In the realm of consciousness, the battle had been raging on for who knows how long.
Sirin was furious.
This damned monkey was a hundred times more difficult to deal with than she had imagined, resilient and seemingly unkillable, reminding her of the adversaries she had faced in the war long ago.
"You are just a mere human. Just die already and give me back my body!" Sirin screamed in frustration.
"You're dreaming, you damn idiot!" Kiana retorted, clinging to Sirin's waist.
No matter how much Sirin tried to shake her off by flying wildly through the air, Kiana hung on tightly, kicking and biting without any discernible pattern, making her even harder to deal with.
"You are just a clone grown in a lab, you are not even a real human, and you dare resist me?"
"Whether I'm human or not isn't for you to decide!" Kiana snapped back.
"Heh! It's because of that Sigurd, isn't it? You know, his parents died because of you!"
"...That's why I'm here! If you don't die, how could I ever face him again?" Kiana grabbed Sirin's hair, and despite Sirin's cry of pain, she used her other hand to claw at Sirin's face, drawing blood.
"Ahhh!!" Sirin screamed as she fell from the sky, crashing into the ground.
Simultaneously, Kiana was thrown aside by the impact, coughing up blood mixed with pieces of flesh as her helmet shattered, exposing her mouth.
"Cough!" Kiana coughed, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth.
She staggered to her feet, a crazed smile on her face, her mouth full of blood.
"Die already!" Kiana shouted as she kicked Sirin hard in the waist, sending her flying far away.
But Kiana couldn't control her momentum and collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, unable to stand up for a moment.
In the distance, Sirin floated up, holding her waist, defying gravity.
"Y-you bastard! How dare you... how dare you do this to me!" Sirin raised her hand, and countless void spears shot toward Kiana.
Amid the booming sounds, Kiana was sent flying, but she staggered back to her feet.
"Ahhhh!!!" Kiana screamed as she charged forward, ignoring Sirin's bombardment, seemingly immune to pain and fear.
Sirin's face twisted with rage.
This was it! This was that incomprehensible tenacity!
Despite being outmatched in strength and skill, and even though Sirin was the dominant personality with the advantage of the battlefield, Kiana kept getting back up.
She should have died in the realm of consciousness long ago, or at least passed out countless times, yet she kept clawing her way back, bit by bit, until Sirin found herself in this humiliating situation.
Suddenly, as if the charge had been halted, Kiana's steps faltered, and she collapsed to the ground.
"Did she give up?" Sirin blinked in surprise.
But then, her perception of the real world showed her it wasn't that simple.
...
Under the dark starry sky, on the desolate ground, a silver-haired young man and a gray-haired girl walked side by side toward the kneeling black figure.
When they reached Kiana, Sigurd leaned down, ignoring the surging Honkai energy around her, and patted her head.
"Wake up. Don't fall asleep out here," Sigurd said calmly.
"S-Sig..." Kiana stammered, calling out his name from within the black armor.
Suddenly, her eyes flashed with a golden light, and a fist shot toward Sigurd's face.
But before it could land, Kiana's other hand caught it, stopping the punch inches from Sigurd's face.
He raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the black fist.
"Oh? You dare raise a hand against me? You've improved," Sigurd remarked.
"Sig... let me handle this myself, okay?" Kiana pleaded from within the black armor, her voice trembling with emotion, the sound reaching Sigurd's mind through the device in his ear.
"Don't try that with me. From the time you were little, when have you ever gotten into trouble that I didn't clean up for you? Thank you, Fu Hua," Sigurd said, placing his hand on Kiana's head, his face expressionless.
Fu Hua nodded, forming several hand seals as she chanted, "Huangliang—Enter Dream!"
...
After a brief moment of disorientation, Sigurd found himself in a shattered world.
Looking closely, he saw Kiana collapsed on the ground, blood spreading beneath her like a pool.
The sight was a sharp stab to Sigurd's heart.
Sigurd turned his gaze towards Sirin, who floated ominously in the air.
"Heh! One after another, do you all think I'm an easy target? You've come just in time—I'll deal with both of you, then kill that meddling woman outside. In the palace where the gods once dwelled, I'll offer you guys as a sacrifice... How perfect!" Sirin sneered, raising her hand as countless black holes filled the sky.
Sigurd, expressionless, lowered his head.
The next second, the world around Sirin abruptly changed.
The landscape vanished, along with Sigurd and Kiana, leaving only an endless, desolate plain.
"What is this?" Sirin looked up, finding herself under a pair of cold, vast eyes, like the boundless night sky.
She realized she was standing on a massive hand, spread out like a planet.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her began to tremble violently.
Sirin stumbled, struggling to keep her balance, and when she looked up again, she saw enormous fingers—large enough to blot out the sky—slowly closing in on her, ready to crush her.
"Sig... let me do this myself... I beg you," a voice echoed through the vast world, weak and pleading.
Another, more powerful voice responded, "Do you know what you're asking for?"
Kiana remained silent for a long time, then simply repeated, "I beg you."
She didn't say the rest out loud, but Sigurd could hear it clearly in the world of consciousness: If I can't do this myself, I'll never be able to face you again.
Along with this thought came Kiana's intense fear and despair, and Sigurd understood why.
His vast, celestial eyes wavered slightly.
"If you keep pushing yourself like this, you might die. Death in the consciousness realm is fatal in the real world."
"I'd rather die..." Kiana's voice was thick with tears, as if she were wiping them away even now.
Sigurd's tone turned icy. "Say that again."
In the past, whenever Sigurd used that tone, Kiana would immediately shrink back, too scared to speak.
But this time, she replied, "I'd rather die... Please, just this once, let me handle it. If you don't... I'd rather die..."
Sirin couldn't see what Kiana was experiencing, but on her side, the space around her trembled.
The colossal fingers that seemed ready to crush her remained suspended in the air, neither closing in nor retreating, as the atmosphere grew thick and heavy.
After a long silence, Sigurd's fingers slowly withdrew.
Then, a blood-soaked girl appeared before Sirin, slumped on the ground.
Kiana raised her head, wiped her bloody mouth, and grinned—a feral smile, her teeth stained red.
She leaped towards Sirin with the ferocity of a wild animal.
"You... you bastard! Do you really think I can't kill you? I'll show you my hatred!"
"I hate you too! Why am I you? Why won't you just die, Herrscher of the Void?!"
Boom!!!
Kiana's fist crashed into the shield Sirin had conjured from her void spears.
But Sirin's expression changed—the girl's body was riddled with wounds, her face streaked with tears that should have signified vulnerability, yet this punch was unstoppable.
Boom!!!
Sirin was sent flying, crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop.
She struggled to her feet, her face a mix of shock and fear.
How was this possible?
Kiana had been on the brink of collapse just moments ago, so how had her willpower suddenly surged to a level that completely overwhelmed her?
Kiana's figure leaped forward, landing a few steps away from Sirin.
Her bloodied teeth bared in a snarl, she began walking towards Sirin, step by step.
"Die... die... die..." Kiana chanted, her steps faltering as though she might collapse at any moment, yet the pressure emanating from her was more intense than ever.
Sirin's pupils dilated in fear, and she involuntarily crawled backward.
"How can I be you? Why am I you? Die... die... die..."
"You... you're insane!" Sirin exclaimed, her voice trembling.
Sharing a connection in the consciousness realm, she could sense the extreme turmoil in Kiana's emotions.
Kiana paused, then grinned again, her mouth spilling more blood that dripped down her chin to the ground.
In this twisted and terrifying form, it was clear that Kiana's mental state had become unstable.
"Heh... Just die. Please, die..." Kiana whispered as she reached Sirin, raising her hand to strike, like a madwoman—or perhaps, she had already become one.
<+>
Tn: If you want to see more chapter of this story, please go to my Ko-Fi[1], just for $5 each month, you can read till the latest chapter.
Latest Chapter in Ko-Fi: Chapter 251: Transformation[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://ko-fi.com/post/Chapter-251-Transformation-Z8Z41B2VD4[3]
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/hildegard[4]
[1] https://ko-fi.com/hildegard
[2] https://ko-fi.com/post/Chapter-251-Transformation-Z8Z41B2VD4
[3] https://ko-fi.com/post/Chapter-251-Transformation-Z8Z41B2VD4
[4] https://ko-fi.com/hildegard