LIGHT NOVEL Chapter 315: Queen of the Void
The Herrscher of Ice's energy surge subsided quickly, leaving an unnerving silence. Both Kiana and Raven knew what it likely meant: Raven's partner had met an untimely end.
"If you hadn't stopped me, I might have been able to save him." Regret flickered in Kiana's eyes, but she wasn't naive. Raven had betrayed her repeatedly, and World Serpent's actions were unforgivable.
Su's mother had died because of World Serpent's Stigmata Project. Kiana's restraint in not taking revenge was a testament to her self-control.
Now, a World Serpent executive had fallen to a Herrscher, and it was Raven's interference that had prevented Kiana from intervening.
"Sacrificing your own teammate… is that World Serpent tradition?"
"Night Owl…" The repeated blows had broken Raven's spirit. Moth's betrayal had instilled a deep hatred for traitors, and now, having abandoned her own partner, how was she any different?
Even more tragically, she'd deluded herself into thinking Kiana had won through luck, a twist of fate. Yet, Kiana had proven her wrong, exposing Raven as a fool clinging to false assumptions.
Once, Raven had been confident and decisive. As a top mercenary, she was known for her efficiency, her 100% mission success rate a legend in the underworld.
Now, plagued by doubt and indecision, she'd not only doomed her partner but also misdirected her resentment towards her savior. She'd become the very person she despised.
When had she become like this?
Raven coughed up blood, her eyes filled with confusion and despair.
Kiana's kick hadn't just broken her physically; it had shattered the illusions she clung to, leaving deep scars on her soul.
Who did she truly hate? Kiana, the Herrscher of the Void?
Or herself, powerless against the Honkai, incapable of protecting anything?
The last glimmer of light faded from her crimson eyes, leaving only dull emptiness. Her defenses crumbled, she hung her head, staring blankly at the ground.
Drip.
Warm tears streamed down her cheeks, falling like crystalline flowers into the dust. Blood trickled from her lips, mingling with the tears and staining the ground crimson.
The Raven's nest had fallen, and the Raven wept blood.
If only she hadn't antagonized Kiana in Nagazora, if only she hadn't chosen to fight, then Moth wouldn't have had the chance to harm the children.
All her misfortunes stemmed from wrong choices. Her hatred for Kiana had ultimately destroyed her.
"Giving up already?" A girl's voice broke through her despair. Raven slowly looked up, seeing Kiana emerge from the dissipating flames, an image of an eternally burning flame etched in her mind.
No matter how dark the world, she would always burn.
"Millions died in the Second Eruption. Countless more were displaced." Raven's voice was hoarse and weak. The childhood trauma of the Honkai disaster was a recurring nightmare, the root of her hatred for the Herrscher of the Void.
Now, she felt like that little girl again, lost and despairing in the ruins of her village seventeen years ago.
"Kiana Kaslana, tell me, how do you see yourself? Are you the Herrscher of the Void who destroyed everything, or the soul born from a false shell? Don't you feel even a sliver of guilt?"
Resigned to death, Raven looked up at Kiana, the flickering flames of a decade-old fire reflected in her dull eyes. As a World Serpent executive, Raven knew Kiana was a clone.
And because of that, if Kiana wasn't the real Herrscher of the Void, if she wasn't the target of Raven's hatred, then Raven's entire life had been a meaningless pursuit, and the children's deaths were entirely her fault.
To die with such despair, even in hell, Raven would find no peace.
Her raven-feather cloak lay discarded on the ground. The blizzard buffeted her, a raven stripped of its nest, freezing to death in the harsh winter. She gazed at Kiana, her eyes filled with a dying ember's longing for the flame.
"…" Kiana's brief silence made the reflected fire in Raven's eyes dim further. Just as despair threatened to consume her, the girl's voice reached her ears.
"I am Kiana, and I am also the Herrscher of the Void.
Though I was born from Sirin, I am not her shadow. I have my own name, my own friends, my own loved ones. I have my own path to walk.
But I also know, more than anyone, the tragedies the Herrscher of the Void caused, the families she destroyed.
And because I know this, I will not relinquish the Herrscher's power.
As the Herrscher, I will bear the sins of millions.
As the Herrscher, I will inherit the hopes of countless others.
As the Herrscher, I will fight for those who cannot fight, and reshape this broken world into the world I envision.
Running away changes nothing. I inherited the Herrscher's power, and I also bear her sins. I will atone for her mistakes, one by one. That is my purpose, my responsibility as the Herrscher.
No matter how much you hate me, how much you want to kill me, I won't blame you. Because I understand. This is the burden I must carry.
Someone must brave the harsh winter to bring warmth to humanity. Someone must ignite the flame. And that is what I, Kiana, must do."
The flickering flames of Flamescion swayed, merging with the girl's body.
Within the suppressed Imaginary Space, a tiny ember of Flamescion ignited, an anchor point, forging a stable bridge between Kiana and the Imaginary Space.
Empowered by this connection, the Staff of the Underworld's suppression rapidly dissipated, returning the Herrscher's authority to Kiana.
Unaware of this shift, Kiana walked towards Raven, her expression serious. "I don't know if you're satisfied with my answer. But even if you're not, there's nothing you can do about it. You attacked me twice. Counting the time I saved you, you owe me three lives."
"I believe the teacher the children admire so much isn't purely evil. But if you continue down this path, I will stop you."
Kiana could see Raven's spirit was broken. Left alone, she might choose to end her own life.
Kiana didn't particularly like Raven, but she knew the children would be devastated if they lost their teacher.
"Also, the children are safe. Su… Schicksal rescued them. They should be in an orphanage somewhere. They would be heartbroken to see you like this."
She bent down, picking up Raven's discarded cloak.
A raven needed feathers for its nest. But the current Raven wasn't fit to be a teacher. Kiana didn't return the cloak, nor did she reveal the children's exact location. She'd offered these crumbs of hope to reignite Raven's will to live.
Whether she revealed more depended on Raven's choices. If she continued down World Serpent's destructive path, Kiana wouldn't entrust the children's safety to her.
With that, Kiana draped the cloak over her own shoulders and turned to leave, heading towards the area where the Herrscher of Ice had appeared.
The unexpected news left Raven speechless, her eyes wide with shock.
"The children? They're…"
Tears welled up in her dry eyes, rekindling a flame in her cold, dark heart. She knelt, facing the direction Kiana had gone.
Through her tears, she saw a vision of a queen ascending a stairway to the heavens.
"I see. So this is the Queen of the Void."