An Unexpected Turn of Events

"How is it? Can you change it?" Xing looked at Bronya expectantly.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, leaving afterimages as dense streams of code flashed across the monitor. A data cable connected the computer to the armor wristband. "No. The firewall level is too high. Bronya cannot forcibly alter its built-in settings."

"Huh?" Xing immediately pulled a long face. Wearing women's clothing was one thing—there were separate booths in the combat simulation room, anyway—but there was no way he was going to shout such cringeworthy lines!

Hah? Did you have any right to say that? Who was it that shouted all those summoning chants?

"Bronya has discovered that this armor's functions are restricted. Some weapons are temporarily unavailable, such as the dual pistols paired with this armor, the Abyssal Bow of Hel, and the cross-shaped machine cannon, Erludnil. At present, it can only enhance your physical abilities and protect your upper body."

Bronya returned the wristband to Xing. "Don't be upset. This figure is very expensive. Look on the bright side—your armor costs more than the three of ours combined."

Though Ya Ya did not know that Kiana's White Comet Armor was actually a fourth-generation God-Slaying Armor beneath its White Comet exterior—the prototype of White Knight: Moonlight.

Xing hugged the chubby Crimson Kite Bird, unsure whether to laugh or cry. In any case, Yae Sakura thought he looked quite good in it.

In the combat simulation room, Xing put on the optical visor hanging around his neck. Though he did not particularly like wearing this armor, he had to admit that it was genuinely comfortable.

"Yo, little miss, you're pretty cute~" Kiana teased him.

"Do you believe I'll cry right in front of you?" Xing said gloomily.

"Um, I have a request." Yae Sakura hesitated before speaking. "Could you please turn into Kallen again? I absolutely don't have any improper thoughts!"

Who were you trying to fool? Besides, it wasn't like I could transform even if I wanted to.

Wait. Ever since his accidental transformation last time, his control over the stigmata had improved considerably. He could already activate its abilities on his own. As for how much he could do...

Xing flung out a length of chain, which landed perfectly beside a small Chariot-type Honkai Beast. The results proved that his aim was not very good. Moreover, he could currently release only one chain, with a maximum length of roughly three meters.

Keep it up, young man! You still had a long way to go before becoming humanoid Judah.

"So, what abilities does this stigmata have?" Xing looked at his left hand.

Bronya hid inside the Yamabuki Shield, leisurely controlling Heavy Cannon Rabbit to deal with the enemies. When she happened to glance over, her eyes filled with little stars.

"Xing, don't move." Bronya pulled him into her shield. "What's wrong? Why are you putting your hand on my head? Waaah!"

Ya Ya grabbed the fox ears that had just sprouted from his head with both hands and deftly tied them into a HOMU knot.

The boy's short white hair had become waist-length pink hair, his eyes had turned violet, and a pair of long fox ears had grown atop his head.

"Don't touch my ears!" Xing yanked Bronya's meddling hands away.

His reaction speed seemed much faster?

After experimenting for quite a while, Xing came to the following conclusion:

The powers of the two stigmata within him existed in different proportions. When Kallen's Stigmata held the dominant position, he took on his usual appearance of white hair and red eyes. In that form, he was tough and durable, able to take hits well, and physically stronger.

When Yae Sakura's stigmata held the dominant position, he transformed into the form from earlier. His strength decreased, but his speed rose drastically, and his neural reaction speed improved as well. The downside was that he was rather fragile.

Put simply, one was Power Type, while the other was an aerial type.

Could he make a hybrid type, then? Xing tried for a long time, but he could never find the balance point between the two stigmata.

"Let's pick up some missions!" Ever since acquiring their armor, the Fire Moth Squad had gained permission to accept commissions of B-rank and above.

"Why aren't there any A-rank ones? They're all C-rank and D-rank odd jobs, and there aren't even many B-rank missions." Kiana grumbled as she looked at the mission board.

"Commissions above A-rank involve widespread Honkai outbreaks, so of course there aren't many. Let's take things one step at a time and start with the odd jobs." Xing pulled Bronya along. "We're going to make deliveries. You and Mei should find something to do too. We need to earn some credits for the Fire Moth Squad's operating funds."

"Hey, I came here to study, not to run errands!" Kiana declared that she was destined for great things. How could she do such trivial work?

"Then tell me, who's paying the combat simulation room fees every month? And the armor maintenance fees, weapon repair fees..."

"Stop, stop reciting them! I'll do it!"

Quietly making their way to an empty corner, the two clasped hands with their fingers interlocked. "Xyz Summon!"

Inside the library, the young librarian yawned boredly. "Why hasn't the takeout I ordered arrived yet?"

Boom! A futuristic Hacker burst through the door alongside the roar of a motorcycle. "Hello, your delivery has arrived~"

"?! " The young woman rubbed her eyes, making sure she was not seeing things, then accepted the takeout from Hacker in a daze.

"The next order is Building 3, Area A, dormitory zone." Bronya's instructions came through the earpiece. Hacker mounted Rabbit and sped away in a cloud of dust.

The young woman watched his retreating figure and felt like she was dreaming.

"You're really something, Bronya. I can't believe you came up with this."

"Hehe, make the best use of everything. Besides, I quite like this state where I can experience emotions. I hate that expressionless face." Ya Ya chattered away as though she had been possessed by her mother, hanser.

That day, a rogue who dominated the rankings and monopolized business appeared on St. Freya's courier industry leaderboard. No one ever learned his true identity. Whenever people mentioned him, they would always say, "The bike, what a fast bike."

When the day's studying and work came to an end, the Fire Moth Squad began its once-daily meeting.

"Our current main task is to complete all the prerequisites for forming a squad as soon as possible and officially establish the Fire Moth Squad before the end of this semester." Heavy Cannon Rabbit held up a small blackboard while Ya Ya seriously analyzed matters with a pointer in hand.

"According to Bronya's investigation, St. Freya has very few A-rank missions, but we can accept commissions through the Schicksal Headquarters platform. That requires permission from an A-rank Valkyrie, but Bronya has already hacked into it."

"Next, regarding the subjugation of the Herrscher Emperor—it generally appears in areas with high Honkai Energy concentrations. It is very powerful, and only A-rank Valkyries or above can subjugate it. However, with Xing's ability, we can give it a try."

"This young lady can do it too!" Kiana objected.

"Idiots are forbidden from speaking." A piece of chalk struck her on the head.

"As for getting the approval of two A-rank Valkyries, we can try asking Instructor Himeko and Class Monitor Fu Hua. As for the principal's signature, don't worry. Kiana is her niece, so she'll give us some face."

"Then there's the B-rank Valkyrie assessment. Everyone took the written exam this afternoon, right? How did you do? Bronya passed with a perfect score."

"I passed, but my score wasn't exactly outstanding." Mei looked a little embarrassed.

"Barely passed." Xing looked deeply ashamed.

"This young lady failed." Kiana said carelessly.

Ya Ya was speechless. "...I knew it."

"Even if I'm no good at written tests, this young lady is absolutely first-rate in battle!"

"Bronya acknowledges Kiana's combat performance, but failing the theory exam means being demoted to a D-rank Valkyrie who does miscellaneous work in the rear."

"Ah?! I don't want that!" Kiana cried out in despair.

"Can't be helped. Bronya will tutor you. We'll start with the history of the Honkai era..." Bronya took out a stack of books taller than Kiana herself.

"Bang!" The white-haired dumpling fainted onto the floor.

"Kiana—" Mei tried to rescue the crashed Kiana.

"Haah—" Bronya let out a long sigh, grabbed a welding mask, and ran off to invent something. Before long, she returned with a specially made HOMU helmet and put it over Kiana's head.

"Into the Varins!"

Kiana opened her eyes, and countless streams of data flashed past before her. "Th-this is?"

"This is Schicksal's database. To tutor idiot Kiana, Bronya invented a special device that lets people connect to the virtual world. Your current body has been regenerated in this virtual world based on your own perception." Bronya, dressed as a witch, appeared before her in the role of a guide sprite.

"Why are you here too?" She looked toward a certain boy who had snuck in to mooch off the main quest.

"My grades aren't very good either, so I came in to study. Ehehe~" Xing tried to get away with acting cute.

Bronya manipulated the program and began teaching them.

As Xing filled in the gaps in his knowledge, he recalled everything that had happened over the past few weeks. He had found several Feather Crossing Dust feathers on Taixu Mountain, along with the Book of Cang Xuan and a Crimson Kite Bird. Then Raven had lured him to Changkong City, where he defeated the Herrscher of Food and Black Duck, entered St. Freya to study, and later, with Kallen's power in Yae Village, defeated Crimson Prison Beast and successfully brought back a Yae Sakura.

Just thinking of Crimson Prison Beast gave him a headache. That thing was still sealed inside his body. How was he supposed to crush her consciousness? Yae Sakura had already completely separated from her, so the Sakura Samsara instance was no longer available. Who knew what would happen if he entered her consciousness?

And there was the Book of Cang Xuan. Based on what had happened in Changkong City, wasn't she able to replenish her own energy? Why had she run out of power? Could it be because ancient Shenzhou did not have enough Honkai Energy to keep supplying her?

He had no idea how to cultivate the Taixu Sword Qi within Feather Crossing Dust. Fu Hua was right beside him, but how was he supposed to bring it up? If he asked directly, Feather Crossing Dust might search his memories.

And then there was the future. He had to obtain Jilin's stigmata—Himeko's life depended on it. He had no idea when the consciousness of the Herrscher of Void inside Kiana would awaken. Seele was still soaking in the Quantum Sea, with Kevin waiting somewhere inside at any moment. He had no idea when Wendy would become a Herrscher either... Damn it, the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became!

"Where's Kiana?" Bronya looked around and discovered that she had vanished at some point. After tracking her trail, Bronya learned that Kiana had somehow stumbled into a virtual space accessible only to the Kaslana Family.

"Let me go bring her back." Xing volunteered.

"Mm. You go first. Bronya will crack its program here and follow shortly after."

Was it finally happening? He knew where he was about to go, and he knew that he might encounter Kallen's memory construct.

She was the source of his bloodline and stigmata, and someone deeply connected to him.

He could feel that Yae Sakura had entered this space with him. In that case, Kallen Kaslana, the words you had buried in your memories for five hundred years—the words you wanted to say to her—should be spoken by you yourself.

With that thought, he pressed the button to confirm access.

"Identifying user. Xing Kaslana. Authorization confirmed." Accompanied by the system's prompt, endless white light engulfed his vision.

The girl had long white hair, a pair of sapphire-like pupils set in her face, and a curvaceous figure—big where she should be big, white where she should be white. Without a doubt, she was a beauty.

She wore a white nun's habit, along with white thigh-high stockings and high heels. Any ordinary man who saw her would surely be unable to look away and fall in love at first sight. (Please refer to Kallen Oath's stigmata artwork.)

However, the girl's face was full of terror, because she was currently high above a city.

"What is going on?!" Pulled by gravity, the girl began to fall.

Countless pink petals emerged from her body and gathered into a humanoid form. Yae Sakura gently caught her, then, in a maneuver more than enough to make Newton roll in his grave, drew Cherry Blossom Blizzard and plunged it into a nearby building to slow their descent. At last, they landed safely.

"Are you alright, Xing?" The miko held her in a princess carry and spoke softly.

Author's Note—

Next chapter preview: Lord Bishop, stay strong!

Everyone has been very enthusiastic with their guesses about the identities of those two white-haired nuns, so I'll give you a hint here. In this book, the real Kallen will not appear until Lord Bishop alters the Imaginary Tree. And Binding is even more impossible.

The one in Xing's Stigmata Space is actually easy to guess. You've all just fallen into a misconception.

A little reminder: there is a similar existence in the original story.

PS: Current character affection levels

Kiana: 70 (Her friend's lifesaver)

Mei: 80 (Her lifesaver, but lower than Kiana)

Bronya: 80 (Inexplicable fondness)

Himeko: 70 (Older Sister likes young boys)

Theresa: 80 (Illegitimate Child?)

Yae Sakura: 85 (Lover's descendant ✘ Lusting after Kallen's body ✔)

Kallen (?): 100 (Successor)

Kallen (??): ??? (???)