"Huh?!"
The little ahoge on top of Kiana's head shot straight up with a boing! — then slowly curved into a question mark. Her wide sky-blue eyes were filled with pure, uncomprehending blankness.
The news hit so suddenly that it felt like someone had stuffed a chunk of moon rock down her throat. Kiana spluttered and coughed.
Ever since learning that she had an older sister who was [Schicksal]'s destined S-rank Valkyrie, Kiana had been looking forward to meeting her. She'd even pestered Silver Wing into digging up some information about her sister during their time in the Elysian Realm.
She had seen Durandal's photo.
"C-cough cough — she, she she… is my sister?"
Her fingertip trembled as she pointed at the adorable little golden-haired loli.
Ice-blue irises, the upturned corners of her lips, even the arc of her brow ridge — identical to the photo she'd seen. The only difference was that all of it was now packed into a tiny, childish little face, soft as freshly kneaded snow.
"A destined S-rank Valkyrie from [Schicksal]? What is she doing here?!"
Tesla had followed them out and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of Rita, her fur immediately bristling.
Rita registered the hostility but didn't pay it any mind. She smiled gracefully, struck a pose with the composed elegance befitting a maid, and gave a curtsy before explaining:
"Anti-Entropy's two Doctors? Under different circumstances, my duties would indeed compel me to take action against you — but in the current situation, there's really no need to regard me with such animosity."
Einstein frowned and shot a questioning look at the silver-haired girl.
Silver Wing gave a confirming nod.
One word of "Rita big sis~" from Daylight and Rita would be utterly wrapped around her little finger. What was Otto compared to that?
"When did Kiana suddenly get a sister? I'm pretty sure Siegfried only had one daughter," Tesla said, setting aside her suspicion of Rita for the moment, shaking her head in bewilderment. "Don't tell me the rumors about [Schicksal] are true — that Siegfried back in the day was a shameless flirt who scattered his affections everywhere?"
After all, there had been stories going around that Siegfried had groped the backsides of every Valkyrie at [Schicksal] HQ. That wasn't just a lecherous scoundrel — that was practically a demon.
Einstein raised a hand, pressed it flat against Tesla's face to cut her off, and let out a silent sigh. A trace of helpless exasperation crept across her clean, composed features.
"Those are rumors."
"But…"
As though a certain possibility had just occurred to her, Einstein's unflappable expression gradually gave way to stunned disbelief. She lowered her voice to a volume only Tesla could hear.
"From a scientific and biological standpoint, the relationship between a clone and her template is closer to mother and daughter — but given human social ethics, 'sisters' is probably the more appropriate framing."
"You mean she's a…"
The word "clone" clicked something into place for Tesla, and her eyes went wide. "Impossible!"
Anti-Entropy knew the full story of what had happened when Siegfried fled [Schicksal] with his biological daughter and K423. They had even personally negotiated with Siegfried at the time, hoping to take in K423 — the girl who carried the Void Core — and raise her themselves.
An eight-year-old child, shot in the head and then sent into free fall from ten thousand meters up. How could anyone have survived that?
Mei spoke up in mild surprise: "But isn't Kiana's sister Durandal?"
For Rita — who knew the full story — and for Elysia and Sakura — who knew nothing — the remark landed without much impact. But for Tesla and Einstein, it hit like a bomb.
"What the f*!"
Hot-tempered big sis Tesla swore outright, her expression somewhere between horror and bewilderment.
What the hell was going on?!
"She is Durandal — just not the Durandal of right now," Silver Wing said, and rapped Kiana lightly on the head.
"Wait — Bronya, is it really okay to just tell her all this straight out?"
Little Bianca remembered that at this point in time, Kiana instinctively shied away from the truth of her origins. She didn't yet have a clear understanding that she was the other half of the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin — the one who had cost her father his arm and bore the so-called "blame" for it.
She was worried it might be too much of a shock for Kiana.
"As for the nature of your relationship, I already told her a long time ago. The rest of it — she's grown a lot during this time." Silver Wing accepted a drink from a passing waiter as they returned to the private room Mei had booked, and took a sip to wet her throat.
The gains Kiana had made in the Elysian Realm weren't just in terms of power — she had grown on a deeper level as well, inheriting the legacy passed down from the Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era.
"By the way — Mr. Siegfried also knows."
"I see."
Little Bianca looked at the white-haired girl, whose expression showed not the slightest sign of breaking down, and exhaled a breath of relief. "Then I'm not worried."
She could feel Bianca's eyes on her. Half-hidden behind Silver Wing, Kiana pressed her lips together.
Something like the feeling of nervousness that comes from finally standing at the threshold of home after a long journey away?
She had been overjoyed to learn she had a sister, and she had been looking forward to meeting her all along — but the truth was, neither Silver Wing nor her dad had ever brought up the topic of clones or Sirin. Not once.
It wasn't quite that she had pieced it together from their words. More accurately — from the very beginning, she had always known the truth of her own identity on some level. She had just been trying with everything she had to forget it.
But even so — when she truly stood before this [Kiana], the first person in the world who had ever shown her kindness, the very origin point of her existence — she still felt lost and at a complete loss for what to do.
Head dipped low, Kiana averted her gaze. She fidgeted behind Silver Wing's back, her toes poking absently at the floor, and after a long silence finally spoke in a tiny, bashful voice:
"…Sis? Big… sis?"
She said it — then cautiously peeked over at Little Bianca, and was met with the sight of the little loli looking back at her with a laugh she was just barely holding in, eyes brimming with pure, indulgent adoration.
S-so weird!
I knew Kiana was adorable, but this version of Kiana is THIS adorable?!
Little Bianca stared at the cat-eared Kiana Silver Wing had dressed up, screaming internally with pure, uncontrollable delight!
Perhaps it was the effect a child's body had on personality — she had an almost irresistible urge to throw herself on the floor and roll around to vent the joy bursting inside her, like some kind of special "warped creature."
She managed to hold it in through sheer force of will.
In the original future, she and Kiana had only recognized each other as sisters well into the later stages of the Great Eruption. By that point, Kiana had been forged by the intertwining of suffering and hope into the tenacious, gentle, belief-awakened, fate-defying, brave and strong Herrscher of the Flames she would become.
It wasn't that that version of Kiana was bad — it was just that she had grown so mature that Little Bianca had missed the window to look after her little sister during her awkward, unpolished days. A slight, bittersweet regret.
But now it seemed she had a chance to make up for it!
"Silver Wing — what did 'not the Durandal of right now' mean?"
Tesla and Einstein latched onto those words. They had a wild, absurd theory forming.
"You should be able to work it out — Little Bianca is from a future timeline."
Silver Wing dropped the bombshell in the most offhand, casual tone imaginable, sending Tesla into an immediate frenzy.
"That's impossible! Any physics that allows this world to function normally cannot support the existence of time travel!"
"Mm, I can't explain that part to you."
Silver Wing shrugged. It wasn't like she could just say the System glitched and made it happen, could she?
"You're welcome to try researching it afterward. For now, I need the two of you to help me calculate the optimal location near the seas around New Zealand to 'detonate' the Imaginary energy, based on the distribution of Honkai energy in the area."
"Detonate? You intend to trigger a Honkai eruption deliberately?"
Einstein stared at the silver-haired girl with wary unease.
Silver Wing nodded. "The Great Eruption is inevitable. So rather than let it happen on its own, deliberately triggering it somewhere far from populated areas minimizes the damage as much as possible."
Her instincts told her the Fourth Eruption would break out in New Zealand within two or three days at most.
Einstein went quiet. "That is, admittedly, the most pragmatic option given the circumstances. But how do you plan to…"
The words died on her lips. Her eyes dropped to the wheelchair Silver Wing was pushing, and she paused.
"Using the Gem of Desire? If you do that, this child will become a Herrscher."
"I have a way to handle it."
"!"
"?"
Einstein and Tesla were floored.
Weighing Silver Wing's track record against Little Bianca's very existence here—
"…Fine."
"Time is short. Let's move."
Everyone boarded their vehicles and left the area near the [Schicksal] branch, then switched to a small aircraft and headed back to the Anti-Entropy base.
Tesla was still uneasy about Rita tagging along with them. She simply couldn't bring herself to trust Otto's most capable right hand.
That changed when Rita, right in front of her and Einstein, followed Silver Wing's instructions and fed Otto a carefully crafted false report.
Well — not exactly false. Everything in the report was technically accurate. It just wasn't the whole truth.
For instance, the fact that Silver Wolf of the Urals had infiltrated the New Zealand branch and removed the Gem of Desire's vessel, Wendy — that was something that couldn't be hidden even if they'd tried, and there was no reason to try.
She even reported to Otto that "Bronya" possessed the Twelfth Divine Key, the Jizo Mitama.
Silver Wing had no intention of concealing it. She needed a plausible reason for slipping silently into the branch.
What Rita was doing now was all but identical to switching sides — but she couldn't openly betray [Schicksal].
Unlike the original trio or any number of other main characters who collectively couldn't scrape together a single pair of living parents between them, Rita's parents were both alive and well — living happily on [Schicksal]'s floating island, running a flower shop.
For the sake of Lady Bianca she could turn on Otto. But she could never turn her back on her own parents.
"Archbishop, Bronya appears to be planning to use the Gem of Desire for something. Rita is conducting further investigation."
Rita's voice was as elegantly bewitching as ever.
"Mm, good work."
Otto's unhurried, melodious voice came through from the other end of the line. In the background, Tesla — standing well away from the screen — ground her teeth so hard it was audible. If Einstein hadn't clamped a hand over her mouth, she would have spat at the screen.
"I'll have Durandal, who's on standby in Australia, move in to provide support."
"Understood."
Rita inclined her head respectfully.
The line cut.
"Lady Silver Wing — given Durandal's temperament, she'll reach New Zealand very shortly."
Now finally privy to part of the silver-haired girl's true identity, Rita understood: like Lady Bianca, Silver Wing was a being from the future.
"Well done, Rita."
Silver Wing curved her lips into a smile.
They'd sit down with this era's Durandal later — together with Daylight and Bianca.
Once the clueless goose learned the truth, even if she didn't immediately defect to Silver Wing's side, she would at least stop executing Otto's orders like a mindless drone.
With two S-rank Valkyries gone, what exactly could Otto do?
Wake the third sleeping S-rank?
Sorry about that.
That one's also mine.
The moment Li Sushang woke up, Moonscar could channel her power in reverse reflection — and all that would do was add another asset to Silver Wing's side.
Three S-ranks defecting at once. No matter how masterfully Otto schemed and maneuvered, even the cleverest housewife can't cook a meal without rice.
And every plan, no matter how brilliant, requires sufficient force to execute.
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