The ground shook violently. The massive fist of the Wotan had come crashing down onto the ground like a meteorite.
Kiana jumped into the air, avoiding the impact. She landed gracefully on its arm and began running along it, making a beeline for its head.
However, Cocolia had seen through this. The S-Rank, Kriemhilde Kaslana, had done the same and she would not allow Kiana to catch her off guard like this. The massive mech lurched, moving with surprising agility for something of its size.
Surprised by the sudden movement, Kiana lost her footing and was thrown off. She twisted her body in mid-air, turning to see particles of green light gathering in its eye. A high-pitched screeching noise rang through the hangar as it let loose a violent beam of energy.
Kiana tightened her grip on Shamash. Flames spat forth from the spine of the sword, extending the blade considerably. With a roar, Kiana swung the legendary blade, bisecting the beam completely.
The split beam pierced through the ceiling, revealing the night sky above.
Ice gathered at the soles of Kiana's boots as she kicked off what little solid surface she had created.
Her body spun like a top, swinging in a half arc as she shot past Wotan. Her blade sliced deep into its shoulder, severing wires and circuitry. The metal melted and seared as if it were nothing but ice.
Kiana landed behind it, sliding on her feet to face the mech's rear.
"I should have expected as much from you. Your skills are no less than that of an S-Rank Valkyrie, no matter how much you try to deny it." Cocolia's voice grated against her ears. The woman was clearly annoyed by the sudden shift in the power balance between her and her foes.
Kiana lowered her blade slightly, smirking when she saw the mech turning its gargantuan form to face her. "What did you expect? Facing an S-Rank Valkyrie is no walk in the park. They just softened you up for me."
"Nevertheless, I don't have to hold back with you. Doctor Einstein and Doctor Tesla can understand if I send them a message saying that you were killed in action," Cocolia replied.
Kiana's eyes narrowed. Her foot shifted outward slightly and she raised her Shamash.
In the blink of an eye, both of Wotan's fists fell upon her in an overhead smash.
A blue light bathed the entire facility as time slowed to a crawl. The light lasted for but a moment and Wotan's fists came in contact with nothing.
Kiana appeared in the air above Wotan's hands.
She raised Shamash above her head and dove toward it, fire trailing behind her.
Several vents opened on Wotan's shoulders, unleashing a slew of missiles toward her.
"Kch!" Kiana reoriented herself, unleashing a swathe of flames toward the missiles.
The missiles detonated, sending her back from the force of the blast.
She slammed into a wall, denting it considerably. A groan of pain escaped her mouth as she grabbed the edges of the dent and pulled herself out. Kiana looked up, spitting out blood as she did.
The glowing violet eye of Wotan stared back at her along with the snide laugh of Cocolia from behind the smoke.
So she had more tricks up her sleeve. I should have seen that coming… Kiana eyed the glowing orb carefully.
There were multiple ways this could play. Cocolia could vaporize her here and now with a simple beam from the Wotan's eye. Either that or she could squash her with the massive metal fists or blow her up with missiles.
Neither seemed like a good option for Kiana in the slightest. Her eyes began to glow as her body tapped into the ICHOR within her body. Honkai energy began to leak outside of her body, creating a thin mist around her.
Her eyes watched the Mech's movements carefully. Its eye began to glow suddenly, gathering massive amounts of Honkai energy from the Gem of Desire.
Upon seeing this, Kiana moved from her spot with one swift movement. Her movement was so sudden that neither Cocolia nor the team controlling the mech anticipated it.
She darted toward the ground, landing at its feet. A piercing pain shot through her body, almost disrupting her focus. But she needed to press on. Kiana slammed her palm onto the ground.
A pillar of ice erupted from beneath Wotan's feet, knocking it off balance. Its aim was offset, causing it to fire its energy beam toward the ceiling. The ceiling above it caved in as the beam shot through several dozen feet of earth and solid concrete.
Kiana moved swiftly, slipping through the falling rubble like a snake.
The rubble fell atop Wotan as it struggled to regain its balance. Tons of earth and concrete bounced uselessly off its metal chassis though Kiana could see that some of the finer parts of the mech had been damaged upon being almost buried in rubble.
"Kiana, has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?" Cocolia sneered.
"Ceci tells me that on a daily basis. Don't think you're the first one to tell me that," Kiana said. "But is this really the time for you to be making small talk? I never took you for someone who partook in idle chatter during a fight, being trained by the Soviet military and all."
No words responded to her now. A brief but tense silence befell the two before bouts of laughter could be heard from Cocolia.
Kiana's body tensed instinctively. Her new genes had granted her new senses and bolstered old ones. One of the new senses she had gained was the ability to instinctively sense Honkai energy.
And this mech was now overflowing with it.
"Release Restriction: Level 2."
"Level 2-"
Her body moved out of pure reflex. A warm sensation trickled down her cheek. Blood. She had been nicked in the cheek. She turned around and saw a crackling blade embedded in the ground next to her. Kiana glared at Wotan, which was now holding a massive dark spear in its hand.
The once violet and red lines that traced themselves across its dark metal chassis were beginning to turn green.
"You…"
"Do you like it? I never thought I'd release the Restriction Level on this when fighting you. Well… I guess I would have. That S-Rank almost made me do it but she was too busy defending your sister," Cocolia said.
"This spear. I call it Gungnir. Fitting name don't you think? For a mech named Wotan. A machine powered by the core of a Herrscher, it's only fitting that its weapon is named after that of a God."
Kiana's jaw tightened and she raised her guard.
With impossible speed, Wotan thrust its spear toward her.
Kiana moved out of the way again and darted toward the mech.
Missiles fired from its body, attempting to intercept her.
Kiana held Shamash in a reverse grip and dragged it behind her. Flames trailed from the blade as she performed an upward diagonal curved slash.
A razor-sharp wave of flames sliced through the onslaught of explosives and slammed into Wotan.
It retaliated by swinging its massive spear toward her.
Kiana quickly turned, using the flat of her blade to block the titanic spear. Her arms nearly broke when she came into contact with it. Immediately, she slid across the floor.
Kiana closed her eyes and grunted with effort. Her heels dug into the floor behind her, denting the ground.
With a bellowing roar, Kiana pushed the spear back enough to allow her to leap over its sweeping form. She landed on the ground and began jumping back before the mech could keep moving.
Kiana panted heavily. Sweat trickled down her forehead. Her muscles ached from all the effort she had just expended. Deflecting something that massive and capable of generating enough force to level an entire city block with merely one swing. A slight smirk graced her face.
"What kind of mess did I just get myself into?" Kiana muttered before straightening herself.
I need more… I need more strength to beat this.
She tapped into the power of her Stigmata. The power that rested within the ICHOR that was embedded within the genetics of her body.
Her eyes began to glow and her left eye began to shift color to yellow. The sclera of her left eye slowly darkened and her fangs slowly began to elongate. The skin on her left arm began to darken and her palms turned blue.
The whispers began to assault her mind once more, causing her head to throb in pain. She let out a soundless gasp as a sharp pain shot through her body.
"I guess the warm-up's over… isn't it, Cocolia?" Kiana said, panting.
Cecilia and Mei hurriedly walked across the tarmac. Behind them, several beams of green energy had burst from the ground and penetrated the heavens above. Kriemhilde was being supported by Mei as they walked toward the ship. Balmung was strapped to Cecilia's back and she carried an unconscious Wendy in her arms.
Beneath them, the ground shook violently.
"Kiana… we shouldn't have left her," Cecilia said.
"I know but what can we do, Ceci?" Mei asked, stopping.
The white-haired girl did not answer her. Her jaw tightened as she glanced over her shoulder. A flash of green light illuminated the holes in the ground.
"Go."
"Huh?" Mei and Cecilia glanced at the S-Rank.
Kriemhilde removed Mei's arm from around her shoulder and straightened herself. Her wounds began to slowly heal. A gift granted to her by the blood of her family and their stigmata.
"Give me Balmung." Kriemhilde held her hand out, looking at Cecilia expectantly.
"W- What? No! Kiana told us to go!" Cecilia argued.
"You're right. We can't leave her. You two need to go back to the ship. Catch up to Himeko and Theresa and bring the ship around. Out of the three of us, I'm the only one that can keep up with your older sister," Kriemhilde said.
"But…"
The ground beneath them trembled violently. The tremors cracked the earth apart and a loud boom exploded from behind them. Kriemhilde forcefully grabbed Balmung from Cecilia and raised a barrier made of ice, protecting them from the falling debris.
The three walked around the ice barrier just in time to see Kiana being thrown through the concrete. Blood poured down her forehead and her battlesuit was torn in several places, revealing darkening bruises and lacerations on her abdomen and legs. The lacerations were slowly healing.
Out of the ground, Wotan rose like a zombie, using the thrusters on its back and legs to propel itself toward Kiana.
The world was bathed in blue light as time slowed temporarily, allowing Kiana to avoid the attack. She landed on the arm of Wotan and stabbed Shamash into it, sending a wave of searing flames through the hand.
She pulled the blade out and jumped off, narrowly avoiding the swing of Wotan's spear. Kiana retaliated by sending a blast of fire toward its face, propelling herself from her spot in the process.
After landing gracefully on the ground, Kiana performed one more backward leap and landed inches in front of them.
"Tch! It's channeling the full force of the Herrscher Core. Its armaments are drawing energy from it," Kiana said.
"Kiana!"
"Stay back!" Kiana barked. "Cocolia is still after Mei. Get out of here!"
"But-"
"Now's not the time to-"
A wall of ice erupted from the ground, blocking the spear from skewering Kiana. She grit her teeth, attempting to hold the arm in place. Her eyes were glowing brightly and a black tint began making its way up her left arm. Her skin was darkening and violet marks etched themselves on her flesh. Her fingernails had been replaced with claws and signs of black carapace were beginning to cover her already blackened skin.
"Kiana, your arm…" Mei gasped upon seeing the transformed arm.
"Kiana. How much did you…?" Kriemhilde asked, trailing off.
"I needed more. I can feel it. My own blood is boiling, itching for more to be let out and I-"
P̸̳̟̳͕͈͓̙̘̌̐͗Ú̸̟̥̰̋͜Ŗ̵̢͉͔̫̳̖͓̓Ġ̷̭̩͇Ȩ̴̢̜̗͐̿̾ ̵̡͊̍̔̓͗̋̈́T̵̨̪̯͐̋̓H̶̢̰͕͉̖̞̱̀͜E̶͎͐̐͆̈́̾̚ ̴̢̹̰̤͔͌̉͜͝Ḧ̷̢͍́̍̌O̷̝̺̯͘̚Ṉ̴̡̼̹͓̰̈́K̶̯̩̔̈́͝͠A̸̡̳͚̔̂̔̾̂͝Ì̸̩̯̜̻̘̲!̸͇̮͈̺͎̪̯̃͝
̵̷̟̯̠̟̹̠̝͕̦̄͗̀̆̾͂̇̉̉̓͂̚͜B̵̡̘̗̮̜̈́̿E̷̡̿͊̓̀̓͊͊C̶̯̩̺͔͙̝̾̂̽͋͋̚Ȏ̴̰̙̯͎͈̼͕̅́̋̋̐̐͝M̷̨̫͔̘̘̥̪̓̈͌̄͘͠Ȩ̵̣̪͍͌̏͠ ̴̪̥̬̊̔̔͋̊́͋̊M̷̧̢͉͕͎̔̎͑A̵̢͇̥͖̦͉̤̎̉͝N̸̛̪̤̘̻͐̓͂Ţ̵̨̛͓̱̪̲̱͂̚Ỉ̵̛̮͑S̵̛̥̯̜̼̥̲̑͆͋̈!̵̻̩̠́
Kiana fell to one knee, gripping the side of her head. Whispers relentlessly assaulted her mind, sending waves of pain reverberating throughout her skull. Her left eye flickered, changing from blue to yellow over and over again. Her fangs elongated and small horns began to protrude from the left side of her skull, just above her ear.
The ice holding Wotan's arm in place crumbled allowing it to pull it back.
"What's happening to her?" Cecilia asked. She tried to step forward to help her older sister.
Kriemhilde pulled her back before she could do anything.
"The same thing that happened to your father and I during the Second Honkai Eruption. We need to pull back. There's a chance she'll go berserk if she goes on any further," Kriemhilde explained.
"But-"
"I need to get you two and Wendy to safety first. After we're a good distance away, I will come back for Kiana," Kriemhilde said.
"Cecilia… go!" Kiana slowly got up, using Shamash as her support. She lifted the sword off the ground and stood defiantly before Cocolia.
"Oh? What's this? This wasn't in any of the files nor was it in your personnel file. No matter. It's just something I have to bring up to the others once I see them again," Cocolia said.
Wotan twirled the Gungnir Armament and pointed it at Kiana.
With one swift motion, the spear shifted its aim from Kiana to the retreating quartet of Cecilia, Kriemhilde, Mei, and Wendy.
Her eyes widened and she darted toward the spear. She kicked it with such strength that it surprised her and Cocolia.
Wotan stumbled, having been sent sliding to the side a considerable distance. The spear dug into the ground, leaving a trail of broken concrete.
Kiana wasted no time and began breaking in a headlong sprint toward it.
Wotan turned around. Its eye locked onto her and a swarm of predator missiles was launched from its shoulders.
The missiles all swarmed toward Kiana, locking onto her heat signature. Or attempted to. The heat sensors registered nothing but a cold spot where Kiana was.
Kiana jumped, hopping on top of one of the missiles and using the rest as stepping stones toward the head of the Mech.
However, Wotan responded quickly. It raised its arm and batted Kiana away before it could reach it.
The force of the impact sent the white-haired valkyrie flying. She flew several hundred feet before slamming violently into the ground.
"Kahh..." Kiana let out pained gasps as she lay there in the crater, bleeding from various parts of her body. Her wounds slowly knit themselves back together and it was only due to her now enhanced physiology that she had escaped with no broken bones. The impact from Wotan and the landing she suffered would have instantly killed any normal person, valkyrie or not.
"I should finish you here and now. At least this way, all I have to do is focus on the S-Rank Valkyrie and retrieve the Third Herrscher. But don't worry. I won't harm your sister in any way," Cocolia said.
"Of course, if she gets in the way, she'll be nothing more than collateral damage."
"Don't you… dare touch her!" Kiana growled, forcing herself to get up despite the pain she felt.
Anger bubbled within her at the barely hidden threat Cocolia made to her younger sister.
"I won't. But I won't make any promises either. If she gets in the way, then… well, accidents can happen," Cocolia said. "Don't worry. After I send you off, it won't be long before your sister and the S-Rank join you in oblivion."
The mocking tone in her voice was palpable. The two had never liked each other and threats were a given due to their less-than-amicable relationship. But to threaten her younger sister, that was the line Kiana drew.
"No… Ceci… stay away from her!" Kiana yelled.
Her anger reached a tipping point as she subconsciously began to let her instincts take over. Her ICHOR began to express itself in full, flooding her body with Honkai energy. The whispers that plagued her increased in force and volume. But that didn't matter. All she could see was the target before her and a threat that needed to be eliminated.
Her blackened arm was fully covered in a hard, shiny black carapace, extending to her shoulder blades. Large spine-like protrusions grew on her forearm. Her horns elongated, creating a single curved horn on the side of her head. Her battlesuit ripped in the back as a large thick tail erupted from the center of her upper spine.
Wotan's foot lifted as the Mech began to lumber toward her.
As it approached, fire surged from Shamash's, responding to the increasing power of its master. Ice began to form around her. Small crystals erupted from the ground. The ice was unaffected by the ever-increasing firestorm that roiled around her.
What is that? Cocolia wondered as she watched Kiana's transformation through the eye.
[Honkai Energy Levels rising… 500 HW… 1000 HW…]
W- What!? Is it from her Divine Key? Cocolia thought.
"Raaggghh!" Kiana let loose an inhuman roar. The ground shattered beneath her as she leaped toward it with inhuman speed.
She slammed into it with her newfound preternatural strength.
The sheer weight behind her blow knocked the mech off its feet. It landed on its back, shaking the ground.
Kiana charged Shamash, coating its orange blade with a massive surge of flames.
Her senses were trained on Wotan as she swung it, unleashing an explosive burst of flames.
A honkai barrier formed around Wotan, blocking the flames. A massive explosion engulfed the barrier upon contact. The explosion ripped apart the concrete beneath, reducing it to nothing but a pool of molten slag.
Kiana dove through the smoke and stabbed Shamash through the barrier, piercing straight through it.
She applied more force, causing cracks to spread all over the shield.
"What is this!? How did you-!?"
The barrier shattered and Kiana shot through it, embedding Shamash deep within Wotan's chest. She twisted the blade, causing a burst of flames to explode from the hole, incinerating the mech from the inside.
A massive shadow shrouded her and Kiana was grabbed by Wotan's hand. The mech threw her off, forcing her to let go of Shamash.
Kiana flew and flipped herself in the air. She landed on the ground, skidding several feet before slowing to a stop.
Wotan stood to its feet, using its spear as support.
Particles of green light collected within Wotan's eye before it fired another beam of green honkai energy at Kiana.
A spike of ice erupted from the ground and propelled Kiana into the air, allowing her to avoid the beam of energy. Ice rapidly condensed at her feet, providing her a platform to kick off.
Kiana held her clawed left hand out, ice trailing behind her. Spikes of ice formed around her and she threw her hand forward, peppering Wotan with spikes of ice.
The ice bounced off its chassis but the larger ones flew with enough force to penetrate its armor.
Wotan stumbled back from the force.
Kiana landed on the ground and vanished in a burst of speed.
Wotan refocused its eye on her. Its sensors attempted to keep pace with her now increased speed.
Her mind was focused. Though the whispers were threatening to drive her insane, Kiana resisted the urge to fall into the berserk range to the very end. She would hang on to her humanity, even if the power inside her Stigmata was ripping her apart.
She vanished, flashing to different locations.
Wotan thrust the Gungnir toward her, barely missing her as Kiana activated the Time Fracture. The blue light faded and she reappeared just above the body of the spear.
A violent swirl of orange flames spun out from Kiana as she swung Shamash.
The flames surged, slicing into the cylindrical form of Gungnir. The spear fell apart, landing on the ground with a thud.
She landed on its hand and jumped into the air.
Wotan fired another salvo of missiles to swarm her.
Kiana gripped Shamash tightly, coating it in flames before unleashing another burst of white-hot fire at the swarm.
The missiles exploded violently.
Kiana burst through the smoke, holding Shamash in a reverse two-handed grip.
Shamash. You helped Dad a long time ago, now help me. Help me protect Ceci!
A searing white-hot pain coursed through Kiana's body as she activated it.
[Honkai Energy Levels Rising…]
Kiana swung the blade, slicing through Wotan's arm.
"W- What!?" Cocolia shrieked.
Kiana landed on its leg before jumping toward the other arm.
She swung once more, moving with such speed and ferocity that her swings that the gap between her attacks was indiscernible. Streaks of orange light were left in her wake as she severed Wotan's right arm.
She landed on the ground, cracking the concrete beneath her.
"Y- You! KIANA!" Cocolia roared. "Divert all power toward the energy cannon! NOW!"
The wind surged as green particles gathered at the center of the eye. Only now, it was different from all the other times. The collection and channeling of Honkai energy from the Gem of Desire was far larger and far more condensed. The energy began to leak and affect the environment around them.
"N- No! If this keeps going, the Wotan will overload and trigger another Eruption," Kiana said, watching the environment around them change drastically.
And then…
The consequences of allowing this to continue played within her mind. A disaster befalling the whole of Japan greater than that of the awakening of Raiden Mei, which had eradicated the entire city of Nagazora in a single moment.
[1400 HW… 1600 HW…]
Kiana's HUD displayed the steadily rising Honkai energy.
She tightened her grip around Shamash. The whispers in her head had died down enough for her to formulate something beyond fighting to survive. But… if she did this, then there was a chance the backlash could kill her.
However, it was their only chance at surviving this attack.
"Shamash… help me out like you helped, Dad," Kiana whispered.
She held Shamash in front of her and closed her eyes.
[Limiters Released…]
[Beginning Honkai energy charging…]
Kiana felt the burning pain increase.
[50%... 75%...]
"Ceci… if I don't make it out of this…" Kiana smirked and her left eye glowed.
[100% output reached. Judgement of Shamash is now ready.]
Kiana held Shamash in a white-knuckle grip.
The ICHOR within her body sang, flooding her body with Honkai energy. A thin layer of frost wafted off her body, completely unaffected by the white-hot flames of the legendary sword in her hands.
"Zeroth Power: Might of An-Utu."
The Judgement of Shamash underwent one final transformation. The cross-guard of the blade shattered, exposing the core to the world. Flames surged from the core, engulfing Kiana and the blade in its searing embrace. The hilt reconstructed itself, forming a V-shaped and encased around the now fiery orb that rested at the center of the guard.
Kiana let out a breath, fighting through the pain that was threatening to incinerate her from the inside out.
Wotan reared its head back and fired a powerful beam of green energy at Kiana.
Kiana met its beam, unleashing a single ruinous slash at Wotan.
The two attacks collided for all but a moment until the beam was sliced and eradicated by the waves. A vertical line of fire slashed through the sky, leaving an orange line as if reality itself had been cut open. In the distance, in the ruins of Old Nagazora, several buildings were sliced in half.
A deep fissure carved itself across the Earth and split the ocean behind it completely in half. Likewise, the atmosphere above her had been sliced apart by her swing.
Wotan took a single step forward toward Kiana before falling apart, the two halves splitting like an apple that had been bifurcated.
The gargantuan mechanical monstrosity landed with a thud in front of her, its two halves steaming from where it had been cut.
Shamash returned to its base form and Kiana fell to one knee. The black carapace that had encased her left arm and portions of her upper back fell off, landing on the ground with a wet smack before disintegrating. The tail and horns dispersed into harmless black particles.
Kiana felt her vision swimming. She coughed, sending a large spatter of blood on the floor.
"KIANA! KIANA!"
She blearily looked up. Kiana could faintly make out the running figure with white hair and braided pigtails. Of course, Cecilia would run back. There was no way she would listen to her. Not in the slightest.
"Ceci… I won…" she whispered before falling over.
"Sis? SIS!"
Kiana felt Cecilia holding onto her. Cecilia's words were beginning to fade into the background as she saw two more figures running up to them. She weakly gripped Cecilia's hand and gave it a quick squeeze.
"I'm… I'm still here… I won't… leave… you…" Kiana whispered.
"Kiana…? Sis? Kiana! Stop talking, we're going to get help. Stay awake. Stay with me!" Cecilia urged. Tears flowed from her eyes, dripping onto Kiana's forehead.
Kiana saw her worried blue eyes looking down at her. She gave her a warm, reassuring smile before her darkness engulfed her vision.
"Kiana? KIANA!"
Yes, this is the end of the second arc of My Sister's Keeper, right on the edge of the new animation: Graduation Party.
I'll take a minute to make a few things here clear before moving on to my final thoughts and possible things that could happen in the next arc.
1. Might of An-Utu: I know this is going to get asked as to how Kiana knows how to do it. She was there when Siegfried used it to restrain Ceci. And she is now the third person to ever survive using it because of the awakened Stigmata from the Stigma Resonance from her father and aunt. And it has repercussions like it did on Siegfried during the Second Eruption.
2. Kiana's Active Honkai Reaction: It is the same one used by Siegfried during the Second Eruption and not Palatinus Equinox for reasons that I'll explain later. It's the one thing that sets her apart from canon Bianka-Kiana. I had her gradually transform into it because the more she used her ICHOR, the more she transformed. I hope that was a good way for her to transform. And I've explained this before in a previous chapter but the Kaslana Honkai Reaction is two-tiered. You have the one Kevin and Siegfried used in the manga... before Kevin got his full Active Honkai Reaction revealed in the game and the final Demon Form that Kevin uses in the game. I'm not going to play around with a Deliverance Form in this fic because... well, you'll find out.
3. Wotan's upgrade: Yes, I upgraded Wotan. I decided to increase the intensity of this fight by giving it a spear and allowing it to fire energy beams from its eye. I figured it was a good upgrade and would force Kiana's transformation the more she used it.
Well, with this, we will take a small break. Probably a week... well, there won't be an update when it's supposed to be updated. We have one more arc before this fic ends and I estimate that it'll be done by the end of the year depending on our current trajectory. I have some things planned for the next arc... aside from Cecilia/K-423's canon trek through the dataspace, Kiana-Bianka will also enter Stigmata Space while she's incapacitated. This will be the arc where we learn more about Kiana's past with Cecilia and their relationship with the Kaslanas, as well as some PE Lore drop.
And with that, I'll sign off for now. See you all in the next arc.