Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

Cecilia was born in the late 1970s. In 1992, she became the youngest S-class Valkyrie and inherited the Holy Blood from the previous generation. The first photo in the file is of Cecilia's eighteenth birthday celebration. At that time, she still had a childish face, her hair only reached her waist, and she was being hit in the face with cake by her good friends, including Shigure Kira and Patrick, looking like a little kitten.

In the next photo, she's on a date with Theresa, wearing dashing boots and a military uniform. At this time, she's probably around twenty and already a pillar of Destiny. Her rise to power was much faster than others imagined; her extraordinary affinity with the Holy Blood allowed her to continue growing stronger rapidly even after reaching S-rank. She sits on the street, casually chatting with Theresa, with the Key of God, the Oath of Judah, on the table, while the background shows the crumbling Twin Towers of New York.

More than twenty Valkyries perished in that incident, including many American geniuses, but Cecilia, who arrived at the scene, dealt with the Emperor-class Honkai Beast with unexpected ease. From then on, she became famous.

Chapter Sixty-Four: The wind is too strong, hug me.

“You younger generation don’t know much about the family’s past. Cecilia’s status in Schicksal back then was far higher than Durandal’s now, because she wasn’t just an ordinary S-rank. She was so talented that she was ahead of others by an entire era, so talented that even Otto was overshadowed by her brilliance for a long time.” Kallen said slowly, “Cecilia has too many stories in her life. I’ll just tell you about one important one.”

In 1995, Shaniat and Kaslana were betrothed. Siegfried was 23 and Cecilia was 20. After three years of frontline command, Cecilia met a man with whom she could share some common ground in terms of strength. The alliance between powerful families was not based on affection but on interests. The powerful alliance between the Kaslana family head and Shaniat's ace was well-received, and no one was dissatisfied, not even Cecilia herself.

"Siegfried is a very interesting man. He inherited the bloodline of the Kaslana family and possesses S-class combat power. There's a rumor that perfectly describes his charm: 'He's touched the buttocks of every Valkyrie in Schicksal Headquarters.' He comes from a noble family, is handsome, has a charming demeanor, and is exceptionally strong. Every Valkyrie has a soft spot for him. Although he's a playboy, that doesn't matter much on the supernatural side. He's also considered the only young man worthy of Cecilia."

"After meeting Cecilia, Siegfried never looked for another woman. He even abandoned his Valkyrie squad and severed ties with them, spending most of his missions with Cecilia. They got married less than three months after they met. Today, the Snow Wolf Squad is just one of countless A-rank squads at Schicksal Headquarters, but more than a decade ago, it was the strongest and most outstanding Valkyrie squad in the world. Cecilia was the captain, and Siegfried was the vanguard. Even the seemingly useless communications officer was a top-tier fighter like Shigure Kira. Cecilia gave Schicksal not only the saintess's love, but also the glory of a Valkyrie. Every Valkyrie considered it an honor to join the Snow Wolf Squad's training camp."

“But the upheaval was inevitable.” Kallen took a deep breath. “In the year 2000, a Honkai energy leak occurred at the Babylon Laboratory in Siberia. That incident was later considered to be a major calamity launched by the Honkai God before the Internet technology revolution. During the Siberian War, the beast tide swept across the land, and the Valkyrie troops were engaged in a desperate battle, using their lives to fill the gaps in the battlefield. In the end, the Schicksal high command did not hesitate to use fission bombs to wipe out the enemy, resulting in the death of Cecilia’s husband, Siegfried.”

Shen Liang immediately interrupted Karen's narration.

"I have a question I've wanted to ask for a long time." Shen Liang got straight to the point. "The most powerful Honkai Beast described in this incident was only a Judgment-class. Although Judgment-class is stronger than a regular S-class, Cecilia's combat power far surpasses that of a regular S-class. A Judgment-class Honkai Beast wouldn't threaten her, and it's highly unlikely that it could even threaten Siegfried. No matter how strong this Honkai Beast is, if they want to run away, no one can stop them."

"Do you think a woman called a saint would abandon her sisters and run away at that time?" Karen countered.

"This isn't a matter of righteousness; it's illogical." Shen Liang frowned. "Honkai Beasts are animals that, while intelligent, have limited intelligence and aren't good at using it. They only focus on killing and devouring humans, but they don't think at all. If Schicksal had a Honkai energy fission bomb, a weapon for clearing the land, then the Valkyries would only need to establish a defensive line and wait for support. In historical records, even Cecilia didn't choose to retreat to the city; instead, she fought face-to-face with the Honkai Beasts in the Siberian permafrost."

Karen was silent for a moment, then finally smiled softly, "As expected of a boy recognized by the Shaniat family, you are very smart."

Xilin looked at Shen Liang, who had a serious expression, with a puzzled expression, not quite understanding what he had figured out.

“Many people have read about the Siberian War, but few have thought about why it was so tragic. But since you’ve thought of this, you should have guessed it by now.” Kallen nodded. “It wasn’t just a simple Honkai Beast tide. The fundamental reason why all the Valkyries had to fight in the permafrost was that something far more terrifying than the Judgment-class Honkai Beasts appeared… or rather, the Judgment-class Honkai Beasts were merely byproducts of that thing.”

Xilin was taken aback. She had never heard of such things before, but she vaguely seemed to have thought of something. After hesitating for a long time, she swallowed back the words she was about to say.

"A Herrscher?" Shen Liang said softly, though his tone was questioning, he was already quite certain.

“Yes, Herrscher. Apart from the Herrscher, there is no other Honkai creature that Cecilia can handle. They are beings with human appearances but beyond reason, apostles chosen by the Honkai God.” Kallen said in a low voice. “Pandora, I’ve looked through your search history. You once searched for information about the Siberian Honkai event in the Schicksal database. I guess you had some suspicions at that time.”

“Yes, I’ve never understood. If the Honkai’s interference with humanity is only plague, war, and the strongest Honkai Beasts are Judgment-level, then how can an S-rank Valkyrie, who has already cultivated to the level of an S-rank Valkyrie, possibly eliminate it?” Shen Liang said. “All the known methods currently available cannot threaten the S-rank Valkyrie, who is practically superhuman. So how could human civilization possibly be destroyed? Therefore, there must be something terrifying that even an S-rank Valkyrie fears.”

Xilin finally understood.

The Herrschers—this is the truth that Schicksal has been hiding all along. Herrschers appeared during the Siberian War, no wonder even S-class Valkyries dared not retreat, no wonder Schicksal still launched Honkai energy fission bombs despite knowing there were countless Valkyries on the battlefield, no wonder even though Otto personally ordered the death of Siegfried… the Schariac family did not rise up in rebellion.

Moreover, those are terrifying Herrschers born from the advancement of civilization! Just think about it, even Herrschers like Anna, whose birth was of unknown origin, made Schicksal take it very seriously, assigning an S-class Valkyrie to work with World Serpent's executives to suppress her. How powerful must those Herrschers who truly originated from the progress of civilization be?

"Who exactly is that Herrscher?" Shen Liang asked.

“I don’t know. Only Cecilia and Siegfried truly faced the Herrscher directly. Only they could fight against the Herrscher of the Void. But Cecilia only gave us the result. She destroyed the Herrscher of the Void, but at the cost of her husband and daughter.” Kallen closed her eyes, as if the scenes in the database were flashing through her mind.

"That was the most tragic moment of Cecilia's life, with mountains of corpses behind her. She killed the Herrscher with her own hands thanks to her husband's sacrifice. Even in such agony, she could not fall. With her last strength, she still wanted to release her Holy Blood to protect the Valkyries who had been contaminated by the Honkai energy fission bombs. Cecilia was a genius, and her life had been smooth sailing and invincible. Before that, she probably never imagined that the war against the Honkai would be so cruel, so cruel that her newly formed family could be lost in an instant."

“She was left with a hidden ailment after that. That battle was the first time she had used so much Honkai energy that she had exhausted all her strength. After that, she could no longer control the Honkai energy level in her body, which turned into an erosion of her own body,” Kallen said. “She was too much of a genius. No one in the history of the Saintess of Schariac could compare to a Herrscher. During the Siberian War, there were two Honkai energies with a strength exceeding 2000 hw, one of which was hers.”

After a long silence in the sports car, Shen Liang said softly, "No wonder Sister Leah doesn't like to talk about that war. She lost so much, but had nowhere to seek justice. The righteousness and glory of humanity all rested on her shoulders."

“Cecilia’s strength has also made Schicksal truly understand the Shaniat family. In the past, the Shaniat’s recent disobedience would have been dealt with by Otto long ago… Heh, although I don’t want to say it, Otto could easily have wiped you all out, just as he easily manipulated the Kaslana family until only Siegfried remained, or even until there was no one left. But as long as Cecilia is alive, Schicksal will only dare to use some underhanded and despicable methods, such as kidnapping you to coerce her. No one dares to openly offend such a warrior. She doesn’t have long to live and has nothing to lose. Once she decides to take revenge on Schicksal, it will be even more terrifying than the suppression by the United Nations,” Kallen said.

Yes, a 2,000-watt Honkai energy reaction is roughly equivalent to ten nuclear reactors exploding at Schicksal headquarters. And these are nuclear reactors that can go anywhere and cause destruction.

"There's nothing to lose?"

Just then, Celine repeated those words.

She stared intently into Karen's eyes on the screen and demanded sharply, "You said her price was her husband and daughter... what do you mean?"

“The literal meaning, and this is what I’m ultimately going to say.” Karen also looked at Sirin, her eyes filled with sadness and reluctance. “You are my descendant, and I shouldn’t have hurt you like this, but there has to be an end to hiding things. Some secrets can’t be taken to the grave.”

Xilin pursed her lips tightly and remained silent.

“Bianca Durandal Atagina, originally named Kiana Kaslana.” Kallen flipped through a few pages of the file and showed it to them. “In fact, she was the first child to be given the name ‘Kiana.’ She was six years old during the Siberian War.”

As Xilin flipped through the tablet, looking at the photo of the white-haired girl, she felt a heavy weight on her heart. She was somewhat confused, feeling that her memories were very jumbled.

The girl in the photo looks almost exactly like Kiana, with the same snow-white hair as both Kiana and Siegfried. She's grinning as she rides on his back, holding onto Siegfried's tie. The father has a smile that Sirin has never seen before, and the white-haired girl is riding him around.

Cecilia had no memory of Siegfried, or rather, neither she nor Kiana had any. Their only vague recollection was of Siegfried's appearance. Cecilia said that Siegfried had raised them from a young age, but unfortunately, he died too young, so neither of them remembered him. After all, people don't remember most things from before the age of ten.

The photo showed a small, rather humble house, decorated in a Scandinavian style, seemingly set in Northern Europe. Celine had never known she'd ever lived in such a modest place. As the daughter of a top-tier wealthy family, she was always surrounded by servants and lived in palaces or castles. This little house, however, looked to be only about thirty square meters. Next to the large bed was a child's crib; there was no separation between the bedroom and living room. The television was placed opposite the bed, suggesting the family had to lie on the bed with their legs crossed to watch TV.

but……

It's very heartwarming. The little girl in the photo, her handsome father, and her beautiful mother don't seem to mind the small size of the room at all. There's a half-eaten pizza on the floor—a kind of junk food that Celine has rarely seen—yet they seem to be enjoying it in the photo.

“That’s Durandal. The photo is from 1999. Durandal was five years old then. Cecilia wasn’t the head of the family yet; she was the ace of the Schariac family. This was her dormitory when she was in the Nordic branch, which is Sweden,” Karen said. “Siegfried and Cecilia’s relationship wasn’t very good five years later. Perhaps he didn’t know how to cherish what he had, and he eventually reverted to his prodigal nature. But he would often come to visit his daughter, and those were rare times for the family to have a meal together.”

Xilin stared blankly at the white-haired little girl in the photo. Her nobility surpassed that of millions of people, but at this moment, she suddenly felt very jealous that the little girl was not her.

“She’s… Cecilia’s daughter? And what about us?” Sirin whispered.

“Of course you are too, just in a different order,” Kallen said reassuringly, then whispered, “But Durandal is completely different from you. In fact, it may be because of you that she harbors such a deep resentment towards Cecilia.”

“Hate?” Sirin turned the pages one by one.

The archives contain more information about Durandal. Before the millennium, as a dual bloodline inheritor of the Kaslana and Shaniat families, Durandal participated in many of Schicksal's human experiments.

Sirin knew that human experimentation was not big news, and there was no need to be alarmed about it in Schicksal. Just like the Holy Blood of the Shaniat family was essentially just a genetic sample that Otto accidentally researched during the Black Death. Schicksal's maturity in human experimentation had long been verified.

Durandal's bloodline was exceptional, and Schicksal held high hopes for her. Participating in the experiments was a matter of course, and no one dared to have any designs on the saint's daughter. At that time, the world's largest Honkai energy research facility was the Babylon Laboratory in the Siberian permafrost region, commonly known as the Tower of Babylon. Not only were Schicksal researchers there, but also deputy heads of the United Nations, who conducted many qualifying experiments on Valkyrie genes.

“When Durandal was recuperating in the Tower of Babylon, she never imagined that the Herrscher of the Void was gradually taking shape right beside her.” Kallen’s tone gradually turned somber. “The researchers in the Tower of Babylon began to touch things they shouldn’t have. They tried to steal the power of the Honkai Gods, and they had no reverence for how the previous civilization perished. At that time, Schicksal was in a period of rapid development, powerful and stable. Schicksal discovered some clues but did not stop them. Instead, they hoped that they could achieve some real research results.”

"How foolish it is to say that a force that cannot be utilized is not one's own force," Shen Liang commented.

"But back then, Schicksal was ambitious and confident, and felt it necessary to explore the Herrschers. People at the time thought that as civilization continued to progress, it would be inevitable to encounter the Herrschers sooner or later, so it wouldn't hurt to see what level the Herrschers were at... Moreover, the strongest Valkyrie of all time was here, and perhaps there was no better opportunity. You might think they were foolish, but Schicksal at the time all thought they were right," Kallen said calmly.

The archives contained records that hinted at the events leading up to that incident.

"We were surprised to find that Test Subject No. 52 exhibited extremely high Honkai energy tolerance and was able to absorb and neutralize the energy. The reason for this phenomenon is still unclear, but it is very likely what we are looking for. In addition, the laboratory urgently needs more test subjects; please provide relevant support. —Babylon Tower Research Report (Abstract), January 12, 2000"

Xilin suddenly had a headache. Subject No. 52... The name suddenly made her feel disgusted. She suddenly seemed to see something, but she didn't want to look. She could only turn around and lie down in Shen Liang's arms, burying her head in his chest.

This was the first time Shen Liang had felt that Xilin was suddenly so dependent on him, and he was a little surprised. But when he looked down and saw Xilin's tired eyes, the light emanating from those beautiful and majestic golden eyes was even a little weak.

"It's so cold..." Xilin said softly, "It's all your fault for driving too fast, the wind is too strong, hug me."

Without hesitation, Shen Liang opened his trench coat, pulled her inside, and wrapped her in it. The little queen straddled him and hugged his neck, cuddling tenderly for a while before exhaling, her voice still weak and unlike her usual self, "Continue."

In Chapter Sixty-Five, Ryoko spends the entire chapter holding the little queen.

Karen's gaze was rather strange, then she glanced at Gan Yu in the passenger seat next to her, her eyes seeming to say, "Does he really have a girlfriend named Kiana?"

Gan Yu smiled without saying a word. She didn't really understand what "AI" meant. In her eyes, Karen was just another girl who was getting close to Youjun. As both a mount and a pet, Gan Yu thought it best not to get involved in Shen Liang's love life.

Just be a pampered coconut sheep and live a quiet life.

Karen observed Sirin's state, somewhat doubtful, but continued reading. The file detailed the entire incident of the Tower of Babel's collapse and energy leak.

At the beginning of the millennium, the 52nd test subject at the Babylon Laboratory, a girl named K423-1, was injected with an excessive amount of Honkai energy during human experimentation, resulting in her becoming an incomplete Herrscher. The experimenters were extremely excited, but due to the inhuman nature of the experiment, many of them, along with Schicksal staff, concealed the records from the United Nations.

In late January, K423-1 escaped supervision and headed to the Honkai reactor area of ​​the Tower of Babel, destroying the reactor and absorbing a large amount of Honkai energy.

2月1日，k423-1使用不完全空之律者能力，杀死巴比伦塔322名研究人员。

On February 2nd, Bishop Otto of Destiny dispatched a team to the Tower of Babel to investigate the disappearance. That same day, S-rank Valkyrie Cecilia led the Snow Wolf Squad to Siberia to rescue her daughter, who was in a sanatorium.

On the evening of February 2nd, Cecilia discovered the experimental girl imprisoned in the Human Reproduction Department, finally uncovering the anti-human Herrscher experiments tacitly approved by Schicksal. The Schariac and Kaslana families were enraged, and international public opinion was in an uproar.

On February 3, K423-1, who had been hiding and absorbing Honkai energy, transformed into the Herrscher of the Void and summoned the Judgment-class dragon-type Honkai Beast Bellenas, which accompanied her, forming an EMP shielded battlefield covering the northern part of Eurasia to the Arctic Circle, and engaging in a direct confrontation with human forces.

The war had dragged on for a long time, and in this battle, human forces set aside their prejudices and united like never before. The North American branch, which had long since betrayed Destiny, provided countless mechs based on purely mechanical signals that could ignore EMP; the United Nations provided absolutely unconditional logistical support, including four land-based intercontinental nuclear ballistic missiles; Destiny was responsible for the frontal battlefield, and more than a thousand Valkyries were sacrificed.

On February 17th, Schicksal, believing it could not prevail through human strength, unleashed a Honkai energy fission bomb using nuclear weapons, completely killing the Herrscher of the Void. The Valkyries were not notified to evacuate beforehand. Siegfried, the head of the Kaslana family, restrained the Herrscher, ultimately dying alongside her. Cecilia, along with her daughter and other experimental girls, escaped the nuclear zone by helicopter, but were eventually shot down by the shockwave.

"Hiss..." Shen Liang said in a low voice, "This is disgusting."

“Yes, it’s a disgusting ending,” Karen said in a low voice. “The heinous experiments conducted at the Babylon Laboratory required the sacrifice of many innocent girls, and Cecilia couldn’t let these survivors continue to suffer. So, even though she could have escaped with her daughter at her speed, she chose to use a helicopter for the evacuation. This sowed the seeds of tragedy.”

Karen didn't tell the rest of the story. Shen Liang and Xilin read it together and discovered that Durandal's resentment was not without reason.

As the helicopter was destroyed by the shockwave of the Honkai energy fission bomb, Durandal was struck in the brain by armor fragments and fell unconscious through the gaping hole in the helicopter. Cecilia witnessed all of this.

But she did not go to the rescue.

At that critical moment, the gentle and loving saint chose to abandon her own daughter. She used her limited Honkai energy to counter the shockwave of the nuclear bomb, stabilize the helicopter, and continue flying to the city with the 61 girls on board.

She just watched her daughter fall from the sky.

“Damn it,” Celine whispered. “That stupid woman, she’s so foolish.”

“Anyone would think that Durandal was already dead at that time, her head almost sliced ​​open by flying shards, falling from a thousand meters in the air. Cecilia’s choice might have been the most reasonable, but for a mother… it was absolutely unreasonable.” Kallen closed her eyes. “Later, she was found by Ragnar, one of Otto’s men. By then, she had been buried in the snow for a year. The monstrous bloodline of the Kaslana family awakened and saved her life. After awakening, she would never identify with the name Kiana again. She harbored a burning resentment in her heart, which would ignite whenever she encountered her mother. If you think about it carefully, you’ll realize that… that was the mother she trusted most. What daughter would think that she wasn’t the most important person in her mother’s eyes? But Cecilia personally gave her the greatest despair.”

Shen Liang didn't know how to understand this story.

Durandal may regret surviving, because what's even more painful is that her mother could have saved her, but she didn't. This means that in her eyes, there were things more important than her daughter to protect, whether it was righteousness, the innocent, or more lives—but a daughter shouldn't be placed on the scales. A daughter should be an infinitely heavy weight in her parents' hearts.

This is the greatest cruelty to Durandal, far crueler than death itself.

“And Sirin, you and Kiana are the two most special among the many girls who were rescued.” Kallen’s tone carried a hint of anger. “You were used to replace Durandal. Because it was impossible to use Durandal for human experiments, the Tower of Babylon extracted paternal and maternal genes from Durandal without permission to create two androids, or in layman’s terms, clones. You both have the blood of Siegfried and Cecilia flowing through your veins, so you naturally became Cecilia’s daughters.”

"The older sister was named Sirin, while the younger sister inherited the name 'Kiana' and changed her surname to 'Schariah.' So Kiana is two years younger than you but looks exactly like you because you are from the same module, Durandal's module."

"An artificial human?" Sirin suddenly laughed.

Shen Liang quickly hugged her tightly. He actually had no aversion to androids, since he wasn't even a member of the Shaniat race. But the little queen was so fragile; he didn't want her to be corrupted by Kallen's words! So Kallen, who claimed to be here to help, was actually Otto's assistant, here to deal with his team! But attacking the city was the least effective strategy; attacking the mind was the best approach. He wanted to break Sirin down first and force him to fight on two fronts?