The next morning, Kiana drowsily turned over in bed and reached out to feel the space beside her.
Empty.
She opened her eyes and stared blankly for two seconds before remembering what had happened the night before.
"Xingxiao?"
"Good morning, my lady."
The voice came from the corner of the room.
Kiana turned her head and saw that the Lord Ravager was still sitting upright on the blanket with Herta's logo printed on it, in exactly the same posture as last night.
The only difference was that Xingxiao was now holding a neatly folded set of clothes.
"This is...?"
"A fresh change of clothes I prepared for you, my lady," Xingxiao said calmly.
"As your attendant, I believe such details ought to be handled personally."
Kiana: "..."
She looked down at her own wrinkled pajamas, then at the uniform in Xingxiao's hands, ironed so perfectly that not a single crease could be found. For a moment, she had no idea what to say.
"So you really didn't sleep after all?"
Not knowing what else to say, Kiana casually picked a topic.
"I told you, Emanators do not require sleep." Xingxiao stood and respectfully offered the clothes to Kiana.
"And after your cultivation session last night, my lady expended a considerable amount of energy. I deemed it necessary to monitor your condition at all times."
Cultivation?
Right, last night's cultivation session.
As Kiana took the clothes, she began trying to recall what had happened the night before.
She had asked Xingxiao to help her refine the Authority of Destruction, and then—
And then what?
She remembered opening up her Path. She remembered spending one hundred points to buy a Stellaron...
And after that, her memory just cut off.
"What happened after that last night?" Kiana asked while changing clothes.
A subtle shift crossed Xingxiao's expression.
It was so slight that Kiana would not have noticed it if her senses were not as sharp as they were now.
"My lady does not remember?"
"If I remembered, I wouldn't be asking."
Xingxiao was silent for a moment before replying slowly, "After you grabbed my shoulders last night, the Authority of Destruction within you suddenly went out of control."
"Went out of control?" Kiana paused halfway through getting dressed.
That should not have been possible for an Emanator.
"Yes." Xingxiao nodded.
"The power was far purer than I had anticipated. I attempted to guide it, but..."
She hesitated, as though what followed was difficult to say.
"It turned around and devoured my power instead."
Kiana blinked.
Devoured it?
"And then?"
"Then, my lady..." Xingxiao's expression grew even more subtle.
"What did I do?"
Xingxiao fell silent.
"Don't tell me I said something outrageous?"
Xingxiao took a breath, then answered in a perfectly flat tone, "You passed out."
Kiana: "..."
So she had really blacked out.
Then what was this now? She felt fantastic, better than ever, in fact.
"And after I passed out? What happened next?"
"I stayed by your side the entire night," Xingxiao said. "During that time, the Authority of Destruction in your body continued operating on its own and completed some kind of... transformation that I cannot understand."
She lifted a hand, and a cluster of energy appeared in her palm.
But unlike the pure Destruction aura from last night, the energy in Xingxiao's hand now faintly carried Kiana's presence.
It was obvious that Xingxiao herself had gained something from this so-called dual cultivation.
Only, far from being proud of it, Xingxiao seemed deeply ashamed.
She had been the one meant to assist Kiana's cultivation and strengthen her control over Destruction.
But judging from the current situation, while that method of cultivation certainly had benefited Kiana...
Xingxiao herself had gained even more from it.
For someone who now considered herself Kiana's blade, that was not something to boast about.
"This is..." Kiana said in surprise.
"What you changed last night was not only your own Path, my lady." For once, Xingxiao's voice carried a trace of complicated emotion.
"You unconsciously reshaped my Harmony as well."
Kiana froze completely.
She looked at the energy in Xingxiao's palm, that fusion of Destruction and Harmony, and suddenly remembered the pulse of Harmony she had felt the night before—one that had somehow come from herself.
"So that's how it is..." Kiana murmured.
Now she understood.
It seemed the phrase dual cultivation had not been wrong after all.
Still, this was not a bad outcome.
Xingxiao's reputation in the past had certainly not been great, but she was still an Emanator-level combatant. Now that she had submitted to Kiana, if she could become even stronger, Kiana was more than happy to allow it.
"My lady?" Xingxiao's voice broke into her thoughts.
Kiana raised her head and looked at the Lord Ravager before her, whose attitude had undergone a complete transformation overnight.
"Xingxiao."
"Yes, my lady."
"When I'm sleeping in the future, could you not stare at me the entire time?" Kiana said, recalling what had happened that morning.
Xingxiao was taken aback for a moment, then lowered her head. "Understood, my lady. I will take care not to do so again."
Kiana nodded in satisfaction. Just as she was about to go wash up, someone knocked on the door.
"Kiana! Are you awake yet?"
It was Asta's voice.
And in an instant, Xingxiao's gaze sharpened dangerously.
Sensing the aura she was barely suppressing, Kiana hurriedly pressed a hand to her shoulder. "Calm down. She's one of ours."
She got up and opened the door.
Sure enough, Asta was standing outside.
And beside her was...
Her nominal guardian.
"Miss Herta?"
Herta stood silently behind Asta with her arms crossed.
"I heard an uninvited guest showed up in your room last night, so I came to take a look."
Her gaze slid past Kiana and landed on Xingxiao in the corner. "Oh? She really is here."
Xingxiao looked back at Herta expressionlessly and said nothing.
Kiana could immediately feel that the atmosphere was off.
"Uh... did something happen?" Kiana asked.
For Herta to come looking for her this early in the morning, it could not be because they were about to rush into yet another experiment, could it?
Sure, the last Simulated Universe run had earned Kiana a lot, but if this turned into nonstop high-intensity work, she fully intended to protest.
Herta spoke in an even tone.
"Someone from the IPC has arrived."
"They're here to see you."
"Someone from the IPC is looking for me?"
Kiana was baffled.
As one of the IPC's higher-ups, she had never submitted her own information, nor had she heard anything about a pending arrangement from above.
"Herta... do you know who it is?"
Kiana asked again.
"It's Jade from the Strategic Investment Department."
"It seems she's here because of the Preservation Emanator who attacked you before."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 31
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 27
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 26
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin