[Silly Goose pupil quake.jpg]
[Even though I expected it, the Durandal = Real Kiana confirmation still shocked me a little.]
[So this means Bug and Goose are sisters now?]
...
The viewers were buzzing with discussion, quickly developing new expectations along with a few reflections.
The reflection was that Otto really hadn't lied to Theresa—Otto truly did care about her.
The expectation was…
"'Otto,' will there be… some Bug-Goose sister bonding later?" Elysia asked Hokuto with eager anticipation.
"..."
"Don't worry, you'll get what you're waiting for. I've already made a new folder."
Hokuto kept painting the picture for Elysia and the players. "It's all part of the plan. And when the time comes, it won't just be Bug-Goose moments—you'll get Kiana-Mei moments too."
"Really? Not kidding?"
Elysia's eyes lit up—this was the first time she'd heard Hokuto hint at future Kiana-Mei content.
"If it's true, it can't be fake. If it's fake, it can't be true."
"Ah, it's always these vague answers… 'Otto,' you really are a bit mischievous. You love teasing everyone, then putting them on pause play."
The "Master of Metaphors" was at it again.
Hokuto could only stay silent in reply.
Elysia didn't push further and kept playing.
In-game—
After learning she was the real Kiana Kaslana, Durandal's feelings were mixed.
It wasn't that she felt complicated about her name being "Kiana Kaslana."
Rather, in that instant, she thought of many people.
She thought of Siegfried, a man whose life was full of regrets.
She thought of… the Kiana she had just begun mending her relationship with.
She realized this was a complicated secret…
If she told Kiana, would it deal her a heavy blow?
Yes—Durandal's only concern was for others.
"Bianca really is both gentle and mature," Elysia said softly as she watched Durandal's inner monologue flash across the screen.
She realized she might have judged Bianca too harshly before.
Bianca wasn't silly at all—she'd thought of everything.
Were all Kaslanas like this?
When it truly mattered, their minds worked even faster than ordinary people's.
While Elysia was marveling at Bianca's maturity and kindness, the viewers' attention wandered in a completely different direction—
All because of the next set of subtitles.
Durandal decided not to tell anyone the truth about "Kiana Kaslana" for the time being.
But she still had concerns—
There was one unpredictable risk to this safest course of action:
She couldn't know if, in her upcoming final battle with Otto, he would keep his usual silence about this secret.
[Yeah, what if Otto, on his last hurrah, just grabs a loudspeaker and shouts it everywhere? That'd be hilarious.]
[Otto: Du↑ran↓dal↑, you're the real Kiana Kaslana, hahahahaha!]
[I can already picture Otto running around with a megaphone in that silly voice—it's killing me.]
...
After sorting out all the pros, cons, and approaches to handling the truth, Durandal continued talking with the Stigmata consciousness.
It again brought up what the "Honkai scholars" in chat had already analyzed—
The reason all Kaslanas choose to protect the world and humanity is because their Stigmata influence them.
But Durandal was different—
She carried Schariac blood from Cecilia's lineage, freeing her from the cursed fate of the Kaslanas.
"This is the power countless generations have dreamed of—
To cross the boundary between Imaginary and Real, to wield Honkai with a mortal body and embrace the truth."
"Your life, your worth, will far surpass those numb, empty, weary 'Kaslana tragedies' that do nothing to save the world."
Hearing such words, which dismissed all the Kaslanas' efforts and beliefs up until now, made not only Durandal's brow furrow but also the players' eyes sharpen.
Durandal bluntly called the Stigmata consciousness's view absurd.
"They are silent giants, building the shoulders from which we gaze toward the future."
The Stigmata consciousness merely replied, If you want to change me, then defeat me.
The next step was clear: battle.
Elysia guided Durandal into a fight against a copy of herself created by the Stigmata consciousness.
Durandal had to defeat herself.
It wasn't just a clash of strength—it was a battle of beliefs.
For most people, it would be an arduous struggle.
But Durandal's life experiences had given her unshakable resolve:
She'd survived a fall from thousands of meters.
She'd pushed herself daily as a Valkyrie of Schicksal.
She'd gained a life philosophy from her journey in the Sea of Quanta under "Shakespeare's" guidance.
...
She was Bianca—Schicksal's strongest S-rank Valkyrie.
Adversity had long since become the blade in her hand.
This was simply another victory over herself—
Something she had always done.
"This strike… pierces the stars!"
Elysia, ever dramatic, finished the fight with an ultimate skill.
As a reward, Durandal was granted an audience with a shadow of Kevin, who answered many of her questions.
And then came the final step—
The Kaslana power within her awakened.
But the power from the Kaslana progenitor was immense.
[Kill the HonkaiN]
[KillN]
The entire screen turned blood red.
The music shifted in pitch.
The atmosphere tightened instantly.
Unease rose unbidden in everyone's hearts.
Especially when Durandal's pained cries rang out—their anxiety deepened.
As they wondered whether she could endure and how,
A supremely gentle female voice whispered in Durandal's ear—
"It's alright, my child."
"This sin was never yours to bear alone."
"In times like this, it's fine to lean on your mother's strength."
Durandal: "Ah?!"
White light bloomed on screen.
An animation began.
A warm room—
Bianca stood in one corner. Before she could react, a little white-haired girl ran past her and into the arms of a white-haired woman nearby.
"Kiana's amazing—she's already learned to run so quickly." Cecilia hugged the little Goose.
Siegfried stood beside them, beaming like a proud father: "That's my girl!"
"This kid's like you—when she grows up, she'll be Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie."
The little Goose giggled at her father's praise: "Hehe~"
Cecilia gently shook her head, rubbing her daughter's hair with sincere love and blessing.
"That's not important. As long as she can grow up safe and sound, that's worth more than anything."
It was an incredibly warm and happy scene.
The entire shot was awash in warm colors, and it was clear the animation's creator (Bianca) had been attentive and meticulous—
Every detail in the room felt real:
A height chart for the child, toys scattered in corners, a well-thumbed fairy tale book by the bed…
Sunlight filled the room, lighting their faces, revealing the purest of smiles… so sweet.
Elysia's hand instinctively reached for the tissues Hokuto had prepared—
Though halfway, she thought of something and pulled back.
In the animation, light and shadow shifted, time flowed—
The little Goose, a bit older now, stood before Bianca.
She held an umbrella, swung it forward, striking a cool and adorable pose.
"Black Abyss White Flower, let's save the world together."
Then, she handed the umbrella to Bianca, who blinked in surprise.
"I'm ready to set out. Are you?"
Looking at the umbrella in her hands, Bianca felt the belief within it.
She had walked far—so far she'd almost forgotten her original self.
But in truth, she'd never changed—
She had lived exactly as she hoped:
As a Valkyrie who fought "for all that is beautiful in the world," like her mother, like everyone else, like…
Bianca gripped the umbrella firmly.
The music swelled from a tender melody to a rousing theme.
"In times like this, it's fine to lean on your mother's strength."
The gentle words came again—
A fleeting yet eternal embrace and blessing from her birth mother, across time and space.
Under that embrace—
The rampant bloodlust in her body subsided and finally vanished.
And that terrifying power—she now fully controlled it.
The Kaslana and Schariac Stigmata together—
Forming a primal power beyond man-made collapse, beyond the Honkai itself.
"Ride forth, Krishna!"
...
The screen shifted back to gameplay.
All the players were stunned to see Durandal riding… a BMW?
[This battlesuit looks amazing! I'm pulling until I get it!]
[Durandal really did get a new battlesuit—no wonder she's miHoYo's golden girl.]
[Congrats to Durandal on the new battlesuit!]
[No, no—congrats to Durandal on getting a BMW (lol).]
"Congratulations to Durandal on getting a BMW, and to Kiana on getting the strongest Valkyrie—what a day of wins all around." Hokuto clapped softly.
Elysia, fresh from finishing the "tutorial stage," paused slightly, gave him a look, and kindly reminded—
"Bianca's new power is worth celebrating, but the first one she's going to crush… seems to be Otto."
Imaginary Godsbane: The first one being crushed is clearly me—do I not get a name?
Everyone: Probably not?
Imaginary Godsbane: ???
Incidentally, the Imaginary Godsbane's name was quite meaningful—Nihilism.
Perfectly matching the Stigmata consciousness's earlier ideology.