"You must be Kiana," Theresa muttered. While Welt and the others were discussing how to gather the resources, she had quietly slipped away on her own.
"Uh, I am," Kiana looked at this girl(?) who was small in stature yet carried a massive Cross on her back, instinctively reaching out to pat her head.
She had been completely lead astray by Xia Yu.
As expected, Theresa swiped her hand away with a snap. "How can a young girl be so impolite? I am your elder!"
"Elder?" Kiana compared the height difference between the two, a look of suspicion appearing in her eyes.
"If Siegfried hadn't spoken up, I really wouldn't have known you were here," Theresa didn't say much else, instead sighing with emotion. "I don't know what that bastard was thinking, letting a little girl like you get mixed up in something like this."
"What? You know my old man?" Hearing this, Kiana was instantly wide awake.
"More than just know him. Wait, has he never told you about me?" Theresa asked suspiciously.
"Uh, no," Kiana was also a bit dazed. "He disappeared several years ago. I've been looking for him all the way from Siberia to Europe, and then in a circle from Europe to the Far East..."
Good one, Siegfried. No wonder you didn't dare come over... making me come to take Kiana away. Look at what you've done, letting a young girl in her early teens cross Eurasia alone... is that something a human does?
I should have just slammed Judah into your head!
Theresa was about to explode with rage. She grabbed Kiana's hand with a snap, her eyes welling up with tears. "Kiana, you've suffered these years. It's okay, your aunt is here. From now on, you come with me, and let Siegfried go off and die alone!"
"Wait, what aunt... Oh, you're the Theresa Sister Acheron told me about..." Kiana stopped mid-sentence as she suddenly remembered what Acheron had told her.
"Thank you for the kindness, but I'll pass," she hesitated for two seconds before refusing. "I should keep looking for my stinky old man."
"You won't find him, Kiana," Theresa shook her head. "With your current skills, how could you find a man who is intent on hiding?"
"Come with me, Kiana. Your aunt, at the very least, has an entire Valkyrie Academy under her. I will train you into a true warrior. By then, catching Siegfried will be as easy as flipping your hand, won't it?"
"Hiding from me..." But Kiana's attention was entirely elsewhere. "Why would my stinky old man want to hide from me?"
"Because you have a morning temper," Xia Yu said, slowly reaching out to pinch her chin. She tilted Kiana's head left and right; there wasn't a speck of Golden Light in her eyes.
"What a pity."
"What morning temper?" Kiana was still confused.
"Kiana, you don't need to know right now," Xia Yu shook her head. "You only need to know that Siegfried is actually not far from here, but he won't come out to see you. In his eyes, this is for your own good."
"But..." Kiana wanted to ask more, but Xia Yu placed her index finger gently over her lips to seal them.
"I know you're confused and feel wronged, but Kiana, this is unavoidable. At least it is for him. If he could, Siegfried wouldn't want to leave you during the days you needed companionship most."
"So, go and get stronger," Xia Yu looked toward Durandal. "Do you see her? She's actually not much older than you, but she is already an S-Rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, one of the top combatants on Earth."
"Once you are as powerful as she is, you will have the confidence to face everything. At that time, you can go and seek out these past secrets."
In the distance, Durandal noticed her gaze and returned a steady smile.
"Kiana, Ms. Acheron is right," Theresa chimed in from the side. "You are still too weak right now. Come with me, Kiana. As a former S-Rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, I will train you well!"
Though she said this, her gaze was somewhat evasive.
Theresa knew Durandal's unreasonable talent. This junior was truly both talented and hardworking. To be honest, if she didn't release Judah now, she might genuinely not be able to beat her...
In a few more years, she might even be surpassed.
And as for training Kiana to be even more powerful than her... Theresa really wasn't sure, even if Kiana was the daughter of Cecilia.
Having traveled the world, Kiana had learned to read people. She keenly noticed Theresa's lack of confidence, so she looked directly at Xia Yu.
"Sister Acheron," she said nervously. "If it's about getting stronger, can I stay by your side..."
"If I could, I would take you with me," Xia Yu shook her head. "But unfortunately, my journey is always a one-way ticket."
"Go with Theresa without worry. Given her feelings for Cecilia, she would never hurt you under any circumstances."
"I understand, Sister Acheron," Kiana's eyes reddened as she reached out to hug Xia Yu.
"Theresa," Xia Yu sighed and gently stroked Kiana's back while turning to Theresa. "Kiana, as well as Mei and Bronya—I leave them to you."
"St. Freya Academy is a good place. They will surely be able to grow up happily there, right?"
"I guarantee it, Ms. Acheron," Theresa's expression turned solemn. "I will protect every single student."
"Mhm, let's leave it at that," Xia Yu nodded. "For these last three days, let them stay with me for a little longer."
After speaking, she reached out her hand. The Elden Ring hanging high in the center of the Erdtree instantly began to absorb the dense Honkai Energy. The massive movement, like a whale swallowing water, instantly startled everyone.
"That is..." Welt looked up at the sky. A deep purple Honkai Energy vortex had appeared, interspersed with faint Golden Light, as countless Honkai Energy surged toward it.
In just a few moments, the Honkai Energy capable of turning the entire Far East into a dead zone was sucked dry. Watching this stunning scene, everyone's eyes were locked onto the golden, emblem-like creation as it slowly descended.
At the same time, the massive phantom of the Erdtree in the surroundings began to gradually dissipate.
"Such efficiency!" Welt's expression was excited. Clearing such a vast amount of Honkai Energy in just a few minutes—if used during a Great Honkai...
But Xia Yu knew that the Elden Ring wasn't actually as efficient as he thought. The reason it was so fast was because this batch of Honkai Energy was already under the control of the Elden Ring. That massive Erdtree phantom wasn't just for show; besides trapping the Honkai Energy, it was an important link in helping the Elden Ring refine this energy.
Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that the Elden Ring needed time to refine Honkai Energy, she wouldn't have had to stay on this Rooftop for so long.
"Ms. Acheron, may I ask what this is..." Welt asked.
"Elden Ring, the priceless treasure of The Lands Between," Xia Yu put away the Elden Ring and said flatly, "It's actually not as useful as you think."
At the very least, it couldn't instantly suck dry the energy of a Great Honkai to prevent it from happening.
This time she succeeded entirely because she exerted her own strength. Strictly speaking, if it wasn't for the IX/Nihility at an Emanator level suppressing the Honkai Energy of the Herrscher of Thunder, the Elden Ring would probably still be struggling to absorb anything while Nagazora City already exploded.
"A priceless treasure," Welt shook his head.
If this were some kind of technology, he would pay any price to obtain it from her. But if it was the function of a single treasure... the value was greatly diminished.
Even if its function was truly that powerful, there was only one. That was the biggest flaw.
A Great Honkai wouldn't occur in a fixed location.
Even if they obtained it, the time it would take to rush to Ground Zero with this item when a Great Honkai occurred would be enough for the disaster to consume the surrounding areas.
"Remember, you only have three days," Xia Yu put away the Elden Ring and beckoned to Mei and the other two. "Alright, time to go home and eat."
She then led the three away from the Rooftop, leaving the people of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy staring at each other.
"...I'll go contact the Fleet," Welt glanced at the group of Valkyries around him. While wondering what Siegfried was up to, he turned and left.
He mainly didn't want to appear before Theresa. If he showed any flaw and was recognized by her... how embarrassing would that be.
As for Siegfried, looking at the Rooftop where no fight had broken out, he let out a long sigh of relief and released his grip on Shamash.
He couldn't help it; he was afraid the Herrscher of the Void would go mad upon seeing him, but he also had to consider that she might react violently to seeing Theresa and Welt.
After all, they had teamed up to fight Sirin during the Second Great Honkai Eruption. There was no reason she would only go mad at him, right?
As it turned out... she really only went mad at him...
He had been prepared: if the Herrscher of the Void awakened, he would immediately fire off Shamash. The timing was simply too perfect. There, the Honkai Energy was restrained and couldn't overflow to destroy the outside world, there was the terrifyingly powerful Acheron watching, plus three S-Rank Valkyries, himself, and Welt. It was a guaranteed win even against Sirin at her peak.
Who would have thought Theresa and Welt wouldn't trigger her nerves?
Perhaps, it was that dream back then... Sirin truly considered him and Cecilia as her... so later on, she became so angry.
But not triggering her was for the best; let her stay asleep for now. With Kiana involved in such a major incident, there was no way to hide it from Otto anymore.
Originally, Siegfried wanted to ask Welt to take her back to Anti-Entropy for training. But looking at Anti-Entropy's lackluster performance since the Nagazora City incident... Welt felt that going to Anti-Entropy might not necessarily be a good thing.
So after much consideration, he finally decided to let Theresa take care of her for a while.
In any case, Siegfried trusted Theresa's character; he just needed to watch out for Otto causing trouble.
As for himself...
Siegfried pulled a few golden hairs from his pocket with a complex expression.
These were left behind from his battle with Durandal earlier.
No matter how much he thought they looked alike, he still needed some evidence for such a thing. Thus, Siegfried planned to go for a paternity test first.
If she really was his daughter... then even if it cost him his life, he would take her away from Schicksal... staying by that bastard Otto's side, she would only be used as a pawn and consumed!
After Welt came out, he dialed Tesla's number.
"Hello? Welt!" Tesla was very excited. "How is it? Are you okay?"
"Mhm, I'm fine. She was fairly friendly," Welt couldn't help but recall Acheron's various words. "It's just... she feels like someone with a lot of secrets."
"It's good that you're fine. As for secrets... it's not like we can control someone like her anyway," Tesla acted quite open-minded.
After all, a scientist of her caliber understood best what the concept of a sword light that could cut through at faster-than-light speeds meant.
"But there is some bad news," Welt felt she was happy too early.
"What news?" Dr. Einstein asked from the side.
"Sigh, you two might have to make a trip to Shenzhou first," Welt smiled bitterly. "Take Anti-Entropy's high technology and exchange it for enough food."
"What does that mean?" Tesla was stunned.
"She said she wants to see enough food to feed thirty million people for three years within three days," Welt replied. "The time is tight and the task is heavy. Schicksal has already set out; we can't fall behind."
"North America is also a major grain producer. Ein, remember to quickly organize all departments of Anti-Entropy to gather food. This time it's not just a matter for us, and... through her words and actions, her mysterious identity, and the way she seems to know everything... I have a very bad suspicion in my heart."
Welt's face was heavy. "We must provide the grain for these thirty million people, Ein."
"So what exactly did you guess?" Einstein's hesitant voice came through the phone.
"Perhaps... we can consider this as supporting the future..."
On the other side, Rita and Himeko also shared their respective guesses.
"What do you mean she is Raiden Mei?!" Theresa was the one who could least accept it. She recalled who Raiden Mei was—wasn't that the girl who had just been acting like a little bird following Acheron?
"But she called me Senpai," Himeko smiled bitterly. "I don't recall ever teaching a student like that."
"The appearance is the same, only the age doesn't match. Extremely powerful, with a thorough understanding of various secrets of the world, even things that haven't happened yet," Rita added. "Being close to Raiden Mei is reasonable enough, but I can feel that she has very deep feelings for Kiana and that Bronya as well... those two girls didn't know her at all before!"
"But time travel and things like that..." Theresa still felt it was a bit too fantastical.
"Theresa Senpai," Rita said helplessly. "She can already cleave a faster-than-light sword light and cut a planet in half... we don't need to dwell on this kind of thing anymore, right?"
"That's true. I was overthinking," Theresa finally accepted the explanation.
"Wait, if that's the case," Durandal suddenly spoke up. "Then wouldn't the food she wants be..."
"Thirty million people... so that's what you meant just now," Theresa looked at Himeko. "Only thirty million left..."
"I think she was probably just trying to comfort me," Himeko lowered her head. "Based on what you've said, she's already so powerful... Sigh, Honkai."
"Sigh, Honkai." ^N