Watching flustered Kiana, Su Jue could not help showing a hint of a smile, handing her the wet tissue beside him and pointing to the position of his own chin.
"The dirty spot here hasn't been wiped clean yet."
Taking the tissue and wiping it on her chin, the stain carrying black ash smeared onto the paper. Kiana's movements paused, and she hurried off to the bathroom.
In the battle against Shencheng Pharmaceuticals last night, the explosions of numerous mechs had long since left Kiana covered in dust from head to toe, and she had also brushed against quite a bit of machine oil or bloodstains. Although she had specifically cleaned up in the bathroom before returning, traces still remained.
Did he guess? Looking at herself in the mirror, Kiana sighed.
The commotion from last night's trouble was too big; almost the entire city felt that explosion, and Su Jue definitely felt the shock too. Now the news of the Herrscher of Void had already been learned by Schicksal and World Serpent, and what followed next would be endless pursuit. Especially for World Serpent, whose forces were already spread all over Sky City. Since she had just destroyed Shencheng Pharmaceuticals last night, they would definitely step up their search efforts today.
She did not want to drag Su Jue into her own trouble, yet in her heart she was unwilling to leave him.
Su Jue is a very smart person. He probably already guessed what I did last night. This time, he's really going to chase me away, isn't he? Harboring such anxious feelings, Kiana returned to the hospital room once again.
Inside the room, Su Jue had already packed his books. Seeing Kiana's tangled expression, he wore a puzzled look. "What's wrong?"
Biting her lip slightly, Kiana prepared to spill all about her experiences. But her tangled expression had already been caught in Su Jue's eyes. He shook his head and reached out to interrupt her movement.
"A girl should have her own secrets, you don't have to tell me. No matter what you choose to do, I will support you, although... it can only be mental support, after all."
Kiana stared blankly at Su Jue, and then smiled in relief.
Kiana, oh Kiana, clearly he had placed all his trust in you, why on earth did you have to think so much?
"Mn."
After a simple tidy-up, Su Jue handed his payroll card to Kiana, asking her to go out and buy lunch. Because of the income from participating in drawing manuscripts, Su Jue's life was not as financially strapped as before; especially with the subsidies from this hospitalization, everyday expenses were still fine.
It was currently noon, and the canteen outside the hospital was bustling with an endless stream of people coming and going. Kiana stood in the crowd looking at the menu, frowning in thought.
"Let me think, what should one eat when injured? High-protein meats, and iron for replenishing blood... iron what-was-it again?" Kiana rubbed her head. Back at St. Freya, she had hardly learned much book knowledge, and now that the time came to use it, she distinctly felt her head was empty.
After a brief moment of hesitation, she still decided to make purchases based on the recipes Mei used to prepare whenever she herself was injured. By the time she walked up to the door of the hospital room, however, she heard a familiar voice.
"Mr. Su Jue, have you been in contact with a white-haired girl recently?"
It was Rita's voice. A panicked emotion instantly flooded Kiana's mind, but she still forced herself to calm down. Rita had not discovered her yet; her best choice right now was not to show her face. Only in this way could she shake off Su Jue's suspicion and make the other party turn her attention back to herself. Kiana held her breath, reined in her presence, and slowly moved away from the door of the hospital room.
Yet just as she retreated two steps, she bumped into someone. Kiana hurriedly steadied the other person, preparing to leave quickly, but her clothes were grabbed by someone.
"Herrscher of Void, you really are here." It was Alvit's voice. A smile hung on the dark-gray-haired girl's face. Ever since she was saved by Kiana yesterday, the usually optimistic girl felt that the Herrscher of Void was not as bad as the rumors said, and thus she did not show any feeling of fear upon seeing Kiana.
In the blink of an eye, however, she felt a pain in her arm, and her whole body was pressed against the wall by Kiana. Her face pressed against the cold wall, and a palm-sized Spear of the Void pressed right against the artery on her neck.
"Shut up!" Kiana's gaze was icy, and her golden right pupil, concealed by her bangs, was also revealed. The terrifying pressure frightened Alvit so much that she trembled all over.
"Sob..." The poor little girl was frightened to tears by the sudden change, and she would probably never think the Herrscher of Void was a good person ever again.
Unfortunately, even though Kiana reacted so quickly, that woman still detected the movement. "Miss Kiana, could you please release my teammate?"
Chapter 98: Kiana's Past
Today Rita was not wearing the armor Schicksal prepared for her. The aftereffects of last night's HSN gas had not yet dissipated, and the God-Slaying Armor placed a heavy burden on the body. At this time, she was wearing a white-collared shirt with wavy lace edges and a gray hip-wrapped miniskirt, her legs covered in a pair of thin black silk stockings. Matched with high heels, she already looked like an exquisitely living urban beauty.
"Rita, what are you doing here?" Kiana had no intention of letting go at all. Instead, she locked her grip on Alvit's neck and spun her around to face Rita directly, letting the other party see the panicked expression on her face.
"Miss Kiana needn't be nervous. Last night you saved the lives of myself and my teammate, so naturally I won't return kindness with enmity. As for coming to this hospital, it's simply that I am prepared to investigate some things. After all, the Herrscher of Void is renowned, yet Miss Kiana is now able to control it with ease; it's hard not to arouse a sense of curiosity."
Saying this, Rita paused slightly in her tone, her gaze falling on the lunch Kiana was holding. "It seems Miss Kiana has found a reliable partner... or should I say, the person of your affection?"
"Hmph, you think too much. I'm just hiding out alone in the hospital."
"Oh? Then why did you deliberately prepare two portions of lunch?"
Kiana paused for half a second, saying in an annoyed tone, "Can't I eat a bit more? I haven't been eating Schicksal's rice, this has nothing to do with you."
"Of course it's no problem." Facing Kiana's impatient questioning, the maid slightly bowed and gracefully lowered her posture. "Could I ask Miss Kiana to release my subordinate? I apologize for her rudeness. Now my connection with Schicksal has been cut off by World Serpent; I assure you, Miss Kiana, you do not need to worry about being pursued by Schicksal for a short time."
Facing Kiana's gaze, Rita's expression remained as usual, her face sincere, showing no trace of lying.
"Best be that way." Confirming that the other party truly had no intentions targeting her, Kiana loosened her grip. Alvit coughed twice and hurriedly hid behind Rita.
"Thanks for understanding, then let's mind our own business. Now our common target is World Serpent, to stop them from conducting experiments on this city." Rita looked at the spineless Alvit, sighed, and said to Kiana.
"Mn." Kiana likewise breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she was afraid of a conflict with Rita; her current strength would not falter in the slightest even if she faced Rita at her prime. The problem was that Su Jue was right here. Once a dispute broke out, he would inevitably be targeted by Schicksal.
Yet before she could even be happy for half a second, she saw Rita turn around and walk back into the hospital room.
?
She hurried to chase after her, and Rita turned her head in puzzlement to ask, "Does Miss Kiana have any other instructions?"
"Didn't you say you were leaving?"
Rita made an expression of sudden realization and explained, "It's like this, Alvit found some clues nearby, and we are looking for Mr. Su Jue, who is staying in this hospital room, to ask some questions."
"This..."
"Could Miss Kiana feel that Schicksal would make a move against ordinary people?" A faint smile carried on Rita's face, yet it left Kiana speechless.
Su Jue, who had been eavesdropping for a while inside the hospital room, sighed. Kiana's acting skills were still not up to par; facing Schicksal in the future, she would probably still be plotted against.
With no other choice, he simply threw his cup onto the ground to make some noise. Having attracted their attention, Rita and Kiana walked into the hospital room together.
Upon seeing Kiana, a look of pleasant surprise immediately appeared on Su Jue's face. "Miss Talia, you're finally back."
"Ta—" Hearing this unfamiliar address, Kiana's head went blank. Although she did not know the situation, just as Su Jue trusted her, Kiana chose to trust Su Jue as well. She nodded without changing her expression and placed the lunch next to Su Jue.
On the other side, Rita, who was secretly observing Su Jue's expression, narrowed her eyes slightly. She did not see the expression she wanted, and she spoke up, "Is Mr. Su Jue very familiar with Miss Kiana?"
"Ji who?" A suitable trace of confusion was naturally revealed on his face. A veteran actor would naturally not fall for Rita's probing. Su Jue pulled a long face and said in an unhappy tone, "You don't even know Talia's name? Yet you just claimed to be her friends and questioned me for half a day. Who on earth are you? If you don't make it clear, I'm going to call the police."
Rita was at a loss for words, but quickly recovered her previous amicability. "Apologies, I just called her by the wrong name temporarily. We truly are her friends. If you don't believe it, you can ask her."
Kiana, who was at her wits' end, still hadn't figured out the situation. She stood at the window at a loss, not knowing how to respond, when she suddenly felt her hand being gently squeezed. She glanced at Su Jue and inexplicably understood the other person's meaning.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes."
"I see." Having obtained a definite answer, Su Jue's expression softened. "During the time I've been injured, Talia told me some stories about her past."
"Oh? What kind of stories are they?" Su Jue's words piqued Rita's interest. Currently, it was still impossible to determine the relationship between Su Jue and Kiana. However, if Kiana had really told this youth about her background, it would mean the other party was extremely important to her. If the Lord Bishop wanted to deal with the Herrscher of Void in the future, this would be a very important chess piece.
"If you are her friends, you should know something about her. When she was in school, she was an exemplary student with excellent character and scholarship. Her subject grades were basically first in the entire year, and precisely because of this, she was ostracized by the surrounding classmates. But she didn't give up, instead working even harder, yet ultimately she couldn't prevail against human malice."
"The puppy she raised was fed chocolate disguised as dried gold by jealous classmates and unfortunately died. During exams, her stationery was stolen by her most trusted companion. Under the double blow, her grades plummeted. With no other choice, she could only drop out of school to participate in a culinary competition to earn tuition fees, winning the grand champion of the culinary competition, and relying on this prize money to come to Sky City."
"Yet not long after she arrived in Sky City, she ran into this damn monster, and I also got to know her at that time. The day she rescued me from beneath the monster, I never imagined her life could be so rugged. Such a kind person, yet she has so few friends—I really cannot accept this. As her friends, can you share some of her past with me?"
"..." Exchanging a glance with Alvit, even the usually glib Rita suddenly could not find an entry point for conversation, and could only say stiffly, "Her, her grades actually weren't very good..."
However, just as she reached the middle of her sentence, Su Jue's expression once again turned gloomy. "You mean she lied to me? I get it—what friends, you're the ones who ostracized her, aren't you? No wonder Miss Talia was so nervous the moment she saw you; it turns out you were coercing her."
"Coming to find her this time probably isn't to visit, but simply to give her trouble. Get out of here! If you don't leave, I'm calling the police." As he spoke, Su Jue had already placed his hand on the call button by the hospital bed. As long as he pressed it, a nurse would come to check the rooms, and by then, once Rita's identity record was uploaded, she would definitely be detected by World Serpent.
With no other choice, Rita and Alvit could only temporarily withdraw from the hospital room. The two walked side by side down the corridor, and an angry look still lingered on Alvit's face.
"Insidious Herrscher of Void. No wonder we could never track her down; it turns out she deliberately fabricated a false identity to trick the citizens' trust. And when she was in the hospital room, she acted so convincingly, with such an ignorant look—she probably plotted it all out long ago."
Listening to the young girl's mumbling beside her, Rita felt a slight headache. Yet based on Su Jue's performance, if Kiana merely regarded him as a tool to conceal her identity, the value of this person would naturally be greatly reduced.
But what if this was just a play directed and acted by the Herrscher of Void herself?
Chapter 99: A Suspicion
Rita's suspicion was not without foundation. Through these few contacts, she had already distinctly sensed changes in this girl.
She still remembered when the two first met last night, Rita deliberately used words to provoke her, the purpose being merely to test the stability of the Herrscher of Void's mental state at the time.
Although she had basically lost combat capability by then, there was actually still a syringe similar to HSN serum carried within the Silver Knight: Artemis armor. If Kiana had been slightly careless or shown a state of madness at that time, she could have used this syringe to suppress and counter-kill her.
Yet Kiana's performance exceeded her expectations. She neither showed signs of a mental breakdown nor was she as foolishly gullible as before; instead, she appeared extremely calm and even more aggressive. Facing her own provocation, without a second word, she first delivered a beating—this hardly looked like a student Theresa could have taught.
If that was the case, then the Herrscher of Void's scheming was much more complex than imagined. Perhaps her behavior of being ambushed by Crimson Snake two days ago was also deliberately put on.
Wait, why would I think Crimson Snake must be a member of World Serpent?
Frowning in thought, Rita suddenly discovered a blind spot. The name Crimson Snake was from beginning to end only revealed by the red-haired woman herself, and the reason Rita firmly believed she was related to World Serpent was mostly because she herself was defeated by the other party. It was precisely this anger that interfered with her judgment, preventing her from having excessive doubts.
Was there a possibility that she had no relation to World Serpent either, and was actually one of the Herrscher of Void's people?
Could her previous battle with Raven also have been deliberately arranged by her, utilizing the information gap between the two sides to plot against Schicksal and World Serpent at the same time?
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
The more she guessed along this train of thought, the heavier Rita's heart became. If all her guesses were completely true, it meant that at least half a month ago, Kiana had already started plotting against her. She didn't dare imagine what on earth the other party wanted to do; Rita couldn't help but draw a sharp breath. This person was truly terrifying.
"Alvit, prepare to make a combat log." After sorting through her thoughts, Rita immediately told Alvit her suspicion. She was the one in charge of information integration and organization, but this sort of conjecture could entirely be recorded in Schicksal's archives. If the guess came true by then, they wouldn't be completely clueless when facing the Herrscher of Void in the future.
"Understood, Vice Captain." Alvit immediately agreed, taking out her electronic panel to start recording data. However, what Rita did not notice was that the young girl beside her was indeed writing seriously, but what she wrote were some irrelevant mission logs, such as what she ate for lunch and other completely nutrient-free materials.
"Vice Captain, I've finished recording." After conscientiously writing all the reports, Alvit suddenly snapped back to her senses. She had completely failed to notice the abnormality of her state just now; in her memory, she had merely faithfully recorded the data according to Rita's instructions.
Glancing back at the direction of the hospital room, after she left, the door was already tightly closed.
Although Rita really wanted to make a direct move after deducing these thoughts, her current self would likely not be able to beat the Herrscher of Void, and the other party might even have anticipated her thoughts. Once she made a move, there would be every reason to leave the entire Blade of Immortality behind in Sky City.
"Let's wait until Lord Durandal arrives to discuss it."
Following multiple Honkai attacks, the vibrant central district of Sky City was also shrouded in a layer of gloom. The residents living here were filled with anxiety, terrified that the next attack would descend upon their heads.
Only some young children still maintained an optimistic mindset, and some were even looking forward to the arrival of those big monsters, because only in this way could they once again catch sight of the magical girl Magical Girl Kiana.
The little kids had their own social circles; whether or not one had seen the magical girl had become an important talking point in the circle, enough to dominate the entire kindergarten.
The little boy who recognized the magical girl last time was no exception. At this moment, he was lying by the window looking outside, feeling that he had 'fallen in love'. Every day he looked forward to encountering Miss Kiana, and for this reason, he had flipped through the comic book he treasured countless times, reciting the information and settings inside backward and forward.
Pity that he had never seen her since then. Now he couldn't muster up any interest even in his favorite toys, and he could only eat two of his most beloved bunny candies.
"It ended before it even began—is this what heartbreak feels like?" The six-year-old little boy stood by the window, sighing and groaning.
"What nonsense is a little brat spouting? Hurry up and come eat." His young mother was somewhat speechless, feeling she needed to teach her son what a 'simp' was.
Compelled by his mother's pressure, the little fellow could only temporarily cast 'love' behind him and honestly go eat dinner.
After he turned around, naturally he did not see the figure flashing past.
On the rooftop, a gray-haired man wearing a black mask stood alone by the parapet, the cold wind making the cape behind him snap loudly.
His body stood as straight as a sharp sword thrust into the earth. Gazing into the entire city from the high vantage point, a sense of supreme self-importance rose in Su Jue's heart.
Hum—
The sharp blade cleaved the evening wind, emitting a barely perceptible humming sound. In a flash of white light, the blade had already slashed across Su Jue's neck, and the stirred-up wind-blade even shattered the masonry parapet, leaving behind a long blade mark.
"It seems your way of greeting is truly special." Su Jue, piloting the Thousand Calamities puppet, stood in place, a few strands of severed gray short hair drifting with the evening wind, but that was all.
"Greeting? No, I just want to kill you." The sharp katana was gripped in the young girl's hand, emitting an icy chill.
Compared to half a month ago, Raiden Mei had changed too much at this moment. Not only did she have a brand-new combat armor, Striker, but even the Hokushin Itto-ryu blade techniques inherited from her family had also made rapid progress through frantic training over these past half a month.
No one can be protected without strength; all pain stems from your own weakness.
This sentence was deeply branded into Mei's heart, and thus when Theresa and the others headed toward Sea Abyss City aboard the Hyperion, she chose to stay behind to train alone.
Her waist-length purple hair, which had originally reached her waist, was personally cut short by her, and the excess part was tied into a brisk ponytail. Right now, she looked more like a warrior.
She bid farewell to the past, frantically squeezing the potential of her body, solely for the purpose of gaining stronger power. It was both to bring Kiana back to her side once again, and also to take revenge on the masked man.
"Is that so? Then let me see just how strong your determination to kill me is." With an intentional or unintentional chuckle, Su Jue stood in place, gradually drawing his katana from his wide trench coat—it was precisely the one left behind by Raiden Mei.
Chapter 100: Rooftop Duel
It was already dusk, and Sky City was a forest of high-rises. The well-proportioned buildings cast one dark shadow after another under the setting sun, like devouring giant beasts about to swallow the entire city.
No one noticed that atop the rooftop, a blade cut through the evening glow, and the ringing of the blade shattered the evening wind, finally colliding amidst intersecting flashes of white light.
The erupting sparks vanished in a flash, and then the long blades parted once more, changing angles in the two people's hands and assaulting each other yet again from extremely tricky positions.
Clang—
Clang—
The spacious rooftop seemed to have transformed into a scorching smelting furnace, with an experienced blacksmith holding his heavy hammer high, striking the blade again and again. The continuous sound of hammer-striking was exceptionally crisp, and every contact represented a clash between life and death.
The available footing on the rooftop was not much. In the continuous exchange of blows, what both sides competed in was not merely strength, but also the suppression of each other's technique.
Although his stamina and reaction speed still kept up, Su Jue had after all never formally studied the art. Even though he shared blade techniques from Himeko, it was still only a superficial application.
Looking at Raiden Mei on the other hand, possessing the long-inherited Hokushin Itto-ryu coupled with a near-suicidal offense, Su Jue had gradually fallen into a disadvantage.
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