MTLNOVEL Chapter 409: A Thousand Encounters, My Past, Your Future
Crack.
The sound of a twig snapping echoed through the silent mountains.
Senti, bored and restless, looked down at the broken twig beneath her foot. She kicked it off the cliff.
She regretted taking on the role of Lin Zhaoyu. Wouldn't it have been easier to wait for Kiana at the summit?
She glanced towards the Edge of Taixuan. Ren and Kiana sat side-by-side, a peaceful tableau in the deserted mountains, making her feel like the intruder.
This is my home.
She thought back to that rainy night, the imposter pretending to be Kiana, befriending her.
Such a phony. If only I were stronger…
Despite her grumbling, Senti's expression softened.
If she'd unleashed the full force of the Sword God that night, everything would have been different.
Looking at Ren and Kiana, she felt a familiar pang of loneliness, like when she'd first awakened.
She regretted leaving the imposter so abruptly. As the Herrscher of Sentience, she knew the imposter's friendship had been genuine. But her pride wouldn't let her admit it. She'd stormed off in a huff.
"Hmph, once I'm friends with the real Kiana, I won't need him." She muttered to herself.
Her annoyance gave way to boredom again. The Honkai energy needed to maintain her illusion was draining faster than usual. Even with her Herrscher powers, she felt tired.
She glanced at Kiana, confirming she wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Deciding to take a break, Senti left the training ground.
With her gone, Mount Taixu fell silent.
She didn't notice the golden light flickering in Ren's eyes as he watched her leave.
…
"Prying into other people's secrets isn't a good habit."
"This isn't prying," Number 17 countered. "You've concealed yourself remarkably well. A normal Will of the Honkai would never have noticed you. But I'm not a normal Will. I've recorded the history of countless worlds, observed causality across numerous timelines. I only recently discovered the traces you deliberately left behind."
"Deliberately? I don't make such careless mistakes."
"Deception is pointless, Ren. We don't have much time. If not for the Herrscher of Sentience's illusion, it would have taken me much longer to contact you."
"..." Ren was silent. Number 17 was right. Complete isolation was the best way to remain hidden.
But what was the point of that?
"A-872 doesn't exist. You created that name by observing a Time Crystal. You fabricated a game called Honkai Impact 3rd based on the crystal, giving yourself the identity of a 'traverser' when you connected to this world. The story you know is merely a projection of events from other timelines."
"To prevent the Will of the Honkai from reading your mind, you deceived yourself with a lie, creating a puppet named [Ren] as a vessel for your consciousness. You exploited the Will's selection process, deliberately corrupting yourself to become the Herrscher of a Thousand, then controlling all other Herrschers of that type. Dominance didn't choose you; you chose Dominance."
Ren chuckled dryly. "A compelling theory, but it's based entirely on that Time Crystal's unknown origins. Even if it's true, this world is merely a temporary diversion. I observe the ants from beyond, a way to pass the time in this meaningless void." He looked towards the distant Imaginary Tree, its eternal light mirroring the gold in his eyes.
The Tree didn't care for the world below. It had no emotions. It simply was.
"If you're merely passing time, why wait here for millennia, making such elaborate preparations, just to meet her?"
Prometheus 17 held up the Time Crystal. It began to shrink, emitting a deep blue light that illuminated the red sand for thousands of kilometers.
Time seemed to rewind. A figure appeared behind them.
Ren's shadow, his footprints clearly visible in the sand.
Time flowed backward, each footprint revealing his past self. An endless procession, a solitary figure journeying towards the Imaginary Tree.
But at a certain point, the scene changed. Ren, who should have been moving forward, returned to the starting point. He'd clearly done something.
Number 17 opened her hand. The Time Crystal was gone, replaced by a single, deep blue mote. Kiana would have recognized it as a Time Mote, identical to her own.
"You created the Time Crystal, Ren."
"I don't know your true origins, but manipulating time isn't something an ordinary person can do."
Based on the Previous Era's sacrifices and Dr. MEI's research, human civilization was trapped in a cycle. An unknown entity had imposed a test. Only civilizations that matured beyond a certain point could break free.
And the only being known to manipulate time on a civilizational scale was the ultimate enemy—the Final Herrscher.
But Number 17 didn't voice her suspicions. She didn't believe Ren was the Final Herrscher. He couldn't be.
"This is your greatest weakness, your biggest lie."
"You interacted with Kiana as the puppet Ren, becoming her friend, her companion. You split yourself into an emotionless true self and a human-like puppet, allowing the puppet to experience emotions while you maintained control. But that's just self-deception. There is no separation. You are one. The emotional you, the rational you, the sentimental you, the cold and distant you—they are all Ren."
"You lied to yourself about being unaffected by emotions, just to justify expressing them. You planned to sever the connection between the Gem of Haste and the Herrscher of a Domination, yet you never left."
"You are contradictory, complex. You're not a detached observer. You are simply… human. "
Number 17 looked at the distant Imaginary Tree, its branches constantly sprouting new leaves, obscuring the fallen ones and the withered branches.
"Fallen leaves return to their roots. You remain here because you love that girl."
"Kiana."
…
"You met her long before entering this world, didn't you?" Number 17's voice was no longer questioning, but stating a fact.
"Yes." Ren dropped the pretense of indifference, feeling a sense of release.
"I met her a thousand times, in my past, in her future."
"That's why you approached her so readily? I thought it was the Herrscher of a Thousand's instinct to follow the Herrscher of Void."
"That's one way to put it. The Herrscher of a Thousand's sorrow is just a small part of what I've experienced."
"You carry the burden of many… of an entire world, perhaps?"
Ren and Number 17 stood together in the endless desert, no longer adversaries, but united in their gaze towards the Imaginary Tree.
"How much time do I have left?"
"Seven months, at most. This world's rejection is intensifying, even with your puppet delaying the inevitable."
"And if I do as you suggest?"
"Five months. If you touch the Final Herrscher's cocoon, even less."
Ren had known his time was limited since he arrived.
Three months. That's how long he'd had to meet Kiana.
He'd escaped the Will of the Honkai's control during the Pacific battle, preventing his expulsion.
But the Tree's countdown had never stopped. It ticked in reverse, a reminder that he was already dead.
A withered branch should fall, not linger as a parasite in another world.
"You agreed to help us save this world from the Honkai?" Number 17 asked.
"Haven't I been doing that all along?"
"Kiana… she should be this world's queen, its God." Ren's voice was soft, almost a whisper. "I will offer everything I have, to welcome the queen's arrival."