While speaking, Mei asserted her strength, and the Void Lance that was binding her hands shattered from the force of the impact.
Realizing what Mei was about to do, Kiana moved her hand away from her left eye, revealing her abnormal, golden pupil. Her expression reflected a mix of surprise and bewilderment: "Mei…"
Sure enough, the next second, Mei grabbed the Void Lance blocking her path, completely ignoring the bloody wound on her neck, and stepped forward with a voice charged with accusation: "But how do you expect me to endure all of this?!"
"Mei, no!!!"
"All I know is that, in my heart, you are more important than this world!"
Mei's declaration struck the hearts of everyone present like a heavy hammer blow.
In Mei's deep, resolute voice, one could hear the determination it contained, as well as the pain and torment she had suffered before reaching this conclusion.
Next, the duel between Kiana, wielding the power of the Herrscher of the Void, and Mei, wielding the potential of the Herrscher of Thunder, would unfold.
As expected, Kiana, whose body was inexplicably damaged, quickly succumbed to the attack and was struck by Mei's lightning, losing consciousness high in the air without even being able to maintain her Herrscher of the Void form.
Just as Kiana deactivated her Herrscher of the Void mode and fell from the sky in her white ribbon form, Mei, in her Herrscher of Thunder form, grabbed Kiana's hand while she was unconscious, just as Kiana had grabbed her hand at Chiba Academy.
"You reached out to me that day. From the moment you took my hand, my destiny changed because of you. You are the most important person in my life."
Whether these were her internal thoughts or spoken aloud, as she finished speaking and the perspective returned to focus on Mei, her eyes finally regained that sweet gaze everyone knew best.
Finally, the video came to an end.
Kiana, who was unconscious, had already been carried back to the rooftop by Mei.
The camera only focused on the unconscious Kiana, but behind her was Mei's shadow, staring fixedly at her.
"If saving you is a sin, then let me be the sinner. Goodbye, Kiana."
The video ended after Mei summoned a red electric dragon, which then transformed into a red lightning bolt and disappeared into the sky.
"…"
After the video finished, everyone remained stunned by the oppressive atmosphere.
Due to the lack of prior context, the information the audience could glean from this video was limited, but at the same time, the amount of information shown to the public in the video was quite substantial.
Especially the two main characters in the video…
After knowing the correct answer and before watching the video, no one expected the battle between Kiana and Mei to be like this… perhaps it should be described as heartbreaking.
I initially thought Kiana was just messing around, although the information revealed in the video suggests Kiana did act rashly, and Mei's reaction was because she was genuinely angry.
It is truly regrettable that both have taken different paths for unknown reasons, and it is unclear when they will be able to reunite.
Waaaaah…!
And amidst that silence, it was Kiana who broke it once more.
Kiana raised her arm to cover her eyes, trying every way to hide her crying, something truly heartbreaking to witness.
Kiana, no matter what happens, I will never leave you.
Kiana has always presented herself as carefree, just as Mei accused her in the video; even covered in wounds, she forced a smile.
It was the first time Mei had seen Kiana cry, and it was a real cry, not the feigned crying she had shown before.
Realizing she was probably responsible for making Kiana cry, even if it was the Kiana in the video, the Kiana of the future, or a Kiana who might not make the same decision in the future, Mei took the initiative to take responsibility and spoke to calm Kiana.
Even Bronya, who always liked to argue with Kiana, approached her with the help of Heavy Bunny, placed her little hand on her shoulder, and comforted her: "Kiana, don't cry, we will always be by your side."
"Mei and Bronya are right, St. Freya will always be everyone's home!"
Himeko and Theresa stepped forward and said the same thing.
Only Ji Lin and Fu Hua remained silent.
Ji Lin was largely unfamiliar with St. Freya and the others.
Fu Hua, on the other hand, was still mentally reviewing the scene from the video.
Let's put Kiana's transformation into the Herrscher of the Void aside for now.
After all, her golden pupils might indicate that Kiana has not yet fully mastered the Herrscher of the Void's powers.
But Mei's Herrscher of Thunder is different; she is a human who truly wields Herrscher powers through her own consciousness.
This also answers, to some extent, a question Fu Hua has always pondered.
Although Captain Himeko's appearance has become blurry in her damaged memories, she always remembers that the power that drove her awakening during the super-mutant factor experiment was her desire to know why the Captain had become the Herrscher of Fire, and the question that had always been hidden in her heart: whether the Captain who did not kill her back then had regained consciousness as a human.
She still hasn't found the answer to the first question, but the second has been confirmed unequivocally by the Herrscher of Thunder in the video.
Thus, perhaps if Kevin hadn't killed the Captain, the Fire Moths might have had a Herrscher on humanity's side.
The reason Fu Hua only fully confirmed this conjecture at this point, even after the existence of the First Herrscher on the human side in this era, is mainly because the First Herrscher is too special; it is a special case difficult to replicate.
However, Mei's interpretation as the Herrscher of Thunder is clearly a turning point that deserves to be explored.
At that moment, in Fu Hua's mind, Mei's importance had risen even to a level higher than the mission target, Kiana.
Waaaaah…!
Kiana heard many words of comfort and realized it wasn't the time to keep crying.
She lowered her arm and looked at Mei with teary eyes: "Heh, I cried because I was so moved."
Mei: ?
"Waaaaah, Mei, do you really like me that much?!"
Kiana cried inconsolably, sobbing and leaning on Mei.
Mei: ???
Everyone was completely bewildered by Kiana's words.
So, Kiana's sadness was not because she and Mei took separate paths at the end of the video, but because she was moved by Mei's sincere confession.
Of course, Kiana's thought process is not entirely different from that of others.
She blew her nose, and her expression became incredibly serious as she looked at Mei: "Mei, shall we make a promise?"
What?
Mei felt embarrassed that her true feelings had been revealed in a video and deliberately singled out by Kiana, but she had no way to avoid it in the Q&A session.
With no escape and only able to face the situation, she became a little more frank.
"It's an agreement that, no matter what happens, we must talk it out properly before making a decision. Although I don't know what happened, you hit me very hard in the video, so I must have done something to anger you. But you were also wrong in the video, knocking me unconscious and running away, behaving like a true scoundrel!"
Kiana raised her head and said this to Mei, who was a head taller than her.
"…"
"I understand the logic, but how did I become a 'bad woman'?"
Mei felt it was necessary to defend her lifelong reputation.
Otherwise, who knows what kind of image Kiana would have painted after passing through Kiana's magic mouth.
"Isn't it a despicable woman?"
Kiana tilted her head and counted on her fingers: "First, whatever the reason, it's not right to hit me so hard, is it? Second, not only did you hit me, but you also ran away. That's also wrong, isn't it? Third, you confessed your love to me and then left without ceremony. Do you expect me to praise you for doing the right thing?"
Mei: "…"
However, why did Kiana's words sound so reasonable to her?
Nevertheless, whether it is right or wrong is not important.
Now that Mei has already expressed her true feelings in the video, it would be pretentious of her to be overly reserved at this point.
Mei sighed softly, a fond smile on her face: "I simply can't do anything with you."
Mei gently stroked Kiana's soft, fluffy hair, her eyes tender: "I promise."
Hooray!
Kiana immediately burst into laughter through her tears, jumped on the spot, and lunged at Mei.
"Kiana, honestly, you should be more careful when you're in public."
Mei caught Kiana as she lunged at her with a hint of helplessness, looking around.
The people whose gazes fell upon her looked away; some played with their fingers, others with their hair. If they hadn't harbored a slight knowing smile, Mei would have truly believed they hadn't noticed what was happening around them.
Thanks to Kiana's lively and cheerful personality, the tense atmosphere left after watching the video instantly dissipated.
Just as almost everyone had forgotten the existence of the Q&A space, it reappeared, making its presence known once more.
[Question 4: Who killed Murata Ryusuke?]
[a: Otto]
[b: The Void and the Innumerable Treasures]
[c: Walter Young]
[d: Alien]
"Who is Murata Ryusuke?"
Seeing the questions appear on the holographic screen, Kiana, who was clinging to Mei's neck, spoke with some confusion.
Mei, as if remembering something, gently tapped Kiana on the head and whispered a reminder: "Kiana, have you forgotten Himeko-sensei's last name?"
As she spoke, Mei looked at Himeko cautiously.
Of all the people present, only Ji Lin, who didn't know Himeko very well, and Kiana, who was unaware of the situation until asked, were not in the loop.
As for the others, even if they hadn't seen Himeko's file or knew who her relatives were, they could deduce from the surname Murata that the person mentioned in this question has a close relationship with Himeko.
As for Himeko, her expression turned somber, as did everyone else's.
She never imagined that the things she had been searching for eight years ago—what she had joined to investigate the truth behind her father's death, a job she once had at Schicksal, and the things she had done to limitedly shorten her own life but still hadn't discovered—would be answered in this Q&A space.
Is it simply a cruel twist of fate?
However, Himeko had already found meaning in what was left of her life.
Her gaze fell upon her three students. Seeing Kiana look at her with some concern due to Mei's reminder, she knew she wouldn't regret her decision.
Now, let her see who truly killed her father.
"It had already been agreed that I would answer this question. To be honest, I didn't expect Question 4 to be related to me. That's right, Murata Ryusuke is my father. He was the director of the Schicksal Research Institute 7308. However, when I obtained my doctorate and wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a scientist, I received the news of his death. To investigate the truth about his passing, I chose to undergo the Schicksal artificial Stigmata modification surgery and joined the Valkyrie Squad. But, as you can imagine, I have now retired from the Valkyrie Squad and come to St. Freya. However, after all these years, I still haven't found any clues about the truth of my father's death."
After explaining the background, Himeko looked at everyone, especially Theresa and Fu Hua: "I don't have much information, so I need your help to analyze this."
"It shouldn't be Grandpa."
Theresa nodded and said, "When you applied to join St. Freya, I reviewed your documents and discovered your purpose. I also used my authority to investigate the cause of your father's death. At least according to the information I found, during the period your father passed away, your grandfather remained at the Schicksal headquarters and was not seen near him."
Himeko affirmed: "Then option A can be ruled out."
Then Fu Hua intervened: "Given that option A is ruled out, option B can also be ruled out. Because the Void Archives are the First Divine Key, and they have always been in Otto's hands."
Himeko looked at Fu Hua but asked no further questions. Instead, she moved on based on Fu Hua's assessment.
"In that case, the correct answer can only be C or D."
Between option C and option D, Himeko easily chose the final answer.
In her opinion, although she found it incredible that her father had died at the hands of the leader of the Anti-Entropy Alliance, she preferred to believe the killer was Walter Young rather than believing he had died at the hands of aliens whose existence has never been proven.
After all, it is not entirely impossible.
It is important to know that her father works for Schicksal, while Anti-Entropy has always been an enemy of Schicksal.
Therefore, it is not impossible for her father to have offended Anti-Entropy during a job and been killed by the leader of Anti-Entropy.
As for the details, they will be revealed later in the Q&A section.
Thinking this, Himeko stepped forward, looked up, and said, "My answer is C, Walter Young."
This time, the Q&A section responded very quickly.
[Correct answer. Congratulations on obtaining the final version of Shaniat's Blood.]