Dream Kiana’s bed wasn’t very large, but it was still more than big enough for two people.
Xiao Shi wore Kiana’s pajamas and slept on the inside, next to the wall.
After turning off the light, Kiana also lay down on the bed.
However, Kiana felt that she still couldn’t fall asleep.
She had experienced far too many things today.
The secrets of the Stigmata Theater, and how had the battle between Siegfried and that mysterious girl ultimately ended?
When would she be able to enter the Stigmata Theater again and see the ending?
Then there was Xiao Shi’s appearance.
She looked so much like her—could she have some connection to her dad, Siegfried?
Thinking this, Kiana turned slightly and looked in Xiao Shi’s direction.
Her eyes had already adjusted to the darkness after the lights were turned off.
She saw Xiao Shi lying on the bed, breathing evenly as though she had already fallen asleep.
Kiana couldn’t help complaining, “How did you fall asleep the moment you touched the bed?
Aren’t you curious about what kind of place St.
Freya Academy is?
“Aren’t you curious about what Valkyries do?
Don’t you want to tell me where you came from?” Kiana remembered that after she first arrived at St.
Freya Academy, there had been several nights when she couldn’t fall asleep.
As a result, she had dozed off during the day and was called up by the teacher to stand as punishment.
Later, that was also why she had failed her exam.
Kiana called out to her a couple of times, but Xiao Shi didn’t move at all, as though she had fallen into a deep sleep.
She also closed her eyes and prepared to sleep.
In a daze, Kiana found herself seemingly having a dream.
The academy in the dream was still as peaceful and tranquil as ever.
During class, the teacher called on the sleeping Kiana to answer a question, but Kiana answered fluently, easily finding the answer to every question.
The history teacher couldn’t help exclaiming, “Kiana, if you take the exam at your current level, you’ll definitely rank first in the entire grade next time.” Her classmates exclaimed in admiration, and Raiden Mei rewarded Kiana with a sumptuous dinner.
During the break, Bronya asked Kiana to tutor her.
“Bronya failed the last exam.
Now, only the great Lady Kiana can save Bronya.
Please help Bronya, Lady Kiana!” Just as Kiana was brimming with excitement, a voice sounded behind her.
“You’re still having dreams like this?
Go ahead and have more of them!
“Because dreams and reality are opposites.
The more beautiful the dream, the crueler reality becomes.” The voice sounded exceptionally arrogant.
Kiana turned around, trying to find whoever had spoken, but she couldn’t see anyone.
The voice didn’t seem to have come from behind her.
Instead, it seemed to have appeared directly inside her mind.
Kiana thought about it but couldn’t understand what was happening.
She continued enjoying her wonderful dream.
However, the moment she raised her head, a meteor descended from the sky, and a massive Honkai eruption broke out throughout the academy.
The formerly peaceful and tranquil academy disappeared.
It was as though she were the only person left in the entire academy, surrounded by nothing but Honkai Beasts and all kinds of Zombies.
No matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t find any trace of the other students.
Holding Mjolnir in her hands, Kiana continuously defeated the Zombies surrounding her.
The voice sounded again.
“Do you still remember everything you experienced in the Stigmata Theater?
“You’re the incarnation of disaster.
No matter where you go, calamity will always follow closely behind you.
“Whether it’s Nagazora or St.
Freya Academy, you’ll never find a place that can truly accept you.” “Hey, who the hell are you?
Stop hiding in the shadows and come out!” Kiana shouted as she kicked away a Honkai Beast that had approached her.
She pressed Mjolnir against the Honkai Beast’s eyeball and fired wildly, bringing it crashing to the ground in the blink of an eye.
The Honkai Energy then dispersed, and the Honkai Beast directly dissolved into smoke and vanished.
“Hehe.
Since you’re begging so sincerely, then I shall…” The voice suddenly became increasingly distorted, and Kiana could no longer hear what it was saying.
The academy seemed to return to its usual tranquility, and the students were all attending class.
Mei and Bronya invited her to go to the shopping district to buy new clothes.
It wasn’t only Mei and Bronya, but also the newly acquainted Xiao Shi.
They all lived happily together.
“Damn it…” Outside the world, the voice sounded once again, but no matter what it did, it couldn’t reach this dream.
In the real world, a pair of arms gently embraced Kiana in the darkness, with one hand resting behind her head.
Xiao Shi had already awakened the moment Kiana entered the nightmare.
She knew that it was the consciousness of the Second Herrscher, Sirin, awakening once again.
The reason this had happened was that Sirin was essentially another personality within Kiana.
Sirin also knew everything Kiana had experienced.
Kiana’s experiences in the Stigmata Theater today had amplified the unease and fear within her heart, giving Sirin an opportunity.
However, now was definitely not the time for Sirin to awaken, so Xiao Shi used the power of Prayer to construct a pleasant dream that Sirin couldn’t invade.
As long as this dream continued to exist, it would be difficult for Sirin to influence Kiana through her dreams again.
However, simply keeping Sirin isolated outside wasn’t Xiao Shi’s ultimate goal.
Xiao Shi glanced at the Emotional Energy the System had collected.
In that brief instant just now, it had absorbed roughly thirty points of emotional energy.
Almost all of it had been contributed by Sirin.
She was also an extremely important protagonist in the Honkai world—or rather, she was Kiana’s other side.
Xiao Shi thought of something.
She could bring Sirin into the Stigmata Theater as well.
Besides, to prevent Sirin’s Emotional Energy from going to waste, she had already implanted another Port into Sirin’s sea of consciousness.
Afterward, Xiao Shi returned to the Stigmata Theater.
The second act had basically finished rehearsing, with only a few minor bugs left to fix.
Then, once dawn arrived, the Stigmata Theater would open its curtains once again.
The sky gradually brightened.
Kiana yawned, then finally realized that she seemed to be held in someone’s arms.
Opening her eyes, she saw Xiao Shi.
Had Xiao Shi mistaken her for a body pillow?
Kiana initially wanted to struggle free, but after thinking for a moment, she gently embraced Xiao Shi as well.
She vaguely remembered her earlier dream.
Although she could no longer clearly recall many of the things that had happened in it, she remembered that feeling—so gentle and warm, just like a mother.
Kiana didn’t know what it felt like to be held in her mother’s arms.
After all, she had never experienced anything like that before.
But perhaps this was what it felt like?
She gently leaned against Xiao Shi’s chest, savoring the lingering feeling of the dream as she gradually relaxed.
“Mom.” When Raiden Mei, wearing an apron and holding a spatula, gently pushed open the bedroom door, she happened to hear Kiana call out those words.