Her mind should've been something abstract, yet right now, it was genuinely throbbing with pain.
Enduring agony that would've broken an ordinary person, Kiana forced her eyes open. All around her were countless versions of herself—or rather, the other K-series clones Sirin had once shown her.
This time, though, Kiana was much calmer. She knew Sirin had created this sight to attack the weakest part of her heart.
It'd be a lie to say she felt nothing; her birth and the course of her entire life seemed as if they'd been manipulated from the start, and no one could stay completely calm after learning something like that.
Kiana simply refused to let Sirin exploit that weakness now.
"Damn it... I don't know how Rita's doing... Is Sirin seriously planning to drag me down with her?"
"I'm not that bored."
A cold woman's voice, thick with condescension, came from above. Kiana finally thought to look up and, sure enough, saw the girl with the exact same face as hers—Sirin.
"Why'd you bring me here?" Kiana demanded. "What's happening outside?"
"Why don't you guess?"
Sirin's expression didn't change. In truth, she hadn't brought Kiana here at all. Kiana had appeared before her on her own, and even the surrounding scenery wasn't Sirin's doing.
Rather than Sirin interfering with Kiana's mind, it was more accurate to say Kiana had fallen into a deep bout of self-doubt. Somewhere beneath the surface, she'd begun questioning whether she even had the right to exist, and part of her wanted to run from that answer.
Of course, Sirin had no intention of explaining any of that. This was a weakness buried deep inside Kiana's heart—a darkness Sirin planned to make full use of later.
"Tell me how to get out." When Sirin refused to answer, Kiana didn't bother pushing and moved straight to the next question. This time, however, Sirin couldn't simply ignore her.
"With Class Monitor helping me, there's no way you can suppress me. Instead of wasting your time on something pointless, let me out already. This isn't the time for us to be fighting each other. If you aren't planning to die with me, then let me go."
Sirin narrowed her eyes.
It wasn't pleasant to hear, but Kiana was right. If Kiana had been alone, Sirin could've suppressed her with ease. The Herrscher Core constantly affected both body and mind, and Kiana herself had a habit of self-destruction and avoidance. Crushing that seemingly tough but fragile human personality would've been simple.
The problem was that Fu Hua had strengthened Kiana's mind first, and then Firefly had appeared to ease the burden on her body. Neither of them could actually hurt Sirin, but they'd become serious obstacles to her taking control.
Sirin knew exactly what was happening outside. Now that the crisis had already passed, she had no interest in trading insults with this idiot.
If Kiana hadn't barged in here for no clear reason, Sirin wouldn't even have bothered looking at her.
No... It wasn't for no reason.
Kiana had been using the Core recklessly lately. Little by little, that had brought her closer to Sirin.
A flicker of caution rose in Sirin's heart. She had no intention of letting Kiana gain any more control over this power. If someone was going to keep cleaning up the Honkai Energy that corroded Kiana's body whenever she used the Core, then Sirin simply wouldn't let her use it anymore.
Having made up her mind, Sirin casually waved a hand at Kiana as though swatting away a fly. An irresistible force slammed into Kiana, and the world spun around her once again.
--+--
When Kiana came back to herself, the first thing she saw was a floor scorched by flames and blackened with burn marks. Directly ahead stood a silver-gray armored figure facing her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a white figure carrying a scythe as it leapt toward the hole in the ceiling and disappeared into the moonlight. Kiana couldn't make sense of what was going on.
Fu Hua had already realized that Kiana had regained consciousness. Knowing she'd obviously be confused, she quickly explained, "The armor in front of you is the mysterious person who helped you before."
"According to the people who attacked you and Rita just now, the pilot of that armor is called Sam. He's also a member of World Serpent."
World Serpent? Didn't that make him an enemy?
Fu Hua couldn't give a definite answer either. What World Serpent had done in Arc City was morally unacceptable. Fu Hua could understand some of their reasoning, but understanding wasn't the same as approval.
Compared with the World Serpent member who'd just set up an ambush, however, the armored figure in front of them was much harder to place. He had saved Kiana twice, but saving her didn't automatically make him an ally.
Put Otto in that armor instead, and Otto would've saved Kiana too.
Did that make Otto an ally?
Neither Fu Hua nor Kiana would've believed that for a second.
"Who are you?" Kiana asked carefully. "You're the one who took me to Firefly before."
If he'd been able to bring her directly to Firefly, there was no way he didn't know who Firefly was or what her situation was. The idea that he'd simply happened to carry Kiana somewhere to rest back then didn't hold up anymore.
His obvious attempt to protect her this time was proof enough. On top of that, he was a member of World Serpent, while Firefly had ties to Heliopolis Life Sciences, World Serpent's public-facing organization. There was no chance Firefly's existence was a secret to him.
"I'm a World Serpent officer. Sam."
A steady male voice with a heavy mechanical filter came from the armor. The silver-gray suit slowly walked toward Kiana.
"Detective hour's over. You shouldn't stay here."
He kept approaching as he spoke.
No matter how Kiana listened to it, the words sounded like a warning. She didn't trust the armored man.
Still, he was right about one thing: she needed to leave.
According to Fu Hua's guess, Rita would've contacted Durandal by now. As captain of the Immortal Blades and Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, Durandal could arrive in Arc City at any moment.
Kiana didn't have much time left to waste.
Her only option was to find Rita first and see whether Rita's little robot dog had managed to gather any key information while they'd been separated.
With that thought, Kiana glanced back at the control panel and bit her lip in frustration.
But just as she tried to open a doorway into Imaginary Space, she felt the power inside her seize up and resist.
Kiana didn't need even a second to figure out where that resistance was coming from.
'Sirin! You've seriously got to do this now?!'
Kiana gritted her teeth as her tension shot through the roof. The enemy they'd just faced had been too much even for Rita, an S-rank Valkyrie, together with that black-cloaked fighter.
Kiana was already struggling to use what little Honkai Energy she had left after being affected by the gas, and now Sirin had decided to interfere too.
Before she could think of a way out, a shadow suddenly blocked the moonlight pouring through the broken ceiling.
Both of them looked up on instinct.
A figure holding a katana was dropping straight toward them, blade raised for a downward strike aimed at Sam.
"Kiana! Get back!"
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL