The scene returned to the Babylon Tower rising above the snowfield. Kiana gazed at the serene surroundings, feeling a sense of bewilderment.
"Shouldn't we go check on the Second Herrscher again...?"
The young Knight turned to Hermit beside her. Everything here was too calm; she couldn't find any reason to linger.
"Isn't she here already?"
Hermit tilted her head toward the tower's summit. A warship pierced through the clouds and materialized before the Tower of Babylon.
"A warship teeming with Honkai Beasts..." Kiana's jaw dropped as she stared in astonishment at the aerial battleship.
"All bark and no bite. That warship is just a hollow shell—it can't even fire its cannons. All flash, no substance."
Hermit sharply criticized the Second Herrscher's creation, her words dripping with pity for the illiterate.
"Er... it's not that bad, right? At least the exterior looks pretty close..."
"True. As a transport ship, it carried over ten thousand Honkai Beasts. But the Babylon Tower currently only has two A-rank Valkyries, three if you count Patricia, the Anti-Entropy mole on guard outside."
An armored vehicle convoy surged from the Tower of Babylon's opened gates, retreating across the snowfield.
"Former Schicksal A-rank Valkyrie Patricia, during the Honkai Beast tide unleashed by the Second Herrscher's return, sacrificed herself to cover her former comrades from the Snow Wolf Squad. She was impaled by a Templar-class Honkai Beast and died."
"Salome, one of the two A-rank Valkyries covering the evacuation of the research team stationed in the Tower, perished while blocking a plasma projectile launched by the Judgment-class Honkai Beast Benares in its humanoid form."
"A-rank Valkyrie Niggurath and the surviving evacuation convoy were rescued by Cheng Lixue, the strongest A-rank Valkyrie in Schicksal at the time and acting commander of the Valkyrie Force."
"Meanwhile, Schicksal Overseer Otto Apocalypse has officially begun mobilizing all B-rank and higher Valkyries across Europe, preparing to wage war against the Second Herrscher."
-
"...He saved the Herrscher's life once, and now he's sacrificing Valkyries to fight her... This Schicksal Overseer—what a trulyfine Overseer he is."
Kiana spat out the words through gritted teeth, emphasizing the final "fine" with bitter sarcasm to convey her contempt.
"...The kind-hearted Otto vanished five centuries ago, along with the passing of a certain someone," Hermit said, shaking her head as if lamenting something.
"Who?"
"The Schicksal Saintess, Kallen Kaslana—you should know that name."
It wasn't a question, but a statement of certainty. Hermit turned to Kiana, who nodded in acknowledgment.
"I've heard of her. I even fought alongside her once! Though it was just in a virtual reality simulation like this one..."
"Then you should know the historical Saintess's ultimate fate—rebelling against the old-era Schicksal, ultimately falling in love with the Herrscher, she was condemned to the gallows by the Schicksal Council."
"On the day of her execution, Honkai Beasts suddenly appeared in the execution grounds. To save the crowd... she broke free from her restraints and stood before the beasts..."
"Defenseless, Kallen Kaslana ultimately died protecting a child, her body pierced by the claws of a Honkai Beast on the day of her execution."
"I've seen this account in Schicksal's archives... hmm, but the scene seemed interactive. Back then, I helped Miss Kallen defeat that Honkai Beast."
"Hmph... that Honkai Beast was released by Otto, who wasn't yet the Schicksal Overseer, under the influence of others."
"Why? Why would he release a Honkai Beast?" Kiana asked, her voice filled with confusion.
"Because Kallen Kaslana was his fiancée, and Otto Apocalypse was her admirer—not the kind of love between lovers, but more like the devotion between a deity and her followers..."
"Under the influence of others, Otto Apocalypse released a Honkai Beast imprisoned by Schicksal to create chaos, hoping to seize the opportunity to rescue Kallen and flee with her from Schicksal."
"But he forgot what kind of person Kallen was. In his panic and under the sway of others, he forgot—what the name Kaslana truly represented."
"He lost the most important person in his life... and the kind, innocent Otto Apocalypse died in the past."
"He will bear his sins, his hands stained with blood... For five hundred years, he has walked alone through human history, seeking only one answer..."
"The answer to bring back the dead."
"He wants to bring back Kallen Kaslana, the Saintess of Schicksal from five centuries ago, and restore her to history."
At that moment, the Hermit revealed the answer to the Knight.
"You mean... the Schicksal Overseer wants to revive his lover from 500 years ago?" Kiana stared at the Hermit in disbelief, her voice laced with skepticism.
"For five centuries, he searched for countless methods, traveling across the globe, but all to no avail... Until now, he has waited for a Herrscher who can communicate directly with the gods... the Second Herrscher, Sirin. A theoretical encyclopedia of Q&A claiming to be omniscient and omnipotent."
"...What a... stubborn and insane man," Kiana murmured after a long silence.
"Apart from that, this Overseer could rightfully be called Schicksal's greatest Overseer of all time..."
"Under his five centuries of management and leadership, Schicksal flourished, its power grew steadily, and human civilization gradually gained a foothold in the battle against the Honkai."
"A contradictory figure impossible to judge, wouldn't you agree?" Hermit shook her head.
"But how could he possibly communicate with the Second Herrscher? That Herrscher now seems like the kind of person who wouldn't listen to reason at all..." Kiana suddenly realized something and turned to Hermit. "Why don't you ask your amazing Class Monitor?"
Hermit's words momentarily stunned Kiana into silence.
"Wait... Class Monitor... Fu Hua???"
A sudden premonition struck Kiana—the gossip she'd uncover during this dream journey would likely surpass anything she'd ever heard in her life.
"Indeed. To be precise, she's a MANTIS (Fusion Warrior) from the previous era's civilization, the Immortal who has guarded Shenzhou for millennia, and now Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie... Fu Hua."
"Oh, you won't get anything by asking her directly. That Predecessor's memories have eroded too much—she probably doesn't even remember these events anymore."
"The amount of information packed into that one sentence is absurd. Let me process it for a moment..."