Volume 4, Chapter 38: The Fearless Doll

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"You'll regret this."

"I swear!"

Despite Kiana's best efforts to stay composed during these events, the doll's actions ignited her fury once more. Like the impulsive nature inherent in the Kaslana bloodline, she too succumbed to it now.

She held a specialized weapon developed by Einstein for her—a pistol made from alloy that rapidly collected Honkai Energy and converted it into unique bullets. With ample Honkai Energy, her ammunition was virtually limitless.

Without hesitation, she trained the gun on Puppet Siegfried.

The shot rang out, striking the puppet square in the face. Yet instead of falling, he let out a boisterous laugh. "It's futile, Kiana."

"All your efforts will be wasted."

"Even if they are," Kiana's eyes flickered coldly with anger, "venting my rage is enough for me."

She proceeded to riddle the puppet's limbs with bullets.

Meanwhile, others also fired at Kiana, but their shots had little effect on her.

At that moment, the full extent of a Herrscher's power became apparent. Including Puppet Siegfried, everyone else crumpled under its might.

Silence finally settled over the street.

An invitation fluttered into Kiana's hand, bearing the location for her next destination.

"Again, huh..."

Kiana had a premonition about what awaited her there.

Unlike other Herrschers, the Herrscher of Dominance lacked exceptional individual combat prowess. However, due to its power, it possessed immense destructive potential against the entire world.

For instance, while Sirin casually causing meteors from the moon to strike Earth seemed formidable, the Herrscher of Dominance could wreak havoc more efficiently across vast areas.

Moreover, this Herrscher excelled at fostering an atmosphere of despair.

Every doll was controlled by overwhelming feelings of hopelessness.

And their goal was to turn Kiana into one of them.

"How despicable."

Naturally, Kiana saw through the dolls' intentions, but she couldn't simply ignore the situation.

If she went, there might still be a chance to resolve this crisis; if not, those people in that place would succumb to despair as well.

Then, the number of dolls would only grow.

"Are these Herrschers like viruses?!"

Kiana felt an uncontrollable surge of anger within her, yet despite this, she remained remarkably composed.

She picked up her communicator and dialed someone she hadn't contacted in a long time—Xia Chen.

"I've encountered the Herrscher of Dominance. Is there any way to directly expose and confront them?"

North America, New Mexico.

Among many cities within this country, New Mexico has consistently been one of the less developed regions due to its simple proximity with Mexico, leading to rampant smuggling of Mexican contraband.

However, Anti-Entropy does not involve itself in mundane national affairs. In other words, as an organization reliant on funding from this nation, it lacks any authority to interfere with its political matters.

Thus, despite the Salt Lake Base being located in New Mexico, Anti-Entropy remains indifferent to the chaos engulfing the city.

But today is different.

The situation here has become even more chaotic.

Under the control of the Herrscher of Dominance, these dolls blatantly incite disorder without restraint. Gunshots echo incessantly, and people cower fearfully inside their homes.

Despite police forces attempting to restore order, those individuals seem fearless in the face of death. Compounded by the infiltration of the law enforcement system, maintaining control becomes exceptionally challenging for the officers.

"Even if possessing only ordinary human strength, we remain invincible against them in our grand scheme."

"Because we are gods."

"We truly are gods!"

Upon arriving at the location specified in the invitation in New Mexico, Kiana hears such unrestrained laughter from one of these dolls.

The difference in life tiers between Herrschers and humans was their source of pride.

This distinction couldn't be simply explained by resilience to or mastery over Honkai energy.

Herrschers were inherently beings capable of stepping into another dimension.

For such entities, concepts like lifespan and base energy held no significance; their humanoid forms merely served as vessels for their existence.

What truly empowered Herrschers was their enduring 'presence,' spanning across civilizations indefinitely.

As long as civilization persisted, so would the Herrschers.

A Herrscher from 50,000 years ago and one from today differed only in their containers.

The doll taunted Kiana mercilessly, "Look at them—so weak, so insignificant. This is the chasm between humans and gods."

"Join us. Only our power can fundamentally reshape this world."

"Make them servants of the divine, granting them mercy with fleeting moments of respite. Isn't that also triumphing over Honkai?"

"What do you think? Does it entice you?"

Kiana's response was firm: "Despicable."

How dare these despicable creatures expect her to stoop to their level?

Without hesitation, she fired again.

However, her gunfire had little effect on the escalating chaos, as it wasn't solely caused by the dolls but also by local underground forces.

The violent industries of New Mexico had fostered a thriving criminal underworld.

The dolls exploited this situation, encouraging these illicit groups to take advantage of the turmoil.

With no intervention from the White House or its military—given their indifference towards New Mexico's civilians—the chaos went unchecked.

Unless Kiana used her Authority to eliminate them outright, there was no way to deter these rioters effectively.

Few entities could match the recklessness of dolls.

Nevertheless, she did have options.

"Kiana, the law enforcement system in New Mexico has been restored," Alvitr's voice came through the communicator, thanks to Xia Chen's assistance in patching the connection. Rapidly, the girl explained, "Rin has gained control over North America's entire information network, disabling systems for nuclear weapons and large-scale conventional armaments. However, she hasn't interfered with utilities like water and electricity supply that affect civilian life. Schicksal has already warned the North American government to enhance security measures at power stations."

No one knew what reckless actions these dolls might take, making Rin's role crucial at this moment.

As long as Rin remained outside Honkai's influence, she was the most reliable cybersecurity asset available.

"Thanks."

Kiana sighed in relief.

As long as no large-scale weaponry was involved, even if the dolls caused chaos, the damage would remain minimal.

"Additionally, there's one more matter." Alvitr paused before continuing, "We received information about Mr. Siegfried; Schicksal assisted with the investigation. And here's what we learned:

"It seems that an organization called World Serpent took Mr. Siegfried away. Rin discovered this too, but Lady Durandal assured us she will handle it, so you needn't worry."

Kiana couldn't help but furrow her brows.

The involvement of another power was unexpected. However, Schicksal stepping in to assist...

"Thanks, I appreciate the update."

Weighing the pros and cons, Kiana decided to prioritize dealing with the dolls first.