Kiana walked through the pristine corridors of Schicksal, her pulse hammering against her ribs.
Anxiety and desperate anticipation warred in her chest.
She glanced sideways.
“Um, Himeko-sensei…”
“Miss Himeko is perfectly fine, but she cannot move just yet and requires rest.
She hasn’t woken up.” Rita offered a polite, reassuring smile.
“You don’t need to be so wary of me.
You have no enemies here.
Also, please pay no mind to the Lord Bishop.
He has been exactly like this since the day I joined Schicksal.”
Beaten by Kallen, beaten by Theresa, beaten by Amber.
Later on, even Durandal and Rita herself had taken turns beating him.
He practically asked for it.
He constantly acted like a jerk with a perverted streak.
If left unchecked, he would inevitably cause reckless chaos.
“Bishop Otto’s body was replaced with Soulium a long time ago,” Rita continued smoothly.
“He only uses his original body when he is with Lady Kallen.
If Lady Kallen isn’t around, he refuses to rest.
Aside from his research, he simply plays video games.”
A Soulium body did not require sleep, which remained the primary reason Otto used it.
The three of them halted before Himeko’s ward.
The moment Kiana stepped through the doorway, she froze.
She stared at the familiar figure resting on the bed, her eyes widening in sheer disbelief as tears spilled silently down her cheeks.
She clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle a sob, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Seeing the raw emotion, Frez and Rita quietly stepped back and pulled the door shut, leaving the girl to her private reunion.
“Himeko…
Teacher…”
Kiana inched forward.
She was almost afraid to reach out, terrified this was merely a fragile illusion, but the violent throbbing in her chest pushed her onward.
She reached the bedside and gently grasped Himeko’s hand.
Beneath her fingertips, she felt the steady, rhythmic thud of a living pulse.
Thank goodness.
This is truly wonderful.
Teacher Himeko is really alive.
Tears cascaded down her face.
She scrubbed at her eyes, but the moisture simply refused to stop.
A small, broken cry finally escaped her throat.
She bit down on her lower lip so hard the metallic taste of blood bloomed on her tongue.
The knowledge that Himeko survived eclipsed everything else.
There could never be better news in the world.
A short while later, Kiana emerged from the ward.
Only Frez waited in the corridor; Rita had gone to consult the medical staff about the patient’s condition.
Spotting him, Kiana immediately bent into a deep bow.
“Thank you.
Thank you so much.
If you hadn’t intervened, I might never have seen Teacher Himeko again.”
“Don’t thank me, thank the other Kiana,” Frez replied easily.
“She was the one lucky enough to find Himeko, and lucky enough to stumble into your world.
Besides, this world is actually quite pleasant.
The threat of Honkai Energy isn’t nearly as severe, and the Herrschers are actually fighting on humanity’s side.”
He fished a tissue from his pocket and held it out.
“Here.
I just grabbed it from the nurse’s station.”
“Thank you.” Kiana accepted the tissue, wiping away the tear tracks and sniffling softly.
“Can you tell me more about this place?”
“I’ve only just arrived myself, so my knowledge is limited, but I’ll share what I know if you want to listen.”
They settled onto a public bench outside the room.
Kiana listened in quiet awe as Frez outlined the drastic differences of this reality.
She gasped at several points.
When he revealed that Cecilia was still alive, her eyes widened in absolute shock.
“The me in this world, and the strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal, Sirin…
are we all sisters?”
“Yes.
Sirin was adopted.
The Kiana of this world is the biological child of Siegfried and Cecilia.”
A deep, aching envy surfaced in Kiana’s expression.
Once upon a time, she had desperately yearned to see her mother again.
Even when it was nothing more than a fabricated simulation in a training pod, she had treasured every second spent with Cecilia, secretly vowing to become a Valkyrie just as magnificent.
When she learned Cecilia was the strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal, she had wanted to defeat Durandal and claim that title for herself.
But after discovering the truth of her own origins, those innocent fantasies had shattered into dust.
She was a clone.
She was not the child of Siegfried and Cecilia.
Even the name she answered to had been stolen from the real Kiana.
And the real Kiana had already…
She felt like a parasite who had hijacked another girl’s existence.
A thief, a liar, an enemy of humanity, a pathetic, manufactured replica.
‘It sounds so nice,’she thought bitterly.’The me here has a father, a mother, a sister, and a real life.’
She was drowning in envy, yet she knew she was fundamentally different from the girl living that perfect life.
A clone like her, the vessel of the Second Herrscher who had slaughtered countless innocents…
how could she ever deserve such happiness?
A hollow, self-deprecating smile touched her lips.
This place was a paradise.
“Does a scourge like me really have a reason to live?”
Perhaps dying would finally put an end to the nightmare.
If she died, the Herrscher of the Void would no longer have a host to corrupt.
As long as she simply ceased to exist, everything could be resolved.
“I want to go up to the rooftop for some fresh air,” she murmured.
“Let me be alone for a while.”
“You aren’t planning on jumping, are you?”
Frez scrutinized her face.
Beneath the surface, the absolute perception of his Six Eyes picked apart the subtle shifts in her demeanor.
He clearly perceived the wrongness radiating from her, a faint, lingering aura of death.
Kiana was currently at her absolute lowest point.
No matter how strong her underlying willpower might be, the crushing guilt and self-destructive tendencies festering in her heart were inevitably dragging her toward suicide.
“I was always an expendable tool anyway.”
She spoke with frightening calm, entirely devoid of her usual fiery spirit.
“Back in Changkong City, you stood your ground and defeated a berserk Raiden Mei,” Frez challenged, his tone steady.
“You led Bronya and the others out of that quarantine zone.
You were brave.
You were tenacious.
Where did all that courage go?”
“I haven’t forgotten!” Kiana snapped, her voice cracking.
“Back then, I was full of courage and hope!
I hadn’t despaired of the world, and I hadn’t despaired of myself.
But look at me now.
Where is my hope?
I am a ticking time bomb, at risk of losing control and killing everyone around me at any given second.
I want to end my life so I don’t drag any more innocent people into my mess.
Are you really going to criticize me for that?”
Her voice dropped into a hoarse, agonizing rasp.
She grabbed handfuls of her own white hair, her face twisting in pure anguish.
She looked exactly like a trapped beast backed into a corner, staring down a dead end where death was the only exit.
She just wanted to be released.
Suddenly, Frez reached out and framed her face with both hands, physically forcing her to meet his gaze.
Kiana blinked, suddenly confronted by the boundless expanse of his azure eyes.
They were striking, and the man possessing them was undeniably handsome.
A distant part of her realized that if she hadn’t been crushed under the weight of her trauma, having a man stare at her with such intensity would have easily made her heart race.
Right now, however, she harbored zero capacity for romance.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Frez said, his voice dropping into a serious, commanding register.
“Throw those thoughts away.
You need to keep fighting until you completely conquer the Second Herrscher and crush those dangerous impulses.
If you throw your life away so carelessly, then Himeko’s sacrifice will have been entirely in vain.”
Teacher Himeko.
Kiana slowly reached up and gripped Frez’s wrists.
“Then what am I supposed to do?
How can I possibly keep fighting?”
“Fu Hua.”
“The Class Monitor?”
“She is trustworthy,” Frez explained.
“She is Shenzhou’s Jingwei Immortal, a Flame-Chaser from the Previous Era.
Her Taixu Sword Qi can help you center your mind, control your body, and suppress the Herrscher of the Void.
It will give you the strength to fight again.
Kiana, do you remember what Himeko taught you?
Do you remember what you are supposed to fight for?”
Kiana took a shaky breath, the despair in her eyes slowly giving way to a familiar, burning resolve.
She answered firmly.
“To fight for all that is beautiful in the world!”
[Akarin’s Note:
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