“Die, you illusion!”
Without another word, Theresa manipulated the chains of the Oath of Judah and attacked Kiana.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Theresa is a genuine S-rank Valkyrie, and I’m going to become the strongest Valkyrie in the future, which means… I’m not there yet…”
Since Theresa showed absolutely no mercy, Kiana started losing ground after just three rounds. She could only watch helplessly as the chain spear lunged toward her head. In her panic, no matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn’t dodge it.
Kiana deeply realized at that moment that when your opponent is strong enough, you can’t win by just relying on brute force alone, without skill or teamwork. She truly experienced the meaning of the saying, “One only regrets not having learned enough when it’s time to use it.”
“If I get another chance, I’ll never zone out during Himeko’s lectures again, and I’ll never zone out during class monitor’s tutoring sessions again…”
Just as Kiana was silently praying in her heart, the chain spear stopped less than ten centimeters from her head. Then, Theresa pulled the chains back, her face filled with shock.
“You… the technique you just used, was that the Kaslana Gun Kata?”
Kiana had a “what’s wrong with that?” look on her face and answered, very confused:
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”
“Who taught you?”
“My dad, of course.”
“Dad?”
“Siegfried… Siegfried Kaslana…”
Theresa’s brain froze:
“Wh-what is going on here? She says she’s Kiana, but Kiana is only a little over one year old…”
Kiana, whose brain had been working overtime, suddenly realized something.
“Wait, what year and day is it right now?”
Theresa answered without thinking:
“February 7th, 2000.”
Kiana nodded, with a look of sudden understanding on her face:
“2000, snowy plains… so I’ve traveled to the time of the Second Eruption. The Theresa in front of me is the Theresa from back then, which is why she doesn’t recognize me…”
Meanwhile, Theresa also got a look of sudden understanding.
“I get it now! You must be Siegfried’s illegitimate daughter!”
Theresa nodded very firmly. After reinforcing this conclusion—which she had come to from who knows where—her expression turned angry:
“Darn it, I always knew that guy’s private life was a mess, but I didn’t think he had an illegitimate daughter this old out there!”
(Siegfried, the champion of pure love, expresses that his reputation has been unfairly tarnished. Shigure Kira says this has nothing to do with her.)
Theresa’s conclusion left Kiana completely baffled. She never thought the day would come when she would be the one calling someone else an idiot.
No matter how you looked at it, she appeared to be fifteen or sixteen years old. Regardless of how messy Siegfried’s private life really was, if you go back fifteen or sixteen years from 2000, how old would Siegfried have been in 1984? Would he have even been capable of fathering a child back then?
All you can say is that the Kaslana family’s idiot genes have been well passed down through Theresa, Siegfried, and Kiana.
“Who’s an illegitimate daughter!”
Facing Kiana’s displeasure, Theresa didn’t think there was anything wrong with her reasoning at all. Instead, she said with a concerned and pitying look:
“Oh, you poor child. I know you’re hurting inside, but no matter what, it’s all your womanizing father’s fault…”
Kiana: “#￥%&… Forget it, it’s gonna be hard to explain this to her. I’ll just go along with what she’s saying for now, let her take me out of this creepy place, and we’ll talk later…”
“Maybe I can even use this chance to find out what really happened during the Second Eruption in 2000.”
Kiana lowered her head and tried really hard for a while before she managed to put on a choked-up expression:
“…Yeah… you’re right. It’s all that deadbeat dad’s fault. About less than five years ago, he abandoned my mother and me and disappeared to who knows where. Not long after he left, my mother passed away. I’ve been searching for him, and that’s how I ended up all the way out here.”
Even though Kiana herself thought the story she had just made up was full of holes, from Theresa’s expression, it was clear she didn’t suspect anything about the impromptu tale.
“You poor child. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure justice is served for you. But not right now. It’s very dangerous here. Let me take you away from this place first. Once this mission is over, I’ll catch Siegfried and give him a good lesson!”
The two walked for a while on the snowy plain, and then Theresa’s communicator went off:
“This is Theresa Apocalypse… don’t worry, I’m fine… what? The Second Herrscher has vanished? To fully awaken, she will definitely try to obtain the Honkai energy inside the ‘Tower,’ so she will surely return to the Babylon Lab. Have the Valkyrie squads patrol near the ‘Tower.’ As soon as they spot any trace of the Second Herrscher, report back to command immediately!”
Kiana looked at Theresa in slight surprise. The way she had just commanded the battle was clear-headed, calm, and composed—completely different from the Dumb Lisa she had been talking to moments ago.
“But while reporting, make sure to protect yourselves. Avoid engaging the Second Herrscher in battle as much as possible. Oh, and where is Siegfried Kaslana right now?… He’s already arrived at the temporary command post? Good. I’ll head there too and meet up with him.”
After eavesdropping on Theresa’s communication, Kiana gained even more questions.
“Theresa, the tower you mentioned earlier, is that the tall one in the distance?”
“That’s right. ‘Tower’ is just a shortened name. The full name is the Babylon Lab. It’s a large research center that Schicksal built in Siberia.”
“It houses Schicksal’s most advanced technologies in biology, materials, computing, and energy. The world’s largest large-scale Honkai reactor is there, with an output power exceeding 2000 HW.”
“2000 HW?! Isn’t that even bigger than the Hyperion’s core reactor?”
“Hyperion? I’ve never heard of a reactor by that name. Hyperion… it sounds like it would be a good name for a battleship.”
Kiana realized she had misspoken and didn’t continue. Just then, several dozen more Honkai beasts appeared.
“Watch out! Stay behind me!”
Just as Kiana pulled out her guns, the chains of the Oath of Judah had already pierced through the bodies of the Honkai beasts ahead. By the time Kiana had taken down four or five enemies, Theresa was already cleaning up the battlefield.
“2000, the Second Eruption… I feel like something’s missing…”
Just then, Kiana felt that voice that had spoken to her in her dreams before appear once again in her mind. After thinking for a moment, she exclaimed:
“Theresa! What about my mom—I mean, the S-rank Valkyrie Cecilia Schariac? Didn’t she come?”
“Cecilia? Why do you know her name?”
“Mm… because… because she’s the Valkyrie I admire the most.”
Theresa thoroughly agreed with Kiana’s statement. After all, half of Schicksal’s Valkyries were Cecilia fans, so one more wasn’t strange at all.
“Is that so… but Cecilia didn’t come to Siberia. Because she gave birth to a daughter over a year ago and her body still needs to recover, she didn’t participate in this mission. However…”
“However what?”
“However, if Siegfried and I fail to stop the Second Herrscher, Bishop Otto will force her to sortie… I will never let that happen!”
“Right, please make sure to protect her.”
On the other side, after learning that Kiana had fallen into the illusion, Enoxia also began to take action.
“Don’t worry, Sirin. That’s enough. There’s no need to let Kiana keep receiving Otto’s fabricated story anymore. Receiving too much false information will eventually interfere with a person’s judgment. I know that even in an illusion, you don’t want Otto to ruin Cecilia’s image.”
The fragment Enoxia had hidden in the Coral Island base’s network in advance sprang into action immediately. The next moment, alarms blared throughout the entire Coral Island base. This immediately put Raiden Mei, who had been unhurriedly fighting a war of attrition against the Frost Emperor, on high alert.
Just then, a partially broken screen beside her suddenly lit up, displaying the image of Kiana, who had fainted.
“What!”
Raiden Mei turned to leave, but the Frost Emperor behind her stubbornly kept following and even fired ice crystals at her.
“You’re asking for it!”
Already very agitated, Raiden Mei instantly seemed to ignite. She didn’t bother worrying about the other Valkyries anymore and went all out against the Frost Emperor.
“Crackle… Boom!”
The raging current directly blasted through several layers of the Coral Island base’s walls, sending broken fragments flying outward. After this strike, anyone could just walk straight into the base’s core area.
Of course, the Frost Emperor that had been right behind her was now nothing but a shell on the ground. The several dozen other Honkai beasts had been reduced to ashes.
“Honkai reaction detected inside the base!”
While the remaining Valkyrie team members stood there dumbfounded, even panicking, Raiden Mei moved with true lightning speed and rushed to the room where Kiana was.
What greeted her eyes was Bronya, lying on the ground unconscious, Kiana staring blankly at the stone tablet in front of her, and Meri, who looked like she had both expected and not expected Raiden Mei’s arrival, and was currently messing with the unconscious Kiana.
