When Shigure Kira woke up, she was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. By the time she realized she was wearing normal pajamas, her mind had gone completely blank.
'What... happened to me?'
She vaguely remembered encountering two incredibly strong opponents, being completely outmatched, and finally being...
"..."
"Didn't I pass out?!"
Shigure Kira's head was still full of questions. She vaguely recalled that the "Niggurath" on her body should have been able to get her out of the Bubble Universe. But the reality was, not only did she not escape, but she had even been captured.
This made Shigure Kira realize just how powerful her opponents were.
"Oh? You're awake? Good. I was wondering what Noldrei was doing bringing back a naked woman. I never thought he'd catch something like you while he was out fishing."
A strange, pink, floppy thing was crawling around beside Shigure Kira. The sudden voice startled her. But given the alien friends she knew, Shigure Kira had more or less gotten used to such new lifeforms.
"You are?"
"Kiana. Kiana Kaslana. This is Earth. Or, uh... the place where Cecilia sacrificed herself, in your memory. If you don't remember clearly, I can help you recall. For example, Durandal is Cecilia's daughter? Or, Schicksal's Overseer Otto and St. Freya High School's Principal Theresa?"
Just mentioning a few names was enough to awaken Shigure Kira's memories from her Valkyrie days. Her mind went blank for a moment, and she completely forgot to ask what had happened to her.
"No, wait! Where's the Herrscher? And that man? Where's Niggurath?!"
She had encountered plenty of bizarre things in her life, and this time was no exception. Her first instinct was to look for "Niggurath," the friend who had saved her in so many adventures—the symbiotic alien lifeform that had inherited her friend's name.
Kiana hesitated, but still told Shigure Kira the truth.
"That symbiotic lifeform of yours... uh, what I mean is... it has chosen to be symbiotic with Noldrei."
"What?!"
Shigure Kira suddenly felt a heavy weight on her head, as if an unbearable green hat had been placed upon it. [T/N: In Chinese culture, "wearing a green hat" means being cuckolded.]
'Wasn't that my friend?!'
"Don't think about leaving for now. After all, you've lost the ability to go back, so just stay at our place for a while. If you think this life is boring, you can occasionally turn into a little pony to cheer yourself up."
It had been a long time since Kiana had seen a new little pony in the house. She believed that for this Shigure Kira to be turned into a little pony, she must have some outstanding qualities.
"Why did this happen?"
Shigure Kira fell into deep thought. Her mind was still in chaos.
The power she possessed had been so easily taken by another person. This threw Shigure Kira into a state of profound confusion.
What happened to it being a perfect match for her body? What happened to them all being friends? How could it be so unreliable?
Kiana was worried that the mental shock would cause problems for Shigure Kira. She had heard from Noldrei that this girl had been invaded by the Herrscher of Sentience and was concerned that some special issues might arise.
After all, that was a Herrscher. What if the Honkai corruption had damaged her brain or some part of her memory? That would be disastrous.
"Are you okay? Do you want me to get Noldrei to take a look at you? After all, you've been... quite frank with each other. He'll definitely help you solve your problems, for humanity's sake."
'For humanity's sake?'
Shigure Kira looked at Kiana's pink, jelly-like body and saw no sign of humanity whatsoever.
"My apologies. I didn't realize you were also from our world."
The white-haired young man appeared before Shigure Kira once again, popping up as abruptly as a glitched-out video game character.
"I was worried you were some remnant from a Bubble Universe, so I had Little Mei invade your consciousness. All your memories are in my hands now. If you're angry, I can share some of my memories with you. Then we'll be even."
"Can memories be shared so casually?! And where is my friend now?" Shigure Kira felt this was too damn weird. How did she end up meeting such a strange guy?
Noldrei, on the other hand, said very seriously, "When humans can share memories, memories will inevitably become exchangeable. There's nothing particularly important about them, especially when they can be copied."
As he spoke, a layer of something Shigure Kira was all too familiar with rose from his body.
It was indeed "Niggurath," and that familiar red eye appeared before Shigure Kira.
Sure enough, just as Kiana had said, Shigure Kira had been cuckolded in broad daylight.
"This is the consciousness that was dwelling in you. It seems to have no physical form, only a conscious existence, which is completely different from the essence of my life."
Noldrei's existence was purely physical. He could control the material properties of his own being, allowing him to transcend the boundaries between matter and maintain the stability of his consciousness amidst various material motions.
"It should be some kind of method of using dimensional space, but it's not as impressive as one might imagine. You must have used this power to navigate the Sea of Quanta, right?"
Shigure Kira was momentarily stunned. She asked nervously, "What did you do to my friend?"
"Don't be nervous, I wouldn't harm them. They're somewhat like beings who have abandoned their physical bodies and formed a purely conscious existence through some method. They're a bit similar to the memory data in our world, but their energy is drawn from dimensional space."
Noldrei pondered for a moment and said, "From my personal perspective, they are more like an advanced civilization, but they still haven't escaped the category of 'human.' They haven't surmounted the mountain of practical activity. They can be considered humans who have taken a different path of civilizational development."
"To be honest, after observing the contents of your memory, I think it's quite rare for this kind of lifeform to be able to maintain its emotional activity in a state of pure consciousness. They can indeed be considered human."
Noldrei and Kiana's bodies could perfectly control their various emotional and hormonal changes. Their emotions were already completely subordinate to the arrangements of reason.
In comparison, creatures like the Sugars still retained the emotional experiences of traditional life, such as joy, anger, sorrow, and fear. In a way, they were better able to experience the emotional activities of traditional humans than Noldrei was.
'Have I been away from Earth for too long?'
Shigure Kira felt more and more absurd. Had she been away from Earth for tens of thousands of years?