Celebrities Who Appear in "Durandal" / A Plot So Obscure It Leaves Kevin Stumped
"Could this web series be another one of Otto's schemes?"
"I remember..." Sirin thought carefully. She seemed to recall Yaqing mentioning this web series before. "I think the web series used to be called 'In the In the Name of the Holy Sword'."
["That name is really imposing! Durandal truly lives up to her reputation for fighting Kevin to a draw. /laughs"]
"We'll never know how much Kevin held back in that battle. He didn't even use Judgement of Shamash."
"What water? That's the sea!"
A heated debate erupted in the chat of Sirin's live stream, with one side supporting Kevin and the other supporting Durandal, each believing their own side was stronger.
The dispute was only resolved by Bella, the administrator of the live stream.
The camera gradually shifts from Durandal and Rita to the Valkyrie Schicksal, where a stack of yellowed papers lies quietly, with the words clearly written on them.
Top Secret Operation: "Lonely Panthalassa"
Start date: February 19, 2012
Location of the operation: ***** "Sea of Quanta"
Action Objective: ********
Executors: Bianka "Durandal" Atagina (12), Rita Losweiser (16)
Operation status: Ended
Declassification Verification: Otto Apocalypse
The information on the paper ends here, and a female voice narrates.
"The story that follows will rewind 1426 days from February 19, 2016—the very first day Bianka and Rita arrived at the 'Sea of Quanta.'"
The beginning of the web series attracted a lot of attention, and its connection to the Sea of Quanta and Otto's plans further piqued people's curiosity.
But what's even more eye-catching is the number 12 after Durandal's name.
"Could it be that Durandal was already involved in Schicksal's operations at the age of 12?"
"Only now do we realize the difference between an S-rank Valkyrie and an ordinary Valkyrie."
"No, I mean, what's the difference between an S-rank Valkyrie and an S-rank Valkyrie?"
"How dare you! You're insulting Rita again!"
When Sirin saw this comment on the screen, she burst out laughing.
The web series Durandal is more captivating than Anti-Entropy: Origins because it's closer to the main storyline and features familiar characters from the main story, such as Otto and Durandal.
Based on the timeline, the audience learned Durandal's age.
I never expected that Durandal could fight Kevin like this at such a young age. I'm even more curious about how Durandal developed her combat power. Did she start training from the womb?
Famous figures appearing in Chapter 268, "Durandal".
"Damn it, these refugees are all cowards!"
The girl appearing on screen is twelve-year-old Durandal, jumping up and down in anger, completely unlike the S-Rank Valkyrie she gave the audience when she first appeared in the main storyline.
The young girl Bianka was furious at the island's refugees' attitude that they would rather starve than go out to sea.
Rita, on the other hand, had a different perspective. The refugees were afraid of Leviathan from the sea "myths", and in their eyes, the refugees were the ones who were reckless "crazy adventurers" who didn't know the immensity of the world.
"Tsk, you seem to have a lot of sympathy for these weaklings."
Bianka, the young girl, felt uncomfortable with Rita's constant use of the term "adult," and told Rita not to apply the same mannerisms used to serve the bishop to her.
"Yes, Lady Bianka."
The girl was helpless.
Sirin looked at the computer screen.
She felt something was off, not because of the plot, but because of the character's strange personality. She had never seen her older sister like this before; she felt she was more like a silly Brainless Idiot.
"Is 16-year-old Rita really that talented?!"
"You'd better say 'strength,' not 'strength.'"
"Rita is right. What refugees fear isn't going to sea, but nature and the unknown—that's what's truly terrifying."
"Durandal still has baby fat on her face, so cute!"
Central Europe.
Seemingly noticing Cecilia's intense gaze, Bianka's expression remained unchanged, though her ears turned slightly red.
"Little Bianka, you're so cute." Cecilia nuzzled Bianka's soft cheek.
"Hmm..."
Bianka passively endured all of this.
Ziegfried watched the interaction between the mother and daughter and smiled nonchalantly.
At this moment, an old man with a crippled left hand walked over. The girl Bianka, contrary to her previous anger, blurted out all the information about her side based on a single sentence from someone else.
The old man recognized Bianka and Rita immediately. He could help them go to sea, but he needed their help to hunt down "Leviathan".
With Miguel's help, the three determined their roles and set sail in a small boat. Bianka successfully ignited Bianca's passion with just a few words.
"Great lines!" Sirin exclaimed.
"These are truly excellent lines, so excellent that I don't understand them at all."
"If this old man were Cervantes, it wouldn't be an exaggeration; I wouldn't be surprised by anything he said."
How could a mediocre student like Sirin know Cervantes? Looking blankly, she asked, "Who is Cervantes?"
"My Queen, do you really not know, or is this just for the show? Cervantes! He's the greatest writer in Spanish literary history, and his Don Quixote is the first modern novel in European literary history."
Sirin had obviously never heard of it, but hearing how famous it was, she nodded as if she had.
However, all the viewers in the live stream could see that Sirin was pretending to know what she didn't.
"Your Queen, have you really heard of this?"
Despite her defeat, Sirin couldn't afford to lose face, so she forced herself to say, "Of course... I've heard of it."
Sirin wanted to change the subject, but just then she saw that the episode had already ended, so she clicked on the next episode.
"Make friends on the shores of the sea, and embark on a journey to another world by Schicksal."
Even the title of this collection is difficult for Sirin to pronounce.
Just as "Leviathan" was about to approach, Bianka was surprised to find that something was fighting Leviathan underwater. When they surfaced, they were astonished to find that it was a submarine.
It's still a submarine flying the pirate flag.
Suddenly, the submarine launched several smaller submarines to retrieve Leviathan's flesh. A boy walked straight toward them and stammered an apology to Bianka.
Just then, the boatswain came over and invited them to tour the submarine. The three of them entered the submarine, which was built in the late 19th century. Bianka and Rita were like a time capsule, watching what was happening before their eyes.
There, they met Captain Barbarossa of the Caledonia, who introduced the submarine to Bianka.
Sirin yawned, finding this part rather boring and completely unable to understand what it was about.
"Holy crap! The King's Theatre Company?!"
Sirin looked at the barrage of comments in the live stream with a puzzled expression; the unusual excitement made her very confused.
"What's wrong now?"
"Your Queen, that's the King's Theatre Company, which means this beautiful young woman in red is... Shakespeare?"
"That stuttering sailor is actually the one who improved the steam engine; I never would have guessed."
"And that man in the iron mask, he seems a bit suspicious."
"Hiss, I think so too," Sirin agreed.
Seeing how detailed the introduction was, Bianka also introduced herself and Rita to the other party. However, when they heard the words "Schicksal" and "Valkyrie," Shakespeare and the others were stunned.
Shakespeare suddenly burst into laughter and said to the Man in the Iron Mask that what he said was true.
This all happened so fast that Bianka, the young girl, was caught off guard.
"Hey! What are you trying to scare me about, you red dwarf?!"
"Tsk, it's not nice to swear, little sister."
Shakespeare explained to them that he had heard the Man in the Iron Mask say that in some other worlds there exists a special power called Honkai. Worlds ravaged by Honkai are invaded by monsters, and the first organization to stand up in the face of these sufferings is "Schicksal".
Schicksal selects super warriors from among the girls who can fight against monsters, calling them "Valkyrie." They can resist the corruption of Honkai and, in turn, use Honkai to fight for humanity.
Rita and Bianka exchanged glances. Although the description was strange, there was no doubt that it was them.
The more detailed Shakespeare's understanding of the meaning, the more suspicious the Man in the Iron Mask became.
There is even a suspicion that the Man in the Iron Mask is Otto.
Many viewers were skeptical, because the Iron Mask was undoubtedly voiced by a woman, but there was a precedent for Otto, who had taken over Reanna's body in the previous web series.
It is said that birds of a feather flock together.
In Wo Sirin's live stream, there weren't many people speculating about what would happen next.
Most of them are in...
"Youlan is so irritable at this age, hahaha."
"Silly goose? Hahahaha, did you mistype something?"
"No, I did it on purpose."
"Silly goose, hahahaha hiccup."
Sirin laughed and hiccuped.
Some clear-headed viewers asked questions in the live stream.
"Isn't anyone curious about her identity?"
It's a pity that the people in Sirin's live stream are all talented.
"Whatever, the plot will reveal all anyway. I refuse to believe that the Iron Gate Man won't show his true colors by the very end."
"... That makes sense!"
Chapter 269: The obscure and difficult-to-understand plot left Kevin bewildered.
Shakespeare gave Rita and Bianka a piece of advice: replenishing Honkai energy in this world would be hundreds of times slower, so the two of them must conserve Honkai energy in order to fight when necessary.
This greatly angered Bianka, who even wanted to take Shakespeare out for a solo match.
Shakespeare laughed and sent his deputy, the Man in the Iron Mask, to handle the matter. However, the Man in the Iron Mask refused, on the condition that Shakespeare would give him an extra bonus.
Ultimately, Shakespeare fought Bianka, and the Man in the Iron Mask fought Rita. The two Valkyrie were unsurprisingly defeated, and they exchanged information.
The Durandal failed to win surprised the audience. They had thought Durandal would have an overpowered start, but they didn't expect her to suffer a setback.
In the Golden Courtyard.
Elysia was captivated by the baby fat on the face of 12-year-old Durandal.
"It seems this web series is about Durandal's growth," Mei thought to herself.
The battle between Kevin and Durandal, where the snake's head clashed with the spear's tip, sparked a serious debate among power-based players online.
The web series should now be telling the story of why Durandal became S-Rank Valkyrie and why she was able to fight Kevin to a draw.
"Ready to cheat again?" Kevin asked, munching on an apple.
Little Knowledge, sitting on a single sofa nearby, glanced at it and said irritably, "Hasn't Yaqing given you enough information? I still haven't received any definite news about my role."
Kevin laughed and said, "Little Knowledge, what if? What if Otto resurrects not Fu Hua, but yours?"
"That makes sense!" Little Knowledge clapped her hands and said with a wise look in her eyes, "The old antique and I are sisters from the Previous Era. As warriors fighting against the Honkai, I have been asleep until this time of the current civilization, and then Otto woke me up. It makes perfect sense. Kevin, I didn't expect you to be so smart."
"That's right," Kevin answered instinctively, then realized his mistake. "I've always been smart. What do you mean by 'I've been smart sometimes'?"
"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue."