Fu Hua opened her eyes. She understood that this was the depths of Kiana’s consciousness.
Before her, there was a faint green flame. She knew this was the manifestation of the Herrscher of Ice’s personality. Although the Herrscher had been severely wounded, it had not been completely destroyed, and as long as it wasn’t completely destroyed, there was always the possibility of a resurgence.
Next, just as before, it would surely exploit the fragility within Kiana’s heart, constantly tempting her to use the Herrscher’s power, and seizing the opportunity to take over her body. Preventing such a thing from happening was exactly what Fu Hua needed to do next.
She knew that for Kiana, the time ahead would perhaps be the most difficult moment of her life. And she herself, having actually served as the “Shadow Knight·Moon Wheel” keeping watch over her, might not necessarily earn her trust.
But that was alright. With the Zeroth Rated Power of Fenghuang Down, her consciousness had been permanently bound together with Kiana’s. No matter how much Kiana tried to reject her, she wouldn’t be able to drive her away. Fu Hua could keep trying to persuade her.
And in the worst-case scenario, to prevent the Herrscher from descending once more, she could also ensure that all three of them perished together.
“Eh, this is…” A brilliant violet light caught her attention.
And at this moment, just as Fu Hua had anticipated, the Herrscher of Ice was ceaselessly brainwashing Kiana. However, perhaps out of impatience, it decided to take a rather aggressive approach.
“By now, you must know that you’re not the real Kiana. Your true identity is nothing more than her clone, K423. The class monitor you once respected was merely a tool used by that Overseer to monitor you. The so-called bond between you two was just a way for her to earn your trust…”
“That’s enough! You keep tempting me to use the Herrscher’s authority—what right do you have to talk about her?!”
“Me? Indeed, everything I do is just to take over your body. But in your perception, I’m clearly the villain, right?”
“Since you already see me as the villain, isn’t that simple? In this world, only good people get guns pointed at them. As long as I have no morals, morals can’t constrain me.”
“What, in your view, does a villain need to have correct values, be charitable, and save the world? Isn’t that just ridiculous?”
“Besides, your father went missing because of you, your mother died because of you, your teacher died because of you. The one who was supposed to inherit the name Kiana is missing, and most likely died because of you too. These are all facts. I’m only stating the facts—why are you getting so worked up?”
“You!”
“Admit it. You and I are the same—in the eyes of the general public on this planet, we were born as monsters. Feeding on all living beings, snatching a child to eat when we’re in a good mood, destroying an entire city when we’re in a bad mood—this is what we should be doing.”
“You think Otto is the source of your tragedy? Then give me your body, and I’ll go kill him and destroy all of Schicksal. You think Fu Hua deceived you? Then let’s work together and completely annihilate that bodiless wretch…”
“Oh my, since when did the Huili clan convert to the path of destruction? When you were all turned to ash by a single arrow from [Lan], Nanook hadn’t even become an Aeon yet.”
A dazzling violet radiance surged into this space, taking human form before the two of them—it was Enoxia.
“You!”
This time, the one who cried out in shock was the Herrscher of Ice.
“Sigh, I can see from your cognition that seventeen years have passed, and you’ve even forgotten your own name… Someone who has forgotten their own self has no right to lecture others! Kiana, you’re not really buying into this thing’s nonsense, are you?”
“I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I did enter St. Freya Academy largely because of you. After all, you were born to resolve calamities, and I definitely didn’t want anything to happen to you.”
At this moment, Kiana, who had been keeping her head down, suddenly lifted it, her gaze locking onto Enoxia.
“What did you… say…”
“Ah, sorry. Since this is the depths of your consciousness, I’m somewhat influenced by you too, and I couldn’t help but chime in.”
Enoxia turned to look at the green flame:
“I apologize to you too. If you have something you want to say to her, please continue. I’ve already saved my progress. No matter how eloquent you are, I’ll ultimately use the Herrscher of Corruption’s authority to forcibly revert Kiana’s cognition back to its current state—think of it as formatting a computer and restoring it to factory settings.”
Looking at the smile on Enoxia’s face, the Herrscher of Ice fell silent. Even the world’s finest agitator, faced with the world’s most vulnerable person, was utterly powerless against her ability to forcibly alter another’s cognition, disregarding personal free will.
“You’re not saying anything? Then I’ll take it from here.”
Enoxia leaned in closer:
“I know that for you, defeating you is easy, but eradicating you is hard. Don’t worry. Until you completely vanish from this world, I will remain attached to your soul. Wherever you are, I will—forever exist.”
A few minutes later, Enoxia approached Fu Hua with a smile:
“So, class monitor, with this, your job just got a whole lot easier, hasn’t it?”
