First Performance (3)

Years later, when Kane Kaslana sat down with his best friend for some barbecue, he still couldn't help but recall that day.

"Sigh, if I hadn't saved you back then, you probably would have been taken away as a guinea pig long ago." The white-haired boy sprinkled a large amount of chili powder, making Kane's scalp tingle. They were both Kaslana, so how come his physique was so much better than his own?

"Yeah, thank you so much, come on, cheers!"

The two raised their glasses and drank them down in one gulp.

Seeing that he was in a good mood, Kane tentatively asked, "By the way, cough cough, could you change it a bit..."

"Get out, no discussion. If you make that request again, I'll tell Julia that you once... mmm mmm!" Seeing his drunken friend about to reveal his dark past, Kane hurriedly covered his mouth, but it was too late.

"Go on, what happened to Kane in the past?" A soft female voice came from behind Kane, and his expression froze instantly.

In that instant, Kane saw Death beckoning to him.

—My Kaslana Family has been warriors of pure love for generations!—

(Um, Kiana, is it really okay for you to say that?)

In a forest on the outskirts of town, Kane ran forward desperately, glancing back every now and then at the figure behind him that looked like the Grim Reaper. When she disappeared, he would stop and gasp for breath.

"Hey, why aren't you running away, little bug?" A teasing voice rang in his ears, Kane instinctively pulled out his baseball bat and swung it hard.

Bang!

The Jackal scoffed at this, grabbing the top of the metal bat with one hand and squeezing it flat with a gentle pinch.

"Heh, you're far inferior to that little guy. You're both Kaslana, both natural Stigmata holders, yet you can't even use your own Stigmata ability!" With a sneer, Jackal casually tossed aside the broken baseball bat, appeared in front of Kane, grabbed him by the collar, and tossed him forward.

The boy's body flew far away like a discarded toy, finally crashing heavily into a large tree. Blood spurted from his mouth, and the severely injured Kane lay on the ground, his vision gradually blurring.

I can't muster the strength...

The brain can no longer think...

Am I going to die here?

Kane stared intently at the Jackal that was approaching him with a sneer, his eyes filled with resentment.

The blood-stained comic book in his arms fell out, and it happened to be the scene where a passerby boy was being chased by a monster and was in dire straits when the protagonist appeared in time, transformed, and repelled the monster.

If only such a hero really existed.

If my hero really exists, will he appear to save me at such a crucial moment?

If only I could transform.

"Hmm?" The Jackal stopped in her tracks. The Stigmata on Kane's right hand was now radiating a scorching light. To her surprise, the previously critically injured boy slowly stood up, flames forming a giant sword on his right hand.

Stigmata - Sigfried Kaslana

P. S.: It's just about appearance and ability; it has nothing to do with my father-in-law.

"Heavenly Fire—"

Kane imagined the appearance and power of that ancestral relic and swung the weapon forcefully at the Jackal.

"Draw it!!!"

The blazing flames roared out of the forest, turning all living beings in their path to ashes.

"Huff, huff, this, I did this?" Exhausted, Kane knelt on the ground, staring blankly at the surrounding sea of fire. The blade in his hand vanished. He looked at the dimmed Stigmata on his right hand, his eyes filled with joy. "Hehe, to unleash such power under these circumstances, I really am the protagonist of a manga. That guy should be dead by this attack, right? Although using such force against such a beautiful lady goes against the code of chivalry, but..."

Just as the boy was feeling smug, the Jackal suddenly reappeared before his eyes. "Heh, that's a bit surprising, but that's all."

"How... how is this possible?!" Kane stared wide-eyed at the unharmed red knight, the blue serpent emblem on his chest seemingly mocking his naiveté.

"An attack of this magnitude is nothing more than a casual strike for that little guy," the Jackal sneered. The sword he unleashed was merely a fiery aura that ignited the nearby fallen leaves and trees, which was why it appeared so destructive.

"No way?!" Kane tried to run, but he had no strength left. His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground.

"Hehe, don't worry, I'll take good care of you~" The Jackal licked his lips excitedly. Now, there couldn't possibly be any more variables, right?

Every time I try to catch Luck, something unexpected always happens, especially during the simulation experiment of the Project Stigma in this city the time before last. The cooked duck flew away! I even lost a Gem of Stillness and Vishnu's factor. What a huge loss!

Even if you ignore that cute boy, he will still ruin your plans through various coincidences, for example... there are too many examples to list.

Watching the Jackal laugh maniacally, Kane closed his eyes in despair. "(If only I hadn't run away from home like the protagonist in the comic book.)"

Just then, a bullet whistled through the air and struck the Jackal's chest armor, knocking her back a step.

"Who?!" Jackal raised his Smoke Gun and looked around warily.

"What's that saying again? Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent." A somewhat naive but mature male voice suddenly rang out, "You really never learn, Miss Cleo."

"Xin Kaslana!" Upon hearing that familiar voice, the Jackal's body trembled involuntarily, and he roared through gritted teeth.

—Some time ago—

"Don't move, Miss Chen Xilumeng." Raven, wearing Night Rouge armor, pointed Smoke Gun at the girl's head and warned her calmly.

"(What did this guy do to Sister Natasha and Little Te?) Who are you?" Xing was a little flustered, not because her own life was threatened, but because the safety of her companions was unknown, and her eyesight had not yet recovered from the bright light.

"You don't need to know. Just hand over your driver and all the Fullbottles, and I'll let you go." Raven's voice was devoid of emotion.

"Okay—" The girl put her hand on her waist and slowly took out a long, black belt. The Raven did not relax its vigilance upon seeing this, but continued to command, "Put them all on the ground, quickly."

"(Tsk, looks like it won't work.) Ah, okay." Having calculated the time and distance in her mind, the girl crouched down, and the muzzle of the Raven's gun also moved down. But just then, a golden chain climbed onto the trigger of the Smoke Gun.

"Now!"

The miniature Judah attached to the Raven's back unfolded, extending several chains to bind its movements. Fortunately, it took the opportunity to turn around, put on its belt, insert it into the Shark Car Medley, and quickly shake the joystick. It jumped up from the ground and slammed its right fist into the black Bat Rider.

Lone Hunter! Shark Motorcycle! YEAH!

The transformation was completed quickly, and the sea-blue right fist, overflowing with anger, slammed heavily onto the Raven's yellow bat-wing mask. The sharp blade on his arm slashed across the raven's chest, sparking a shower of sparks and sending the black knight flying several distances.

"Ouch, that hurts! Are all little girls these days so violent?" Raven couldn't help but complain, but the attack wasn't over yet.

Driven by his current state, the Judah could only restrain Judah for a moment. After retracting Judah, the knight bent down, his shark-shaped, sea-blue compound eyes glowing slightly.

"Hey, do you know what sharks use to hunt?" Sachi suddenly asked Raven.

"Well, through the ultrasonic waves it emits," the Raven replied without hesitation.

"You got it right~" The girl inside the armor gave a bright smile.

"Ready Go!" Vortex Finish!"

A ferocious phantom of a great white shark appeared behind the knight, and the surroundings were gradually enveloped by a function model composed of white cubes, foreshadowing a series of swift attacks that were about to be launched.

"Wow, I can't mess with this, I'm outta here!" Seeing that the situation was not good, the Raven quickly turned into smoke and ran away for the sake of safety, since it wouldn't cause him any loss anyway.

It's a different story for Jackal.

"Tch, coward!" Xing curled her lip in disdain after detecting that the other party had disappeared from her ultrasonic radar, but then became anxious because she didn't know where Natasha and Little Te were.

Unable to unleash her powerful attack, the girl, exhausted from her transformation, could only deactivate it. Her body seemed to be telling her she needed to rest, and even her legs felt heavy. "Sigh, this body's stamina is a bit poor. I can't fight as freely as before; I need to learn to control it."

Rubbing her still blurry eyes, the girl slowly moved her feet, calling out her companions' names, "Sister Natasha, Little Te, where are you?"

"Ah!" Suddenly, Natasha cried out in pain. She quickly looked around. "Sister Natasha, where are you?"

"Little one, you stepped on my hand..."

"Ah..." Xing awkwardly squatted down and reached out with both hands to touch the blurry gray humanoid figure.

"Ah!" Natasha exclaimed again, her face turning bright red as she felt the soft texture of the two mounds in her hands.

"Little one, are you trying to get back the touch I gave you?" Natasha teased her, completely unconcerned.

"No, no, it was just an accident. Wait, did you touch me there?" Fortunately, the blind spot was discovered.

"Oh, while you were unconscious, cough cough, you didn't hear anything." Belatedly realizing what was happening, Natasha turned her head awkwardly. Damn it, she'd better train her to the bone tonight, or else she'd be Siola!

"Sister Natasha!" The agitated girl punched her in the chest.

After some explanation, it was fortunately learned that Natasha had just been knocked unconscious by someone, and the attacker's speed was so fast that even she, a veteran mercenary, couldn't react, which showed the attacker's strength.

"It sounds like you've been set up, little one. This is clearly a trap set for you; I just happened to get caught in the crossfire. Ugh, how infuriating." Natasha listened to Xing's account thoughtfully.

"Where's Little Te?" Xing called out to her Armed Doll, hoping for a response.

"Hey little guy, what's that mysterious thing that's been clinging to your leg and won't let go?"

"Huh?" The girl picked up Little Te in confusion, recognizing her from the blurry outline. "Little Te, why aren't you saying anything?"

Little Te: "..."

"Yes, I'm sorry, I forgot to set it to vibrate mode when I left this morning."

If Little Te had feelings, he would probably have punched her in the head with Atomic Burst right now.

After disabling the vibration mode, Sachi learned from Little Te that Te had been helping her from inside the backpack, but for some reason, she suddenly found herself locked inside and then thrown out, probably when Natasha was knocked unconscious.

Because she landed headfirst, the HOMU on her head was bent, causing a signal reception failure, so she couldn't contact Xing.

After struggling for a while, she managed to get out of the backpack and tried to bend the HOMU ears back into place. But then she discovered something embarrassing – for her two short arms, touching the base of the ears was no problem, but lifting them up was very difficult.

Unfortunately, the Iron Fist accessory wasn't installed at that moment, so she had to ask her master to manually correct it after finding Xing.

"I see, I'm so glad you're all alright." Xing hugged Little Te in her arms and rubbed her little face. "Let's go back and film the demonstration video!"

Just then, Little Te raised his head, his eyes flashing red, "Little Xing, a special Honkai Energy signal has been detected."

"Hey, isn't it over yet?" Xing was stunned for a moment, and just as she was about to drive to the battle, Natasha put her hand on her shoulder.

"You'd better think this through, little one. If this is another trap, can you guarantee you'll escape?" Natasha advised. "If you're worried about the lives of some innocent bystanders, what do they have to do with you?"

"That's true." Xing hesitated. Should she stand idly by or insist on going?

If it's another trap, she might be forced into danger again. Even if she manages to escape it again, what if another one appears?

If she gets caught in this vicious cycle, she's doomed.

Just as the scales in her heart began to tip, a burning sensation came from the back of her right hand. The girl subconsciously raised her hand, and the lines of Kallen Hymn flashed across her skin.

After a moment of silence, she finally raised her head, her eyes showing some hesitation, but still filled with determination. "I'm sorry, Sister Natasha, I have to go, because I am—"

A temporary Valkyrie, and, barely, Kamen Rider.

"Go ahead then, little one," Natasha encouraged. "I won't come with you this time, but don't worry, I'll be watching you from a distance."

"Okay!" Xing handed Little Te over to her, then rode off on his Mechanical Creator.

Watching her retreating figure, Natasha raised the doll in her hand, looked at Little Te, and said with a hint of helplessness, "Sigh, this child, even in this state, is still so stubborn. But that's what I like about her."

Author's Note—

Please post more comments! You Hui just doing this out of pure love and for free; my main enjoyment is reading comments and reading the posts.

I suggest learning from those readers who frequently appear in the discussion area.