Anna answered without hesitation, her voice firm and powerful, as though she were stating an undeniable truth of the world.
Yet Anna's reaction only made Angelica more certain of what she had been thinking.
"All right..."
With a soft sigh in her heart, Angelica still wore that gentle smile on her face.
"Then promise Mommy this, Anna. Once you find someone you like, bring them home for Mommy to see, okay?"
"Mom..."
Trying hard not to reveal anything unusual, Anna finally blushed at Angelica's words. She trotted over to her mother, wrapped her arms around Angelica's arm, and shook it repeatedly.
"I've wanted to become a Valkyrie who could stand on her own ever since I was little. I'm only B-rank right now, so how could I possibly have the mind to think about that kind of thing..."
"Ah...
My little Anna, love is the most elusive thing in the world. It won't wait until you're ready before finding you; it will simply slip quietly past your side.
By the time you realize it and try to catch it, it has often already run far away, beyond your reach..."
Angelica sighed softly and spoke in a wistful tone.
"So... does that mean you have lots of experience, Mom?"
Anna's heart was still racing. She blinked and paid no attention to Angelica's words, instead teasing her mother with a grin in hopes of changing the subject.
"Hehe..."
Angelica chuckled at that, a hint of pride appearing on her face.
"Back then, your mother..."
Otto's Visit
The turmoil outside did not affect Gwen in the hospital room in the slightest.
Compared to those rumors, whose origins and instigators were unknown, the power inside his body drew far more of Gwen's attention—
That night, Gwen took out the Earth Shadow Stone again and stayed awake until dawn. At last, he brought the severely imbalanced Five Elements cycle within his body into a relatively balanced state.
At the very least, the wood-element power was no longer like chives that got cut down every time it grew a little.
After overcoming the initial difficult period, the Five Elements power within Gwen's body was not in absolute balance, but it had achieved a relative equilibrium and could maintain a basic self-sustaining cycle.
With the earth-element power converted through the Earth Shadow Stone continuously flowing in, that cycle rapidly grew stronger. The three originally weak powers, like rootless duckweed, also quickly became more powerful.
However, that was as far as Gwen could go—
After all, this was not some cultivation world, and Gwen was merely instinctively pursuing the balance that represented stability.
As for further development, or deeper fusion with his body, those were not things Gwen could accomplish just by slapping his forehead and trying—
Without a specialized cultivation method or technique, Gwen did not dare attempt to deeply fuse the Five Elements energy with his five internal organs.
Fortunately, although Gwen did not know what to do next, he had just found a teacher with sufficiently broad horizons—
Kevin likewise did not know how to develop the power of the Five Elements, but as the strongest Flame-Chaser of the Previous Era, Kevin had fused with the Pavanthi genes and undergone the Chimera Project. He had abundant experience in controlling and developing energy.
Kevin had once developed his own power according to the traits of Honkai Beasts, and now he could likewise offer suggestions based on the nature of the five powers within Gwen's body.
As for the alien energy inside Gwen's body that had suddenly changed from two types to five, Kevin was curious, but he did not ask—
Kevin could sense Gwen's instinctive protectiveness toward his own secrets. Unless necessary, there was naturally no reason to dig to the bottom of it.
In comparison, Kevin was more concerned with the five types of energy within Gwen's body themselves.
Although Kevin was unfamiliar with the power of the Five Elements, he was at least somewhat familiar with the fire element—
That old friend who had accompanied him the longest was the ultimate flame in this world.
And even Heavenly Fire Judgment drew its primary power from the Herrscher of Flames core that had been split in two, a power derived from Honkai Energy.
But the five powers within Gwen's body...
Although Kevin saw that they could transform into Honkai Energy and back within Gwen's body, he also saw that their essence did not originate from Honkai. That was very important.
Even in Kevin's eyes, the two stones and the energy currently inside Gwen were still vastly inferior in scale to a Herrscher, but the fact that they differed from Honkai Energy itself possessed extraordinary value—
Of course, to truly make use of that value, Gwen's current strength and energy reserves were still far from enough.
Fortunately, what pleased Kevin was that under that special cycle—the Five Elements cycle—the energy was growing rapidly. Perhaps it could grow to a useful level before Finality.
From Gwen's perspective, as the Five Elements cycle stabilized through his efforts and continued to grow, his energy attribute rapidly increased even without training or battle, nearly catching up to his mental attribute.
The growth of those two attributes also set off a chain reaction, driving the growth of his other attributes and allowing Gwen to make relatively steady progress in strength even while in the hospital.
During Gwen's hospitalization, You Lan Dai Er, Rita, Anna, and several other familiar comrades had all come to visit him.
Although Gwen's recovery ability meant that his injuries had completely healed as early as the fourth day, Otto specifically had him rest in the hospital for two more days to ensure his safety.
It was not until today, after a full week in the hospital, that Gwen was finally allowed to leave.
Just as Gwen was packing his things and preparing to leave the hospital, an unexpected visitor arrived unannounced—
"Bishop Otto?"
Gwen showed a trace of surprise upon seeing the visitor.
"Mm, getting discharged?"
Seeing that Gwen had changed back into his own clothes and had a backpack on the bed, Otto asked with a smile.
"Yes. The headquarters hospital has a nice environment, but it still isn't as comfortable as home.
Besides, my injuries healed long ago. Staying here is just wasting medical resources."
Gwen nodded, making it clear that he had had more than enough of the hospital.
"Don't say that..."
Otto shook his head at Gwen's words and said solemnly.
"Gwen, perhaps you still don't have a clear understanding of the future—
Compared to ensuring that you, a future S-rank, recover completely without any lingering injuries, that little bit of additional resource expenditure is not worth mentioning."
"...All right..."
Faced with Otto's solemn advice and goodwill, Gwen could only nod in agreement.
Then Gwen changed the subject and asked:
"So... Bishop Otto, did you come to see me specifically today because something happened?"
"What? Can't I come visit the rising star of Schicksal if there isn't anything?"
Otto smiled casually and teased him.
"Of course you can."
Gwen smiled along with him.
"I'm just a little flattered. You're busy with countless affairs every day, so I didn't think you would come see me for no reason."
"Ha..."
Seeing Gwen's equally relaxed smile, Otto's own smile grew gentler.
"All right, it seems I can't hide it from you after all...
Do you remember what I told you before?"
"You mean restoring the Caslana family?"
Gwen thought for a moment before asking tentatively.
"That's right."
Otto nodded with a smile.
"With your current strength and reputation, returning to the Caslana family will not be a problem—
Even if there are a few insignificant little troubles, you can easily resolve them."
"..."
Gwen nodded slightly as he looked at Otto's meaningful smile, understanding what Otto meant—
Nothing more than the opinions of those collateral family members Otto did not think highly of.
But given the Caslana family's circumstances, as long as one did not cross a moral bottom line, no opinion was bigger than a fist.
Clearly, in Otto's eyes, all of those people's fists combined were still not as big as Gwen's.
Gwen casually flicked his hand and smiled.
"I thought we were going to wait until I reached S-rank, then have me take over the Caslana family in one fell swoop and give those people the greatest possible shock."
"Given the Caslana family's current situation, once you resolve those minor troubles, you will become the de facto head of the family.
But if you want to become the head of the family in name as well as fact, you still need to retrieve something."
Otto smiled as he looked at the highly motivated Gwen.
"Heavenly Fire Judgment?"
Gwen answered immediately.
"That's right."
Otto's smile faded slightly as his expression turned serious.
"With the greatest strength and Heavenly Fire Judgment in hand, no one will be able to say a single word against you."
For Schicksal!
From the perspective of most people in this world, Siegfried—the clan head who had been a rebellious youth and a traitor in middle age—was the shame of the Caslana family.
If a Caslana could defeat this former clan head and reclaim Heavenly Fire Judgment from him, a weapon of immense significance to the Caslana family and practically a symbol of its identity and glory, then no one could openly criticize that person's ascension as the new clan head.
Even if there were still a few minor flaws, to Otto, they would only require the twitch of a finger to resolve.
And for Otto, allowing Gwen to reclaim the position of clan head that had fallen into others' hands after Kallen's sacrifice was something that required no hesitation whatsoever—
Back then, Kallen had always taken pride in her Caslana surname and everything it represented.
Receiving Otto's confirmation, Gwen's heart stirred. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. Only after seemingly calming his emotions did he slowly open his eyes and meet Otto's gaze.
"Then... Lord Bishop, are you planning to have me take Heavenly Fire Judgment back from Mr. Siegfried?"
Gwen needed to know exactly how Otto intended to arrange things. Was Otto putting Gwen's direct confrontation with Siegfried on the agenda, or merely reminding him?
If it was the latter, then Gwen could basically be certain that one of Otto's purposes in nurturing him was to deal with Siegfried and reclaim Heavenly Fire Judgment, that Divine Key.
But if it was the former...
Gwen would need to consider contacting Anti-Entropy in advance and preparing to grab a bucket and run.
Although Gwen considered himself fairly strong already, he still maintained an attitude of respectful distance toward Siegfried—the first person in a thousand years whose strength had reached a level sufficient to make contact with Kevin, who had been injected with the Hyper-Mutation Factor and could be considered half a Stigmata warrior and half a Flame-Chaser—
Gwen had needed to coordinate with You Lan Dai Er and rely on the support of rear units just to defeat Ganesha, while Siegfried could directly contend with an Emperor-class opponent and emerge victorious, all while wielding the terrifying Divine Key, Heavenly Fire Judgment.
Even with one arm missing, Siegfried was clearly not someone Gwen could challenge yet.
If Otto truly intended for Gwen to seize Heavenly Fire Judgment now, then Gwen could only assume Otto was preparing to expend him as a chess piece in order to scheme against Siegfried, the strongest human of the current civilization at this particular point in time.
Yet in response to Gwen's solemn question, Otto merely shook his head slightly and patted Gwen's shoulder.
"Child, I know you are confident in your strength, but remember: this world is vast, and you must keep a heart of reverence—
Although Siegfried's actions are contemptible, you cannot completely dismiss him as a person because of that."
Before you continue