Hearing Kiana’s question, Bronya fell silent.
She didn’t know how to answer.
Should she say she didn’t know?
But she had already guessed the truth when Cocolia ordered her to come and prepare to recover the Herrscher of Thunder.
Should she say she knew?
That would only prove that she and Cocolia were cut from the same cloth and equally deserving of death.
“Bronya…
has a guess.” Bronya admitted it nonetheless.
She did indeed understand Cocolia’s plan, and perhaps she should have stopped it, but Seele…
“Bronya admits it.
Bronya’s selfishness was placed above the millions of people in Nagazora City…
Perhaps that is why you haven’t killed Bronya yet.” Bronya looked up at Kiana, her heart prepared for death.
It was just such a pity that she would never get to see her Seele one last time…
“Then, Bronya Zaychik, in your eyes, should Cocolia, who nearly caused the deaths of millions in Nagazora City, be killed or not?” Kiana asked, arms crossed.
Of course, even if Bronya begged her not to kill Cocolia, it would be impossible.
After all, Cocolia was nothing but a troublemaker, the Danzo of the Honkai Impact 3rd world.
“Bronya cannot refute that…
but the event has not yet occurred.
Could you please spare Cocolia Mama’s life…”
“Impossible.” Before Kiana could speak, Raiden Mei refused.
Her emotions were agitated, and lightning crackled along the blade in her hand.
“She is the one who caused my father’s imprisonment, she is the one who caused me to be bullied by others at Senba Academy, she is the one who caused me to be branded as the daughter of a criminal, she is the one who caused me to lose my family, and she is the one who nearly caused the deaths of millions in Nagazora City!”
Raiden Mei’s accusations made Bronya’s face turn pale.
She dared not look at Kiana and the others again, and could only lower her head helplessly, not knowing what to say.
“Kiana, what do you think?” Siegfried looked at the dejected Bronya and asked his daughter.
Kiana simply raised her hand, and Cocolia, looking like a dead dog, flew over out of thin air and was thrown onto the ground.
“Bronya, if there were a chance that you could bring Seele back, but you only had to kill Cocolia to do it, would you do it?” Kiana looked at Bronya.
This question greatly shocked Bronya’s young heart.
As for doubt?
Bronya could not doubt it, because Cocolia had originally said that as long as they had the Herrscher of Thunder, they could find a way to save Seele. This story is hosted at g.com.
“Bronya…” Bronya looked at the wailing Cocolia, who looked like a dead dog, and thought of the short-haired girl’s smile and that gentle kiss in her memories.
Her body couldn’t stop trembling.
‘Bronya…
what should she do…’ Bronya couldn’t make a choice, because it was Cocolia who had given her a home and a place to belong.
Although Cocolia was very bad, in Bronya’s eyes, she was still her Cocolia Mama.
Bronya struggled internally for a long time before finally giving her answer.
Her voice was hoarse, her tone trembling uncontrollably, and her beautiful eyes were filled with confusion.
“Bronya cannot do it…
whether it is Cocolia Mama or Seele…
Bronya cannot make that choice…”
“Not being able to make a choice is precisely making a choice.” Kiana crouched down to look at Bronya and gently patted her head.
It felt nice.
“If you choose to kill the adoptive mother who raised you just because of Seele, even if she is a piece of trash now, that is ingratitude.
If you choose to give up the girl in your heart because of Cocolia, that is not pure enough.
Being conflicted like you are just proves that you are a normal person, because human nature is inherently complex.”
Kiana looked at Bronya and gave her a promise: “Cocolia’s actions, while they haven’t harmed the people of this city yet, have already harmed my companion.
So, I will hand her over to Mei to deal with.
And you—Bronya Zaychik, I want to give you a choice.
I will save your Seele, then I will tell her about you and what Cocolia has done, and let her decide how to handle the two of you.”
“…Bronya understands.” Bronya nodded gently.
As long as the other party could save Seele, that was enough.
And once Seele came out…
Thinking of the expression Seele might have at that time, Bronya had already prepared herself to be hit, scolded, or even to break ties with Seele.
“As long as Seele can come out, that is enough.” Bronya had no other desires now; she only hoped that her Seele would be safe and could return.
“Then, Cocolia is yours, Mei.” Kiana handed Cocolia, who was like a dead dog, over to Raiden Mei.
And waiting for the other party was the accumulated rage of the Thunder Queen, who had lost her father and been bullied, a judgment brought by the thunder.
…
“So, what is this surprise you said you wanted to give me, Kiana?” On the rooftop of ME Corp, Siegfried and Kiana were having a long-overdue father-daughter chat. Read the latest chapters at g.com.
The scruffy, one-armed uncle still looked like a slacker, but at least he no longer looked decadent.
“Big sister is still alive.
She is not the Herrscher of the Void, but the sister who said she wanted me to be her little sister—the real Kiana Kaslana.”
Kiana’s words made Siegfried’s smile stiffen.
He instinctively wanted to refute that it was impossible; he had watched with his own eyes as that child fell from a thousand meters in the sky because of his own powerlessness, not to mention that the child’s head had been nearly split in two by a steel plate back then.
“I am not lying, Dad.” Kiana looked at Siegfried and handed him the photo of Durandal.
Watching his hands shake as he took the photo, she continued: “She is the miracle born from the union of Kaslana and Schariac.
If no one had saved her, she might have truly died on the grasslands.
But Otto found her and took her back, though she lost all her memories…
Now, she is a Schicksal S-Rank Valkyrie, Bianka Durandal Ataegina.”
“Bianka Durandal Ataegina…” Siegfried looked at the photo of the blonde, extraordinary older sister in his hand.
That face was, one could say, exactly the same as Cecilia’s…
“Is she really…
still alive?” At this moment, Siegfried lacked the glory of a hero; he was just a miserable old father desperately wanting to know the whereabouts of his daughter, asking Kiana.
“I promise, Dad, big sister is still alive.” Kiana’s affirmative words gave Siegfried a glimmer of hope.
His daughter was still alive, and she was in Schicksal…
“So, could I trouble you, Dad, to contact the leader of Anti-Entropy?
I want to launch a rebellion against the Schicksal Overseer and chop off his dog head.”
When she lacked power, Kiana had to play along with Otto, but now that the greatest counter to Otto was in hand, why should she bother playing along with him anymore?
After all, while Otto’s love for Kallen was worthy of respect, the rest of him was just a troublemaker.
The veteran S-Rank Valkyries of Schicksal had all been toyed with by that old guy until none were left, and all the Soulium left behind by the Previous Era had been taken by him to create spare bodies.
“Kill Otto?
Then you must count me in!” Upon hearing Kiana’s next target, Siegfried’s eyes instantly turned malicious.
He had long wanted to take down Otto, but he never had the chance, and with his severed arm…
he was too weak.
“Of course, but we don’t have enough manpower.
And although Otto is annoying, most of the Valkyries under him are quite good; we cannot kill the innocent indiscriminately.”
“I understand.
I will find a way to contact Welt immediately.”