Herrscher of Dominance in Honkai, starting with the abduction of Kiana

After the attack, Theresa was nearly bankrupt. But the financial loss paled in comparison to the disappearance of one of her students.

It had been a full day since Rozaliya vanished. Liliya was still unconscious. Theresa watched Bronya and Seele, their faces etched with worry, feeling utterly helpless.

But as things calmed down, clues began to surface.

"According to Bronya, she and the twins met a green-haired boy in Eye of the Deep. He vanished before their eyes. Bronya suspects some kind of projection technology, but I believe it's a Divine Key ability."

"A Divine Key that can make people disappear…" Theresa mentally reviewed the Divine Keys, but none fit the description.

"No, it wasn't disappearance." Bronya entered the conference room. "It was projection. Consciousness projection."

She nodded at them. "Liliya is awake. Seele is with her. I found this on her, along with some hidden information."

She placed an ordinary-looking seashell on the table. Project Bunny projected a magnified image of it onto the wall.

The image was enhanced, revealing intricate patterns.

"This seashell is the key. I magnified it a thousand times. There are no mineral elements, only thread-like patterns. It's not a seashell, but a complex construct."

"Like a circuit board. Whoever created this is a genius." Bronya's voice held a hint of excitement. After encountering the Herrscher of Reason core, her interest in complex structures had grown. "He hid his consciousness within these patterns. With a bit of energy, he can project himself."

"But what does this have to do with Divine Keys?" Theresa still didn't understand. She knew *of* Divine Keys, but had little experience with them.

"The Key of Sentience."

"When Gray Serpent hacked the Hyperion, the Class Monitor used the power of the Fenghuang Down (feather) to block him. But the Feather disappeared in the Sea of Quanta."

"This seashell is remarkably similar to the Feather."

Bronya continued, "That green-haired boy attacked me in the Sea of Quanta. He suppressed my Honkai energy, stole the Gem of Desire, and even disrupted my Herrscher powers."

"Something that can disrupt Herrscher powers…" Theresa mused.

"Must be a Divine Key. And the Feather the Class Monitor left within me vanished at the same time. The only thing I don't understand is why he didn't escape from Serpent. He let himself be killed."

Einstein spoke. "Two possibilities. He'd already hidden himself, knowing he wouldn't truly die. Or he had a backup plan, making his sacrifice inconsequential."

"Theresa-sensei, did anything strange happen in Eye of the Deep while I was in the Sea of Quanta?"

"Strange?" Theresa thought back. "Gray Serpent attacked. He used some kind of serum to transform into a Honkai beast, then attacked Rozaliya and Liliya… Wait. After Liliya was captured, Rozaliya used two greatswords. Her power… it surpassed even mine. She was like a different person."

Bronya nodded. "So Liliya was right. Rozaliya encountered the seashell that day, made a deal with the consciousness within. He gave her the power to save Liliya, in exchange for her leaving with him."

Bronya projected another image. "This is the girl from the beach. She said the seashell belonged to her big brother, who was dead. She wanted it back. That boy is her 'big brother.'"

Einstein caught the discrepancy. "You said he died in the Sea of Quanta, a separate reality. How could she know?"

"Unless they were connected somehow," Theresa realized.

Bronya projected a final image: the white-haired woman.

"I asked Seele. She's certain this woman is an older version of Kiana. Welt prepared three trial worlds for me in the Sea of Quanta. After the second, the third was canceled. I thought I'd been accepted, but it seems Welt used the trial world as a prison to trap him."

"But Seele wasn't part of the trial. She entered that world too. That's where she learned his name: Kindred. And the Kiana in that bubble universe grew up, accelerated by the distorted flow of time."

Einstein said, "Schrödinger mentioned that you need a fixed point in the Sea of Quanta, or you're lost. If she's truly the Kiana from that world, how did she not only escape the collapsing universe but also find us? Someone had to be her anchor."

"So, based on this…" Bronya connected the dots.

"The boy infiltrated Eye of the Deep, used the seashell to manipulate Rozaliya, and made a deal with her. Then he entered the Sea of Quanta, bypassed Welt's defenses, and met the Kiana of that world. He fought me, trying to steal the Gem of Desire and the Herrscher of Reason core, but was killed by Serpent."

"Someone capable of all that… it can't just be a Divine Key."

All three spoke in unison: "A Herrscher!"

"Only a Herrscher could withstand the Gem's corruption, suppress the core. And he didn't die. He survived."

"After the boy 'died,' Seele met that Kiana… His new vessel."

"The Herrscher of Sentience has arrived."