Hua explained: "She doubts that she is me, she believes that she is me, she forces herself to be me—this is the foundation of all her actions."
"But at the root—it's just that she is a child who has only just been born. She still possesses kindness and reason; Honkai hasn't fully controlled her yet."
"If she realizes that she is not the person from before, if she understands her true identity, she will panic and be unable to properly wield a Herrscher's abilities."
"At that moment, the flaw she reveals will be our only opportunity."
"However, what we must do is not destroy her—be very careful, Kiana. Do not completely push her into the abyss of Honkai..."
And at the same time.
Bronya was also unable to escape Hua's frenzied pursuit and eventually fainted under her attacks.
But it was the thought in that final moment that made Hua sense something unusual.
She immediately called out: "Old antique..."
Fu Hua responded right away: "Don't call me that."
Hua was somewhat surprised: "You're here?"
Fu Hua nodded: "Of course."
Hua continued: "I forgot about you just now. I thought you took the chance to escape— you didn't run, did you? Was I overthinking it?"
Fu Hua simply shook her head and said: "Aren't I still here?"
"Oh~ It's fine."
She dispelled the illusion, letting Bronya sleep in Project Bunny's arms nearby.
She then came before Kiana: "Thank you, Kiana. I know you trust me."
Kiana looked toward Bronya and asked: "She... fell asleep?"
Hua nodded: "Yeah, she was too overconfident. Is the power of the First Herrscher that easy to control? Look at what happened to those men. Let her rest—don't force it."
"Anyway, you're enough. It's simple..."
She briefly explained her goal: she wanted Kiana to act as judge and determine who the true Fu Hua was.
She hoped Kiana would judge by instinct—whether it was her, the stronger, more decisive, more rational Fu Hua, or the old antique beside them.
Kiana naturally knew who the real Fu Hua was, but she also knew Fu Hua was being controlled.
She could only proceed according to the earlier plan: "You want me to make a judgment, but I know absolutely nothing about you. You showed me a lot of the squad leader's past, yet you say you've already been reborn. I still don't understand you at all. All I know is that you set a trap on this Taixu Mountain and fooled me and Bronya."
"In this situation, how could I possibly give a fair judgment?"
Hua was dumbfounded, looking back and forth between Fu Hua and Kiana.
"Wow! You're right."
"I thought you would choose her—after all, people can't help being influenced by first impressions, but...wow!"
"It's my fault, Kiana. I should have introduced myself first."
"At the very least, I should let you know...the difference between me and that old antique."
Thus...Hua directly created an illusion, recreating the process of Fu Hua meeting Kiana, and at every key point, showing what she herself would have done, thereby demonstrating to Kiana the exact differences between her and Fu Hua.
Each of her decisions was more decisive, with far heavier killing intent—she wanted to kill the Herrscher of the Void first, then kill Otto afterward.
Kiana continually questioned her decisions, pointing out whether doing so would definitely be correct.
She even used Hua's earlier method, overturning causes with results.
During this, Hua also used her power to make Otto in the illusion far more difficult to deal with, preventing Hua's idea of killing Otto from succeeding.
"Well done, Kiana." Fu Hua, residing in the Fenghuang Down, thought to herself.
Her power was so fragile—a single simple action nearly exhausted her entire existence.
Now, she was like a newborn infant, dependent on the Herrscher—
It was precisely the Herrscher's generous sharing that allowed this weathered feather to continue existing.
But...what the Herrscher didn't expect was that this insignificant feather was pondering a way to defeat her.
How could that be possible?
If she died, wouldn't the Fenghuang Down attached to her also disappear?
The Herrscher didn't believe in that possibility—she had never considered it from the very beginning.
—This was precisely the difference between her and the true Fu Hua.
"This time...it should finally be the end..."
Fu Hua, embracing the feeling of impending death, felt a trace of guilt at the very end of her life.
"Everyone..."
And Kiana's questioning reached its climax.
She had no intention of continuing further: "The squad leader I know—Fu Hua—is a strong person who can understand the weak."
Hua said: "I've said it—I'm not her. What you should consider is which of us is better."
Kiana asked: "Are you saying you're not Fu Hua?"
"I...of course I am! But...I've changed." Hua grew increasingly impatient: "Why do you all cling to the past? Aren't I better than her? What has she ever accomplished? Nothing! Everything she did was a failure—failure! Failure!"
"And me? Everything I do succeeds! I can kill Otto! I can defeat Kevin! Why not welcome this new me?!"
Kiana said: "...Maybe, maybe you're better than the squad leader, stronger, able to defeat more powerful enemies. You might be a more outstanding squad leader...but you're not our squad leader."
"You asked the wrong person... The two people in front of you once spent every day with the Fu Hua you look down on. We're her friends."
"We don't care what kind of person Fu Hua should be or what she could become... The one we like is that Fu Hua—just that Fu Hua—our squad leader."
"You can't replace her."
"..."
"...."
"...."
Hua stared at Kiana in silence for a long, long time.
Only then did she speak: "Is this your answer? This is your answer? You choose...her? You choose her?"
"I'm not Fu Hua—she is... That's your answer?" Hua's body trembled slightly.
She raised her head, brows furrowed tightly, lips bitten until they bled.
Kiana seemed to see a mist clouding her eyes. In this instant, the Herrscher looked just like a young child.
"You idiot!!!!" Hua finally couldn't hold back and shouted: "Idiot! Fool! Blockhead!"
"You—this—this—" Her anger was beyond words; the flames of rage burned, yet suddenly cooled at the moment of eruption.
Her eyes widened as she realized: "You already decided long ago, didn't you? You never took me seriously—from the beginning, there was never any choice."
Kiana fell silent.
Hua continued questioning: "And her—she's been helping you all along. You two..."
She closed her eyes.
Clenching her fists tightly, trembling uncontrollably: "So only I was still thinking... It's so unfair. Fine—if you want that Fu Hua, I'll give her back—give her back!!"
She stood motionless. A single feather appeared out of thin air, then shot out like an arrow, landing in front of Kiana.
"Didn't you want her? You all want her—I'm giving her back!"
"Squad leader..." Kiana crouched down and gently cradled the feather.
It was so light, almost weightless, with a familiar sensation faintly transmitting.
Fu Hua said: "It's undone, Kiana... The Herrscher's binding has disappeared..."
Hua said furiously: "Yes—and you're going to die too! I won't share even a bit of power with you anymore. No one but me can save you! Die!"
"Die! All of you die!"
Kiana tried infusing Honkai energy into the feather using Taixu Sword Qi, but the energy only swirled around it.
"Don't waste your power on me, Kiana. There's a more important threat..." Fu Hua's voice was extremely weak.
Hua also said: "Right—don't bother! Fenghuang Down isn't that simple!"
Kiana looked up at Hua: "No...there's still one way..."
She whispered to Fu Hua: "There's still one way, squad leader—to take back your body."
This method startled Fu Hua: "Kiana, she's too dangerous."
But Kiana paid no heed.
She stood up, summoning the Subspace Lance: "Maybe, but I won't let the people around me leave again."
"...Idiot." Hua rolled her eyes: "What are you two acting out? An idol drama? So disgusting!"
"It seems the old antique didn't tell you everything, Kiana. You want to save her?... Don't say you have no chance of beating me—even if you win, saving her is wishful thinking!"
"This body is mine! With her current power, trying to occupy my body? Not a chance! But without my body, her power can't recover."
"Understand? It's a dead end—a dead end! She's done for—hahaha, done for!"
"..." Even so, Kiana still gripped the lance tightly.
Seeing her action, Hua gradually calmed down: "Idiot..."
Then she grew serious: "Fine! You want to fight—let's fight! I'll keep you company to the end!"
Along with her voice, the world began to bend and twist, wrung into a massive vortex. Streams of light burst forth from it, flying toward Kiana.
"Kiana, old antique—since you two are so stubborn, don't blame me for getting serious."
"I'm kind to friends, but I never show mercy to enemies."
"This is the complete Phoenix, the complete Fu Hua—the complete me!"
Her appearance also changed—just as Kiana and the others entered Herrscher state, Honkai energy reconstructed her clothes...making her look far more lively and frivolous, forming a stark contrast with Fu Hua's appearance.
At this moment.
The audience in front of the TV finally understood completely.
"So Hua really is a Herrscher!"
"Though she's a Herrscher, she's really so cute—like a little child desperately craving recognition. Too bad they ran into Kiana and Fu Hua, who don't know how to comfort kids. The only one who can—Bronya—is asleep."
"This is the dog director's fault. He deliberately brought Bronya here—I thought she'd comfort Hua, but she just went offline to sleep?"
"Seriously, if either of them had just comforted Hua a little, I think she'd definitely be willing to help Fu Hua recover. Who knows—she might even share the body like Seele and fight Honkai together."
"It's heartbreaking. So what if Hua's a Herrscher? Aren't they Herrschers themselves? Now they're showing so much hostility."
"If there had been even the slightest misstep, this fight wouldn't have started. I'm convinced."
"This is deliberate by the dog director—making Hua so likable on purpose. Now that the fight's on, one of the two is definitely getting knifed..."
"Definitely. Fu Hua already said this is the last time..."
"..."
Inside the company.
Elysia was also anxious to death watching: "Why did it turn out like this? Why do they have to fight? And even to the point where one must sacrifice? Kiana! You really don't know how to comfort girls at all?"
Kiana, sitting in front, scratched her head and stuck out her tongue: "Because I'm still a kid too!"
"..." Elysia was helpless: "After this episode airs, you and Fu Hua are coming with me! I absolutely have to teach you how to comfort girls!"
Hessian, seeing this scene, chuckled.
To be fair, Fu Hua's acting was truly excellent—this episode had her playing dual roles, and she performed both so perfectly that even Elysia was getting anxious.
"Hahaha~"
He had only laughed twice.
When he felt a sharp pain at his waist.
As expected—it was Elysia...
He looked at Elysia aggrievedly: "Wife, what's wrong?"
Elysia said: "I think the main reason is that you don't know how to comfort girls, which is why you wrote a script like this. In a bit, you're coming with me too!"
"Got it, wife!"
Hessian agreed very readily.
Besides Elysia, Seele was also feeling very uncomfortable watching: "Sister Bronya, I don't understand why things developed like this either? Hua is so cute—just comfort her a little."
Bronya spread her hands: "No choice—who told us to get stuck with a dog director."
"Uh..."
Seele timidly glanced at Hessian, nodded in agreement, then was drawn back to the scene on the TV.
Hua, having fully entered Herrscher state, had her name specially labeled beside her: Herrscher of Sentience.
Under the power of the Herrscher of Sentience, the entire Taixu Mountain had turned into a sword graveyard.
Countless stone swords thousands of meters long stood above the clouds, connected by innumerable iron chains. In the center floated a platform, surrounded by scattered stone swords.
If Kevin saw it, he would surely recognize them—all these swords were Xuanyuan Swords.
The Herrscher of Sentience's voice rang out: "Since I revived and returned, I have yet to taste defeat. Hmph... Kiana, how do you think you compare to Otto, Kevin, or Durandal?"
She slowly floated down onto the platform, facing Kiana directly: "Don't overestimate yourself, fool."
Kiana said nothing.
She drew her pistols, summoned the Subspace Lances, and began her assault.
Her goal was simple: defeat the Herrscher of Sentience and take back the body that belonged to the squad leader!
Several attacks passed.
Yet all were easily blocked by the Herrscher of Sentience.
She hadn't even shown her full power, nor had she attacked once on her own initiative.
"You don't even dare to use your complete Herrscher power—hey, didn't you say I'm a Herrscher too? Without bringing out 100% of your strength, how can you fight me?"
The only response was the Subspace Lances Kiana threw.
The Herrscher of Sentience gripped a lance with one hand: "Do you think your judgment is that accurate? Huh?!"
She crushed the lance with force.
Instantly splitting into several clones: "Since your judgment is so accurate that you can tell which is the real Fu Hua—then try recognizing it again!"
Compared to fighting, the current Herrscher of Sentience was more venting her inner resentment!
Kiana's gaze swept over the five clones before her 3.7, directly firing a shot at several of them.
Very simple—as long as it was the real body, it would definitely be hit.
Sure enough!
The third clone was clearly pushed back.
This also left the Herrscher of Sentience very dissatisfied: "Alright, Kiana... I'm someone who values fairness most. You use guns—so I'll use a gun too. I want you to lose convinced."
Kiana looked at the long spear in her hand and retorted: "That's a polearm..."
"It's a gun anyway!"
The Herrscher of Sentience charged forward with the long spear. Possessing Fu Hua's body and memories, she was extremely proficient in these ancient martial arts.
The long spear danced in her hands, turning into phantoms. Every thrust carried terrifying Honkai energy, forcing Kiana to constantly dodge without daring to block, while using the Herrscher of the Void's abilities to fire Subspace Lances from unexpected angles in counterattack.
"What's wrong? Kiana, is that all you've got? Listen up! Apologize to me now, and I can still let you go!"
Kiana remained silent.
She was focused on dealing with the Herrscher of Sentience's attacks.
It had to be said—after she started using a weapon, without employing the full power of the Herrscher of the Void, it was indeed impossible to face her.
After thinking for a moment.
Kiana decided to first create distance.
Spatial teleportation gates appeared behind her; she instantly jumped in, dodging the spear's horizontal sweep.
She reappeared on a distant iron chain.
The Herrscher of Sentience stood directly on the hilt of a giant sword connected by chains, giving her a thumbs-up, then turning it downward in mockery: "Come on!"
Kiana knew she couldn't delay too long—she had to defeat the Herrscher of Sentience as quickly as possible!
As she was thinking.
A terrifying sword qi slashed toward her.
Followed by a second...a third...
These sword qi flew along the iron chains, each extremely terrifying. Kiana could only dodge the sword qi while charging toward the Herrscher of Sentience...