"You are..."
Rita raised her arm to shield her face from the windblown sand. The approaching girl stopped five paces in front of them. At this distance, her silhouette was clear, but her clothes and features were still indistinct...
Yet Rita felt a sense of familiarity. Her intuition told her she had seen this girl before.
Who was she?
No... was she the Herrscher of Wind? Rita dismissed this option in her mind.
She was, after all, an S-Rank Valkyrie with access to most of Schicksal's data. She knew who the Valkyrie carrying the Gem of Desire was...
That genius Valkyrie named Wendy had short hair. The girl before her had long, flowing hair... clearly not the same person.
Not to mention, Wendy couldn't even stand.
But if she wasn't the Herrscher of Wind, what was with all this wind? It couldn't be another coincidence, could it?
"Who are you?"
Rita cupped her mouth, trying to ask.
But the sound she could produce was limited, and the wind carried it away the moment it left her lips.
She glanced at Michael again, who was still standing motionless, his eyelids lowered, his expression unreadable.
The three of them stood silently in the wind, none making the first move.
"There's no need for such theatrics in front of me, is there?"
After what felt like a long time, Michael finally spoke against the wind. His voice was just as soft, but it echoed with perfect clarity, as if it had transcended the influence of the elements and needed no medium to travel.
The girl opposite him didn't answer, but the wind did indeed begin to die down. In just two or three minutes, the sand and stones settled, and the girl's face finally became clear.
Michael raised an eyebrow. The reality seemed to differ from his expectations. Rita, on the other hand, called out the newcomer's name with a mix of surprise and uncertainty.
"Ana?"
The girl before them didn't react, nor did she rush to attack. Rita glanced at Michael out of the corner of her eye and explained succinctly, "Ana Schariac, A-Rank Valkyrie, captain of the Snow Lotus squad."
Hearing the familiar surname, the corner of Michael's mouth twitched. But he quickly shook his head firmly.
"She's not Ana. At least, the person standing before us is not."
Hearing Michael's words, the girl finally curled her lips into a smirk. She grabbed the sleeve of her battlesuit at the left arm and, with a RIP, tore it off. On her upper arm, near the elbow, a bright red pattern was emitting a faint glow.
"What's the meaning of this?"
Rita slowly edged to the side. It looked like she was moving away from Michael, but she was actually taking advantage of the opponent's focus on him to attempt a flanking maneuver.
"Ana" glanced at her but didn't stop her.
Michael rubbed the stubble on his chin and squinted in thought for a moment. He looked at the glowing stigma. After fifty thousand years, a sense of foreboding once again rose in his heart.
Everything was gradually deviating from his intended path, and even from this world's original trajectory...
His gaze darkened, but in that moment of distraction, Ana's figure had already vanished from her spot.
BAM!
Michael crossed his arms in front of him, easily blocking the incoming punch. Ana, whose attack had missed, immediately twisted her waist, propped herself on the ground, and swept with a whip-like kick. But Michael had already used the force of the block to retreat two steps, causing Ana's attack to miss again.
SWISH!
The sound of something slicing through the air came from behind and to the side, but Ana paid it no mind.
Seeing her make no move to dodge his attack, Rita hesitated at the last moment. The speed of her scythe slowed by a fraction, and in the end, she only managed to sever a few strands of Ana's hair.
"Hah!"
Ana curled up, hunched her shoulders, and shot like a cannonball into Michael's chest. Michael staggered his feet but only retreated half a step. When he tried to counterattack, she had already used the recoil to fly backward.
Michael gritted his teeth. This elusive fighting style, how...
"Rita!"
The Carbon Flechette Hunter rushed behind Ana before Rita herself could react. But Ana just tapped her toes on the ground, spun rapidly in mid-air, and punched straight through the Hunter from head to tail.
With a flick of her arm, the Hunter's corpse, sparking with green electricity, was sent flying toward Rita, who unhesitatingly sliced it in two with her scythe.
But Ana smiled.
As Rita's scythe swung down again, Ana, still in the air, quickly curled up. The scythe that should have split her in two passed right under her feet, and she promptly stomped down on it.
"Hah!"
Rita's hands, gripping the scythe, yanked upward, trying to fling Ana into the air. But this was exactly what Ana wanted.
She leaped into the air again, somersaulting rapidly until she was directly above Michael, her slender legs crashing down with the force of inertia.
BOOM—
The ground cracked, and a cloud of dust once again obscured their vision.
This time, before Michael could even counterattack, Ana had already leaped back again.
"Watch out!"
Michael warned verbally but made no physical move.
Hearing him, Rita warily scanned her surroundings. Then, just as the dust cloud was about to settle and her vision was clearing, Ana's figure suddenly appeared below and in front of her.
"Ugh!"
Her pupils constricted. Before she could react, a heavy punch landed on her abdomen. Her body folded in an instant, and she was sent flying backward, leaving a sonic boom in her wake.
As she flew, Rita tried to struggle, but for some reason, the muscles in her abdomen, where she'd been hit, wouldn't respond. She couldn't even feel any pain, as if that part of her body had simply vanished.
"What... is this?"
Rita's mind raced. To become an S-Rank Valkyrie, one needed not only outstanding strength but also a quick mind.
In just two breaths, she made a connection to her comrade's weapon—Abyss Flower!
This... could this be a special ability of the Schariac stigma?
She opened her mouth to say something, but a faint bluish-black color was already spreading up her neck. She had lost control of all her muscles.
THWACK—
Ana appeared behind her, using her own body to stop her momentum.
But before she could react again, a hand-chop landed on the back of her neck.
Only after Rita's limp body had fallen to the sandy ground did Michael leisurely follow.
"It seems this comrade of yours was a hindrance to you as well," Ana finally spoke.
Michael tried to glean something from her choice of words, but unfortunately, perhaps the speaker had deliberately simplified or changed their style, or perhaps Michael was truly unfamiliar with the person controlling Ana's body. He couldn't find any clues.
He tilted his head, his voice as flat as ever.
"After all... there are some things I didn't want her to hear."
The corner of Ana's mouth seemed to twitch, but it was gone in an instant.
"Then why don't you guess who I am?"
Michael stared at the stigma on her arm, his lips unconsciously tightening.
"You must be... controlling this body through the stigma, right? Has World Serpent reached that level of proficiency?"
Ana tilted her head and frowned, seemingly displeased with Michael's non-answer.
Seeing that she wasn't going to reply, Michael could only continue on his own.
"The stigma... it's like a vast network connecting everyone. Every stigma wielder is a terminal within it. To remotely control one terminal from another is, theoretically, not impossible. And under normal circumstances, the connection between special bloodlines like the Schariacs would be even stronger. I don't believe an ordinary stigma wielder could unleash the potential of a Schariac body to this extent."
"Even if you're right, have you guessed who I am yet?" "Ana" proudly lifted her chin.
This unfamiliar posture made the "Eve" that was about to escape Michael's lips get stuck in his throat.
Although Michael had only spent that one night with Eve, in his memory, that child was just like her mother; she would never make such an arrogant expression...
But besides her, which other "Schariac" could unleash the potential of a completely unfamiliar and not-fully-awakened body to this degree?
Besides, he couldn't rule her out based on this one action. She could be using it to confuse him and hide her identity.
As for why a dead person would reappear? What if Eve had left a memory imprint in the Elysian Realm? It wasn't impossible, right?
At this thought, an impulse to go to the Elysian Realm immediately surged within him. But it was still no match for the weight of fifty thousand years. He took a couple of deep breaths and managed to calm himself.
Then, without hesitation, he gave his answer.
"You're... Eve."
As he spoke this name, which held a special meaning for him, Michael's mind wandered.
He only then realized that his entire deduction was nothing more than illogical wishful thinking. The reason he thought she was Eve was simply because he had hoped she was Eve from the very beginning... that was all.
"Eve... Eve Schariac?" "Ana" nodded, not denying it.
However, Michael already knew the answer.
"I have a question too. Why are you... why is World Serpent... getting involved in this?"
The girl blinked and replied without hesitation, "You guess."
The corner of Michael's mouth twitched.
"Don't even think about cheating with the Authority of Sentience. You should know that it's useless against someone who has fully awakened the power of the Schariac stigma."
Yes, after all, that was her power.
"Heh."
Before he could say anything, the girl sneered again.
"What makes you think I'll answer your question? It's common courtesy to answer a question with a question, but you didn't answer correctly just now, did you?"
"..."
Michael lowered his head, not knowing what to say, or what he could say.
"Your fighting style is very similar to hers."
"Heh, have you really met her?" Ana shook her head, her face full of disdain.
Michael didn't explain further. The "her" he was talking about and the "her" she was talking about weren't even the same person. He meant Elysia, but she meant Eve Schariac.
He knew she had misunderstood him, but there seemed to be no need to explain.
"Tsk! Seeing as you're something of a Schariac ancestor... I'll make your death a little more comfortable!"
The next moment, the two figures clashed again.
BAM!
A thick layer of pink crystal shattered on impact, turning into a cloud of sparkling dust. This was already the eighth layer of crystal Ana had shattered in a single second.
Michael simply retreated calmly. He snapped his fingers with a feigned air of ease, and the scattered crystal fragments, as if drawn by gravity, all flew back toward him. And Ana, who had put the crystals behind her, was naturally in their path.
"Hmph!"
The corner of Ana's mouth twitched. A pink crystal shield, not much different from the one Michael had just created, appeared behind her, blocking most of the fragments.
As for the ones that came from an angle she couldn't block, or the ones that had already closed in on her, she ignored them completely, letting the crystal shards leave countless scratches and bloody marks on her body.
Because, even without consciously using the power of her stigma, these minor injuries healed completely in less than a second.
Michael's gaze deepened. To be able to develop the power of the Schariac stigma to this extent, she could not be a nobody. But who was she? Michael couldn't guess the exact answer.
After all, a family like the Schariacs produced a genius of this caliber in almost every generation. To pinpoint the target among hundreds of generations was simply too difficult.
Of course, it was also possible that his opponent was just that good at hiding.
Suddenly, a name popped into his head. But he dismissed the possibility in the next instant. Mobius had watched her die, and her talent among the Schariacs was only mediocre...
"Tsk!"
There were too many things on Michael's mind, so much so that he had almost given up fighting, only defending.
He suddenly remembered something even more embarrassing—who had used the Fourth Divine Key here?
Could it be... that World Serpent was also slipping out of his control?
If that were the case, then that name wasn't impossible. It could only mean that Mobius, from that time on...
Or had something gone wrong with World Serpent?
Regardless, after this was over, Michael had already decided to pay a visit to the Elysian Realm.
Michael's mind cleared slightly. He easily caught a punch, then pressed down on her wrist, effortlessly breaking her hand bones. He then pushed forward sharply, creating some distance.
"Although you're quite good among the Schariacs, you're not naive enough to think this is enough to kill me, are you?" Michael said, his eyes unconsciously darting around.
As he said, the girl before him had pushed this body to its absolute limit. But even so, to defeat him at this level was... it didn't even deserve to be called a fantasy.
What's more, if World Serpent was behind her, they wouldn't have made such a mistake.
Which meant, she must have a trump card she hadn't used yet.
But what could it be?
"Ana" seemed to feel that she was being underestimated. She puffed out her chest, her movements faltering for a moment, then shouted with some exasperation, "What are you looking at me like that for? It's all this body's fault! Its talent is too poor, I can't even use... one ten-thousandth of my power!"
"Who knows? Maybe your real body's talent is even worse than this one," Michael teased with a smile.
An annoyed expression indeed appeared on the girl's face, but Michael's eyes darkened. He felt he was one step closer to his guess.
"Still want to fight?" he asked wearily.
"Ana" didn't answer, but suddenly looked up at the eastern sky, where there seemed to be a tiny point of light...
"Not good!"
Alarm bells screamed in Michael's mind. Pink crystal immediately encased him completely. Just as the crystal cocoon was sealing, a long, slender blue and white lance tore through the air, piercing through both Michael and the crystal.
"Lady Durandal!"
Ana stepped to the side. The next moment, the blonde woman descended from the sky, landing beside her.
"Hey! That's going too far."
Michael wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and pulled the Lance of Longinus from his chest, holding it in a reverse grip. As for the fatal wound in his chest, it had already begun to heal the moment the lance was pulled out.
Durandal swept back her golden hair, quickly tying it into a high ponytail to keep it out of the way. In that short time, the wound on the man's chest had vanished without a trace.
Her expression instantly became extremely serious, and she mentally classified this man as one of the more dangerous opponents she had ever faced.
Hm? Why am I treating this man as an enemy?
She had already established contact with the Hyperion, but the Honkai energy eruption here was too strong. The Overseer on board had temporarily changed her mission, directing her here...
And the first thing she saw upon arriving was her comrade Rita lying on the ground, and Ana Schariac, whom she had met a few times, facing off against another man. The enemy was obvious, wasn't it?
"Sigh..."
Michael sighed softly, muttering in a voice only he could hear, "What is this? A grandparent-grandchild tag team?"