Recently, Rita had been having a recurring nightmare.
It was on a transport vehicle, where she was resting in the passenger seat, with a familiar Valkyrie colleague driving.
It was nightti, the road was quiet, and the mission was simple, with almost no chance of encountering enemies.
She wanted to take a short nap.
But just as she closed her eyes...
"Let... ... go..."
"Please... let ... leave..."
"I... don't want..."
"Rita... please... help..."
"Save... ..."
"Don't..."
"Ugh... ugh..."
A hoarse voice ca from behind.
Mixed with sobs.
It was like a child with low intelligence, venting their negative emotions in the most primitive way.
It was the sound of soone who, after experiencing despair, finally saw what they thought was hope, only for their long-tensed psychological defenses to collapse due to relaxation.
It was the most naked display of weakness.
It was a cry for help born from helplessness.
She turned her head and saw, through the wire sh, a young man lying in the back of the transport vehicle.
His hair had already fallen out.
His lips were cracked in several places, but no blood flowed.
Parts of his exposed skin showed an eerie pale color.
Purple lines spread across his neck.
What surprised Rita the most about this person was his hands.
The nails on all ten fingers were gone.
Leaving behind bloody flesh.
What was most shocking was that the flesh at the tips of his fingers seed to have been pierced.
Tiny holes, one after another, like needle pricks.
Yes, there were multiple such piercings.
His toes had them too.
At that ti, Rita could hardly imagine what kind of terrifying experience could have caused such injuries if they had appeared on her own body.
For the rest of the journey, Rita could hear the man's murmurs.
It was as if that was the last straw in his heart.
That straw had many nas.
Perhaps it was called "hope."
Perhaps it was called "beauty."
Or perhaps it could also be called "kindness," "conscience," and... "humanity."
But Rita tried her best to ignore it.
To be honest, from an emotional standpoint, Rita really wanted to grant his wish.
To let him go.
But the state the man was in...
Honkai corruption!
He had to be quarantined.
Otherwise, he would harm more people.
And his identity... he was suspected to be an experintal subject of Anti-Entropy.
"Bring him back."
"I want to see what those Anti-Entropy people are up to."
This was an order directly from the Archbishop.
So, Rita led the post-disaster investigation team in Nagazora City to take the "experintal subject" found in the abandoned Anti-Entropy base to the West Asia Branch.
In fact, the closest branch to the incident site should have been the Far East Branch.
But that was under the jurisdiction of Lady Theresa.
Clearly, the Archbishop did not want his beloved granddaughter to be exposed to too much darkness again.
Besides...
The Far East Branch within the borders of Shenzhou was also not a suitable choice.
Because this country, due to certain historical reasons, deeply hated high-risk human experints with coercive elents.
As for the West Asia Branch...
Most of its higher-ups were from Jacob's Land.
The latter's reputation and actions over the past century were well-known even to Rita, who hailed from the Land of the Rising Sun.
In any case, according to the Archbishop's instructions, the West Asia Branch was undoubtedly the most suitable place to receive the experintal subject and maximize his value.
At that ti, Rita forced herself not to think too much.
Later, the man's mouth was also sealed.
Her teammates, who did not have as strong a heart as Rita, could no longer bear the spine-chilling wails.
However, when she led the team to the West Asia Branch's base and completed the handover...
"!!!"
Looking at the stretcher passing by her, at the man who no longer struggled as he had during the journey, but instead tilted his head with all his might, staring at her with bloodshot eyes...
His pupils trembled uncontrollably.
Tears slowly fell from the corners of his eyes.
But the tear stains...
Were a strange, bloody red.
It was as if he wanted to etch everything he saw into his mory.
And in that silent declaration:
I will... never forget.
All of you...
If I ever get the chance, I will...
"!!!"
At Schicksal Headquarters, Rita woke up in her restroom.
She found that her body, clad in a thin tank top and pajamas, was drenched in sweat.
She was unconsciously gasping for breath.
It took Rita a long ti to calm down.
Now, with no one around, her brief mont of vulnerability was not exposed to outsiders.
"Haah~"
After taking a few deep breaths, she finally let out a long sigh.
This was her way of calming herself.
Rita sat on the bed, one hand resting on her forehead.
It was cold.
To this day, she still couldn't forget that look.
Even though she had already made a na for herself on the world assassin list "Charon's Roster," and as the Archbishop's sharp blade, had dealt with too much filth in the world under the na "Dark Rose"...
Only in that mont, she was afraid.
Even just recalling it, even compared to the other Herrschers she had encountered recently...
It was a nightmare that wouldn't go away.
Perhaps, even back then, she knew...
"If the hatred in his heart were to be unleashed, it would be enough to destroy the entire world."
Inside the restroom, Rita fell into silence.
After a long while...
Sigh~
Recalling the recent events, she sighed helplessly.
Everything had co true.
That person was now truly trying to destroy the world.
He killed without rcy, more terrifying than any Herrscher.
If, back then, she had defied the Archbishop's orders, followed her emotional judgnt, and let him go...
Or if she had been smarter, protected him, and let him live in seclusion in a remote place...
Even if, after recalling this person multiple tis, she had taken the ti and found the opportunity to visit the West Asia Branch to check on his condition...
Given her status, the first few points aside, the last one... was undoubtedly sothing she could easily do.
But until today...
"Self-pity doesn't suit ."
Rita smiled self-deprecatingly, "No matter what, it's too late now."
She and he were strangers to begin with.
Wait!
Strangers?
Years later, after just having a nightmare, Rita suddenly noticed a detail.
Back then, during the transport, that person seed to...
Vaguely call out her na?
"Rita... please... help ..."
"Save !!!"
Rita was stunned.
Why?
She could confirm that she had never t him before that.
Why did he see her as his last hope?
Did he know her?
How?
"Hmm~"
Rita couldn't help but rub her temples.
Her thoughts were too chaotic, so she decided to get up and take a cold shower in the bathroom.
As one of the current S-rank Valkyries, her living conditions were not bad when she wasn't on missions.
And they couldn't be bad.
Of course, even in such a comfortable environnt, she rarely let her guard down.
This was a professional habit she had developed over the years, ever since she was inspired by soone in her youth, trained hard, and eventually beca a Valkyrie.
Suddenly...
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"!!!"
The sudden voice in the room startled Rita, and she imdiately assud a defensive stance.
She swiftly pulled a dagger from under her pillow and landed lightly on the ground, crouching low.
This posture, with her legs bent, allowed her to quickly leap or dodge.
And by crouching low, her exposed surface area was drastically reduced.
This move alone was enough to prove her worth as a top-tier assassin.
However, when she quickly locked onto the source of the voice and saw the intruder's face...
"It's you!"
Rita felt her heartbeat and breathing unconsciously slow for a mont.
Ling ke!
The 10th Herrscher—Herrscher of Domination!
He had actually appeared here in person!
Yes.
From Rita's perspective, a black-haired young man in formal attire was sitting on a sofa not far away in her room.
He had a calm smile on his face, but his eyes were unfocused.
This stark contrast in facial expressions was so eerie that it made her entire body feel uneasy.
And in this situation...
"So, you have nightmares too."
Lingke's tone was calm, as if he were comnting on a trivial matter, "I thought you could always be cold-hearted, calm, ruthless... no, cold-blooded to the extre."
"Just like back then, living up to your na, the thorny Dark Rose."
"Beautiful and enchanting on the outside, but in reality... it's all a facade to hide your danger."
Hearing this...
If it were anyone else, Rita would likely have smiled gracefully and quipped, "Barging into a lady's room is quite rude."
But for so reason, in front of this person, she didn't dare to act so casually.
"Why are you here?"
Rita asked in a low voice, "Are you here to take revenge on now?"
Clearly, she was different from i and Bronya.
She had long passed the stage of needing to slowly understand her own heart.
Therefore, even though she genuinely felt sorry for Lingke at this mont...
She knew he was an enemy of all humanity, a Herrscher who must be destroyed.
So, in her words, she was already preparing to find an opportunity to send out the current situation to others.
This way, reinforcents could arrive as quickly as possible, not missing this rare chance to subdue Lingke's true body.
Unfortunately, Rita didn't know...
Ling ke wasn't the kind of foolish villain who would overestimate himself and get himself killed.
Therefore...
"Let's have so fun with you!"
Inside the Dominion Theater, Ling ke's true body was still sitting alone on the high-backed throne.
He was like the director of a play, observing everything from a god's perspective.
Clearly, the one who appeared in Rita's room was just a Domination Puppet whose appearance had been slightly altered using the Herrscher of Reason's authority.
As ntioned before:
Before completing his true revenge plan, he would never expose himself to danger.
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