"Even though I thought before coming that matters at Taixuan Mountain might be resolved quickly, I never expected Fu Hua would settle things with Little Senti in less than half a day."
"Is it that Elysia's secret techniques are just too powerful, or is Little Senti simply too easy to handle..."
Night had fallen. Lynelle sat in the room of the "guest house" on Taixu Mountain, studying the timetable she had just drafted, murmuring to herself.
"But so much time has passed, and there's still no trace of the Herrscher of Rock."
"Raven's surveillance of Chen Tianwu has become so frequent that he probably thinks Raven has taken a fancy to him, yet nothing unusual has been found... Could the Herrscher of Rock really have been 'glitched out' too?"
"Lynelle, Lynelle, what are you thinking about?"
Just then, a graceful figure with silver hair suddenly appeared above Lynelle, skillfully pouncing on the pink-haired girl and knocking her onto the bed.
Satisfied, she buried her head in Lynelle's chest, nuzzling against her.
"Stop rubbing, it tickles... You silly dummy, we've been together for ages, why are you still so clingy..."
Lynelle, her train of thought interrupted by Kiana, helplessly lifted the white-haired fluffball in her arms and asked, "Why are you back so late?"
At this, Kiana's eyes lit up with gossipy delight, and she whispered with a giggle, "I was just catching up on some juicy news!"
"Juicy news?"
"Mhm! I was just listening to how Lixue managed to convince both her masters to share a bed with her!"
"Did she... really need to convince them?" Lynelle tilted her head.
"Didn't Fu Hua discover this afternoon that part of Taixuan Mountain's buildings were in disrepair, so only two guest rooms were available?"
"Though I have my doubts about whether that's actually true, shouldn't Lixue be sleeping with her two masters anyway..."
"Ah, with someone as reserved as the class monitor, how could she actually agree to share a bed with Lixue? So she was planning to sleep on the floor. But then the other Fu Hua was successfully persuaded by Lixue, so in the end, they all ended up sharing the same bed."
At this point, Kiana couldn't help but give a thumbs-up. "Lixue's skills are truly top-tier, especially when it comes to handling her masters."
"Uh..."
Hearing Kiana's description, Lynelle couldn't help but fall into thought.
She suddenly wondered if putting innocent Little Senti together with Lixue was a bit like throwing a lamb to the wolves.
After all, according to what Ragna said, Lixue had been wanting to practice the first half of 'surpassing one's master' for a long time—though Fu Hua had always strictly adhered to the propriety between master and disciple, Little Senti wasn't one to follow the rules!
"Ah, never mind. It's not like anyone's life is in danger... And given Lixue's personality, progress probably won't be that fast anyway."
Upon further reflection, it seemed the current development wasn't so bad.
So Lynelle simply flipped the blanket over and pulled a certain white-haired fluffball into the bed with her.
"Besides, silly Kitten Kiana, you lost the bet this afternoon. You're in enough trouble yourself right now and don't have time to worry about others, hm?"
"Hehe..." Though pinned under Lynelle, Kiana showed no sign of panic. "It's true that I lost the bet, but..."
Kiana's eyes suddenly shifted to a golden hue. "Kiana losing doesn't mean I lost~"
Lynelle: "Hngh!"
--+--
However, while the girls at Taixuan Mountain were entangled with one another, over in Arc City, a certain golden-haired man wasn't having such a good time—to be precise, he was in quite a sorry state.
"Pant... pant... Void Archives, you know, right now, my desire to throw you into imaginary space has never been stronger."
"Hey, hey, this isn't my fault!" The small golden cube flickered beside him.
"Seriously, I told you long ago that the abilities of the Herrschers in this era are vastly different from those in the previous one... And who could have predicted that the Herrscher of Dominance's power would be something so unreasonable..."
"Yeah, that's exactly why I haven't actually thrown you into imaginary space yet."
Otto stood up, shaking his head, which still felt slightly dizzy.
"Fortunately, I brought the Second Divine Key with me this time, or I really might have fallen for it... Luckily, this Herrscher of Dominance core inside me has temporarily lost connection with the main body, so at least for a while, you probably won't be their target."
"But an ability like this, practically cheating..." Void Archives' voice carried a hint of lingering fear.
"Do you really think the current Anti-Entropy and Schicksal can handle it? After all, they're not like you, with so many Soulium bodies to experiment with."
"First, even if every Herrscher in the current era were devoured by the Herrscher of Dominance, humanity still has Kevin as their last line of defense."
Otto, who had found a random spot to begin repairing his injuries, spoke calmly.
"Second, judging by the current situation, the only way to counter this Herrscher of Dominance is to use overwhelming force..."
"However, if this Herrscher of Dominance grows too quickly, it might indeed interfere with my original plans…"
"So, when the first casualty occurs among the human-affiliated Herrschers, if they still haven't discovered the Herrscher of Dominance's true authority…"
"I'll give Lynelle a little hint—after all, she's likely one of the only two Herrschers who might gain the upper hand against the Herrscher of Dominance."
"Of course, that's assuming... your intel about Lynelle possibly being a dual-core Herrscher is true."
"Don't worry, Otto, it's absolutely true." Void Archives' tone was firm.
"Though I don't know exactly what the Thirteenth Herrscher is, it's undeniable that Lynelle received Elysia's legacy."
"So, I suspect she now has two Herrscher cores inside her—one is the Herrscher of Corruption's, and the other is the core inherited from Elysia."
"But looking at it that way... isn't she kind of like a Divine Key herself?"
--+--
"Mmm..."
"Lynelle, Lynelle, stop sleeping, we're here—"
Stelle nudged Lynelle beside her.
"Huh... Ah? We're already here? Where are we now?"
Lynelle, having just returned from the Honkai Impact side, looked around in confusion.
"Silly, of course we're on the Xianzhou." Stelle helplessly pinched Lynelle's cheek.
"Did you forget? Before heading to Penacony, we're staying on the Xianzhou for a week. It works out since everyone has their own things to attend to... But little Stelle should be able to keep you company?"
"Everyone has their own things to attend to?"
Gradually regaining her senses, Lynelle remembered that since matters on the Honkai side had temporarily settled down and there was still some time before the Herrscher of Dominance appeared, her focus for this period would likely be on the Star Rail side.
Quickly, she asked, "Specifically..."
"Dan Heng was summoned by Jing Yuan—probably something to do with his past."
"As for me, I promised Bailu last time that I'd take her to Aurum Alley for a stroll, and now I finally have the time... Oh right!"
Suddenly, Stelle looked up as if remembering something important and hurriedly turned to Lynelle.
"I almost forgot the most important thing. March went to the Exalting Sanctum to get some Immortal's Delight earlier. Before she left, she asked me to tell you—"
"Not long ago, she made an appointment online with Fu Xuan to use the Matrix of Prescience, asking the Master Diviner to help her recover her lost memories through divination."
"She said you're more experienced in this area, so she wanted to wait until you're done with the Ambrosial Arbor before going together. She'll message you then... Uh, Lynelle, why do you look like that?"
"...It's nothing." Once again, Lynelle felt as if she had a toothache.
Should she inform Evernight that someone else was about to dig into their past?
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.