Until 1477, Kallen stole the Honkai Energy Crystal from Schicksal's research facility. She fled to the Far East and fell in love with Yae Sakura, a Pseudo-Herrscher corrupted by the crystal.
That same year, for reasons unknown, both Yae Sakura and the Honkai Energy Crystal vanished, severely hindering Schicksal's research.
Severely wounded, Kallen was captured by Schicksal's intelligence forces and brought back to their European headquarters. At the Council meeting...
"That girl who became a Herrscher is innocent, and I have fallen hopelessly in love with her," Kallen declared. The Council members dismissed her as mad, but the most shocked was Francis, the Clan Leader of the Kaslana Family and Kallen's father. When Kallen firmly stated her love for the Herrscher, Francis felt his world crumbling.
One was his beloved daughter, the other the Kaslana Family's unwavering belief in fighting Honkai... Francis considered making Kallen recant her words, but he knew her character too well to believe she would.
For the first time in his life, Francis felt the Clan Leader had made a mistake in appointing him. If he weren't the Clan Leader, he could have simply taken Kallen and fled all of this...
But he couldn't. Schicksal Bishop Nicholas Apocalypse had his eyes fixed on the Kaslana Family, and the Shaniat Clan was on the brink of annihilation. Now, the Kaslana Family was entirely reliant on Francis to hold them together. If he stepped down as Clan Leader, Nicholas would immediately strike.
Family or daughter? In the end, Francis chose his family.
The Council's final judgment was death by hanging, to be carried out shortly.
"Falling in love with a Herrscher? Herrschers are still human. Their hearts have just been twisted by Honkai Energy, they're not monsters...
Is it wrong to love a Herrscher? What about Ryn and me? What about Mei and us, who have lived together all this time..."
Kiana clenched her fists, unable to accept that Kallen was to be hanged for loving a Herrscher. Ryn was a Herrscher, and Mei was a Herrscher too. They were both Kiana's family, and Ryn was her lover.
"It's alright," Ryn said, sensing Kiana's worry. He took her hand, offering her a sense of security. "No one can stand in our way."
"Let's go save Kallen," Ryn continued. "She can't be hanged for such a ridiculous reason."
"Right! Those bastards went too far! We have to save Kallen!" Kiana shouted at Bronya. "Bronya, tell us the time and location of the execution!"
"Save her? This is just a virtual world constructed from data. The real Kallen died 538 years ago."
Bronya waved her Little Fairy Wand, intending to bonk Kiana and Ryn on the head to see what was going on in their minds.
"I don't care! Even if it's virtual, I can't just stand by and watch her die like this!" Kiana retorted.
"We can't abandon her just because she's virtual," Ryn shook his head, disagreeing with Bronya. "We couldn't save the Kallen from five hundred years ago, but this virtual Kallen is waiting for us to rescue her. Besides, Kallen already paid us. How can we refuse to save her now?"
"Pay a reward? When did that happen? I don't remember!" Kiana said, puzzled.
"She gave it when she left."
"What was it?" Bronya pressed.
"The reward was... a smile~"
Ryn smiled at Kiana and Bronya. "How could we stand by and watch someone die when they kept smiling at you even when they were deeply saddened?"
"Alright, alright... I really don't know what to do with you two... Bronya, you'll have to plan this carefully. We don't have any weapons in this world, and we don't know how much damage Ryn's power could cause to the data space..."
"Yay!" Hearing Bronya's agreement, Kiana jumped up in excitement.
"Thank you, Bronya. I'll have Cortana assist you fully," Ryn replied with a happy smile.
"Bronya believes it would be better for Cortana to fully utilize her computational power and directly modify the data space's history."
"That won't work. If Cortana directly alters the world, it loses its meaning. That wouldn't be salvation, just a game for some creator god's amusement."
Because this was the historical record space within the Schicksal Database, time flowed rapidly. While Ryn and the others were still discussing their plan, time seemed to have been fast-forwarded.
Days turned into months, and the stars shifted in the sky. In what felt like mere minutes in reality, the world had been fast-forwarded to the moment of Kallen's execution.
Ryn and Kiana rushed to the execution grounds, concealing themselves entirely beneath rough burlap sacks to blend into the crowd.
Meanwhile, Bronya prepared outside the execution grounds to create a massive explosion, generating a commotion large enough to divert attention from Kiana and Ryn.
The execution grounds were packed. The commoners present were outraged by Kallen's impending execution. She was their beacon of light in the darkness, their universally recognized saintess. Yet, though their hearts cried out for her, they feared the oppression of the nobles and dared not resist. Instead, they could only whisper among themselves beneath the execution platform.
"Execution!"
With that command, Kallen's execution was about to begin.
As the Executioner placed the noose around Kallen's neck, Kiana and Ryn watched in agonizing desperation.
Ryn couldn't stop thinking about why he hadn't asked Welt to replicate a copy of the Star of Eden. With a replica, he could have used its power whenever he wanted.
Nearly everyone present was an ordinary person. Ryn couldn't risk using his Herrscher Authority recklessly. Even a trace of leaked Honkai Energy could turn them all into Dead Soldiers.
When he had used his Authority on Arthur earlier, everyone nearby had suffered varying degrees of Honkai Energy contamination. Though the accelerated time had eventually erased the effects, Ryn now understood that once he unleashed his Herrscher Authority, he became a walking source of Honkai Energy pollution.
While this might be harmless to those with strong Honkai adaptability, to ordinary people, he was a mobile disaster.
Ryn would never sacrifice countless lives to save Kallen. So he and Kiana waited, watching for Bronya's signal.