Do You Like the Current 'Me' That Much?

Durandal wasn't the talkative type. Or rather, in the past, she could have said plenty, but being with the somewhat reserved Kiana inevitably led to some 'awkward chat'.

Especially since, while talking with the latter, she couldn't help but think about the 'Kiana' who had appeared before. This act of 'having one while longing for another', for Miss Durandal, who could be called a beacon of righteousness, was particularly difficult.

Knowing it was 'wrong' but being unable to correct it truly caused her some 'pain'—but what troubled Durandal even more was clearly... somehow, within this guilt, she actually found a bit of 'inappropriate' pleasure.

Of course, Kiana actually held similar feelings at this moment. Though her thoughts might have been simpler.

—Seel... What are that Jiang Qiao guy and Bronya doing now?

Chatting intermittently with Durandal, Miss White-Haired Ball couldn't help but think about [Seele] who was with Bronya. It wasn't that her sister was bad; Durandal was very pretty, and had a good personality too.

When chatting, Kiana enjoyed the feeling of casual family conversation, but... because they were family, after the initial novelty wore off, coupled with a certain complexity regarding this family relationship, this sisterly talk didn't go as smoothly as imagined.

Compared to this sister who popped up... cough cough, it couldn't be helped, [Seele] wearing the Herrscher of Death and Life battlesuit was really so pretty.

Could anyone really refuse the long hair, the gentleness, the captivating divinity that almost tempted desecration, all wrapped up in [Seele], dressed so refreshingly?

You see, the main reason Kiana liked Mei so much was because of Mei's gentle personality. Like the first white moonlight she saw... She originally thought she could be completely devoted to Mei.

But well... Same waist-length hair, same gentleness, [Seele] even had an added touch of cuteness, and under 'someone's' 'use', also revealed a reassuring 'reliability'—stacking up these buffs...

Wasn't it completely like an upgraded version of Mei! Perfectly covering the advantageous areas while far surpassing them, the gap between the two was practically like the difference between a 'village girl' and a 'goddess'.

The loving sisters, just like that, while awkwardly chatting with each other, were both simultaneously, somewhat absentmindedly, thinking about another person.

"Looks like you two got along quite well." With dark blue, waist-length hair cascading down, the approaching [Seele] chuckled lightly and greeted them.

"Ah... Mm!"

The sisters reacted differently. Durandal, upon seeing Jiang Qiao, first looked startled, then slightly regretful, finally averting her gaze guiltily. Kiana, on the other hand, simply beamed.

"Finished chatting?" [Seele] asked.

"Mm, mm! Finished! I... had a great chat with Durandal!" Like a cat wagging its tail, the white-haired girl quickly said.

Durandal's mouth fell slightly open, her eyes showing some disappointment.

"Really? You don't look very happy at all," [Seele] observed. "Besides... using codenames and such, from a sisterly perspective, isn't that a bit too distant? Honestly~ If you were willing to call Bianka 'sister', maybe she'd be happier."

Hearing this, Durandal practically nodded vigorously, eyes full of excitement—You're right, you're so right! Look at how well she speaks! Truly my model little sister! Kiana, hurry up and call me sister! Sister likes you very much too!

"Ah... is that so? I understand." The white-haired girl paused for a moment, glanced at Durandal who was staring at her eagerly, tried to say something, but after a moment of internal struggle, just laughed it off, glossing over it.

You understand, so just say it! Is it so hard to hear my cute little sister call me 'sister'? The usually gentle Durandal puffed her cheeks, feeling unwilling... and a little annoyed. If this were three years ago, back when I was still short-tempered, I definitely would have shown this bratty sister what a big sister's love for her little sister means!

Jiang Qiao—[Seele] showed a slightly helpless expression: "Honestly, you should head back to the battleship first... I have something I want to discuss with Bianka."

"Ah... Okay..." Kiana nodded, but paused before leaving, noticing the lingering gaze fixed intently upon her. [Seele] teased, half troubled, half amused: "Honestly... Aren't you just like a clingy little kitten? Do you like the current 'me' that much?"

"...Of course not! Cough cough, it's just that more Schicksal people are showing up, it's getting a bit dangerous, I was just worried about Seele."

"Really?"

"Alright, alright, let's just say that's it. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Bronya had already returned to the SELENE first under Jiang Qiao's instruction, taking the Herrscher of Rock and Herrscher of Dominance cores with her. After Kiana also left, only Jiang Qiao and Durandal remained.

"You really had me fooled, you know." Durandal spoke first, her words laced with a hint of 'resentment'. For Durandal, it was only after the fact, talking with Rita and just now with Kiana, that she discovered the whole truth.

"Mhmm~ Well then, let me apologize~" [Seele] offered playfully. "Sorry, Miss Durandal, for impersonating your sister—but the 'Kiana' at that time and place was indeed the true [Kiana], wasn't she?" the girl smiled, saying this.

Durandal sighed, speaking with complex emotions: "...Forget it. You can use a more familiar address. I don't mind." Although finding out the truth might have initially brought feelings of anger like 'being played', considering the undeniably wonderful 'sisterly' memories she gained at that time, Durandal couldn't be bothered to dwell on it.

Relatively speaking, seeing him again, only for his address for her to change from 'sister' to the very official, formal 'Miss Durandal', actually made Durandal feel worse.

After all, she hadn't managed to extract any 'sister' acknowledgment from the real Kiana, and now, seeing the adorable 'Jiang-Kitten', the sister she missed so much, only to come away empty-handed again... Durandal felt completely unmotivated now.

"A more familiar address? Hmm... I don't quite understand." Responding to Durandal's subtle hint, [Seele] showed a smile that seemed both understanding and not, proactively taking the former's hand. "Do you mean... Bianka?"

"..." Seeing the girl so close, Durandal's cheeks instantly reddened slightly with annoyance. Does she really need me to spell it out? Say: Can you call me sister again? Durandal didn't have the face for that!

However, while annoyed, she didn't dare pull her hand away—or rather, didn't want to. It wasn't like Kiana and Bronya, lusting after [Seele]'s looks... cough cough, though she was indeed very beautiful, Durandal's immunity in that area was quite high.

But if the other party possessed the 'little sister' attribute, then for Durandal, it was unusually devastating. Especially since [Seele] herself naturally possessed a sisterly aura. And the 'driver' was 'Jiang-Kitten', the user of the super-sister persona.

With these two factors combined... It was dangerous! Her hidden sis-con attributes couldn't be suppressed at all!

Given Durandal's personality, bold actions like initiating hand-holding were rare—since the other party took the initiative, wouldn't letting go be too foolish? Of course, Durandal had her own justification. I'm not doing this voluntarily, see? She grabbed my hand first. Because she's too strong, and I don't want to hurt her, that's why I'm not struggling!

In her palm, she could feel a faint warmth. And another strange sensation—Durandal, originally annoyed by the teasing, sensed something and looked at the girl before her, puzzled. "This is...?!"

"Don't mind it. It's just a small gift from me."

"You've been looking for a way to save that Bubble Universe, right? With this, you can grasp that power better, more stably." [Seele] responded to Durandal's shocked uncertainty with a smile, explaining.

[Sumeru], this was originally the 'legacy' Su left for Durandal. To observe the future, he passed it on to her. With it, she could stabilize the power of the Holy Blade and reconnect the Bubble Universe that had fallen into the Sea back to the Tree.

With the current changes, whether Durandal would still go to the Sea of Quanta was unknown. Therefore, while dealing with Kevin and Su in the Sea of Quanta, he had conveniently snagged this item—ending Su's mission prematurely. Jiang Qiao could only say: I often do good deeds.

Of course, neither Durandal nor the Holy Blade's power was truly necessary for Jiang Qiao. Returning it was simply because Durandal needed it more, and Jiang Qiao didn't—for him, it was just a 'tool', better than nothing.

When needed, it was useful for drawing power from the Sea and the Tree, but that was about it. In his view, it was no different from the 'snow globe' he gave Seele.

He had originally planned to have someone pass it on if he didn't encounter her, but bumping into her directly saved him a lot of trouble.

"..." Durandal, having accepted Sumeru, quickly understood its significance, looking at Jiang Qiao with a peculiar gaze.

...This thing was truly important to her. After all, she had been constantly seeking a way to save the Bubble Universe within her—even working for Otto, besides fulfilling her duty as a Valkyrie to protect the world, was partly in hope that her 'teacher' could offer some help.

Who knew she'd find the answer here, from her adorable 'little sister'.

Furthermore, with this item, Durandal's strength received a qualitative leap—previously, she could only use the Holy Blade's power for short bursts to maintain the Bubble Universe's stability. Now, with Sumeru, the power of Dea Anchora could be fully unleashed.

Now, Durandal stared at Jiang Qiao with eyes practically sparkling—Good little sister! Big sister loves you to death! If Durandal weren't so reserved, and if Jiang Qiao wasn't currently using [Seele] instead of 'Kiana', she probably would have hugged him and spun him around already.

But as a mature adult, Durandal, maintaining excellent emotional control, simply expressed her gratitude: "Thank you..."

This made Jiang Qiao feel quite embarrassed, after all—he had merely done a bit of 'transit trade', delivering something that would have ended up in Durandal's hands anyway... Mm, a purely conscientious act. No middleman markup—because Su had already been 'sold' to another planet.

"Alright..." [Seele] felt a bit helpless. He had initiated the hand-holding, but when he wanted to let go after giving the item, Durandal's grip tightened instead. Of course, he didn't mind much—using this opportunity, he casually inquired about the movements of that old schemer from Schicksal.

...But unsurprisingly, he gained basically nothing. Not strange, really. Durandal wasn't cut out for that kind of work. You ask her to beat someone up? One hit, one KO, no questions asked. Ask her to infiltrate Otto's secrets... Might as well hope for Rita. At least Sister Rita is a professional.

But now, Sister Rita had also been distanced. Coupled with the frequent Honkai outbreaks keeping her constantly on duty, Rita and Durandal, these two S-rank Valkyries, had no clue what their Overseer was actually doing, barely ever seeing him...

"...Forget it, take this back with you too." Hearing this, Jiang Qiao knew that old schemer was definitely up to no good, just waiting to pull something big in the shadows. He sighed, giving the Cosmic Juggernaut beacon to Durandal as well.

To prevent that old bastard from causing unnecessary trouble, it was better to let him hurry off to Kolosten and wait to meet his fate for Kallen's sake. This also counted as a good deed.

"Ah... Mm."

"Alright, everything I needed to give you has been handed over." After dealing with the beacon and Sumeru, [Seele] withdrew his hand... with quite some effort! His requirement for Durandal was basically just hoping she'd act as a firefighter (emergency troubleshooter).

His own Herrschers weren't quite reliable enough yet. Before they underwent some serious training or harsh trials, they hadn't shown much growth... Even if they did, considering their track record of relying on heart-driven power-ups to clutch victory, Jiang Qiao felt it was unnecessary to take such high risks.

He and Durandal working a bit harder would get them through.

"Um..." As Jiang Qiao prepared to leave, Durandal hesitated and spoke.

"Hm?" [Seele] looked puzzled, was there something else? But seeing Durandal's hesitant, stammering manner, he instantly understood.

'Her' cherry lips parted slightly, forming the words: "Goodbye~ Big Sister Bianka~"

The sweet, soft-as-cotton-candy girl's voice sounded in the blonde girl's ear.

At that moment, the latter's expression became somewhat dazed.