Kallen Kaslana, Trapped in an Endless Cycle (Continued)

This is exactly the time when Kallen returned from the Far East, announced to the public that she had fallen in love with Yae Sakura, and was then declared a capital crime by the Schicksal.

Moreover, because she refused to fulfill her engagement to Otto, there was no room for probation or commutation of sentence, in addition to the serious internal power struggles within Schicksal during this period.

Tomorrow, this Saintess will be put in a noose.

"How... how do you know my name?"

Kallen looked at Bai Ge nervously, and at the same time, three people wearing bird-beak masks and black robes appeared.

"Why did you run away, Miss Kallen?"

Bai Ge glanced at them curiously. Whether these medieval bird-beaked doctors were doctors or not was unknown, but they were undoubtedly members of the Schicksal Organization (bhfb) during this period.

"I didn't run away, I just saw someone fall from the sky and tried to catch him..."

Kallen glanced at Bai Ge a few more times. She had indeed intended to catch Bai Ge, but she hadn't expected that Bai Ge would grow wings and land safely when he was halfway down.

"Hmph! Nonsense! You have no credibility whatsoever for betraying the Schicksal. Don't forget, you are a sinner who forgot your mission and fell in love with demons!"

"Sakura isn't!"

Kallen retorted loudly.

"...Miss Kallen, if you are willing to repent, I can still plead with the master."

"It is the one of the three, whose mask has some patterns on it and who seems to be of the highest status, who spoke."

"It's no use, Grandpa Arthur. Schicksal has already made its judgment, and I have no reason to continue living. Anyway... it's all meaningless."

Kallen's eyes were filled with deep sorrow and despair, like a bird that had lost its wings and could no longer fly.

"Stop babbling and come with us."

"Ahem! I've already made myself conspicuous, is it really polite for you to just ignore me like this?"

When someone tried to grab Kallen's chains and drag her away, Bai Ge flapped her wings and sent the person flying.

"Or is it because you are ultimately just program NPCs, so you won't talk to me unless I initiate a conversation?"

"... Who are you? Six wings, are you a Seraph?" The bird-beaked masked man, whom Kallen called "Grandpa Arthur," sized up Bai Ge.

"Oh right, I am the Seraph. Don't worry, if you want to kneel down, I won't stop you," Bai Ge said casually, while breaking the chains binding Kallen's hands.

"... What is your purpose?"

"Well, just like you said, Kallen Kaslana has committed an unforgivable crime, so I am now going to arrest her and take her to the heavens for trial."

"Huh?"

Bai Ge made up a random excuse and then pulled a bewildered Kallen away.

"Stop!" x2

However, they were stopped the next second as two masked men with bird beaks drew their weapons and pointed them at Bai Ge.

During this period, belief in Gods was indeed prevalent in the West, but in reality, the higher the rank of the Mandate of Schicksal, the less faith people had, or even no faith at all.

Because they know about the Honkai, they know that the Gods may not love people, or even be their enemies; otherwise, they wouldn't have the courage to draw their swords against Bai Ge, who is depicted as a seraph in the Bible.

"What angel! You imposter!"

"How dare you do such a disrespectful thing!"

"Kneel down."

Facing the two men charging at him with swords, Bai Ge gave a command without expression, and the two men immediately knelt down.

"Hmm, the commandments I got from Aponia are really convenient. I'm not interested in dealing with those two nobodies anyway."

"Who... who exactly are you?"

Kallen stared at Bai Ge in shock, unsure of what to do.

"Damn it, guards! Guards! Seize this imposter angel! No matter what kind of sorcery you use, you dare to attack our Mandate of Schicksal! You will pay the price!"

The two kneeling men shouted, and soon a group of knights with the emblem of Schicksal on their armor arrived.

However...

"Kneel down before me."

Thump!!!

Under Bai Ge's unreasonable rules, these knights of Schicksal knights knelt down with a crisp, neat, and uniform speed, as if they had undergone a thousand training sessions.

"W-what's going on?!"

"My body is out of control!"

"Who exactly is this person?!"

"Just a passing Flame Chasers, remember that." After saying that, Bai Ge ignored the disheveled Schicksal Knight and instead grabbed Kallen's hand, speaking domineeringly.

"I'm taking her away today, and I'd like to see who dares to stop me!"

"..."

Kallen stared blankly at the White Youth before her, Saintess's heart, which had been as dry as a well, began to stir.

Bai Ge, who had stunned the entire audience, nodded in satisfaction. Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone around him, he picked up Princess Kallen and flew towards the azure sky.

For a moment, everyone present couldn't help but think that Kallen was really going to be taken to the heavens by him.

Minutes later, on the city streets.

"So... you're not going to take me to the Heavenly Realm?"

"Don't take that kind of thing seriously. There's no such thing as heaven or hell in this world. I don't believe it, but do you?"

"... I am, after all, the Valkyrie of Schicksal, from the largest religious force in the West."

Kallen said, somewhat speechless.

At this moment, Bai Ge and she were wearing hooded cloaks, covering their overly conspicuous faces and hair, and were leisurely strolling through the market.

Bai was very interested in the medieval streets, and Kallen had become his guide, so in a sense, this could be considered a date.

(Otto, stay strong, keep your hat on.)

"The Valkyrie of Schicksal, huh? Are you still going to pretend even now? You should be able to sense that I'm from outside, and that I have no ill intentions towards you."

"... Okay, just like you said, if you had any ill intentions towards me, I would have already started my reincarnation by now. Anyway, let me introduce myself first, hello outsider."

Kallen took a deep breath and looked directly at Bai Ge.

"I am the virtual persona of Kallen Kaslana."

"So, self-awareness has indeed emerged."

Although he already knew beforehand, Bai Ge was still surprised to see a virtual personality with all of Kallen Kaslana's memories and emotions before him.

To give an example, she is now similar to the memory beings of Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm in the original storyline.

But she was supposed to have no self, merely existing in this virtual world faithfully playing the role of "Kallen Kaslana" according to the program's commands.

However, due to a Miracle??? probability of less than one in ten million, she was born with a true soul, a true self, and a true will.

She became, in a different sense, someone who could be considered the real Kallen Kaslana.

(That guy, Dog, seems unaware of this. If he did, he'd probably go crazy. Well, no, it's hard to say. Perhaps in his eyes, only the Saintess who died five hundred years ago is the real Kallen Kaslana.)

Bai Ge muttered to himself, although he had once turned Otto Apocalypse into his puppet, he was also aware of his obsession, madness, and long-cherished wish.

But to say that only Otto himself could fully understand this fool is a question that perhaps no one in this world can answer.

"Can you tell me about your situation, Kallen?"

"...All right."

Kallen hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

The two found a deserted alley and sat on a bench. Kallen looked up at the artificial sky, her eyes filled with deep weariness and numbness, and said bitterly.

"I can't remember when it started, but I realized that everyone around me was acting out a pre-determined script, and I realized that this was a false world that kept repeating itself."

"In the script of this world, no matter how much I struggle, I will be killed by a Honkai Beast."

"And after I am killed, I find myself back on the day before I died. This experience repeats itself over and over again. I finally understand that I am just an actor in this performance."

Kallen covered her eyes with her arms, her face contorted in unbearable pain—a cycle of despair no one could comprehend.

How many times have you been reincarnated? Have you tried to change?

Bai Ge looked at Kallen with pity and placed an apple he had just bought from the roadside into her hand.

"How many times? I can't remember anymore, probably... tens of thousands of times. As for struggling, of course I have."

Kallen looked at the apple in her hand and sighed. Of course, she had tried to change her fate. In these tens of thousands of reincarnations, she had done everything she could.

"According to the world's established development, I will be taken to the execution ground tomorrow, and at the moment I am about to be executed, the city will riot, and Otto will release a large number of Honkai Beast imprisoned beneath the church."

"He hoped that I could take advantage of the chaos caused by the Honkai Beast killing civilians and leave Schicksal with him."

"I will resolutely refuse his invitation and fight to protect the people, ultimately dying at the hands of a Honkai Beast."

As Kallen spoke, she touched her stomach. In each reincarnation, she was killed by that Honkai Beast, its sharp claws piercing her abdomen and taking her life.