"Oops… was that a bit too harsh?" Kiana called out worriedly, quickly flying off the deck to check on Benares's condition.
Seeing Benares buried in the ground by Ryn, Kiana couldn't help but feel a trace of sadness and heartache.
She clearly didn't know this demonic dragon, but just as she could feel the emotions of Sirin, who was one with her, Kiana could also feel Benares's irrepressible urge to come to her side.
Ryn turned to look at the students who were stunned into place, shocked by his one-finger suppression of a Judgment-class Honkai Beast, and then he too flew down from the deck.
Kiana was standing on the snow, sizing up the large crater Benares had smashed into the ground, wondering how to get it out.
"Don't worry, an attack of this level won't be fatal. I deliberately avoided the four cores that Benares possesses. As long as its cores aren't shattered, it can continuously regenerate. Any injury is temporary for it," Ryn said comfortingly as he landed beside Kiana.
Benares originally should have had five cores, one of which was a Herrscher of Thunder core formed from the Gem of Conquest gifted by Sirin. It was this core that transformed Benares from a beast acting on instinct into a pseudo-Herrscher of Thunder with humanity.
Unfortunately, this core was shattered, and the Gem of Conquest was recovered by Anti-Entropy and implanted into Raiden Mei, making Mei the true Herrscher of Thunder.
With Benares unconscious, the natural disaster also ceased. But the Honkai Beasts remained faithfully on standby, awaiting Kiana's notice.
Ryn cleared a wide area of the surrounding snow and lifted the unconscious Benares out of the ground.
"I can definitely bind this one. I've bound it before. Do you need me to tie it up?" Judah asked, twirling the chains of restraint in her hand, eager to throw them out and bind Benares.
"No need. I can feel that it's different from other Honkai Beasts."
Ryn tapped Judah's silly head and shook his own.
Ever since her chains were ignored by Maheśvara, she had gone to bind Kukulkan, only to have her confidence crushed. Now, whenever she saw a large Honkai Beast, she always wanted to try and bind it, to prove that it wasn't that she was weak, but that Maheśvara and Kukulkan were just too strong.
Ryn saw Kiana standing in front of Benares, staring at it, lost in thought. So he asked, "Kiana, what are you thinking?"
"Mm. This is my retinue, and this is my territory. Leave the rest to me."
"Alright. I'll leave it to you, Kiana."
Ryn retreated with Judah, leaving the scene to Kiana and Benares. At the same time, he had Judah go and look after the students who were inspecting the Honkai Beasts' "military parade."
Kiana placed her hand on Benares's head, softly calling out the name that surfaced in her mind—a name that was both unfamiliar and yet familiar.
She didn't know why she knew this name, but perhaps it was as Sirin had said: they were both extensions of Sirin, not only possessing Sirin's memories but also bearing Sirin's karma.
"Benares…"
"No, Bella… long time no see…"
*Bella? Who is that…*
*Is… that my name?*
Benares had forgotten everything—who it was, what its mission was—but it had carved everything related to its Queen into every cell of its body.
But the Queen's call could not be mistaken.
The sleeping Benares's four large eyes shot open, looking at the small figure before it.
*The Queen has grown up… though she has lost some of her cuteness, she has become even more beautiful.*
*She used to be so small, and now she's grown up… so much taller…*
*But why has her hair turned white… is it because of too much grief…*
Its enormous body now became like a gentle kitten. Benares carefully moved its head to affectionately touch Kiana.
"Hehe, you look so happy… I'm happy too!" Kiana happily spread her arms and lay prone on Benares's head.
"Roar…"
"Mhm… I missed you too."
"Roar…"
"Hehe, we're not destroying humanity anymore! Destroying humanity doesn't do us any good…"
Kiana and Benares, one speaking warmly in a human language, the other roaring softly in the language of a demonic dragon. The human and the dragon, whose languages were not mutually intelligible, established a channel of communication through their hearts, telling each other's stories.
After some time, Benares spread its massive, sky-blue wings, then lowered its body in front of Kiana, letting one wing droop down to form a direct path to its back.
Kiana gently stroked Benares's forehead. "Bella… are you asking me to come up?"
Benares nodded its dragon head. "Roar…"
"Then, here I come!"
Kiana patted Benares's large head, her toes tapping lightly on its body. Like a nimble sprite, she easily jumped onto Benares's back.
"ROAR—!"
Confirming that Kiana was in position, Benares raised its head and let out a kingly roar. Subsequently, the 500,000-odd Honkai Beasts of Siberia roared in unison.
Amidst the rising and falling roars of the Honkai Beasts, Benares flapped its wings, carrying Kiana high into the sky.
Benares flew slowly and steadily, shielding Kiana from any turbulence or strong winds. It carried her over the Hyperion, over the crowd of prostrating Honkai Beasts, and over every inch of Siberian airspace.
Allowing Kiana, in the posture of a monarch, to survey the territory that belonged to her. Letting every being in Siberia understand that their king had returned at this moment.
They would fight for Kiana, sacrifice everything they had, even burn their own souls without hesitation.
Ryn didn't know where his own territory was, nor did he have a territory with thousands of retainers like Mei.
So he didn't tell Kiana how she should face her Honkai Beasts, or what she should do with her retainers.
Should she treat them as mere tools, like Yae Sakura?
Or should she view them as obstacles in her path, like the Herrscher of Thunder?
Or perhaps… like Ryn, abducting retainers of unknown origin, turning them into his own, and creating a Honkai zoo…
Kiana could do none of these, because she was Sirin, and also Kiana Kaslana.
Kiana looked down at the Honkai Beasts below, and they too looked up at her.
"I created you and made you do things that the current me cannot approve of… but this is not your sin. It is the sin of the one who ordered you to do it, it is my sin."
Kiana raised her right hand, and an illusory thread of fate appeared on every Honkai Beast in Siberia. Their ends intertwined and converged into a huge ball of light, floating in Kiana's palm.
Looking at the star of fate woven from the threads of destiny of her Honkai Beasts in her hand, the corners of Kiana's mouth turned up slightly, revealing her unique, angelic, and infinitely beautiful smile.
Then she clenched her hand into a fist, crushing the star of fate in her palm into dust, which dissipated into the world.
"Now, please uphold my decree. Be true to yourselves, and on the premise of not actively harming humans, live your lives more freely!"