章節 40: Actors in a Play

"Kindness is the purest beauty of humanity, and it's the strength that supports them to keep moving forward. They always believe that only selfless love is the greatest weapon against the Honkai."

"Do you think so too, Taxue?" The grand Dominance Theater was empty. The young man stood at the highest point, overlooking the entire theater, a faint golden light continuously burning in his eyes.

The black puppet cat lay at his feet, motionless, as still as it was meant to be.

"It seems I've forgotten. Without my control, you can't move."

No one could answer him, and Ren didn't need anyone to answer.

He gently lifted a finger, and the previously lifeless black cat, Taxue, suddenly became animated, its gray and gold heterochromatic eyes flashing with intelligence.

"Meow~" It meowed softly, then shook its neck as if a little uncomfortable. "It's so annoying to hold back from talking all the time. That stupid woman probably still thinks I'm just a puppet cat that can't talk."

"Shh!" Ren raised a finger to his lips. "Taxue, you can't say that. She's the warrior we admire the most, the teacher we respect the most, and a wise pioneer."

"Don't underestimate her sharpness, and don't underestimate her determination."

The Imaginary Space was dominated by darkness and emptiness, the most severe blow to one's will. Without the concept of time, endless fear would creep into one's consciousness, constantly eroding the desire for life. And Murata Himeko, in this despairing environment, had stubbornly persevered for three months without breaking down.

This was a desperate situation, an abyss. When Ren appeared before her, when the unknown existence began to pull at her limbs, constantly dragging her into the abyss, she still mustered the courage to resist.

Facing the erosion of the Herrscher of the Thousand People's energy, facing Ren's relentless verbal attacks, facing her own inner darkness consuming her mind, at the final step before falling into the abyss, she stopped. With her will burning fiercely like a flame, with memories stained with blood and tears, she launched her final resistance.

This was something ordinary people absolutely couldn't do, a firm will that even Ren found surprising.

If that were all, Ren would just need to put in a little more effort, wait for that faint flame to burn out, and then retrieve her. For him, the outcome was the same.

The only unexpected thing was that voice message. Ren hadn't actually listened to that recording and didn't know what Kiana had said that made Himeko absolutely trust her judgment.

So, she made a desperate gamble, using her own freedom, her own will as chips, engaging in a losing battle against the Herrscher of Dominance.

Feeding herself to the tiger, just to gain a sliver of hope for her student. Even if the sky was dark, she was willing to burn her last flame to illuminate the night sky for them.

"Foolish? Ignorant? No, that's her true wisdom."

The Dominance Theater was empty, but in Ren's vision, it was already covered with a dense network of puppet threads, an arrangement only he could see, a trap he had personally set.

Murata Himeko wanted to pry into his secrets, so he would let her see everything.

His past, his history. How much was real, how much was fake? No one knew.

While Himeko kept investigate Ren, wasn't he also engaging with her?

From the first word he spoke to her, Ren had been misleading her. The most fundamental point was that Taxue was his clone, not a puppet. Without his conscious control, it absolutely wouldn't move.

And this was the first step in Himeko's misjudgment of Ren. The Herrscher of the Thousand People was controlled by Dominance, but it wasn't that she couldn't retain her own consciousness. And a puppet with consciousness, in terms of combat power, intelligence, or other aspects, completely crushed a purely inanimate puppet, just like Griseo. Even a faint consciousness could make the plays Ren staged become lively and vivid.

This was also why, even at the risk of exposing himself, Ren wanted to preserve Murata Himeko's consciousness. The difference between a conscious A-rank Valkyrie and a puppet was simply too great.

Therefore, controlling a puppet and controlling a clone were two completely different methods. Himeko, as a puppet herself, would definitely judge based on her own perception, and that was the second trap Ren had set for her.

[Dominance Threads]

The Herrscher of Dominance could only control through puppet threads. This was the information Ren had repeatedly revealed to her through his words, even personally demonstrating it once for her. The feeling of having one's bodily senses gradually stripped away was definitely unpleasant, and this would inadvertently deepen her impression.

[As long as I can break free from the control of the puppet threads, I can gain freedom. Even if it's only for a short time, I can stop myself before doing anything irreversible.]

"That's probably what she's thinking." Taxue stood beside Ren, looking down at the Dominance Theater with him. "But she doesn't know that you don't need threads to control her, and she can't break free from the threads. And when she uses all her strength to sever the threads, and you actively disconnect the threads, releasing your control over her, what will she feel?"

"Joy? Relief? Or further confirmation of her judgment?" The black cat grinned, its expression terrifying and ferocious. But there was no smile on Ren's face, because he was thinking about his final trap.

The weapon called "Kindness".

She was a warrior, and a teacher. She had ignited herself, carving out a more perfect future for Kiana. She was willing to use her life to save those lost children. And this was the first layer of the trap Ren set using this kindness, and also the final trap.

After getting too deep into the play, one becomes an actor in it.

The line between reality and illusion was already difficult to distinguish. After abducting Kiana the first time, Ren had no way back and could only follow his plan. And the further he went, the more dangerous he realized this path was.

Kindness was the foundation of humanity. If he always placed himself outside the play, one day he would completely lose his humanity and become a pure Herrscher. But if he got too deep into the play, he might become immersed in it, losing his courage as a Herrscher, and that would be his end.

If Murata Himeko really fell into his trap, he might gain a puppet who would willingly help him. Even if she knew Ren's goal was wrong, with her kind nature, she might very well sacrifice herself, just to pull Ren back from the brink of corruption.

The feeling of deception wasn't pleasant. Every lie was a torture to his own soul.

Standing on the stage of the grand theater, Ren closed his eyes.