"Ehh, how could that happen...?" Kiana pouted, her cheeks puffing out in frustration.
"Do you think this is some fairy tale about a hero slaying a dragon? The hero gathers his companions, marches to the dragon's lair, and the dragon obediently waits inside?" Hermit rolled her eyes behind her mask.
"Still, they should be able to find Sirin soon. Your 'Auntie's' Oath of Judah is indeed a versatile tool in its own way."
"Judah? All I've ever seen Auntie use it for is bondage play and smashing people!"
Kiana glanced curiously at Hermit.
"Then you'll have to ask your dear Auntie if she's forgotten her tricks... Come, let's go see the Second Herrscher."
The scene shifted again. Hermit led Kiana to another part of the snowy plains. On the pristine white ground, a purple-haired girl tumbled out of a swirling vortex, guided by a mosquito-sized Honkai Beast to a massive crystalline sphere.
"This sphere... it looks so familiar," Kiana mused, studying the blue, red, and white orb, as if trying to recall something. "I think I saw it in a book once... What was it called again?"
"Emperor-class Honkai Beast Assaka, one of the Second Herrscher's familiars. Oh, she's going inside now... Come, Kiana, let's witness her past..."
"And then... make your final decision... Swear your true oath." The words were whispered so faintly that Kiana, standing nearby, glanced around in confusion.
"There are mosquitoes here too...?"
-
"Waaah... Mom..."
A purple-haired girl stood beside the hospital bed, sobbing weakly. The woman on the bed had already been covered with a white cloth.
"Mom... don't leave me alone..."
The girl threw herself onto the bed, wailing.
"I don't want to—"
...The scene shifted again. Several girls huddled around a shadowy figure whose face was obscured, emitting ominous red glints.
"Your parents have all succumbed to a disease called 'Honkai.' But don't be afraid—the Schicksal organization will take you in."
"Moreover, you're fortunate to possess innate antibodies against the Honkai. For humanity's sake, we need your help with some experiments."
"It will sting at first, but don't worry..."
The ominous voice offered hollow assurances to the girls before injecting a syringe filled with liquid Honkai energy into their arms.
"Agony tore through the girls' nerves, while the researcher merely grumbled about the test subject being about to fail, just as useless as all the others before her—"
Hermit's icy voice narrated the story unfolding in the projected images, while Kiana, standing beside her, clenched her fists so tightly her nails seemed to dig into her palms, drawing blood.
"Hermit! Stop talking..."
"The fortunate girl ultimately endured the relentless experiments, but her former companions fell one by one to the ceaseless Honkai energy injections. The small girl buried them in the snow-covered plains, yearning for their final rest..."
"There were no elaborate tombstones; three withered branches served as their only markers. No mourners gathered; behind her, the researchers shouted insults, dismissing the tiny lives entombed beneath the snow as mere refuse and discarded failures—"
Hermit's frigid voice continued relentlessly, unaffected by the white-haired girl's pleas. Her words, like a sharp scalpel, dissected reality's ugliness layer by layer, exposing it to Kiana's gaze.
"Enough... Please stop talking..."
"Having witnessed the cruelty and filth of this world, she chose to tear open the human heart. She no longer believed in the world's beauty, vowing to incinerate human civilization to ashes with the flames of vengeance—she is the Second Herrscher... she is Sirin..."
"...She is—the destroyer of civilization."
-
Hermit glanced at the Second Herrscher, already locked in battle with Welt, before turning her gaze to Kiana, who stood beside her, head bowed, fists clenched tightly, and face shadowed with gloom.
"As you can see—the world holds not only beauty, but also much ugliness—places that are never beautiful, places of darkness and filth..."
The snowy plains began to crumble, revealing the graveyard Kiana had seen earlier that day. The white bouquet she had placed with her own hands now lay beneath the memorial...
"The pioneers of this academy endured the world's injustices and darkness. In their final moments, they witnessed the radiance of Humanity and the beauty of the world. Here, they swore a solemn oath together—"
"They would fight for all that is beautiful in the world!"
"Now it's your turn—!"
"You have experienced the beauty of this world, the warmth of humanity... Yet now, you have witnessed its darkness and depravity, its filth and corruption..."
"Knight—Kiana Kaslana, what is your true vow?"
Shamash stood upright on the ground... towering before the girl. It was the glory of her family, the enduring legacy of her bloodline. In ages past, countless Kaslana knights had sworn their life's oaths before this sacred relic, vows they would dedicate their entire existence to fulfilling.
Now, the Liberated Holy Sword stood before her. A primal tremor deep within her blood and soul told Kiana that the sword-wielder before her was an ancestor from the distant past.
And now, the ancestral figure awaited her answer. The time stretched long, enough for the girl to think, to ponder. The Witness before her did not rush her, just as in the ancient traditions of old.
The young Knights knelt in the Kaslana family's Sanctuary, the Holy Relic displayed on the highest altar. The elders stood silently to the side, longswords at their sides, awaiting the moment when the new generation of Knights would contemplate and forge their unique oaths—a process that might take a day, three days, or even longer.
-
"I..." The girl gazed at the Holy Sword before her, her thoughts flickering like the flames dancing on its blade.
"What should my oath be?" She sank into deep contemplation.
A minute, an hour, a day, a week... The prolonged contemplation blurred her sense of time. Kiana stared intently at the burning Flame Sword before her, its flames seeming to banish all darkness and illuminate every shadowed corner.
"Illuminate... Banish..." The girl murmured, lost in thought as she gazed at the flames.
"I want to change those tragic stories... I want to transform this imperfect world... into the world I yearn for..." she whispered to herself.
"Yes... I will transform this imperfect world into the world I yearn for!"
The girl's eyes widened as she looked up at the Hermit, declaring her conviction:
"Is this your oath?!"
The Hermit stared down at the girl, her voice booming like thunder, shattering all illusions and crushing the wills of the wavering:
"Yes! This is my oath!"
In the girl's bright blue eyes, all traces of childishness had vanished. She stared unflinchingly at the Hermit, her will unyielding.
"Then remember your oath—descendant of the Kaslana family!"
"We will bear witness—"
A cold, youthful voice suddenly joined the Hermit's reply.
The girl looked up to see a pale-haired young man, clad in a black, white, and cyan combat uniform, his spectral form now standing beside the Hermit, both their hands gripping the hilt of the Judgement of Shamash, their gazes fixed on her.
Then, the Dreamscape shattered.
Dawn was breaking—