As Kiana listened to Muninn's vivid portrayal of Raven's hopeless attempts to seek compensation, potentially leading to imprisonment, her lips twitched.
"It's starting to feel like Schicksal has become some kind of oppressive criminal syndicate, preying on ordinary citizens..."
"Since when did you ever think Schicksal wasn't a criminal syndicate? And when did World Serpent executives become 'ordinary citizens'?"
This time, confusion was written all over Muninn's face. The silver-haired girl stared at Kiana with a face full of question marks.
"Uh... you're right, I guess."
Recalling Schicksal's past actions and the fate that awaited her, the White-haired Knight Princess nodded.
"Ah... Fu Hua has appeared," Muninn pointed to the screen displaying footage from the Simulated Persona.
Just as Kiana had witnessed during her past Trial, the Simulated Persona's blue eyes turned golden under extreme emotional stress, activating the White Knight Battlesuit concealed within the White Comet Battlesuit. However, it was common knowledge that machines countered living beings, and Fu Hua countered everything—in short: type advantage trumped all.
Empowered by this double type advantage, Fu Hua struck "Kiana" with a single blow, leaving her unconscious on the ground. Muninn, never one to let a good show go to waste, immediately stoked the flames further.
"Weak, Kiana, weak! This Persona may lack the techniques from the Trial, but I made sure to retain all your combat instincts. To get one-shot like that? White-haired, are you even competent?"
Muninn's sarcastic tone made Kiana Kaslana start contemplating whether to "spice up" the silver-haired raven's meals three times a day. Of course, she couldn't let the taunts go unanswered.
"How old am I? How old is Class Monitor Fu Hua?"
"A fifty-thousand-year-old hag beating up a kid whose mental age is, at most, in the teens? How can our combat experience even compare? It can't be compared! Is that fair? No, it's not fair!"
"A melee-focused Shadow Knight Battlesuit going head-to-head with a long-range White Knight Battlesuit? You know what happens when an ADC gets taken down by an assassin, right? What's the point of even trying?"
"How can I win? I can't! Back then, Sirin's Six-Core Divine Descent—six cores!—still got stomped by the Shenzhou Tablet. I only have one core, and it's the unreliable kind! How am I supposed to win? It's impossible!"
Kiana rattled off a string of arguments so fast it left Muninn dumbfounded. The silver-haired girl stared blankly for a long moment before finally snapping out of it—
"Damn it... these reasons actually make sense..."
"Wait... did you just say that word? You did, didn't you?!"
Muninn seized on a key term from Kiana's tirade.
"Ha? No, I didn't! Don't make things up!"
Realizing what taboo word she had just uttered, Kiana immediately began shaking her head and vehemently denying it.
"You're done for! I'm calling Fu Hua right now!"
Seized by a mischievous impulse, Muninn pulled out something resembling a smartphone from nowhere, seemingly intent on actually calling Fu Hua. In her panic, Kiana completely forgot they were in the Consciousness Space, where such things as phone signals simply didn't exist. She lunged at Muninn, and the two devolved into a tangled brawl.
"You Crow Demon! Erase this memory now!"
"Make the Apostle of 'Memory' forget? Keep dreaming! And how dare you call me a Crow Demon! It's clear you have no respect for the great Muninn!"
Neither held back with words or fists. After a brief separation to exchange insults, they grappled again.
"Ugh... stop fighting, you two!" Sirin cried out, anxiously watching Muninn and Kiana's physical clash. She desperately tried to break them up, but the pair, blinded by rage, seemed deaf to all pleas for reason. They were locked in a classic girl fight, complete with hair-pulling, nail-scratching, and all the usual moves.
"Ugh..." The purple-haired girl glanced around frantically, then noticed the Kevin Doll nearby, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. The old man doll, radiating the air of "I love watching women fight," observed the two girls' entangled struggle with keen interest.
I've got it! Sirin's little brain sparked with an idea. She darted over to the Kevin Doll and hoisted the Armed Puppet, who was still thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.
The white-haired doll's expression instantly shifted from amusement to bewilderment. An instinctive sense of impending doom told him something very, very bad was about to happen. He twisted his head to look up at Little Sirin, who was now holding him high above her head. His blue eyes widened in silent protest:
You wouldn't... You wouldn't throw an old man like me into that catfight, would you?
"Uncle Kevin Prototype Unit! Charge!"
Sirin grabbed one of the Kevin Doll's stubby legs and, with the doll's face contorting in a silent scream of WTF! and WHY?!, hurled the white figure like a javelin toward Kiana and Muninn.
Suddenly, the three figures became a chaotic tangle, Shamash and Mjolnir clashing in a violent dance, flames and lightning erupting in explosive bursts across the space—
"Ugh, I'm done! You all have weapons—that's just unfair!"
Kiana, unarmed and thoroughly pummeled after the Kevin Doll joined the fray, was the first to crack. The white-haired Knight Princess, grimacing and clutching her head, retreated from the fight, muttering under her breath, "Just wait until I get my greatsword. I'll skewer you all!"
The Kevin Prototype Unit, which Sirin had thrown into the fray for "physical mediation," promptly disengaged when one of the combatants declared she was done fighting.
Muninn, left alone, closed her eyes and swung her hammer blindly a few more times. Noticing the sudden silence, she opened her eyes and asked, "No more fighting?"
"No more," Kiana replied curtly.
"Uncle Kevin's Prototype Unit's mediation was a smashing success! Hooray!" Little Sirin cheered.
Muninn and Kiana glanced at the Kevin Doll, which was clutching a miniature version of Shamash. Their brows twitched in unison as they demanded of the puppet, "You call that mediation?"
They pondered the chaotic battle that had just transpired. The doll had first pulled out its mini-Shamash Great Sword without any pretense of fairness, swinging the blade horizontally at both of them and instantly drawing everyone's aggro. This escalated into an even more chaotic brawl, with the doll fighting the most fiercely, wielding its Great Sword with such vigor it sent wind whistling through the air.
"Mediation," the Kevin Doll nodded. After a moment's thought, it added, "Kaslana family style."
"Logically speaking... that is a very Kaslana-style method of mediation... Understood."
Kiana nodded thoughtfully, indicating she had grasped the lesson and would surely apply it next time.
"I get the feeling you've learned something truly formidable..."
Muninn rolled her eyes at the group, who had abandoned their plans to "stretch their muscles," and reluctantly gave up.
"Alright, let's go find that Queen!" Muninn proposed, immediately capturing everyone's attention.
"Why look for her now...?"
"To be precise, we need to release her... When she poked her head out to drop that Simulated Persona, I instinctively shoved her back down..."
"Classic you..."