Houkai Universe.
Kiana Kaslana used Kallen's corpse from a parallel Honkai world to conduct a resurrection experiment.
Kallen, who had been dead for five hundred years, had been preserved in a hibernation pod created by Otto using the Fifth Divine Key—"The Great Hibernation." Her body was in excellent condition, looking as though she had only recently died.
Kiana Kaslana repaired every cell in Kallen's body and reactivated her consciousness.
The dead cells were revived, and neural signals in her brain were restored.
Kallen Kaslana slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the unfamiliar white-haired girl before her, confusion filled her gaze. "Who are you? Where is this?"
Kallen sat up and looked around. Everything felt strange and unfamiliar.
"This is the future. I'm the one who revived you," Kiana Kaslana said, sitting beside her. "Do you still remember your past?"
She had meticulously repaired Kallen's brain to ensure there were no memory loss issues.
The future. Resurrection!
Kallen frowned and pressed a hand to her forehead as memories of the past flooded back like a tide. She remembered her sacrifice, and she remembered Otto.
I already died!
Otto had released Honkai Beasts to save her. While protecting the civilians, his body had been pierced through by a Honkai Beast, and he died.
Kallen rubbed her temples, trying to steady herself.
"Has human technology advanced to the point where it can resurrect the dead?" Kallen turned to look at Kiana Kaslana, studying her features carefully. "You're from the Kaslana family?"
"My name is Kiana Kaslana. I have some relation to your Kaslana family, but not much. Human technology in this Honkai world cannot resurrect the dead. I used the power of the Herrscher of Finality."
"The Herrscher of Finality?!"
As Schicksal's strongest combatant in her time, Kallen naturally knew what a Herrscher was. Otto had once told her about them.
She had even fought against the Herrscher of Corruption from the Previous Era, which had been sealed within a black box.
"Has humanity already defeated the Honkai?"
"No. Humanity in this Honkai world has been wiped out. I killed them all with my own hands."
Kallen's eyes widened in shock at Kiana's words. "Y-you're joking, right?!"
"Haven't you noticed? I am the Herrscher of Finality."
Kiana Kaslana crossed her legs, resting her cheek on her hand as she glanced sideways at Kallen with an amused look.
Kallen staggered backward in disbelief, her eyes filled with vigilance. "Why? Why would you do such a thing?"
Kiana Kaslana remained calm. "If we're talking about cause and effect, the destruction of humanity happened because of you."
"Because of me?"
Kallen couldn't understand why humanity's extinction would be connected to someone who had already died.
Kiana Kaslana transmitted Otto's actions and Sirin's experiences directly into Kallen's mind as memories.
Of course, she made a small alteration. During the battle with Himeko, the revived Herrscher of the Void did not revert into a mindless state. Otto's Sirin Plan failed. She defeated Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent, ultimately gaining recognition from the Cocoon of Finality and becoming the Herrscher of Finality.
"It's fake. This has to be fake."
Kallen kept shaking her head, denying the memories.
Kiana Kaslana stood and floated closer.
"Whether it's fake or not, you can step outside and see the world for yourself."
"..."
Kallen gritted her teeth and decided to go outside.
When she walked out of the room, a barren and lifeless landscape greeted her. The sky was gray, the earth cracked and desolate. A sharp pain struck her heart. Even though she suspected this might be the white-haired girl's deception, the scene before her felt far too real.
In the apocalyptic world, Kallen wandered aimlessly in search of other humans.
No one knew how much time had passed.
Looking at the ruined remnants of human cities, Kallen's heart filled with pain, regret, and self-blame. As she sorted through the chain of cause and effect, she never imagined that her death would lead Otto to commit so many wrongs.
Schicksal had captured Sirin and conducted human experiments in the Babylon Labs, resulting in the birth of the Herrscher of the Void. To revive her, Otto released the Herrscher of the Void just as Anti-Entropy was about to kill her.
Although humanity eventually succeeded in killing the empowered Herrscher of the Void, Otto revived her once more for the sake of the Sirin Plan.
This time, humanity did not achieve victory as they had during the Second Honkai Eruption.
Humanity was defeated.
For the sake of reviving her, Otto repeatedly courted disaster—until humanity was wiped out.
After walking through a world without humans for who knew how long, Kallen knelt on the yellow sand, her hollow eyes fixed on the heavily weathered ruins of a distant city. She had lost the will to live.
To deceive Kallen into believing humanity had perished, Kiana Kaslana had created the entire solar system. The apocalyptic scene on the blue planet was all carefully designed and arranged.
Only after Kallen collapsed unconscious in the sand did Kiana Kaslana appear and bring her back to the resurrection laboratory.
When Kallen woke again and saw Kiana Kaslana, she instantly lost control and launched a frenzied attack. Beast-like traits began manifesting in her body.
Facing the unarmed Kallen, Kiana Kaslana effortlessly knocked her unconscious.
When Kallen woke again, her mind felt chaotic. She only vaguely remembered being consumed by madness, trying to kill the culprit who had destroyed humanity.
What's happening to me?
"The humans who engineered the Kaslana genes also built in a trigger-based berserk mechanism. Once it's confirmed that human civilization has perished, you go into a frenzy."
"I removed it for you. No need to thank me."
Kiana Kaslana wore a white lab coat, holding a test tube filled with purple liquid.
"..."
At this point, Kallen had nearly retreated into herself. She paid no attention to what Kiana Kaslana was saying, curling up in a corner without moving.
"Do you know why I revived you?"
"Back then, I hated humanity too much and wiped them all out in one go. I damaged the planet's environment, and after a few hundred years, there's no life left on it."
"When I returned to Schicksal headquarters, I unexpectedly discovered your perfectly preserved corpse, so I used it for a resurrection experiment."
"Now I want to revive my former friends. So far, I've achieved considerable research results. You are my successful test subject."
Kiana Kaslana spoke to herself, unconcerned whether Kallen was listening.
"As I am now, if I wish, I can recreate human civilization at any time."
Recreate human civilization?!
A glimmer of light appeared in Kallen's hollow eyes.
But it soon dimmed again.
She remained silent.
A civilization created by the Herrscher of Finality would not be her original humanity.
"Kallen!"
Sakura's voice!
Hearing the familiar voice, Kallen abruptly stood up and looked toward the source. Around Kiana Kaslana appeared numerous bubbles displaying scenes.
In one bubble, she saw herself together with Sakura in Yae Village.
"What are you doing?" Kallen asked.
"Observing other worlds."
"Someone from your era probably doesn't understand parallel worlds or the multiverse."
Kiana Kaslana directly transmitted the concept of parallel worlds and the multiverse into Kallen's mind.
Using her intelligent Kaslana brain, Kallen struggled to comprehend and digest the information.
"I'm currently conducting experiments to travel to other worlds. There are many worlds out there."
Kiana Kaslana deliberately disguised herself as someone who hadn't spoken to others in a long time—a lonely chatterbox.
Kallen passively absorbed the information in her words.
As they spent time together, Kallen sensed the loneliness beneath the surface. With her simple and straightforward nature, she failed to notice that Kiana Kaslana was pretending.
Thinking that Otto's many mistakes and Sirin's suffering—leading to humanity's destruction—had all stemmed from her, Kallen placed all the blame upon herself.
"I'm sorry."
One day, as usual, Kiana Kaslana brought food to Kallen. Suddenly, Kallen grasped both of Kiana's hands and apologized.
"Hmph. If apologies were useful, what would we need the police for?"
Kiana Kaslana withdrew her hands.
"I know apologizing doesn't help. If there's anything you need me to do, just say it. I'm willing to do anything—even give my life."
Kallen spoke earnestly.
"That life was mine to begin with. But are you really willing to do anything for me?"
"Yes."
Kallen nodded.
"Then call me 'Master' first and let me hear it."
Kiana Kaslana lifted Kallen's chin with a slender finger.
Master?
Kallen froze. What kind of strange hobby was this?
"What? That's already too much for you?"
Kiana Kaslana smiled faintly.
Kallen's face flushed slightly as she shyly said, "...Master."
"Mm."
Kiana Kaslana nodded in satisfaction.
In the days that followed, Kallen stayed by Kiana Kaslana's side, watching her tinker with various research projects and build all kinds of devices, occasionally assisting as her helper.
Their relationship gradually improved, and Kallen learned what Kiana Kaslana was busy with every day.
She was creating technology capable of traveling beyond the Honkai world, seeking a power so great that even if someone's body and bones were completely destroyed, they could still be revived.
As her assistant, Kallen watched Kiana single-handedly produce piles of black technology. Even someone ignorant of science like her could sense Kiana's monstrous talent.
Even with Herrscher powers, someone who understood nothing could never create such things.
By herself, she had surpassed human civilization.
No wonder Otto had failed.
At the same time, by observing parallel Honkai worlds, Kallen saw different endings.
In one Honkai world during the Black Death era, the daughter of a city lord named Anira trusted that world's Kallen and persuaded her father to trust the Schicksal knights—leading to a massacre of the city.
For the first time in her life, Kallen felt lost. She began to question whether her past actions had truly been correct.
While she was confused, Kiana Kaslana introduced a doctrine of supremacy of power—that all tragedies stem from insufficient ability, and with enough strength, one could shape everything as they wished. This shook the beliefs Kallen had always upheld.
As she observed more and more worlds and witnessed countless human tragedies and extinctions caused by various reasons,
Cracks began to appear in Kallen's conviction to protect humanity. Simply protecting humanity could not change anything.
And now, she no longer had any humanity left to protect.
She needed power—power strong enough to change everything.
"You want to become stronger."
Kiana Kaslana looked slightly surprised. Did I push her too far?
"Please."
"Uh, how do I know that once you gain power from me, you won't try to kill me?"
"I can swear in the name of Kaslana."
Kallen knew Kiana Kaslana was wary of her.
"Forget the swearing. Human betrayal is as easy as eating and drinking."
Kiana Kaslana thought for a moment before continuing.
"I can offer you two ways to grow stronger. One is to perform surgery on you like the MANTIS of the Previous Era. The other is to become my dependent. I'll grant you part of my power."
"Which method would make me stronger?"
"The limit of a MANTIS is roughly someone at Kevin's level—unless I further optimize the technology later. As for my power, you would simply be weaker than me."
"I choose the second method."
"Are you sure? If you accept my power, you'll become a Herrscher—an enemy of humanity."
Was there even any humanity left in this world?
Kallen no longer cared whether she was human. After all, members of the Kaslana family were hardly ordinary humans to begin with.
"I'm sure."
"Since you've decided to stop being human, don't blame me if you regret it later."
"I won't. This is my choice."
"Alright. I'll run several full-body examinations first. Your Kaslana genes were engineered by humans of the Previous Era. There might be hidden issues I haven't discovered yet. I'd rather not have you suddenly go berserk again."
"Mm."
Kallen cooperated fully with the examinations.
"Your skin texture is quite nice."
"I-is it finished?"
"Not yet. Wait a bit longer."
"..."
Kallen felt that the examination was somewhat improper, but since she understood nothing about such matters, she simply closed her eyes and tried not to think about it.
After the examination, Kiana Kaslana extracted Honkai energy from her own body and injected it into Kallen.
One tube per day.
"Do we really have to use this blood-drawing and blood-replacement method?" Kallen asked.
"There are other methods, but you probably wouldn't like them," Kiana Kaslana replied.
"You don't have to consider my feelings."
"Alright. You said it."
"..."
Seeing the smile on Kiana's face, Kallen felt an ominous premonition.
Time passed.
Kallen could sense her flesh being reshaped by Honkai energy, gradually shedding the limitations of an ordinary biological body.
"Is this really necessary?"
"A Herrscher who hasn't destroyed human civilization isn't a proper Herrscher. This is just a simulation. I'll arrange some stimulating scenarios to help awaken you."
Kiana Kaslana brought out a simulated universe. For some unknown reason, Kallen's reality-warping field had yet to awaken.
"Alright. I'll try."
Kallen entered the simulated universe.
Kiana Kaslana immediately sealed Kallen's memories temporarily and arranged classic melodramatic tropes—like possessing powerful cultivation only to be framed by a scheming green-tea rival, forced to prove her innocence by crippling her own power, and similar dramatic setups.