"So you're saying… he abandoned his own descendants?"
"For that man, it was merely that he believed himself burdened with an unforgivably heavy sin, and thus chose to distance himself from his bloodline."
"The Stigma Project…"
"It may not stop there—but as for further details… even I have no way of knowing. After all, I am not truly him."
At this point,
Durandal nodded.
"I don't think I have any more questions."
"Then next, I will awaken the dormant Kaslana power within you."
"That strength far surpasses the limits of ordinary humanity. If you wish to overcome and command it, I advise you to steel yourself completely."
Kevin finally spoke with solemn gravity.
It caused a weight to settle in Durandal's heart.
She understood—
the true trial was only just beginning.
The man's inner landscape shattered in an instant, leaving behind only an extreme cold that gnawed at the girl's very bones.
Durandal focused her mind and sensed a road of destiny—
like a frozen glacial river—slowly yet inexorably extending beneath her feet.
That road carried her toward an end of absolute nothingness,
where only a single voice echoed endlessly in her mind—
Kill the Honkai.
And in the next instant—
[Kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai]
[Kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai kill the Honkai]
Countless cries of Kill the Honkai flooded Durandal's consciousness!
"…Ugh!"
A searing headache struck at once!
"It's all right, my child."
"That guilt does not belong to you—nor is that responsibility something you alone must bear."
"At times like this… it's okay to rely a little on your mother's strength."
Along with that gentle voice,
warm blood surged back into her brain.
The madness pressing in from all sides vanished instantly.
Different from all those who came before her,
the girl felt she possessed an additional power—
one that allowed her to truly control it.
That power was silent yet warm, gentle yet unyielding.
It stopped her from becoming a mere vessel of vengeance
and helped her become a knight who could command an ancient destiny.
—She knew.
That was her biological mother's embrace,
crossing time itself—fleeting, yet eternal.
That was… Cecilia's embrace!
In that instant—
Inside and outside the screen,
Durandal's figure trembled violently!
An indescribable surge of emotion—
born of blood and lineage—rose from deep within!
And within the chat group, an uproar erupted!
[Theresa: That is… Cecilia?!]
[Raiden Mei: At a moment like this…]
[Kiana: QAQ]
[March 7th: W–Waaah… I can't… this is too moving…]
[Theresa: Cecilia…]
[Ningguang: As expected… no matter the time, a mother is someone you can always rely on…]
[Keqing: QAQ such great maternal love…]
[Kafka: Indeed… a mother's love for her child…]
[Silver Wolf: Ahem… Kafka…]
[Rita: Lady Cecilia… thank goodness… helping Lady Durandal at such a critical moment!]
[Tesla: What an incredible power…]
The very next second—
As Durandal's power awakened—
A horse's neigh rang out!
"The Path of Origin—hereby forged!"
"So I succeeded, Arbiter."
Upon the back of the azure Kṛṣṇā,
Durandal slowly opened her eyes.
She gazed toward the monsters surging from the desert.
"Heavenly Origin Knight! Charge forth, Kṛṣṇā! Hyah—!"
And Kevin's calm voice followed.
"Defeat the ugliness within your bloodline. Prove that you possess a new inheritance—one that belongs to you alone."
[The knight's spear danced up and down, carving through the Imaginary God Husk with surgical precision, halting its function in an instant.]
[The cold will that once dominated the entire space finally dissipated, leaving behind only the fragments of personality it had seized from others.]
At the moment the Imaginary God Husk fell—
The massive white puppet that had appeared before emerged once more.
"You… truly passed the trial. Transcending the destiny of salvation, ascending to the Heavenly Origin as a human?!"
"I didn't accomplish this by my own strength alone."
"I know. But does that fact erase your personal effort?"
The white puppet continued.
"Life itself is an existence that advances through inheritance and innovation alike—never ceasing on its forward path."
"Thus, I am grateful to stand upon the shoulders of giants. That said—if those giants turn around and threaten the world's continued existence, then I must stop them. At the very least, I must ensure their willful paths do not harm this ever-living human world."
"You needn't feel conflicted. Stopping stubborn old men from acting recklessly is precisely the meaning of youth's existence in this world. Even as a mere fragment of personality, I can feel the passion contained within Siegfried. He is a true man—I believe that until the end of time, he will retain a boy's heart."
"…You've regained your memories."
"After all, you passed the Stigma trial and reset the surrounding space."
The giant puppet laughed softly.
"I will ultimately return to my true self… though by then, he'll likely regard our shared memories as nothing more than an exceedingly vague dream."
"…"
"You needn't grieve over such inevitabilities. Compared to those matters… in these fleeting final moments of this divided self—brief as bubbles—I still have one last obligation I must fulfill for you."
"?"
"This is the depths of the Imaginary—yet also a place where spaces interact in wondrous ways. With my abilities, I may only be able to transmit information from the other side to you, one-way—but regardless, this is a duty I must do my utmost to complete."
The next instant—
Purple light shimmered across the puppet's body.
As spatial information surged—
Durandal, along with all viewers, saw the scenery abruptly change.
"This is where the real Siegfried was ultimately confined."
"He has long sought to escape the Stigma space… but unable to awaken properly, all he could do was shed personality fragments like me."
"And Kevin's choice was to seal him there—
to seal him within the crystallization of all his own sins."
The moment the truth about the real Siegfried was revealed—
In reality, Kiana's body shook violently.
She had believed that the fragments of Siegfried within the Stigma space existed solely due to the Kaslana bloodline.
But she never imagined—
Her dad… was truly imprisoned here?!
[Keqing: W–Wait… the real Siegfried… sealed here?!]
[Kiana: Dad?!]
[Raiden Mei: It was mentioned before… Siegfried was captured by World Serpent!]
[Kiana: World Serpent… damn it… why…]
[Theresa: Siegfried… was sealed here by Kevin?!]
[Rita: At present, that does appear to be the case.]
[March 7th: Why is this world full of
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