Tiankong City is located in the southwestern part of Shenzhou. This city is built into the mountains, so whether you’re on the first floor or the twentieth, there’s a chance that the road is right outside your door. In Tiankong City, directions aren’t just north, south, east, and west—there’s also up and down. A route that looks short on the map might take forever to actually walk. Here, taking the bus might feel like riding a cable car, or even a roller coaster. This kind of wondrous scenery is truly one of a kind, even across all of Shenzhou.
It was the night of March 20, 2017. Kiana stood at the peak of a mountain, her gaze fixed on the distance.
A faint blue-purple glow emanated from her body, and Enoxia emerged from within her.
“Eno, this ability of yours is really handy.”
Seeing the mature and relieved expression on Kiana’s face, Enoxia let out a breath of relief:
“Your psychological resilience is stronger than I expected. When I told you all those things, I was worried you might shut down completely or go down some extreme path.”
“Even if that were the case, you could still use the Authority of the Herrscher of Corruption to forcibly adjust my emotions to whatever state you wanted, right?”
Enoxia sighed:
“You’re overestimating my power—or rather, the Authority of the Herrscher of Corruption. For ordinary people with fragile minds, I might be able to skip the persuasion and forcibly alter their cognition without regard for their free will. But don’t forget—I’m a Herrscher, and so are you. At least in my own opinion, assuming all other conditions are roughly equal, the Herrscher of Corruption ranks near the bottom among Herrschers when it comes to direct combat against another Herrscher.
At best, I see myself playing a supporting role. After all, going head-to-head in a direct explosion of power against other Herrschers? That’s really not my forte.”
“All other conditions being equal?”
“Yeah, for instance, if I, as an Awakened Herrscher, go up against a non-Awakened Herrscher, that’s kind of bullying.”
To determine whether a Herrscher is Awakened, it essentially comes down to how well they’ve mastered their Herrscher Core. Enoxia herself is an original Herrscher personality, has never rejected her identity as a Herrscher or the power that comes with it, and has never placed any extra restrictions on herself when using the Authority of Corruption. Naturally, she can fully wield the Herrscher Core of Corruption at one hundred percent—which makes her an Awakened Herrscher.
“For example, Sirin and Wendy right before she was destroyed—they were Awakened Herrschers just like me. Welt Yang, on the other hand, can’t fully integrate the thirty thousand wills within the Herrscher Core of Reason and use them as his own. In terms of Herrscher authority, he’s merely an imitator of Joyce, so he’s not an Awakened Herrscher.”
“As for you and Mei… you’re not there yet, but there’s a very strong possibility. Oh, by the way—how’s Class Monitor doing?”
“Her condition is fairly stable. She listened to our advice and went to get some rest.”
“Is that so… She’s been carrying far too much on her shoulders. It’s about time she took a proper break. If the Herrscher of Ice were still capable of normal communication, we could all be playing mahjong inside your consciousness.”
Kiana couldn’t help but let out a rare chuckle:
“Four people playing mahjong inside my head—I’m afraid my brain would explode.”
Silence fell between them once more. After a few minutes, feeling the atmosphere grow a bit awkward, Kiana took the initiative to speak:
“Come to think of it, you’re more… well… honest than I expected.”
“What, did you want me to be one of those riddle-speakers, spouting nonsense that doesn’t connect from one sentence to the next, calling it ‘setting up suspense while leaving clues,’ making you spend years guessing your own origins? Like an NPC who doles out a tiny piece of information after every task you complete, making you play a puzzle game?”
“Please, spare me. Even if you don’t get tired of that, I sure would. The purpose of language is to facilitate communication between people, not to add confusion for others. If someone likes to complicate simple matters when it comes to key information, it either proves they’re a terrible communicator, or that they’re afraid others might actually understand what they’re saying.”
“Putting everything that happened into words that even a grade-schooler could understand doesn’t hurt my goals at all. Even if I were to spill Otto’s secrets right in front of him, there’s nothing he could do about it. So why wouldn’t I just speak plainly?”
After Enoxia suppressed the Herrscher of Ice, she chose the most straightforward, efficient method to quickly earn trust. She showed Kiana and Fu Hua the full truth about Kiana’s origins and creation—delivered directly as visual images into their minds, all at once. Kiana didn’t need to guess at anything; she could clearly see her entire birth process from an outsider’s perspective.
As it turned out, speaking honestly and plainly avoids a lot of unnecessary conflict. After Enoxia shared the real information with Kiana and Fu Hua, she quickly earned their trust.
“Ah, but to be fair, I am still keeping some things from you. Like I said, until the critical moment comes, I’m also afraid of having my trump cards exposed.”
Kiana gave a smile that was mature enough to break one’s heart:
“That’s okay, Eno. I’m already more than satisfied that you’ve told me so much… Thank you for bringing me into this world. I—”
“Stop. No need for the sappy stuff. If you really want to thank me, how about letting me… do some things I’d love to do?”
Seeing the mischievous grin on Enoxia’s face, Kiana instinctively took a step back, her expression turning flustered.
“What are you doing? I have no intention of betraying Mei. I just want to get closer to you—what were you thinking?”
“Oh… right.”
Seeing Kiana give a slight nod, Enoxia immediately wrapped her arms around her from behind and pressed herself close.
Kiana’s body felt wonderful, and Enoxia couldn’t help but nuzzle against her. Compared to a Sirin-brand body pillow, a Kiana-brand one wasn’t quite as bouncy—but it was actually more firm and springy.
Just a few seconds of being this close made Enoxia understand why Mei couldn’t get enough of her. That soft, smooth feel combined with that pitiful expression… hehehe. Sure enough, a cute cat like Kiana was simply born to be devoured.
Enoxia sniffed Kiana like she was burying her face in a cat’s fur, then let go and took a few steps back, showing no intention of going further.
Seeing that, Kiana relaxed, the tension easing from her shoulders:
“I was overthinking it. If it’s just this much, I’m totally fine with it most of the time.”
“Really!”
Enoxia leaned in again, her eyes practically sparkling.
“Yeah… really.”
Securing permanent permission to pet this Kiana-cat, Enoxia felt that her happiness at this moment was beyond words.
“Let me think… Monday and Tuesday, Elysia. Wednesday and Thursday, Kiana. Friday and Saturday, Sirin. And Sunday, I’ll add Cecilia as an extra treat. Yep, this is how life should be lived to be truly happy.”
Just thinking about how, with adorable beauties like Kiana, she actually had the right to choose who to cuddle with—her mouth betrayed her with an undignified drool.
Realizing her loss of composure, Enoxia wiped the corner of her mouth and looked at Kiana:
“Oh, by the way, if you ever get the chance in the future, you and Mei should visit a place called the Elysian Realm. My sister is there. I think she’d really love to see you both.”
“Eno’s sister.”
“…Yeah. She’s the most beautiful person in this world, in every single way. The Authority of Corruption gives me the ability to change my appearance, and my current look is based on hers.”
She was about to say that she and Elysia weren’t actually blood-related, but then she reconsidered—both of them were directly born from the Cocoon. In a sense, they really could be considered sisters.
Watching Kiana nod slightly with a puzzled look, Enoxia’s mind was already painting a picture of the two of them being completely devoured by Elysia together. After all, in that department, she and Elysia weren’t even in the same league.
