The moment he entered the Far East region, Ryn sensed that the concentration of Honkai energy in the air was off. The closer he got to St. Freya High School, the more active the surrounding Honkai energy became.
The familiar yet strange aura lingering in the air made Ryn subconsciously think that God Kiana had arrived.
But that was impossible, because God Kiana was already dead, her soul trapped in the beyond by the Stigmata, unable to reincarnate... She could only be seen in the Stigmata Space.
"So did something happen to Kiana... or did something happen at St. Freya High School?"
Ryn muttered to himself while looking at the data on the aircraft's monitor, checking if any major incidents had recently occurred at St. Freya High School.
The most prominent event was Mei's Herrscher transformation causing heightened Honkai energy activity in the seas around the Far East, triggering numerous Honkai incidents.
"Mei's energy is out of control, showing signs of Herrscher transformation... Tsk, even I don't believe this excuse. What was Theresa thinking, that she could fool Otto with this?"
Ryn turned off the screen. Schicksal's system had no record of what had happened, and Theresa had intentionally hidden the truth, so it was obvious that something had happened to Kiana.
Cortana was still dormant, undergoing an integration and upgrade with the Soulium, otherwise Ryn would have just asked her directly what had happened.
Wait! Herrscher transformation!
Ryn quickly flipped through his memories of God Kiana in his Stigmata Space, searching for the time of the Herrscher of Finality's descent.
I hope I'm just overthinking it, how could something like that happen...
How could the process of that apocalypse repeat itself so coincidentally...
"Kiana might be in trouble, we need to get back quickly."
Ryn called out softly, then picked up Kika, who was resting in the control room.
"Hmm? What happened?"
Kika, who had been sleeping lightly, woke up instantly. She took off her eye mask, wrapped her arms around Ryn's neck, and hung in his embrace.
"I don't know, but it's probably not anything good."
Ryn gave the pilot a heads-up, then jumped directly out of the open hatch with Kika in his arms.
He turned into a meteor, flying towards St. Freya High School at super high speed.
———————————————
Within a top-secret restricted area of St. Freya High School, Theresa had moved all non-essential items and locked Kiana inside.
Theresa loved Kiana dearly, and it was precisely because she loved Kiana so much that she had chosen to lock her up now.
That feeling, as if welcoming the return of a true god, the surrounding Honkai seething, the fusion factors in her entire body trembling with excitement, the feeling of despair constantly welling up in her heart...
Theresa didn't want to experience that a second time, and she certainly didn't want that terrifying feeling to envelop all of humanity.
But what was the state of the being that Theresa feared so much right now...
After learning that Ryn was fine and would be back soon, Kiana instantly entered a state of sagely calm, as if that frantic person from before had nothing to do with her.
Upon waking, Kiana's eyes briefly shone with a brilliant golden light. Her pupils constricted into black dots, and her entire irises turned a dazzling gold.
「The time... has not yet come...」
As the hollow voice faded, Kiana's eyes transformed again. Her pupils expanded into the shape of a starburst, and their color gradually shifted from brilliant gold to a cosmic purple.
Halfway through the transformation, Kiana shut her eyes. When she opened them again, their color had returned to a crystalline ice blue.
「...」
「Forget it... It is not yet time...」
"Ryn is coming back, why am I still spacing out here! Oh man, how did I get tied up again!"
Kiana was bound tightly from head to toe by Judah. Wriggling on the floor like a caterpillar, she shouted.
"Why am I tied up again! I've told you so many times! Grand-aunt, I'm really fine! I've calmed down! Grand-aunt, let me go!"
"Nonsense! You told me you were fine three days ago! And what happened? This morning you wrecked Yiselian's lab! And you flew around the world three times!
Kiana, I'm doing this for your own good! I'll let you go after Yiselian and Himeko confirm that you're okay!"
Theresa comforted Kiana in a soft voice, both angry and worried. She, Yiselian, and the others had all seen the change in Kiana's eyes just now.
When the golden light appeared, Kiana's body once again erupted with that previous power, and when the purple light appeared, the Honkai energy throughout the entire Far East went into a violent frenzy.
The two powers were complete opposites, yet they shared a hint of the same essence. But no matter which one it was, Theresa was certain it was a power that absolutely surpassed that of a Herrscher.
"Hmph!"
Kiana snorted coldly and strained to break Judah's chains. She didn't know why she had been able to tear Judah apart like plastic before, but if she could do it then, there was no reason her current self couldn't!
"Hah!" Kiana strained, and the chains shook slightly from her movement, then tightened even more.
After several failed attempts, Kiana went back to wriggling on the floor, her eyes welling up as she tried to beg Theresa for mercy with a cute act.
But Theresa's expression was firm and unwavering. She even turned her back so she wouldn't have to look at Kiana.
"Guh... Help! My grand-aunt is trying to murder her cute and charming niece!"
Veins popped on Theresa's forehead. She spun around and yelled at Kiana:
"I am not murdering you! As soon as Yiselian and the others get their results, I will let you go immediately!"
*BOOM—*
A large hole was blown through the ceiling of the underground restricted area from the surface, and sunlight shone down through the several-hundred-meter gap.
Ryn kicked through hundreds of meters of earth and landed beside Theresa with Kika.
"What results? Care to let me in on it?"
"Ryn!" The moment she saw Ryn, Kiana started bouncing with excitement, despite being tied up like a caterpillar.
"Ryn? You're back!" Theresa looked at Ryn and Kika in surprise.
"Yeah, something came up, but it's all been resolved smoothly." Ryn nodded at Theresa, then turned to look at Kiana.
Then Ryn opened his arms, and Kika deftly hopped down, standing to the side and frowning at the state of the underground lab.
In the vast underground cavern, there was only the caterpillar Kiana sealed behind a barrier and Theresa outside it.
Kika didn't like this atmosphere. She immediately summoned her external armor, Sabayon, which covered her body.
Kika didn't like this environment, and Ryn liked it even less, especially since the one locked up was Kiana...
"I don't know why you locked Kiana up, Theresa, but she shouldn't be locked up."
Ryn placed his hand on the transparent barrier, and the tens-of-meters-thick barrier, specialized against Honkai, shattered in an instant.