The battle within the consciousness domain had raged for who knows how long.
Sirin was furious.
This damned monkey proved far more tenacious than she'd imagined—neither defeat nor death could stop her. It reminded Sirin of her opponents during the war long ago.
"A mere human... Just die already and give me back my body!"
"You're fucking dreaming!" Kiana retorted politely as she clung tightly to Sirin's waist. No matter how Sirin tried to shake her off by darting through the air, Kiana remained firmly attached, kicking and biting relentlessly. Her attacks were chaotic but unpredictable, making it difficult for Sirin to counter.
"You're just a clone grown from a lab—not even truly human—and you dare defy me?"
"Whether I'm human isn't for you to decide!"
"Hmph! Is it because of Zeke? Haven't you realized by now that his parents died because of you?"
"...That's why I came here! How could I face him again if you still live?!"
Kiana grabbed Sirin's hair, eliciting a pained cry. With her other hand, she seized Sirin's face tightly, drawing blood.
"Ahh!"
Sirin plummeted from the sky and crashed into the ground below.
Simultaneously, Kiana was thrown off balance by the impact, tumbling away. Through the shattered visor, bloody foam mixed with bits of flesh spewed from her mouth.
"Cough!" Kiana coughed, wiped the corner of her lips, staggered back up, and revealed a deranged grin, her teeth stained crimson.
"Die already!"
With all her might, Kiana kicked Sirin squarely in the waist, sending her flying far across the battlefield before collapsing onto the ground herself, gasping for breath, momentarily unable to rise.
In the distance, holding her bruised side, Sirin defied gravity and floated upright once more.
"You...you bastard! How dare you...do this to me!"
Sirin raised her hand, unleashing countless Subspace Lances.
Amidst a series of deafening booms, Kiana was sent flying far away but managed to stagger back up once more.
"Aghh!!!" she screamed.
"Die already!" Kiana charged forward, enduring Sirin's relentless barrage as if immune to pain and fear.
Sirin's expression grew unusually grim.
This is it! This incomprehensible resilience!
Despite being clearly inferior in strength and skill, with Sirin even holding the advantage as the dominant personality on her home turf, Kiana relentlessly rose each time she fell.
She should have been extinguished from consciousness long ago or at least rendered unconscious multiple times by now. Yet, like an unstoppable force, Kiana gradually pushed Sirin into a desperate predicament.
Suddenly, as if responding to a halted battle cry, Kiana's steps stopped, and she collapsed onto the ground.
"Have you given up?" Sirin blinked, taken aback.
However, the real-world perspective soon revealed that there was more to the story.
Against the backdrop of the pitch-black starlit sky and the pallid earth, the silver-haired youth and gray-haired maiden stood shoulder to shoulder as they approached the black figure kneeling on one knee.
Reaching Kiana, Zeke leaned down, disregarding the surging Honkai Energy around her, and gently patted her head.
"Wake up. Don't fall asleep out here," he said mildly.
"Z-Zeke..." From beneath the black armor, Kia stammered his name with a hint of golden light flickering in her eyes.
Suddenly, a fist aimed for Zeke's face, but before it could connect, Kiana restrained it with her other hand.
Zeke glanced at the black-clad fist mere inches away, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh? Still daring to throw punches at me? Making progress?"
"Zeke... Let me handle this myself, please?" Kia pleaded through the vibrations reaching Zeke's ear from within the black armor.
"Don't give me that act. Since we were kids, have I not always been there to bail you out whenever you got into trouble? Thank you, Fu Hua."
With his hand resting on Kiana's head, Zeke spoke emotionlessly.
Fu Hua nodded, forming intricate hand seals while silently incanting:
"Huangliang—Enter Dream!"
After a brief moment of disorientation, Zeke found himself amidst a shattered world.
Upon focusing his gaze, he saw Kiana lying prone on the ground, her blood pooling beneath her and spreading across the earth.
This sight pierced Zeke's heart like nothing else could.
He turned to look at Sirin hovering in midair.
"Hmph! One after another, do you really think I'm that easy to push around? You've arrived just in time. After disposing of both of you, I'll take care of that meddling woman outside. What better place than this former divine residence to offer sacrifices to Him?" Sirin sneered, raising her hand as countless black holes filled the sky.
Zeke lowered his head expressionlessly.
In the next instant, the surroundings transformed dramatically before Sirin's eyes. Zeke and Kiana vanished, leaving only an endless expanse of land stretching out before her.
"What is this?"
Sirin looked up and met cold, indifferent eyes vast as the starlit cosmos. Upon closer inspection, she realized she was standing on a colossal palm, expansive like an unfurled planet.
"Rumble!"
The ground suddenly shook violently, causing Sirin to stumble uncontrollably. When she regained her footing, she beheld enormous fingers, seemingly large enough to collapse the sky itself, slowly closing in around her—a suffocating grip threatening to crush her alive.
"Zeke, let me handle this myself... Please."
A feeble voice echoed across the vast world, carrying a humble plea.
Another grand voice responded:
"Do you understand what you're saying?"
Kiana fell silent for a long moment, unable to add more words; she simply repeated,
"Please..."
Please, I must do this on my own, or there will be no way for me to face you again.
Though unspoken aloud, these thoughts resonated unmistakably within Zeke's consciousness.
Along with her words, Kiana conveyed her extreme terror and despair—emotions that now made sense to Zeke as he grasped their root causes.
As a result, the massive eyes in the sky began to waver.
"If you continue recklessly, you might die. Death in the consciousness domain mirrors reality."
"I'd rather die..." Kiana's voice trembled with evident sobs, as if one could see her desperately wiping away tears.
In response, Zeke spoke coldly: "Say that again?"
In the past, whenever Zeke spoke with such a tone, Kiana would immediately shrink back, too frightened to utter a word.
But this time, she replied defiantly:
"I'd rather die... Please, just this once, let me handle it myself. Otherwise, I swear I'll end it all..."
Sirin couldn't see what Kiana was witnessing on her side, but here, space trembled as the fingers signaling death hovered mid-air—neither descending nor retracting, causing the atmosphere to grow tense and frozen.
After a long moment, Zeke's hand slowly lowered.
Then, before Sirin's eyes, a blood-soaked girl collapsed onto the ground—a ghastly sight.
Kiana lifted her head, wiping away the horrifying spatters of blood from her lips. With a crimson smile, she charged wildly towards Sirin like a frenzied wolf.
"You... you bastards! Think I can't kill you?! You're about to witness my hatred!"
"I hate this too! Why am I stuck being you?! Why won't you just die, Herrscher of the Void?!"
"Boom!!"
Kiana's fist slammed into a shield conjured by Sirin using the Subspace Lance.
Suddenly, Sirin's expression shifted. Her body was riddled with wounds, and tears—symbols of vulnerability—streamed down her face. Yet this punch proved too much to withstand.
"Boom!"
Sirin flew backward, tumbling upon impact far away. Struggling to regain her footing, she couldn't hide her astonishment, even fear creeping in.
She couldn't comprehend it; Kiana should have collapsed moments ago. Why now, suddenly, had her willpower surged, completely overpowering Sirin's?
Kiana leaped through the air, landing mere steps from Sirin. Baring bloodstained teeth, she approached step by step, muttering relentlessly:
"Die... Die... Die..."
Her gait faltered, making her seem vulnerable enough to be toppled by a gust of wind. However, the oppressive aura emanating from her felt stronger than ever before.
Sirin's pupils quivered involuntarily as she scrambled backward several paces.
"How could I be you? Why am I you? Die... Die... Die..."
"You've...gone mad!"
In the consciousness world, Zeke sensed Kiana's emotional turmoil, and Sirin, sharing the same origin, perceived it even more acutely.
Kiana paused momentarily before grinning widely. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth down to her chin and onto the ground.
In this consciousness realm, Kiana's terrifyingly distorted appearance further highlighted her deteriorating mental state.
"Hah... Die already, please just die..."
Kiana approached Sirin, raised her fist, and struck like a madwoman—or perhaps she had already lost her mind.