"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing, other me?!"
Her arms hung limply at her sides, and the knight girl's steps faltered—her body swaying as if she could collapse at any moment.
After narrowly dodging a blast of energy, she finally stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Hey!"
A sharp cry echoed in her mind. The heiress could feel her partner's turbulent emotional state.
"If you choose to run away now, it's only going to be harder to summon your courage next time!"
The red glow in her eyes dimmed but flickered faintly.
To any onlooker, the knight girl seemed like a textbook case of dissociative identity disorder.
"I'm not running away!"
Yet even as she said this, the girl seized control of her body, slamming a memory cartridge into the slot at her side and forcefully pressing the activation button.
"Cyclone! Maximum Drive!"
A synthetic voice echoed from the void, and a violent gust of wind erupted around the knight girl.
As she spun, the swirling vortex transformed into a raging storm, blasting outward in a powerful shockwave.
With a piercing screech like tearing steel, a jade-green wind blade ripped through a Honkai beast's body, shredding its silicon-based shell into tiny fragments that scattered like dust in the air.
"…"
The heiress Kiana said nothing.
'Terrified out of her mind, and she's still acting tough,' she thought.
"I am not acting tough!"
True Kiana, hearing The heiress's inner voice loud and clear, shouted back in protest.
"Do you really think you can lie to yourself?"
The words carried a double meaning—True Kiana couldn't fool her own heart, nor could she deceive the Kiana within The heiress.
"…"
"Don't worry. I'll face it with you. Nagami will be with you too."
Honestly, The heiress Kiana felt incredibly embarrassed saying that.
She quickly raised a hand to tuck back a loose strand of hair, a bright blush blooming across her elegant face.
If it weren't herself, she would never have said something like that!
"Sirin, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
With a flick of her wrist, her blade flashed like lightning, dark blood spraying into the air along with fragments of mutated flesh.
Mei's arm twisted, and plasma flickered like a crescent moon along her shadowy blade, a burst of thunder obliterating a Dead Apostle charging from behind.
Her voice was soft but filled with concern, prompting the girl who was two souls in one body to raise her head, as if making a firm decision.
"I'm fine, Mei. Take care of things here with C.C. I need to step out for a bit!"
The fleet hadn't arrived with just the Hyperion—there were nearly a hundred Emperor-class Honkai beasts.
There was no way they could handle them all on their own.
And besides...
The knight girl turned her head toward the distance.
There, a silver silhouette being chased by a horde of beasts suddenly stopped, like a still frame frozen under the moonlight.
Sensing The heiress's gaze, Rita smiled warmly, graceful and composed as always.
Her icy scythe shimmered with brilliance—like a fleeting gleam of frost in the dark.
Even surrounded by several Emperor-class Honkai beasts, the maid still fought with ease.
Because today, she wore the fourth-generation Valkyrie anti-Honkai battlesuit—Argent Knight: Artemis.
The wing-like structure on her back unfurled, scattering icy blue particles like the cold light of a deathly moon across the battlefield, filling the enemy with despair.
"Awaken—Mistress of Frost!"
Her chilling voice sounded like a reaper delivering judgment.
In an instant, ghostly blue particles coalesced around her, forming a phantom humanoid figure—like a silent specter or a dignified dance partner from the underworld.
The howling frost swept across the land!
At that moment, Rita was no longer the gentle maid—she was one of Destiny's three S-rank Valkyries.
With a swing of Skadi of Eternal Frost, her scythe cut a sharp arc through the darkness.
The Honkai beasts in her path were instantly frozen into a frigid hellscape formed by crescent-moon particles.
As Rita moved, a shimmering silver moon mirrored her actions, slashing through the battlefield with blade in hand, wrapping the corpses of their foes in a merciless layer of frost.
"No wonder she's an S-rank Valkyrie..."
The white-haired, red-eyed girl finally let out a breath of relief, turning north and dashing away.
"Wait!"
Her left side halted abruptly, and the sudden imbalance nearly sent her tumbling.
"…"
Her right hand clenched instinctively.
True Kiana fell silent, asking no questions—her knight-state counterpart understood her perfectly.
"Is now the time... for her to know the truth?"
"…"
The heiress slowly walked to the side, watching a certain girl—wielding dual pistols but preferring to fight up close with powerful kicks—battle the Honkai beasts.
After a long pause, she finally spoke again.
"No matter what… she's still someone that Da—Ziggy acknowledged. This… this can't be left unresolved."
In her own world, she had always been a pampered little princess, and the familiar title "Dad" slipped out instinctively.
But thinking about Siegfried's heroic deeds in this world, she scratched her head in frustration.
'There's no way to clean up that mess...'
"Why do the two versions of Dad feel so different?"
Even if you don't count the current Siegfried that Kiana is portraying in Honkai Impact 2's world, the Siegfried who sacrificed himself to save Kiana years ago still felt more like a proper father than the one in this world.
"…It doesn't matter to me, but I'm worried Kiana might not be able to handle the truth."
The knight girl's crimson right eye flickered, and to any observer, she looked like she was just muttering to herself.
"Both Nagami and I were worried about that too. But now... I think she'll be fine."
There was a rare sense of relief in The heiress's voice.
"Why?"
True Kiana asked, confused.
"Did you not realize what you just called her?"
A faint, meaningful smile curved on the girl's lips.
!
The heiress's words made True Kiana freeze, her eyes suddenly widening in shock.
Just now… she had called K423 "Kiana" without even thinking.
Was it just habit?
Logically speaking, True Kiana knew that K423 was also a victim of Otto's plan.
But if humans could stay rational about everything, they wouldn't be human.
Back when she had first arrived at St. Freya, she had eagerly accepted Nagami's suggestion to use the alias "Sirin," out of her desire to get revenge on K423 for "stealing" her name.
But aside from that brief moment of satisfaction at the beginning, the name hadn't brought her anything special.
And now, as "Sirin," she had made friends.
She thought of Mei, who had just come to rescue her… and Bronya, who often played games with her and cheerfully called her "Sirin-neesan."
For the first time, True Kiana's thoughts were in complete chaos.
What did a name… really mean?
What were K423 and herself… to each other, really?
From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the Paramecium mid-battle—using her body to shield Bronya from an incoming attack.
That idiot...
True Kiana found herself lost in thought.
"She really is a total idiot. I wasn't wrong about her, was I… other me~"
The radiant glow of the Lunar Guardian blossomed in the sky.
The heiress casually fired a shot that dropped a Dead Apostle aiming at the Paramecium, then shouted toward the girl, who was smiling like a complete fool.
"Kiana! We found Siegfried! If you want to see him, come with me!"
After saying that, The heiress sensing what True Kiana was feeling—smirked faintly and turned away, heading north.
Even if True Kiana redirected her resentment for K423 toward Siegfried instead, that was fine.
She just didn't want her counterpart in this world to fall into a "kill or be killed" spiral with that simple, kind-hearted idiot.
And as for this world's so-called "dad"...
Serves him right.
"!!! SIRIN, WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! You found my crappy old man?!"
The Paramecium's eyes flew open in shock, her twin ponytails practically standing on end.
"Hey! Wait! Don't just drop that and run off! Explain it properly, dammit! …Ugh!"
Watching the retreating figure that clearly had no intention of slowing down, the Paramecium turned toward Bronya.
"Go. Bronya can handle things alone."
With a barely noticeable smile tugging at the corners of her lips, Bronya gave a small nod.
"Mm. You be careful too. Safer if you stay close to Auntie."
After saying goodbye to Mei, the Paramecium bolted off in the direction True Kiana had gone.
"Strange… did I just hear someone shouting Siegfried's name?"
Even while surrounded by enemies and holding a golden spear, Theresa was still glancing around.
"…Forget it, probably just my imagination. Judah—!"
As if answering her command, the giant cross gave off a metallic roar.
Golden chains surged from the gaps in its frame like a tidal wave, soaring skyward.
A radiant, gilded prison unfolded—within it, the golden chains danced like serpents, weaving and coiling as they tore into their prey.
One thing was certain: S-rank Valkyrie Theresa and her Judah? Forever god-tier.