciousness of thousands, and it would also affect Ren's self.
During that period in ARC City after the Pacific Ocean battle, Ren's complex emotions towards Kiana were obviously a manifestation of excessive humanity. And now his arrangements for Kiana were very likely to be influenced by the divinity of Dominance.
He had obviously forgotten that Kiana was no longer the weak and confused little girl he met in ARC City. Now she was already an excellent warrior. She should have her own choices, instead of following Ren's footsteps.
It was like a parent watching their child slowly grow up. One day the child would grow up, but he, as the parent, had not noticed this, and had stubbornly arranged the trajectory of Kiana's growth.
Until now, when he saw the girl using the Flamescion greatsword, not following the dual-gun fighting style used by the Herrscher of the Void in the past, but intentionally or unintentionally imitating Ren's former fighting style, Ren finally realized what kind of mistake he had made and what serious impact it had caused.
It was his excessive intervention that had caused Kiana to become confused. She was dancing in his shadow, she was becoming unlike herself.
The girl was not a marionette under the Domination Threads.
She was Kiana, after all.
"Yes, she is Kiana." Gazing at the girl in his arms who had fallen into unconsciousness, Ren's eyes showed a hint of tenderness that had been absent for a long time.
He gently carried the girl and walked to a clean tree. With each step he took, the covering snow would slowly dissipate, and the originally dry, cold, and withered treetops actually sprouted green buds and bloomed new branches and leaves.
The World Tree reflected in his golden irises seemed to be gently swaying as well. In the melodious space, the joyful bleating of sheep spirits could be faintly heard.
Everything around them fell into silence. The dry and cold snowfield was covered with green grass, and even the Herrscher of Rimestar, rampaging in the sky, was like prey falling into a spider web, frozen in place.
Ren leaned against the tree trunk and sat down, placing the girl flat on the newly grown lawn, letting her rest her head on his lap in a relaxed posture. Then he slowly closed his eyes.
The branches and leaves of the treetops swayed slightly, and the entire city of Berlin fell into peaceful tranquility.
…
"ARC City…" Looking at this familiar city, a trace of nostalgia flashed across Kiana's expression, but she quickly shook her head and dispelled this feeling.
"Herrscher of the Void, is this your doing?" Looking at her reflection in the shop window on the street, Kiana asked in a cold voice.
However, there was no response in the empty streets, nor the annoying voice of the Herrscher of the Void.
The city phantom in her consciousness space was just created based on Kiana's own memories. There was no one on the streets, only flickering neon lights and dazzling lights.
This was the feeling Kiana had when she first came to this city. When she was a stray, looking at this prosperous city, she couldn't even find a place to settle down, and what was reflected was naturally a world without anyone.
"Do you think creating this kind of dreamscape again can influence me?" Kiana continued to ask, but still failed to get a reply.
Gradually, she finally realized that this was very likely not created by the Herrscher of the Void, but her own world of consciousness. And this discovery not only did not make her feel at ease, but instead made her flustered.
"No, I have to wake up quickly and return Flamescion to Ren."
She strode forward and ran quickly on the streets, trying to leave the consciousness space, but consciousness had no boundaries. No matter how she ran, she was just running in place.
Until the scene around her repeated over and over again, the girl slowly stopped. She understood that this method was futile, but she had no other way.
"Damn it!" Clenching her fists, Kiana punched the wall next to her. The street sign light on the wall made a creaking sound, flickering with arcs of electricity before falling to the ground and slowly extinguishing.
The girl stared blankly at the [ARC City Central Hospital] on the billboard, then suddenly raised her head and saw the familiar hospital.
And inside the hospital, it wasn't empty, but had two figures. A white-haired girl was pushing a boy sitting in a wheelchair, slowly walking forward.