Somewhere in the Tasman Sea, a small hovering warship — pitch-black and unmistakably futuristic — drifted in place, its hull visibly scarred with damage from countless battles.
Aboard the warship, the serpent warrior who never removed the hood over his head stood holding the black umbrella that never seemed to leave his hand, and let out a sigh that no mechanical being should ever produce.
"Hah… nothing's been going right."
Ever since the schemes in Nagazora and Cocolia's operation fell apart, nothing had gone smoothly.
It had even made Gray Serpent a little superstitious — wondering, for instance, whether working with a disaster magnet like Cocolia had cursed him and the World Serpent's luck.
He couldn't help but wonder whether that partnership had been a mistake from the start.
But what was done was done. Regrets changed nothing.
After screwing him over once, Cocolia had screwed herself right into the dirt — her own daughter had beaten every last credit out of her, leaving her utterly spent and worthless as an asset.
For idealists like Anti-Entropy, that woman's downfall was a good thing. But for a hidden player like Gray Serpent, watching a useful — if despicable — piece like Cocolia get swept off the board was a genuine headache.
He watched the satellite relay feed on the projection screen — technology salvaged from the Previous Era — and even Gray Serpent felt a flicker of genuine warmth at the sight of the Herrscher of Wind finally finding her freedom. That poor kid had finally escaped the Silver Wolf of the Urals.
The Gem of Desire was clearly off the table now.
The Gem had sublimated into a Herrscher Core. One mere Herrscher of Wind was hardly worth noting.
And with 'Bronya' — seemingly a visitor from a parallel world's future — and the Flame-Chasers present, Gray Serpent had no desire whatsoever to make a move on Wendy.
The Sire had no interest in going after the physical hosts of the Herrscher of Thunder or the Herrscher of the Void. That meant the target could only remain [Schicksal].
Because who else was sitting on a mountain of treasure?
Sirin's 'inheritance' was almost entirely within [Schicksal]'s possession. The Gem of Desire was gone, but the Gem of Pestilence and the Gem of Serenity were still out there.
The trouble was that compared to the Gem of Desire, which had been in the open, those two gems sat deep inside [Schicksal]'s headquarters — considerably harder to reach.
Getting his hands on them would likely mean activating the moles he'd planted inside [Schicksal].
Gray Serpent glanced down at the message from his deep-cover agent. Gem of Serenity. Artificial Herrscher Project. [Schicksal] Third Research Institute. Chief Scientist —
"Dr. Magi… heh. Same type as the Jackal."
Cold. Ruthless. A moral baseline so low it barely existed — or rather, nonexistent entirely.
For the World Serpent, people like that were easy to recruit. No — recruitment wasn't even necessary. Just dangle some Previous Era artifacts as bait, and they'd bite the hook themselves.
Gray Serpent was a professional fisherman.
The only two things to watch out for: diverting the [Schicksal] Archbishop's attention — otherwise he risked losing more than he gained — and, crucially, completing the operation before the silver-haired girl could get there first.
The red glow of his electronic eyes flickered faintly. Gray Serpent mulled it over for a moment, then waved a hand to cut the satellite surveillance feed.
The World Serpent's small hovering warship swiftly departed the Tasman Sea.
...
What [Tiger] had separated were two personalities. In theory, when they reintegrated, neither side should affect the other.
But theory was only theory. The actual merging process inevitably came with some degree of mutual interference.
Once, when Rin and Higyokumaru had fused, it had been Rin's nature as a virus-type special lifeform that weakened — even nullified — Higyokumaru's residual will.
But Wendy, who had only recently become a Herrscher and whose mindset was that of an ordinary person, seemed to have been left with somewhat significant after-effects.
Wendy's admiration, reverence, and longing for Sister Silver Wing had become tangled up with the Herrscher personality's deep impressions — forged by the silver-haired girl's fists, which somehow managed to multiply their attack power sixty times bare-handed — in a rather thorough act of loving re-education.
The result was that whenever the Herrscher of Wind's hazy memories drifted through Wendy's mind, it sent her emotions into a turbulent spiral — an urge to be spanked by Sister Silver Wing, to be struck hard by Sister Silver Wing, to be thoroughly manhandled by Sister Silver Wing…
N-no, no, no!
That's so weird… Wendy, what on earth are you thinking?!
The bizarre desires welling up from somewhere she didn't recognize sent white steam billowing from the top of Wendy's head. Her hair wilted, as if it had been cooked limp by the heat of her shame. She shook her head frantically, waving both hands.
"S-Sister Silver Wing, Wendy's fine, I feel perfectly fine…"
Her cheeks were scarlet — yet even as she said it, Wendy's gaze drifted involuntarily toward the silver-haired girl's small hand, and an unbidden image flashed through her mind of those slender, pale fingers pinching something somewhere rather forcefully.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
Silver Wing waved a hand in front of Wendy's face. Wendy had gone strange — her eyes had gone soft and swirly with embarrassment, like little spirals.
"I'm fine… really, I'm fine…"
Wendy's eyes darted away. She couldn't bring herself to meet those silver-grey irises.
"Alright then."
Silver Wing — the Silver Wing who was, in her own right, a legendary actress — could naturally see that Wendy's words and her heart were saying two very different things. But it didn't look like anything serious, and if Wendy didn't want to say, there was no need to push.
"Kiana, Mei — time to head back."
Silver Wing called out to the two of them, who had collapsed onto the grass or were leaning against tree trunks, catching their breath.
Elysia had been the first to bow out of the educational ensemble, followed by Little Bianca, then Sakura and Yae Sakura. In the end only Silver Wing had remained, finishing the job of correcting the Herrscher of Wind's personality with her bare fists.
Kiana and Mei had been focused primarily on training and live combat experience.
"Finally…"
The little white-haired dumpling rolled back and forth on the grass in the most adorable fashion, then sat up with a blade of young grass clamped between her teeth.
Honestly, seeing the state the Herrscher of Wind had been left in, even she'd started feeling a little bad.
Sympathizing with the other party, Kiana — who had stopped consciously trying to suppress the truth her subconscious was straining toward — also felt a faint unease tugging at her.
"Silver Wing, Silver Wing."
Clambering up from the grass on all fours, Kiana pressed both hands onto the silver-haired girl's shoulders from behind and started gently kneading them, while asking in a flattering, slightly sheepish tone:
"So… does Sirin need to be handled the same way?"
Use that mysterious stone to separate Sirin from her, then beat Sirin until she submitted?
Come to think of it, she herself was something of Sirin's continuation… scared.jpg
"I wouldn't mind letting the Tiger Talisman rack up another victory lap, but as for Sirin — probably not necessary."
Silver Wing answered Kiana's question in a tone of breezy nonchalance.
"That naive little thing? I could trick her into a coal mine and have her digging for ten years, and she'd come back to thank me when it was over."
Provided, of course, that no one like a younger Old Yang came along to wreck everything by saying the wrong thing.
Getting a Masked Fool to transfer into Zuowangdao was easy.
Mei: "…"
Tactically underestimating an enemy was fine, strategically respecting one was wise — but wasn't this level of contempt going a bit far?
Of course, Mei absolutely believed Silver Wing could help Kiana deal with the Sirin problem.
"Well, if there's no hitting involved, I'm relieved."
Kiana shook her twin braids from side to side, puffing out her cheeks in mild protest. "Wait a second — I'm technically also Sirin. Silver Wing, are you calling me stupid?"
"How could I?"
The silver-haired girl smiled like a little angel. "How could Kiana be stupid? Your intelligence ranks just a tiny, tiny bit below that of the brilliantly clever Supreme Commander of [Schicksal]'s Far East Branch."
"W-well… I suppose that's alright then."
Kiana gave a reluctant nod, lifting her chin with a hint of pride.
The name felt vaguely familiar but she couldn't quite place who it was — though anyone serving as Supreme Commander must be a very smart person!
"Pfft～"
A faint laugh came from ahead. Kiana turned to see a small golden-haired girl — childishly adorable — with crinkled smiling eyes and one hand pressed over her mouth, clearly trying not to burst out laughing. It was Little Bianca, who had come to check on things.
I can't handle this — Little Bianca at this age… she's so cute!
"Sis～!"
The instant she caught sight of that tiny figure, Kiana flung every unimportant question out of her mind. The big white husky bounded forward with gleeful abandon.
She grabbed Little Bianca in a hug, pressing their cheeks together.
Future Bianca — who had spent over a decade reunited and living with family — felt not the slightest bit of distance toward her past little sister.
Only a few days had passed, yet that genuine familial warmth, falling like a fine spring rain that nourishes without a sound, had already melted the white-haired dumpling — who had longed for family all her life — completely. She treated future Bianca as her real older sister.
Everything felt entirely natural.
"Okay, okay — hey, don't hug me like that."
She was clearly the older one, yet Kiana had picked her up and was spinning her around like a child. Bianca — made childish herself by her current body — stuck out her hands and began kneading Kiana's face in retaliation.
"Hold on — it's because Sis is too cute!"
Kiana, having her face squished, set Little Bianca back down.
"Uh… thank you?"
Receiving a compliment and responding politely — a naturally adorable voice, a delighted smile, both hands balled into small fists held up in front of her chest in the most girlish way imaginable.
Click!
Silver Wing pressed the shutter button, thinking to herself that selling this photo to Rita for two or three thousand ought to be perfectly reasonable.
Three minutes later, the group arrived at a cliff ten meters high. Wild azaleas at the cliff's edge had split through the rock face with their roots, their pink-purple petals striking against the iron-grey basalt. The aerial roots of pittosporum trees wound around the reef rocks like bronze chains.
The Anti-Entropy hovership floated below. At the cliff's edge stood two silhouettes. Brilliant sunlight poured straight down, casting its glow on Durandal's dignified face — a face written over with confusion and distress.
"Um… sister?"
Not quite shy, but with a trace of barely perceptible awkwardness — more than she'd had with Little Bianca — a voice rose from behind her.
"Younger sister — you're back."
Durandal responded with considerable stiffness and poorly disguised excitement. The big silly goose was clearly a closet little-sister-con all along.
These past three days had felt like a dream.
Father. Mother. Little sister. Family. Before now, these words had existed for Durandal only as abstract concepts — things impossibly out of reach.
But now, they were within arm's grasp.
"You'll have plenty of time ahead. You'll get spoiled rotten by each other before long."
Little Bianca said in the easy tone of someone speaking from experience, then looked toward Durandal.
"Do you need to return to [Schicksal] headquarters to confirm things?"
Durandal shook her head. She glanced at Rita beside her with a complicated expression. "No need."
"I see."
Little Bianca smiled at that.
She knew herself — perhaps she wouldn't believe a parallel-world version of herself from an unknown origin. But Durandal would believe Rita.
"So then, Durandal — what are you planning to do next?"
Silver Wing looked toward the big silly goose and asked.
Honestly speaking, Otto was the world boss who least needed to be fought.
This man — who seemed both godlike and demonic to the people of the Honkai World — possessed a madness and a cold clarity to match. He committed grievous sins in his obsession, and yet with equal composure pronounced his own sentence and chose his own scaffold.
Silver Wing had no quarrel with Otto. Personally, she held that pure-love warrior in considerable respect.
She only needed to ensure she held the initiative. As for what came after — that was for Kiana and the big silly goose to decide.
"I don't know…"
Durandal shook her head, lost.
The very words Otto had once said to Welt had now come true for Durandal herself.
Otto had taught her knowledge, guided her, raised her — mentor, companion, and father all in one.
And yet he was the one responsible for reducing her entire family to this state. He had killed her mother. He had persecuted her father and her little sister. And now he was even planning to use a version of herself — stripped of her memories — to turn against her own family with drawn blades…
"But — whatever else happens — I will no longer help him carry out Project Sirin."
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