"Enough!"
The Herrscher of Thunder stepped between Xia Qi and Raiden Mei, her stare icy. Thunder growled low around her, making the air feel thick and tense.
"You… what do you actually want?"
"I came to make up for the mistakes I made."
Xia Qi looked at them both, her face calm and distant.
"You're me, and I'm you. I came to help you. And to help Kiana."
"Kiana…"
Raiden Mei was slowly coming back to herself. Two clear tear tracks were drying on her face. She stood up slowly.
"What really happened? Why… would you hurt Kiana? I'd never do that to her!"
"And we'd never just watch Kiana face those things alone."
The Herrscher of Thunder stared at Xia Qi, cold and unmoved, a hint of mockery deep in her eyes.
"It's true. I didn't protect Kiana well enough," Xia Qi replied evenly.
"Tell us. What happened in the future."
The Herrscher's voice was cold as ice.
"I can't tell you about the future. It's not that I don't want to." Xia Qi met her gaze, looking at the Herrscher.
"Then why are you here? How are you going to help me?"
"To train you." Xia Qi said flatly. "You're too weak. You wouldn't stand a chance against what's coming. You wouldn't be able to keep Kiana, Bronya, everyone…from running into danger again and again…And you wouldn't be able to stop Kiana from… taking the whole weight of saving the world on her own shoulders in the end… and leaving us behind…"
"..."
Both the Herrscher and Raiden Mei remembered the words 'Kiana' had said before they blacked out. In that moment, all the fear and anger inside them flared up.
"Tell me! Where is she?!"
The Herrscher's voice dropped low. Dark clouds swirled above, lightning snakes dancing through them.
"What is Kiana going to do?! How do we stop her?!"
Raiden Mei pressed urgently.
"You're not strong enough. If you can't even beat Kiana… you can't help her. And you can't stop her." Xia Qi watched them, her tone unchanging.
"Hah. Strength, huh…"
The Herrscher knew she was weaker than Xia Qi right now. But without a second thought, she turned into a flash of lightning and shot toward her.
But Xia Qi simply took one light step back, just before the blade came down.
"You won't—"
The Herrscher's next slash followed her words.
But Xia Qi just watched calmly, then grabbed the blade, yanked it aside, and in an instant, a dozen crimson slashes of light tore through the air and crisscrossed over the Herrscher's body.
"Wh…at?"
Before she could finish, the slashes cut deep into her.
"This is my strength."
Xia Qi sheathed her blade, speaking calmly.
At the same time, the badly wounded Herrscher's body started healing rapidly.
"What?"
"This place is a memory space I made. Here, no matter how badly hurt you get, you'll heal in the next second. Even dying is the same." Xia Qi explained evenly.
"At the same time, I'll teach you everything I know. It's a shame. You and your Kiana should have had three more quiet years together… but I have to tell you—the future is brutal.
You don't have time to rest anymore."
Hearing that, both Raiden Mei and the Herrscher felt their breath catch. An intense, heavy pressure was coming from Xia Qi.
The person in front of them was them.
Both Raiden Mei and the Herrscher of Thunder knew that clearly.
The Herrscher knew Xia Qi was the true Herrscher of Thunder, born from her fusion with Raiden Mei. Raiden Mei, sensing the combined presence of herself and the Herrscher in Xia Qi, had already guessed the truth.
"From now on, unless something happens or I'm not around, every night when you sleep, I'll pull you into this space. Here, in this fake Elysian Realm, I'll train you."
Xia Qi looked at them calmly.
She knew the future was already thrown into chaos.
Kiana's strength was already at B-rank Valkyrie level. If she unlocked her potential faster, she could hit A-rank in six months. With the combat skills Xia Qi had taught her and her toughened spirit, some of the future's hardships could be handled easily.
The butterfly had already flapped its wings, and the storm was here.
And Raiden Mei might not go to the real Elysian Realm anymore—or at least, not go alone. To make sure Raiden Mei could actually face Kiana in the future, to stop her…
Xia Qi decided to train her early, in this scaled-down, homemade version of the Elysian Realm.
"If it's for Kiana, I don't mind," the Herrscher of Thunder said quietly. Raiden Mei nodded too.
"But I don't get it. Why aren't you trying to find Kiana?"
The Herrscher asked softly.
"I can't."
Xia Qi shook her head gently.
"Trash!"
"?"
Xia Qi focused on the Herrscher.
"Are you really me? To say 'I can't' before you even try to find her?"
The Herrscher stared hard at Xia Qi, eyes cold, a heavy pressure radiating from her.
Xia Qi just met her gaze, still calm.
Raiden Mei was watching Xia Qi too. She knew she herself would never, ever give up on Kiana.
Because when everyone else turned away… only Kiana had reached out without a thought and held her hand tight.
"I can't."
Xia Qi still spoke calmly, though her voice had gotten heavier.
"Kiana and I… we're never going to meet again."
"Why?"
"Neither of us belongs to this time. The ones who came back from the future… when one shows up, the others disappear."
"Disappear?"
The Herrscher's brow furrowed deep. Anger burned in her chest.
She couldn't accept that.
"You keep saying you came from the future. So have you ever met your own future?"
"No. We… are the start. But I want this start to end. I don't want what we went through to happen again." Xia Qi replied evenly.
"That's all you need to know. If you want to know more, if you want to stop Kiana from carrying the world alone later, if you don't want to just chase after her and never catch up… then… pick up your blades. Show me what you're made of!"
In that instant, the Herrscher of Thunder answered Xia Qi with a bolt of lightning.
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