Quantum and Imaginary, two fundamentally opposing forces, converged at this moment.
Indeed, these two powers were as incompatible as water and fire, mutually repulsive and immiscible. Any ordinary person wouldn't even conceive of putting them together—or rather, anyone who had tried was long dead.
But... in Jiang Qiao's eyes, it wasn't so absolute.
These forces conflicted, yet they weren't entirely irreconcilable. Just like the power of the Herrscher of Death and Life—creation and decay—wasn't that the perfect example?
Of course, both the Honkai-side Herrscher of Death and the Herrscher of Death and Life born from the power of the Sea of Quanta had their limitations. Being powers of the same origin, even with vastly contradictory forms, possessed a fundamental harmony.
When scaled up to the level of the Tree and the Sea, this relationship became sharper. Yet, the very fact that such a relationship could be maintained implied some inherent connection between them. Having vaguely perceived this, Jiang Qiao seized this opportunity for a bold 'experiment'.
Compared to the singular power of either the Imaginary or Quantum side Herrschers, he hoped to combine the two, thereby unleashing even greater strength. If it were merely the power of a single complete Herrscher, its necessity for Jiang Qiao would be greatly diminished.
"As expected... there is a point of reconciliation between these two forces. However, the resistance is truly..." Feeling the opposition generated as the two extremely contradictory powers met within the body, [Seele]'s lovely brow furrowed.
While the two forces could indeed be harmonized, the difficulty... was no less than trying to breach the Cocoon of Finality's defensive layer or steal the power of an Aeon's Path from a neighboring reality. Compared to singular Herrscher powers, the difficulty of attempting to unify the powers of the Tree and the Sea increased exponentially.
But... it could be done!
The power of Origin began to turn. This power, tracing back to the source, aided by the Cocoon's computing power leveraged through its connection, allowed Jiang Qiao to grasp the Imaginary-side power without resistance. The Herrscher of Death power previously obtained from the Previous Era's Seele also granted him understanding of decay and creation. Imaginary and Truth both became part of the support.
And on the Sea's side? Although originally empty, Seele's extremely unique constitution, combined with the power and insights traded from a certain someone, filled this void.
—If one were to ask who understood the power of the Sea best, it would undoubtedly be Sa, immersed within it. Through this, she gained power surpassing conventional Herrschers. Although Jiang Qiao had no direct dealings or positive relationship with Sa, interacting with her offshoot, Vita, served the same purpose. As a clone split off from Sa, Vita possessed Quantum power equivalent to a Herrscher.
However, unlike the easily fooled Su, Vita, as an isomer, was quite shrewd in this regard.
"If I give you Sa's power, what can you give me in return?" she had asked with a smile upon their first meeting.
After careful consideration, Jiang Qiao—sold Su out for a good price.
Vita was quite satisfied with this. After all, their relationship was that of isomers... Considering Sa devoured any isomer she encountered, meeting a living, relatively successful one like Su was incredibly rare. Not to mention, Sa had even hunted Su before.
Of course, Vita didn't plan to use Su as fodder. As Jiang Qiao told her—If you want to achieve your goal, the Enlightened One of Heavenly Wisdom will surely be an excellent helper, won't he?
Vita was clever, but Su was cleverer. Furthermore, Su would definitely not refuse to help with Vita's objective and would undoubtedly provide valuable assistance.
Thus—it was a win-win transaction. Vita gained an isomer helper to rebel against her original self, Jiang Qiao obtained the power of the Sea, and as for Su... You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Ato and Blanka's child, would you?
—The Quantum power obtained from Vita surged within the body.
The contradictory scales gradually returned to equilibrium. The boundary between Imaginary and Quantum continuously diminished, finally merging into one.
Jade-white feet lightly tapped the ground from the void. Using this point as a boundary, blooming flowers spread across every inch of the Theater of Domination, reaching every corner.
"The cycle of life and death intertwines here, blossoming into new buds of existence and extinction."
Illusory white lotuses formed from terrifying energy surrounded the newly reborn girl, gradually blooming amidst her soft chant. The Herrscher attire of Death and Life—a snow-white dress replaced the Stygian Nymph's lolita outfit. However, unlike the original, after merging the powers of the Sea and the Tree, the boundary between life and death manifested even more clearly on this body.
Slowly opening her beautiful eyes, shimmering with divine light and flickering between states, the girl's lovely face radiated the tenderness of life. 'She' gently lifted the vessel of the 'soul', cradled by the white dress, as if calling out.
"Souls of the Sea, please heed the melody of life."
Watching the transformed [Seele], Kiana's jaw dropped in astonishment, her eyes wide. "So... so beautiful..." She stared, mesmerized. That pure, white-lotus-like feeling was incredibly captivating.
Bronya was equally transfixed, unable to tear her eyes away. Undoubtedly, her thoughts mirrored idiot Kiana's. While Seele's usual appearance was lovely, compared to this, it was like the difference between Cinderella and a swan! If the situation weren't inappropriate, Bronya probably would have already rushed over, breathing heavily in admiration (suha suha).
However, realizing Jiang Qiao was inside, Bronya became conflicted. This... this is a betrayal of Seele! Bronya is completely devoted to Seele; Jiang Qiao, this imposter using Seele's body, can't compare to Seele in the slightest!
But... this 'Jiang-Seele' is really so beautiful, so captivating...
Torn, torn, Bronya instantly had a thought—Eh, wait, isn't Jiang Qiao using Seele's body right now? So even if Bronya likes 'Jiang-Seele', she likes [Seele]! Since it's Seele's body, how is liking it a betrayal? This is called loyalty! Bronya is still completely devoted to Seele!
With this rationalization, Bronya's thoughts cleared instantly. She began plotting to lure 'Jiang-Seele' to her room after the battle to play games together. Although 'Jiang-Seele' lacked a 'joystick' for Miss Bronya to use, which was slightly disappointing, the thought of happily playing with the beautiful and powerful 'Jiang-Seele' still made Bronya's heart flutter.
Mmm... right, I should train later... but fighting idiot Kiana is no fun at all... Decided! I'll have Jiang Qiao spar with me using the 'Seele' skin! Pretty, strong, and very instructive... As for the real Seele, I'll let Kiana have her for now! Let Kiana properly supervise Seele's training!
While Bronya's mind wandered, the Herrschers of Dominance snapped back to reality.
"You, you, you're cheating!"
"How is that possible? How could you possibly succeed?!"
"Cheater! Too despicable! You unethical bastard!"
The Herrschers of Dominance looked at the transformed [Seele], radiating terrifying power, and chattered incessantly, filled with outrage.
In response, [Seele] merely chuckled lightly. "I'd rather not be called that by you."
"Well? Care to surrender?" Gently holding the soul vessel, the girl smiled sweetly.
"In your dreams! Don't even think about it!"
"We haven't lost yet!"
"It's just the power of two mere Herrschers, what's there to be arrogant about! We have a thousand, plus the power stolen from that idiot Herrscher of Reason, and the Herrscher of Rock's power, that's a total of one thousand and two!"
"Even if you gained one Herrscher's power, the advantage is still ours! Don't get confused, we are the stronger side!" A puppet puffed out its chest, yelling angrily.
"Besides, so what if you became a Herrscher too? We'll still win!"
"We were just playing with you earlier, we haven't even gotten serious yet!"
"Get them! Capture these three traitors!"
The puppets swarmed forward, consumed by rage. A thousand Herrschers might seem like a small number in some contexts, but it wasn't insignificant. Especially since the Current Era's Herrscher of Legion was different from the Previous Era's.
In the Previous Era, killing one meant one less. But in the Current Era, even if a puppet was destroyed, it didn't mean a permanent reduction in numbers. As long as the core remained, as long as the hosts existed, they could regenerate—that was why they seemed endless.
And as they claimed, they indeed hadn't been serious. For example, Chen Tianwu as the Herrscher of Rock—his authority, when spread among the puppets, wasn't that strong, only serving to interfere with the enemy. The puppets played like this intending to exhaust Kiana and Bronya, crush their hope completely, capture them, and assimilate them into the Legion.
That way, the powers of the Herrscher of Reason and the Herrscher of the Void would truly become part of them, like the Herrscher of Rock's power, instead of just having temporary control. To achieve this, they needed to break not just the body, but also the spirit. Furthermore, Kiana and Bronya's positive attitudes were another point of resentment for the puppets.
For the Herrschers of Dominance, born from humanity's negative emotions, anything striving towards human goodness was a target to be destroyed, a source of their own pain. Only by making those smiling, happy people become like them could they feel happy, could they manage a smile.
"Well then, can't be helped."
"Since that's the case, I can only resort to violence against you." Gently lifting the soul vessel, the sighing girl shook her head, then her lips parted slightly:
"Please, return with me, to the embrace of the Tree and the Sea."
The soul vessel shone with dazzling light, and then—the air seemed to pause. The next moment, the surrounding scenery transformed. It was the vista of the Sea of Quanta—but different from before. Within this merged Herrscher power, scenes from the Tree were now included.
The intoxicating view of the Sea. The magnificent form of the Tree. Two contradictory existences combined.
But the Herrschers of Dominance had no mood to appreciate the beauty; instead, their faces showed shock and anger. "What's going on... the connection... is broken?!"
"It was you?! How is this possible? This is clearly our Theater of Domination!" The puppets were filled with suspicion and fury.
The Herrscher of Dominance's powerful immortality, or rather, regenerative ability, stemmed from this Theater of Domination. Within this special Imaginary Space, besides having home-field advantage and controlling everything within, the most crucial aspect was maintaining the connection to their 'hosts' in reality.
As long as this connection wasn't severed, killing the puppets was meaningless. Theoretically, only the Herrscher of Finality, the Herrscher of Binding, and the Herrscher of the Void, who controlled Imaginary Authority, could sever this connection. Other Herrschers could generally only 'destroy' the space. Only the Herrscher of the Void could truly fight the Herrscher of Dominance for control of the space and cut off their external links.
But... when this vista of the Tree and Sea unfolded, the puppets discovered in horror that all connections were severed. This meant that now, killing a puppet truly meant one less! Kill all one thousand, and the Herrscher of Dominance would genuinely be finished.
"Isn't it obvious? My Herrscher Barrier has isolated your Herrscher Barrier," [Seele] chuckled lightly.
Just like Elysia's 'Pristine Dome' or the Herrscher of the Void's 'Imaginary Space'... basically, every Herrscher possessed their own unique... well, you could call it a Domain Technique, but considering how the mustard teacher next door (cough Gojo cough) has almost ruined the term, let's call it a Barrier.
Originally, the Herrscher of Death and Life's Barrier, like the Herrscher of Thunder's Thunder Zone or the Herrscher of Wind's Wind Zone, was an 'offensive' combat barrier, not particularly strong in terms of isolation. But after the two powers merged, the Herrscher of Death and Life's Barrier was no longer so pure.
If the original Barrier of Death and Life merely inflicted negative effects on enemies and enhanced the user's abilities, then this current 'Barrier of Life and Death'—which Jiang Qiao called 'Cycle of Life and Death' or 'Rift of Finality'—did exactly what the name implied.
All targets dragged into this domain were plunged directly into a state between life and death, facilitated by the powers of the Tree and the Sea. It directly overwrote the Herrscher of Dominance's Theater. Or rather, in this state between life and death, the Herrscher of Dominance naturally couldn't connect to their Theater.
"Well then, next... it's still my turn." Amidst the puppets' bewilderment, the girl showed a sweet smile, raising the scythe in her hands:
"Strike them down, Diana!"