"Loyalty!"
"Bravery!"
"Piety!"
"Honor!"
"Modesty!"
Chapter 62: King Arthur the King of Knights
"Cecilia!! She's... back?!"
She finally took action, she finally changed! She finally returned!
Siegfried shouted at the top of his lungs, only to choke off midway like a duck with its throat caught. Siegfried remembered Otto telling him about this issue.
If they wanted Cecilia to truly return, they had to revive her memories over and over again.
Not just Cecilia's memories, but her battle awakening, willpower, and so on.
And now they finally saw it!
Cecilia...
Finally!
"Who is she?!"
Himeko frowned as she looked at the unfamiliar girl in the arena, with golden hair and blue eyes like the sea. Her face wore a solemn yet determined expression.
"King Arthur?!"
Siegfried had seen this girl, and he connected it slightly with what Otto had told him.
Cecilia's reincarnation, or rather her earliest traceable past life, was King Arthur! One of the Valkyries who had already become a myth in history.
"This..."
Siegfried suddenly felt his heart sink.
Otto hadn't mentioned this, but he could guess some of it upon closer thought. Awakening Cecilia would very likely inevitably awaken the memories and willpower of King Arthur.
Yet as long as they kept a good hold on it, Cecilia's memories, willpower, and personality would overwhelm all the others.
That would be enough to bring Cecilia back.
Now it seemed they had backfired, failing to awaken Cecilia and instead awakening King Arthur?
Siegfried's expression didn't darken, but he felt how awkward this was!
This...
What were they supposed to do?
"No weapon!"
Li Pu looked at her hand.
Like a hero, she more or less understood the meaning behind those words. Like a hero. She didn't know much about Cecilia's persona in battle.
Yet King Arthur might be a bit easier to understand.
Because King Arthur was a knight!
Things like chivalry were quite easy to look up.
As for Li Pu herself, she couldn't exactly be called a coward. It was just that the will to fight also needed a little bit of stirring up. Faced with going to battle with Siegfried at night versus fighting the Honkai Evolved right now, Li Pu chose to fight the Honkai Evolved.
At least this was a simulation, while Siegfried...
He was harder to predict; whether this bayonet charge was just a simulation or if he'd play it for real during the simulation.
Having stirred up her will to fight and found a target to use as a reference, Li Pu got an idea after having equipped the Knight King once already.
King Arthur was no pushover, nor was she a king seeking peace. Li Pu remembered a scene from the legends of King Arthur: when Merlin asked King Arthur to choose between the sword and the scabbard, King Arthur chose the sword.
Judging by that choice, King Arthur should be a quite aggressive king.
Therefore, after stirring up her fighting spirit this time and beginning to mentally comprehend chivalry while striving to find the fitting point, Li Pu quickly found that feeling and successfully equipped King Arthur.
"Missing a weapon!"
Li Pu said, "Hey! Are there any weapons I want here?"
This voice was filled with confidence and unquestionable majesty, completely unlike her previous timid and weak self; she was like a totally different person. She was not asking a question, nor was she consulting anyone's opinion.
She was giving an order!
Issuing a command in the form of a question.
"This..." Himeko scratched her head; she had only hoped Cecilia would recover her fighting will. She hadn't expected it to drag out some other unfamiliar person.
And for her to be like this...
"Give it to her!"
At that moment, Otto appeared right on cue. He looked at the girl in the arena with such keen interest and said, "Give her a Knight Greatsword."
"Is this what you wanted?" Siegfried said with great disappointment. "Or should I say, this was your goal all along?"
Siegfried felt a bit bitter inside. He hadn't officially awakened Cecilia, yet he had awakened King Arthur?
This truly was a blunder!
"Not at all." Otto shook his head and said, "Besides, you haven't lost everything, have you? Whether from the true Arthur or the true Cecilia, you are still a long way off."
"It's just that, compared to Cecilia, she currently leans more toward King Arthur."
Otto really wasn't just spouting nonsense here.
Because she had been paying attention to King Arthur beforehand, Li Pu's understanding value of King Arthur was actually higher than that of Cecilia. Moreover, now that she had equipped the title, thanks to the buff granted by the title, Li Pu's practical application of King Arthur could slightly exceed that of Cecilia.
"You still have a chance," Otto placated. "Maybe next time you'll be able to awaken Cecilia once more."
"Let's leave it at that for today; next time for sure."
"Give her the weapon!"
A Knight Greatsword materialized out of thin air in front of Li Pu and plunged into the floor.
Li Pu grabbed the Knight Greatsword.
This felt really quite nice to say the least.
It was just an ordinary greatsword, which could only be considered passable as starting equipment. It didn't carry any additional attributes, but that was already enough.
This time she wouldn't think I can do this, charge in, and get GG!
Li Pu felt she could do this, so Li Pu charged in!
The Guard Honkai Evolved scored a GG!
The Guard Honkai Evolved, as one of the most basic units of Honkai, didn't have much combat capability either. Its movements were stiff and sluggish, and apart from swinging its sickle, it had no other methods.
Besides, a sickle wasn't really suited to be used as a weapon anyway.
It was too bulky, created huge openings when attacking, and had very low attack efficiency.
For Li Pu, she barely needed any fancy moves to easily dodge the Guard Honkai Evolved's attacks or launch an offensive before it could strike.
She mowed down the Guard Honkai Evolved in rows and patches as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.
"This..."
Himeko couldn't help frowning slightly. During the first simulation battle, Li Pu was one-shotted; during the second simulation battle, she one-shotted others. Now her stats were even, without any buff.
To output tons of damage with such breezy ease...
This completely failed to achieve any teaching effect at all!
"Much stronger than expected." Otto watched the battle in the arena. The former King Arthur was one of the most powerful Valkyries. Even if her current reincarnation's strength had regressed, it was still enough to crush this batch of Honkai Evolved.
"It seems the degree of King Arthur's awakening is much higher than Cecilia's."
"What on earth are you trying to do?" Siegfried still couldn't hold back and asked, "Otto!"
"Don't overthink it, at least on the matter of getting Cecilia back," Otto said, seeming quite sincere. "At least we are aligned."
"After all, I too have lost a loved one!"
"I know that feeling."
Chapter 63: My Past-Past-Past Life
"Swap out!"
Himeko tossed Siegfried into the arena with lightning speed.
If she let Li Pu demonstrate like this any longer, it would probably turn into: biological counters psychic, psychic counters mecha, mecha counters biological, and Li Pu counters everything.
Li Pu, having been swapped out, casually twirled the sword with a flourish.
She sheathed the Knight Greatsword into the scabbard at her waist.
That felt rather nice.
This was the first time she had experienced such a thrilling and exhilarating battle. It seemed the role of King Arthur was extremely well-suited for combat. Or perhaps it was because she had made up her mind to fight that she was able to bring out the combat prowess this role ought to currently possess.
"Very good,"
Otto praised approvingly, "You've progressed a lot compared to that initial state."
Compared to being directly one-shotted by Saniga at the very beginning, the current Li Pu was a completely different person from back then. It seemed his plan was correct—letting Siegfried stimulate her could allow her to awaken rapidly and unleash the combat strength she should possess.
Li Pu rested one hand gently on the sword hilt without answering Otto, the disgust and hostility in her eyes hardly concealed. Anyone could easily read them.
Seems she hates me. Otto had anticipated this.
Truly worthy of King Arthur.
The former King of Britain.
From the very beginning, he had anticipated that his little tricks should be easily seen through when facing an ancient hero. Even if she hadn't completely recovered her memories and her former power yet, she would still inherit her intellect.
Otto tactfully retreated to the side.
He knew very well in his heart that heroes from ancient legends like this possessed a powerful sense of pride and self-confidence by nature. It wasn't impossible to play them in the palm of your hand, but the consequences could be very severe.
At least before she attacked him, he was sensible enough to say no more.
This Otto...
Li Pu stared at Otto.
To be honest, Otto was overthinking it. Li Pu didn't feel any annoyance at being played; she simply disliked this guy who always liked to pull shady schemes.
As for anything else, it was merely an instinct manifested from a high synchronization rate.
"You seem to know all about this," Li Pu said. "You did it on purpose?"
"Not at all." Otto answered honestly, or at least it looked honest. "It wasn't arranged on purpose; I can only say it was an accident."
"Perhaps this is destiny letting us meet in this spacetime, esteemed King Arthur."
"I am not King Arthur," Li Pu said with disgust. "My name is Li Pu."
"Ah, whoever you are," Otto said with a look of full delight. "For our era, the more Valkyries we have, the better."
Li Pu had no retort.
She wasn't very familiar with this man named Otto; she only knew that he was definitely not as kind and righteous as he looked.
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