The Light of Stigmata Shines Upon the World (Continued)

Schicksal, Floating Island.

This is the eighth hour since the Hyperion returned to Schicksal HQ.

In the spacious conference room, as the people who held the key to Schicksal left one by one, Rita looked at the black-haired youth at the head of the conference table with slightly tired eyes, her rose-red eyes revealing admiration and respect.

Even though it had only been half a day since he was entrusted with the power of Schicksal, the young man had already established his authority in just one meeting and put the two massive machines of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy into operation, preparing for the inevitable Finality.

"Alliance Leader Shi Hen, we are truly grateful to you this time. If it were just Rita alone, we might not know what to do."

Rita bowed gracefully to the boy and said in a humble tone, "This is the truth."

As a retired S-rank Valkyrie, even under the threat of the Finality world, her prestige is not enough to control the entire Schicksal.

Forcibly issuing orders will only plunge Schicksal into chaos.

"Miss Rita, you flatter me. I was just doing what I could."

He shook his head, his Shi Hen full of humility, without a trace of arrogance on his face.

Even with the dual roles of Anti-Entropy Leader and temporary Archbishop of Schicksal, he was already a true leader of humanity.

"Alliance Leader Shi Hen is being too modest."

With a smile, Rita felt a slight sense of bewilderment as she felt the overwhelming warmth emanating from the young man.

If we include the young man, this is the second change of power that the Schicksal has experienced in a short period of time.

Compared to [Welt White], who exuded domineering aura from the very beginning, as if he had the whole world under his feet, the boy could almost be considered a perfect leader.

In minor matters, he was lenient; in major matters, he was rigorous. Therefore, even though the young man was chosen as the successor by an Extreme Evil person like Welt White, his process of taking over the Mandate of Schicksal did not provoke much opposition.

Of course, the Herrscher behind the boy also played a significant role in this process.

As she was thinking, she saw a white-haired girl peeking out of the conference room door, and Rita's smile brightened considerably.

"The Blade of Immortality still has some matters to attend to, so Rita will take her leave now. Alliance Leader Shi Hen, please take good care of yourself."

With a smile, Rita stepped out of the conference room, giving Kiana a gentle smile as she passed by.

On the other side, Theresa, who had also noticed the white-haired girl, immediately stepped forward and said, "Rita is right, Shi Hen, you should go and rest. Leave the rest of the work to me and Peggy."

Although discussing personal matters on the eve of the apocalypse is somewhat inappropriate, she had seen how hard the young man had worked to debate with the political figures of Schicksal.

Moreover, Kiana has made huge sacrifices for world peace and deserves to enjoy some leisure time.

Peggy, who was forced to work overtime, was speechless.

Feeling the intense gaze of the white-haired girl, Shi Hen couldn't help but smile slightly, "Then I'll leave it to the headmaster."

Finally, he gave Peggy an encouraging look, Shi Hen immediately turned and ran away without hesitation.

Did I disturb you just now?

Kiana greeted the boy who was leaving the conference room and asked him a question with a slight blush.

Although it had been several hours since she had woken up from her coma and arrived near the conference room, she still couldn't help feeling a little worried, knowing the heavy burden the boy carried.

"Of course not. The important relocation work has been completed. The rest depends on the execution ability of the middle and lower-level personnel of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. In case of any accidents, there are still the headmaster and the others."

Reaching out, Shihen gently stroked the girl's pert, snow-white nose, explaining with a Shi Hen.

As the Schicksal Bishop and the Anti-Entropy Leader, his most important mission is to mediate and guide everyone in a direction forward, rather than doing everything himself.

After all, he was just a frail Third Generation Leader and temporary archbishop, without a useful cheat like the Soul Steel Body, and his own energy was very limited.

"That's good. I was worried that someone would try to sabotage Schicksal again."

Hearing this, Kiana breathed a sigh of relief. Kiana did not reject the boy's affection at all; on the contrary, she took the initiative to move closer to him.

Having witnessed much of the darkness in the world, she no longer naively demanded that everyone be selfless and devoid of any darkness in their hearts.

Instead, what they should do is acknowledge the weaknesses that exist in human nature and strive to manage and overcome them.

"Although their ideologies differ, the Schicksal members share the same desire to Anti-Honkai, which is not much different from ours."

Seeing the worry in the girl's heart, Shi Hen smiled and said, "Even Otto from the original timeline knew how to create a good environment for Theresa's succession, so why would he dig a hole for himself?"

After Welt White removed all the bad apples from the Church of Schicksal, what was left for the Third Generation boy was a clean and pure Schicksal Church.

In this situation, the Finality solution he developed with Einstein and others encountered only minor resistance and was quickly and smoothly implemented.

Even though Shi Hen knew in his heart that this plan, which used the initial version of the Stigmata Project and the Herrscher of Finality as hypothetical enemies, was actually of little value and would only waste the financial and material resources of Schicksal and Reverse Bing.

But it doesn't matter; he never expected that the common people of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy could play a significant role in the Finality.

After all, compared to Kevin's Stigmata Project, which had been in the works for 50,000 years, ordinary people from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy were far too fragile and insignificant.

Even Kiana and the others, who are the main characters, seem rather naive in the face of 50,000 years of history.

In the present civilization, Otto should have been the one to shoulder the banner of savior, could hardly blame Kiana and the others just by thinking about all the mess he made to revive Kallen and the countless scarce resources he expended.

With no information, no resources, and not even much time left, it's already an incredible miracle that Kiana and the others made it to the Finality.

As for the victory method that uses love and beauty as its slogan... not everyone can muster the courage to continue fighting in the face of the overwhelming power of the Finality.

Kiana and others who can do this are already true heroes.

Even the most glorious Previous Civilization suffered a crushing defeat when faced with the Finality for the first time, and could only choose to leave the flame to future generations.

With a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, Shi Hen he looked at the white-haired girl in front of him.

"Hen, you're always like this, thinking too highly of others."

Kiana, unaware of what the boy was truly thinking, said with her cheeks slightly puffed out.

Not only among ordinary people with different thoughts in Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, but even for Herrscher like her who are feared by the world, the boy always remembers the merits of everyone and never easily criticizes others.

Of course, she didn't have a problem with the boy's behavior.

However, after learning about Otto's plot that nearly killed the boy, she still hoped that he would be more careful, especially to guard against the Void Herrscher always wanted to sneak away and use force.

However, now that the boy also possesses the authority to Herrscher of Binding, such a thing should no longer be possible, right?

Thinking of this, Kiana finally felt a little bit of forgiveness for Otto.

"Because this is a story that begins with love."

Unable to resist, Shi Hen poked the white-haired girl's cheek and said with a smile.

"Um?"

Kiana's puffed-up cheeks deflated instantly, and she stared at the boy with wide, confused eyes.

Kiana, how are you feeling? Is there anything else that's bothering you?

Without offering any further explanation, Shi Hen smiled and asked, his gaze towards the white-haired girl full of tender concern.

Since the other party was unconscious due to having their powers "stolen" by [Welt White], he should show more concern for the girl.

"I'm fine now, and my Herrscher Authority have returned to me completely."

Kiana shook her head, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.

When she saw Welt White's actions, she thought she would completely lose her Herrscher Authority like the Herrscher of Domination.

But it turned out that the other party really only borrowed her power and did not cause her any unnecessary harm.

Given Welt White's character, this is indeed a bit too lenient.

Is the other party planning something more subtle and cunning, or...?

Kiana's eyes darted around, and many guesses flashed through her mind.

"As long as you're alright. Although we failed to thwart [Welt White]'s plot this time, we'll definitely win next time."

He ruffled the white-haired girl's head Shi Hen said in a firm tone.

"But that guy is getting stronger and stronger. And... we probably don't have many more chances."

Hearing the boy's encouragement, Kiana lowered her head slightly and did not respond with a smile as she used to.

No matter how much she longed for a happy ending, the usually optimistic girl felt disappointed and frustrated in the face of repeated failures.

"Kiana..."

Looking at the dejected white-haired girl in front of him, Shi Hen suddenly reached out and picked up the girl, then bent his legs slightly and leaped high into the air.

"Huh? Hen!?"

Feeling a sudden loss of weight and hearing the whistling wind beside her ears, Kiana blushed and buried her head in the boy's chest like an ostrich, greedily inhaling the scent emanating from him and savoring every second of the moment.

"Alright, Kiana, you can open your eyes now."

He landed lightly on the rooftop of the highest point of the Floating Island, Shi Hen looked at the white bundle of fluff in his arms with a helpless expression.

"Oh..."

Kiana responded softly, then reluctantly pulled away from the boy's chest. The moment she looked up and around, she was stunned.

In the deep, dark night, a perfect, silvery-white disc hung high above, its clear light tinting the surrounding sky with a touch of brilliance.

It was a fairly ordinary full moon scene, but looking at the white moon disc radiating a cool glow in the sky, Kiana's eyes inexplicably welled up with deep emotion.

"The moon waxes and wanes, the tides rise and fall... There are many ordinary and mundane scenes in this world, and I hope to see them with you."

Gently pulling the girl into his arms, Shi Hen spoke earnestly, word by word.

He sensed that Kiana's faith seemed to be wavering.

Therefore, he had to rekindle hope for this white-haired girl.

Yes, that's right, that's the truth. It wasn't because he was soft-hearted and wanted to make the girl smile again.

Hearing the boy's words, Kiana snapped out of her daze, a bright smile slowly spreading across her face, and then...

Shi Hen's lips were immediately sealed.

After a long while, the two, panting heavily, finally separated, and a silver thread was outlined in the moonlight.

"Actually, when I heard Otto say today that [Welt White] is you, I was very scared."

Kiana rested her head against the boy's chest and said in a soft voice.

"Um..."

He gently hugged the girl and responded Shi Hen a low voice, without offering any comment.

"I'm afraid Otto is telling the truth, afraid that everything between us is a lie..."

Holding the boy close to her waist and back, her fingers gripping his clothes tightly, Kiana's voice trembled slightly.

She has always placed great trust in the boy and would not easily believe Otto's words, so naturally she would not be swayed by this.

Even with only a one in ten thousand chance, Kiana couldn't help but feel fear and unease.

This has nothing to do with whether she believes it or not; it's just that she values the boy too much.

It was so important that even the slightest doubt or stirring of emotion was enough to cause a huge uproar in the girl's heart.

"I'm sorry, Kiana."

He spoke softly, stroking the white-haired girl's head with Shi Hen palm, carefully feeling the girl's hair, which was even smoother than silk.

"No, this has nothing to do with Hen. You are also a victim of this incident."

Upon hearing this, Kiana immediately shook her head and forcefully corrected her.

Ultimately, she didn't doubt the boy because she believed Otto, but because she was dissatisfied with her own tendency to waver so easily.

"You advised me before not to trust others too easily, but now you're doing the same thing yourself."

Shi Hen chuckled lightly.

"This is different. I believe Hen would never lie to me."

Kiana nuzzled her head against the boy's palm, a bright and proud smile spreading across her face.

She had complete trust in the boy, both for his excellence and his feelings.

Thinking to herself, and looking at the handsome face of the boy so close to her, Kiana couldn't help but feel an urge to get even closer to him.

The Finality near, and if we don't do some things now, we may never have the chance again.

"Hen, we..."

Kiana spoke softly, her breath sweet as orchids, as she placed her hand on the boy's collar.

But the next second, a bright light suddenly shone down.