Herrscher of the Domination, Ren

"Was it my imagination?" Staring at the empty signal tower, Kiana murmured to herself. For some reason, since just now, she'd had a feeling of unease, as if something was about to slip from her grasp.

But Himeko and Ren were both in ARC City, she had reconnected with the long-missing Mei, and even her recent emotional confusion regarding Ren had gradually dissipated thanks to Himeko's guidance. Logically, she shouldn't be feeling this way.

Shaking her head, Kiana tried to banish the unsettling thoughts. Yet, the unease brought by her sharp intuition clung like mountain mist – not intense, but impossible to disperse.

Helpless, she could only temporarily suppress her anxiety and decided to go home first to ask Himeko's opinion.

"Speaking of which, why did Himeko specifically ask me to run errands so far away this morning? Is this supermarket different from the ones in the suburbs?"

Mind wandering, Kiana hurried home, preoccupied. But just as she was about to arrive, a faint, ethereal call drifted from the distance.

The voice was far away, yet strangely familiar. She instinctively stopped and looked back. Amidst the bustling crowd, two small figures were waving and running quickly towards her.

The street was somewhat crowded, but the two figures, barely over 1.4 meters tall, were too conspicuous. The moment she recognized them, Kiana froze completely.

"Kiana, wait!"

As the figures drew closer, the voice became clearer. Kiana rubbed her eyes, finally confirming she wasn't mistaken.

"A-auntie?!" The calmness in her eyes was instantly replaced by astonishment. She didn't even notice the snacks she was carrying fall to the ground. By the time she snapped back to reality, one figure had already hugged her tightly.

"Kiana, we finally found you! Boohoohoo!" Theresa, hugging Kiana, completely disregarded her forty-something age and started sniffling right there on the street, drawing strange looks from passersby.

However, the three paid no mind to the onlookers. After the initial shock, Kiana gently hugged Theresa back, patting her back comfortingly. "Aunt, don't cry. I'm perfectly fine, see?"

"But... but I haven't seen you in over half a year! Do you know how worried I was?" As she spoke, Theresa's voice grew choked with sobs. "After you left Anti-Entropy without a word, I kept searching for you. I finally heard you were in Nagazora City, but before I could find you, I got captured by World Serpent!"

"Since then, Bronya and I could only get news about you through Anti-Entropy! You dummy, didn't even send a message back, making me worry for so long!" Theresa sobbed, starting to list Kiana's 'crimes'. "You were this mischievous back in school, and now you're still the same after leaving..."

Listening to her Aunt's rambling complaints, Kiana looked utterly helpless, instinctively glancing towards Bronya for help.

However, Bronya ignored her, instead approaching with a serious expression. She first pinched Kiana's arms and legs, then tugged at her cheeks. Only after thoroughly checking Kiana all over, stopping just short of sensitive areas, did she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Good, it's the real dummy." Confirming it was the real Kiana, the tension visibly eased from Bronya's face.

"What 'real' or 'fake'?" Kiana felt speechless, feigning anger. "You can't even recognize me? You're the dummy, Bronya."

"Dummy it is then. Better than being tricked and run ragged," Bronya shrugged nonchalantly, clearly having learned her lesson.

"Alright, Principal, let's not forget our purpose," Bronya patted Theresa's shoulder, giving her a meaningful look.

Hearing this, Theresa finally composed herself, wiped away her tears, and pulled Kiana to a quieter corner.

She looked into those azure eyes, her expression serious and solemn. "Kiana, tell me, do you know someone named Ren?"

"..." Kiana's pupils constricted. Her heart skipped a beat. She instinctively wanted to deny it. For some reason, she felt a primal urge to hide her relationship with Ren – perhaps because Theresa was ultimately an elder, or perhaps due to some inexplicable possessiveness.

But after a moment's silence, she nodded. Firstly, since Theresa knew the name, she must have learned about Ren already. Secondly, after her talk with Himeko, Kiana's 'emotional embarrassment' seemed to have lessened considerably.

"Then do you know his identity?"

"Identity?" Kiana paused slightly, thinking before answering, "I don't actually know much. Seems like he's connected to an organization called The Obsidian Concord?"

"Anything else? About his abilities, family background, relationships..." Eyes brightening, Theresa pressed eagerly.

"Aunt, are you interrogating me?" Kiana frowned, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Don't misunderstand! I'm just worried you'll be deceived by him..."

Before Theresa could finish, Bronya clamped a hand over her mouth. "The Principal didn't mean it like that. Let me explain."

With that, Bronya directly presented the results of her investigation, including the speculation about Ren's identity.

"Are you saying Ren is the mastermind behind The Obsidian Concord? He has the ability to disguise himself as others? The recent disappearances and murders were all his doing?" Hearing this news suddenly felt absurd to Kiana. Her expression turned icy, and she immediately refuted the claim. "Bronya, I can't be sure if he controls The Obsidian Concord, but Ren absolutely could not be the serial killer."

Seeing Kiana getting agitated, the other two quickly tried to soothe her. "Don't worry, we're not saying he is the killer, just that we suspect him."

But Kiana clearly wasn't interested in hearing more. She shook her head. "I trust him. He's not the type of person to do something like this."

Helpless, Bronya could only present the evidence she found of Ren 'silencing' the witness. The processed video footage was unclear; they could only vaguely make out a grey-haired boy with golden eyes. But looking at those eyes, Kiana fell silent.

Even though the eye color didn't match Ren's usual grey, she recognized the figure as Ren instantly. She stood rooted to the spot, the light gradually fading from her eyes.

"Regardless, since you know him, why not just ask him directly? Whether it's a misunderstanding or the truth, hearing it from him is better than us speculating wildly here."

Theresa's words finally brought Kiana back to her senses. Her gaze sharpened. Ignoring Theresa and Bronya, she directly used the Herrscher of the Void's power.

With a single teleport, Kiana appeared right outside their home. But the moment she arrived, she sensed an anomaly in the space.

"There are traces of spatial fluctuation. Someone was here recently."

But now wasn't the time to ponder that. She pushed open the door and rushed directly into Ren's room.

However, the large room was empty. There was no sign of Ren. Only a ray of sunlight streamed through the window, falling onto an open notebook on the desk.

The notebook's style was familiar to Kiana, so familiar it felt etched into her mind. She walked to the window and silently picked up the notebook from the desk.

Subconsciously, she flipped open to a specific page in the middle. This page was filled with text. The handwriting was messy, almost illegible, but Kiana knew the contents clearly, because she had written them.

[Herrscher of the Domination – Ren]

Ren's name was circled heavily – something Kiana had done emotionally after ruling out the possibility of him being part of the Legion. But now, amidst the list of names, it stood out glaringly.

"Ren..."

Her voice trembled uncontrollably. She flipped to the next page. It was entirely blank, but tucked within the blankness was a clearly torn piece of paper.

The rest of the note was gone. Only the very bottom fragment remained, raggedly displaying two words—

Sorry.