No babies were going to be born. Kukulkan thought for a moment. Ryn hadn't called it over for anything important anyway, and Maheśvara was still waiting for it, so it directly escaped into the void and ran away.
To think that it, a Honkai Beast, could be pressured by its parent to get married and have children. This home was no longer worth staying in!
Kukulkan ran away as quickly as it had arrived.
Kiana, who had just flown over, hadn't even had a chance to say hello to Kukulkan before it was gone.
"Hmph, ignoring me. I'll remember this grudge."
Kiana withdrew the hand she had just raised, her little face fell, and she noted down in her heart the fact that Kukulkan had ignored her and left. When she had the chance in the future, she would definitely give it a good thrashing.
"Ryn! Mei! I'm back!"
Kiana turned her head and forgot all about Kukulkan, happily waving to Ryn and Mei while riding on Benares.
As she approached the space above Ryn, Kiana leaped off Benares's back, spreading her arms in the sky, feeling the flow of the air.
Benares was startled by Kiana's jump, thinking it had accidentally thrown her off, and immediately turned around to catch her.
But someone was faster than it. Ryn stomped on the ground and shot up like a rocket. He rushed towards the sky, flew past Benares, and caught the falling Kiana.
Ryn held Kiana's slender waist and spun a few times in the air to break the momentum, then landed smoothly.
"You silly girl, you could have just let me land naturally. Why did you have to fly up to catch me~" Kiana's face flushed as she hid in Ryn's arms. Being watched by so many students and Honkai Beasts was quite embarrassing.
Ryn affectionately kissed Kiana's forehead, looking at the silly girl in his arms who was usually so carefree but would also be shy under everyone's gaze.
"You spread your arms and came running towards me, stumbling. If I had just stood there waiting woodenly, and the wind had blown you away, wouldn't I regret it for the rest of my life?"
"If the wind blew me away, I would stay where the wind stopped. I believe you would find me," Kiana said softly.
Just as Ryn was delighting in the fact that Kiana could also say sweet things, in the next moment, Kiana was brandishing her little fists angrily.
"Even if you can't find me, I'll open a portal myself and come back, then I'll beat your damn head in."
"Hahaha… even just to avoid being beaten by Kiana, I will definitely find you."
Ryn tapped his head against Kiana's, then held her and spun around a few times.
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Kiana sat in Ryn's lap, the two of them together on Benares's back.
Because Ryn had beaten up Benares earlier, Benares was initially reluctant to let Ryn on its back.
But even though Benares had been very unwilling at first, not wanting to carry anyone other than its Queen, after Ryn looked at it and their eyes met, Benares understood that following Ryn was the right choice for the Queen.
Not to mention it couldn't afford to provoke the giant dragon that had suddenly appeared and disappeared earlier, just with Ryn on its back, a hundred of itself wouldn't dare to challenge him.
Mei and Bronya, together, sat on the left and right hands of Project Bunny respectively, slowly floating towards the Hyperion, preparing for the return journey.
Mei sat on Project Bunny's hand, her legs swaying with the wind. She propped her chin on her hands, which rested on her legs, and looked at Ryn and Kiana in the distance. Her eyes flickered, and it was unknown what she was thinking.
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"Watching them, what do you feel in your heart?"
"I… I don't know… Seeing them so happy, I should be happy too, but why am I not happy at all…"
"Death paved a path for you to ascend to godhood. A torrent of thunder served as a salute, welcoming your arrival. Because you are a queen, crowned under the watchful eyes of the masses!"
"No, I'm not. That was you…"
"But I am you, the truest you… It was you who buried the anger in your heart, the unwillingness in your heart, the ambition to possess everything and enslave the world, in your past. You forged me, the past self you abandoned, in blood and tears…!
Humility, kindness, consideration, gentleness… Hahaha, don't tell me you've been pretending for so long that you really think this is you? Raiden Mei, or should I call you… Queen of Thunder?"
A flash of purple appeared in Mei's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
She drew the tachi she always carried, laid it and its scabbard flat across her knees, and entered a state of sword meditation, calming her mind.
This was what her father had taught her, from a young age… Her father had said that a demon resided within her heart, and she must meditate daily to temper her will and fight it.
At that time, Mei thought her father was joking, but he had sternly supervised her and warned her not to be careless.
Mei didn't understand, but as a child, she chose to follow her father's arrangements…
She didn't know when she had started practicing sword meditation to cultivate her mind, nor when she had stopped.
It probably began and ended when her personality completely changed, when her Stigmata awakened, when she truly heard its voice…
"Herrscher of Thunder… you are my past, I am your present. Don't try to tempt me anymore. I know what kind of person I am, and I know what kind of person I should become.
Love has never been fair, just like the heart has never been in the center from the beginning, it's always been biased. He loves me, I love him. I am in his heart, and he is in mine. That is enough."
Suddenly, Mei seemed to remember something, and her furrowed brow relaxed a little.
"If I'm still not content with this… then what about Kika, who is being rushed all over the world with various missions every day, so busy that she barely even gets to see Ryn?"
In the Herrscher of Thunder's mind, the image of Kika appeared—usually so lazy that she didn't even want to lift a hand, but when it was time to eat, she was as energetic as the Monkey King bursting forth.
Thinking about how Kika and Mei had a good relationship, supporting and bickering with each other. But every time she faced herself, she would raise her weapon without hesitation, her eyes filled only with coldness.
"Heh… so the reason you could endure until now is because there's someone more miserable than you at the bottom, is that it?!
But Raiden Mei, you must understand one thing… Mushoku Kika's busyness is only temporary. When she is free and returns to St. Freya High School, Ryn's already tight schedule will become even scarcer.
Mushoku Kika will take away most of the time that belongs to you, Raiden Mei. At that time, will you still be able to smile?
I am your past, you are my present. But only when we are together, is it our future."
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