"What an unexpected surprise. I didn't think I'd run into this plot. I thought I'd already missed it."
Elias muttered to himself in astonishment.
But he quickly realized he was overthinking it. Although he had completely cleared the Previous Era, the Current Era was still only in its relatively early stages.
The consciousness born within this virtual space—Kallen Kaslana's—was, without question, not the real person.
But even if he knew that, watching her die and doing nothing was not Elias' style.
And more importantly…
Thinking back to this part of the story, Elias felt an extraordinary resonance and sympathy toward that virtual personality. Compared to the real Kallen Kaslana, Elias might even choose to save the virtual consciousness in this database first.
"Bronya, take Kiana and keep studying. I suddenly have something I need to do."
"Eh? What are you going to do, Elias?"
"This feeling… Bronya's intuition tells Bronya you're about to do something reckless again."
"Haha, how could I? I just… want to free a soul trapped in a cycle, that's all."
Ever since returning from the Previous Era, Elias had become far better at being a riddler. After tossing out a line for the two of them to figure out on their own, he opened the hidden database's gate.
Elias had no hacking skills whatsoever. And this was a special hidden database that only opened to the Kaslana family.
Yet he still tore a passage open with his bare hands.
Whether in reality or in a virtual world, his power would not diminish in the slightest.
"Alright then, I'll take a quick trip~"
Before the two girls could say anything else,
Elias jumped into the data tunnel he had ripped open.
...
After passing through the torrent of data, Elias arrived in this hidden virtual world—medieval Europe, Schicksal five hundred years ago, the turning point in a fool's fate.
"Emmm… no matter the era or the civilization, the sky's color is always the same. But seriously, even if I'm illegally breaking in, was it necessary to drop me from ten thousand meters up? Trying to kill me or something?"
The instant he entered this section of the virtual world, Elias immediately realized just how high the fidelity was—almost indistinguishable from reality.
And right now, he was falling from ten thousand meters.
Even if he headbutted the ground, he wouldn't take any damage. It would even be faster. But Elias still spread his wings and descended slowly.
Image was important.
However, doing so led to…
"Aah! An angel—an angel has descended!"
"Please save us, Angel!"
"Six holy wings—it's a seraph!"
"Oh God, you've finally sent your messenger!"
In medieval Europe, a boy wrapped in holy light, descending with six white wings… it was hard not to mistake him for an angel.
If he were ugly, maybe. Even if he were only average-looking, people might doubt.
But Elias' looks were outright unreasonable—plus the charm blessed upon him by a certain Miss Pink Elf's flawless [Ego].
In that instant, everyone who saw him on the ground involuntarily dropped to their knees and began to bow.
"Ah, this… was I a bit too high-profile? Well, whatever. It's a virtual world anyway. Feels pretty great. Pretty fun too~"
Elias looked down at the kneeling crowd. They weren't real existences, but their reactions were far too real.
Still, no matter how many times they knocked their heads, he had no intention of granting wishes.
At that moment, he also found his target.
Elias adjusted his direction slightly and descended beside a white-haired woman.
"Who… who are you?"
The white-haired woman demanded.
A head of signature pure-white long hair, and azure-blue eyes.
She had an exquisitely delicate beauty that could make anyone's heart soften, yet she also carried the aura of a noble warrior bearing a mission.
Her pure-white nun's habit was loose, but it couldn't hide her graceful figure. Yet her hands were bound in shackles—an emblem of a sinner's identity, utterly contrary to her saintly appearance.
"Even if you aren't the real one… I finally get to meet you, Miss Kallen Kaslana."
Elias examined the guilty nun from head to toe.
She was Kallen Kaslana of this virtual world.
She looked very similar to Kiana, but since the latter was still in her adolescent growth phase, she seemed far more green in comparison—whether in temperament or figure…
At this time point, it was right after Kallen returned from the Far East. She publicly declared her love for Yae Sakura, and Schicksal had sentenced her for a capital crime.
And because she refused to fulfill her engagement to Otto, there was no room for reprieve or commutation.
On top of that, Schicksal was mired in vicious internal power struggles during this era.
By tomorrow, this saint would be fitted with a noose.
"Y-you… how do you know my name?"
Kallen stared at Elias in alarm.
At the same time, three figures appeared—wearing bird-beak masks and black robes.
"Why are you trying to escape, Miss Kallen?"
Elias glanced at them. Whether they were doctors or not, these medieval plague masks made one thing clear—they were members of Schicksal in this era.
"I'm not escaping. I just saw someone falling from the sky and wanted to catch him…"
Kallen looked at Elias again. She really had been trying to catch him.
She just hadn't expected him to grow wings halfway down and land safely.
"Hmph! Lies. A traitor to Schicksal like you has no credibility at all. Don't forget—you're a sinner who forgot her mission and fell in love with a demon!"
"Sakura isn't!"
Kallen shouted back.
"…Miss Kallen, if you're willing to repent, I can still plead with the master for you."
Among the three, the one whose bird-beak mask bore faint markings—clearly the highest in status—spoke.
"It's useless, Grandpa Arthur. Schicksal has already delivered its judgment. And I… I have no reason to keep living anymore. Anyway… everything is meaningless."
There was deep sorrow and despair in Kallen's eyes, like a bird that had lost its wings and could no longer return to the sky.
"Enough talk. Come with us."
"Ahem! I'm pretty eye-catching. Is it really polite to ignore me this hard?"
When one of them reached for Kallen's chain to drag her away, Elias' wings flapped once, and he sent the man flying.
"Or is it because you're ultimately NPC programs, so you won't react unless I initiate dialogue?"
"…Who are you? Six wings—could it be you're a seraph?"
The bird-beak mask man Kallen called "Grandpa Arthur" scrutinized Elias.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a seraph. Don't worry—if you want to kneel and worship too, I won't stop you."
Elias spoke casually as he tore apart the shackles on Kallen's hands.
"…What's your purpose?"
"Well… like you said, Kallen Kaslana committed an unforgivable crime. So I'm here to apprehend her and take her to the heavens for judgment."
"Huh?"
Elias made up an excuse on the spot, then grabbed a bewildered Kallen and turned to leave.
"Stop!" x2
They were blocked instantly.
The two bird-beak mask men drew their weapons and pointed them at Elias.
Faith in gods was indeed prevalent in the West during this era, but as the strongest religious power, the higher-ranking members of Schicksal actually believed less—some didn't believe at all.
Because they knew of Honkai.
They understood that gods very likely did not love humans—perhaps they were even humanity's enemy.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to draw blades on Elias, who wore the seraph's image from scripture.
"Angel?! You're a fraud!"
"How dare you commit such blasphemy!"
"[Kneel]."
Facing the two rushing in with swords, Elias spoke in a flat voice.
The next second, both men obediently dropped to their knees.
"Mm. The [Discipline] I got from Aponia is really convenient. Good—I wasn't interested in moving my hands for two pieces of trash anyway."
"Y-you… what are you?"
Kallen stared at Elias in shock, at a complete loss for what she should do.
"Damn it! Guards! Guards! Seize this fake angel! No matter what kind of sorcery you're using, you dared to lay hands on Schicksal—you'll pay the price!"
The two kneeling men shouted.
Very soon, a group of knights arrived, their armor bearing Schicksal's crest.
However…
"[Kneel]."
Thud!!!
Under Elias' unreasonable [Discipline], these Schicksal knights dropped to their knees as if they'd trained for it a thousand times.
"W-what's happening?!"
"My body won't listen to me!"
"Who the hell is this?!"
"Just a passing Flame-Chaser. Remember it."
With that, Elias ignored the humiliated Schicksal knights and instead grabbed Kallen's hand, declaring domineeringly.
"Today, I'm taking her with me. I want to see who dares stop me!"
"..."
Kallen stared blankly at the white-haired boy before her.
In the saint's heart—like an ancient, dried-up well—ripples finally formed.
Elias nodded in satisfaction at the way he had cowed the entire scene.
Then, under the gaze of the surrounding crowd, he scooped Kallen up into a princess carry and flew straight toward the blue sky.
For a moment, everyone present truly believed Kallen was being taken up to the heavens.
...
A few minutes later, on a city street.
"So… you're not taking me to the heavens?"
"Don't take that seriously. There's no heaven or hell in this world. I don't believe in that. Do you?"
"…I'm still a Valkyrie of Schicksal, you know. The biggest religious power in the West."
Kallen said with a bit of speechless annoyance.
Right now, she and Elias were both wearing hooded cloaks, hiding their overly conspicuous hair and faces.
Elias was extremely interested in this medieval marketplace.
And Kallen had become his guide.
From a certain angle, this already counted as a date.
(Stay strong, Otto. Keep your hat on.)
"A Valkyrie of Schicksal, huh? Heh… are you still going to keep pretending? You should be able to tell I'm an outsider, and I mean you no harm."
"…Fine. You're right. If you meant me harm, I'd already be back in the cycle by now. Anyway… let me introduce myself. Hello, outsider."
Kallen took a deep breath and looked Elias in the eyes.
"I am the virtual personality of Kallen Kaslana."
"As expected… you developed self-awareness."
Although he had known it beforehand, Elias still couldn't help feeling astonished.
The one before him possessed all of Kallen Kaslana's memories and emotions.
To put it simply, she was like the memory entities in the Elysian Realm from the original story.
But she should have had no self.
She should have been nothing more than an existence faithfully acting the role of "Kallen Kaslana" in this virtual world, following the program's directives.
And yet… through a miracle so small it might not even be one in ten million, she had birthed a true soul, a true self, a true will.
She had become, in a different sense, an existence that could be called the real Kallen Kaslana.
(That Otto guy probably doesn't know about this. If he did, he'd go crazy—no, wait, that's hard to say. Maybe in his eyes, only the saint who died five hundred years ago counts as the real Kallen Kaslana.)
Elias muttered inwardly.
He had once turned Otto Apocalypse into his puppet and understood his obsession, madness, and lifelong wish.
But if you asked whether anyone truly understood the entirety of that fool… perhaps only Otto himself could.
"Can you tell me about yourself? Kallen."
"…Alright."
After hesitating for a moment, Kallen agreed.
The two of them found a deserted alley and sat on a bench.
Kallen lifted her head, staring up at the false sky.
There was profound fatigue and numbness in her eyes as she spoke bitterly.
"I can't even remember when it started. I realized that everyone around me was looping through a script that had long been set, and I became aware that this was a fake world repeating endlessly."
"In this world's script, no matter how I struggle, I will always be killed by a Honkai Beast."
"And after I'm killed, I find myself back on the day before my death. This experience repeats again and again, cycle after cycle… until I finally understood that I'm nothing more than an actor in this performance."
Kallen raised an arm to cover her eyes, her expression contorting in agony—an endless cycle of despair no one could truly comprehend.
"How many cycles have you gone through? Have you tried changing it?"
Elias looked at Kallen with pity and placed an apple he'd just bought at a roadside stall into her hand.
"How many times? I can't remember. Maybe… tens of thousands of times. And of course I struggled."
Kallen stared at the apple in her hand and sighed.
She had tried to change her fate. In those tens of thousands of loops, she had done everything she could.
"According to this world's setting, tomorrow I'll be taken to the execution ground. And right as I'm about to be executed, a riot will break out in the city—because Otto releases a large number of Honkai Beasts that are imprisoned beneath the church."
"He hopes that amid the chaos, while Honkai Beasts slaughter civilians, I'll seize the opportunity to leave Schicksal with him—fly away together."
"And I will refuse him. I'll fight to protect the people… and in the end, I'll die at the hands of a Honkai Beast."
As she spoke, Kallen rubbed her abdomen.
Every cycle ended the same way: she would be killed by that Honkai Beast, its sharp claws piercing through her belly and taking her life.
"I thought that if I could just kill that Honkai Beast, I would be freed from the cycle. So I memorized all its traits and abilities. I know every attack it uses."
"Now, even with my eyes closed, I know what it's going to do next. In theory, even if I were weakened, I should still be able to defeat an enemy like that. But…"
Kallen hugged her knees, curling into herself.
"The moment that Honkai Beast appears in front of me, I can't move. No matter how I struggle, it's useless. Isn't it ridiculous? Kallen Kaslana must be killed… It's like a rule of this world."
Kallen laughed bitterly.
Tears slid down uncontrollably.
She hugged her knees and buried her face between her arms.
"..."
Hearing her story, even Elias didn't know how to comfort Kallen.
He could only lift his hand and gently pat her head.
Elias had gone through eleven cycles to save the world and those he loved.
But the Kallen Kaslana before him… had endured tens of thousands of cycles and still could not save herself.
—
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