In stories aimed at a female audience, the more one endures and tries to reason things out, the more brutally one gets abused.
Only by daring to break the rules with one's own power can you clear the stage.
After enduring countless beatings and reincarnations within the simulated universe, Kallen finally understood.
To hell with your reasoning!
You think you deserve that?!
Die!
She had been betrayed, slandered, manipulated, treated like a dog, and then discarded when she was no longer useful.
After experiencing all kinds of physically and emotionally torturous scenarios that made one's blood pressure soar,
Kallen learned how to solve problems quickly and simply—without overthinking.
Reasoning alone was useless. It was better to rely on physical force.
As a result, her reality-warping field was activated.
After recovering her memories and leaving the simulated universe, Kallen suddenly understood many things about her past.
She had been nothing more than a brainless idealist—lacking ability, overly rigid, unwilling to adapt, and seeking self-satisfaction through fearless sacrifice.
If Otto was an evil man who knew he was committing evil, then she was an evil person who did evil without realizing it.
Or perhaps… she had simply never thought things through at all.
As Kallen reviewed her memories, she found something strange. She had never once considered overthrowing Schicksal. Yet with her own strength, Otto's intelligence, and her influence among the people, success had been highly likely.
At that point, she and Otto could have guided humanity toward a better future.
Even if she hadn't overthrown Schicksal, agreeing to escape with Otto would have been better than waiting for death.
Otto had been right—her sacrifice could not save the world.
Not only did it fail to save the world, it ultimately became one of the root causes that led to humanity's extinction.
The dead can do nothing!
What was even more absurd was that a sinner like her had been resurrected in the end.
Was this what people from Shenzhou meant by "good people die young while disasters live for a thousand years"?
Kallen mocked herself inwardly.
She clearly recognized her own lack of ability and had even considered ending her life.
But perhaps there was still a chance to make amends for the mistakes of the past.
Kallen looked toward Kiana Kaslana, who stood nearby staring at a blue light screen. This incarnation of the Herrscher of Finality possessed a portion of the Kaslana family's foolishness—yet was anything but foolish, a being beyond human intellect.
As long as she continued to grow, reviving human civilization in the future, traveling through time, and changing the past might truly become possible.
"Why are you staring at me? Your brain didn't break, did it?"
Kiana Kaslana looked up, waved a hand in front of Kallen's face, and snapped her out of her thoughts.
Kallen came back to herself and lightly pushed the hand away. "I'm fine. I just remembered some things from the past."
"Hmph. As long as your brain still works," Kiana said with her arms crossed.
Kallen took a deep breath, her gaze turning resolute. The mistakes of the past would remain in the past. Now she would create a new future.
Step one to saving the world: win over the Herrscher of Finality.
She knew she was an incompetent fool. If she wanted to accomplish anything, she needed to rely on the Herrscher of Finality.
Otto had spent five hundred years researching resurrection and ultimately failed, only managing to create a parallel world where she was still alive.
The Herrscher of Finality had solved the problem within a single year.
She had transcended the limits of life and death. According to the Herrscher of Finality, even if she died now, reviving her would be as simple as snapping fingers.
The reason Sirin's friends had not been revived was because their physical bodies had long turned to dust. What could be brought back would only be newly created clones.
Kallen did not know what Kiana Kaslana truly thought, but now that she had become a Herrscher and possessed a long lifespan, she could slowly come to understand her.
"Keep using the simulated universe to familiarize yourself with the modern world," Kiana said. "Otherwise, when we reach other worlds, you'll look like a clueless country bumpkin."
"My world-travel machine is almost finished. When it's ready, you and I will go to other worlds together."
"Also, train your mindset. Don't let people from another world grab some ordinary civilians and threaten you into surrendering. If you actually do something that brainless, I'll throw you into another world and let them dissect you for research."
After saying that, Kiana Kaslana turned and left.
"I understand," Kallen said, scratching her head. Was that her way of showing concern?
Watching Kiana's departing figure, she silently planned her next training regimen.
Re-entering the simulated universe,
Kallen began simulating alternate outcomes based on different choices she could have made in the past.
Leading the people with Otto to rebel against Schicksal, fleeing to Shenzhou to seek the protection of the Immortal Phoenix, living in hiding under false identities, or overthrowing Schicksal regardless of the cost.
Within the simulated universe, Kallen continuously tried new decision paths. Each simulation felt like living another life. In one scenario, she led an uprising against Schicksal alongside Otto and the people, the battles fierce and intense.
Kallen discovered that the stronger she became, the fewer casualties were required to overthrow Schicksal.
The lower her moral constraints, the less effective Schicksal's attempts at moral blackmail became once they realized exploiting civilians would not work on her.
Seeing better outcomes again and again, Kallen wanted to slap her past self.
She had truly been an idiot!
As a Herrscher, Kallen gradually learned to think rationally.
Viewing events from an observer's perspective within the simulated universe, she finally saw clearly what kind of person she had been.
A reckless idealist who pursued kindness at all costs.
She wanted everyone to be happy but failed to recognize her own lack of power.
She wished to act but refused to let others make sacrifices for her, choosing only to sacrifice herself.
Kaslana genes?
Kallen did not understand genetics, but by observing parallel worlds from the Previous Era, even she could sense something was wrong with the Kaslana bloodline.
To fight the Honkai, someone had to become a shield and sacrifice themselves for humanity.
The Kaslana bloodline was that shield—engineered by humans of the Previous Era for the Current Era.
All this time, Kallen believed that members of the Kaslana family sacrificed themselves to protect humanity because of their ideals.
Now it seemed more like the belief of protecting humanity had been written into their bloodline as a foundational logic.
Almost an instinct.
Kallen repeatedly tested herself within the simulated universe, learning everything about the modern world.
When she emerged again, the outside world had undergone earth-shaking changes.
Stepping outside, she stared in confusion at the smooth silver metallic ground and the futuristic metal city surrounding her.
When had this city appeared?!
At that moment, a small spherical robot flew over. "Miss Kallen, please follow me."
Kallen followed the floating robot forward, filled with questions. Along the way, she saw numerous high-tech devices operating in orderly fashion, with robots of various sizes flying everywhere.
Soon, she arrived at the tallest building in the city center, crowned with a glowing sphere. The robot guided her inside.
Inside, Kiana Kaslana stared at multiple holographic screens filled with rapidly flashing data that Kallen could not understand.
Seeing Kallen enter, Kiana glanced up. "I prepared equipment for you. It's over there."
Kallen approached and examined it. The outfit resembled a Valkyrie armor set: a black hollowed vest exposing the midriff paired with white sleeves on the upper body, and a white pleated skirt with white stockings below.
"Take whatever else you want," Kiana said.
Various weapon racks and item platforms rose from the floor.
Kallen was familiar with these tools. They all existed in the simulated universe, where she could select different equipment during each simulation.
After Kallen finished choosing, the traversal machine activated.
A vortex appeared in the sky. A beam of light enveloped the two of them, shooting upward into the center of the vortex.
The first world Kiana Kaslana and Kallen traveled to was Inuyasha.
In that world, Kallen followed Kiana across the globe, robbing treasures from humans, minor demons, great demons, immortals, and gods alike.
They launched a global conquest and ultimately unified the world.
Dreamlike Castle.
Kallen looked at Kiana Kaslana, who was lying with her head resting on the lap of Kaguya-hime while surrounded by many beautiful women, and asked, "My goddess, how long do you plan to keep lying there?"
She had never expected that after only one world, Kiana Kaslana would become like this.
Wasn't this descent into indulgence a little too fast?
"After working so hard for so long, what's wrong with enjoying myself?"
Kiana Kaslana ate grapes fed to her by Kikyo.
"I know you worked hard," Kallen said helplessly. She had contributed a lot to conquering this world—but only in terms of effort. Everything else had been handled by Kiana.
Kiana sat up and stretched lazily. "How are the unruly people outside? Any rebellions left?"
"The world has stabilized," Kallen replied. From a chaotic era filled with demons, war, and suffering to a time of peace, abundance, and stability, only a few years had passed.
She deeply admired Kiana Kaslana.
If the Herrscher of Finality chose to be a good person, she could easily transform the world into a better place.
In the eyes of the people of this world, Kiana Kaslana was the greatest leader in history and the strongest being, the one who ended chaos and unified the world.
Even though their greatest goddess disliked humanity and always called them unruly rabble.
"Good. Handle anything that comes up for me. The AI will teach you how."
"Kallen, you need to learn how to share my burdens. Didn't you want everyone to be happy?"
"Fighting alone isn't enough to make everyone happy. You need to understand people and have real capability."
"This is your training. Go on."
Kiana lay back down on Kaguya's shapely thighs and spoke earnestly.
"..."
Kallen's lips twitched. She had a point—but it still felt like she was just pushing troublesome work onto her!
Sighing, Kallen turned and left.
Although the humans of this world had nothing to do with her, if she did nothing, everything would soon revert to chaos.
She traveled across the world, inspecting city construction and asking local officials about the living conditions of the populace.
With factories and improved seeds created by Kiana Kaslana, productivity had skyrocketed to levels far beyond the era, ensuring that ordinary people no longer lacked food or clothing.
The rocket-like improvement in living standards greatly reduced social instability.
Kallen did not know what Kiana's ultimate goal was in ruling this world.
But for now, the world was undeniably better under her rule.
The only problem was that once they left, the world would likely revert to its former fragmented state.
Kallen arrived at a region marked as problematic by artificial intelligence on the Shenzhou map.
After listening to the local official's report, she asked, "Is there something else you haven't mentioned?"
"Lady Kallen, I'm not sure what you mean," the official replied cautiously.
"Do you want me to say it outright?"
Kallen stared at him.
Collusion between officials and merchants, exploiting ordinary people, was the most common issue.
Even though productivity had increased, people's thinking had not changed.
Given the opportunity, they would still exploit the lower classes.
"I-I was wrong, Lady Kallen! Please spare me this once. I'll return everything immediately!"
The official dropped to his knees, trembling.
"I'll give you one chance. Only one."
In the past, Kallen would never have spared someone like this. But honestly… she had yet to meet many who were completely free of greed. It was merely a matter of degree.
"Yes, yes! I'll handle it right away!"
Sweating profusely, the official hurried off to deal with the assets he had gained through corruption.
He could not understand why someone of Kallen's status—close to the Divine Sovereign—would personally come to investigate corruption in such a small place.
Were the higher authorities really so idle?
Kallen continued to the next location flagged by the AI.
With portraits, statues, and photographs spread throughout the world, she no longer needed to introduce herself wherever she went.
Her fame ranked second only to Kiana Kaslana, who was called the Divine Sovereign.
Many even worshiped Kallen's statues as sacred icons.
To handle the endless problems emerging around the world, Kallen learned techniques such as cloning herself and creating familiars, allowing her to manage hundreds of tasks simultaneously.
Watching secretly, Kiana Kaslana began to worry whether Kallen might literally work herself to death.
Ah well.
She could always revive her anyway.
It was necessary for idealists like Kallen to understand the harshness of reality.
Making everyone happy was not something achieved merely by defeating Herrschers.
Someone had to carry the burden endlessly to maintain stability.
Ideally, that person would hold immense authority, capable of suppressing everyone else.
Otherwise, universal happiness would never be possible.
Kiana Kaslana was not in a hurry to move to the next world.
Right now, she was simply bored and looking for amusement.
She was somewhat curious whether, after doing this long enough, Kallen would eventually become truly shrewd—
like the students of Academy City, who had all become remarkably cunning in that environment.