This time, since Siegfried and Anti-Entropy had taken the bait Bishop Otto had prepared, they had to be ready to suffer serious losses.
K422 hoped Otto would be blinded by victory.
The more inflated he became, like a pufferfish, the better.
That would give her a chance to turn defeat into victory. But right now, all her thoughts were focused on the little girl curled into a ball.
For her now, the darkness of night no longer frightened her.
Instead, when the room's lights came on as brightly as day, it meant morning had arrived, and with it, the start of another day.
And she might have to face sudden experiments.
In an empty room, she had to swallow that bitter loneliness and helplessness all by herself.
The reason True Kiana could still remember her memories from when she was two was naturally because everything she had experienced after turning two had brought her nothing but pain—experiences she desperately wanted to forget.
But when she was two, she still had Dad, mom, and a little aunt.
"Kiana..."
K422 softly called her name.
True Kiana, the real Kiana Kaslana—she knew that one day, she would meet her in reality.
Unfortunately, unlike the scene she had imagined, where she would descend on seven-colored clouds and rescue her from this cage, she had come here as a defeated loser accepting the victor's charity.
Unlike Bishop Otto and his twisted sense of humor, she did not think a nickname like True Kiana sounded nice.
If she had to pick a nickname, it would definitely be something like Kiki or Nana.
The name True Kiana was really K422's way of emphasizing herself.
Hearing the call, Kiana Kaslana, who had buried her face between her knees, raised her head.
When she saw K422 standing at the door, her pupils shrank.
"Xiao Er?"
There was a trace of surprise, a trace of bewilderment, and a trace of joy...
But when she saw the bitter smile spreading across K422's face—
Kiana sighed.
"You big idiot... why didn't you escape by yourself?"
She knew K422 must have stayed behind to find her.
Even though she had warned K422 so clearly.
Idiot! Such a huge idiot!
Yet for some reason, she felt a hint of warmth at that moment.
"What do you think?"
K422 glared at Kiana irritably.
How could she possibly have guessed that Bishop Otto had hidden her in a place like this?
Schicksal had quite a few Giant Floating Battleships, and even more ordinary Floating Battleships. When Valkyries were dispatched to eliminate Honkai Beasts all over the place, they often used Floating Battleships as communication nodes to build specialized intelligence networks.
"Hehe..."
Kiana did not get angry after being glared at.
She knew perfectly well that her second little sister had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.
Kiana stepped out of the corner, then gently hugged K422, truly feeling her warmth.
"I never thought I'd be able to hug you in reality."
"You smell a little. Did you not shower last night?"
"..."
Kiana really wanted to beat this foul-mouthed second little sister to death.
"I did! Stop nagging... By the way, where's Xiao San? Did she escape?"
"Her... Bishop sent her away. She probably isn't in any danger, and your dad is with her. She'll probably have it better than you."
"Better than me?" Kiana looked confused.
In her eyes, K422's situation should have been terrible. She had even planned to beg Bishop Otto after K422 left.
No matter what Bishop Otto demanded, she did not want to lose K422.
"I'll be changing my name to Kiana Apocalypse soon. Impressive, right?"
With a cheerful smile, K422 patted Kiana's little head.
The sensation was exactly the same as when she stroked her in the consciousness space, but she was truly touching the real Kiana in reality.
"You must have forced yourself again. I'm clearly the older sister."
Kiana also tried to show off some big-sister dignity, but K422 dodged her outstretched hand.
"..."
For some reason, Kiana felt a little angry.
"It's clearly our first time meeting in reality, and it feels like I have so much to say, but when the words reach my lips, I can't say anything at all."
K422 could not help sighing.
Kiana clearly felt the same way and nodded vigorously.
She thought so too. After all, they could meet in their sleep every night. Oh, K422 called it the consciousness space, but she thought it was probably about the same as a dream space.
They had talked about many things there and shared their thoughts with each other.
After pondering for a moment, Kiana sighed.
"You should have left me behind and escaped first. You could have found another chance to save me later."
"Don't say things like that again. I don't like hearing them."
K422 gave her a chop on the forehead.
She had never even considered that possibility.
"What will you do next? What will Bishop do to you?"
Covering her forehead, Kiana gave up trying to persuade her.
K422 was far more stubborn than she was, even more stubborn than a rock.
"Didn't I tell you? Bishop's family has a vast fortune waiting for me to inherit."
The moment Kiana saw her little sister start spouting nonsense, she raised her hand to give her a chop too.
Then K422 dodged again.
"...Wah."
It hurt her pride so much.
"Don't worry about me. As long as I'm not dead, it doesn't count as losing."
K422 comforted Kiana, not wanting her to blame herself for this defeat.
"Even though I'm the little sister, I'm strong. I should be able to become this generation's strongest Valkyrie in Schicksal. Maybe even if I die later, it still won't count as losing. If I can't do sit-ups inside a coffin, what kind of big shot would I be?"
Though she was talking nonsense, she really did make Kiana laugh.
"Mm, I know."
Kiana pressed her lips together, with no intention of exposing her bravado.
In truth, K422 was much stronger than she was. If she had encountered something like this, she probably would have cried.
Maybe she would have cried herself into shutting down.
K422 smiled. Seeing that Kiana was no longer so hung up on it, she naturally felt relieved as well.
She had been worried that Kiana would overthink things.
"Good. You're always worrying so much. How about I become the older sister, and you become the younger sister?"
"No, I'm the older sister."
Kiana puffed out her cheeks.
This little sister had no shame at all. Now she even wanted to steal her position as the older sister.
So annoying!
Of course, there were not many things she wanted to steal. There were also things she disliked.
But because this little sister was always disgusted by Siegfried as a father, she had started feeling a little disgusted with her own father too.
So when she heard that Xiao San was with Dad, she did not lose control like she had at first. More importantly, Xiao San was very stupid. Unlike them, if no one looked after her, she definitely would not survive.
"Cute little princesses, sorry to interrupt."
At that moment, Bishop Otto came to the door and greeted K422 and Kiana in the room.
"Visiting time is over. Save the rest of your conversation for tonight."
Kiana naturally looked shocked. She had not expected Bishop Otto to know that they communicated in their dreams at night.
"Bishop, I understand."
K422 patted Kiana's little head and lowered her head in reply.
She only hoped that the next time she saw True Kiana, she would not be standing before her as a defeated loser.
Is This How the Eleventh Divine Key Is Used?
Otto had not cared how long K422 talked with the real Kiana. Even if the two spent the night together, he would not have refused.
But just now, he had received a communication from Valkyries aboard a certain Floating Battleship.
They said that the Floating Battleship they were on was currently under attack by Theresa Apocalypse.
"Ah, my dear Theresa..."
Otto was helpless as well.
He had originally thought that since Theresa had not appeared throughout this operation, she lacked the resolve to oppose him. He had not expected her to come out and cause trouble at such a critical moment in the pursuit.
Of course, he also knew that Theresa merely wanted to protect Siegfried and had no connection with Anti-Entropy.
If Theresa had ties to Anti-Entropy, then even if she was his beloved granddaughter, she would still need a spanking.
Because of Cecilia's death, a rift had appeared between his beloved granddaughter and himself.
And because he had experimented on the real Kiana, that rift had grown very, very deep.
If he had not happened to present K422 at the right time, the relationship between him and Theresa might never have been repaired.
For Theresa, who possessed Kallen's strength and gentleness, Otto did not want their relationship to become strained. Even if she could not accept his ideals, he still favored her greatly.
Theresa holding him accountable made him feel as though Kallen herself were questioning him.
Otto had only been puzzled about why Theresa had yet to discover that K422 was a fake.
To placate Theresa once she discovered the truth, he had already prepared to let her meet the genuine article.
"...That foolish granddaughter."
Otto sighed.
It was precisely because his granddaughter had appeared that Otto could only interrupt K422's meeting with the real Kiana.
He urgently needed K422 to stand in for Kiana Kaslana and launch rescue operations at Schicksal Headquarters.
No, more accurately, he needed to pave the way for the future Kiana Apocalypse while also declaring that this operation had been Schicksal's victory.
Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie of the future was still in Schicksal.
If not for the Black Abyss White Flower battle one month later, Otto might even have let K422 release an anti-Honkai wave.
The anti-Honkai wave would certainly become a trump card against Maria Schariac.
Before you continue