Pursuers / Christmas at the Orphanage

"All right, Kiana, Kaino, let's split up and look for the Kiana clone Anti-Entropy needs," Ziegfried said after quickly walking over to inspect the nearest Incubation Pod. "Remember, the clone's designation is K423. The number is written on the display at the bottom of the pod."

"The guards shouldn't be coming through here right now. Let's make this quick."

Kaino nodded and began jogging around in search of their target.

"Got it, Dad." Kiana replied before getting to work as well.

"Damn Otto... He actually used Kiana's genes to create so many..." Ziegfried muttered through gritted teeth as he stared at the white figures "sleeping" inside the pods, then hurriedly joined the search.

The white figures inside the Incubation Pods were clones of Kiana. Judging from the designation "K423," unless the experimenters had assigned numbers at random, there had to be at least 423 clones like this.

Considering there were fewer than a hundred Incubation Pods in the laboratory, it was easy to imagine what had become of the remaining clones.

"I found her! She's here!" Kaino suddenly stopped jogging and called out to the other two, who were still searching.

Kiana and Ziegfried immediately rushed toward Kaino, while Kaino finally had the chance to inspect the girl inside the pod.

White hair, white skin, and a white one-piece test suit—the pale girl floated silently inside the Incubation Pod.

Perhaps Kaino's shout had startled her. The girl with the test designation "K423" frowned slightly and slowly opened her eyes.

Her sky-blue pupils held no vitality, as though the artist who had drawn her had forgotten to add highlights to her eyes. It made people unable to stop themselves from feeling sorry for her.

Perhaps because Kaino had woken her, she simply stared blankly at him without moving.

She doesn't think I'm her dad, does she?

Still, judging by her unfocused gaze, Kaino guessed that she was just dazed from sleeping too long.

"She looks exactly like me!" Kiana pressed herself against the Incubation Pod after arriving and carefully examined the clone inside.

"Yeah, exactly alike." Kaino nodded as he looked at the clone. "She looks just as dumb."

"Hey, Kaino!" Kiana instantly bristled like an angry kitten, baring her teeth as she glared at him.

"All right, we can talk after we get out of here." Ziegfried crouched down and began studying the buttons beside the display. "I'll get her out first."

Kaino silently took a step back and looked over the surrounding Incubation Pods.

Each pod contained a floating Kiana. They were all Kiana's clones. But unlike the K423 test subject before them, none of them had developed consciousness.

In other words, they had never truly lived. They only possessed the most basic physiological functions.

This had been mentioned in the Sirin Project records. And even after the group had made quite a commotion, none of the figures had reacted, further proving it.

Kaino sighed.

"Then, Dad, where will she go after we rescue her?" Kiana blinked and asked Ziegfried.

"Anti-Entropy will take her in."

"Can she come with us?"

"...We can visit her."

"What should I call her, then? Does she have a name? She looks even more like me than Brother does, so can she be my little sister?"

"I don't know... All right." Ziegfried somewhat perfunctorily answered Kiana's questions, then stood after pressing a button. "It's done. Let's get her out first."

As soon as Ziegfried finished speaking, the Incubation Pod let out a hiss. The cultivation fluid inside began to slowly drain, along with the clone floating within it.

Perhaps she felt cold after losing the cultivation fluid. The clone's eyes, which had only just opened, closed again, and her body curled into a ball like a newborn kitten.

Like a little ball of white fur.

"We can think about names after we get out. Names you come up with on the spot usually don't sound very good." Kaino patted Kiana's little head. "Especially if you're asking Dad... Aunt Theresa told me how ridiculous the names he gave us were."

Kaino did not particularly mind having another little sister... though he knew that was unlikely.

Once the clone girl was handed over to Anti-Entropy, his family would not even be able to visit her often. Otherwise, seeing a girl who looked exactly like herself might make her overthink things.

And if she overthought it and a Honkai eruption broke out, that would be disastrous.

The hatch of the Incubation Pod slowly opened, and Ziegfried hurriedly scooped the clone into his arms with one hand.

"All right, let's go." Ziegfried urged the two of them. "It's almost time for our rendezvous with Anti-Entropy. We need to hurry. Without their help holding back Schicksal's pursuers, it'll be nearly impossible for us to leave Schicksal safely."

"Stay close. You two won't need to crawl back out through the waste chute. We'll climb out through the window together." Ziegfried walked ahead with K423 held tightly in his arms, while the two little ones followed behind. The four quickly left the experimental area.

Pursuers

The four had a fairly smooth trip to the aircraft.

Ignoring the reactions of those around him, Ziegfried led Kiana and Kaino in a mad dash. K423 slept soundly in Ziegfried's arms without crying or fussing. Although some acquaintances were curious to see Ziegfried and the others hurrying past while ignoring them, they did not think much of it.

Ziegfried was, after all, Schicksal's renowned Kaslana knight and the wielder of the God Key, Judgement of Shamash. In the eyes of most Schicksal Valkyries, Ziegfried was a comrade to whom they could entrust their backs. Even if they personally saw him climbing out of a Schicksal laboratory with two children, they would assume he had gotten lost while playing hide-and-seek with them rather than suspect him of stealing something.

As for the small remaining group of Valkyries...

Ziegfried was probably their romantic rival.

If things had remained like that, Kaino and the others' operation would have gone quite smoothly.

Unfortunately, not everyone in Schicksal was a Valkyrie brainwashed by the slogan of fighting for a better tomorrow.

Thus, the group's movements were ultimately exposed.

At the very moment Kaino followed Ziegfried onto the aircraft, Schicksal's alarms rang throughout Klostern.

At the same time, Ziegfried's wanted notice was sent to every Valkyrie's personal terminal and every Schicksal device with a screen.

"Dad, Schicksal issued a wanted notice for us!" Kiana shouted as she looked at the personal terminal in her hand while sitting beside Kaino in the Transport Pod. "Hurry, hurry, hurry! Let's get out of here!"

Kaino looked at Kiana's terminal as well. A proper photograph of Ziegfried was displayed on the left, while the right listed his crime—

Stealing confidential experimental results from Schicksal.

"All right, you two sit tight and fasten your seat belts. We're leaving now."

Ziegfried sat in the pilot's seat. After fastening the seat belt around K423, who was asleep in the co-pilot's seat, he swiftly and skillfully worked the control console before him. After pressing a number of buttons Kaino could not understand, the aircraft finally began to start.

"There are so many people outside... Hah." Kaino was still short of breath from running too hard. After catching his breath, he pressed an ear to the wall of the Transport Pod. "There are so many voices, all mixed together. Even the alarms can't drown them out."

Though the Transport Pod's soundproofing was good enough that Kaino could not make out the words, he could still roughly guess what the people outside were shouting.

Probably something like, "Stop immediately, and you won't be killed if you surrender"?

"All right, we should be safe now."

After the aircraft took off, Ziegfried, seated in the pilot's chair, let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness nothing went wrong with this operation. Looks like heaven really is on our side, hahaha!"

"We're safe already?!" Kiana turned around and extended one hand toward Kaino.

Kaino cooperatively held out a hand and slapped his palm hard against Kiana's.

"Yay!" Kiana said with a delighted grin.

Kaino relaxed and sprawled across his seat in the Transport Pod.

Today's operation had put him under enormous pressure, both physically and mentally—the sprint earlier had nearly killed him, and even though his breathing had settled now, his entire body was still burning hot. A wave of exhaustion was also washing over his mind. If he could, he truly wanted to sleep.

Unfortunately, the joy of the successful plan had not yet faded from his heart... and Kiana beside him kept humming a song. It was a little noisy.

"No... This should be the right place?" Ziegfried suddenly frowned, his tone tense. "I should have reached the designated location... but where is Anti-Entropy's interception force?"

Kaino's hazy mind snapped awake.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Kiana also stopped celebrating and asked in confusion, "Did Anti-Entropy's troops not follow the plan?"

"Could the location be wrong?" Kaino asked. "Maybe a little farther ahead? Or perhaps Anti-Entropy's troops are hiding somewhere, specifically to intercept the pursuers behind us—"

Before Kaino could finish, an alarm inside the aircraft cut him off.

"...There are aircraft pursuing us from behind," Ziegfried said after taking a deep breath. "Kiana, Kaino, hold on tight. I—"

Kaino did not hear what Ziegfried said next. He only felt the entire aircraft jolt violently as a thunderous explosion erupted at the hatch of the Transport Pod.

Countless fragments created by the explosion streaked past Kaino. Less fortunately, several shards cut open his throat and pierced his body.

"Ah!"

Kaino cried out in pain. Stinging heat spread through his entire body. The powerful wind pressure caused by the ruptured cabin blew him toward the outside, but his seat belt cinched him down so tightly that it nearly tore him in half.

But Kaino clearly knew that he was not the worst off, nor was he the unluckiest one.

Kiana, seated beside him, was closest to the hatch. More fragments had lodged in her body than in Kaino's. Worse, one shard struck Kiana in the head, knocking her unconscious on the spot as she nearly flew out of the aircraft.

"La..." Because his throat had been injured, Kaino could not make a sound or call Ziegfried for help—and besides, Ziegfried likely had no attention to spare at the moment.

So he could only endure the pain in his body, stretch out his already-cut right hand, and desperately grab Kiana's arm.

Though the pain had blurred his vision, Kaino still noticed that Kiana's seat belt had also been cut by a fragment. The remaining section seemed unable to bear the strain and was slowly tearing apart.

Kaino knew that no matter how badly Kiana was hurt now, there was still hope of healing her. But if she fell from the aircraft, there would be no chance of survival.

Even if she was a Kaslana with strength like a superhero, the aircraft was at least 5,000 meters above the ground.

But how could he possibly hold on to her?

Not only was he bleeding all over, with his right hand injured and his limbs weak—even if he were completely unharmed, he did not have the strength to pull his little sister back.

Kaino could do nothing. He was powerless.

He could only watch in terror, helplessness, and despair as his blood flowed onto his little sister, staining her entire body red. He watched her gradually slip from his grasp as the seat belt tore apart. At the instant it snapped, he did not even feel any force against his hand before Kiana flew out of the cabin before his eyes.

But the aircraft pursuing them from behind still seemed unsatisfied and began pouring ammunition into the cabin where Kaino was.

It seemed like a long time, but in reality, everything had happened in less than five seconds.

"Kia... no!... Bastard, die...!"

Kaino heard an utterly furious and grief-stricken roar from Ziegfried's direction, but he could no longer make it out clearly. Whether because blood loss had made his body cold, or because grief over his sister had overwhelmed him, Kaino only felt his consciousness growing more and more blurred...

Along with the burning sensation in his chest.

At last, Kaino lost consciousness.

Theresa was very happy when she woke up that morning. She knew today would be a very joyful day.

There were three reasons for this.

First, it was Wednesday, which meant lunch would be delicious beef stew with potatoes—although the Orphanage was quite well-off, they could only have beef stew with potatoes once a week.

Second, today was the first day she had been conscious. To Theresa, it was no different from a birthday.

Third, the Priest had told her yesterday that he would be going to town today to gather supplies, and that he would bring back her favorite Bitter Melon Pie.

Any one of those things would have been enough to make her happy.

Just as Theresa thought of the Priest, there was a knock on her door.

"Priest, I'm here!" Theresa quickly called back.

She knew it had to be the Priest knocking. The other children would definitely have just barged in.

"Priest, are you heading out?" Theresa blinked, her eyes shining.

Standing opposite Theresa, the blond Priest wore an ornate purple ceremonial robe with a white base. He looked at Theresa, nodded, and reminded her, "Yes. Remember to serve the children lunch, then make sure they go to sleep."

After a pause, the priest added with a smile, "And remember not to eat too much at lunch. Otherwise, you won't be able to finish the Bitter Melon Pie."

"I can finish it! I can eat a lot!" Theresa hurriedly said. Then, realizing what she had just said, she blushed in embarrassment. "No, I mean... Bitter Melon Pie is delicious. I can finish however much there is."

"Haha." The Priest chuckled softly before saying, "Then I'm leaving."

Then the Priest closed the door.

Theresa shook her head and left the room as well. Today might have been her lucky day, but that did not change the fact that Wednesday was her cleaning day.

So Theresa picked up a broom and began sweeping with her little legs.

Suddenly, with a bang, the Priest, who had only left the Orphanage moments ago, violently slammed open the Orphanage's front door and rushed upstairs toward his own room.

Theresa was somewhat bewildered. She saw that the Priest seemed to be carrying something crimson-red in his arms... something that looked like a person?

Theresa looked down at the floor she had just cleaned. It was covered in red liquid dripping from the thing in the Priest's arms.

That looked like... blood?

Christmas at the Orphanage

At the center of the stage, beneath the spotlight, a white-haired girl less than one and a half meters tall wore a purple beaked mask over her face. Holding a bulging sack in her hands, she stared nervously at another richly dressed red-haired girl before her.

"With that hairstyle, that hair color, and that monstrous strength... you're the Kaslana family's stupid daughter, aren't you?"

The lavishly dressed girl scrunched up her little face and spoke to the white-haired girl before her in a slightly angry tone.