No, not entirely. In this shrine engulfed by raging flames and blazing fire, there was actually another person present.
The white-haired figure wearing Schicksal's nun outfit lay motionless and quietly on the stone slabs. Shun hurried over, stirring up a light breeze. Only after he approached did she seem to awaken from a deep sleep and slowly open her eyes.
"Kallen Kaslana, right?" Before Kallen could speak, Shun preemptively said her name, causing Kallen—who had been about to hand over the cross that carried part of her power—to freeze in place.
"Do you know Otto Apocalypse?" Shun continued asking. He knew that the Kallen before him was a part of the real Kallen's soul, existing in this Stigmata space for five hundred years. In a sense, she could also be considered the real Kallen. As Otto's friend, there were some things he wanted to do for Otto.
"Eh! You know Otto?!" Kallen's expression was full of shock. She hadn't expected to hear the name of her childhood friend again after so many cycles in this hopeless space.
"It seems so. May I ask rudely, what do you think of Otto?" Shun continued questioning.
"Otto… he is my best friend. On the road of growth, he helped me so much. I think that without him, there might not have been the later Kallen Kaslana." Kallen recalled her past with Otto and spoke slowly.
"Then, if it were marrying him, would you be willing?" Shun threw out another heavyweight question.
"Mm… I think, probably yes. But unfortunately, after I return from the Far East, I will most likely be executed. As his fiancée, I have been negligent. I hope he can forget me and find a good wife from the Schariac family. The Kaslana family's rash personality might not suit being his fiancée."
Kallen's words revealed her guilt toward Otto. It seemed that even Kallen at this time knew that returning would mean a dead end.
Shun ignored the latter part of Kallen's words and only took the most critical information. "In other words, you are willing to marry Otto. That's correct, right?"
Although Kallen didn't know why Shun kept pressing this question, her face reddened slightly and she nodded.
Although he didn't have his phone and couldn't record this segment, he could remember it with his mind and project it via consciousness for Otto to see after coming out.
Even if Otto died without ever opening the box Kallen had left him filled with her feelings for Otto, this time, let him understand Kallen's feelings for him before he dies!
Tell him that this was by no means just the Fool's one-sided pursuit of the Saint. Likewise, the Saint's generous devotion to the Fool was filled with gratitude and deep love.
"Hand it over." Shun extended his hand toward Kallen.
"What?" Kallen asked in confusion. After Shun's interruption, she had completely forgotten about handing over her power.
"The missing Authority of Judah. Everyone knows that Judah has thirteen light spears. Twelve are physical, and the thirteenth is illusory. People only think that thirteen is an unlucky number in religion, so the thirteenth light spear is false."
"Yet they don't know that Judah's true thirteenth light spear was used by Schicksal's Saint, Kallen Kaslana, five hundred years ago to seal the Herrscher of Corruption and has remained in the Far East forever." (This part is my minor headcanon. Don't overinterpret it. I recall this was also a setting in some old fan works.)
"And you, Kallen, have been able to persist with your remnant will for five hundred years precisely because you were attached to Judah's final light spear. Otherwise, you would have long since vanished into thin air."
"Oh dear, it seems I've been found out." Kallen smiled helplessly. "However, I'm afraid I may not be able to last another five hundred years. This fragment of my consciousness was originally the will that remained on Judah when I sealed Sakura. If I hadn't happened to meet a fated person like you, I would probably have completely disappeared from the constant wear and tear."
Kallen removed the golden cross necklace from her neck and handed it to Shun. "Then I entrust this to you. Please, you must save Sakura! I believe that since you know me and know Otto, you must also know Sakura!"
This was probably the intuition of a fool, allowing Kallen to choose to trust Shun and hand over all the power that had allowed her to barely linger on.
"I can't guarantee that I can save Yae Sakura." Shun shook his head. Yae Sakura's situation was mainly because she herself didn't really want to live anymore. If someone was wholeheartedly seeking death, Shun couldn't persuade a person with a death wish.
"It's fine. As long as you can end this endless cycle and free her, that's enough." Kallen also knew what Sakura was thinking, but she truly didn't want to see Sakura suffer like this anymore.
"I can't fully guarantee that either. However, I promise you that I will do my utmost to help rescue Yae Sakura. My purpose on this trip is to rescue Theresa; everything else comes later." Shun continued to refuse. He wouldn't dare speak carelessly if he couldn't guarantee it, but to reassure Kallen, he could only say he would do his utmost.
"Theresa…" Kallen murmured the name. Why did it sound more and more familiar the more she heard it?
Then, she exclaimed: "This, this name… shouldn't it be the name of my and Otto's first daughter?"
Now it was Shun's turn to be stunned. What? Otto had even discussed this with Kallen? Given that Theresa was a name she had thought of long ago, it made some sense. But Otto had actually discussed with Kallen how many children they would have in the future and what their names would be.
"Wait, the one you want to save, could it be…" A rare look of panic appeared on Kallen's face, but unfortunately, having lost Judah's Authority, she no longer had a carrier to attach to and had already dissipated.
"Sort of…" In the end, Shun only left behind this confusing remark. Because the map of the burning shrine where Kallen had been disappeared. The scene before Shun had now turned into a lush, verdant forest.
Actually, the latter half of that sentence was: "That's the one Otto cloned using your genes, so it's not wrong to say she's your and Otto's daughter. However, Otto treats her as his granddaughter." Unfortunately, Kallen didn't hear the rest.
Theresa swore that this was absolutely the most embarrassing moment of her life. Ever since being sucked into that strange space, she had lost the power she had always been proud of.
She, who could tear apart Emperor-level Honkai beasts with her bare hands right after birth, now couldn't even deal with a bear that was starting to show some Honkai beastification. Moreover, she was wearing a yukata she had worn long ago when accompanying Himeko to watch a fireworks display, which was extremely inconvenient for movement and made escaping very difficult.
After being chased by this bear for a long time, Theresa felt she was already exhausted. In her panicked flight, she stepped on irregular gravel on the road, twisted her ankle, and fell to the ground.
"I'm done for. I don't want to become bear cookies! It's said that when bears eat people, they bite while the person is still alive. The person gets disemboweled alive and gnawed on for a long time before dying…"
Theresa didn't dare to continue thinking. The fear of death gradually seeped into her body and mind. Under extreme survival instinct, her pupils actually turned red.
At that very instant, it was as if time had been paused. The world suddenly fell silent. All the surrounding noise came to an abrupt halt. The sound of the wind disappeared, the leaves no longer rustled, and even the originally frenzied giant bear seemed to be frozen in place. The entire world seemed covered by a layer of serene gauze, falling into a strange quietude.
"Setsuna: All Phenomena Ignorance!" At this moment, the world seemed to stagnate. Several sharp blue sword qi slashed across the giant bear. When time began flowing again, the giant bear had already been turned into several slices frozen into ice blocks.
"Am I late, Theresa?" Accompanied by the crisp "clang" sound of the blade returning to its sheath from behind the giant bear, the bear's figure collapsed with a crash. Shun's form was revealed from behind.
Theresa looked up and saw Shun's figure gradually becoming clear amid the dappled light and shadow. The surrounding trees were tall and straight. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, forming patches of golden light. A gentle breeze brought the fresh scent of grass and wood.
She struggled to prop herself up, filled with joy yet with a hint of reproach, and stumbled into his warm embrace. At this time, a few pure white clouds floated in the sky, light and fluffy like cotton candy.
"If you dare to cut it this close next time, I definitely won't forgive you!"