Her voice came to an abrupt halt.
The angle of the sunlight had shifted slightly, casting long shadows across the floor.
Kiana looked down at her hands.
Those hands, which had once wielded dual guns to slaughter enemies on the battlefield, were now resting quietly on her knees.
"...But every time he came back, he would bring me small gifts."
Her voice became very soft.
"Sometimes it was pretty hair clips, sometimes delicious snacks. Once, he brought back a small knife, saying he picked it up from some ruins, and told me to use it for self-defense."
"He also taught me how to use a gun." The corners of Kiana's lips curled up slightly, revealing a genuine smile. "Although he was a terrible teacher, he told me that people of the Kaslana family are born warriors. We have to learn to protect ourselves, and also learn to protect the people important to us. That is our destiny."
Su Yu listened silently, his pen hovering in mid-air, unwilling to interrupt this reminiscence.
"The habit of hanging ammo at the waist... he taught me that too." Kiana pointed to the densely packed bullets on the design drawing. "He said that anything can happen on the battlefield. A gun might jam, but you can never have too many bullets. Carrying one extra bullet might just mean living one second longer."
She paused, her gaze growing somewhat distant.
"Although I was still small back then and didn't know what a battlefield was at all. I just felt that hanging the bullets was heavy."
A breeze blew past the window, causing the curtains to sway gently.
"So..." Su Yu spoke with deliberation, "Whether it's the cape or the bullets, they are all..."
"They're all that stinky old dad's influence," Kiana took over the sentence, her tone carrying a hint of reluctant admission. "Even though I'm always complaining about him, his shadow is everywhere on me. It's really... impossible to shake off."
She raised her head, the evening skylight reflecting in her heterochromatic eyes.
"But later, that stinky old dad disappeared. I kept looking for him, asking around for news about him everywhere. After that, I went to Nagazora, and then..."
Kiana didn't continue.
Because she had already told Su Yu about what happened after that.
"Su Yu."
"Hmm?"
"Do you think that stinky old dad... is he still alive?"
"Of course he's alive," Su Yu answered with certainty.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Uh, intuition." Su Yu scratched his head. He couldn't exactly tell Kiana: Your dad really isn't dead, he's just been locked up by your ancestor, right?
Many topics were currently taboo.
Moreover, Kiana, who hadn't experienced those events yet, might not necessarily be able to empathize with those stories.
If he were to speak of those things now, it might actually be counterproductive.
It would make her feel like a deserter, a deserter who fled to this world, rather than the Void Drifter who turned into a retrograding meteor amidst the sky.
"Next is this set."
Su Yu pulled out a new design draft, skillfully steering the topic away.
Valkyrie Armor: Divine Prayer.
Kiana leaned over to take a look, and the corners of her mouth curved up.
"I like this set."
Su Yu raised an eyebrow.
She had mostly been nitpicking the previous two armors; this was the first time he heard her actively say she liked one.
"The styling looks like a nun's habit, but this hemline... well, it's quite short."
"Yeah, it references the unified uniforms of early Schicksal Valkyries." Kiana gestured. "But I had them change the long skirt to shorts. It's much more convenient for moving around."
"Although it looks like just a light and thin garment, it's actually made of Honkai energy-resistant materials. Its defensive performance is much better than ordinary uniforms, and it's very breathable."
Su Yu typed rapidly into the document.
"The Church of Schicksal? Do you guys also have to perform church missions?"
"Occasionally." Kiana swung her legs. "Schicksal presents itself as a religious organization, after all. Some places need nuns to handle... uh, some special situations. This combat suit is prepared for those kinds of missions."
She paused, then added, "There's also a cross hanging from the tassel. It feels particularly ritualistic, and it looks really cool swinging around during a fight."
"So you like this set because..."
"Because of the word 'Saint'."
Kiana's voice grew softer, carrying a touch of shyness.
The sky outside the window had gone completely dark. The light from the streetlamps spilled in through the glass, plating her white hair with a layer of soft orange-yellow.
"Every time I wear this outfit and hear others call me 'Saint' (Holy Maiden)..."
She hugged her knees, resting her chin on them. "I get a very strange feeling."
"What kind of feeling?"
"I can't really say." Kiana blinked, her gaze somewhat drifting. "It's just... very intimate. Like being surrounded by something warm. As if... I really am someone who can bring hope to others."
She frowned, as if trying to capture some vague memory.
"Clearly, I'm worlds apart from the traditional image of a nun. I fight and cause trouble every day, fail my cultural classes, and even steal pudding from the cafeteria. Calling me a troublemaker would be more accurate..."
"But the word 'Saint', it just makes me feel very at ease."
The room was quiet for a few seconds.
Su Yu didn't press for the reason.
Some feelings were indescribable, like the smell of sunlight on a certain childhood afternoon, or the intro to a certain song.
When suddenly recalled, they always carried a vague sense of being moved.
Kiana's expression became somewhat subtle, as if she wanted to laugh but was also a little embarrassed.
"This outfit is actually a bit... how should I put it? Too holy. Every time I put it on, I feel like if I don't put on airs a bit, I'd be doing a disservice to the getup."
"But it's very strong, isn't it?"
Su Yu remembered that this set was the god-tier healer card in the original Bleeding Abyss. Trying to go down into the Abyss without this card? You were asking to be taught a lesson by Titan Papas teleporting and smashing the ground.
Even after the Abyss was revamped later, Divine Prayer could still apply Impair in the Memorial Arena. It could be said that she shone brightly for a long time.
"Moreover."
His gaze fell on the design of the shorts and the absolute territory (Zettai Ryouiki) of the over-the-knee socks on the drawing as he commented meaningfully.
"The design concept of this set understands the human heart very well, especially the modification of these leg lines..."
"Hey! Where is your focus?!"
Kiana blushed and slapped his shoulder. The force wasn't great; it was more like a coquettish rebuke.
"The core of this set is the power of the Stigmata! It can heal teammates and imprison enemies... It's not for you to look at legs!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Healing, healing."
Su Yu smiled and noted in the memorandum: Support and DPS hybrid. Ultimate Skill: Time Lock, restores teammate HP. Of course, also summons divine punishment periodically to inflict Impair status on enemies.
Main Attribute: Long legs... ah, no, it's Holy Radiance.
Kiana cupped her chin: "Theresa always says this armor is most suitable for team combat and tells me to practice with it more, but I always feel it's more satisfying to rush to the front and fight."
As she spoke, she laughed at herself.
"Mei always scolds me for rushing forward regardless of the consequences, and Bronya also says I'm Idiot Kiana. But with this armor, even if I get hurt, I can recover quickly, so I still like to rush to the front."
"Because as long as I'm in front, they won't get hurt."
Su Yu finished typing the last few words and saved the content.
"A guardian-type armor, paired with a wearer who likes to rush forward." He looked at Kiana. "It's actually very your style."
"But of course." Kiana stuck out her chest, rarely showing such a proud expression. "I am a Kaslana. Protecting my comrades is our family's—"
Her voice stuck.
Complex emotions flashed through those heterochromatic eyes, like a wound being touched.
But only for an instant.
"...Anyway, that's how it is." She quickly withdrew her expression and nestled back into the corner of the sofa. "Is there anything else to ask?"
Su Yu was about to get up when his gaze swept over the design drafts not yet put away on the coffee table.
The bottommost one depicted an armor that was snow-white throughout, with a massive wing-like structure extending from the back.
"Wait a moment." He pulled that drawing out. "There's also this set—White Knight: Moonbeam."
As one of the initial S-rank trio, White Knight: Moonbeam indeed had a lot worth talking about.
Kiana's eyes shifted.
"This set..."
Her tone was different from before.
It wasn't the relaxation of recalling daily life, nor the evasion of touching upon pain, but rather some unspeakably complex emotion.
"Prototype 4th Generation Valkyrie Armor." She spoke slowly. "Godslayer Armament."
"Godslayer?"
"Yes." Kiana straightened up, her gaze falling on the design draft. "The ultimate anti-Honkai weapon that originally only S-rank Valkyries were qualified to use. Compared to the previous ones, it's on a completely different level."
Su Yu noticed the change in her wording—no longer "my armor," but "that thing."
"Tell me about it?"
Kiana fell silent for two seconds, then nodded.
"Inside the armor, there are high-speed flowing gamma particles." She gestured to the position on her back. "These particles constantly diffuse from the connection points on the back, forming a pair of huge... wings of light."
"Is it this thing drawn in the picture?" Su Yu pointed to the wing-like structure.
"Yeah, but you didn't draw it big enough, not shocking enough." Kiana tilted her head. "When actually deployed, the light wings can extend several meters. Pure white throughout, as bright as moonlight—that's why it's called Moonbeam."
Her voice gradually took on a note of pride; it was a warrior's admiration for a divine weapon.
"After activating the levitation system, I can fly to very high places. Looking down from the sky, the entire battlefield is beneath my feet. That feeling... is just like a god."
Su Yu recorded rapidly.
"What about weapons?"
"The main weapon is the Hyper Railguns, paired with a particle heavy cannon, code-named [Gungnir]." Kiana made a pose of aiming a gun. "Coordinated with Moonbeam's propulsion system to ascend, it can deliver precise, devastating strikes against ground targets from high above."
She paused.
"In front of the White Knight's Lance of Light, all evil has nowhere to hide—this is what's written in the equipment manual."
"Sounds very chuunibyou."
"It is very chuunibyou." Kiana surprisingly didn't refute him, but instead laughed. "But it is indeed very strong."
She withdrew her hand and nestled back into the sofa again.
"There is also a system called Light Wings Unfold. It is a strategic-class long-range annihilation armament." Her tone became flat, as if reciting an instruction manual. "Dozens of gamma particle streams extend from the back, capable of locking onto up to fifty targets simultaneously for attack."
"Fifty?"
"Yeah." Kiana nodded. "Actually, that wasn't the armor's upper limit, but the limit of my maximum control at the time. That's why it's called a Godslayer Armor. With that kind of firepower, ordinary Honkai Beast tides couldn't even survive one round of a volley."
Su Yu typed on the keyboard, his brain spinning fast.
The performance of this armor far exceeded the previous sets. Even made into a game, it wouldn't be bad at all.
In fact, that was exactly the case. One had to know that although Moonbeam was one of the initial S-rank trio, relying on its Active Evasion triggering Time Fracture, it had shone brilliantly in the Memorial Arena for quite a long time.
"How did you obtain the usage rights for this armor?"
Kiana's fingers paused.
"...Someone helped me unlock it."
Her voice grew a few degrees lighter, her tone carrying a stiffness.
"Who?"
"A... not very likable guy."
Kiana didn't say the name.
She lowered her head, fingers unconsciously tugging at the hem of her clothes.
Su Yu watched her reaction and didn't continue to press. He knew who Kiana was talking about—Otto Apocalypse.
"Then let's just record it as 'Obtained via special means'." He typed this line into the document. "Specific details can be added later."
Kiana raised her head, gratitude flashing in her eyes.
"...Mhm."
The room was quiet for a moment.
"But this armor is really handsome." Su Yu looked at the design draft, his tone relaxed. "Pure white throughout, huge light wings on the back, descending from the sky holding a heavy cannon—the visual impact is very strong. Definitely the designated looker."
"But of course." Kiana's mood livened up again. "When I wear Moonbeam, I feel like... like..."
She thought for a moment and found a word.
"Like a true knight. The White Knight who protects everything."
Su Yu wrote in the remarks column—"White Knight: Moonbeam: One of Kiana's strongest forms. Design keywords: Holy, Judgment, Moonbeam, Wings."
Oh, right, and that addictive spinning gun attack couldn't be forgotten.
"In the game," Su Yu's voice sounded at the appropriate time, "this will be one of your strongest forms. When you start spinning, it's like a magnificent dance of death."
And that "Light Wings Unfold" which was explosively chuunibyou but absolutely stunning the first time one saw it.
He turned his head, looking at Kiana's profile.
"Besides, I think this set suits you best, because your name means Moonlight Goddess, right?"
Kiana turned her head, colliding right with Su Yu's earnest gaze.
The distance between the two was very close, close enough to smell the faint scent of body wash on each other—it was the same lemon aroma, refreshing and ambiguous.
"...Really?"
She asked in a small voice, her tone carrying uncertainty.
"Can I really handle it? It's so strong..."
"Of course."
Su Yu reached out his hand and gently patted her head.
"You are Kiana Kaslana. There is no outfit in this world that you cannot handle."
Kiana didn't dodge his hand.
Like a kitten having its fur stroked, she narrowed her eyes slightly, and her shoulders, which had been tense all along, slowly relaxed.
"Then..."
She muttered, a hint of coquettishness in her voice.
"Then make it a little more handsome. If it's not handsome, I won't wear it. This lady's taste is very high."
"As you command, Lord Valkyrie."
Su Yu smiled and put away the drawings. Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Pizza's here. With extra cheese."
Kiana's eyes lit up instantly, brighter than moonlight. A little glutton was indeed the nature of a Kaslana.
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