That happened fifteen years ago.
At that time, Siegfried had married the love of his life and they had a child.
At his wife's suggestion, they asked their mutual friend, Theresa Apocalypse, to be the godmother of their daughter, Kiana.
Although many things happened in between, Siegfried, with his happy family, could be said to have reached the peak of his life.
As one of the world's strongest Honkai energy warriors, Siegfried, combined with the rule-breaking offensive power of the *Judgment of Shamash*, could always easily annihilate any Honkai Beasts he faced.
Tasks that were extremely difficult for others were always easily completed by Siegfried.
If the days had continued like that, such a life would have been quite nice for him.
It is a pity that in a world with the phenomenon known as the [Honkai], Honkai Beasts can be born anywhere.
And for humanity, Honkai Beasts are not the most difficult enemies of the Honkai faction to deal with.
Herrschers are the formidable enemies that truly threaten all of humanity.
During the Second Honkai Eruption, Siegfried paid a huge price to protect his lover and the world, eventually defeating the Second Herrscher, Sirin.
But for some unknown reason, his direct superior, the [Schicksal Overseer] Otto Apocalypse, acted like he had drunk fake alcohol. After the victory, he suddenly prepared to bombard the location where Siegfried and his beloved wife, Cecilia, were located with Honkai Fissure Missiles.
To save her husband and the innocent people around them, Cecilia exhausted all the Holy Blood in her body that day and died in Siberia.
On that same day, the invincible Siegfried Kaslana completely turned into a piece of trash.
A piece of trash who couldn't even protect his own daughter.
Even though more than ten years have passed, Siegfried still cannot forget the voice and face of his beloved wife.
In front of his other daughter, he seemed to have walked out of that cage.
But only Siegfried knew that he was firmly trapped in that cage of sorrow.
If it weren't for the mission of the Kaslana clan and his worry for his other daughter driving him to continue fighting, perhaps the current Siegfried would have chosen to end his own life and leave this world that was so cruel to him.
But now, seeing the figure appearing in the magic circle, Siegfried opened his mouth wide in disbelief.
Her hair is white, her figure is definitely that of a woman, and those eyes...
—No mistake, that's Cecilia!
No, that's not right. Cecilia is already dead.
To save the incompetent me, Cecilia died fourteen years ago!
After experiencing the initial shock, Siegfried's heart was immediately invaded by anger.
The dead cannot come back to life; this is the eternal truth of the world.
Siegfried loved his late wife, and precisely because of that, he would not allow anyone to desecrate her memory by any means.
And this brat actually dared to conjure up such a thing...
I'm angry. This time, I'm really angry!
"Brat... what exactly are you planning to do!"
In a rage, Siegfried used Honkai energy to blast away the hard ice binding his body, and then, with extreme annoyance, aimed the *Judgment of Shamash* in his hand at Aaron's body.
"...No, wait. You see your wife and you still want to keep fighting me?"
Watching the Honkai Beast carapace gradually appearing on Siegfried's face and body, Aaron was completely speechless.
"Is there something wrong with your brain???"
Originally, after beating Siegfried up, Aaron didn't really care that Siegfried was pointing a gun at him.
After all, Siegfried was a hero who had protected the world.
After getting his revenge, Aaron had intended to give this tragic hero a little bit of respect.
Unfortunately, it seemed Siegfried didn't really need that respect.
Just when Aaron wanted to show him some respect, he opened his mouth and even started to attack.
Well, if he wants to fight, then let's fight. It's just repeating what happened a moment ago anyway.
So, thirty seconds later, as Yuno gradually woke up due to the energy fluctuations, and Cecilia's soul completely stabilized within the magic circle, both of them saw the same scene at the same time.
The extremely annoyed Siegfried was having his head stepped on by a very dissatisfied Aaron, being rubbed against the ground.
As for the *Judgment of Shamash* in Siegfried's hand, it had already been casually tossed aside by Aaron.
"Sieg... Siegfried???"
Cecilia, who had slowly walked out of the magic circle, looked at Siegfried pinned to the ground, and then looked angrily at Aaron who was hurting her lover.
"Sir, although I don't know what grudge my husband has with you, please let him go... Wait, Siegfried, where is your hand???"
Suddenly realizing that her husband seemed to have aged more than ten years and was missing an arm, the newly awakened Cecilia naturally treated Aaron as the culprit.
"Ce... Cecilia? Is it really you?"
"Yes. Siegfried, wait, I'll save you right away."
After saying this, the Saint who had been dead for many years immediately drew her weapon, the [Black Abyss White Flower], and charged at the enemy before her.
She didn't intend to kill anyone, but the problem was—her husband's arm had been broken, which meant the enemy must be very strong.
If the enemy is strong, how can she save her husband without using the Divine Key with all her might!
"No, wait, this... is really Cecilia?"
Seeing the white-haired beauty pull out even the *Black Abyss White Flower*, Siegfried was completely stunned.
My wife... resurrected?
This... this, this, this, this is not scientific!
No, why do I care if it's scientific or not!
Cecilia has resurrected!
Just this fact is enough... No, wait!
If she is the real Cecilia, doesn't that mean this little brother... was helping me???
Misunderstanding!
Huge misunderstanding!
Siegfried, realizing he had misunderstood Aaron, immediately tried to stop Cecilia and Aaron from starting a fight.
Then he realized it was too late.
"Damn it, no good deed goes unpunished, right? Fine, I don't care anymore."
"Magnetic Field Rotation: 50,000 Horsepower — Whale-Slaying Tyrant Fist!"
After exchanging a dozen moves, Aaron realized that Cecilia's strength was not even one-tenth of what it used to be. He immediately seized an opening and landed a Whale-Slaying Tyrant Fist on her abdomen.
Cecilia Schariac, who had just awakened not long ago, was hit by Aaron's punch and knocked to Siegfried's side.
"Siegfried... Run! I'll hold him off!"
"No, Cecilia, wait... This little... This Big Bro!"
Seeing that his wife was hurt but still thinking of him, Siegfried immediately did a kip-up from the ground, followed by a mid-air kneeling posture, landing with a *pa* sound right in front of Aaron.
"Hero, please spare us!"
"Heh, at least you're sensible."
Patting the dust off his hands, Aaron grumpily put away the Honkai Beast carapace on his body and glared at Siegfried and Cecilia.
"Next time, can we exchange information before fighting, huh? Calling back a soul that's been dead for years is tiring. And the result? One of you attacks without a word, and the other follows suit without a word."
"If you're tired of living, just say so. I'm not a good person; I'm very experienced at sending people to heaven."
Listening to Aaron's extremely ferocious words, Siegfried and Cecilia looked at each other and saw a helpless smile in each other's eyes.
Although this young man spoke viciously, how could the calm Cecilia and the informed Siegfried not see his true intentions?
The one who started the fight was Siegfried, and even after beating Siegfried up, this young man disregarded the past offense and used this method to resurrect his dead lover.
As for Cecilia, she had attacked the young man in a panic upon seeing Siegfried heavily injured without understanding the situation.
The result? He knocked her down but didn't pursue, only speaking some angry words...
To be honest, after calming down, Cecilia realized that Siegfried's arm was obviously not broken just now.
Moreover, her strength was not even one-tenth of her past self. If the other party really wanted to eliminate her, she would have had absolutely no way to effectively defend against a follow-up punch to her head.
A young man who could kill both of them at any time didn't actually make a move. This clearly showed that he was just very angry at this couple of idiots for attacking without understanding the situation, but not angry enough to kill.
Considering that the fault lay entirely with them, Siegfried and Cecilia stood up trembling and bowed to the young man in front of them at the same time.
"I'm sorry! We made a mistake!"
"Also—Big Bro, words cannot express our gratitude!"
"If possible, I would still prefer you to say thank you."
"But for now, forget it."
Sighing slightly, Aaron activated his Pure Eye, looked at Cecilia's body, and said helplessly to Siegfried.
"If you want to catch up, hurry up. This lady's condition... I need to see how to extend her life."
Although he didn't know why he could successfully complete the Hero summoning ritual in a world without the Throne of Heroes and the Greater Grail, one thing wouldn't change.
Normally speaking, the dead cannot come back to life, so the current Cecilia clearly cannot be counted as a living person.
There is no Holy Grail, so she has no Grail to supply mana, and she cannot sign a contract with Aaron either.
In other words, as soon as the mana in Cecilia's body runs out, she will revert to her original state.
"Wait, Big Bro, do you mean—Cecilia can only be resurrected temporarily?"
Once the matter concerned his late... oh no, Cecilia is resurrected, so now he should say beloved wife.
Once the matter concerned his beloved wife, Siegfried's brain began to spin rapidly.
Then, after catching the key point in Aaron's words, Siegfried, who was incredibly happy just a moment ago, immediately panicked.
"No! Don't let that happen! Big Bro, isn't there any way to make Cecilia..."
"...Don't call me Big Bro, it makes me sound old."
Taking out the mana-infused food made by Raiden Mei that he hadn't finished eating, Aaron stuffed it into Cecilia's hands.
"There should be mana in this too. Nibble on it to extend your life for now."
"As for this side... let me think... let me think..."
System, can you come out now?
[Ah, I can speak now. What do you want to ask?]
What is the principle behind Cecilia's summoning? Theoretically, she should have been dead for fourteen years, right?
[Actually, it's as you guessed. Although Cecilia's physical body was destroyed, her soul did not completely dissipate.]
[Because of her longing for her daughter and husband, Cecilia's soul fragments didn't completely scatter but attached themselves to the Black Abyss White Flower.]
Oh, so that's it...
Aaron, who was about to say 'Isn't the Black Abyss White Flower at Schicksal?', immediately shut his mouth after remembering his earlier deduction.
Cecilia's daughter, 'Kiana Kaslana', according to Aaron's deduction, was very likely in Nagazora City right now.
And her Divine Key had also returned to her daughter's hands.
Plus, her husband Siegfried, whom she couldn't forget, was also here. With Stigmata and relics gathering together, it's no wonder the summoning ritual went so smoothly.
But here comes the problem: what to do about the mana supply?
Without the support of a Greater Grail, a Servant's mana consumption is no joke.
Looking at Cecilia's worried expression, Aaron felt that those mana foods definitely wouldn't last her long.
It wouldn't violate the rules to give a hint, right?
[What hint do you need? It's a soul, what more do you need?]
...Got it.
I really am stupid; I forgot such a simple method.
Even Teigu soul fragments can manifest as Danger Beasts, and Esdeath resides in the Demon Castle. Since Cecilia is now a Servant, she can totally reside within the Demon Castle.
I'll think about replenishing mana later; just ensuring her soul doesn't dissipate is OK for now.
Having thought of a solution, Aaron turned his attention to Siegfried and Cecilia.
After experiencing the initial shock and astonishment, and embracing each other, the two had obviously confirmed that this was not a dream.
At this moment, Cecilia, after heartbreakingly blaming Siegfried for not protecting himself well, suddenly asked a question.
A question Siegfried knew the answer to, but absolutely could not answer.
"Siegfried, where is Kiana?"
"Our daughter... is she living well right now?"