Mysterious Girl 『”Hahaha, these Zombies are so weak!
They’re no match for this Young Lady at all.』 『”Even though this Young Lady is this small right now, I can still defeat this many Zombies with ease.』 『”But something seems a little strange.
These Zombies can even use tools, and they look much more disgusting than any Zombies I’ve seen before.
I’ve never encountered ones like them.』 『”Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any Honkai Beasts either?”』 『Young Kiana thought for a moment before putting these matters out of her mind.』 『After all, not seeing any Honkai Beasts was a good thing.』 『Honkai Beasts were generally much stronger than Zombies.
With her tiny arms and legs right now, she might not be able to handle one if it actually appeared.』 『Picking up her pistol, she increasingly felt just how severe this Honkai outbreak was.』 『More and more monsters that had been infected by the Honkai and transformed into Zombies began approaching from all around her.』 『Fortunately, although Kiana’s body had become smaller, her mind hadn’t regressed.』 『She quickly spotted several gaps through which she could break out.
Relying on Mjolnir’s power, she knocked down several approaching Zombies and escaped the encirclement.』 Below the theater, the audience was still deeply worried about Young Kiana’s predicament.
Raiden Mei was even praying that Young Kiana would successfully escape danger.
“That’s it, Kiana!
Keep breaking through in that direction!
“If you continue forward, you should be able to leave the city.
Those Honkai Beasts seem to have been attracted by something inside the city.
“W-Wait, that’s not the right direction, Kiana!” Raiden Mei had initially been delighted to see Young Kiana break through the encirclement, but she hadn’t expected Kiana to act completely contrary to common sense.
Instead of running out of town, she charged straight toward its center.
Could Kiana be directionally challenged?
Back in Nagazora, Kiana didn’t seem to have shown any signs of that!
That was the epicenter of the entire Honkai outbreak, as well as the place where the meteorite had fallen—the location where the Honkai was most severe.
Wouldn’t running toward that place only put her in even greater danger?
“Big Sister Mei, don’t panic yet,” Bronya comforted Raiden Mei.
“Although Kiana sometimes behaves like a Paramecium, she wouldn’t joke around with her own life at a time like this.
“Bronya thinks Young Kiana may have discovered something.” “Seele…
Seele also thinks Y-Young Kiana probably won’t encounter any danger,” Seele added from beside them.
Although Seele didn’t know them, the people around her seemed to be the new friends Big Sister Bronya had made during this time!
Seele felt deeply reassured.
She had always worried that Big Sister Bronya would be in terrible pain after she disappeared.
Now that she saw these new friends, Seele felt happy for Bronya.
But why did she also feel a faint trace of sadness?
Seele didn’t realize that it was an emotion buried extremely deeply within her—jealousy.
Class Monitor Fu Hua, on the other hand, saw more than the others.
She said, “Young Kiana is probably heading toward the epicenter of the Honkai outbreak to search for her father.
“After all, we don’t know how wide an area this Honkai disaster has affected.
“Rather than trying to survive alone on a Honkai battlefield like this, her best choice would be to search for her father, Siegfried, a warrior who fights against the Honkai.” After Fu Hua explained Kiana’s current motive, Raiden Mei finally understood Young Kiana’s intentions.
『Young Kiana had more or less begun to understand her current situation.
It seemed that she had crossed into that Honkai Theater from before.』 『Although her childhood memories had already grown blurry, Kiana was still certain that she had never encountered the scene before her.』 『Otherwise, there was no way she wouldn’t remember any of it.』 『Although the town had been devastated by the Honkai and reduced to ruined walls, Kiana still recognized it at a glance.
This was the same town she had seen inside the Stigmata Theater.』 『Thus, everything had become clear.』 『Kiana picked up her pistol and headed straight toward the center of town, in the direction of the Honkai outbreak.』 『She did so for no other reason than to find Siegfried Kaslana.』 『If she could find Siegfried inside this Stigmata Theater, perhaps she would be able to recall some of her past memories.』 『She might also learn the true reason Siegfried had spent all these years hiding and refusing to meet her.』 『Although an enormous Honkai outbreak had occurred throughout the town, its intensity was far lower than Young Kiana had imagined.』 『There were also fewer Zombie monsters than Young Kiana had expected.』 『What caused the greatest destruction to the town was instead the raging inferno.』 『But under the current circumstances, there was no chance any firefighters would come here to put out the blaze.
There was no telling how long it would continue burning.』 『Kiana broke through the Zombies’ encirclement and arrived safely at the center of town.』 『However, what Young Kiana found strange was that she couldn’t see a single person in the center of this Honkai-ravaged town.』 『Even the meteorite that had previously fallen from the sky seemed never to have appeared, leaving no destruction behind.』 『Seeing no one else around, Young Kiana couldn’t help shouting, “Scummy Dad!
Scummy Dad, are you here?
Hurry up and come out!”』 『Suddenly, a thunderous rumble rang out.
The ground shook as though an earthquake had struck, nearly causing Young Kiana to fall.』 『She turned her head toward the source of the tremors.
A raging fire burned there, while billowing black smoke obscured Kiana’s vision.』 『Yet through the darkness, she could vaguely make out a young girl silently watching her.』 “That girl!” For some reason, Theresa felt that the girl within the thick smoke seemed somewhat familiar, yet also somewhat unfamiliar.
She genuinely couldn’t remember where she had seen that girl before.
There was only one thing she could be certain of: that girl was probably not a living person.
After all, only the strongest warriors could possibly survive at the center of a Honkai outbreak like this.
Theresa began to grow worried, hoping Siegfried would find Kiana soon!
It wasn’t only Theresa.
Everyone seated in the Honkai Theater—Raiden Mei, Seele, and Otto—could sense that there was definitely something deeply wrong with the girl concealed in the darkness.
Fu Hua and Durandal could even sense the threat emanating from the girl across the entire Honkai Theater.
She might be an extremely powerful Zombie, or perhaps even a Herrscher.
“And there’s also Young Kiana.
Before Siegfried released her hand and after he did so, she seemed like two completely different people.
One was a genuine child.
“The other seemed like a more mature person had been forcibly stuffed into this child’s body.
Overseer, do you know what might have caused this?” Durandal had noticed something unusual about Young Kiana.
After being surrounded by the Zombies, Young Kiana had behaved much more maturely.
Otto gazed into the dense darkness filling the entire Stigmata Theater and said, “This theater is so vast.
Perhaps the three of us aren’t its only audience members.
“There may be other people hidden in those corners.
Someone may have even personally entered the theater to perform for us.
Shouldn’t we applaud the actors for their splendid performance?” Otto had noticed the disharmony surrounding Young Kiana even earlier than Durandal.
Having kept Kiana under surveillance for years, Otto was now absolutely certain that the person performing onstage was Kiana—or rather, his K423!
Combined with the few things Young Kiana had said earlier, the conclusion was already obvious.
The three of them weren’t the only ones here.
His dear granddaughter Theresa, the Third Herrscher Raiden Mei, Bronya—the girl rescued from Anti-Entropy—and his old friend Fu Hua were all currently inside this theater, watching the performance onstage.
And every one of them possessed an exceptionally unusual identity.
Otto was now extremely curious about the principles governing the Stigmata Theater and exactly what it intended to accomplish.
『Young Kiana observed the girl carefully.
She didn’t seem to be a Zombie.
Could she be a survivor of this disaster?』 『Young Kiana thought the other girl might be terrified, so she immediately spoke in a soft and gentle voice.
“Don’t be afraid.
I’m not one of those monsters.
Oh, right, have you seen a tall, muscular man?
He’s my dad!”』 『Kiana said all this, but the other party gave no response.
She remained silent, still concealed beneath the black smoke without making the slightest movement.』 『Under these circumstances, Kiana also sensed that something was wrong.』 『Although the girl didn’t look like a Zombie, she probably wasn’t a normal living person either!』 『”Can you hear me?” Young Kiana asked again, her voice quieter this time.』 『However, before she could even finish the question, Young Kiana suddenly felt an intense headache, as though her head were about to explode.』 『Immediately afterward, the world spun around her, and she felt as though she were about to faint.』 『”Kiana!” A familiar voice rang out.
It was Siegfried’s voice.』 『Young Kiana recognized it immediately.
“Scummy Dad, is that you?”』 『Siegfried helped Young Kiana up from the ground.
While shielding her behind him, he complained, “Kiana, although I accidentally lost track of you, there’s no need to call me Scummy Dad the moment we meet again!』 『”You’re already this unadorable at only twelve years old.
Forget it, as long as you’re safe.』 『”Kiana, listen to me.
Leave this place immediately.』 『”No matter what happens, don’t stop running.
You must get out safely.”』 『Siegfried’s words sounded almost as though he were giving his final instructions before death.』 『Young Kiana immediately felt an intense sense of unease fill her heart.』 『Rationally speaking, Siegfried would appear again in the future and would still be alive and well in this world.』 『Even while she wandered alone, she could vaguely detect certain traces Siegfried had left behind in this world.』 『That proved Siegfried wouldn’t suffer any fatal consequences from this incident.』 『As though sensing Young Kiana’s hesitation, Siegfried said, “Don’t worry.
Dad is the head of the Kaslana family.
A minor Honkai outbreak like this is nothing worth mentioning.”』 『Even so, Kiana remained worried.』 『Siegfried once again promised that he would survive and return to find Kiana afterward.』 『A voice interrupted their conversation.』 『”Ignorant, arrogant humans, insignificant as specks of dust.” The figure that had remained concealed within the thick black smoke finally spoke.』 ★ ★ ★ Shilling time!