LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 228: The Fall to Darkness
After successfully entering the core of the Will of Honkai, with Kevin's help, Ren could no longer afford to worry about the outside world. All he could do was endlessly absorb Honkai energy.
To act as an anchor and absorb the Will of Honkai meant enduring its almost infinite Honkai power.
This was only possible because Ren had hundreds of puppets to distribute the load. Other than Kiana, no other Herrscher could withstand such power.
As Ren absorbed more and more rapidly, the Will of Honkai, realizing its constraints, understood that Ren was turning against it. It immediately attempted to upload all its data to the collective.
But after planning for so long, Ren had no intention of letting it escape.
Countless Honkai threads spread throughout the Theater of Dominance. Using the entire Theater as a vessel, Ren restrained the Will of Honkai's vast power. This was Ren's advantage compared to other Herrschers - not only a large number of puppets, but also excellent infrastructure.
But to prevent the Will of Honkai from uploading data, simply enduring the Honkai energy wasn't enough. He had to find its connection to the collective.
The power of Herrschers stemmed from the Honkai. Ren couldn't sever the connection using the Herrscher of Dominance's abilities. To do that, he needed to draw on the power of the Imaginary Tree itself. This was the ultimate goal of the deal Ren made with Otto.
The Previous Era had used Prometheus 17 to hack the Imaginary Tree, creating the Will of Honkai. 17, as a backdoor program, was hidden within, waiting for the New Era to restart Project Stigma.
This backdoor was theoretically only accessible by Kevin, the executor. However, Ren had spent much time carefully opening the Imaginary Space passage for Otto, solely to find the key to this backdoor.
During the previous battles, the humanoid machines Ren acquired from the Sea of Quanta were invaluable. With the help of Cocolia and Himeko, they filtered the information Ren sought - access to 17's program.
By using a password-cracking method, Ren successfully obtained Kevin's account information from the Imaginary Space.
This meant Ren could now log in to 17 using Kevin's account, even accessing the power of the Finality from the Will of Honkai collective.
However, Ren's goal was to break free from the Will of Honkai. Seeking Finality power was counter to this goal. He naturally wouldn't bother. So, his main focus was to cut off this portion of the Will of Honkai from the collective.
By temporarily removing the Herrscher of Dominance's segment from the database's whitelist, the trapped Will of Honkai would become like rootless duckweed. To reconnect to the server, it would have to wait for the Imaginary Tree to respond again.
This period was Ren's opportunity.
Realizing Honkai energy had no effect on Ren, the Will of Honkai could only try to erode Ren using its vast consciousness.
Ren's vessel was too perfect. If it could take him over, it could become a Finality-like existence, despite being abandoned by the collective.
Ren's hive mind became the battlefield for his struggle with the Honkai. If Ren was corrupted, humanity would face the early arrival of the Finality.
If Ren won, he would break free from the Will of Honkai, essentially firing his boss.
In theory, an employee couldn't fire their boss. The ranks of Herrschers and Honkai Gods were fundamentally unequal. But at this moment, the Will of Honkai was trapped by Ren's plan, making the gap in rank less significant. This gave Ren a chance to stand on equal terms with the Will of Honkai.
In an endless, pure white space of consciousness, a disconnected Honkai God sat opposite Ren. Between them was a chessboard with reality as its board.
This was Ren's battlefield against the Will of Honkai and also where the Will of Honkai imprisoned Ren.
Black and white pieces were scattered across the board, representing their constant, intentional or unintentional conflict since Ren became a Herrscher. Previously, Ren's level was too low, he wasn't even given a chance to place a piece, leaving almost all the pieces on the Honkai God's side.
Now, Ren finally had a chance to face the God. But with the trap fully laid, it would be incredibly difficult for Ren to turn the tables.
Unless he found a way to break free, and the one who would break free was currently on their way.
…
The coastal areas of the Pacific were completely covered in ice. The bright sunlight illuminated the snow below, making it appear even more pale. On this endless ice sheet, only one figure was moving forward alone.
Looking at the white expanse, Kiana was reminded of Siberia a decade ago, a place where tragedy was buried.
She knew this was only a hallucination caused by the Honkai's call on Sirin's consciousness, but she couldn't control the sadness that gripped her.
She was only a dozen kilometers from the final battlefield, but Kiana stopped instinctively. Stepping onto the battlefield meant she had to face Ren with the intention to kill him, to become his enemy.
「Do you really have the courage to fight him?」
「Putting out the flame in your heart, that must feel terrible.」
「Why not give up? That way you both can survive.」
Such voices echoed in her mind, Kiana wasn't sure if it was the Herrscher of the Void trying to take control, or if she was afraid.
The hand gripping the Greatsword of Taixuan trembled slightly. The courage she had so carefully mustered seemed to fade in the cold wind.
But when she looked down at the star in her hand, she couldn't help but remember that night when she and Ren had met, supporting each other through their injuries.
"I can't stop here. He's still waiting for me. I have to save him."
Battling the freezing wind, Kiana crossed the boundary.
At the core area, Ren had absorbed all the Honkai energy generated by Tonatiuh (Star Eater). Yet Kevin remained tense.
Though Ren had become a vessel, drawing the Will of Honkai and the vast Honkai energy into himself, it didn't mean the energy had disappeared. As the initial and final vessel, no one knew how strong Ren would become after absorbing so much Honkai energy.
What was certain was that whether they chose to seal him or destroy him, Ren had become a problem that had to be resolved.
During Ren's confrontation with the Will of Honkai, his body was beyond his control.
Under the Honkai's corruption, his gray hair had turned black. Honkai fractures covered his body, as if he would shatter like porcelain doll at any moment.
The instant he opened his eyes, a pair of vertical pupils glowed red, sending a chill down even Kevin's spine.
A true monster had been born.