A Saintess at Schicksal

Her answer left Theresa looking confused as well.

After all, she had told Theresa that she knew Bishop Otto had created two clones. Pretending to be ignorant now naturally left Theresa completely baffled.

"..."

Welt Yang fell silent for a moment after hearing her answer.

Then he asked in surprise, "You really don't know about the stand-ins?"

"Of course I don't. Maybe Bishop Otto really did make a stand-in for me." K422 spread her hands.

"But it doesn't seem like I need you to save me. I'm doing perfectly fine at Schicksal Headquarters. Why would I need Siegfried or Siegp— to rescue me?"

"You don't? But I heard that you were subjected to cruel experiments at Schicksal Headquarters..."

"That must be an irresponsible rumor. When have I ever been treated like that? If I had to say, I just wanted too badly to become the strongest Valkyrie, like Mom, so I trained a little too hard."

Although the man before her had the aura of an important figure, she did not think he could defeat Bishop Otto, who held the home-field advantage.

And just as he had said, if the operation failed, there would be no second chance.

If he had a foolproof plan to rescue True Kiana and K423, she definitely would not mind cooperating with him immediately.

"You heard that Bishop Otto made stand-ins for me. Then do you know where those stand-ins are? If I'm a stand-in made by Bishop Otto and obey his orders, then you're screwed right now."

"..."

Seemingly hearing the disdain in her tone, Welt Yang looked rather depressed.

Of course, Welt Yang had also understood the fact she was hinting at and nodded.

Theresa still looked confused.

Back at St. Fountain, Kiana had wanted her to take her away.

But now her attitude was completely different, as though Schicksal were her own home.

"I'm truly sorry. It seems I believed a rumor. I'll make sure to properly verify such rumors in the future."

Welt Yang replied with a slight upward curl of his lips.

The more Theresa listened, the more confused she became.

It felt like the two of them were speaking in riddles.

Since she did not know K422 was fake, Theresa still could not understand their conversation.

"Kiana, didn't you want to leave Schicksal Headquarters?"

"Aunt Theresa, circumstances have changed. Back then was back then. I was sick before, and after recovering, I took part in experiments and lost my memories, so of course I was anxious. Now that I'm gradually recovering my memories, my thoughts are naturally different."

The facts proved that Aunt Theresa really was not very capable.

Since she had never doubted her identity, she still had not seriously investigated True Kiana's whereabouts.

She even cared deeply about K422's condition because she regarded her as the real one.

Honestly, what good was caring about her?

"It seems I acted on my own accord. I'm terribly sorry, Miss Kiana. I hope you won't take offense. Please don't tell Bishop Otto about what happened just now."

After learning her attitude, Welt Yang was the first to state his position.

He also knew there would be no result if they continued.

The hints K422 had given were enough to explain her current circumstances.

"Don't worry, Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy. I won't tell Grandpa about this."

Theresa nodded as well. Since he owed Siegfried a favor, it was indeed possible that he stood on the same side as her and Siegfried when it came to rescuing Kiana.

Of course, Theresa still did not understand why Kiana no longer wanted to leave Schicksal Headquarters.

"Then I'll be leaving first. I can't stay away from the Medical Research Group for too long."

"Take care, Kiana. What's wrong? Did something happen?"

As soon as Welt Yang left, Theresa immediately began questioning her.

Kiana's behavior just now had been far too strange.

"...Aunt Theresa, what could have happened? I'm still the same as before."

As K422 spoke, she winked at Theresa.

Then Theresa hugged her.

"It's all right. Don't be afraid. The Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy isn't a scary person either."

"???"

K422's mind suddenly could not keep up.

Who was afraid? Afraid of whom?

How had the topic suddenly become this?

"Although Anti-Entropy and Schicksal are enemies, the Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy once went to the moon with your father..."

At that moment, K422 really wanted to tell Theresa that her name was Kiana... which meant moon goddess. So what exactly did she mean by saying the Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy and Siegfried had gone to the moon together?

Of course, she understood Theresa's meaning as well.

The Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy had fought alongside her father, so his character was trustworthy.

But the issue was not whether his character was trustworthy. What she needed to know was whether his abilities were trustworthy.

"Aunt Theresa, can this Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy beat up Bishop Otto?"

"Probably not."

"Then what the hell was the point of saying that?"

He could not even stand up to Bishop Otto, yet he wanted to rescue someone from Schicksal Headquarters.

Had the Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy gotten too full of himself, or had Bishop Otto become too weak to lift his blade?

"Kiana, how can you say such filthy words?"

Theresa's little face had turned red.

She probably had not expected K422 to suddenly start cursing.

"Aunt Theresa, let's keep playing."

K422 did not expect Theresa to catch on either, and she also sent Bishop Otto a text message reporting him.

Bishop Otto, who had just returned to the laboratory and was preparing to begin the next experiment, received the report. When he glanced at the communicator and saw the message, he was briefly stunned.

What was K422 trying to pull by reporting that the Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy wanted to cause trouble?

Why had Welt Yang not taken K422 away?

I'm Going to Smash That Bastard's Head In

In Otto's plans, there had also been a branch where K422 was taken away by Anti-Entropy. In any case, it would not deviate from the framework he had designed.

He would keep the real Kiana in Schicksal, let Siegfried take K423 away, and let Anti-Entropy take K422 away. Relying on the special connection between the three of them, K423 would inevitably master the Herrscher's power, while the Honkai Killer possessed by K422 would also improve.

Although Otto despised Welt Yang for being something of a pushover, the previous Welt Joyce had indeed left Anti-Entropy with many geniuses. Naturally, Otto wanted to make use of those geniuses.

Rather than let them follow Welt Yang and develop Honkai Energy weapons, it would be better to send K422, who possessed Schariac Holy Blood, over for them to study.

Even if Anti-Entropy valued personal bonds, given the organization's structure, radicals would certainly emerge in the future.

What was more, K422 could not possibly give up the opportunity to make herself stronger.

Having sensed a trace of hostility from K422, Otto had long since listed her as a key subject of observation.

So at this moment, Otto was truly impressed by K422's move.

With the Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy's strength, plus Otto letting things slide a little, they could definitely create the reality that Anti-Entropy had taken Kiana away.

By then, the Valkyries and trainees within Schicksal would become more united and more hostile toward Anti-Entropy. It would accomplish several things at once.

"...To actually give up such a splendid opportunity. I see. She must want to rescue the real Kiana, but because she doesn't know Welt Yang's strength, she chose to be cautious."

Otto could not help sighing at how cautious K422 was.

"Forget it. Since K422 isn't leaving, I'll continue forging the Schariac Saintess according to plan."

Otto did not care what K422 chose. He shifted his attention back to the screen.

"Now that Theresa is at Schicksal Headquarters, I can make a trip to the Far East Branch."

The screen currently displayed a secret laboratory far away in the Far East Branch.

Inside multiple incubation tanks, white-haired women with identical appearances slept quietly.

"Heh. If Siegfried saw this, he would definitely unleash the power of Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment without hesitation."

The secret laboratory Otto was observing had existed long before the Far East Branch was established.

"If Theresa saw this, she probably wouldn't forgive me easily either. But that foolish child has been busy building her academy and still hasn't discovered this secret laboratory."

"Come to think of it, K422 seems to admire Cecilia... So if she happened to encounter a woman who looked similar to Cecilia, how would her heart change?"

He could have a clone disguise herself, arrange a chance encounter with K422, give her maternal affection, and then have that clone die in a Honkai incident or a conflict with Anti-Entropy.

Resting his chin on his hand, Otto seemed to be weaving a script in his mind.

But he quickly rejected that script.

"Since K422 doesn't want to leave Schicksal, I'll use the real Kiana to restrain her instead."

After assigning some new work to Amber, he dispatched a new Soul Steel body to secretly board an aircraft bound for the secret laboratory in the Far East Branch.

K422, who was playing video games with Theresa, suddenly felt inexplicably irritated.

"Kiana, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just irritated because I didn't train properly today. Aunt Theresa, don't interrupt my training tomorrow."

Then she saw Theresa reveal a cute, mischievous smile.

All right.

It looked like Aunt Theresa would definitely find another way to interrupt her training tomorrow.

After playing video games with Theresa for a while longer, the little maid standing outside the door reminded them that it was time to eat.

"Aunt Theresa, it's time for dinner."

"Wait a little longer. At least let me win once before we eat."

"...I think that might be a little difficult."

Although Theresa had brought this video game, as the number of rounds increased, the amount of health left on K422's character grew with each match... If they kept playing, she estimated that she would soon be able to kill Theresa's character without losing any health at all.

But the games from the Far East really were fun.

And the characters in the game were beautiful too.

She liked female characters with white hair, large breasts, and long legs.

She also had braids like the hairstyle Theresa had done for her that morning. K422's hair was still too short, so it could only count as a small braid, but the game character's braid was like a tail, flowing elegantly with every movement.

"Wah, I haven't lost yet! I still have a hidden character I haven't picked."

Theresa entered the character selection screen, held down the Start button on the controller, then pressed up and down three times in succession before pressing B and D together. A familiar blond Grand Bishop suddenly appeared on the selection screen.

"Huh, wait, isn't that Bishop Otto?"

"Of course. Grandpa had a game company in the Far East make this fighting game. The Far East is famous for its gaming culture."

"So that's how it is... Isn't this even better?"

Although she could not beat Bishop Otto up in real life, it seemed she could at least indulge herself in the game.

"Aunt Theresa, since you're using a hidden character, then I won't hold back!"

Since she could beat up Bishop Otto, how could she not go all out now?

"Huh?"