Stigmata Theater After being made to stand outside the classroom as punishment, Kiana stared at the clear sky, still thinking about the girl who had suddenly appeared in her room earlier.
“But she looked so much like me—she was practically identical!
And Auntie…
although she didn’t say anything, judging from her expression and actions, does that girl have something to do with Scummy Dad?!” Kiana carefully analyzed the situation in her mind.
There was no way an ordinary person could look so similar to her, right?
Could she be her older sister?
But she had spent so long with Scummy Dad before, and he had never mentioned anything about her.
Had they been separated?
Before long, the dismissal bell rang, and the students left the classroom with cheerful steps.
Kiana hurriedly tried to rush out and find Raiden Mei so she could tell her about the incredible experience she had gone through earlier.
Just then, countless overlapping images suddenly appeared before her eyes, like television channels bleeding into one another due to a poor signal.
A few seconds later, Kiana discovered that she had appeared in a seating gallery resembling the auditorium of a cinema or opera house.
The lighting was dim.
Anything that wasn’t particularly close was impossible to see clearly, while the more distant seats were engulfed in darkness, as though nothing existed there at all.
The only light illuminated the stage directly ahead, but the performance had yet to begin.
Kiana soon discovered several familiar faces sitting beside her.
She exclaimed in delight, “Auntie, Mei, Class Monitor, and Shortie—you’re all here!
“Wait, Bronya!
Why are you sitting next to Mei?
Switch places with me!
I want to watch the movie with Mei!” As she spoke, Kiana tried to stand up.
However, her entire body seemed glued to the chair, leaving her completely unable to move.
All she could do was rage helplessly.
“Damn it!
You stupid chair, let me up!” Bronya, meanwhile, bluntly remarked with an expressionless face, “Kiana truly is like a Paramecium, struggling against a mere chair.
Bronya is deeply concerned about the Paramecium’s future intelligence.” “What?!
Damn you, Bronya!
Just you wait!” Kiana gritted her teeth, but her body didn’t budge in the slightest.
“Kiana, haven’t you noticed yet?
The dismissal bell clearly rang earlier, and Bronya was leaving the classroom with Mei when we suddenly arrived in this place.
“That means we aren’t in the real world at all.
Some kind of advanced technology has pulled us into a place resembling virtual space.
“The rules of this world have established that we cannot leave our seats.
If Kiana possessed intelligence comparable to Bronya’s, she wouldn’t be wasting her effort!” As Bronya spoke, she directly linked arms with Raiden Mei and looked at Kiana provocatively, making the latter even more furious.
Seeing this, Raiden Mei hurriedly tried to stop their argument.
Theresa also said, “All right, Kiana.
This isn’t the time to fool around.
There are still many things waiting for us in the real world!
Hurry and help us think of a way to leave this place.” “Um…” Suddenly, a soft and gentle voice sounded beside Kiana.
“Is that you, Bronya?” “Seele?!” Bronya immediately straightened her back, her eyes fixed firmly on the seat beside Kiana.
The figure in the darkness gradually became visible.
Although she had grown quite a bit, Bronya recognized her at a glance as Seele, who had remained trapped in the Sea of Quanta.
Now even Bronya could no longer sit still, and she began struggling fiercely in her seat.
Just as the scene descended into chaos, the lights over the stage grew brighter, seemingly reminding everyone to focus their attention.
The performance was about to begin.
『Welcome to the Stigmata Theater—this is a journey into the past, Ragnarök.』 『A somewhat solemn voice slowly rang out, making everyone feel as though history long buried beneath the dust was finally revealing a corner of an ancient epic, and a grand curtain was about to rise.』 『On the stage, heavy snow began falling like a holographic projection, while two figures trudged forward through the blizzard.』 『One of them was Kiana Kaslana, only eleven or twelve years old.
She wore thick winter clothes, but her little face was still red from the cold.
The other was a tall man in a trench coat.
Although his face looked weathered, it couldn’t conceal his smile.
It was Siegfried.』 『Siegfried’s large hand held Young Kiana’s tiny hand as they made their way home through the heavy snow.
They seemed to have gone out to buy food and walked at a leisurely pace, as though they were taking a stroll.』 “That’s Scummy Dad—and me when I was little!” Kiana exclaimed in astonishment from the gallery.
Why was the stage showing events from her childhood with her dad?!
“Kiana as a child?” Raiden Mei gazed at the tiny figure on the stage.
She was clearly so adorable that Mei could hardly imagine her being the same person as the present Kiana.
Moreover, the longer Raiden Mei looked, the more she felt something beginning to stir within her heart.
Fu Hua and Theresa, however, were thinking more deeply.
They had no idea how many other people were inside this theater—or perhaps cinema—besides them.
Everyone else was hidden in the darkness, their appearances impossible to discern.
What was the purpose of the person behind the scenes showing them these images?
The scenes being displayed now were still ordinary, but what if something related to the Honkai was shown later?
They wondered whether Overseer Otto had any plan for dealing with this situation.
At that moment, in another corner of the gallery, Otto lightly tapped the armrest with his fingers as he asked, “What do you two think, Rita, Durandal?” “Very cute,” Rita subconsciously replied with a slightly dazed expression, lost in thoughts unknown to the others.
When she realized that the Overseer and Durandal were looking at her with subtle expressions, she coughed and immediately corrected herself, speaking in a formal tone.
“The origins of the Stigmata Theater are unknown, and we still don’t know what this theater is intended to do.
Could it simply be presenting past events through a holographic stage?
“I don’t think matters will be so simple, Lord Overseer.
We should proceed with caution.” Durandal’s thoughts differed from Rita’s.
“This man…
seems to be Mr.
Siegfried, the fugitive wanted by Schicksal.
Is this something that happened in the past?” She felt that Siegfried, who could treat a child with such tenderness, might not truly be an evil man.
Could there have been some misunderstanding between him and Schicksal?
Durandal could see that the smile Siegfried wore while accompanying Young Kiana wasn’t false.
It was so gentle that merely watching from the sidelines made her feel as though joy was about to overflow from her heart.
“No matter what this Stigmata Theater is plotting behind the scenes, we can continue to remain still and observe for now.
Let us wait and see.
The more it hopes to achieve, the more openings it will inevitably reveal.” Otto Apocalypse quietly watched the performance on the stage, deciding to take no action for the moment.
In truth, what truly mattered and drew Otto’s attention was what the voice had said after the so-called Stigmata Theater opened—this is a journey into the past, Ragnarök.
There was still too little information.
Otto couldn’t determine what those words meant.
Could it contain records of the Previous Era’s battle against the Honkai?
Only after leaving this mysterious Stigmata Theater could he immediately mobilize resources and investigate its existence.
As for where to begin the investigation, naturally, it would be with the word Stigmata.
Otto knew that Stigmata were actually measures left behind by the Previous Era to combat the Honkai.
Schicksal’s Valkyries were also able to fight the Honkai by relying on the power of Stigmata.
Perhaps this Stigmata Theater was actually some kind of ruin left behind by the Previous Era that had now reactivated.
At that moment, some unexpected changes began taking place on the stage.
『As Young Kiana walked through the snow, her foot suddenly slipped, and she fell to the ground, scattering the bread everywhere.』 『Just as Siegfried was about to help her up, a blazing meteor fell from the sky.
It crashed into the center of the small town, and in mere moments, the earth split apart as flames swept across the entire settlement.』 『The surviving humans not only had to face the natural disaster, but also had to remain constantly vigilant against their fellow humans who had degenerated into monsters.』 『Siegfried released Young Kiana’s hand, then disappeared with his weapon.』 『Those of the Kaslana Family could never turn a blind eye to people caught in disaster.』 “That Siegfried!
How could he leave Young Kiana alone in such a dangerous place when the Honkai was already this severe?
Wasn’t he afraid something might happen to her?!” Seeing Siegfried’s outrageous actions, Theresa wished she could fire Judah at him and teach him a harsh lesson.
This was his and Cecilia’s daughter!
If anything happened to her, it would already be too late for regrets!
“Kiana, so you went through something like this when you were young?” Raiden Mei felt her heart ache as she watched the scene unfolding in the theater.
She turned around, intending to comfort Kiana, only to discover that Kiana had vanished.
Nothing remained there but an empty seat.
“Kiana?!” Raiden Mei cried out in alarm.
At that moment, everyone noticed Kiana’s mysterious disappearance.
But the Honkai Theater was already a virtual world.
Where could Kiana have gone?
Had she returned to reality?
Class Monitor Fu Hua carefully scanned the surroundings and noticed that something seemed wrong with Young Kiana on the stage.
She hurriedly said, “Academy Principal, Mei, look at the stage!” 『Young Kiana on the stage fell into a daze for a moment before standing up and looking around.
From her perspective, she couldn’t see anything happening beyond the stage.
She could only perceive herself as being inside a town that resembled a post-apocalyptic wasteland.』 『Unable to stop herself, she called out the names of the people she knew.
“Auntie, Mei, Bronya, Class Monitor, where are you?!”』 『However, the moment Young Kiana spoke, she noticed that something was wrong with her voice.
It was far too childish!』 『Looking down, she saw that her hands, feet, and entire body had become tiny.
It seemed she had returned to her childhood.』 Fu Hua adjusted her glasses and said, “It seems Kiana has become Young Kiana on the stage.
She still doesn’t appear to understand what has happened, and she cannot see us below the stage.
“Perhaps from her perspective, she is currently inside the small town on the stage that has been invaded by the Honkai.” “Will Young Kiana be in danger?!” Raiden Mei couldn’t help asking worriedly.
Zombies had already appeared in that small town, and Honkai Beasts might show up later as well.
“Damn it.
If only Judah were here.” Theresa tried to climb out of her seat, only to discover that she couldn’t do so at all.
If the Oath of Judah were here, she could smash this chair apart instead of sitting here and watching Kiana face danger.
“The information we currently possess is still insufficient to deduce an answer, but I believe Kiana should be able to overcome this ordeal.” For now, this was the only reassurance Fu Hua could offer.
『On the stage, Young Kiana had indeed encountered trouble and danger.
Perhaps her loud shouting earlier had attracted several Zombies in the distance.』 『She immediately realized that the situation was bad.
If her current body were just a few years older, she could take down each of these Zombies with a single kick.
But right now, even escaping was somewhat difficult.』 『Just as Young Kiana began to panic, her foot suddenly stepped on something, causing her to fall again.
By then, the Zombies had already spotted her and were slowly limping toward her.』 『At the critical moment, Young Kiana picked up the object that had tripped her.
To her delight, it was a Pistol.』 『Its blue-and-white color scheme gave it a high-tech appearance.
As someone who frequently used Pistols, Kiana immediately sensed that it was a fine weapon.
She could only hope its recoil wouldn’t be too powerful.』 『She raised the Pistol with both hands, aimed at the Zombies approaching her, and fired once, twice, three times.』 『The Zombies were unable to withstand the power of Mjolnir and fell to the ground one after another.』 ★ ★ ★ Shilling time!