A couple minutes ago
Alvitr raised her hand to shield her face, peeking through the gaps between her fingers as if watching a family comedy unfold before her.
Loud smacking sounds echoed non-stop, each blow accompanied by the agonized wails of a man.
The ground where Siegfried stood had been smashed into a massive crater, rubble flying everywhere from the impact.
"Hey, hey! That's enough already! If you keep going, old man's seriously gonna die!"
A small fist morphed into an open palm, catching True Kiana's charged punch just in time.
The leftover shockwave sent the white strands of Kiana's hair rippling like waves.
'Oof—just how much strength did you put into that?!'
Kiana glanced at the unrecognizable mess that was Siegfried, starting to feel a little guilty.
Maybe she'd hit too hard?
Of course, Kiana had held back a little.
But the same couldn't be said for the heiress and True Kiana.
It's not like they were trying to be "filial daughters" or anything.
At least they didn't aim for vital organs—internal bleeding probably wasn't an issue.
As for broken bones? Well, who could say?
But with modern technology, patching up injuries like this was a piece of cake.
Even if something did go wrong, it wouldn't be a problem.
As long as he wasn't dead, Nagami the Herrscher of Reason—could get Siegfried back on his feet in no time.
And then… the beatdown could resume.
True Kiana had intentionally struck with just enough force to keep him alive.
The heiress and Kiana, on the other hand, had gone a bit easier on him.
"Hmph!"
Panting heavily, True Kiana flicked blood from her knuckles, then looked down at the swollen, bruised lump curled up on the ground.
With a grimace like she'd touched something filthy, she clapped her hands clean.
"For Kiana's sake, I'll stop here…..for now"
Then, as if receiving a message, the heiress suddenly paused.
She picked up the Judgment of Shamash that had fallen to the ground, then took Siegfried's other weapon from his waist and handed it over to Nagami.
Finally, she patted True Kiana on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, this isn't over," she said with a dazzling smile. "Once Mom comes back, Mr. Siegfried will get to 'enjoy' another round."
The second the words left her mouth, Siegfried—beaten to the brink of death suddenly jerked his head up, eyes burning with fierce light.
At the same moment, Kiana's right eye shimmered with radiant golden light.
"What did you just say?!"
For the first time, Siegfried sounded truly emotional as he stared dead at the heiress.
In his mind, this girl was just another Kiana clone manufactured by Otto.
"Mom... is coming back?!"
Their voices overlapped in unison.
The heiress looked at the golden glow in Kiana's right eye and recalled the Honkai Impact 3rd storyline Nagami had shared in the group chat—one involving Cecilia.
Her expression turned complicated.
Just as she was about to explain, True Kiana's telepathy intercepted her.
"Kiana does have a right to know about this," True Kiana said sweetly. "I'll explain everything properly once this Honkai outbreak is over~"
She glanced at the glimmer of hope lighting up Siegfried's eyes, then gave Kiana a gentle, angelic smile and patted her on the head.
"There are still too many people around. Just hang in there a bit longer, okay?"
'Yikes!'
The heiress sucked in a cold breath. Her other self was ruthless.
Leaking just enough information to make Siegfried think there was hope, but not giving him the full story or any details?
That was… that was cruel and unusual punishment!
Her blunt, instinctive reaction earned her a sharp glare from True Kiana.
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[True Kiana]: Excuse me, but wasn't it you—the gorgeous snow-haired beauty so dazzling the moon itself squints at you, who brought up Mom's resurrection in the first place?
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'Ohhh… So I'm the culprit?'
Well then—never mind.
The heiress Kiana looked at Siegfried, whose expression had gone from dumbfounded to downright tragic, like a broken-down robot.
She offered a polite apology in her heart.
After all, in her original world, her dad still meant a lot to her.
Beating up Siegfried did make her feel just a little guilty.
True Kiana's influence had filled her with resentment earlier, but now that she'd vented some of that out, a sliver of guilt crept in.
"This... this…"
Kiana fidgeted, clearly overwhelmed.
Her eyes bounced between True Kiana and Siegfried, until she finally made a decision.
In the blink of an eye, she appeared before her father, drew back her right fist, and—
'BOOM—!'
With a sound like a thunderclap, she unleashed an uppercut straight into his gut.
Siegfried's body soared into the air.
And in that brief moment, from an angle the other two Kianas couldn't see, she leaned close to his ear and whispered softly:
"Stupid old man… I'll tell you everything later."
Siegfried's eyes shimmered with emotion—whether from being moved or because he was crying from how dumb she was, who could say?
Crashing down at Alvitr's feet, who had been spectating from afar, Siegfried finally passed out cold.
"Pfft!"
A barely stifled snort escaped the heiress's lips.
Kiana froze mid-thought like she'd just remembered something important.
"Wait a second. If Kiana is Sirin, and Sirin is Kiana, then who are you? Are you a clone too?"
"…Should I be impressed by your reaction speed or disappointed?" the heiress sighed, exasperated. "Only you could be this slow on the uptake, Kiana."
The golden glow in Kiana's right eye flickered rapidly, as if overwhelmed.
The other Sirin—the one inside was probably on the verge of tears from Kiana's sheer idiocy.
"Of course I'm Kiana Kaslana," the heiress explained patiently. "What Nagami said about parallel worlds wasn't a lie. I'm Kiana—just from a parallel timeline."
As she spoke, she waved over a Valkyrie who had arrived with True Kiana's body.
With a polite request, she asked the Valkyrie to transport the unconscious Siegfried back to the Hyperion for treatment.
His body had already been damaged by Honkai beast genes, and sustaining further injuries without immediate care could be seriously dangerous.
Yet somehow, neither his real daughter nor his "adopted" one seemed to care much whether he lived or died.
So now, she—a visitor from another world had to worry about it? Seriously?!
True Kiana genuinely didn't care. As for Kiana… she had simply forgotten.
The revelation about Cecilia's possible resurrection had pretty much overloaded her tiny brain.
Once Siegfried was safely loaded into the aircraft, the heiress dusted off her hands.
Then, a ping sounded in her head—a new message from the chat group.
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[Nagami]: Kiana, this is urgent, so I'll keep it short. This feather from Fenghuang Down will allow you to enter Sirin's consciousness. Because of your status as alternate selves, the other you will enter with you.
[Nagami]: I need you two to suppress Sirin's Herrscher persona and help her temporarily control the power of the Herrscher of the Void.
[Nagami]: Come find me—
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[Red Packet: Feather]
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[Kiana Kaslana]: Nagami, what's going on?!
[Kiana Kaslana]: Nagami?!
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Even after several attempts, there was no reply.
The heiress's face darkened.
'Just how bad is the situation right now…?'
While the two girls were still in shock, the heiress suddenly grabbed both True Kiana and Kiana, dragging them onto the aircraft just as it was about to take off.
"W-Wait, Si—Sis! What are you doing?!"
Calling her "Sirin" didn't feel right anymore.
But calling her "big sister" was still... kind of awkward.
Still, Kiana was deeply grateful to be forgiven by the real Kiana.
As a little sister, she had no complaints—only happiness.
That said… since the heiress's timeline hadn't yet reached the start of the story, she was technically younger than both True Kiana and Kiana.
Normally, the heiress would've teased Kiana relentlessly for this.
But there was no time for jokes right now.
Wearing an unusually serious expression, the heiress placed her hands on their shoulders.
"Listen carefully…"
Trying to discuss handing over Herrscher powers to Kiana—in front of the Second Herrscher herself was practically asking for a fight.
So of course, the queen-like pufferfish exploded in rage.
The Herrscher energy she unleashed was several times stronger than before.
Her once-blue eyes instantly morphed into golden, cross-shaped irises, outpacing even the heiress and True Kiana's ability to react.
"You dare defy me?! Humans!"
Sirin's divine power surged in a flash.
But before her fist could land, a small, delicate hand wrapped in golden-orange gloves blocked it mid-air.
In that instant, the white training armor surrounding the girl shifted like a stream of photons, morphing into a sleek, black-and-white off-shoulder dress.
This wasn't the same airheaded Kiana from before—Sirin was no fool.
Her intelligence had been evolving steadily in the high-density Honkai environment.
She had been secretly absorbing Honkai energy all along.
Something about this outbreak wasn't right.
She had originally intended to gather more power before acting, but now the others had dared to covet her strength?
And Fenghuang Down, of all things? She'd been burned by that feather more times than she could count.
There was no way she was letting them succeed.
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