Diana, the spirit deer, symbolizes the generosity of creation. She brings sweet dew to thirsty travelers, granting them renewal. Flora, the flower nymph, represents the other side of the Herrscher of Death and Life, bestowing upon enemies their fated decay.
In Seele's hands, these were two distinct, black-and-white concepts. But in [Seele]'s hands, the two sides of the life-death cycle, blended by the powers of the Tree and the Sea, were utilized far more thoroughly.
The generous Sea Spirit raised its beautiful, slender hooves high, then brought them down heavily. The motion was swift and sharp—but the moment of impact was, conversely, light and slow. From the point where the hooves landed, vines imbued with the duality of life and death sprouted. Simultaneously vibrant and bearing the deathly stillness of autumn.
Willow-like branches sprouted new buds, creeping up the puppets' feet, breaking through the 'soil' of their artificial bodies. Long eyelashes fluttered slightly. The girl, eyes downcast, her long hair cascading to her waist, conjured a resplendent flower of life and extinction between her fingers.
"Tricks and illusions! Just some flowers and grass!"
"Watch me ruin that face! I'll rip out all that long hair!"
Gazing at the ethereally beautiful girl reclining in the air, radiating gentle divinity, flames of envy ignited in the puppets' eyes. Among the thousands comprising the Herrscher of Dominance, there was no shortage of those jealous of others' beauty. Witnessing this pure beauty was like looking into an unattainable mirror, or like standing under the scorching sun—utterly shaming.
They desperately wanted to drag her down from her pedestal, cover her in mud, make her as wretched as they were, and curse this unfair world together.
However...
"...What's happening?! I can't move!" Their movements became sluggish, like rust-covered machine parts corroded by seawater. Just trying to shift was agonizingly difficult. The puppets struggled frantically, terrified. But they could only experience the 'decay' of withering trees firsthand, like deadwood.
The original Herrscher of Death and Life's power of decay primarily acted on the cellular level, with limited effect on inorganic matter. Even Seele, who became the Herrscher of Death and Life using the power of the Sea, hadn't changed this. This meant the conventional Herrscher of Death and Life wasn't particularly effective against the Current Era's Herrscher of Dominance. After all, while they were 'life' in a sense, their puppet bodies weren't flesh and blood, lacking the biological life that could be made to decay.
But that only applied to the original Herrscher of Death and Life. Not the current one, the current '[Seele]'.
"Death and life are by no means limited to biological existence."
"Just as stubborn stone erodes under the power of time, just as the sun's brilliance will one day extinguish."
Therefore, the boundary of decay and creation was absolutely not limited to organic matter. For the current Jiang Qiao—for this 'Herrscher of Death and Life' body—the Authority 'she' possessed encompassed far more than the Herrscher of Death or the Herrscher of Death and Life created solely by the Tree or the Sea.
Aside from being limited by her starting point, her power output still couldn't match the Herrscher of Finality. But this Authority of Death and Life was undoubtedly equivalent to the Herrscher of Finality's... No, strictly speaking, it already surpassed the Herrscher of Death authority subsumed by the Herrscher of Finality in both the Previous and Current Eras.
The cycle of life and death, a duality yet unified—a miracle created by the combined powers of the Tree and the Sea.
Lightly gripping the weapon in hand.
—Path of Life Bestowal: You and I are One.
The scythe was the embodiment of the Authority of Death and Life, much like how Death often wields a scythe in mythology to reap the lives of the dying. Its significance was the same. Not a weapon, but closer to a ritual implement. When the blade, judging right from wrong, descended, the beings present completed the separation of life and death.
Evil assigned to death, good assigned to life. The boundary of life and death was drawn here.
Holding the weapon lightly, [Seele] calmly watched the puppets turn to dust in confusion, scattering like ashes carried on the wind alongside her flowing, waist-length hair. Ignoring the last puppet's resentful expression, she raised a hand, gently catching the bright yellow crystal that fell into her palm, then lowered her eyes, resting the scythe.
"Is... it over?" Kiana approached, looking dazed, uncertain, and incredulous. These guys were so troublesome, yet...
—In their eyes, [Seele] had merely changed clothes, summoned a deer that altered the surroundings, then swung her scythe, and the puppets turned to dust. This contrast, this sheer anticlimax, felt unbelievable to Kiana and even Bronya, who had personally experienced just how annoying the Herrscher of Dominance was.
"Hmm~ Did you want to fight three hundred rounds with them?" [Seele] teased.
"Eek... No way! Those puppets are so annoying and gross... Even though I wanted to beat them all up, my hands started hurting..." Kiana waved her hands dismissively, looking disgusted, then pouted, complaining resentfully.
"Mm..." [Seele] noticed something and moved closer to Kiana. The short distance brought the girl's stunning face incredibly close to Kiana's, making the white-haired girl blush furiously, completely caught off guard. A faint scent, akin to orchids yet vibrant with life, intoxicated Kiana.
"Mmph..." The girl's hand gently rested on Kiana's cheek, making the latter's eyes widen, her heart pounding like a frightened deer. Although they had done bolder things before, facing Jiang Qiao in the 'Seele' skin made Kiana even shyer.
"Does it hurt?"
"Hiss..." The pale hand gently brushed Kiana's cheek. In the fight against the Herrscher of Dominance, Kiana had sustained several injuries, including a bloody scratch on her cheek. Although her time in the Elysian Realm and battles with the white-haired old man had significantly increased her pain tolerance, she still couldn't help but wince when the wound was touched.
But soon... the spot being touched felt cool, then warm, and then... comfortable. Like a cat being petted, Kiana closed her eyes contentedly, lost in the sensation.
Nearby, Bronya watched, instantly becoming jealous. Biting her lip, though clearly envious, she waited until Kiana's wound was mostly healed before quickly speaking up: "Um... Bronya too..."
"Can't you heal yourself?" As Bronya tried to solicit some healing, [Seele] looked at her strangely. As supernatural beings surpassing humans, Herrschers possessed potent regenerative abilities.
Just as the Herrscher of the Void could regrow a severed limb (or fin), the Herrscher of Reason was undoubtedly the best at regeneration besides the Herrscher of Death and Life. Welt lost his entire body and still recreated one to cheat death.
Of course, Kiana lacked this ability—at least until she fully accepted that power. The fact that it didn't cause backlash or kill her, allowing her to use parts of it without side effects, was already due to someone being extremely biased.
But Bronya definitely didn't have this problem. In fact, her wounds were already mostly healed—plus, protected by Project Bunny, she hadn't actually been injured much in the fight. Though weak without her Herrscher Authority, her defense was strong!
Bronya fell silent for a moment, glanced at the largest wound on her body—likely a small cut on her finger—and instantly hated the Herrscher's powerful regeneration more than ever. Damn it, Bronya wants to get close to 'Seele's' [CENSORED] too!
Gritting her teeth, Bronya watched Kiana's blissful expression, feeling incredibly unwilling. She watched, hesitated—then... silently put her hand behind her back and made a large cut. Then, with teary eyes, she presented her wound: "Bronya's Authority seems to have a problem... I can't heal..."
"You're really something... Alright then..." The girl glanced over, looking speechless, sighed, and nodded. But before she could do anything, she paused, then shook her head—Thus, while Bronya eagerly anticipated close contact and attentive healing from 'Jiang-Seele', the spirit deer Diana trotted over, licked Bronya's wound... and amidst Bronya's bewildered expression, the wound healed.
Bronya's eyes widened, filled with confusion, disbelief, and indignation. What's the meaning of this? Why did you heal idiot Kiana personally, but let this deer do it for Bronya? Her apricot eyes were full of 'puzzlement', staring daggers at [Seele] as if demanding an explanation.
But [Seele] just smiled helplessly.
—Why touch her personally when you can heal remotely or use the spirit deer?
Undoubtedly, Miss Veliona had expressed strong dissatisfaction. Look at this female cat! Getting all flustered just from being touched, she's clearly taking advantage of our 'Seele'! As a die-hard 'Seele' defender, Veliona felt obligated to protect [Seele] in Seele's absence. Thus, after failing to stop Kiana, Veliona decisively prevented Jiang Qiao from touching Bronya.
"Alright, the wound is healed." Showing a grumpy, annoyed little expression, [Seele]'s tone conveyed displeasure. Your wound is healed, what more do you want? Got a problem? Still saying you weren't trying to take advantage of our 'Seele'?! Don't even think about it!
Bronya's expression turned wooden. She wanted to say something, but seemed to lack a reason. She could only glance at the healed wound, then at the spirit deer Diana winking at her, and silently swallow this grievance.
"Mm... Is the Herrscher of Dominance really defeated?" Kiana asked worriedly, snapping out of her daze and looking around the space.
"Mm..." [Seele] wasn't worried.
True, the Herrscher of Legion had another form—the powers of the destroyed puppets would eventually converge, coalescing into a powerful Herrscher embodying the strength of a thousand: the 'Legion'.
But encountering Jiang Qiao? He certainly wouldn't give those wooden dolls a chance to merge. Under the power of the Herrscher of Death and Life, the Herrscher of Legion puppets were wiped out in one blow before they could even react. Besides the Herrscher of Rock's core, the distributed cores of the Herrscher of Dominance were also being collected by Flora.
"Hm...?" Raising a hand to receive the star-like cluster of cores gathered by Flora, the girl's brow quirked. 998... 999...
"Is something wrong?" Kiana asked.
"One is missing." [Seele] frowned, then lifted the soul vessel in her hand. Rippling power spread throughout the Theater of Domination. But there was no trace of the missing Herrscher of Dominance.
The girl looked at the dim cores, thoughtful: "Deliberately... hid one?"
Undoubtedly, the Herrscher of Legion was the weakest individual Herrscher, but also the hardest to kill. After all, though weak, they were numerous and could hide. Unless wiped out completely, finding one hidden within the vast sea of humanity was difficult.
This was the case in the original timeline—one core of the Herrscher of Dominance quietly escaped during the battle with Kiana. It took Otto deliberately using himself as bait to lure out the final core.
This time, these puppets were even craftier than before. ...They had hidden one puppet beforehand, never even bringing it into the Theater of Domination!
Jiang Qiao was genuinely surprised by this. —These puppets actually possess such intelligence? Or rather, these puppets were clearly arrogant and conceited, yet they had the patience to hide one? Well, considering they managed to drag Chen Tianwu to Australia to cause trouble, perhaps their intelligence had indeed increased compared to the original.
"One escaped? What do we do?!" Kiana grew anxious.
"No matter. Let it run," the girl replied nonchalantly.
After all, unlike other Herrschers, the Herrscher of Dominance was only truly threatening in numbers. If only one remained, even if the Current Era's version was slightly stronger than before, it was at best B-rank Valkyrie level. If it tried to cause trouble, Schicksal Valkyries stationed worldwide could easily crush it.
As for the 'Legion' form—true, even without enough cores, under the right conditions, the power within the collected cores would transfer to the remaining one.
But—that was in ordinary hands. Falling into Jiang Qiao's hands... You think you can transfer power under my nose? Since Origin could sever the connection between Herrschers and the Cocoon, did a mere Herrscher of Dominance think I couldn't cut off its local network?
Even better—he could deliberately use this to fish. If these cores dared to send their power over, Jiang Qiao dared to follow the trail and eliminate the last remaining seedling!
Of course, if they managed to hold back indefinitely, that was fine too. Worse comes to worst, tie up a certain old man and use him as bait. Guaranteed catch every time, no empty hooks!