Patta, patta.
The sound of raindrops hitting the glass echoed in the silent house. The rainstorm, carrying water droplets, heavily struck the windows, bursting into splashes of water before flowing down the glass, blurring the reflected figures along with the darkness outside.
The city was in the midst of a storm, but the house was quite peaceful. The not-so-bright light shone on the glass, reflecting Kiana's appearance. She stood by the window, her eyes gazing through the glass at the dark and deep night outside, somewhat lost in thought.
Originally, she had prepared to go to Taixu Mountain and had packed her things.
She hadn't expected that the sudden rainstorm before departure would completely ruin tonight's travel plans. Fortunately, Fu Hua's current sleep was still stable, and going out in the rainstorm might encounter unknown dangers, so they simply postponed the departure time until after the rainstorm.
"The rain is getting heavier and heavier." Sighing softly, Kiana withdrew her hand from the windowsill, and her gaze subconsciously fell on the sofa in the room.
Seeing Ren, who was closing his eyes tightly on the sofa, her gaze couldn't help but soften. She drew the curtains, making the sound of rain quieter.
Perhaps calculating the location of Taixu Mountain had consumed too much energy, Ren seemed particularly tired near evening. Now, without knowing when, he had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep soundly, leaning against the back of the sofa.
"Ren, go back to your room to sleep."
She leaned close to his ear and whispered twice, but unfortunately, Ren was sleeping very deeply. Even at such a close distance, there was still no sign of him waking up. His breathing was even, and his sitting posture was as standard as a puppet.
Seeing this scene, Kiana felt a little fondness and couldn't bear to wake him up. But whether sleeping on the sofa would cause a cold aside, he would definitely feel uncomfortable all over when he woke up the next day.
Sighing helplessly, she could only take the extra cushions and try to make the sofa flatter, trying to make Ren sleep more comfortably. However, she had no experience in taking care of people. The sleeping Ren was very quiet, but it was not easy to make him lie down obediently without waking him up.
She recalled how she had taken care of the unconscious Ren in the illusion, but as soon as the scene in her mind appeared, a blush appeared on her cheeks, and she immediately rejected replicating that approach. Having no other choice, she could only take off her coat and gently cover Ren's body.
"Don't worry, he won't wake up at this time." Just as Kiana was feeling a little worried, Himeko's voice came from behind her. The girl, who was reminiscing about past memories in her mind, was startled. She quickly turned around and realized that Himeko was standing at the door of the second bedroom, not knowing how long she had been watching her.
"Teacher Himeko?"
"Yeah." Himeko nodded lightly, calmly walked to the sofa, skillfully pressed Ren's shoulder, and laid him down from a sitting position. Her movements were not gentle, but Ren seemed to be sleeping very deeply, and even so, he did not wake up.
As one of the puppets who had followed Ren for the longest time, Himeko certainly knew that Ren was not really asleep at this time, but had entered the so-called "standby mode."
Undoubtedly, the impression that the conscious Ren gave Himeko was generally mysterious and unpredictable, in control of the overall situation, but exceptions would occasionally occur.
If he encountered tricky things that were difficult to handle or encountered powerful enemies, Ren's body would enter a temporary trance state, and his perception of the surroundings would be greatly reduced.
She could actually understand that even if Ren was a Herrscher, he would still have limits.
Usually controlling hundreds of puppets was already a heavy burden for him. Once he encountered troublesome things, he would inevitably have to devote all his energy to it, and his control over his own body would naturally not be so comprehensive.
Himeko was not aware of the existence of the Hive Consciousness, and was only based on her own guesses, and naturally could not imagine how powerful the enemy Ren was facing was.
"He… what's wrong?"
"He's asleep." Himeko tucked Ren in and turned back to explain, "His situation is quite special. Don't think he seems silent and idle every day, he's actually dealing with a lot of things all the time."
Himeko's words made Kiana fall into silence. She looked at that calm face like a puppet, and recalled the night when they stayed overnight at the ranch. Ren's sleeping posture was also unnaturally stiff.
After a moment of silence, she turned her complex gaze to Himeko.
"Teacher Himeko, your relationship with Ren shouldn't just be the brief contact you had back then, right?"
"Uh…"
"Although in your eyes I may still be that little girl from St. Freya who doesn't understand anything, I can clearly perceive some things. This time when you came back, Ren acted very naturally, but when you saw him, there was a momentary change in your eyes. I thought you were just surprised at the time, but now it seems that you may be more familiar with him than I imagined."
"Kiana, you're overthinking it."
"No, Teacher Himeko, Ren can deceive me, but you can't. Even the Valkyries with the highest Honkai adaptability cannot completely adapt after picking up the Gem of Haste, let alone become a Herrscher without paying any price." Perhaps Ren's sleep had directly improved Kiana's IQ, she became particularly sharp, staring intently at Himeko's eyes.
"And your complexion is also much better than when you were at school. I learned from Aunt Theresa that artificial Stigmata would put a great burden on the body, but when we talked all night the day before yesterday, you not only didn't show any fatigue, but even kept me chatting all night. More importantly, Teacher Himeko, there are no traces of artificial Stigmata on your body."
"Ren should be doing more than just helping you heal, right?"
Faced with the girl's questioning, Himeko was speechless for a moment. She thought she had disguised herself well, but she didn't expect that it was just Kiana who hadn't spoken out.
Just as Himeko was thinking about how to answer, Kiana's tone suddenly softened.
A smile appeared on her face, and she said in a relaxed tone, "Actually, Teacher Himeko doesn't need to be so nervous. Ren already told me everything that night, including his identity and goals. It's just that there were too many stories and too little time, and many things about the past were not mentioned, so I was thinking of learning from you, Teacher Himeko."
"Is that so?" Himeko recalled the night Kiana came back. The two of them did sit on the rooftop all night, and with their current relationship, Ren had no need to continue to hide it.
Thinking this way, Himeko breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced at the sleeping Ren and nodded, "In that case, it's good for you to understand him better. Speaking of which, not only me, but even Wendy, Eden, and many, many others were rescued by Ren."
She walked to the refrigerator, taking out beer and milk while saying, "This little guy clearly did a lot of good things, but he keeps it to himself. If I hadn't observed some details, I'm afraid I would have been kept in the dark."
She took out two glasses, obviously preparing to chat for a long time, but did not notice the surprise flashing in Kiana's eyes.
"Where should I start the story…"
…
Boom!
Pale thunder pierced through the darkness, illuminating two figures flying at high speed in the air. Accompanied by a muffled roar, spherical shockwaves centered on the point of collision between the two, shattering the rain curtain in the sky.
The muffled bombardment even surpassed the roar of thunder at one point, but these energy fluctuations, like the thunderstorms in the sky, were completely blocked by the domain covering the entire city.
The sword array that Ren had set up in the beginning was now fully prepared. Even the Tai Xu Sword God could be sealed, and concealing the Honkai energy fluctuations in the suburbs was more than enough. But even so, Ren still consciously pulled the battlefield to high altitude to avoid being noticed by Kiana.
"Damn it, damn it!" In the frontal collision, Ren's figure flew backwards for dozens of meters, but Senti fell directly from the sky like a meteor.
"I am the complete Fu Hua, the complete me, why, why can't I beat you?"
Her figure plunged into the river, cutting off the river dozens of meters wide at the waist. Senti, who was once so confident and thought she was invincible, gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with anger.
But the truth was that no matter how she attacked, she would be defused by Ren. What made her even more frustrated was that she was completely defeated head-on.
You know, Fu Hua's strength was among the best even in the Previous Era, and this power was also Senti's capital for recklessness.
But now…
She seemed to be losing, losing to her former friend.