"In the name of twenty Command Seals, awaken all your power! Durandal!"
Takatsuki's voice pierced through space and entered Durandal's ears. At the same time, the Stigmata on Takatsuki's arm rapidly faded, leaving only two.
In return, Durandal's magical energy rapidly swelled.
In an instant, Durandal felt time instantly pause, and the surrounding colors seemed to turn grayscale.
"This is…"
Looking at her hands, Durandal saw…
"There are two of me?"
No, not two.
Durandal quickly realized that time had not paused; rather, her consciousness had accelerated.
She didn't know how many times it had accelerated, but at least everything around her seemed completely frozen.
She could see the substantial black magical energy erupting from Artoria, and she could see Kiritsugu behind her, rapidly moving away from the battlefield but suspended in mid-air as if time-stopped.
And…
Three light orbs that appeared before her.
"This is… the power I've awakened?"
Durandal recalled the voice she heard before her consciousness accelerated.
Although she didn't know what the light orbs in front of her were, she had some faint, intuitive sense.
The first light orb had a familiar aura, seemingly from the World Bubble within her body.
"The power of the World Bubble, huh…"
Durandal hadn't forgotten that during her adventure at the age of 12, she had used herself as a blade, containing the gem of the holy sword Durandal. Now, that power had merged with the World Bubble, becoming the force that stabilized the World Bubble.
But Durandal couldn't control this power. She reached into it, and golden light climbed up her arm, forming a set of golden armor on her body.
"So light…"
She knew the origin of this armor on her body; it was a manifestation of the World Bubble's power, given a spatial concept of physicality, yet it had no weight. Compared to the weight it carried, it was so light it was unbearable.
This power was a gift from the World Bubble. Each use consumed the power stabilizing the World Bubble, and excessive use could very likely lead to the collapse of that world.
Durandal didn't want to use this power unless absolutely necessary.
She reached for the next light orb. Within this orb, she felt two intertwined auras, and a call from her bloodline made her feel very close to them.
But as soon as she touched that light orb, a violent power instantly erupted from within her body.
Although it manifested as a light orb outside her body, in reality, this power was still within Durandal herself.
"This is… Honkai Energy!"
Durandal didn't know why she had Honkai Energy within her. She only felt her body constantly being eroded by this power, attempting to transform into another form. Berserk killing intent also surged from within her, and at the same time, a warm current appeared in her mind, helping her maintain clarity.
At this moment, the previously activated power of the World Bubble also surged out, contending with this force.
A tug-of-war formed within Durandal's body.
If the two powers awakened separately, there might not be any impact, but in reality, in real time, the two powers awakened almost simultaneously, vying for dominance within Durandal's body.
And the result was that Durandal felt her body was about to be torn apart.
"Ah!!! Settle down!"
Durandal tried to control these two powers but failed. At this moment, a voice appeared, and she felt something appear behind her.
"That won't do, you know. If it's power, it has to be obedient~"
With the appearance of this voice, the power within Durandal suddenly quieted down, making her feel as if she was dreaming for a moment, and the state of attempted distortion on her body also disappeared.
"Who are you…"
Durandal looked at the silver-haired figure that appeared beside her. Although the figure had a human form, its appearance was clearly not human.
She floated in mid-air, entirely silver-white, adorned with strange golden patterns. The reason for using 'she' was because the voice she emitted was a clear female voice.
For some reason, Durandal felt this voice was very familiar, yet she couldn't recall it, but it gave her a nostalgic feeling.
"You can call me [Stand by me]…"
The silver-white voice spoke the name.
"Stand by me?"
She nodded: "That's right, Stand by me. I am your partner, and also your power. Just like my name, you can also call this power, a Stand…"
"My power?"
Durandal was very unfamiliar with this entity, apart from that voice, there was nothing familiar about her, but in her heart, she seemed to agree with this statement.
She is my other half…
She had that feeling.
"My time is limited. You must remember what I'm about to say. I can help you borrow power from others, and I can also help you control all the power that enters your body. After this meeting, I will not appear again, but you can use my power at any time. You must make good use of the power within you."
"Wait! What do you mean by 'time is limited'!?"
Durandal didn't understand what the other party meant. After all, the name 'Stand by me' itself was very strange.
"The power of your parents, and the power of your companions, will always be with us. That is the power that supports us as we move forward. You must remember this. My current consciousness is the last love left by our mother."
The silver figure said to Durandal: "I don't know my own origin either. If you want to know, ask Takatsuki. That man also has an existence like me beside him. You should have met her already, right?"
"Finally… this last light orb is a forgotten memory of yours, your past. If you don't want to accept it, don't touch it. When you control the power within you, this state will disappear… Finally…"
"■■■, we love you…"
"Ich☆liebe☆dich…"
A male voice suddenly appeared alongside the voice that was with me, and as the last words of the female voice concluded, the 'with me' vanished from Durandal's sight.
Crystal tears streamed down her cheeks. Durandal instinctively raised her hand to touch her face. Although she didn't know what this meant, a peculiar feeling surged within Durandal's heart.
Sadness?
Perhaps a little, but these were not tears of sadness.
Instead, they were tears of joy.
Joy for the happiness once possessed.
Expectation for the miracles that would still appear in the future.
"That's… too cunning."
Durandal didn't wipe away the tears on her face; she reached out to touch the last cluster of light.
She had once been unwilling to confront that forgotten past.
But at this very moment, Durandal changed her mind.
"Although I am no longer who I once was, but…"
The pure white light cluster waited silently there, and as Durandal touched it, it bloomed with golden light.
"But the me of the past is still myself. That is… my past, and a part of me."
A memory entered Durandal's mind with the light.
"Father… Mother… Sister…"
She remembered, that dormant memory, remembered the experiences from seven years ago.
She understood what the power within her body was.
The power within the Kaslana bloodline, a gift from her father.
She had once heard of the hidden power within the Kaslana bloodline.
She also realized the true nature of that warm current: it was the Holy Blood of the Schariac family.
It was also the love her mother gave her.
And she was the crystallization of the love of two Destiny S-rank Valkyrie.
The crystallization of the love of Siegfried Kaslana and Cecilia Schariac.
And her former name was—Kiana Kaslana.
And even if she lost her memory, forgot the past, her parents' love still accompanied her, just as the silver-white humanoid said.
Stand by me…
Their love had always been with her.
By now, all three light clusters had been absorbed by Durandal, and new power erupted within her body.
Black armor appeared on her.
That was a mark of human collapse surpassing Kaslana, surpassing the original power of Honkai.
The steel seal within the Kaslana bloodline that kills Honkai was harnessed by another warm and gentle power, and also controlled by her unknown ability, helping her successfully control this power passed down for ten thousand years.
And that unknown power named Stand by me did not disappear into nothingness.
Durandal looked at her hands; she saw four hands. Besides her own two hands, there was also a pair of silver-white arms.
There were also two limbs that did not originally belong to her. She could feel that she could retract them at any time and control them at will, just like her own arms.
"This is what her words meant."
And…
This didn't just give her an extra pair of hands; she could also feel that many auras were connected to her in her perception, but the other auras were too distant. Currently, only two could be directly contacted.
One aura was as vast as the ocean and as scorching as the sun.
One aura was as gentle as moonlight.
"A contract…"
Durandal knew those were the auras of Takatsuki and Medea.
And she could now choose one to borrow some power from them.
After confirming that it would not affect the original owner, she used the power of Stand by me to connect with that scorching aura.
After only a slight pause from the other party, she felt a scorching power transmit across space.
But she didn't feel burned at all; just like the other power within her, despite having a high temperature of nearly ten thousand degrees, it made her feel incredibly warm.
If Takatsuki were to check Durandal's panel at this moment, he would find that her panel was no longer in the unviewable state it was before.
Name: Bianka Ataegina
Class: Braver
Strength: A
Endurance: A
Agility: A
Magic: C
Luck: A++
Class Skills:
Salvation: A+
When acting with salvation as the goal, luck and growth rate will increase. A+ level means that one will continuously grow stronger even if doing nothing, and even in the face of certain death, a glimmer of hope will remain.
Personal Skills:
Unlimited Blade Works: A++
An endowed ability that allows for the complete unification of mind, skill, and body in martial arts, rapidly integrating and mastering abilities as one's own during high-speed growth.
Protection of the Fairies: B
An endowed ability, since it was not granted to the person herself, the protection has degraded. It is the ability to summon luck in dangerous situations. Originally, it was only effective on battlefields where achievements could be made. Affected by the class, when the battle faced is a war of salvation against evil, it temporarily increases to EX, summoning luck and creating victory conditions.
Eye of the Mind (Fake): A+
The ability to avoid danger through intuition and the sixth sense, and the ability to foresee danger through natural talent.
Eye of the Mind (True): C
Insight cultivated through training, practice, and combat, allowing one to calmly grasp their own situation and the enemy's abilities in a disadvantageous position, and find a way out; a "battle theory."
Natural Body: A++
A naturally possessed physique or bloodline far superior to others, capable of greatly enhancing energy adaptability and rapid growth, and acquiring extremely strong control abilities.
Noble Phantasm:
Knight of Owner: A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands
Rank: A
Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm
Attack Range: 1
Maximum Targets: 10 people
A Noble Phantasm that bestows the attribute of "one's own Noble Phantasm" upon objects held in hand, within the range of what one perceives as a "weapon."
The bestowed attribute is at least equivalent to a D-rank Noble Phantasm. Noble Phantasms above this rank fall under Durandal's dominion at their original rank.
Because it is an endowed ability and has no legendary bonus, its rank is reduced.
Dea Anchora
Rank: EX
Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm
Attack Range: 1~99
Maximum Targets: 09 people
The power of the stars is with you.
The power of the stars residing within the maiden's body.
That is the power to anchor a world, to anchor the power of a world.
A power born from the prayers of all living beings within a world, transcending the world.
Heavenly Origin Star-Shining Knight
Rank: A++
Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm
Attack Range: 1~2
Maximum Targets: 99 people
A power that transcends human collapse, transcends the original power of Honkai, and simultaneously activates the two great bloodlines and Stigmata within the body as a mark, elevating one to the ranks of Heavenly Origin.
Stand by me
Rank: D~EX
Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm
Attack Range: 1
Maximum Targets: 1 person
A power transmitted from the bloodline of another self, possessing special abilities and extremely strong growth potential.
Artoria was unleashing her magical energy at full power; she had obtained almost infinite magical energy from the Holy Grail.
As the two Heroic Spirits exited, the "pipeline" that transmitted magical energy to her seemed to widen considerably, making her output incredibly exaggerated.
"Despicable King's Hammer, Reverse Dawn!"
Boom!
The Sword of Promised Victory, over a meter long, was transformed by materialized magical energy into a blade tens of meters long, sweeping horizontally towards Durandal, who had just unleashed her magical energy aura.
Everywhere it passed, walls and ground alike melted and shattered.
And just as it was about to touch Durandal.
Durandal instantly vanished from her original spot.
"Charge! Krishna!"
Artoria looked up and saw a person wearing golden armor, riding a horse made of pure metal.
She held the reins in her left hand and a long spear in her right…
That long spear was somewhat peculiar; its body seemed to be made of machinery, and its tip was unusually long compared to other long spears.
Relying on her excellent vision, Artoria realized that it was not an ordinary long spear. She had seen it before, or rather, she had just seen it.
Its spearhead was precisely the other Holy Sword that had just collided with the Holy Sword in her hand.
The Holy Sword Durandal.
And the other briefcase from before had now disappeared.
Evading Artoria's slash with Krishna's powerful mobility, Durandal unleashed her full power in mid-air.
Although the power of the World Bubble was too precious, if she could end the battle quickly…
Scorching flames surged from her body, and a dark essence enveloped the spearhead. Durandal, riding Krishna, who was formed from the power of the Stigmata, charged towards Artoria.