"La la la~ Kiana, deploying!"
Having eaten breakfast, Kiana was in an unusually good mood. Even though it was 9:30 AM, it was still morning, so it counted as breakfast.
Ryn and Kiana packed the food into their bags together, with the silly Kiana constantly sneaking bites. Every time Ryn saw her, he'd tap her on the head, and she'd puff up her cheeks like a dumpling before continuing to sneak food a few seconds later.
The bag that was originally stuffed with Honkai Beast meat was about to be abandoned now that Kiana had tasted good food. After all, that stuff was truly awful. They hadn't thought much about it when they packed it, but now, how to dispose of it became a problem for Kiana and Ryn.
If they left it here, ordinary people could be contaminated by Honkai energy if they touched it. If they didn't leave it, there wasn't enough space in their bag for it.
"What do we do? We have to get rid of this stuff, or ordinary people will definitely be in danger."
"Uh, just leave it to its fate? I don't think my stinky old dad ever bothered to dispose of the bodies?!"
"That's because the Judgment of Shamash burned it directly to ashes! We can't generate that much heat to incinerate it right now."
"Then let's take it with us. The food is delicious, but we can't let ordinary people suffer." Kiana hesitated for a moment but chose to give up the food. The Kaslana family would not harm innocent people for their own selfish desires.
"Moshi moshi, my revered Stigmata consciousness, are you still there? Do you have any ideas?" Ryn felt this was the time to call on his cheat ability. After all, the Stigmata consciousness had said that the Stigmata was quite versatile.
[Just have your Stigmata devour the Honkai Beast. Honkai Beasts carry a large amount of Honkai energy. After the Stigmata absorbs the Honkai energy, it will feed it back to you.]
"What should I do?"
[Place your hand on the Honkai Beast, and your body's instincts will tell you what to do. The Stigmata awakened on you; it's a part of your body.]
Ryn stopped Kiana from continuously taking food out of the backpack and, under her puzzled gaze, placed his hand on the Honkai Beast's body.
He had been too rushed before and hadn't noticed the feeling of the Stigmata. Now, calming down, he felt the rhythm between the Stigmata and himself. He could faintly feel the Stigmata continuously transmitting energy to him, and Ryn could control this power, turning the formless into the tangible, creating something from nothing, twisting all of creation.
*Help me, Stigmata. ...Yes, yes, I can't do anything about you.* (Auditory hallucination.)
Ryn thought about devouring the Honkai Beast's corpse, and the Stigmata complied. The Stigmata emerged on the back of his right hand, four regular diamond shapes surrounding a central cross. Then, the Honkai Beast vanished completely, and Ryn felt a surge of pure energy fed back to him from the Stigmata.
This energy must be Honkai energy. Ryn looked at the Stigmata, then tapped the still-dazed Kiana on her little head.
"Problem perfectly solved! Isn't your big bro Ryn amazing?"
"How did you do that! Where's the Honkai Beast?"
"Ehe, a charming protagonist must always have a touch of mystery. I'm not telling you."
"Hmph, fine, don't tell me. It's not like you have a magical old grandpa and a storage ring like in a novel, right?"
"Guess."
——————
After checking out, Ryn and Kiana set off on their journey again, facing the morning sun.
They traveled at a leisurely pace, seeing many sights they had never seen on the snowy plains. Ryn bought two mobile phones, one for himself and one for Kiana. Whenever they encountered a beautiful landscape, Kiana and Ryn would take pictures of each other as souvenirs. Sometimes they would ask a passerby to take a photo of the two of them together.
The scenery was picturesque, but what was even more beautiful was the friend who was always by your side. Don't be completely captivated by the scenery along the way; pay attention to your friend by your side once in a while.
You are watching the scenery from a balcony, while someone downstairs is watching you.
Behind the happy-go-lucky Kiana and Ryn, two Kaslana uncles were secretly tailing them.
The moment Siegfried's long-unused Kaslana black card was swiped, it was reported to the old matriarch of the Kaslana family far away in Europe—Siegfried's poor old mother.
Because of Siegfried's multiple betrayals, although Otto didn't say much, he no longer utilized the Kaslana family as much. Schicksal treated the Kaslana family well, not cutting their funding or anything, but not letting them go on missions was more painful for them than killing them.
A parent's love knows no bounds. Although Siegfried had done many things in his life that caused her great pain, affecting not only her but the entire Kaslana family, the moment the black card transaction was reported, the old mother still wondered if Siegfried had encountered some major trouble. Was he unable to support himself? Couldn't he afford to eat? Would he starve himself?
So she sent people to investigate, only to receive news that a white-haired dumpling, Kiana, and a purple-haired youth, Ryn, were searching for the girl's father—Siegfried.
Siegfried's daughter, Kiana, was still alive. Schicksal had rescued the girl, but Otto wouldn't tell her where the real Kiana was, only that she was alive.
Then the current Kiana must be that clone...
The old mother tapped her fingers on the table, thinking for a long time. Finally, she sighed and summoned her subordinate.
"Go and protect Kiana and the others in secret. Don't let them find out. Giving her that black card tells us that Siegfried has already acknowledged the clone as a member of the Kaslana family, as his daughter. But Siegfried didn't bring her to see us, probably because he doesn't want her to be bound here like us. I don't know why that damn bastard Siegfried had to name her Kiana. Doesn't he know his own biological daughter Kiana is still alive!" (Siegfried: Ah... I really don't know...)
Ryn and Kiana had been walking for a month now. They had met all sorts of people along the way. Although there were some unhappy incidents, nothing serious happened under Ryn and Kiana's fists.
Kiana's smiles became more frequent. The innocent angel received a lot of kindness from people. The smiles of the pedestrians on the road were infectious to Kiana, turning her into a girl who loved to smile. She liked people like this, liked them when they smiled genuinely.
Ryn was also very happy. The journey was fruitful. People from different places had different customs, and different people had different kinds of warmth. He also witnessed many strange fights along the way—between animals, between people, and between people and animals. Although they were all seemingly chaotic fights, Ryn learned from them with great interest. With Kiana's guidance on some techniques, he successfully shed the title of a weakling and could now fight Kiana on even terms.