Su led Murata Himeko away first. Using the new power Kiana had mastered, he opened a spatial portal and they headed to the World Serpent's underground headquarters.
Fu Hua, unable to stray too far from Kiana for now, could only bid farewell to Himeko and Su, watching them depart.
"Sigh, Teacher Himeko never seems to slow down, does she?"
Kiana waved at the departing pair, suppressing her urge to follow, and turned to the others.
"Well, everyone has their own business to attend to, right? Is it time for us to part ways?" the White-Haired Knight Princess asked the group before her.
"Yeah, I should be going too. While giving Otto a good thrashing was incredibly satisfying, Einstein and Joachim still have matters for me to handle—"
Joyce nodded, ready to part ways with everyone.
"Um... How is Teacher Yang doing?" Kiana asked, concerned.
"Joachim? He's doing great now. Mr. Su and I helped him recuperate, and he's been on vacation ever since. But honestly—we're really looking for a successor to become the new leader of Anti-Entropy."
"Anti-Entropy didn't even exist before my return, so I have no management experience. And all my old friends who did are gone now. The people at Anti-Entropy don't want to trouble Joachim any further..."
Joyce's face was practically screaming, I desperately need to find a workhorse.
"In that case, Mr. Joyce, would you consider my friend...?"
Kiana recalled the Third Proxy Herrscher of Reason she had seen in the Trial. Although the true First Herrscher had returned, this old man seemed perpetually troubled. Maybe I should introduce Bronya to him, she thought. After all, Bronya always seems capable of handling anything.
"Bronya? Cocolia's daughter? Isn't she a Valkyrie at Schicksal now?"
"Never mind. I'll keep her in mind for now. After all, in a sense, Schicksal and Anti-Entropy have allied again..."
The indigo-haired young man shook his head and waved at Kiana.
"I'll be going then, my junior. Don't disappoint me, alright?!"
The First Herrscher vanished from the imaginary space.
"I won't!"
Kiana shouted back at Joyce. The White-Haired Knight Princess seemed ready to depart as well. She hoisted the still-unconscious Benares over her shoulder and, ignoring Doll Sirin's protests, tucked the puppet under her arm. Opening a portal, she prepared to bid farewell to Snow and the others.
Just as Miss Kiana Kaslana was about to declare, "Farewell, XX! Tonight, I set sail for distant shores!" Snow grabbed her by her white ponytail.
"Cat-worm, aren't you forgetting something?" Snow leaned in, her expression unsettling.
"Huh? Forgetting something...?"
The white-haired girl frantically checked everything she was carrying—the dragon girl on her shoulder and the puppet under her arm.
"Nope, nothing!"
Coming up empty-handed, the White Blazing Cat gave her answer.
"...Do you hear it? The city is crumbling... Do you hear the children's screams?"
"Huh? Are you talking about Arc City? Aren't we about to head there?"
"Who said anything about Arc City? That's at least four months away—if you don't remember what you've forgotten soon."
"In that case, I can only say your health bar had better be 2.1 billion thick..."
"Uh... Little Sirin?!"
"...So you do remember her."
The blonde girl huffed in annoyance.
"Uh, how do we get Little Sirin out? Snow, you didn't make another Armed Puppet, did you?"
"Who do you think I am, Alice Margatroid? Do I look like I spend my time making dolls? Hold out your hand—"
Rolling her eyes, Snow produced a purple crystal and gestured for the Knight Princess to place her palm on it.
"Close your eyes and guide the child's will... I'll use this Core to reconstruct a physical body for her in reality."
-
As Kiana's consciousness sank deeper, she once again saw the familiar purple-haired little girl—
"Little Sirin, this time we can go out and play—"
The White-Haired Knight quietly approached the girl from behind and scooped her up.
"Eek—Sister Kiana... can we really go outside?"
Clutching her Kevin Doll, the little girl looked anxiously at the White-Haired Knight Princess. The latter offered a bright, sunny smile that soothed her unease.
"Yes, we can. Come on, Little Sirin, take my hand. Let's go—"
"Okay!"
-
Meanwhile, in reality, the blonde girl chanted softly under the Sirin Doll's slightly curious gaze—
"I shall grant you authority to transcend reality and illusion. I bestow upon you a crown to surpass logic and law. What you conceive shall manifest; the paradise you dream of shall descend. Child, the future you desire shall unfold and become reality."
"This is the Inscription of [Imagination]."
Under the Sirin Doll's watch, the Core held between them gradually wove itself into the form of a girl with purple hair, dressed in a white princess gown trimmed with yellow ruffles. She looked like another version of the doll herself... Suddenly, the Imaginary Space filled with the thick scent of vinegar.
"Eek... What a strong smell of vinegar! Did someone just chug a whole bottle in here?"
Kiana opened her eyes and frowned, puzzled by the overwhelming sour scent in the air.
In the next instant, the White-Haired Knight Princess's head was viciously chomped on. The Sirin Doll's muffled words, along with the sharp pain of her skull being bitten, reached the girl's mind.
"I'm so mad! Why does that Sirin get a new body?!"
"You little menace! That little girl can soothe people's hearts, can you?! Can you?! And why do dolls even have saliva?! Get off me! This is disgusting!!!"
Kiana and the Sirin Doll—a chaotic mix of Kaslana, Doll, and Herrscher—once again descended into a tangled brawl.
"What a strange chemical reaction... So all you need are the keywords 'Kaslana,' 'Armed Puppet,' and 'Herrscher' to trigger a free-for-all?"
Muninn watched the scene unfold with a peculiar expression.
"Well, Kiana naturally fulfills two of those conditions... 'Kaslana' and 'Herrscher,'" Snow retorted, rolling her eyes.
"And then you gave her a portable 'Armed Puppet' keyword, and stacked the 'Herrscher' affix at least twice."
"So... that's how you summon a giant geyser, right...?"
"Uh..."
While the master and servant bantered irresponsibly on the sidelines, the purple-haired Little Sirin, who had been keeping her eyes closed, finally opened them...
"Mmm... Don't bully Sister Kiana!"
A new Herrscher element had just joined the battlefield.
-
"Well, well... the time for our true farewell has come. Kiana, go do what you believe is right..."
Watching Kiana and the others, who had finally finished their chaotic brawl, Snow held the Eternal Spear, which flickered between light and shadow, and seemed ready to depart.
"Uh... Snow, aren't you going back now? Kyuusyou and Ninti should be waiting for you, right? Aren't you going to see them?"
Kiana looked confusedly at her companion, who seemed about to leave for some unknown destination.
"No... I have more important matters to attend to. Kyuusyou and Ninti... we'll meet again sooner or later. Besides, some purple-haired girl forced a **** on me. If I go back now, I'll probably be buried alive in paperwork."
"Ah... right. The next time we meet... you'll probably have to spend a long time trying to remember who I am..."
"Yeah, probably?"
Leaving behind that cryptic remark, Snow narrowed her eyes and walked into the golden portal without looking back.
"Sigh... She's always so mysterious..."
Kiana scratched her hair and shook her head helplessly.
"As expected, no one from the Apocalypse family is easy to understand... except for Auntie, of course."
-
[Hoh— It seems thou art running out of time, my other self... When thou bestowed that Authority upon the little purple-haired girl, the Eternal Spear was worn down far too much by thee...]
Seemingly noticing the holy spear in the girl's hand flickering unstably between light and shadow, the other presence began to stir.
"No, no, no... There's still one last resort. Time to say goodbye—or perhaps just a brief parting?"
Snow took a deep breath, her voice laced with a hint of mockery.
[Hmm... What dost thou intend to do???]
"This is the divine spear that, once sworn, shall pierce through all obstacles... Whatever stands in its way, it shall pierce! Whatever binds, it shall sever!"
"Hmph— The one who gets beaten up in the end will be 'Snow.' What does that have to do with me?"
Reversing her grip on the golden spear, Snow plunged it into her own body before her other self could react.
-
The God's [Remains] leaned quietly against a sakura tree in a World Bubble at the deepest part of the Sea of Quanta. Meanwhile, the original master of this place, Kevin Kaslana, had already set off for the Current World, never to return. This World Bubble was now truly empty...
After an unknown amount of time, the golden spear impaled in the God's body seemed to finally achieve its purpose, piercing and severing something. Having fulfilled its final mission, it dissolved into golden dust and vanished without a trace.
The wound caused by the spear healed rapidly after the Eternal Spear completely disintegrated. But... even as the wound closed, the girl did not awaken. She remained in a deep slumber beneath the tree, seemingly lost in a dream she was unwilling to leave—
"Well then... until we meet again."
A beautiful girl with white hair and blue eyes stood before the silently sleeping God, having appeared there at some unknown moment.
-
"You and I... we were once one and the same, utterly indistinguishable. But you lost me, and I lost you—"
"....Yet, our branches remain knotted, our vines entwined, and our roots tangled together."
"Fate will eventually reunite us, making us whole once more—"
Clutching the ruby-encrusted staff in her hand, the nameless girl waved at her slumbering "self" before turning and walking away...
"Using an alt account is fun for a while, but using it all the time is even better—"