After being loaded with the Herrscher of Thunder experience card, Mei felt the cold will permeating heaven and earth.
And the end of this will came from that eye overlooking Earth.
At the same time, she also saw a stream of light fall from that eye, like a falling tear.
And she understood—that was the authority belonging to the Herrscher of Thunder. A similar authority already existed within her body.
But she knew the one inside her couldn't exist permanently. After half an hour, she would return to being a student with no combat ability.
So according to the plan, she had to seize the true Herrscher of Thunder authority from the Cocoon of Finality during this time period, to prevent it from spawning a Herrscher and producing a Great Honkai that would sweep across all of East Asia.
Mei had thought this would be a troublesome matter, but the actual situation differed greatly from her expectations.
The moment she conceived of seizing this authority, the Herrscher of Thunder authority within her resonated with this Herrscher of Thunder authority, and then that stream of light representing the Herrscher authority flew toward her following the attraction, entering her body.
Two identical authorities existed simultaneously, like two drops of water merging together, causing her already powerful strength to surge once more.
But before she could experience the Herrscher of Thunder's authority, she discovered that eye overlooking Earth from the imaginary realm moved slightly, suddenly looking at her.
Instantly, a certain great terror descended. Mei became alert.
But soon, she found this terrifying existence didn't seem to harbor any malice toward her.
It just looked at her once.
And looked at her again.
She didn't know if it was her imagination, but Mei felt this strange eye seemed to reveal a confused expression.
Until this eye closed again, Mei didn't discover it making any excessive movements.
This allowed Mei to breathe a sigh of relief.
Vaguely, she seemed to hear something like "thief," "there's a cheater," "gah"—words of unclear meaning.
"Must be my imagination?" Mei muttered to herself and paid it no more mind.
But just as she was preparing to leave the mental world and use the Herrscher rank she had just obtained to absorb the Great Honkai about to pour across the East Asian region, she found the scene before her suddenly changing. In the blink of an eye, she had arrived at a rooftop.
Although different from her memories, Mei still recognized this as belonging to Chiba Academy's architectural style.
"What a dreamlike journey. Fifty thousand years ago?"
Mei was attracted by the voice. Turning her head, she discovered standing behind her was a girl with the same appearance as herself, except she wasn't wearing glasses and appeared more confident and assertive.
"Who are you?"
The opposite 'Mei' also seemed to have just come to her senses. Hearing Mei's words, she said: "In terms you can understand, I should be the Herrscher personality of Raiden Mei from fifty thousand years in the future."
This should be caused by the power Father bestowed, but this wasn't in the plan...
Mei pondered, then asked: "So how did you get into my head?"
Hearing Mei's answer, this girl calling herself Herrscher Mei was equally puzzled.
"I was going to ask you that. I was just sleeping in Mei's consciousness space, then in the blink of an eye I ended up in your head."
Looking at the confusion on Herrscher Mei's face—identical to her own—Mei adjusted her glasses and said: "We can investigate this question later. Right now I need the Herrscher authority to resolve the Great Honkai about to erupt. Give me the Herrscher authority."
"No." Herrscher Mei cleanly and decisively refused.
Then, looking at Mei's face that was completely identical to Raiden Mei's, Herrscher Mei lifted her head slightly, her eyes carrying unconcealed coldness.
"I'm Mei's Herrscher personality, not yours."
Mei looked at her strangely and said: "You should know the setting of counterparts, right? We're similar flowers across two cycles. I should also count as Mei."
Hearing her words, Herrscher Mei's expression turned cold.
"Mei is just Mei. I don't acknowledge you as her."
Mei saw this Herrscher personality's inexplicable hostility toward her, but she didn't care. She simply continued in a flat tone:
"That's not important. Give me your power. I need to resolve the Great Eruption."
"I can see you have humanity. You shouldn't want to see that result either."
Herrscher Mei didn't deny her words, but raised her head and said in a proud tone: "Of course I won't allow the Great Eruption to occur, so... why shouldn't you hand over your body to me instead?"
"Oh?"
"I'm Raiden Mei's Herrscher personality, with rich experience being a Herrscher. The Herrscher authority can display its strongest power in my hands." Herrscher Mei looked at Mei and smiled. "So I'll take over your body and help you quell the Honkai, while you just need to stay safely here."
"How about it? Quite a good deal, right?"
"I think it's not a good deal. In fact, it feels quite stupid."
"Why?!"
Herrscher Mei was puzzled. She genuinely felt her proposal was quite good. She didn't think this person before her who was clearly a bookworm would know how to fight. Wasn't it good to have her fight on her behalf?
Regarding Herrscher Mei's confusion, Mei looked her up and down, finally sighing with regret: "The clarity on your face makes me doubt your education. By the way, did you even graduate high school?"
Herrscher Mei didn't know why the other party brought up academic credentials, but she understood Mei wasn't planning to follow her proposal. This made her somewhat regretful.
Thinking of the various experiences accompanying Raiden Mei, she crooked a finger at Mei and said:
"Since we can't reach an agreement, I can only let you see what the power of the Herrscher of Thunder truly is."
"Don't worry. Considering your appearance, I won't do anything to you. After you lose, hand over your body and stay here. I'll help you weather the Honkai."
Hearing this, a cold gleam passed across Mei's glasses lenses as she asked: "You want to fight me?"
But Herrscher Mei shook her head.
"No no no. Although you're not Mei, it's still the same face. Fighting you would give me a sense of guilt too."
"So let's do something classic..."
As Herrscher Mei's voice fell, the surrounding scenery began changing.
"I've already conquered my own weakness. I'm no longer that pitiful wretch pounding the ground crying about being unable to do anything. What you see is a Herrscher personality with no weaknesses after accompanying the individual named Raiden Mei through various past experiences."
"Since you want my power, let me see if you can overcome your heart's greatest fear. If you can do that, I might consider giving you my power."
"By the way, I'm quite curious about what you fear most deep in your heart. Let me see your inner weakness..."
Herrscher Mei's voice faded. What appeared before Mei's eyes was a familiar scene—this was her home.
There was another version of herself in the room. From the looks of it, she seemed to be preparing dinner as usual.
At this moment, the sound of the door opening rang out. The one entering was her father, returning home as usual.
"I'm home."
'Mei' heard the sound and hurried to open the door, then discovered behind Father was another white figure—her good friend Kiana.
For some reason, Kiana's eyes were evasive, as if she didn't dare look directly at 'Mei'.
'Mei' didn't notice anything unusual. She just smiled and said: "Oh, it's Kiana. Please sit. Dinner still needs some time."
Saying this, she prepared to enter the kitchen.
But at this moment, she was stopped by Father.
"No, wait Mei. I have something to tell you." His tone seemed to carry some guilt.
And Kiana sitting on the sofa looked even more guilty, almost curling her face between her legs.
'Mei' seemed to sense the atmosphere was off. The smile on her face gradually struggled to hold.
"Father, what... is it?"
After this question, she saw Father sigh.
"Sigh... Mei, you know how painful Dad has been since your mother left."
"Dad thought he'd lost her forever, but... but recently discovered that's not the case."
"Dad found that Kiana really resembles your mother. Dad didn't think so at first, but recently found they're becoming more and more alike..."
Hearing this, 'Mei' was as if struck by lightning. Her whole being looked at him with disbelief, her lips trembling.
"Father... do you know what you're saying?"
"Dad knows! Your mother's soul must have attached to her body. Absolutely certain—Dad has already felt your mother has been revived!"
'Mei' looked at Father spouting delirious words, shaking her head in disbelief, tears rolling from her eyes.
"Father! Have you gone mad? Kiana is my best friend!"
"Enough!" She saw Father fly into a rage, no longer his usual gentle self, roaring: "Mei, do you even understand what filial piety means?!"
"Dad raised you all these years. Can't you lend Dad your best friend to make him happy?"
"If you keep talking, Dad will take Kiana right now!!!"
"Tsk tsk tsk! To actually see such an interesting scene—truly worth the price of admission even in death." Herrscher Mei had somehow arrived beside Mei, watching the scene before them together, while the three people in the room paid them no attention.
She looked toward Mei beside her and found her body trembling slightly, hands clenched tightly, her body flickering in and out.
Herrscher Mei knew this was the result of Mei's spirit being strongly shaken. In this mental world, it meant Mei had already fallen into a disadvantage in her struggle with herself.
Very good. Next I'll press my advantage and completely break through her psychological defenses...
Just as Herrscher Mei was thinking this, she felt as if her body had been targeted by some great terror. She shivered, only to find that Mei, who had originally looked weak, was now staring at her coldly.
That gaze was like looking at a lab rat waiting to be dissected.
For some reason, Herrscher Mei suddenly had a very ominous feeling.
But before she could react, she saw Mei turn her head, clench her electrically-charged fist, and punch toward the scene before her.
The next moment, whether it was the familiar house, the crying self, the guilty Kiana, or the deranged father... everything was annihilated in the electric light.
Only this platform floating in the surrounding darkness on all sides remained. Then Mei looked at Herrscher Mei behind her.
"Fool. You understand nothing. You only saw my memories and arrogantly speculated based on your own assumptions, yet believed you'd grasped my thoughts and feelings."
"But I must admit, you have indeed angered me."
Mei removed her glasses and placed them in her breast pocket. A pair of purple eyes looked at Herrscher Mei, pupils seeming to roil with thunder.
"You could provoke dragons or tigers, but you shouldn't have provoked me. Even more, you shouldn't have used Father and Kiana to attack my psyche!"
"Right now, I'm very angry!!!"
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