"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't… but, this is my promise."
Ryn let go of Durandal's hand. Durandal also opened her hand, revealing the ring named 'Azure Starry Sky' in her palm.
"Durandal, you are like a shooting star, always flying high ahead, a light that others can never catch up to.
In your past, for the sake of those worth protecting, you gave everything you had, not hesitating even to sacrifice your own life.
You carry many responsibilities and missions, weighed down by them to the point of suffocation, like a beast of burden, spurred on and forced to keep moving forward…
And your future may only be a fleeting moment, ultimately becoming a foil, a stepping stone for others…"
"But when I stood above the nine heavens, looking down upon the mortal world, I realized… that you are actually still just a child…
A child who cannot laugh like a normal girl, cry like a normal girl, or chase after the things she desires…
This world is too cruel, so cruel that it is unwilling to even give you a family…
So I came.
Durandal, can you give me such a chance—not for you to stand by my side, silently accompanying me, but for me to be with you, to shoulder the responsibilities you bear together, so that you are no longer under so much pressure.
So that you can be like a normal girl, eat the food you want to eat, play with the toys you want to play with, and see the scenery you want to see…"
Ryn picked up the ring and looked up at Durandal with sincerity.
"As family, as a lover… can I?"
"Mhm…"
Durandal did not hesitate. With tears glistening in her eyes, she nodded solemnly.
Not only did she not pull her hand back, but she also slightly curved her fingers upwards.
Ryn, understanding her meaning, gently placed the ring on the middle finger of Durandal's right hand.
And then, they both looked forward to the day when the ring would be moved to the ring finger…
Durandal looked at the ring on her finger, and without any pretense of coyness or aloofness, like a little girl, she happily wrapped her arms around Ryn's arm and leaned against him.
"Ryn… I agree to marry you, but I need to correct you on one thing… I am not alone.
I have Overseer Otto, I have Rita, and the Immortal Blades squad and the Valkyries of Schicksal…
And not long ago, under the witness of everyone at St. Freya, I became sworn sisters with Kiana…"
As Durandal spoke, she seemed to remember something, and a playful curve appeared on her lips as she looked at Ryn with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"So, Ryn, according to your Shenzhou tradition, I have only agreed to your proposal for now. Whether we can actually get married in the end will depend on whether you can get everyone in Schicksal to approve of you, okay~"
"Ah…?"
Now it was Ryn's turn to be dumbfounded, his mouth agape for a long time.
Just one Durandal was enough to offend almost everyone in Schicksal. After this, there was still Kika, Kiana, Mei, and the others. Wouldn't he be envied and hated to death by all the Valkyries in Schicksal!
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After proposing to Durandal, Ryn and Durandal became like a couple in their honeymoon phase, holding hands and being affectionate with each other as they strolled through Nagazora City.
Nagazora City was abandoned and desolate. However glorious and perfect it once was, that was how barren and bleak it was now.
But did that matter?
Ryn and Durandal's attention was not on their surroundings at all. Their eyes were only for each other now.
But as Ryn and Durandal walked on, they entered the area of the Academy City.
Ryn suddenly felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, and he instantly calmed down.
"Is something wrong?"
Durandal, seeing Ryn's expression suddenly change and stop, also stopped and asked with concern.
Ryn shook his head, then pointed to the location of Senba Academy in the distance. "It's nothing, I just remembered what I wanted to tell you by bringing you here…"
"What is it?"
"A cruel truth…
Durandal, do you remember when I asked you before if the reason Valkyries fight so desperately against the Honkai is because it's their innate mission?"
"Mhm… I didn't answer directly. Because I wasn't sure either."
"I can answer that… We fight against the Honkai with all our might, not because of some glorious mission. But… because this is a desperate and furious revenge, with everything on the line!"
Ryn brought Durandal into the air, looking down on everything from above, presenting the city completely destroyed by the Honkai before Durandal's eyes.
"Do you see? Tragedies like Nagazora City are happening all over the world at all times, the only difference is the scale!
The families that fight the Honkai, the Valkyries with Stigmata legacies, make up only a small minority of all Valkyries.
And the other Valkyries are mostly just avengers who gambled their lives on the operating table, fighting against fate to obtain the power to fight the Honkai.
We once had everything, enjoyed the beauty of the world, but the Honkai destroyed it all!
Before the Honkai descended, I was just an ordinary person, someone who made games at home, greeted my neighbors daily, and took Kiana to and from school in the morning and evening…
But the Honkai changed everything.
We became Valkyries who fight against the Honkai, throwing ourselves into one battle after another against the Honkai."
"I didn't have much resentment towards the Honkai at first, but watching one tragedy after another unfold at the hands of the Honkai…
Watching Hiyokumaru die, watching God Kiana struggle in despair and madness for tens of thousands of years, watching the people of Fire Moth chase after an illusory light in despair…
My anger was silently ignited, turning into a raging fire of revenge, making me hate the Honkai with a passion…"
"But it is precisely because of my hatred for the Honkai that I have always hesitated about whether I can truly become the Savior…
The Honkai of this world is actually a screening process, screening for those who can withstand the Honkai and accept it…
'The way you embrace the Honkai is the way the Honkai will treat you.'
The first civilization launched a struggle against the Honkai, which resulted in the Honkai constantly fighting against civilization.
And now, I cannot solve the Honkai.
Because just like those Honkai Beasts before, the Honkai will face me, who is filled with anger, with the same fire of revenge…"
"So, Durandal, don't underestimate yourself. Like Kiana, you kind-hearted people do not truly have hearts filled with hatred and the fire of revenge for the Honkai…
If it were you, if you accepted the fact of the Honkai and embraced the 'Honkai', perhaps you could truly end the Honkai…"