Chapter 517
Siegfried – a veteran and powerful enforcer in the early stages.
When I was writing this, I mentioned that Siegfried at his peak was a thousand times stronger than Rita, which was considered too high by some people at the time.
But in reality, my idea of finishing the book hasn't changed.
Taking the actual situation in 2014 as an example, there was no evidence to confirm that Rita had already reached S-rank in 2014, even though I had set up her with the Argent Knight: Artemis and Frosty Skadi setup...
Let me see. In the original story, Rita, a year later, couldn't reliably defeat Stan in a short period of time.
As for Siegfried, his peak attack was definitely the sword strike that sealed Sirin's core in 2000.
At that time, Siegfried activated the Jie Mie Mode with the full power of Parvati, the Flame-Chaser's Judgment, and the Welt Core, and then unleashed a full-force sword strike.
I won't post pictures of the specific depiction here, but you can check out the comic book version if you have time. I think even a thousand times is an understatement.
Of course, some people will definitely think that the Divine Key don't count... But I think the Divine Key are considered divine equipment, Siegfried is the holder, and he can use them, so it's normal for this advantage to be considered part of strength.
Would anyone, when evaluating Otto's modern strength, make him switch back to a physical body and forbid him from using the Soul Steel Body and the Void Archive? It's the same logic.
Returning to the earlier topic, there's a reason why I consider Siegfried a powerful veteran enforcer.
In my opinion, something big has happened in Changkong City, Kiana is likely in trouble, and Siegfried will definitely come.
Of course, this wasn't mentioned in the original story, but in my opinion, it's definitely not right that he didn't come.
Here's a brief mention of Siegfried's character design from the original novel.
In his early days, Siegfried's character combined two negative traits that now seem quite offensive: "Smoking" and "touching the Valkyrie's buttocks."
Later, due to plot reasons, all that was left was a little bit of flirting. The setting of touching the Valkyrie's butt, which was mentioned in Honkai 3rd, was changed to Shigure Kira spreading rumors.
Everyone says that Siegfried became the victim, but in reality, the real victim in this storyline is Shigure Kira. In order to clean up the mess left by the previous copywriter, Shigure Kira suddenly has an additional character setting of "spreading rumors about colleagues and harassing colleagues".
Then there's Eternal Memories, which came out in 2017; it's a major storyline.
In this pivotal storyline, Otto's account mentions "the recovery of Kiana" and "why Siegfried took K423 away."
In addition, there was a CG scene at the time in which Kiana was imprisoned, so the mainstream speculation four or five years ago was that Siegfried gave up taking his daughter in order to take K423, which led to his daughter being captured by Otto.
Siegfried was heavily criticized because of this.
I won't go into my opinion at the time, but the problem is that this plot was later proven to be a problem created by miHoYo themselves.
While the text was vague, a CG image was provided showing Kiana with her eyes covered, her hands bound, and her feet chained with an iron ball.
This actually doesn't match the later plot point where Kiana is unharmed after falling from the sky, and Otto encases her body in Soul Steel.
In fact, this plot has been retconned, and after the retcon, previous speculations no longer hold true.
Then I'm really curious, are there people who haven't seen the new plot and are still using the old plot to criticize Siegfried?
In the new storyline, Siegfried, besides being a smooth talker, was slandered for not actually touching anyone's butt, his wife was murdered after he fought hard, he endured humiliation and stayed in Schicksal for his daughter, and finally his daughter died before his eyes.
His biggest remaining problem was that he hadn't properly settled Kiana at the Schicksal Headquarters, which led to the tragedy that followed.
In my opinion, this is a matter of intelligence, not character. Yet, in the new storyline, I haven't seen anyone criticize Siegfried's actions...
I'm wondering what else is there to criticize about Siegfried, aside from the tragedy caused by Kiana taking Siegfried to Schicksal Headquarters in the new storyline.
This unfortunate Zhongdeng is practically the perfect victim, yet he's still being dragged out and criticized every day. Some people are even comparing him to Otto in matters of love, implying that Siegfried is inferior to Otto in romantic relationships...
He was a damn good man. Siegfried respected and loved his wife. After her death, he respected her wishes and endured hardship to raise their daughter.
Otto —while Kallen was alive, he conducted human experiments behind Kallen back [not mentioning the Black Death incident, but he continued doing so afterward]. Later, he released the Himeko, which almost destroyed the Schicksal Headquarters. Before Kallen died, he also released a Kallen Honkai Beast in front of her.
Between these two, I didn't see any respect from Otto towards Kallen, nor did I see any romantic feelings from Kallen towards Otto. [You can check out the past chapters yourself, in the Twilight of the Fool arc and the side story manga Violet Everlasting, to see if Kallen's feelings for Otto in these interactions are those of a lover or a like-minded companion.]
As a result, Siegfried, who respected his lover, was less likely to disgust Kallen twice, and if Kallen were to be resurrected, she would have to be disgusted by Otto a third time.
Someone will definitely bring up the idea of five hundred years of infatuation—wake up! When Kallen was alive, Otto arrogantly chose the methods Kallen hated most to taint Kallen ideals, and even after knowing that Kallen hated these things, he still resolutely continued to be a beast.
Before praising him, can you at least take a look at what Kallen is really thinking? If Kallen were to be resurrected and find out that Otto had been causing trouble for five hundred years because of her, she would either vomit it out or be disgusted for a long time.
That's quite a boast.
As mentioned earlier in the main character design section, I don't plan to give the main character too high a combat power in the early stages.
Therefore, in this situation, it is essential to have strong allies.
At that time, there weren't many people who were both capable of fighting and could help the protagonist.
Old Yang is half-crippled. Fourteen years ago, when he was in better condition, he couldn't beat Sirin. And although he came to Changkong City in my setting, it's understandable for the protagonist to say that I teamed up with Siegfried, but teaming up with the Anti-Entropy Leader is a bit... not right.
So Old Yang passed on it first.
Bianca and Rita were also eliminated. Otto, wanting the Third Honkai Outbreak to erupt smoothly, certainly wouldn't let anyone take down the Herrscher of Thunder so early.
Theresa is another story altogether; in the original work, she didn't even come to Changkong City, leaving the matter to Himeko to handle.
After much deliberation, among those who were somewhat capable in combat and could help the protagonist in terms of their status, Siegfried was the most suitable candidate.
The same applies to the later "Nine Nether Netherworld Chaos" arc. In this arc, the protagonist definitely cannot defeat Chiyou, so he needs powerful henchmen.
Then, due to a part of the plot, Chiyou was actually enhanced [after all, the Raven ran into his body and destroyed his home, so he had the Seven Thunders of Retribution inside him, and according to Chiyou's absorption characteristics, he would definitely be enhanced], so Siegfried also came.
In the later Moon Shadow /Birth of Herrscher of Death, Siegfried went to help as a model worker, purely for some special reasons.
As the plot accelerates, the villains must keep up as the protagonist gets caught up in the action.
Therefore, while the timelines of the Anti-Entropy Invasion Arc and the Moon Shadow are both moved forward, I also need to strengthen the World Serpent's combat power.
After Raven, the only designated high-end combatant of World Serpent in this book, was taken away, World Serpent can't keep causing trouble by relying on Honkai Beast transformation potions every day.
That's why I came up with a storyline where Cocolia gives Joyce's genes to the past, giving the World Serpent a chance to produce higher-quality units.
Under these conditions, if the protagonist wants to play in high-level matches, he needs someone to help him hold off the high-level minions of the World Serpent.
The most suitable person in the end is Siegfried, since he did appear in the Moon Shadow in the original work.
As I was writing, I realized that in the early stages, Schicksal Anti-Entropy were the two hard-working characters: Rita on Schicksal's side and Siegfried on Anti-Entropy's side.
As I was writing this, my laptop suddenly malfunctioned.
Hopefully, it's just a computer problem, and not some resentful person from overtime trying to assassinate me from another dimension.
Of course, as a powerful fighter in the early stages, it's inevitable that the game will be phased out when new bosses appear and the main character becomes stronger in the later stages.
In fact, from the time Kevin emerged from seclusion until the finale, Siegfried was mostly offline, with his only battle being a team fight when he killed Otto.
After all, although Siegfried is required to fight around to deal with Honkai Beast in the later plot background, he is no longer involved in the main storyline.
It's quite remarkable to think about it; the rotation of older characters out of the meta is inevitable everywhere.
Cecilia —it was supposed to be written later, but since we're talking about Siegfried here, I might as well include Cecilia as well.
Between the previous book and this one, there was the question of whether or not to write about Cecilia's romantic storyline, but it wasn't done due to the protagonist's character design and various real-world reasons.
However, not writing about the romance is one thing, but the resurrection still feels like it should be done.
After watching Twilight of the Fool, I knew that Cecilia's soul had always been with Bianca...
That would make resurrection even easier.
Of course, this character doesn't have a large role in the plot; he's a minor supporting character, and there's not much to say about him. His main purpose is to give the protagonist holy blood so he can carry Otto and wield the God-Slaying Spear.
Let's move on to the next one then.
Theresa – this character was never intended to be a harem character from the very beginning of the writing process.
On the one hand, I genuinely have no interest in her in that way; on the other hand, although my liking for Theresa has increased considerably in recent years, it's still not very high.
Of course, the most crucial reason is not any of the above. The main reason is that I was warned when I was writing the first chapter and the introduction.
Because of Theresa.
Why did I leave some of Bronya and Seele's storylines for an epilogue? I don't know if these two will be killed for the same reason.
The epilogue is set three and a half years later because by then they will all be eighteen, have better figures, and be adults, so...
Those who know, know. Let's get back to Theresa.
This character's role was similar to Siegfried's from the very beginning. In the early stages, the protagonist wasn't very strong and couldn't reveal too much of his strength, so our side needed to have a few characters who could fight.
Fu Hua is out of the question; the Far East Branch can only rely on Theresa to carry the load.
Therefore, Theresa's role from the beginning was that of a superior and an early-stage henchman. Lin Yu Apocalypse was a plot point that was only designed when the story was nearing its end; it wasn't originally planned.
There's not much to write about her. Like Siegfried, she doesn't need to fight much later on, so her storyline becomes significantly less prominent.
In fact, because she couldn't go with the group to kill Otto, she was unable to participate in one of the book's major battles in a sense.
Yes, compared to Lin Yu causing a ruckus in the Elysian Realm, scheming against Kevin and easily defeating him, True Fusion with the Cocoon of Finality, in my eyes the scene in this book that most resembles the final battle in terms of atmosphere and setting is actually the battle in the Dominion Theater where everyone chases after Otto.
There's not much else to say, let's move on to the next one.
Himeko —is similar in role to Theresa, except she is the superior officer in charge of assigning tasks.
Similarly, I never intended to include any harem characters in the first place; the reason for asking was that I was afraid questions about teachers and students would cause the book to explode.
There's not much to say about the specific plot. Originally, there was supposed to be a storyline exclusive to Lin Yu when she was transformed into a herald, but I cut it for various reasons.
There's really not much to say about this character. Next up.
Bianca – Her role is actually similar to Rita's.
If Rita plays the role of a perceptive but helpless older sister for most of the story, Bianca plays the role of a clumsy younger sister who worries about her older brother but is tongue-tied and can only help him with her actions.
There's not much to say, really. If I had to, besides Lin Yu's desire for revenge, his roommates Rita and Bianca also played a role. Rita is a workaholic (the original story mentions that he only needs four hours of sleep a day to recover all his energy, so he wants to do as much as possible), and Bianca is an overtime hero (he solved the global Honkai incident in a month without sleeping).
Yuno – a super heavyweight character.
The character was not initially intended to be explored in depth.
If anyone thinks I wrote so many scenes because I like her, then I want to clarify that I didn't have that thought when I started the book.
Those who have read my previous book should know that Yuno was just a minor character in Yuno book. After I had Siegfried take her back to Anti-Entropy, I had her find an opportunity to kill Cocolia, and that was the end of her story. She had even less presence than Anzu in this book.
The main reason this book has so much plot is because...
It was easy to write.
Let's start with Yuno's character design from the original work. Besides being able to use plants and poison, being able to defeat Theresa twice in a one-on-one fight [actually, only twice, as Theresa was still ambushed by Yuno with poison the second time, Theresa would have been in trouble again if it weren't for Yae Sakura's Stigmata saving her]. She also has a mother, might like miso soup, is bullied, and her mother is very strict with her. That's about it.
The above things seem like a lot, but without elaborating on them, it's impossible to support a character.
However, if we look at it from Yuno has very few attributes, given her appearance, abilities, and a little bit of experience, the author has a lot of room to improvise.
Let's start with the Yuno and her mother.
During the serialization, some people raised objections, saying that Yuno and her mother must have had a very bad relationship.
The original dialogue mentions that Yuno, in her Herrscher Transformation form, says, "My Mom has always hated me; I get scolded for even the smallest mistake."
If we only look at this sentence in isolation, then it's pretty much confirmed that Yuno's mother treated Yuno badly.
However, people who have grown up from adolescence should know very well that they are somewhat dissatisfied with their parents' discipline.
Yuno was in her Herrscher Transformation state at the time. If she doesn't wake up from her Herrscher Transformation state, she will either suffer from a split personality or become extremely corrupted.
Yuno's situation clearly shows that she started to complain about everything after she turned to the dark side. I believe that she was bullied, but it's hard to say whether her mother was strict with her or really hated her.
I felt that both scenarios were possible, so I chose to write about the aspect of 'her mother being strict with her'.
After it was established that Yuno's mother was only strict with Yuno, looking back at the Sakura Remembrance arc, we can see that Yuno was still thinking about her mother before she died.
In my eyes, this is proof that her relationship with her mother wasn't actually that bad, so the book wrote that Yuno disliked her mother for being too strict with her after becoming Ritsu, her mother still loved her.
Of course, at that stage, Yuno was still in the "I'm already here, I might as well help her if I can" state.
Although he joined the main cast, they didn't plan to give him much screen time.
The key lies in that conversation at the coffee shop. In order to help Yuno get out of her sadness and self-destructive tendencies, Lin Yu chose to shift Yuno's attention to other things.
Of course, this approach was indeed a desperate measure at the time, but in my opinion, Yuno herself was quite extreme.
Initially, her extremism was directed at herself; she felt that she deserved to die after killing her mother and causing the deaths of so many people.