When Ryn opened his eyes again, he had already left the world of Fire Moth.
But he had only left a little, not completely.
Because unlike Penglaiji Ryn, Yiselian, and the others, they had entered Penglaiji Ryn's Stigmata Space through her Stigmata, whereas he had entered through the Stigmata Terminal.
After leaving Penglaiji Ryn's Stigmata Space, Ryn arrived before the Stigmata Terminal.
This was an illusory world devoid of substance. The ground beneath his feet was like a river with shimmering light.
At the center of the world, before Ryn, someone was waiting for his arrival.
A small girl sat on the Heart Lake, resting on her own legs. She had two pairs of huge white wings on her back, gently curved to cover her body.
Her pure white hair was tied into two long ponytails that trailed behind her on the Heart Lake. There were purple markings on her body that matched the color of her eyes.
Above her head was a beautiful and radiant golden halo.
Pure and innocent, holy and ethereal, perhaps this was the angel from people's legends.
(No, and don't you dare say it's the angel from the Bible!)
However, the girl's face looked exactly like Kiana's, which made Ryn feel a bit strange...
"Hello, Ryn."
The girl's voice was as divine and ethereal as her appearance, delicate and inspiring a desire to protect.
"Hello, who might you be? And what is your relationship with Kiana?"
"Verifying authority... Authority verified. Answering Ryn's question is permitted.
Dr. MEI of Era:ZERO used the body of the Era:ZERO Kiana as the raw material to create the core of the Stigmata Terminal. I am a new life form that was born from Kiana's remains over a long period of time—Alaya."
After hearing Alaya's introduction, Ryn felt a surge of anger. Hadn't the Kiana of this world suffered enough? Even her body couldn't rest in peace...
"Why did that Dr. MEI use Kiana's body as the core of the Stigmata Terminal?"
"Because the screenwriter has EVA etched into their DNA, so turning a human body into a terminal machine is probably a tribute?"
"Oh, so that's how it is..." Ryn nodded thoughtfully. So that's how it is... my ass!
"Alaya, did you just say something incredible!"
"No. You asked, I answered. There was nothing incredible."
"Hehe... alright, stop teasing the child."
Janna's figure, shrouded in a veil, slowly walked to Alaya's side and picked her up.
"There's no complex reason. It's just that the operation of the Stigmata Terminal requires a vast amount of energy, and in this world, only I can meet that requirement.
But to withstand such a massive amount of energy, only Kiana, who shares the same path as me, is capable.
So Kiana became the vessel for the Stigmata Terminal, and I, at Kiana's request, contributed my own core to power Alaya."
As soon as Janna finished speaking, another woman suddenly appeared on the scene—Mana.
Mana angrily snatched Alaya from Janna's hands.
"I told you, don't touch Alaya!"
"Alright, alright~" Janna smiled and took a step back, distancing herself from Alaya.
"You're such a hateful child, Mana. Even though the Stigmata Terminal, Alaya, and even you all exist because of me, you're so cold to me."
"We have a symbiotic agreement..." Mana was about to explain the agreement they had made with Janna.
"Okay, okay! I know, I know! You've said it so many times, I can recite it from memory."
Janna covered her ears and looked at Mana with a smile.
"Hmph!"
Mana, holding Alaya, snorted coldly at Janna and was about to turn and leave, but she paused when she saw Ryn.
"Alaya, did you create this one too?"
Alaya shook her head. Only Penglaiji Ryn's birth was under her control. But Ryn... he wasn't a being of this world, so how could she possibly control him?
"No, Ryn is not in my records."
"Then... never mind."
Mana was about to say something to Ryn, but she decided against it.
"I am Mana, the autonomous AI that guards the Stigmata Terminal. If you have any problems, you can call my name, and I can fulfill your request within the scope of my authority."
"Then can I hold her?"
Ryn asked tentatively. Alaya was so cute, and even cuter being held by Janna and Mana. As expected of the ultimately, incredibly, super-duper cute Kiana!
Mana didn't say anything to Ryn's question, but her previously gentle expression instantly turned cold. She shot Ryn a harsh glare, then left with Alaya.
"Guh... I can't even just hold her?" Ryn grumbled awkwardly.
Janna: "Haha~ Ryn, are you doing that on purpose? Mana strictly forbids anyone from touching Alaya's real body, not even me."
Ryn sighed regretfully: "Sigh, what if, you know? Alaya is so cute, I want to hold her too~"
Stigmata Kiana: [Just an old woman who's tens of thousands of years old. Instead of holding her, hold me. I'm also Kiana, look at me! I was only born a few years ago, a perfect loli!]
"Alright, let's not talk about other things. Alaya and I have been watching the situation in Penglaiji Ryn's Stigmata Space. Although the outcome was a bit unexpected, you all did very well."
"...Janna, you were watching the whole time? Then why didn't you intervene? If it were you, things wouldn't have turned out that way, right..."
"Hehe... Ryn, like you, I am just a passerby in this world. Although I have left my footprints in this world, there is ultimately no place for me here. The meaning of my existence is only to fulfill my promise to her, to witness that possibility that belongs to humanity."
After saying that, Janna took out a cute little octopus from behind her back and handed it to Ryn.
"What is this? Why does this octopus have a human head!!"
"It's called Nana. Isn't it cute? I think it's quite adorable!" Janna held Nana, looking at it from all angles, and didn't feel there was anything strange about its appearance.
Ryn: "It's fine, it's fine. Janna, what are you giving me this for... is it a pet?"
Janna: "Not really, I just think you'll definitely need it. Your body currently contains a vast amount of energy. Although that energy isn't Honkai energy, its danger level is no less than Honkai energy's.
At its most severe, the magnitude of your energy has reached a level that could trigger an energy tide storm. That's why I didn't let you appear directly in the real world, but had you appear in this Stigmata Space instead."
Ryn: "What do I do... I've already destroyed one solar system. I can't go out now and have the Earth explode too, right?"
Janna raised her eyebrows and proudly held up Nana. Nana also proudly cried out, "Nana."
"That's why the Nana I'm giving you comes in handy~ Nana is a creature created from my core, so it's basically my core too.
As long as you fuse with my core, you can freely control the energy in your body and no longer have to worry about your body's tolerance limit or energy leakage."
Ryn took Nana and fell into deep thought. Although Stigmata Kiana had long said to fuse with Janna's core, Ryn never expected that Janna would give him the core herself... and that it would be an octopus?
"Can't swallow it? Then grilling it is also an option."
Janna took Nana from Ryn's arms, then skillfully laid out knives and a barbecue grill. With a technique honed by at least twenty years in a street food stall, she quickly prepared Nana and placed it on the grill to cook.
"??? Janna???"
"Don't underestimate me! I've infiltrated Senba Academy and run a barbecue stall selling takoyaki and grilled octopus. Everyone who's eaten it says it's delicious!"
Nana: "Nana..."
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(Janna is a pure actor. The most powerful Era:ZERO was destroyed by her with a casual wave.
Back then, she even drained thirty percent of the Honkai energy to help Delta evolve.
Later, she weakened herself, constantly splitting her power to feed kills to Schicksal. Then she just stood there and let the Covenant of Radiance blow up her core. In the end, it was all just to look half-dead and pitiful so she could confess to Kiana!!
Then in the final battle, she popped up again and slapped the Will Coordinator twice, leaving the Will Coordinator completely stunned.)