READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 33: The Imaginary Space
Long before his first contact with Kiana, and his decision to abduct her, Ren had already set his sights on the most crucial character in all of Honkai Impact 3—Murata Himeko.
Looking at the entire Honkai storyline, all the changes started from the death of Teacher Himeko. Only after that did Kiana's growth and awakening take place.
As the Herrscher of Dominance, Ren personally thought the most foolish decision the mob made in the original story was to pull out the Gem of Haste in front of Kiana. Not only did it help her transform completely, but it also gave her the Herrscher of Flamescion gift pack.
Now, time had given Ren another chance, and he had to consider whether he would repeat the same mistakes.
So the first thing to do, naturally, was to get the Gem of Haste into his hands. Whether he used it himself or gave it to someone else, the initiative would be in his control. But the Imaginary Space was far more dangerous than imagined. When he obtained the Dominance Theater, he had already tried to go directly for the Gem of Haste, but the moment he left the theater's range, he felt the intense internal consumption of the Imaginary Space.
That was an area even Otto himself would find dangerous. Even someone as strong as Durandal would constantly get lost inside. If Ren had tried to find the gem back then, it would have been like searching for a needle in a haystack.
That led to his plan to abduct Kiana. As the Herrscher of the Void, she had an innate mastery of the Imaginary Space. Moreover, Himeko was someone she had personally sent into the Imaginary Space. Only by obtaining a positioning beacon from her could he locate the gem faster.
And the hairpin in Ren's hand was the result of this effort. Infused with the power of the Herrscher of the Void and housing the girl's precious memories, it was undoubtedly an excellent positioning beacon.
The gears around the Dominance Theater spun rapidly. This wasn't a performance, but rather Ren controlling it with all his might to move. Initially, Ren's plan to "carry the Dominance Theater back to his hometown overnight" wasn't just empty talk. Given enough time, he really would do it.
At that moment, Jian Yun, who was walking with Ren in the outside world, only felt a blur, and the figure disappeared without a trace. However, her memory was quickly interfered with, and she just thought she had seen things.
Fine threads of Dominance were constantly climbing and twisting, and all the puppets were put into stasis. In this magnificent Dominance Theater, Ren's main body finally appeared.
His eyes seemed to reflect the afterglow of a sunset on a lake, with a dense golden light about to overflow from his eyelids. But at the same time, crimson erosion patterns were also constantly spreading, relentlessly approaching his brain and heart. The coiling threads connected to his back formed a lifeline with the Dominance Theater. If Ren were to accidentally get lost, he could be pulled back by the constantly operating Dominance Theater. It was a form of insurance he had prepared for himself.
After getting ready, Ren poured an enormous amount of Honkai energy into the star-shaped hairpin, activating it. In the distance, the boundless Imaginary Space gradually produced a faint sensation. If Ren hadn't activated it himself, he might not have felt this beacon at all.
Clipping the star-shaped hairpin into his gray hair, Ren leapt from the theater, heading straight for his prize.
...
Darkness and silence were the main themes of the Imaginary Space. In this empty void, the only things you could see were your own hands, and the only thing you could hear was the gurgling of blood flowing in your own veins.
In such a claustrophobic environment, even the most determined people would have their beliefs taken away by time and their minds erased by loneliness. It had been almost three months since the Herrscher of the Void's awakening battle. Murata Himeko probably wouldn't even have ashes left, not to mention the fact that there were some terrifying monsters lurking in this dangerous Imaginary Space.
Ren, who was floating in the space, slowly stopped moving. From the Imaginary Space not far away, a presence emanated that made him feel uneasy.
According to physical theory, even if there was an Imaginary Space corresponding to the real world, only pure energy could exist there. They might be antimatter or dark matter, but there was absolutely no possibility of life existing there. However, in the Honkai Impact 3 worldview, a unique kind of monster was indeed born in the Imaginary Space. They were existences born from the Imaginary Tree, the apostles of the gods.
And the Dominance Theater was the closest known structure to the Imaginary Tree. Thus, their identities were clear.
Imaginary Constructs
「Imaginary Husk – Noumenon」
「Imaginary Husk – Agnosis」
「Imaginary Husk – Tautology」
In the pure darkness of the Imaginary Space, it was as if golden flames had ignited, like holes that had appeared on white paper after being scorched by high temperatures. The strange, piercing buzzing sound grew louder, and the scorched holes grew bigger. Until finally, a large eyeball opened its eye from within.
A thick, foul sensation rushed towards him. Even before contact, the imaginary filth from the dark side of the world had already begun to erode him.
When these holes finally opened completely, coarse, golden eyeballs peered out from within, and then, the surrounding energy began to gather, forming bizarre, connected limbs. They had no heads, only that eyeball as their absolute core. The projected limbs firmly enveloped it, as if it were a – puppet.
"Did MiHoYo's designers lazily plagiarize my Herrscher of Dominance's abilities?!"
Whether it was the eyeball or the detached external limbs, they looked exactly like how the Herrscher of the Thousand People used the Herrscher Core to operate puppets. The only difference was that they didn't need the threads of Dominance for control; they operated directly using the core of filth as their central control system.
Seeing such blatant plagiarism, Ren felt a chill in his bones, and his hands and feet grew cold. What was happening to this world? Why did the Herrscher of the Thousand People have to suffer like this? Not only was she being targeted by human civilization, but her abilities were now being infringed upon by the Imaginary Tree.
Unfortunately, the Imaginary Husks didn't care about Ren's rich inner monologue. For them, anything that had a physical existence was prey. The moment they took shape, sharp claws arced out, grabbing towards him with all their might.
"It's a good thing I obtained the Chris puppet, or this would really be troublesome." Ren snapped out of his thoughts, his mind becoming focused. He was the main body now; if something happened to him, he would really be done for.
Surging Honkai energy accumulated in his body. Ren didn't know any fighting techniques; he only knew how to fight with pure power. As long as the enemy entered his attack range.
"Like right now..."
The Imaginary Husk's attack loomed larger in his vision. The sharp claws seemed to have already embedded themselves in his flesh, yet he could only throw a punch in response.
"Charged Fist!"