LIGHT NOVEL Chapter 310: Herrscher of Rock
Chen Tianwu's throat felt constricted, as if a python had coiled around it, squeezing the air from his lungs. His pupils shrank violently. His breath hitched, even his artificial heart stuttered, and the blood in his veins seemed to freeze.
"An… na…" A raspy whisper escaped his lips. His strength drained, he stumbled and fell to his knees before the pendant.
The pale blue heart-shaped pendant filled his vision, all other colors fading to gray. His trembling fingers carefully picked it up from the debris. Holding his breath, he pulled the other half of the pendant from his neck.
The two halves fit together perfectly, shattering the last vestiges of hope in his heart.
He knelt amidst the icy ruins, a piercing pain in his chest. His vision blurred, and chaotic voices flooded his mind.
A surge of Honkai energy converged, rapidly corrupting his perfect host body. Fine Honkai cracks snaked up his neck, seeping into his bloodstream like venom.
Yet, a flicker of lucidity remained. Clutching the reunited pendant, he bent down, his teeth clamping onto the Herrscher core. With one hand supporting himself, he stood.
"Obsidian Concord! They must know! They have to know what happened! Anna! Anna!"
Like a drowning man grasping at straws, madness painted Chen Tianwu's face, blood streaking across it like blooming poppies.
He scrambled back to his briefcase, only to find shattered fragments of his laptop.
Just minutes ago, he had destroyed it with his own hands, severing his only connection to the Obsidian Concord.
The last thread of sanity snapped. Like a lunatic, he tried to piece the broken hardware back together.
His efforts were futile. His movements slowed, finally ceasing altogether. He collapsed, kneeling in despair, tears he thought long dried welling up in his eyes once more.
The falling tears froze instantly, landing on the ground without a ripple.
Unbearable regret gnawed at his soul, and the Honkai, like a beast sensing its prey, closed in.
He knelt, frozen like a statue.
The ever-present Honkai Will seized its chance, feeding on his despair, nurturing the condensing Herrscher core.
But the Rock core's formation wasn't as rapid as a typical Herrscher's. The lingering obsession within Chen Tianwu hadn't fully dissipated.
The desire to see Anna again was the force that had kept him alive. Even with his beliefs shattered, this deeply ingrained yearning instinctively resisted the Honkai's corruption.
Beep, beep.
His forgotten phone suddenly rang. Nearly destroyed during his fight with the Herrscher of Ice, it now flickered back to life.
Chen Tianwu, haggard and consumed by despair, hung his head, deaf to all sounds.
But the phone, long infiltrated by Ren, automatically activated, receiving an email.
The email contained only a few seconds of audio. Without any prompting, it played in the desolate ruins.
"Chen… Tian… wu…"
The blurry voice sounded like a blood-curdling wail, but even in his frozen state, Chen Tianwu recognized Anna's voice. He lowered his head, blood seeping from his tear-stained eyes. On the verge of death, he listened devoutly to his final lament.
But accompanying the girl's call were the sounds of a blade piercing flesh, of ice shattering.
"I hope you won't regret this…"
"For Anna, I won't regret anything."
His conversation with Ren echoed in his mind, now sounding like a cruel mockery of his naive self-righteousness.
"You destroyed Anna, Chen Tianwu!"
"Your self-righteousness killed her!"
"She called your name, wanting to embrace you. And you, without hesitation, pierced her heart.*"
"Chen Tianwu, is this your redemption?"
"Anna…"
The obsession that sustained Chen Tianwu transformed into an unbearable burden of guilt. Anna's dying call shattered the meaning of his life, pushing him into the abyss.
The Herrscher core solidified, and a vortex of terrifying Honkai energy spiraled, nurturing the birth of a Herrscher.
…
The blizzard continued to rage across Coral Island. Although the Herrscher of Ice had been suppressed by Ren, the storm showed no sign of abating. Snow and ice blanketed the city and sea, and despite being on the equator, the temperature plummeted to below -100 degrees Celsius.
A torrent of Honkai energy converged over the ruined urban district, heralding the birth of a new Herrscher.
Standing in the storm, Ren turned, looking back at the pale yellow pillar of light erupting from the heart of the blizzard.
He hadn't stayed to observe Chen Tianwu's transformation. After leaving the fake Ice core and the clues to manipulate Chen Tianwu, he'd departed.
He didn't care about Chen Tianwu's emotional state.
From the moment the Coral Island plan began, Chen Tianwu had been under Ren's complete control. Ensnared by the threads of Dominance, he was like prey caught in a spiderweb, unable to escape.
Chen Tianwu's flawed personality had paved his path to ruin. Even if Ren had offered him a chance, a different choice, the outcome wouldn't have changed.
Anna had saved Chen Tianwu's life. To repay that debt, he would willingly sacrifice himself.
But his obsession was too self-serving, blinding him, his self-congratulatory sense of repayment ignoring Anna's feelings and driving him to extremes.
For the Herrscher of Dominance, such extreme emotions were easy to manipulate. A few carefully placed deceptions were all it took to nudge the self-blinded Chen Tianwu into the abyss.
But Ren was a benevolent Herrscher in his own way. He couldn't bear to witness such a misguided tragedy. So, he provided Chen Tianwu with the quickest, most effective cure.
And the treatment seemed effective.
All the Honkai energy on Coral Island converged, refusing to disperse. The birth of the Herrscher of Rock wasn't so simple. A Herrscher's awakening required massive amounts of Honkai energy, but Coral Island had already birthed the Herrscher of Ice. The remaining Honkai energy wasn't enough to sustain a second Herrscher, at least not without time to accumulate.
As a Herrscher himself, Ren understood that even the seemingly irrational Honkai followed certain rules. He could only attribute the Rock Herrscher's abrupt appearance in the original storyline to direct intervention by the Honkai Will.
Now, the Rock Herrscher's birth was entirely orchestrated by Ren, effectively hijacking the Honkai Will's process. He wasn't sure of the consequences, but the Honkai Will would likely intervene personally.
And that was his ultimate goal.