"King's Lament" quietly concluded. The curtain fell, the lights dimmed, and a long silence descended upon the vast Theater of Domination.
After a good while, Elysia lifted her head again, letting Ren's reflection fill her eyes.
She didn't rebuke Ren's twisted logic. Instead, after careful consideration, she offered her own answer. "Ren, I understand your thinking. I know very well that your past and your identity led you to this conclusion."
"But I won't agree with you. In my view, birds fly for far more than just the threat of death. They should have their own aspirations. Only a yearning that comes from within truly counts as flight."
"Otherwise, it's just a long, forced escape."
She didn't judge Ren's ideas as right or wrong, because "Why do birds fly?" was fundamentally a philosophical question. Philosophy has no single correct answer; it yields entirely different, even contradictory, answers based on each individual's life experiences.
To refute others would be to negate oneself.
"If you truly intend to go that far, I will stop you," Elysia said seriously, meeting Ren's gaze.
"..." Ren remained silent, his expression unreadable.
Ely clearly had no intention of backing down either. She stared directly at Ren, as if trying to see right through him.
They had known each other for so long. While not exactly soulmates, Ely knew Ren wasn't a cruel or bloodthirsty person. But she also knew what Ren had been through.
She herself grieved for the fall of the Previous Era; Ren, having witnessed the destruction of worlds thousands of times, likely had a heart turned to ash long ago. She trusted Ren, but she didn't trust the Honkai.
Ren was a Herrscher. If influenced by the Honkai, the destruction he could unleash might even surpass the Honkai itself.
As she mulled this over, an idea suddenly sparked in her mind. Her expression instantly became strange.
She looked at Ren's cold face, her lips twitching slightly as if holding something back.
"You're not... just trying to find an excuse to pave the way for Kiana, are you?"
Ren's expression didn't change, save for a minuscule, one-percent shift in his pupils. Yet even this tiny change was clearly caught by Ely.
She tilted her head, poking her cheek thoughtfully. "You almost sidetracked my logic just now. Thinking about it carefully, you've only been in this world for a few months. Given your personality, there's no way you could develop such strong convictions about this world in such a short time."
"Secondly, your purpose for coming to this world has always been singular: find Kiana. Although I don't know your exact plan, the fact that you'd abandon your main body in the Imaginary Space to descend personally means you definitely intend more than just a few tender days with her."
"So the answer is obvious. You want to use your Herrscher identity... to change her fate!"
"Well? Am I right?" Her tone was questioning, but her face already showed she was certain of the answer.
Worse yet, she had guessed correctly.
Ren was speechless, his cold expression melting into resignation. "Didn't expect you'd become so sharp after becoming human..."
"This isn't about me being sharp; it's about me knowing you too well."
"Fine. But you're only half right. I am doing this partly to pave the way for her, but it's also to give the weak a chance to change."
He looked down at the threads in his hand, then clenched his fist tightly around them. "I was once called a god, but I know I'm not. I'm just an ordinary person too. But when they look at me with eyes full of despair and prayer, a desire to answer those prayers naturally arises within me."
Opening his hand again, the chaotic threads had somehow woven themselves into a Celtic knot, symbolizing the Herrscher of Dominance. He placed the knot in Ely's hand and said softly, "It's true I don't belong to this world, but I still belong to humanity. The puppets of the Herrscher of Dominance are born from despair. They are lost, they suffer. If no one else will answer them, then let me."
"So you plan to create chaos?"
"Chaos sufficient to shake the entire world. It will rattle the branches, destroy the rigid nest structures, and force civilization to keep flying forward." Ren took a deep breath, then voiced his thoughts.
"Honestly, I don't want you to do this. No matter the revolution, it's always the ordinary people who get hurt."
"That's why I came to you."
"Hm?"
"To give you an opportunity. I will provide you with unlimited financial assistance to create a global aid association. You can call it the 'Elysia World Relief Organization' or something else. Do everything possible to help the ordinary people affected."
"Why not do it in your own name?"
"Because this revolution needs a thorough villain."
...
"Dr. Mobius, is the item I commissioned ready?"
"Heh heh. Stabbing someone, tying them up in a strange place, and forcing them to work... you call that a commission?"
Mobius, being one of the first Flame-Chasers to 'exit' the Elysian Realm, was naturally Ren's first victim. After having Sakura 'kill' her memory data, Ren had directly transferred her to the Theater of Domination.
"Didn't you want to come to the real world? I helped you accomplish that."
"I wanted to return to reality, but not like this. Being locked up in this weird theater... how is it any different from prison?"
Hearing her say that, Ren propped his chin on his hand. "Hmm, you're right, there really isn't a difference."
"Glad you realize it. I advise you to release me back into reality quickly. Otherwise, the thing you want... you might never get it." Mobius felt a flicker of hope.
Just as she thought Ren might be reconsidering, she heard him say abruptly, "Then let's just put you in a cage. Like how you keep your lab rats."
Seeing Mobius's stunned expression, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Since it's prison either way, what's the difference between a theater and a cage? You were planning to kill Raiden Mei; you don't think you're innocent, do you?"
"..."
"Great scientist, this isn't the era where you can just experiment on people whenever you want anymore. Of course, you could always kill yourself. But then, regarding Klein, I'd have no choice but to..."
"Enough!" Mobius cut Ren off, her expression shifting rapidly. The cold-blooded serpent ultimately succumbed to human emotion.
She took a deep breath, regaining her researcher's composure. "The armed puppet is ready. As per your requirements, it's capable of withstanding Herrscher-level energy."
The Theater of Domination was vast. A portion had already been converted into a research area, where Cocolia and a large group of scientists occasionally conducted special experiments.
Following Mobius's lead, Ren finally laid eyes on the small girl with long, pale purple hair floating in the cultivation pod.
Bella!