BANG! BANG! BANG!
The massive sounds of impact echoed with increasing clarity. In the darkness, the wails of the soldiers gradually faded, leaving only Hua alone on the battlefield.
However, even Hua could not hold on much longer.
CRACK!
The golden sword's edge once again collided with Ganesha's armored shell. While leaving a crack on the beast's hide, the blade itself simultaneously shattered.
The Divine Key? It broke?
Hua's pupils contracted. Just as she was about to pull back and retreat, a cannon blast of light shot straight at her, sending her flying.
"Ngh... Is it still no good... Brother, it turns out I really can't do anything at all..."
Her vision was stained with blood, and her consciousness began to dim. In her haze, she seemed to see a familiar figure.
It was her Li, the one who was gentle to everyone, the one willing to accept Herrschers, her older brother.
"Have you come to get me, brother?"
Her trembling hand slowly lifted. In her daze, it seemed to overlap with another hand, fitting perfectly, clasping tightly.
But the very instant their hands clasped, the figure once again became a sun.
"No. Before I find out why he became a Herrscher, I still..."
"I can't die!!"
The figure before her eyes slowly vanished, replaced by the charging Ganesha and the fading light.
At the same time, inside the laboratory, an urgent alert sounded.
[Super-variant factor reaction detected. Adapting and transforming in conjunction with super-variant factor.]
The long, golden sword slowly disappeared, replaced by a pair of golden gauntlets.
When Hua opened her eyes again, her once-azure pupils had turned completely red, and a pair of dragon wings unfurled from her back.
[Before the roar of this behemoth, the fighting spirit and unwillingness in Hua's heart finally transformed into the wings that spread from her back.]
[She soared into the air, looking down upon Ganesha from above.]
[At this moment, a new MANTIS was born, and Hua's life... had only just begun.]
Watching the tables turn in an instant from behind the shattered ruins, Eden gently lowered the pistol in her hand.
Behind her were the soldiers who were supposed to have died in battle.
They all had injuries of varying severity and had fallen unconscious, but their lives were stable.
"As expected of Hua, my old friend."
A golden wine glass reappeared in her hand. Eden leaned gracefully against the rubble and elegantly pressed the earpiece beside her ear.
"Dr. Mobius, you can send the medical team in now."
"Understood."
Mobius's voice came through the earpiece.
By the time the waiting medical team arrived, the battle was already over.
Hua stood atop Ganesha's corpse, letting the rain wash the blood from her body.
Her golden gauntlets slowly clenched into fists, her eyes flashing with absolute resolve.
"I will... turn back the tide!"
---o---
"Li, [please] awaken... within this space."
A voice as gentle as a butterfly's wings seemed to pass through countless dimensions to reach his mind.
Cold, hard, dark.
This was the feedback from his body.
"I... didn't die?"
His thoughts were like a flicker of fire in the darkness—faint, lost, yet burning with a stubborn strength.
"Ngh... I'm not dead yet..."
His fingers slowly dug into the ground. A pair of crimson eyes slowly opened, and Fu Li took in his surroundings.
Scrape... click... whir...
The air was filled with noise.
The sounds of hard objects colliding, of mechanisms opening and closing, of joints twisting and turning, clamored throughout the space.
There was no light, no warmth, no life, and no sensation.
Fu Li climbed up from the ground, his body still wracked with unbearable pain. The Zeroth Power of the Judgment of Shamash was indeed stronger than the Herrscher of Rock's self-detonation.
Is this... the Theater of Domination?
Looking at the familiar environment, Fu Li narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling upon the puppets that surrounded him.
No, some things are different.
Compared to the crudely made and uniform puppets of the Current Era, these were far more exquisite, each with a unique appearance, and their individual strength was much greater.
Fu Li let out a breath and looked at the puppets.
3,996 of them. He knew the number without counting. But how did this Theater of Domination come to be?
He could feel that this theater was born from his authority, but he had no memory of its creation and no control over it.
Suddenly, nearly 4,000 puppets twisted their heads in unison, their red-glowing eyes locking onto Fu Li.
Though they were just stiff faces carved from wood, Fu Li could clearly feel the hatred, venom, and malice in their gazes.
"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!"
"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!"
He didn't know who started it, but thousands of puppets suddenly began to chant in unison, their voices deafening, nearly tearing the theater apart.
"We were one! Why did you betray us!"
"We trusted you so much! Why did you betray us!"
"We were so united! Why did you betray us!"
Accompanied by a barrage of accusations, the puppets took a step forward, closing in on Fu Li with the oppressive weight of their sheer numbers.
One step, two steps, three steps...
Their movements were as if controlled by strings, their faces fixed in bizarre, rigid smiles as they slowly cornered him.
"Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid!"
"Although you betrayed us, we will forgive you! Because we are ultimately one!"
"We will forgive you, but before that, we need to help you see yourself clearly, to see your true identity. You are a Herrscher, Li!"
Their voices seemed to carry a magical power. Fu Li felt an intense pain in his head as another consciousness began to relentlessly devour his sanity.
"Ngh... No, I'm not a Herrscher... I am... a human..."
Fu Li desperately repeated this to himself in his mind, fighting for control of his body against the other consciousness.
However, due to his injuries and the ever-approaching puppets, Fu Li couldn't focus his will at all.
"Get away! All of you, get away from me!"
His expression became somewhat savage. The dragon wings on his back spread and flapped wildly, trying to drive away the puppets closing in.
Puppet after puppet was swatted away, shattered, but they did not die. The cracks on their wooden mouths widened into unsettling, eerie smiles.
"Look at you, MANTIS Li? How pathetic."
"Oh? Look at how powerless you are, my poor little thing."
"That's right, come join us. We are your family. We are your true companions."
Despite Fu Li's struggles, wooden limbs grabbed onto his wings. The puppets piled onto him as if they had no fear of death.
Is the strength of one person truly no match for the 3,996 individuals of Domination?
Fu Li's hand trembled as he reached out from beneath the pile of puppets, unwilling to give up.
"Mobius... Klein... Eden... Aponia... Hua..."
Several names flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. The tips of his fingers gradually grew stiff, and a wood-like texture began to slowly spread across his skin.
But just then, a glowing butterfly suddenly appeared in the dark space and landed on the tip of Fu Li's finger.