Hearing this, Siegfried smiled knowingly, loosened his wrist, and said, "I understand, Kiana. You truly are my silly daughter! Let me see if your skills have improved."
In the training room, Kiana and Siegfried began their duel.
Siegfried effortlessly blocked Kiana's attack and laughed: "What? Silly girl? You won't leave here until you defeat me."
Kiana smiled confidently upon hearing this: "Of course I know that!"
As an observer, Theresa easily concluded why the two were in a stalemate.
Neither one used their full strength... Could it be because Kiana fantasizes about meeting her father? It's like a playful interaction between father and daughter.
Thinking of this, Theresa couldn't help but recall her memories of when she was a Valkyrie at Schicksal Headquarters.
At that time, in order to improve her strength, she often pestered Cecilia to train with her.
However, Cecilia never used excessive force, treating it as if they were playing, yet she still benefited greatly from it.
After all, she is Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie!
However, just as Theresa was immersed in her memories of the past, an alarm suddenly sounded in the training room.
"What?!"
Theresa slammed her hand on the table and immediately pulled up the school's internal surveillance footage.
An intruder has appeared in the academy, claiming to be the First Herrscher and abducting Raiden Mei.
Learning this information, Theresa immediately called out to Kiana in the training room: "Someone has infiltrated the academy! They've kidnapped Mei! Kiana, end the training immediately!"
Kiana, in the training room, was startled by Theresa's reminder: "What... Mei?!"
Kiana turned to Siegfried with an urgent look: "Did you hear that, bastard Dad? End this training right now!"
However, Siegfried was still smiling: "Who said you could leave, Kiana? Didn't I say you can only leave here if you defeat me?"
"Stop joking! Mei is in danger right now... I have to get to her!"
"Mei? Who is that? What could be more important to you right now than spending time with your old man?"
"Mei is the most important thing to me! If you know that, you'd better disappear already! Bastard Dad!"
She is willing to do anything for someone important to her—she truly is my daughter. But... I won't let you go.
Siegfried finally sobered up at that moment, and with a serious expression, he pulled the Kaslana family's twin-handed ancestral weapon, the Judgement of Shamash, from behind his back and aimed it at Kiana.
"The joking stops here. Raiden Mei... you are the Third Herrscher, the Herrscher of Thunder, right? It's only right that she dies here. Kiana, don't forget the Kaslana family's mission: to protect the world from the Honkai! To protect this world, Herrschers must be destroyed, even if they are the ones you love most."
"Dad... why?"
Kiana couldn't believe that such ruthless words could come from Siegfried's mouth.
Even if he is just a simulated computer program.
But this was also simulated based on her memories.
Then...
Siegfried remained silent, his only answer to Kiana being the attack that whizzed past her body from the gun barrel.
The Honkai energy, compressed and accelerated through the gun barrel, produced a whistling sound as it passed Kiana.
When it finally hit the floor of the training room, it caused a violent explosion and roar.
With her back to the flames of the explosion, Kiana's figure stood alone yet resolute.
"The Handgun Form of the Judgement of Shamash and Siegfried... You want to kill your daughter?!"
Outside the training room, Theresa was also shocked by Siegfried's actions.
She couldn't understand...
Is this a computer simulation error, or would the real Siegfried make the same decision if he were here?
Forgive me, Kiana, I had to do it.
As Siegfried finished speaking, a memory she had deliberately forgotten surged into Kiana's mind.
In her memory, she was still a child, kneeling helplessly in the snow, surrounded by bloodstains that couldn't be identified as human or from other creatures.
The most important thing is her appearance...
Her eyes, once blue, had changed at some point.
An ominous golden light surged in her right eye, spreading even beyond the eye area and forming mysterious golden patterns on her face.
Kiana has no memories of her life before the age of 8.
Her father told her that she had suffered a severe head injury in an accident, so she couldn't remember anything before that.
She asked her father what her name was. Her father was silent for a while and then said, "Your name is... whatever... it doesn't matter what your name is. You only need to know... that you are my daughter, and that is enough."
Her father had his back to the fireplace at the time, so she couldn't see his expression when he spoke those words.
Her father also told her that she was born into the Kaslana family and that her mother died when she was two years old.
Her father took her away from the family, and they lived in a remote village.
Her father was very good to her; he gave her everything she wanted.
But she wasn't happy... because her father had never treated her well and had never celebrated her birthday.
He would get completely drunk every time it was her birthday.
Then he would collapse on the floor, mumbling two names:
"Cecilia... Kiana..."
What an irresponsible father... But she also knows that this kind of father is a hero who protects humanity.
After leaving Schicksal, Dad was completely alone, but he still persisted in using his own power to fight the Honkai.
After every battle, my Dad had new wounds.
After bandaging her father's wound, she couldn't help but ask: "Why do you still protect others even when things have come to this?"
Siegfried smiled upon hearing this, but she knew it wasn't a smile directed at her.
Dad said, "Perhaps seeing people harmed by the Honkai makes the blood of the Kaslana family in my veins boil."
Her father's words were deeply etched into her mind, and she resolved to become a Kaslana family warrior who would do anything to protect others.
Her father would teach her the Kaslana family's gun-fu, but he never allowed her to fight the Honkai Beasts.
Every time I made a request, my dad would repeat the same sentence: "No... I won't allow you to fight... There is no need for it!"
This situation continued until the winter when she was 11 years old...
Her father was injured in combat again. She bandaged his wounds and let him rest in bed.
Seeing her father's frail appearance, she silently made a decision, took a gun, and decided to prove to her father that she could also become a capable warrior.
She took a gun and went alone to the snowfield to face the Honkai Beasts her father had been fighting.
However, things did not go as planned.
The Honkai Beasts were too powerful for her at the time, and she also lacked the ability to use her father's guns.
Therefore, instead of defeating the Honkai Beast, she confidently appeared in front of it and found herself in danger.
Just as she was watching the Honkai Beast rushing towards her and closed her eyes in resignation, the expected pain and death did not arrive.
She cautiously opened her eyes and saw her father's tall and imposing figure blocking her way.
Her father gripped the spike of the Honkai Beast with one hand. Although he had his back to her, she could imagine that his expression must be terrifying.
What do you want to do to my daughter?!
The Honkai Beasts that were incredibly powerful to her did not last more than a few moves against her father.
Dad didn't even take back the gun from her hand.
After her father defeated the Honkai Beast, she thought she would be scolded. However...
"I'm sorry, Dad, I just don't want to see you suffering anymore... I... I want to protect you too."
She lowered her head and expressed her true thoughts.
Then she fell into a generous, warm hug.
That day, she received the best birthday present from her father: her name.
"Kiana... my most proud daughter, Kiana Kaslana."
Then, her father made a promise to her: no matter how the world changes, she must give her all to protect the people she loves most.
Because this is the responsibility that the person who inherits the Kaslana name must bear.
That's how it should be.
From the day she regained her name, her father was a completely different person.
Despite knowing absolutely nothing about housework, he insisted on learning how to cook, saying he wanted his daughter to taste the flavors of home.
Sometimes he would force her to drink, saying that once she learned how to drink, he would start teaching her how to flirt with men...
Dad is so silly. Doesn't he know that all men and women of the Kaslana family, in the end, only know how to flirt with women?
Of course, she knew her father loved her in his own clumsy but warm way.
But what made her happiest was that she would finally be able to fight alongside her father to protect others.
She still remembers her father's imposing figure in battle, and she wants to be like him, sparing no effort to protect the people she loves most.
But, for some reason, a year later, this father suddenly disappeared.
She remembers a big fire broke out.
The bandage covering her right eye when she was a child is gone, revealing the golden pupil inside.
She knelt on the ground and watched her father, who had lost an arm, walk slowly towards her.
Her father hugged her, his voice ringing in her ear: "We made a promise, right? No matter what happens, the Kaslana family will protect those they love most! I kept my promise, and now it's your turn, my daughter."
Perhaps the stimulation was too intense, because as Kiana recalled this memory, the illusion created by Feather Dust also began to loosen.
Everything from the Q&A space flooded into Kiana's mind at that moment.
She remembered; she was not Kiana Kaslana, but merely K423, an experimental subject created by Otto, a vessel for the Herrscher of the Void.
Therefore, everything is explained.
Why did my father refuse to tell me my name after taking me away, and only emphasize that I was his daughter?
Why did my Dad get drunk every day yelling the names Cecilia and Kiana?
Kiana thought to herself that perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if things had continued like this.
She will live forever only as Siegfried's daughter, nameless, without a past, and without a future.
No, it would be better for Siegfried to abandon her.
Yes, that's right, just like the story that followed.
Her existence only brings pain to everyone.
Just as she exists now as Kiana Kaslana, she inadvertently hurts another girl who truly deserves that name.
Of course, in her memory, Siegfried's repeated use of the names Cecilia and Kiana after getting drunk brought a faint sense of unease.
No, how could that be?
Otto's confidential files clearly state that the true Kiana was retrieved.
Although the word "retrieval" made her feel very uncomfortable, as if treating people as commodities, it was much better than the worst-case scenario she had imagined.
Yes, as long as the true Kiana is still alive, she still has a chance to make amends and the possibility of doing so.
Her existence had already harmed this small family of three, so she would spend the rest of her life atoning for it.