Hello and I'm back once more. I just want to thank everyone for the support this far. The last chapter really had a number of positive comments, and I can already see a few theories of future content being posted.

I won't spoil anything but I can say that one of you managed to hit a nail on the dot. A shout out to whoever can figure out who that is.

Before proceeding I just felt I should mention that my skills in writing combat situations is not really the best out there, but I will do my best to provide to my faithful audience.

So please enjoy the chapter!!


Chapter 8: AE Invasion pt 2

Kiana stood within the centre of the simulation chamber. Eyes closed and steady breaths as she mentally prepared herself. She thought back to her recent mission in Shenzhou, a failure that shouldn't have happened. While they had succeeded in achieving their objective, Kiana couldn't accept that victory because of the cost that it came with. The major had been corrupted with honkai to the point of losing her sense of self and attacking both Kiana and Hua, fortunately she hadn't fully converted into a zombie due to the artificial stigma on her person.

Thinking back to how the possessed major took the divine key they were after and turned against them still made Kiana's stomach turn. And for some reason she, whenever she had those thoughts she would sometimes see Kasumi in the majors place. Would the same have happened with her sister had she turned as well? Would Kasumi have been able to recognize her or would she have just attacked her on sight? Kiana knew the answer to these questions, but the situation of this particular mission had hit a tad bit too close to home for the Kaslana.

Kiana knew that it was her own fears getting the best of her. Just like they had on that mission, due to her frozen state Fu Hua had been forced to fight and subdue Himeko on her own, something that Kiana would never be able to forgive herself for. She had been unable to commit herself to harming someone she cared for again, not after she had already done it twice. However that didn't mean Fu Hua had to shoulder that responsibility on her own, she should have done more to help in that situation

However she was also aware that she couldn't continue fighting the way she had been forever. Restricting herself the way she had been this whole time, she could understand Aunt Kallen telling her to use her weights to mask her true abilities and maybe keeping her Kaslana techniques hidden for the time being. But after the last mission the whole thing just seemed to be counterproductive to Kiana. She could have done a lot more in the mission, they were fortunate to have been able to retrieve the Xuanyuan sword, but Kiana still wished she could have prevented the major from being corrupted the way she had. An unrealistic thought, Kiana was aware of that, but one that bothered her none the less. This led to the Kaslana confronting her aunt and teacher the previous night.

*Flashback – Stigma realm*

Kiana appeared within the meadow just outside Kallens cabin as she always did every night when she went to sleep. But today she wasn't in the right mindset to train and learn from her ancestor, but rather she had a few questions that she wanted to ask. Her inability to act in the last mission had been eating away at her and she felt that the restrictions that had been placed on her were partly to blame for the failure of that mission. She could have done more….a lot more.

And so with a sigh the Kaslana knocked on the door and waited patiently for it to be answered. A few seconds later Kallen opened the door from the other side with a more than welcoming smile on her face, Kiana was almost tempted to drop the matter right then and there, but she wouldn't be able to move forward if these answers weren't given to her.

"Oh Kiana, you're earlier than usual today." Kallen said in slight surprise, though she really didn't seem too surprised by it, almost as if she had been expecting it.

"Yeah, I slept earlier than usual today." Indeed she had, she just couldn't bring herself to do her late night training with all these thoughts and guilt racking her mind, and so she decided to sleep earlier for the sake of the upcoming conversation, "Aunt Kallen, do you mind if we talk for a bit before we start my training?" Kiana asked with a small frown on her face, she didn't want to frown but she wanted her teacher to acknowledge just how serious she was being about this conversation.

Something that Kallen immediately caught onto as her bright expression slipped into something more neutral. The elder Kaslana nodded and gestured for her progeny to enter the house as she moved aside to make way. Kiana nodded her head and entered, as the younger Kaslana made her way to the living room she saw Kallen heading towards the kitchen.

"Do you want tea or coffee?" Kallen asked from the kitchen.

"Coffee please." Kiana responded as she took a seat on one of the couches. A few minutes later Kallen entered the living room with a tray that held two steaming cups. Passing Kiana's cup to her, the elder Kaslana sat on the opposite side of the young girl. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping from their cups, as Kiana tried to think of the best way to start this conversation. She didn't want to seem like she was blaming her aunt for what happened on that mission because that was far from her fault…..but still, if the young progeny had been allowed to reveal more of her potential she could have done more.

"You look distressed. Did something happen recently?" Kallen finally spoke up after seeing the distress on Kiana's face. Something was bothering her, and the young Kaslana had come to her for help, and so the elder Kaslana would do all she could to guide Kiana.

"You could say that. I went on a mission about a week ago, it was successful, but the cost of that success was high." Kiana started as she then went on to tell Kallen about the mission in Shenzhou. Finding the judgment beast Chiyou, Himeko being corrupted by honkai from the key of domination and Kiana freezing as the class monitor subdued Himeko.

By the end of Kiana's tale Kallen had an understanding of what Kiana was going through. The young progeny was obviously guilt stricken, she wanted to do more, wished she could have helped Himeko, and blamed herself for the majors' condition. It was a normal thought process for most warriors when one of their comrades were injured. The 'what ifs' and 'could have' become many as they think of various scenarios that could have saved the one they care about. But she needed to hear it from Kiana's own lips. What was the Kaslana truly seeking by speaking to her about this? If it was emotional support then the elder Kaslana would easily grant it, but she knew there was more to it than just that.

"I see. Kiana you have to expect this kind of thing to happen regularly on missions. People get injured and sometimes even die while carrying them out. The honkai is a dangerous foe, and not all people are naturally equipped to fight it. Your major is running o borrowed time if what you told me about her is true, this mission will affect that time drastically." Kallen said, deciding that sugar coating the whole thing wasn't going to make it go away, "The only thing you can do is give it your best and fight your hardest."

"But that's just the thing. The main reason I feel this way is because I couldn't give my best!!" Kiana shouted in frustration as Kallen looked at the young girl in confusion for a moment, trying to process what she was saying. There was no way Kiana wouldn't give it her all to protect the people she loved. Unless…

Oh….now Kallen understood where this conversation was going, and she didn't like it.

"Kiana…." The elder Kaslana started her voice low in a warning manner, only to be cut off by the one she was addressing.

"No wait just hear me out for a second." Kiana said almost desperately, Kallens mouth closed forming a rather thin line, the only indication that she was listening, "When you first started teaching me over seven months ago you asked that I not reveal my true capabilities to anyone, and you especially asked me not to tap into the power of my stigma in the presence of others. I agreed to that out of caution, I didn't truly trust anyone from St.Freya yet. I masked my own physical prowess using weights, and the only time I practice with my stigma is when I'm training with you. But things have changed, I have people I trust and care about, and I want to be able to do everything in my power to protect them with everything I have." The young progeny spoke proudly with passion.

Kallen could see that Kiana was sure of her own prowess. She wasn't overconfident by any means, just confident. Just as she had taught Kiana when she was mastering the sixth stage of the Kaslana arts, Strength of Will, she couldn't afford to ever doubt herself. She could understand where Kiana was coming from, but she had her reasons for restricting Kiana the way she did.

"Kiana, I need you to trust me." Kallen spoke softly, but the frown on Kiana's face showed that she wouldn't be budging that easily.

"I do trust you, you're family. But you're hiding something from me, and I deserve to know the truth." Kiana said sternly as she stood her ground, she wasn't going to back out unless she received something out of this talk.

The two of them stared at one another for a moment, the stubborn Kaslana blood within them not allowing the other to relent. But they both knew that they would not get anywhere if words weren't spoken. On one hand Kiana definitely wasn't going to back down, she needed these answers, otherwise she would just go on and do as she pleased. Whether Kallen approved of it or not, but she didn't want to resort to that seeing as she held high respect for the elder Kaslana.

Kallen on the other hand knew that Kiana had a valid point. She deserved to know the truth, and perhaps in knowing she would understand why she couldn't reveal her potential. However the bigger question is was she ready to learn the truth about the Kaslana bloodline, and the origins or the knowledge within the stigma. It had been overwhelming for her at first, but perhaps Kiana would handle it better than she did.

"You're right." Kallen admitted with a sigh, "I can't tell you everything, but I will tell you what I can, the rest will come in due time." The elder Kaslana said as her eyes met Kiana's. The progeny knew that this was the most she would get for the time being, and so nodded her head in agreement.

"Alright." Kiana simply stated as she allowed herself to relax. She watched as Kallen closed her eyes for a moment, probably thinking on the best way to start the best way to approach the conversation.

"Do you remember what I told you about the stigma realm when you first arrived here?" Kallen asked as she slowly opened her eyes.

"You said it was like a pocket dimension within the Kaslana stigma, a small world if you will. And you also said it held a vast amount of knowledge from generations' worth of Kaslana." Kiana replied as she thought back to what Kallen had told her.

"That's right, that knowledge dates back to the first Kaslana to ever receive this stigma. The sire of our lineage, Kevin Kaslana. The Kaslana bloodline is not like many bloodlines of the modern world, as it traces back to a time before the modern era." Kallen said as Kiana's eyes widened at the implications of her teachers words. She knew that the Kaslana bloodline was strong, but there was no way that it was that old.

"Wait you don't mean tha-"

"I do. Our sire was a soldier of the previous era. And not just any soldier, but the greatest soldier of his era. There was a reason for that though. He was different than the average human, his body had been augmented with the genes of a honkai beast, making him that much more powerful." Kallen explained as Kiana's eyes widened at what she was hearing. The implications of this revelation where astounding to say the least.

The first Kaslana was a hybrid, much like the principal and though it was faint Kiana was sure that she sensed it in Hua as well. What did that mean for the Kaslana bloodline of the modern era? Is that why Kaslana were naturally so strong? Why didn't Aunt Kallen tell her this sooner? The young progeny had so many questions that were going through her head, but she knew that she would be getting some of those answers soon and so she turned back to Kallen who had been watching her student processing. Once Kallen saw that her disciple had calmed down she continued.

"As I said, our Sire was augmented with honkai genes, and naturally as his descendents that power is within us as well, except it's dormant within our blood. This is the reason why Kaslana are more powerful than the average warrior though, our bodies are naturally enhanced as a result of the dormant honkai genes within us." Kallen explained as she gauged Kiana's expressions with each word.

She had been training with the girl for slightly over seven months now, and she was proud of how far Kiana had come in that short time. The girl was a prodigy in her own right, but she already had too many burdens she would have to deal with in the future. Kallen didn't want to overwhelm the girl any more than she already was, but she had more or less demanded to know, and it was her birth right so Kallen couldn't keep that away from her.

"Which honkai genes flow through our veins?" Kiana asked with a small frown on her face, she wasn't scared of the blood within her. But she was worried about the possible implications, and perhaps even the changes that it would cause to her.

"The emperor class beast known as Paravati." Kallen said. Kiana's eyes widened as she immediately realized the mentioned beast. It was similar to the emperor class beast Ganesha, but had a powerful affinity for ice and its body black with blue linings of honkai energy.

"Wait does this relate to how you said our stigma grants Kaslana lower body temperatures on top of enhanced physical abilities." Kiana asked as she found that to be far too much of a coincidence.

"Yes, it was chosen that way so our sire could use the full power of the Judgment of Shamash without being burnt. The cold within our blood was used to counteract the heat from the blade." Kallen explained as Kiana nodded her head in understanding. It made sense to the young Kaslana, it certainly explained why the Kaslana bloodline had always been the one to wield the blazing blade.

"But many of our ancestors still burned under the flames of Shamash. Is it because the genes within us are dormant?" Kiana asked, she would forever respect those who gave their lives for the family oath, and if she would do the same if the situation called for it. But the question remained on why they died despite their supposedly natural resistance.

"Yes, our bodies have a certain amount of natural resistance to the heat, thus why Kaslana have always wielded Shamash. But even then, without awakening the genes within us our bodies cannot handle the full might of the Judgment of Shamash." Kallen stated grimly as she thought back to her own father's death. Everyone had called him a hero that day, and she also remembered him that way, but that didn't take away the pain of losing him.

"Is there a way to awake those dormant genes?" Kiana decided to ask, she herself was in no hurry to awaken that kind of power just yet, but it would be helpful to have an idea how to awaken it just in case she may need it in the future.

"Yes, your father was actually the only one aside our Sire to awaken said genes." Kallen said with a small smile to her face. Her connection to the Kaslana stigma had allowed her to see through the eyes of some of her descendents during specific moments. One such moment was when Siegfried awakened the honkai genes within him during the second honkai war.

"He did?" Kiana asked clearly shocked that her father had been able to achieve such a feat. Why had he not told her about that? Perhaps it was for the same reasons that Aunt Kallen had kept this whole issue until now. "When, and h-how?" The young Kaslana asked.

"It was during the war with the second herrscher. He didn't awaken them naturally as they should be, but rather he used a formula created in the previous era to awaken those genes. The power was too much for even his will to fully control, and thus a fragment of our Sire's consciousness had to guide him in the battle." Kallen explained as Kiana's eyes widened further and her mouth dropped unceremoniously. "The same cannot be said if you try to awake those genes now, and thus I will not tell you how to awaken them naturally."

"Bu-"

"If you really want to know then you must first reach the peak of your own strength and master your respective stigma. Only then will I consider helping you awaken the power within you." Kallen said sternly, she wasn't going to be convinced otherwise and Kiana could tell. The young Kaslana sighed and nodded her head in agreement, it was probably for the best anyway. "These powers are dangerous Kiana, if you don't prepare yourself physically, and more importantly mentally, then you'll just end up being a danger to your friends." Kallen explained with a sigh of her own. She understood Kiana's drive, she truly did, but it was still too soon.

"….okay. I understand. I just have to take it one step at a time." Kiana said as she nodded her head. She was being irrational, her last mission and past actions were making her desperate to grow stronger. But she was also forgetting there was no shortcut to growing stronger. She would train harder from today onwards, push past her limits everyday to set new ones. That was the proper way to grow.

"Good. AS I said before, the first step is to master the power of your stigma. The fact that you have two means you have great potential but a lot of work to do if you want to use them both." Kallen said to which Kiana nodded with a determined expression. Kallen could see the resolve in Kiana's eyes was stronger than ever before.

"But I'm still a long way from starting to learn to use my stigma effectively. That's the eleventh stage of the Kaslana arts. And I've only recently started the eighth, the Advance Martial Arts." Kiana stated with a frustrated groan that caused Kallen to giggle at her childishness during that moment.

"You cannot rush progress Kiana. We've only been training for seven months together and yet you're already on the eighth stage out of twelve. This training is supposed to take years for one to master, three maybe for in total. And yet within less than a year I might have nothing more to teach you. You're a prodigy in your own right, and its time you realized that." Kallen said with a supportive smile, one that Kiana returned with a thankful one.

There was a lot of self doubt that Kallen could see in Kiana, and even now the elder Kaslana could see that her young progeny was not entirely convinced that she was capable. And it was only then that the elder Kaslana realized that she may as well have been adding to the problem. Asking Kiana to limit herself even in missions had made Kiana unable to see the strength that she possessed, the only place she truly went all out was within the stigma realm when training. Perhaps her confidence in herself would rise if she saw for herself just how capable she was.

"Kiana." The elder Kaslana called out, causing the younger one to look at her, "You were right, perhaps I was being a bit too strict with limiting your capabilities in the field. Hiding your strength is nothing to lose a loved over, and it's certainly not doing wonders for your confidence." Kallen confessed.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry." Kallen added as she bowed her head slightly, much to Kiana's surprise. The young Kaslana wasn't sure what to do in a situation like this, it was times like this where her isolation in Ulan-Ude showed her lack of social life. And so she did the only thing she could.

"It's fine really…I probably shouldn't have gotten so worked up over the matter. The major is going to recover and the mission was a success overall." Kiana said awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Anyways I'm glad we had this talk." Kallen said as she sat up straight with a smile of own, "It certainly clears the air somewhat." The elder Kaslana admitted as she leaned into her seat. A small fraction of the weight in her chest had been lifted, but there still remained a large portion that was caused by the knowledge of what Kiana held within her. She had to prepare her progeny as best as she could…

…Otherwise she could end up being a danger to the world itself.

*Flashback End*

Kiana was glad that much had been cleared since their talk, and as promised she would only show her true prowess during missions, if necessary, or when the situation truly called for it. Though granted they had only talked about this the previous night the young Kaslana had yet to face a situation where she could truly let loose. In a way a part of her was looking forward to such a fight, she wanted to see the fruits of her training in the real world, not just the stigma space.

"Kiana are you ready?!!" The Kaslana was snapped out of her thoughts as the voice of the principal entered her ears. Opening her eyes she looked to Theresa who was in the panel above managing the simulations. Looking into her right hand Kiana noticed she was holding the legendary golden blade know as the Xuanyuan sword.

That's right…..Theresa had asked Kiana to help her in testing the divine key. The main reason behind this was because the Kaslana had two natural stigmas, which assured the principal that she had some of the greatest honkai resistance in the school aside from Mei, who was a herrscher, and the principal herself, who had honkai beast genes within her. Kiana of course had accepted, anything to get her mind of the recent mission, and so here she stood with the blade in hand.

"Yeah, I'm good to go!!" Kiana shouted with a slightly excited grin as she twirled the blade in her hand and gave it a few practice swings. She had always wondered what it would be like to wield a divine key, though in her mind she had always seen herself wielding Shamash in its pistol or blade form. That didn't mean she wasn't excited to see what this blade could do though.

"Just remember the point of the test is to see if you can access the power of the blade." Theresa spoke sternly, as various zombies and beasts began to appear around Kiana, the Kaslana taking a battle ready stance as she held the blade in front of her with both arms, "Okay, according to the legends Xuanyuan was able to control six elements through the divine key. These were water, wind, lightning, earth, fire and ice. We'll take this one step at a time and start with the one you're most familiar with, fire." The principal said as the honkai beasts around the young Kaslana charged at her.

"Got it." Kiana responded as she closed her eyes for a split second, envisioning the flames that usually surround the Labor of Olympus as she channeled her energy into the blade in her hands.

The results were instant as the red gem on the blade began to glow in response and flames surrounded the blade at the wielders command. As Kiana opened her eyes, she took another second to marvel the flames surrounding the blade, unlike the crimson flames that surrounded the Labor of Olympus, these were brilliant gold and blazed with a heat that surpassed the previously mentioned sword. And yet that heat did not harm the Kaslana, whether this was because the blade acknowledged Kiana as its wielder or was because of her Kaslana genes Kiana was not sure, but one thing she did know was that she was eager to see what the blade could do.

Without wasting another second Kiana charged towards the incoming horde of zombies and beasts. Swinging her blade horizontally Kiana unleashed a large torrent of golden flames towards the incoming enemies, the front line was consumed by the flames and disappeared almost immediately. In a burst of speed Kiana charged through the flames and cut through an unsuspecting chariot.

In her display of quick reflexes the Kaslana leapt to the side as the giant foot of a chariot crashed on the ground she had been on seconds ago. Kiana leapt into the air above it, the flaming Xuanyuan sword held above her head in both hands, and with a mighty downwards swing she struck the beast and triggered a large explosion. The explosion consumed the beasts which had been too close to the Kaslana and the remaining were blown away by the sheer force of the attack.

Kiana used the space to gather her thoughts together once more. The blade in her arms was powerful, there was no doubt about that, but something about it just didn't seem to 'click' with the young Kaslana. It felt odd to wield. Regardless it was a highly efficient weapon.

"Alright Kiana, you're doing great!! Let's try switch it up a bit, try another element!!" Theresa shouted through the comms once more. The principal wasn't going to tell Kiana which element to use next, meaning that Kiana was free to use whichever she pleased. The Kaslana took a moment to think about this, without taking her eyes off the surrounding hoard of course.

Fire was the element she was most used to due to the Labor of Olympus, other than that the gun she used didn't necessarily have elemental rounds. Meaning that whatever element she went with would totally be a new experience for the Kaslana. Water, wind, lightning, earth and ice, those were the options that remained for her to choose from. She'd just have to wing them since she wasn't sure what to look to activate the other elements.

"Alright then I'll go with ice." Kiana called out picking a random of the five remaining elements. The flames around her blade vanished and the red gem stopped glowing. The Kaslana envisioned the frozen tundra of Siberia, the place where she had grown with her father. It was always cold year in and year out, snow and frozen lakes were all she knew in the area that surrounded their cabin.

She focused on the cold feeling of the winter breeze that she still remembered to this day, and the feeling of the cold shards of ice that usually hung from tree branches. Just like before one of the six gems on the blade began to glow, this time it was a sky blue gem. Kiana felt the air around the blade shift almost instantly, as temperatures dropped, and the floor around the Kaslana was instantly covered in a layer of ice. And yet once again the Kaslana remained unaffected by the cold. Perhaps it really was because she was the one wielding the blade, regardless she had a test to resume.

So with the blade in hand she turned to the incoming horde of zombies and honkai beasts.

Meanwhile – By the Himeko's apartment (Present)

"….and DIE!!"

A series of black orbs were launched at the monitor Fu Hua who reacted by dashing forward and weaving her way through them one by one. Taking a quick glance back as she continued moving she noted that each attack triggered a large explosion of black energy upon contact with the ground. She would have to avoid those at all costs.

Seeing as his initial attack didn't stop the valkyrie Welt(?) ((Couldn't think of a better name)) prepared to launch another barrage of attacks at the valkyrie, only for a red feather to suddenly appear in his line of sight. The herrscher ignored it and turned back to the opponent that was in front of him….only to see that she wasn't.

"What!! Where did that bitch go?!" Welt(?) shouted in anger, there was no way that she had turned tail and ran away! Could she?! That question was quickly answered by the mind shattering blow that was delivered to his left cheek. The attack sent the herrscher tumbling a bit before he quickly righted himself and turned to where the attack had from, his left arm crackling with black lightning as a black orb formed above his palm, "Aha! Got yo-"

….There was no one there. He could still feel the stinging sensation of the blow that has been dealt to him, and yet he could not see his adversary. What the hell was going on?! Once more a red feather appeared before his eyes, as it slowly descended. Welt(?) looked at it for a moment this time, the valkyrie had vanished just after this thing appeared in front of him. Could it be connected to her somehow?

Before he could ponder much more on the feather, he was struck once more, this time a powerful punch to his abdomen that had bending forward from the pain of the attack. Using his relapse in pain a consecutive attack was unleashed in the form of another strike to the head, one that the herrscher was sure was a kick. The force of the blow sent the man rolling across the ground several times before coming to a stop.

"Damn bitch, so that's how she wants to play?" Welt(?) growled as he slowly stood up, wiping a trail of blood that was coming from the side of his mouth. He was a herrscher for crying out loud!! He would not allow himself to be taken down by some lowly valkyrie. But he would not allow himself to be caught off guard this time! Using trickery to make herself invisible wouldn't work forever. He had already started to pick up her trend. Another feather appeared before him once more, making him grin as black orbs appeared above the palm of each hand. This time he would be sure to strike before she did.

With the clap of his hands the black orbs in both palms clashed together and expelled a wave of red gravitational energy all around his person. The attack struck it desired target as Fu Hua's illusion came undone and the valkyrie was launch back a few feet by the attack, but managed to quickly adjust herself and land on her feet before crashing onto the ground. The valkyrie then adjusted her stance to a more defensive form.

"I'll admit that you almost had me worried for a second there. To think that such a plain looking valkyrie would have such tricks up her sleeves." Welt(?) said with sadistic smile as he glared at the valkyrie in front of him.\

Fu Hua didn't bother to give the man with a response, she knew he was just trying to rile her up. But she was better than that. She was aware of the fact that she was taking a risk by using FengHuang down within the walls of St.Freya, but she supposed she didn't have much of a choice at the moment. The divine key was the only weapon that she had on her person, aside from her own fists of course, but there was only so much she could do with her bare hands. The celestial phoenix was far from as strong as she was in her prime.

"Not much for words huh?" Welt(?) said with a snort at her silence, the valkyrie tensed as she saw black orbs once again surround his person, hovering all around him, "That's fine with me. I've had my fun, but now it's time to get this over with." He said as he clenched his right hand which was stretched out towards Fu Hua, and once more launched the black orbs towards the valkyrie.

Welt(?) grinned as his attacks struck true, but was confused when he didn't hear a single cry of pain or even so much as a grunt. It was then he noticed numerous feathers floating out of the smoke that had been caused by his attacks, he was instantly back on edge, black lightning flickering through his body, as he waited for the attack he was sure was going to come any second now. It was then the he heard footsteps from his left side and immediately channeled his powers into his left hand, stretching it in the direction where the sound had come from.

"Your tricks aren't going to on me anymore bitch!!" Welt(?) shouted as he expelled a large amount of gravitational energy to his left. The gravitational forced pushed and lifted everything in its path at such high speed that they were sent crashing into the walls of one of the nearby buildings, but the herrscher saw no sign of the valkyrie.

"It's over…" The words were barely more than a whisper, but the herrscher instantly knew he had been mislead once more by her tricks when he heard the words come from right behind him. He attempted to turn and retaliate, but Hua was faster and managed to backhand the side of his head with such force that the man immediately fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Damn it…" Welt(?) growled as he was now on his hands and knees. The Fu Hua's tricks were beginning to annoy him to no end, but he had also allowed the battle to drag on for long enough. He'd had his fun, it was time to get back on track.

"Stand down, you've been beaten." Hua said coldly as her eyes remained on her adversary, she didn't dare to let her guard down in the presence on a conscious herrscher. The only reason she had gotten as far as she had in this battle was because this man's mind was easy to manipulate, otherwise the situation would not have been in her favor.

"That's….where….you're wrong." Welt(?) said between labored breaths. He was getting tired of this. Fu Hua's eyes widened as a surge of energy once more surrounded the herrscher, the class monitor swiftly moved towards him to deliver the knockout blow, " Gravity X30!!" The herrscher shouted.

Fu Hua's body came to a screeching halt as the sudden pressure weighed down on her literally like tones of bricks. The class monitors body screamed in pain as she fought against the force that was pushing her towards the ground, but there was nothing more she could do besides that. The force was too strong for to do much more than try and stand on her own two feet, which were also screaming in pain from the abuse they were enduring.

Despite the pain she felt, Fu Hua glared at the herrscher as he stood back up to his own feet and smirked at her arrogantly. Despite the way she trained her mind to be calm in every situation, the class monitor couldn't help but feel like punching his face in that particular moment.

"I've got to admit, I had fun." Welt(?) said as he dusted himself, unaffected by the gravitational pressure he had created, "But I've got a deadline to meet and a package to deliver." HE continued as he gestured to the still unconscious Mei Raiden far behind him and out of the radius of his gravity.

"I…won't…let you." Hua said as she fought to push her body forward against its will.

"You've got spunk I'll give you that." The herrscher said as black lightning once more coursed throughout his body, "For the workout you gave me, I'll make sure that your death is swift." He added on as the gravity shifted once more.

Fu Hua felt the pressure on her body suddenly vanish, but in the following second so too did the weight of her body. She felt body get lifted into the air against its will, unable to root herself or cling to anything. She heard the herrscher laugh as her body levitated in mid air against her will.

"It was a wild ride valkyrie." Welt(?) said with fake sincerity before swiping his hand downwards.

Faster than the eye could see the class monitors body shot towards the ground and heavily impacted into it with considerable force. The herrscher grin became sadistic as he heard the sound of a few bone breaking, this time assured that the valkyrie was down for the count. Sure enough, as the dust cloud caused by the impact slowly began to clear, Fu Hua's body could laying motionless as blood began seeping onto the floor from her head. She was as good as dead.

The man turned away from her without a second glance as he turned back towards the entire reason he was out here, Raiden Mei. All this trouble just so they could acquire the former heiress of ME Corp. The male herrscher just didn't understand what was so special about the girl aside from being the third herrscher of the modern era. He was as much a herrscher as she was, so why did Cocolia want to obtain this girl so much? Anyway it wasn't his place to judge, he had been given an objective and he would compete the task.

"I don't see what makes you so special." Welt(?) spoke as he approached the raven haired girl, it was time to complete this mission. He once more lifted her lifted her up ready to move forward.

"How about I show you." The loud voice so close to him threw Welt(?) off guard and swiftly tracked its origin to the girl that was in his arms. He watched, with a nervous expression, as her eyelids slowly opened to reveal glowing amethyst eyes looking at him with disdain and disgust, which was easily accompanied by the scowl on her face. The herrscher clone immediately knew that the individual looking at him was not Raiden Mei….

…but he reacted too late.

Power instantly coursed through the third herrschers body and was released in the form of a large pillar of lightning shining brightly in the night sky as it reached the heavens. Welt(?) was blasted away by the release of power and sent crashing into the wall of a nearby building. The third herrscher remained floating in mid air, as she slowly adjusted her descent and land on the ground gracefully one foot after the other.

Not bothering to acknowledge the insect that dared to think he was on her level, the third herrscher turned to the bleeding and motionless body of Fu Hua. Walking towards it, her step graceful and confident, and the herrscher crouched down next to the valkyrie and checked for a pulse. The class monitor was still alive, regardless of how low that pulse was, that was enough for the third herrscher to be satisfied. And if what the fake had said earlier was anything to go by, then that silver haired brat was far from dead.

"Honestly, it's shameful that you lot lost to this scoundrel." She muttered to Fu Hua as she shook her head sideways. She had expected the people her host surrounded herself to be much more capable than this, perhaps she had been hoping for too much from them. "But, you shed your blood for the sake of my host. I suppose I should repay the favor." The herrscher said as she dipped the index fingers of her right hand in the small pool of blood surrounding. She then went on to spread the blood on her lips in a similar manner to how one applied lipstick, turning her lips blood red.

Sensing a spike in honkai energy she turned towards its source, the direction she had launched that fake. An explosion occurred by the building he had crashed into that sent many pieces of debris to be blasted in various directions. From the rubble and smoke emerged the male herrscher hovering slightly above the ground with black lightning coursing through his body.

The third herrscher saw the challenge, and took it for what it was. Her power began to course through her body, purple lightning surrounding her form as four wings made purely out of electricity sprouted from her back side. The heavens themselves responded to her will as the once clear night sky was swiftly filled with dark clouds and roaring thunders. Once in every few seconds, flashes of purple lightning could be seen within those dark clouds.

"Tell me, did you really think you could kidnap the Queen of Thunder?" The third herrscher asked as she and her adversary were now hovering on similar eye levels. The cocky and over confident grin not leaving her expression.

"I wouldn't get too confident. I was asked to bring you in specifically because I could take you on." Welt(?) said with an excited grin. A part of the man truly wanted to test himself against an actual herrscher. He was confident in his own abilities, but the cocky expression on the face of his opponent was irritating him to no end.

"The fact that you, a fake, believe you can stand against the might of a true herrscher amuses me." The third spoke before a disgusted scowl made its way onto her face, the lightning around her form growing more erratic, "I shall teach you the error of your ways for stealing the power of God."

The third couldn't help but scoff. She'd forgotten about the bomb that had been implanted in her host to prevent her from being an active threat for too long. It didn't matter in the end, five minutes was more than enough for her to deal with the trash that was standing in front of her right now.

"…try and make this worth my time worm."

Simulation Facility – Theresa and Kiana

The principal of St.Freya had been watching Kiana perform the test runs for the Xuanyuan sword, one of the Key of Domination divine weapons of the previous era. She had sparred with Kiana a few times over the past seven months, about nine times or so. And one thing she had noted was that the Kaslana had more to offer than she let on, a sentiment that apparently Himeko and Fu Hua seemed to agree with her on. For whatever reason Kiana was not displaying her true potential, but she knew how hard the Kaslana trained. The last time she had seen someone committed to training that hard was when Durandal was still under her.

Regardless, she would not question the Kiana on why she was restricting herself, she had asked the major and class monitor to also keep quiet on the matter. She wanted to give the Kaslana the benefit of the doubt, Kiana would show them what she could do when she was ready or perhaps when the situation truly required it, until then she would have to keep a closer eye on her niece.

Moving on to the tests with the Key of Domination, Kiana had managed to gain access to all six elements of the blade, much to Theresa's happiness. Unfortunately the only elements she could use to their full potential were fire and ice for some reason, the other elements she accessed were far weaker than those two. Neither of them had been able to figure out why that was so, and thus concluded that it had something to do with ones of natural affinity.

Regardless Theresa offered to give Kiana the divine key when she promoted to A-rank, but surprisingly the Kaslana turned the offer down, claiming that the blade would be more suitable for someone who could use at least more than half the elements to a sufficient level. Theresa had tried to argue but the Kaslana wouldn't have it, and so the principal relented with a sigh.

After that agreement Kiana went on to train with the Memorial Arena combat simulation, a simulation that is based on one's own memories and experiences and creates a simulated version of the strongest opponents that an individual has ever faced. Theresa watched as Kiana dominated level after level with various kinds of beasts and other opponents. One thing that Kiana noticed was the lack of human adversaries in the simulation based of Kiana's memories.

This was probably due to the fact that the Kaslana had been fighting honkai beasts in Ulan-Ude for four years and had not really fought AE Mecha or other human opponents for that matter. That was something that needed to be corrected in the principals eyes, hence the reason she had made it a priority to spar with Kiana once a month. People were more strategic and harder to predict when fighting, unlike honkai beasts which tend to be predictable, and try to overwhelm you with raw power or sheer numbers. The Kaslana had improved greatly over time, due to sparring with her classmates and the like, her rate of growth and her ability to adapt was something that Theresa admired in Kiana.

Theresa was broken out of her thoughts when the artificial intelligence of St.Freya, Ai-chan, spoke up from the speakers of the chamber. She was surprised to see that Kiana had already made it to the ninth level. Of course she had seen the Kaslana do it before, but this time she seems to have cleared it much faster than before. A welcome improvement in the eyes of Theresa.

She watched on as Kiana went on to accept the advancement onto the next level. She watched to her surprise as the emperor class beast, Dawn, one of two honkai knights of the first herrscher, manifest right in front of the Kaslana. Theresa was surprised to say the least, she had faced the beast along with its counterpart in the eruption that took place in Chita, but she had no idea that Kiana had crossed paths with the beast herself. Though considering that they had come from Ulan-Ude where Kiana had spent a lot of her time training then it wasn't that farfetched to believe that she had encountered the beast before.

Theresa felt the need to interfere now, this beast was an emperor class for a reason. And though Kiana had single handedly defeated one before, this one was different and perhaps stronger than the beast known as Ganesha. However before she could do so something strange happened that stopped her in her tracks…

…the system began to glitch.

The large honkai beast that stood in front of the Kaslana vanished almost instantly to the shock of both Kiana and Theresa, and to their greater surprise the digital constructs reformed into something else, or rather someone else….

…Siegfried Kaslana.

"Siegfried?!" Theresa shouted in shock as she wondered how this was possible. The simulations of the Memorial Arena were based of the fears or hardships that an individual faced when battling powerful opponents. So why would Siegfried appear in Kiana's simulations?

She had no doubt that the young Kaslana had probably trained with her father during the time she was with him, and the two had probably sparred with one another, but that wasn't enough to warrant being a level ten combat simulation.

Theresa grew nervous as she saw Kiana freeze as her father was simulated right in front of her, the girl looked like she was in shock. Once the simulation was complete Siegfried turned to his daughter with one of his cheesy smiles, that the young Kaslana found herself irritated by.

"Hey baby doll, look at you all grown up now." Siegfried said with a grin as he looked his daughter up and down.

Kiana was at a loss for words, back when she was alone in Ulan-Ude she would always think or dream about the day when she met her father again. What would she say to him? Would she hug him? Punch him? Yell at him? Or maybe even cry? And yet despite knowing that the person in front of her wasn't really her father, she found herself feeling more ashamed than anything else.

"D-dad…." The young Kaslana trailed as she averted her eyes from his own. Twice now she had failed to live up to her family oath. Something that she took pride in, she was proud to be a Kaslana and wanted to do everything she could to live up to the legacy of her family name. But twice now she had brought harm to the people she loved and held dear.

She was working towards becoming stronger of course, to better protect the people around her now, but a part of her felt like she couldn't face her father until she had at least redeemed herself as a Kaslana. Especially since her father was one of the people that had been injured by her. That was the difference between the person in front of her now and her real father, unlike the real Siegfried this one still had both of his arms.

"What no hug for Daddy?" Siegfried said tauntingly as he spread his arms wide for the young girl to embrace him, Kiana didn't move, rather her body tensed as she wasn't sure how to respond. She was aware that this was a combat simulation based of her own memories, meaning that she more than likely had to fight her old man.

"You're not him, you're just a simulation." Kiana said as she took in a deep breath and tightened her grip on the Xuanyuan sword in her hand as she took a battle stance. In all honesty, she knew she was running from conversing with her father, even if he was a simulation. But she wasn't ready to speak to her father just yet, so or the moment she would just vent physically using the simulation in front of her.

"Ouch, pretty sure I felt that one baby doll." Siegfried said as he clasped his heart in faux pain, as his right arm covered his upper face dramatically. The simulated father saw Kiana's neutral expression, but could also see the conflict and pain in her eyes. Despite not being real he still had a duty to help his daughter in any way that he could, and if a clash between them was the way to do it then so be it. "Alright then baby doll, let's see just how much you have grown" Siegfried said as he reached into the gun holsters on each side of his waist and pulled out the twin pistols of the Judgment of Shamash.

Kiana felt herself unwillingly tense at the sight of the divine key, she didn't know why, but the sight of the Judgment of Shamash in that moment brought a sense of unease ad dread from deep within her. Perhaps it was her father's killing intent more than anything that was making her unease.

…Regardless the young Kaslana took her stance and cleared her mind of all the fears and worries that plagued her. She hoped that this with this fight she would be one step closer to truly facing her father one day.

If not, then this fight was likely to be worth the training anyway.


Authors Note:

Right a lot has been discovered within this chapter. I felt I should start making Kiana's strength a bit more apparent as the story begins to progress further and further, but don't expect to see anything too OP in here.

Anyways I really didn't fell like writing the Xuanyuan sword arc but I felt that it was important for it to be mentioned, with the twister in this story being that they managed to retrieve the divine blade. As seen within the chapter Kiana was the one chosen to test the blade. Now most may be wondering why I had Kiana only able to use two out of the six elements.

The reason is simple, the Xuanyuan sword is not the divine key for Kiana. I was tempted to do so when I originally wrote this chapter but I later on decided against it seeing as it wouldn't truly reflect her Kaslana blood. So the only time we'll be seeing this blade in Kiana's hands is for the remainder of this arc.

…sorry if that disappoints some of the folks.

Moving on, I just want to say I am a novice when it comes to writing combat scenes, but I promise I am trying my best to improve in that regard so I hope you will all bear with me. That being said, I think I handled the battle between Fu Hua and Welt(?) in a decent manner. I am willing to accept constructive critism that will help me improve my Combat literature.

QA:

1. By LeeMania – Can Kiana sense the void core within her?

Ans – A question that has been asked by a fair share of viewers. No Kiana cannot sense the void core within her. The reason being that the core is dormant unlike the gem of conquest which is active through a partially awakened Mei.

2. By Kaito Azora – How is Mei's mentality after the events of Nagazora? As we know she would have committed suicide if Kiana hadn't shown up.

Ans – Yes, another matter that I thought to address in a more discreet matter via the chat that the two of them had regarding the events of Chita. Mei's insecurities over her control of the herrscher within have left her little care for her own life in the event that the third herrscher takes over her. She would rather die herself than harm her loved ones, hence the reason she asked of Kiana what she did.