"Bianka Ataegina, Aaron is my name. And I..."
"Am not your 'Big Brother' at all."
When she heard Aaron's response, Durandal wasn't actually surprised.
Judging from the feeling when she fought him last time, the man before her clearly didn't want to reveal his identity.
So when Aaron said those words, Durandal, who had already prepared herself, didn't actually believe them in her heart.
"If you have some unspeakable difficulty..."
"You're overthinking it."
Interrupting Durandal voluntarily, Aaron continued to speak coldly.
"You lost your memory and crave familial love; there's nothing wrong with that. But there's no need to project your delusions onto unrelated people."
"I'm still very busy. I won't accompany you in acting out some tragic drama."
"Hey, young man, wait."
Before Aaron could leave, Siegfried took out the Soulium Storage Case Einstein had given him earlier and tossed it to Aaron.
"Catch. This thing is for holding the gem. I'll leave the gem side to you; I'll help you block this side."
Catching the storage case, Aaron took a deep look at Siegfried, then without saying another word, he left the area at top speed.
"Wait!"
"Oops, little lady, sorry about that."
Physically blocking Durandal's path forward, Siegfried grinned at her.
"Your 'Big Brother' has something very important to do. If possible, I hope you won't hinder him."
"Siegfried Kaslana..."
Looking at the white-haired middle-aged man before her, Durandal recalled the wanted notice Overseer Otto had issued within Schicksal.
Siegfried Kaslana, former Schicksal Knight, former head of the Kaslana House.
Several years ago, for unknown reasons, he defected from Schicksal taking the Divine Key [Judgment of Shamash] with him.
He possessed strength exceeding S-Rank; pursuit was not recommended without sufficient combat power.
However, facing Siegfried now, Durandal felt not a shred of hostility from the man before her.
No, more than that, she even felt a trace of... warmth from this Schicksal traitor?
*What the hell? Why would I have this strange feeling with a man I've never met?*
"Mr. Kaslana, I don't care why you defected from Schicksal, but I have very important matters to attend to right now."
Holding her lance, Durandal spoke sternly to the man before her.
"Please move out of my way!"
"Ah, let me ask one thing just in case."
Ignoring the girl's words, Siegfried asked on his own accord.
"Since just now, my communication equipment seems to be jammed. Is your communication equipment still working normally?"
"...Strange."
Discovering that her communication device had no signal, a visible look of anger immediately appeared in Durandal's eyes.
"Are you pulling some trick?!"
"This has nothing to do with me, though I guess I'm a beneficiary."
*Ryoma's daughter is indeed with the young man. She should be right inside this hotel.*
*Mei, well done.*
*Because you used your power here, the electromagnetic field was interfered with, causing problems for all communication equipment here.*
*In that case, perfect.*
"Anyway, Aaron is going to deal with the gem. Instead of fighting and killing, why don't we sit down and have a chat?"
"In your dreams! After defecting to Anti-Entropy, haven't you thought about how many terrible things Anti-Entropy has done!"
Driving her lance to attack the enemy before her, Durandal spoke with immense fury.
"The large-scale Honkai Eruption in Nagazora City caused the deaths of millions. This was the work of Anti-Entropy's Executor, Cocolia!"
"Ah yes, that idiot is indeed trash who disregards human life. Anti-Entropy is also trying to figure out how to deal with her."
"Don't talk about it like it has nothing to do with you!"
"Sigh..."
Watching the girl wielding the lance, Siegfried, who was dodging with difficulty, felt that her silhouette... seemed to overlap with his wife who had only been resurrected for a few months.
*When Cecilia sparred with me back then, she was also like this...*
*Sure enough, the intelligence Aaron gave me shouldn't be wrong...*
*She...*
*Is she Kiana?*
"Why aren't you attacking!"
Having forced Siegfried into a desperate situation, Durandal thrust her lance viciously at Siegfried's body.
Although the lance in her hand wasn't the [Key of Death: Abyss Flower] which she hadn't brought due to inconvenience, with her strength combined with this [Hler's Serenity], it was enough to injure the enemy before her.
And at this moment, Siegfried finally used his power.
The power referred to by predecessors in legends as the [Kaslana Salvation Power].
As he activated the Meta-Morph Factor in his left arm—the arm gifted by Aaron that carried the Meta-Morph Factor—guiding the dormant Meta-Morph Factors throughout his body to erupt, a change immediately appeared on Siegfried's face.
Something Durandal had seen on Aaron's face.
"This is... Honkai Beast Carapace?!"
Forced back by Siegfried's explosive power, Durandal, interrupting her attack, stared in horror at Siegfried's left arm.
No, not just the left arm.
Siegfried, who was now in a semi-Honkai Beast form just like Aaron, actually gave her that same feeling too.
Durandal could clearly feel it at this moment...
—Schicksal traitor Siegfried actually gave her a feeling of being blood-connected as well?!
*No, that's not right, what exactly is going on!*
*It's one thing for a random person to appear and give me this feeling, but Siegfried, this traitor too... Could it be that I am also a member of the Kaslana clan?*
*No, incorrect.*
*In past missions, it's not like I haven't seen descendants of the Kaslana clan. None of them ever gave me this feeling.*
*But this feeling... incomprehensible!*
*Why did things turn out like this!*
"The feeling of being blood-connected, huh... Ha, if I hadn't heard that sentence from next door, maybe I wouldn't have thought of how to explain the current situation."
Noticing the wavering that flashed through Durandal's eyes, Siegfried, having released his Meta-Morph Factor, did not press the attack as Durandal had anticipated.
Instead, maintaining this half-human, half-ghost posture, the man asked Durandal softly in an indescribable tone.
"Are you interested in hearing a story?"
"...What, do you want to say."
For some reason, even though Siegfried showed no hostility toward her, Durandal felt that this man was definitely the most difficult enemy she had ever encountered in her life.
It seemed that if she continued to listen to him, she would completely cease to be herself.
But the feeling deep in her heart made her feel rooted to the spot, unable to move a single step.
If Otto were maintaining communication with her, he would definitely speak sophistry to interfere with her thoughts.
But now, because Raiden Mei had used a portion of her power here, and the Herrscher of Thunder's power caused all electromagnetic equipment to temporarily fail, Otto had no way of knowing what was happening here.
"Just a simple story. A useless young man ran away from home because of certain things, but met his true love in a foreign land."
"And for his true love, he returned home and trained hard, finally succeeding in marrying his true love and establishing a relatively harmonious and happy family."
"Although their jobs were a bit dangerous, because of their outstanding strength, those dangers didn't threaten their lives."
"Just a pity. When a strong enemy approached the young couple, they were eventually forced onto the most dangerous battlefield."
The words Siegfried spoke—Durandal had already figured it out—were obviously the experiences of Siegfried and his late wife [Cecilia Schariac].
She knew the rough outline of this history, but hearing Siegfried himself recount it, Durandal felt her heart beating wildly.
"At the end of the battle, with the assistance of their comrades, they finally achieved victory. But the two never expected that their direct superior would pull the trigger of betrayal on them at that moment."
*Overseer Otto said that back then, because of Cecilia's request, he was forced to drop the Honkai Fission Bomb...*
*But Siegfried's meaning is clearly that Overseer Otto actively betrayed the two of them?*
"No, that's not right! You two were two of the strongest three publicly known in Schicksal at the time. Overseer Otto would have no reason to actively discard you!"
"Ha, seeing that you aren't too stupid, I'm somewhat relieved."
Listening to the girl's doubt, Siegfried sneered and continued.
"Right, normally speaking, that is indeed the case. Although I was a thorn in his side when I was young, after returning to Schicksal, I was generally obedient. Overseer Otto didn't express much dissatisfaction with me when we interacted."
"But that man is not someone who can be calculated by common sense. The reason the organization Anti-Entropy was established was that his ambitions back then were stopped by people from Schicksal's North American Branch."
"And after that, to force the First Herrscher [Welt Joyce] to use his final power, Otto didn't hesitate to bombard the city where Joyce was with Honkai Fission Bombs."
"Joyce protected the city but died from exhaustion of his power. Otto's goal was achieved; he forced the death of an anti-Honkai hero who might have hindered him—of course, whether you believe it or not is up to you."
Even though these words had no evidence, considering her Overseer's usual conduct...
Durandal realized with extreme awkwardness that she was actually starting to believe him a little.
"Of course, seeing his beloved wife die before his eyes, this huge blow turned that man completely into a drunkard loser."
"A loser so useless that back then, he failed to protect his own daughter, letting her be taken into Schicksal's laboratories for human experimentation."
"Kiana Kaslana... I didn't expect her to have such a history..."
Unknowingly, Durandal already believed half of Siegfried's words.
*Clearly, his words have no evidence, so why do I...*
"Yes, Kiana Kaslana... this name didn't originally belong to that child. Because this sad story doesn't end there."
Exhaling a deep breath of cold air, Siegfried finally deactivated his Honkai Beast form and looked at Durandal with incredibly serious eyes.
This look even caused Durandal's body to unconsciously retreat several steps.
"My daughter, Kiana, was taken away back then. I immediately contacted her godmother, Theresa, preparing to join forces with friends from Anti-Entropy to rescue Kiana."
"They worked very hard to hold off most of Schicksal's troops for me, and I took two girls from Schicksal's laboratory. One of them is the current Kiana Kaslana."
*The current... Kiana Kaslana?*
*This name didn't originally belong to that child...*
*Why.*
*Why do I actually want to run away.*
*What exactly happened!*
Although she had already guessed the words Siegfried was about to say, Durandal found that her body... was actually disobeying her thoughts.
Perhaps because deep down she was also craving the answer, in this moment, Durandal chose to stay.
"And the other girl, back then, due to that incompetent man's mistake, fell from high in the sky to the ground."
"In the incompetent man's view, his daughter was definitely dead. To protect the other girl from being taken by Otto, he endured his pain and chose to flee from Schicksal's pursuit troops at top speed."
"He thought his daughter was completely dead, so to commemorate his daughter, he gave that name to his adopted daughter. Only recently, someone told him something."
"...W-What thing?"
"Siegfried Kaslana's biological daughter is still alive. After Otto treated the dying girl, he gave her a new face and let her live in Schicksal under a different identity."
"The reason you felt a 'blood connection' from Aaron, we suspect, is because he was subjected to human experimentation and has the Kaslana clan's DNA in him."
"And as for Kaslana males who can activate the [Power of Salvation], or rather the [Meta-Morph Factor], unfortunately, in the current Kaslana clan, I am the only one. The reason you have that strange feeling toward the two of us is actually very simple..."
"Having activated the Meta-Morph Factor, our bloodline power has manifested to a state where it can be easily sensed by others. That you have that wondrous feeling toward us only proves that the intelligence Aaron gave me is correct."
At this moment, Siegfried, with a look of thirty percent regret and seventy percent relief on his face, said to Durandal.
"Bianka, your real name is Kiana Kaslana."
"I, Siegfried Kaslana..."
"Am your biological father."
..............................