"You... cheated?"
The moment those words were spoken, a sense of foreboding rose in the Eighth Herrscher's heart. She immediately realized she had overlooked something. Just as Lin had used the Core of the First Herrscher within his own conscious world to turn defeat into victory, he was undoubtedly plotting something now—and he likely had already achieved his goal!
What was it? What had she missed?
Wait, there were three people observing her conscious world this time...
She had captured Lin and Su the instant they entered, while Dystopia consciousness was already very weak due to multiple observation attempts. After entering, she hadn't lasted even a second before withdrawing, leading the Eighth Herrscher to believe she hadn't successfully captured her.
But now, the Eighth Herrscher sensed that Dystopia hadn't failed to enter due to weakness; rather, she had proactively withdrawn after entering.
Why hadn't she seen the related part in Lin memory?
Could it be...
"Aponia, I'll leave the rest to you."
As Lin words fell, a figure stepped gracefully from behind him. Dragging her wide, white nun's habit at a leisurely pace, she walked to Lin side with her eyes closed.
"You—"
For the first time, the Eighth Herrscher felt genuine shock.
Aponia. Information about this woman in Qianqi's memories was sparse—only that she was a MANTIS who refused to be controlled by Fire Moth. After regaining consciousness, the Eighth Herrscher had investigated Aponia and learned of Fire Moth's actions against her and her intent not to participate in combat, leading her to ignore her existence.
But why was this person suddenly joining the fray?
...No, from the very beginning, when Lin and the others were observing her conscious world, Aponia consciousness had entered alongside them. She then sent the exhausted Dystopia out while hiding herself.
Even the Eighth Herrscher hadn't detected Aponia presence. She had assumed Aponia help in Lin memory was merely to grant him entry into her world, never imagining Aponia would choose to engage her directly.
By now, the Eighth Herrscher finally grasped Lin true plan.
"You've already confirmed my location in the real world?" The Eighth Herrscher phrased it as a question, but she was certain. "I see. You sent that MANTIS named Dystopia out, confirming my location and informing her at the same time."
Lin hadn't known any of this. He didn't even know Aponia had entered the Eighth Herrscher's conscious world; it was only after Lin convinced the polluted souls that Aponia transmitted the message to him.
This was why the Eighth Herrscher couldn't detect Aponia from Lin consciousness.
Realizing this, the Eighth Herrscher immediately tried to seize control of the crowd to threaten Lin, only to find she had lost her grip on their consciousness!
"...If... they were unwilling... to wake up... then I would have had to abandon them..." Aponia opened her eyes. The crimson within them rivaled that of the Eighth Herrscher. "But their consciousnesses chose to resist you..."
If Lin hadn't been able to convince these people, Aponia wouldn't have been able to block the Eighth Herrscher's control. With a single thought, the Eighth Herrscher could have instantly dissolved their consciousnesses.
And Aponia... in truth, had not intended to save them.
She had witnessed their atrocities and seen Lin persistence.
But regardless, these were the people Lin refused to give up on, and Aponia had promised him she would assist him with all her might.
"Your consciousness... is scattered..." Aponia red pupils reflected the Eighth Herrscher's form. She had already discovered that the Eighth Herrscher had split her consciousness into multiple parts; the one here was no match for her.
"Hehehehe... Human, you truly give me many surprises every time."
After her brief shock, the Eighth Herrscher laughed. She ignored the humans she no longer controlled and focused on Lin: "Then I'll give these people back to you. They're just dregs with no future anyway—insignificant pawns compared to the companions you truly value."
"Three hours left. How this 'second round' ends... I'm looking forward to it."
Aponia raised her hand. Golden, pollen-like particles drifted from her palm and struck the Eighth Herrscher's body. In an instant, the Eighth Herrscher disintegrated.
Her mocking smile crumbled before Aponia.
...
"Three hours left..."
The Eighth Herrscher's physical body in reality opened its eyes. Looking at the jumping code on the screen, her fingers trembled involuntarily.
Those humans were actually the easiest group for her to control. Since they felt no attachment to reality, they were willing to hand everything over to her just to stay in the dream; thus, their willpower was the weakest and least likely to resist.
The Eighth Herrscher had intended to use them to break Lin spirit. She was still wary of her previous encounter with him in the conscious world, as well as the experience three months ago of being wounded by an unidentified woman with eyes like Lin. Weakening their consciousness through these means was the safest approach.
But now, it seemed she had made a poor move.
What remained were the people she had forcibly locked in dreams.
The willpower of these individuals was much stronger than those of the "grey" ones. While she could potentially erase them all at once, the Honkai energy consumption would skyrocket. She was already distracted by Fire Moth's observations and the global consciousness pollution she planned for three hours from now; wasting her authority here would likely expose a weakness for that woman, Aponia, to exploit.
The monsters humans create truly cannot be underestimated...
Aponia consciousness was already close to her own. If she weren't the Herrscher of Sentience herself, capable of connecting to the Imaginary Tree, she might not have been stronger than Aponia.
"Three more hours, and the victory is mine..."
The Eighth Herrscher stared intently at the flickering letters on the screen. As a Herrscher, she possessed no human nature, yet at this moment, she felt an intense, human-like urge to defeat Lin.
As long as the consciousness of all humanity was polluted—even if half of them woke up, even if her reality was found and she was captured by Fire Moth due to exhaustion—
She could still instantly ruin half the human world.
Everything would be decided within the next three hours...