Time rewinds to three days ago, the moment Ryn vanished.
St. Freya High School.
Because Ryn had previously detached from this world, not only did Cortana lose contact instantly, but the Oath of Judah, which was linked to Ryn, also became unresponsive, reverting to its weapon form.
Judah, which had been by Kiana's side, suddenly went inert, and on top of that, Cortana was unreachable. Kiana's first reaction was that something had happened to Ryn. She immediately contacted Theresa and then went to Otto to ask about Ryn's whereabouts.
But Otto brushed off all her inquiries, claiming Ryn was on a secret mission...
After a frantic Kiana was brought back to St. Freya by Theresa, just as Theresa was comforting her as they got off the plane, saying, "Grandpa Otto would never do something he's not sure about, Ryn is definitely fine," the alarms at St. Freya High School blared.
At Kiana's side, Theresa instantly felt a pressure reminiscent of the former Herrscher of the Void, but it was infinitely more powerful.
Kiana's eyes turned one icy blue and one golden. Honkai energy coated her body, slowly forming a battle skirt. Behind her, two pairs of resplendent divine wings and a halo above her head were gradually taking shape.
Although she didn't know why Kiana was suddenly undergoing a Herrscher transformation, the indescribable aura emanating from her made every cell in Theresa's body tremble with both fear and excitement.
Theresa cursed under her breath, realizing this was a major crisis. Then, while Kiana was still transforming, she knocked her out with Judah and tied her up...
The half-formed divine wings shattered and dissipated into the air. At that moment, the Honkai energy levels at St. Freya High School and for several kilometers around skyrocketed by dozens of percentage points, effectively doubling the concentration.
An inquiry from Schicksal HQ came instantly. Without a second thought, Theresa replied to HQ: "Mei's power is out of control, showing signs of Herrscher transformation, but it has been contained and is not a major issue."
Then, not long after the alarms sounded, Mei, who was still in class, was dragged away, desk and all, by a fully-armed Himeko who burst into the classroom. Mei was taken to Yiselian's lab, where she was provided with good food and drink.
Then Yiselian fabricated a bunch of data and sent it back to Schicksal...
Mei still had no idea what was going on and was locked in Yiselian's lab for three days...
Fortunately, during her confinement, Kiana was also brought to the room next to hers by Theresa. Theresa made up a random excuse to placate Mei and asked her to take care of Kiana.
She also left Judah behind to keep Kiana constantly bound, its power of restraint always active to neutralize and annihilate the Honkai energy radiating from Kiana.
Three days later, Kiana woke up. Her eyes were still one icy blue and one golden. Though her head was spinning, her mind was fixated on a single thought: find Ryn.
Kiana looked at Judah, which was tightly bound around her. With a slight exertion of force from her hands, she broke free of Judah's restraints, then punched through the lab's isolation barrier and rushed out.
Her White Knight: Moonlight battlesuit materialized instantly, and Kiana soared into the sky, disappearing from St. Freya High School's airspace.
In an adjacent room of the lab, Mei, who was washing up, saw everything Kiana did clearly.
Mei was completely dumbfounded, her mouth agape for a long time. The cup in her hand fell to the floor, spilling water everywhere.
"Um... what has been happening these past few days? Why do I feel like I've completely lost touch with the world!
Why can Kiana just snap Judah's chains and smash the lab's reinforced Honkai shield with one punch?!"
——————————————
Looking at the signal source on the screen, which was moving at super high speed while frantically erupting with Honkai energy, Otto's face darkened another shade.
He had thought he had placated Kiana earlier, but then Theresa had just sent a message saying Kiana had escaped. Satellites then began tracking Kiana moving at high speed all over the globe.
This kind of behavior—expending Honkai energy without any regard for consumption, exposing everything to the outside world—was like dancing on all of Otto's landmines at once.
But the subject was Kiana, and Otto couldn't bring himself to hit or scold her... Whether it was because she was born from his hands and thus a child of his, or because of her identity as the Herrscher of the Void, Otto had always given Kiana the best possible treatment.
(Actually, during the Final Lesson, the one Otto planned to sacrifice was Theresa... Himeko was a complete accident.)
Fortunately, satellites had previously captured images of Cortana unleashing the Judgment of Shamash. Although he didn't know where Ryn had run off to now, it was enough to pacify Kiana.
Otto sent a communication to Kiana, telling her:
"Ryn has completed his mission and is back. Stop releasing your power and go back to St. Freya to wait for him. I promise he's fine and will definitely come to find you."
Kiana stopped mid-air, looking at the communication from Otto and the thousands of unanswered calls she had made to Ryn. She questioned Otto.
"I don't believe you. If Ryn were back, he wouldn't ignore my calls."
"His phone is broken..."
"Ah? Is that so..."
Kiana was taken aback. That's right! How could she forget the possibility that his phone was broken?
Kiana quickly sent a message to Cortana. After receiving Cortana's reply, Kiana's heart was finally at ease.
But as soon as she relaxed, the backlash hit her. Kiana passed out and fell straight from the sky.
Otto watched everything via satellite and immediately mobilized five Soulium computers. Using his creator privileges, he forcibly broke through the White Knight: Moonlight's defenses, accessed its control system, and activated its auto-pilot to return Kiana to St. Freya, while also arranging for drones to escort her.
"I am still too kind. I should have left a backdoor back then. Thankfully, my wisdom is as sharp as ever, and I was still able to hack into it."
Otto wiped away non-existent sweat, praising himself. Then he switched to a new body; the previous one had overheated from overclocking.
"Machines are ultimately just machines. I should find a chance to make a deal with Ryn and have him resurrect my body."
"Alright, Kiana's situation is more or less resolved, but this Honkai energy of hers doesn't belong to the Herrscher of the Void at all... Kiana, Ryn, how many more secrets are you two hiding from me..."
"Forget it, it's not important. I'll let Ryn handle it himself. After all, I'm just a worried old father."
Time fast-forwards to a while later, when a fuming Kika stormed into Otto's office to question him.
After brushing Kika off, Otto prepared to head to Heimdall Labs to perform some adjustments related to Lü Baihe.
Then, half an hour later, Ryn was banging on the door of Heimdall Labs.
"Open up! Otto! I know you're in there! You have the guts to spread rumors, so have the guts to open the door!"
Otto covered his face speechlessly and sighed at the heavens.
Why did this idiot Ryn come looking for me at Schicksal HQ so quickly? Shouldn't you be going back to St. Freya to find Kiana first!
Otto couldn't be bothered with Ryn right now, so he pinched his voice and shouted from behind the door.
"Otto isn't here, I am the Void Archives!"
......
And then, time returns to the main storyline.