Would you call this a hero saving a damsel, or a beauty saving a beauty?
Cyrene also stood in the distance, watching the white-haired girl step forward, berating the classmates who were trying to bully the purple-haired girl, and even showing off her martial prowess.
This should count as a hero saving a damsel. So-called heroes are gender-neutral. More accurately, this is a rescue of the weak by the strong, so even if a beautiful woman rescues a man, it can still be called a hero saving a damsel, because the word "hero" is a title for those who lend a helping hand and help others escape distress.
Caelus said this, then looked at the cameras near the street that were vaguely aimed at him, as well as the surveillance cameras in several nearby tall buildings that were also subtly pointed in his direction.
It seems this girl, who bears a strong resemblance to Bianka, is indeed involved in your plan, Overseer Otto.
With that, Caelus stopped watching, took Cyrene with him, left the rooftop, and headed for Schicksal headquarters.
Meanwhile, inside Schicksal headquarters, Otto, who was sitting in his office, saw the figure he had just been watching suddenly disappear and knew that the person was coming to find him.
Otto sat in his seat, pondered for a moment, and then said to his secretary, Amber, who was standing by his side, "What mission is Bianka currently carrying out?"
"Lady Bianka just finished an off-site mission and is currently resting at headquarters."
"Mm, call her over. Also, mention that the person she was waiting for has returned."
In the private gym at Schicksal headquarters, a girl wearing a tank top and shorts, with her blonde hair tied in a high ponytail and standing over 1.8 meters tall, was jogging on a treadmill.
The girl had just finished a set of exercises and was now relaxing her body by jogging.
Just then, a woman dressed in a maid outfit walked in and said to the girl running on the treadmill, "Lady Durandal, the Overseer asks you to go to his office, and he also passed on a message saying that the person you've been waiting for has returned."
Upon hearing these words, Durandal jumped off the treadmill instantly, took the towel hanging nearby, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and then immediately rushed toward the bathroom inside the gym.
Seeing Durandal in such a hurry, the woman in the maid outfit could not help but feel curious. Who exactly was the person she had been waiting for all this time?
Inside the Schicksal headquarters office, Otto looked helplessly at the uninvited Caelus and said, "Even knocking on the door would be fine."
"You already knew I was coming, so there was no need for me to knock."
"Next time, I'll just leave the door open."
After Otto finished speaking, he looked at Cyrene, who was sitting beside Caelus, drinking the tea that Amber had served.
"Will you introduce me?"
"This is Cyrene, my eternal companion, or you could also call her my other half."
"This... it seems that child Bianka has no hope."
A smile suddenly appeared on Otto's face, a smile that made Caelus feel it looked just like that mapo priest, Kirei, watching someone else eat mapo tofu.
Not long after, there was a knock on the office door.
After receiving permission to come in, Durandal, now wearing proper casual clothes, pushed the door open and walked in. She first looked around the office, and then saw Caelus sitting on the sofa.
"Long time no see, Caelus."
Durandal said this with a smile.
"Long time no see, Bianka. You've grown into a young woman. You seem even taller than me now."
Caelus looked at Bianka, who was at least 1.86 meters tall with her shoes on, and could not help but recall the image of that slightly smaller child from back then.
Durandal then shifted her gaze to Cyrene, who was sitting to the side and smiling at her, and said, "Hello."
"Hello, Bianka. My name is Cyrene. I am Partner's future companion, the other half walking with him on an endless journey."
Cyrene rose from the sofa, looking at Durandal, who was much taller than her. She wore a smile on her face, and then silently deployed her Reality Marble, though she did not rewrite the surrounding environment.
However, within the domain of this Reality Marble, Cyrene once again evolved into Great Cyrene, the Demiurge form.
"Is that so? That is truly a good thing."
Unexpectedly, Cyrene had thought Durandal's face would show loneliness and reluctance, but she did not expect her face to show relief instead.
"At first, my feelings were quite hazy, but later, I was very certain that because of Caelus's rescue and the companionship over those years, I indeed had many fond feelings in my heart.
But after I chose to leave his side and chose to accept this knight's oath inherited from my bloodline to save others, I knew I could not accompany him on an endless journey. He is a Traveler destined to leave this world, destined not to be trapped in one place.
And I cannot abandon my world. My homeland is suffering from disaster, and I do have the ability to change something, to save something. This sense of responsibility makes it impossible for me to choose to leave.
I once thought that if, in my lifetime, I could truly end the Honkai disaster, allow human civilization to be free from persecution, and move toward tomorrow, then, if Caelus was still without a companion and still alone, I might lay everything down and go with him into an endless future.
But that also means I view the survival of this world's human civilization as more important than Caelus.
And now, he already has someone by his side, which, for me, can be considered the best outcome."
"He is the most important person to me, but precisely because of that, I also hope those who love him can love him even more than I do, and I hope he can find even more happiness."
Seeing the sincere smile on Durandal's face and the well-wishing intent in her tone, Cyrene also spoke with a friendly smile, "Mhm, to me, Partner is indeed more important than anything else. In many ways, I might not be as good as others, but when it comes to loving Partner, I won't lose to anyone!"
"That's wonderful then."
Although Otto, sitting to the side, still had a smile on his face, he could not help but sigh inwardly. What a pity, he did not get to see a romantic disaster unfold. He had wanted to see if this guy, whose face usually lacked any emotional fluctuations, would show any interesting expressions if he were caught in the middle of one.
"Since private matters are finished, I'm going to ask about some official business next."
Seeing that Durandal and Cyrene had finished their conversation, Caelus stood up and looked at Otto, who had been sitting there watching the show, and said, "What's the deal with that girl who bears a strong resemblance to Bianka? Don't try to gloss over it. After all, I deliberately let you see me."
Caelus drew the Contradictory Spiral from the void.
"I don't want the child I raised to be fighting hard for her own world while someone is trying to backstab her from behind. Normally, I wouldn't care about these things, but now I don't want her to shed blood and tears."
"Otto, give me an answer I can accept."
Caelus did not say any threatening words, but at this moment, Otto could directly feel that if his next words did not satisfy the person before him, then no matter how many clones he had, no matter how many memory backups he had made, no matter how many trump cards he still held...
Everything would fall into nothingness.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)