There were no tears. No weakness. Not even a trace of "human" emotion.
Only a pair of golden, vertical pupils—brilliant like molten gold, yet as indifferent and emotionless as a carved idol.
Kiana… no. Right now, she should be called the "second tenant" of this body.
The Herrscher of the Void.
Sirin.
In that instant, every clue snapped into place inside Su Yu's mind—Kiana's sudden flight, her self-loathing urge to die, the source of calamity, the "god" that had tormented her through endless nightmares—
was right here, in front of him.
"Wretched insect."
Her voice was soft enough to make the skin crawl as she looked down at the man beneath her like he was trash.
"To throw yourself into such a pathetic state… just to save this worthless thing."
"Humans really are hopelessly stupid."
"No stigmata. No Honkai energy response."
"Just… an ant. Slightly sturdier than most."
The fingers around his throat began to tighten.
Suffocation surged in like a rising tide. Su Yu's face turned crimson, veins thumping at his forehead.
"What? You're not going to struggle?"
As his pupils began to lose focus, the amusement in those golden eyes sharpened—like a cat savoring the cruelty of toying with prey.
"Or have you already decided to offer this body as an apology to a god?"
A dead end.
A complete, absolute dead end.
Strength, speed, reaction time—Su Yu had no path to kill a Herrscher in this condition, even a weakened one.
And yet.
At the moment his life hung by a single thread—
right when Sirin expected tears, begging, groveling—
he just stared into those arrogant golden eyes, watching that "Queen" posture like she held sovereignty over life and death.
And then—
Su Yu laughed.
Not the calm laughter of acceptance.
Not mockery, either.
More like… the involuntary sound you make when something is so absurd you can't help it.
It started as a short "heh."
Then became broken, breathy chuckling, interrupted by wheezing.
The Herrscher's movement paused.
Those golden pupils narrowed slightly. This lowly mouse—who should have been terrified—was laughing.
"What are you laughing at?"
Her grip loosened by a fraction, almost unconsciously.
"Lost your mind at the brink of death, insect?"
Su Yu clawed in a greedy sip of thin air.
There was no fear in his eyes.
Only something that made even a "god" uncomfortable—
a pitying look, like he was watching an idiot.
"I'm laughing… because you're… cough… an actual brain-dead child who has no idea what's going on."
Sirin narrowed her eyes, the golden light sharp as a blade.
"Going on?" she sneered, fingers tightening again. "What's going on is your life is in my hand. One more squeeze and your fragile neck will go crack—"
"And then what?"
Su Yu cut her off.
He even tilted his head slightly—pressing his throat closer to her fingertips.
A near-provocation.
"Then what, huh? You going to cuddle this corpse and be a lonely ghost in a world with no Honkai energy… a ghost that can't even eat pizza?"
Sirin's expression froze for a heartbeat.
"What did you say?"
With effort, Su Yu lifted a finger and lightly tapped the air above them—
where a system warning box floated, visible only to him and Kiana.
The numbers were flashing wildly.
[WARNING: Vital signs abnormal][WARNING: Anchor connection extremely unstable]
Sirin's pupils trembled.
Because yes—she could feel it.
The moment she woke in this world, that constant peeling-away sensation, the suffocating rejection of the world itself.
Only when she touched this man did that fear of dissolving ease—just slightly.
"Despicable human…"
Sirin ground the words out. The elegant mask cracked, revealing pure savagery underneath.
"Trying to bind a god with such filthy means? You think you're worthy?!"
Watching her "queenly" poise shatter, the killing intent flaring—
Su Yu didn't change expression.
"You can try."
"Go on. Do it. Kill me. High-and-mighty Queen."
"Trade your precious Herrscher life for my worthless one—doesn't that sound like a great deal?"
Su Yu bared his teeth, blood-threaded, grinning like a lunatic.
Sirin's hand stiffened.
A madman.
A complete madman.
She had killed countless people and seen every kind of ugly desperation.
But no one had ever dared threaten her like this—mutual destruction—
and with that shameless, infuriating "if you kill me you lose big" face on top of it.
Su Yu almost wanted to laugh again.
Death?
As if he hadn't died before.
"What's wrong, Herrscher?" he taunted. "You scared?"
Inside, Sirin sneered.
If she couldn't kill him—
then she'd make him wish she had.
She'd capture him with her authority, force him to live in humiliation at her side, and make him watch with his own eyes how the "useless" Kiana he tried so desperately to save would burn this world to ash.
"You want to die, don't you? You think I'll grant your wish?"
Sirin released his throat, lifting her other arm high.
In her mind, golden Honkai radiance would gather in her palm.
Her proudest authority—
the subspace spear that tore open space itself.
"I'll show you what living hell feels like!"
Her eyes turned vicious as she drew on the vast, boundless Honkai power within—trying to tear space apart and call down divine punishment.
And then—
one second passed.
Two seconds passed.
An awkward silence spread through the air, somehow more suffocating than the choking had been.
No purple fracture of space.
No terrifying ripple of imaginary numbers.
No spears of destruction.
Nothing happened.
Nothing at all.
Only the rooftop wind howling past, lifting a few dead leaves into a lazy spiral as they drifted between them—
making a soft whooo sound that felt almost like laughter.
The Herrscher of the Void froze in place, stuck in a cringe-worthy chuuni pose.
The fury on her face slowly solidified—
then cracked into blank confusion and disbelief.
....
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