"Mm, all right... Oh, Cecilia," the blond man said after thinking for a moment, "since you don't yet know how to play the role of a mother, then... how about meeting her in the capacity of a former S-rank Valkyrie?"
Cecilia VS Durandal
"Have you heard? Lord Bishop is back!"
"I know, I know! I think I just saw him outside the simulation room!"
"Ah, did he come to watch Lady Durandal's S-rank Valkyrie examination?"
"That has to be it! Don't forget just how indulgent Lord Bishop is toward Lady Durandal!"
"Honestly, I've always felt that Lady Durandal and Lord Bishop seem more like family than Lady Theresa and Lord Bishop..."
"Yeah, after all, they're both blond..."
"Shh! Don't talk nonsense!"
Lord Bishop was outside the simulation room?
After completing the second-to-last S-rank Valkyrie examination, Durandal, resting for the moment, heard the scattered chatter around her and tightened her grip on her lance.
Otto was outside, so... was Senior Cecilia outside too?
Could she stop the examination first and confront the Archbishop face-to-face to ask him about it... Durandal thought so, and she had nearly done exactly that.
If she could, she almost couldn't wait to pry open Otto's head and see through every last thing he had been hiding.
What exactly was her relationship with Lady Cecilia?
Her thoughts drifted, and she couldn't help recalling their conversation from several days ago. Since then, she had been considering her own past. Without neglecting her training or missions, and without Rita's help or guidance, she had clumsily begun investigating what had come before.
It wasn't that she wanted to dwell on the past... Yet the aura Senior Cecilia gave off truly captivated her... How wonderful it would be to fall asleep in her embrace once more... Huh? Why "once more"?...
Wait?!
She suddenly remembered that, back then, she had awkwardly expressed her desire for a hug to Lady Cecilia. Lady Cecilia's eyes had clearly been full of agreement, but—but—but how had it somehow been glossed over in the end?
What about my hug?
A smaller version of herself screamed inside her heart. She tried hard not to let it show, but she still couldn't stop thinking about it.
She wanted to laugh off this immature thought, just as she might have laughed at her younger self. But she failed.
It was like a blade of grass, stubbornly taking root and sprouting in her heart, until it wildly spread into overwhelming confusion.
Since Archbishop Otto and Senior Cecilia had returned from Britain anyway, Durandal thought, she would go see him later, find her, and confess the thoughts she couldn't shake.
Whether she was misunderstood or mocked for being childish, she would settle every question once and for all.
Let her... be willful one last time during the years when she should have been free to do as she pleased.
The girl unconsciously let out a breath, picked up her lance, and returned to the simulation room, preparing for her final Valkyrie examination.
She had to put on a good performance. She couldn't embarrass herself before Senior Cecilia...
With that in mind, Durandal arrived at the center of the simulation room and waited for her opponent to appear.
—and then she saw the Cecilia she had been longing to see standing before her, Black Abyss White Flower in hand.
"?!!!!!...!!!"
"Hello, Miss Atagina," the white-haired woman said, her sapphire eyes filled with gentleness. "I am the examiner for your final test, Cecilia Schariac."
"..."
"Ahhh! It's Lady Cecilia!!!"
"Since when did Schicksal's simulation room have Lady Cecilia's combat data?!"
"Ahhhhhh! I can actually see my childhood idol here!!!"
"I'm staying in Schicksal's simulation room all afternoon! I'm not leaving until I refresh Cecilia's simulation body!"
The clamor outside the simulation room brought Durandal back to her senses. She took a deep breath and assumed a fighting stance.
"You may call me Durandal, or Bianca."
She held her lance horizontally and said solemnly,
"Then, Bianca Durandal Atagina, please instruct me!"
A flash of cold light swept past, followed by the unceasing clangor of lances colliding within Schicksal's simulation room!
Neither side used any killing moves—the examination rules required them to duel using pure technique, testing Durandal's practical combat ability through the clash of lance against lance.
Clang!
After completing a full sequence, both women retreated. Cecilia looked at Durandal and first gave her an encouraging smile. Then her gaze changed, and she closed in with a thrust, the moves in her hands becoming far more fierce.
The previous exchange had only been a probe. Now, she was no longer holding back.
Durandal clearly recognized this. She nimbly stepped back, used the momentum to spin her lance, struck the white-haired woman's weapon from the side, then moved to stab at her wrist.
Yet the white-haired woman's jade-like hand shifted lightly, evading the attack with unbelievable flexibility. Then she flicked her lance, and waves of attacks surged forth one after another, as though she had switched to an entirely different style.
Cecilia's footsteps suddenly became light and rapid. She weaved between successive thrusts, graceful as though dancing.
But her gaze was serious and blazing. Her boots tapped lightly, as if she had grasped the rhythm of the battlefield. During one of Durandal's attacks, she seized the timing, pushed off with her toes, and thrust through the gaps between the lances toward the blond girl's chest!
Yet Durandal showed no surprise at all. Her slender waist twisted, and with equally unbelievable flexibility, she let the lance pass over her breasts. Then she reversed her grip on her weapon and collided with Cecilia's lance once more.
The two lances swung apart. The white-haired woman withdrew her right foot slightly, but Durandal pressed forward against the force of her lance, extending her weapon directly toward her opponent's chest!
Cecilia blocked with a horizontal lance. Yet just as she turned its tip, Durandal's jade-like hand abruptly shoved forward, actually throwing her lance straight at her. Then she stepped in close and punched at the white-haired woman's forehead!
But the white-haired woman showed no panic. She threw her head back and spread her long legs into a split, the two movements nearly simultaneous, perfectly evading both Durandal's punch and thrown lance. Then she braced herself with her right hand, spun her legs, and turned defense into offense, sweeping at Durandal!
The blond woman leaped up and avoided the strike. The two began exchanging fists and kicks, engaging in close-quarters combat.
"How did it feel?"
Otto stood at the entrance to the simulation room's hidden door and asked Cecilia as she approached.
"My child is incredible," the white-haired woman said with satisfaction, wiping the fragrant sweat from her forehead. "I wasn't nearly that formidable back then."
"Even I am amazed by Little Goose's potential."
The blond man took out a towel and gently pressed it against Cecilia's fair, delicate cheek. The woman let out a shy little whimper, showing none of the heroic bearing she had displayed moments earlier.
"Just as I said before, she possesses the power of Kaslana and Schariac. She has obtained a Previous Civilization divine artifact capable of cleaving a continent apart, carrying the vastness of an entire world—our little Kiana is destined to surpass both of us and walk toward a more distant future."
—provided he stopped moving forward.
"I would rather hope," Cecilia replied with a bitter smile, "that she could simply be an ordinary girl, without having to bear the responsibility of saving the world, and grow up safely."
"I can guarantee her safety," Otto said, shaking his head. "But being ordinary... that is impossible. Durandal—or Kiana—is destined to shine brilliantly."
The two fell silent for a while. Otto wiped away the droplets on Cecilia's lovely face, then gently dried her fair, elegant swanlike neck. Finally, he lingered over her long, jade-like fingers, feeling each other's touch through the towel.
During this, Cecilia's breathing gradually became hurried.
"All right."
Only after a long while did Otto release the white-haired woman's slender, beautiful hand.
"Since you don't know how to tell her the truth, think it over first—regardless, I want to say that Little Goose will be very happy about your return."
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and pursed his lips.
"Oh, there is one more thing..."
He looked at Cecilia, his expression turning solemn.
"I cannot make the decision myself, but Cecilia, do you wish... for the current Durandal to once again bear the name of the daughter of Kaslana and Schariac?"
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Little Raven Among Cats and Dogs
Darkness was like a malicious demon, crawling over the entire Prison Chair and gnawing away at Raven's heart.
She did not know how long she had been trapped here. A day? A week? A month? She did not know, but the reality of being captured and the silence brought by darkness made this period feel as long as years.
Raven struggled, and the chains on her body rattled, as if mocking her predicament.
Ha... I really believed Jackal's nonsense...
Raven shook her head, bitterness surfacing in her wine-red eyes.
This was her own greed too, wasn't it?
Thinking back now, that Archbishop of Schicksal had already been prepared to turn the tables during her "missionary work."
Raven couldn't help recalling that day's encounter. Less than a second after she hit Otto, she was first surrounded by Valkyries who were as adept at fighting in darkness as she was. Then that brown-haired woman descended from the sky and snatched the Divine Key from her hand.
Only then did she realize that their target had always been the Divine Key... The ridiculous thing was, she had had a chance to use quantum transmission to send Seven Thunders of Repose back. But for safety's sake, she had asked it to transform into a katana and had worn it at her waist, preparing to use the Divine Key to break through if she couldn't escape.
Heh, back then, she had even thought that she should avoid using it if possible, lest she ruin this little ancestor's favorable impression of her.
In the end, they had been targeting the Divine Key from the start. Within seconds of the battle beginning, they smashed her transmission device.
Right. What was there even to capture about her? She was merely a weak, helpless, pitiful little raven.
The fact that she still had consciousness was truly a sign of incredible luck.
She was not afraid of death. As a mercenary, walking the line between life and death was normal; among those whose goal was to earn enough money for a villa and a private island before retiring peacefully, ninety-nine out of a hundred would fall along the way.
As one of her Shenzhou friends, who had already met the god of death, once put it, once you entered this line of work, you had to keep your head tucked into your waistband, ready to give it away at any time.
Nor was she afraid of darkness—what mercenary would be afraid of the dark—
But she feared what lay behind that darkness.
That man seemed to still be hiding in the dark, seated upon Schicksal's throne, smiling with malicious amusement as he looked down upon her struggle.
Just as he had during that day's "missionary work," he entered the trap calmly and without deviation, then swept them all up in one net.
Tap.
The lights suddenly came on. Blinding light pierced the woman's pupils, and it took her a long time to adjust. She raised her head with difficulty and looked across from her, only to see a blond man sitting there with one leg crossed over the other, a teasing smile at the corner of his mouth.
It was that man, Otto Apocalypse.
Raven couldn't help shuddering—this posture was almost exactly like the Otto in her mind, except that he had not yet ascended Schicksal's throne.
She lowered her head and glanced to the right from the corner of her eye. Then, she saw a familiar person.
It was Jackal.
"Congratulations. After Gray Serpent provided World Serpent with enough resources to improve Artificial Stigmata, as well as the data required to fully repair the Fourth Divine Key weather satellite, the two of you may return."
"In one hour, you may leave Schicksal and return to World Serpent."
Otto said with a smile, rolling a feather between his fingers.
—the man deliberately did not mention that Gray Serpent had also provided certain materials related to Void Archives.
They were useful enough to surprise even him. Yet it also seemed only natural—to the reason for that—heh.
"..."
Raven remained silent, while Jackal had already recovered her senses and glared viciously at Otto.
Her mask had been removed, and weakness permeated her entire body. Although her gaze was fierce and savage, if one looked carefully, there was an almost imperceptible emotion in her eyes, one different from anger.
It was as though she hid a fear that even she herself did not understand.
"Otto, you bastard—"
Damn it.
Raven sucked in a sharp breath and twisted her body with all her strength, trying to make herself look unrelated to the lunatic beside her.
Didn't she hear that Gray Serpent could only trade resources for the two of them in the end?
Repairing a Divine Key... improving Artificial Stigmata... which one of those was not incomparably precious?!
Before you continue