Kiana's entire experience is akin to a lucid dream. She is aware and conscious, yet when it comes to recalling what happened, everything feels surreal.
"Hngh…"
She woke up with a killer headache. The first thing that surprised Kiana is her current outfit. Her "Battlesuit" was fashioned by Sirin based on the valkyrie squad she killed two years ago.
"I… did this."
Memories surged in her mind. Sirin's memories, her birth inside Otto's laboratory, Sirin's re-awakening, Siegfried's severed arm, the valkyrie squad…
Her mood sank to the bottom. The only thing holding herself is Sirin. She will not allow her to cause harm.
Kiana stood up on the floating rock. Grayish-pink clouds extended to as far as she can see. This entire place gave off a desolate feeling.
"Hm?"
It was then she realized.
She is alone.
"Shi Tian?"
…
No one responded back to her.
Kiana can still recall those final moments. Shi Tian baited Sirin into becoming overconfident. He struck her down with that uber powered rainbow light. Sirin has been silent since then.
After that, she lost consciousness too.
Kiana did not say another word. She used her spiritual consciousness to scan her surroundings.
"Hum? This shouldn't be…"
She did not care about her exaggerated range of spiritual consciousness. It grew from early to late stage when she woke up. She cared more about the fact that Shi Tian wasn't anywhere near.
Her only clue is the bloodstains on the floating rock. It led up to the edge.
Kiana first came across his sword. It gave off a distinct aura of sharpness. She continued moving onto the bloodstains. Along the way, she saw the discarded glass bottle he treasured. It was thrown into the ground.
She picked it up and saw it was completely empty. Traces of Shi Tian's dried blood could be seen on its nose.
Kiana did not find anything else… until she reached the end.
The rock did not conform to usual physics. It remained floating due to a weird mechanism. It is resulted by the laws of the world converging. In the first place, the Imaginary Space lies in-between reality and the Imaginary Tree; it is the place between heaven (Tree) and earth (reality).
A lot of odd things happen inside. Just the fact that ordinary humans couldn't survive here says a lot about it.
"..."
Kiana fell silent when she saw the thing at the end of the blood trail.
It is Shi Tian's prized storage ring.
Her entire body turned cold. She stood still for a good minute or so.
"..."
Kiana bit her lower lip. She picked up his storage ring and held it tightly. She did the same with the glass bottle and the sword Shi Tian left. She learned to use the storage ring and placed all of them inside.
Then, Kiana's frantic search began.
Her late Foundation Establishment mental strength covered thirty miles of her radius. She did not need her [Cloud Seeking Steps] to fly. Her Herrscher Core took care of it.
Honkai energy and spiritual qi formed a delicate balance inside her body. Without exceeding the threshold of her honkai adaptability, the honkai energy will not cause physical damage; spiritual qi won't react without any injuries.
Her honkai energy can be freely exerted, whether it is the usage of Herrscher Authority or other simpler things.
For example, utilizing the [Taixu World Rendering Sutra].
Kiana could not cast it with her Herrscher Core, though she can copy the technique's mechanisms. She can achieve fine control over the void, far more than what Sirin could do; more efficient too.
Her body disappeared before reappearing thirty miles ahead. Her spiritual consciousness acted as a scanner. Kiana kept on doing this for two hours but to no avail.
Shi Tian is gone.
"If I knew this would happen..!"
She is on the verge of tears. Her chest felt very congested. She lost count the number of times she said these words.
Kiana regretted being too eager for a breakthrough. If it meant losing Shi Tian, then she would rather not have it!
Unfortunately, regrets could not create a miracle. The entirety of humanity has too many regrets, enough to fill oceans.
To this, Kiana's current realm did not offer any real solution. She flew aimlessly inside the vast imaginary space. There are no longer any rocks. The grayish-pink clouds remained unchanged.
She reached the 'edge' of the subspace they were into. The entirety of the arena where Shi Tian and Sirin fought is constructed by the latter using her Herrscher authority. There is a space beyond this subspace, though it is more troublesome to walk into.
Hum-!
It posed no trouble for Kiana to explore the imaginary space. Ordinary humans could not sustain prolonged existence here, but not her. She is the Herrscher of the Void. Part of her authority lies in controlling the imaginary space.
The imaginary space lied beyond the typical three dimensions. Her authority naturally extended to this higher dimension.
Kiana broke out of the subspace. New sights entered her vision as her flight continued.
Soon, it came to a point she exhausted herself. Kiana's long white hair swayed as she flew. The person who did her braids is gone.
All because of her.
"Ugh…"
Kiana broke down. Tears fell uncontrollably. The weight on her chest continued to grow.
"Hick… It's all my fault!"
Her cries were met with nothing but silence.
No one came to her side.
No one.
*****
Three days had passed.
Sirin's reawakening caused an alarming concentration of honkai energy to surge. It is way beyond the scale of minor honkai eruptions, basically a signboard of a major honkai eruption.
Along with that is the most feared enemy of mankind: Herrschers.
The first one to respond is Schicksal's Far East branch. They crossed the Far East and arrived at Shenzhou the fastest.
Due to the eruption's intermittent nature, they sent a squad of valkyries to investigate. Had the readings been consistent, they would have sent Hyperion here and then.
Except for the broken trees, they found nothing.
As for Anti-Entropy, Shenzhou is Schicksal's territory. They could not do much except to send several people covertly. They did not find anything, either.
The presumed Herrscher is missing. It caused fear to the higher-ups, prompting them to raise their alert and send all the available valkyrie squadrons to investigate.
Anti-Entropy had to stop their search due to it.
"Oh no. No, no…"
Raiden Ryoma had to pause his business during these past three days. The moment Siegfried learned about the major honkai eruption and Kiana's whereabouts being lost for an entire day, he rushed straight to Shenzhou.
He managed to lay low during the second day, but it was inevitable to clash with Schicksal's valkyries.
Ryoma tapped the crown of his classical watch thrice. A dark blue light swept on its glass before a holographic projection came up. Using it, he dialed Welt Yang's number. The other side did not answer until a while later. The holographic screen showed Welt Yang sitting in a lounge.
"Sovereign. I might need some help."
"What happened?"
"Ziggy… He got into trouble."
He began to narrate the sequence of events.
Little did he know, someone would interrupt him.
"My old man?"
A voice rang on the other side of the call. It is not Tesla's nor Einstein's. It carried a hint of fatigue.
Soon, a white-haired girl came to the screen. Her flat expression alone reveals her depressing vibe.
Raiden Ryoma could not speak. He recognized who she was.
"What did my old man do?"
It is none other than Kiana.
*****
A/N: When I came across the aftermath of Final Lesson, I felt something was lacking. I realized it is Kiana's reaction to "killing" Himeko. We only saw her washed away by the shore. She had Fu Hua at that time. Then, the timeskips came (2-3 months I think).
Either way, this serves as the Tuna's wake up call. Durandal had hers when Ragna died. Expect to see a more mature Kiana next.
PS: It'll take two more chapters to expound everything in this arc (basically conclude it). I will be releasing the bonus chapter tomorrow (maybe 10 hours from now). Chapter 85 is very long with 3,000+ words. It's a ride writing the culmination of this Final Lesson-esque arc.