---o---
The ruined city of Babylon. As its name implied, it was a city that had been abandoned.
The reason for its desolation was simple.
The demonic beast goddess known as Gorgon had acquired the divinity of the Goddess of Creation—the Beast of Regression, Tiamat—and with it, a troop-spawning Authority called the Mother of a Hundred Beasts.
Under the command of the Holy Grail's wielder—Tiamat's child and FGO's number one mama's boy, Kingu—an endless horde of demonic beasts had effortlessly destroyed numerous cities, including Babylon.
Thus, Babylon had long since been transformed into a paradise for demonic beasts.
Countless monsters roamed the city, strutting about with impunity, destroying what remained of human civilization and creating a desolate, apocalyptic landscape.
However, after a certain someone's arrival, the situation here changed.
In sync with the release of Honkai energy, the power of erosion easily seeped into the bodies of every demonic beast in the city...
It was like bread rising—no, it was far more exaggerated than that.
The bodies of the ferocious demonic beasts swelled violently. Monsters that were originally two to ten meters tall mutated as if their very genes were being rewritten.
Tough, knight-like scale armor grew over their bodies. Their predatory organs, transformed by the Honkai energy, became armaments born purely for the hunt.
They had become Honkai Beasts.
Honkai Beasts under ten meters required anti-air missiles and medium-caliber autocannons to be eliminated. Those over ten meters required 270mm or 430mm railguns.
And for Honkai Beasts over a hundred meters tall, a fully-armed A-rank Valkyrie squad would need to be dispatched.
But now, a scene that would have struck fear into the heart of every Valkyrie in Schicksal was unfolding.
Hundreds, thousands of Honkai Beasts, all over ten meters tall, led by behemoths exceeding a hundred meters, gathered in the dilapidated city, patrolling its streets like soldiers.
There wasn't a single low-level Honkai Beast in sight!
"Hoo~ Honkai Beasts created using demonic beasts as a blueprint are surprisingly formidable."
The young man, having unleashed his Authority and effortlessly created a new legion of familiars, held the white-haired girl in his arms. He stood atop a draconic Honkai Beast—one likely born from the mutation of monsters like the Bashmu or Ushumgallu—and sighed with admiration.
"Y-You let me go!"
The girl, who had been dragged all the way to Babylon and was now being held tightly as she rode a dragon-like Honkai Beast, pounded on the man's back, trying to break free.
The Kaslana family were the descendants of Kevin Aotian, a lineage that produced human-shaped Honkai Beasts. Those with superior bloodlines could even go toe-to-toe with Emperor-class Honkai Beasts (like Siegfried or Theresa).
As the little princess of the Kaslana house, Kiana had naturally inherited this ancestral super-strength.
A single punch from her could flatten an S-rank Valkyrie like Rita Rossweisse or Raven, knocking them out cold.
But her fists, hammering against this man, had absolutely no effect.
"This is quite comfortable."
The man, whose physical stats were frankly absurd, held the girl and remarked on the force of the blows landing on his shoulder, as well as the soft sensation against his chest as she struggled.
Likely because she hadn't endured a life on the run, Kiana's development was even better than Sirin's.
These words, falling upon the ears of the girl who had essentially been kidnapped and brought to Babylon...
Were incredibly grating.
Consequently, the force of the fists hitting his back increased by several degrees.
It was utterly useless.
Although the Kaslanas were practically human Honkai Beasts, hitting a guy whose hide was tough enough to take a blow from the Sword of Cycle that Decides Annihilation—an Authority the Only God Arjuna obtained from Kalki...
Was an exercise in futility.
"Hah... hah..."
After pounding on him for a long time to no effect, the girl herself was exhausted, her breathing ragged.
Perhaps out of sheer resignation, she finally gave up the struggle, allowing the man—who had suddenly gone crazy and dragged her from the temple—to simply hold her.
The high-altitude winds blew past, leeching a great deal of warmth from the body.
Being held by this man was, surprisingly, quite warm.
This man, who Kiana had only ever seen as a shameless lecher, wasn't getting handsy. He was just simply holding the girl who shared Sirin's face.
Once the girl in his arms had caught her breath, he naturally had his temporary mount halt in mid-air. Then, he loosened his embrace, merely holding her hand to prevent her from falling.
"Alright, have you recovered your strength?"
After confirming that the girl named Kiana was standing steadily and wouldn't fall, the young man simply sat down cross-legged on the massive dragon's back and gazed into the distance.
"If you have your strength back, you can keep hitting me. I won't fight back."
"If you don't have the energy, then just sit down and enjoy the scenery with me."
Looking at the young man—who, despite his unreasonable actions, was the only person in all these years to pay attention to her for a reason other than her "value"—the girl was silent for a moment before taking small steps to his side.
This man, who always initiated conversation whenever he saw her, was now quiet. This left the girl named Kiana feeling a little empty inside.
He just stared at the scenery before them.
Kiana followed his gaze.
The sky was a deep blue, as if filtered of all impurities, shining with a magnificent brilliance.
A golden, radiant sun was embedded in the blue canopy, and a single white cloud drifted across the clear sky like a lone sail on an azure sea.
It was truly beautiful.
The girl, who could now somewhat understand why he liked to watch the scenery, felt her heart shake.
This was a view she could never have seen from inside the laboratory.
"How is it?"
The young man, an expert at creating scenery, tilted his head and asked the girl beside him, who seemed to be captivated by the view.
"It's beautiful."
The girl, who had always resisted going outside, answered the question of the man who had forcibly dragged her into the sky, stating her honest feelings.
"But among all the sights I've witnessed, this only ranks as third-rate."
The young man, who had wandered through countless different worlds and witnessed all kinds of landscapes, pointed ahead as he spoke.
Ehh—
The girl's azure eyes widened slightly.
A view this beautiful is only third-rate?
"There are far more beautiful sights in the world than this."
As if reading the shock on the girl's delicate face, the young man spoke.
"Do you want to see them?"
Almost instinctively, the girl nodded.
"Then don't always stay in one place."
The casual advice entered the girl's ears, causing her expression to stiffen.
"At the very least, don't always stay cooped up in a research lab."
"I'm already out of the research lab."
The girl, vaguely guessing what lab he was referring to, was silent for a moment before replying.
"Just breaking free from the lab's physical restraints doesn't count as a complete escape."
As if he had known she would say that, the young man's words hit their mark.
"If your heart is still bound, then there's no difference from being locked in a lab."
The sharp words pierced the girl's heart.
Kiana wanted to turn and run, to reject this line of questioning.
But this was the back of a flying Honkai Beast, a small floating island in its own right.
There was no escape.
Unable to flee, the girl sat in silence beside the young man who was, without a doubt, a scumbag.
After a long time, she finally spoke.
"The world outside is beautiful, but it doesn't belong to me."
Her name had already been given away by a certain Siegfried, who was soon to be launched to the moon to watch over the Heavenly People.
In the laboratory, she was the little princess of the Kaslana family, Kiana Kas... no, Kiana Schariac.
But out here, she was just a person with no name...
And a person with no name cannot survive in this world.
"Hah?"
"Who says something like that?"
The young man let out a sound of disbelief, as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke.
"Since when was sovereignty over the world handed out to individuals?"
As if she had been choked, the girl named Kiana was momentarily robbed of her ability to speak.
"The world is a landlord with a ton of properties. Everyone is a tenant, just people renting things from the world. What's all this talk about who the world belongs to and who it doesn't?"
"The world not belonging to you? That's just stating the obvious."
"Unless you pull off an operation like the Incineration of Humanity, reaching the planet's birth and replacing it, everyone is just a tenant, not the master of the world."
The words, heavy with information, entered the girl's ears, leaving her stunned.
Her sorrowful mood was completely shattered by his nonsensical speech. The girl tried to organize her thoughts, to say something.
"But—"
"There are no buts."
The young man's voice cut her off.
"If your name is gone, then get a new one. If you've lost your past, then seize the present and give your future self a past to look back on."
"Besides, what is lost is not necessarily lost forever."
The young man casually took a key from his pocket and dropped it from the sky.
"See? I've lost my key now."
The young man, having just thrown away his own room key, said cheerfully.
"But I know where I lost it."
"Therefore, I can get it back whenever I want."
The young man clenched his fist, and when he opened it again, the key he had just discarded was once again in his hand.
"It's the same principle with the name you've lost."
The young man, who had already helped Sirin reclaim her own name, spoke with great seriousness.
My name... can it be taken back?
The girl remained in a daze.
"In short, I will help you get your name back. When that time comes, it's up to you whether you want to continue using the name Kiana Kaslana or change it to Kiana Schariac."
The young man said casually.
The girl was silent. She looked at the young man sitting beside her with her azure eyes. After a long pause, she finally spoke.
"Why... are you helping me?"
"Does one need a reason to help a cute girl?"
The young man, an out-and-out pretty-face chaser, laughed at her question.
"I like you a lot. That's all there is to it."