"By the way, the physical feedback in this space is real. If you die here, you're truly dead. If Ryn hadn't been here, you'd probably still be dead in the Honkai Beast's jaws. For your bravery... I'll give you a little reward—the Valkyrie Armor you've been longing for."
Otto waved his hand, and a virtual screen appeared before him. After tapping a few times, white light began to emanate from Kiana's body, accompanied by data frames displaying progress bars.
accessaccepted.
Item delivery in progress.
Loading.
Loading complete.
A pure white Valkyrie Armor materialized on Kiana. It was the prototype fourth-generation Valkyrie Godslayer Armor—White Comet.
"If you want to save her, you'll have to work for it yourselves. I'll be leaving now." After Kiana finished equipping the armor, Otto waved to Ryn and vanished into the Data Space.
Otto wasn't particularly concerned about Data Kallen's fate, but he was highly pleased with Kiana and Ryn's decision to save her.
He was especially envious of the power Ryn had displayed in defeating the Honkai Beast. If someone had possessed such strength five hundred years ago, they could have turned the tide... How wonderful that would have been. Otto shook his head regretfully. Alas, it was not to be.
The White Comet was originally crafted for the Kaslana family. Otto had intended to gift this Valkyrie Armor, engraved with the Kaslana crest, to Durandal should she ever regain her memories and choose to reclaim her family name.
However, Kiana's actions prompted Otto to reward her. He decided to present the White Comet to Kiana instead.
As for Durandal, Otto thought it best to commission a new set altogether. The name Bright Knight: Excelsis seemed quite fitting.
Kiana, now equipped with her new armor, clenched her fist. Truly worthy of an S-rank Valkyrie Armor, she felt confident she could take down Theresa right now... and even...
"Ryn! Ryn! I feel like I could knock out my old man with a single punch!"
"Siegfried is truly fortunate to have such a powerful daughter..." Ryn pinched Kiana's cheek. After equipping the armor, he could clearly sense her Domain strength had increased dozens of times over.
Too bad these armors were useless to him now. Otherwise, he'd definitely have asked Otto for another set.
"Alright, let's discuss how to save Kallen... Bronya, do you have any ideas?" Ryn released Kiana's cheek and turned to Bronya.
"I'm sorry, but this space is already collapsing. There's too little time. Bronya has no solution," Bronya said, glancing at the data panel and shaking her head regretfully. "We must escape before the data completely collapses, or we'll be flagged as anomalies and deleted during the data reset!"
"How could this happen..." Kiana clenched her fists tightly. The armor granted her nearly limitless power, yet she realized it was utterly useless against Kallen's fate...
"It's alright, this is enough. You all should leave now. There's no need to risk your lives for me. It's just the cycle of death and rebirth. I'm used to it by now..."
Kallen pulled Kiana and Ryn to Bronya's side, then waved goodbye with a smile.
"Don't be ridiculous. If we said we'd save you, we will," Ryn said, grabbing Kallen's hand earnestly. "Kiana, don't panic when you see what happens next.
Since normal methods won't work, I'll have to resort to some... unconventional means.
Cortana! Full computational power!"
"Level one authorization confirmed. Command received. Target locked: Kallen Kaslana. Insufficient energy..."
Cortana then silently appeared before Ryn, her hands passing through his chest. Ryn smiled at Cortana, then his eyes lost their light.
Ryn was dead.
Kiana hadn't even processed what was happening when two gaping holes appeared in Ryn's chest, blood gushing out. Cortana remained in the same position, her hands still piercing Ryn's body, and began to drain his life force.
"Ryn?!"
Kiana screamed in terror, then immediately turned furious. Honkai Energy corruption patterns instantly appeared on her body, her eyes flashing from icy blue to golden yellow. Spatial gates unfolded behind her, each revealing a Subspace Spear.
But before "Kiana" could attack Cortana, a surge of immense energy erupted from Ryn. The world instantly transformed, the execution ground abruptly shifting into a realm of nothingness.
This was the Sea of Quanta!
And Ryn, who should have been dead, regained the light in his eyes.
"Cough... cough..."
The resurrected Ryn suddenly spat a mouthful of blood onto Cortana's face, then managed a weak smile at Kiana. "Don't worry, Kiana... I'm fine."
"Kiana" flashed to Ryn's side, a Subspace Spear instantly knocking Cortana away. She cradled the fallen Ryn in her arms, her voice trembling with tears.
"Are you kidding me? How can you be fine? My other half... there's a hole in your chest bigger than my head!"
"It's okay, it's okay... We're short on time. I'll explain everything later... Just trust me." Though Ryn felt a strange distance from Kiana's current state, he decided to set aside his confusion for now. Time was indeed of the essence.
Kiana hesitated for a moment before saying to Ryn, "My other half, you better not be lying to me. If I wake up and find you gone, I'll make the whole world pay for it."
With that, Kiana immediately fainted and collapsed.
"Oh dear... Looks like Kiana's hiding secrets too..." Ryn quickly caught the unconscious Kiana, then walked over to Cortana and pulled the Subspace Spear from her.
"You'd better explain this to Kiana later. I don't want to get shot again next time we meet," Cortana said, looking at Ryn with a speechless expression. "Why did I have to take the hit for your terrible idea?"
"Alright, alright. Ready, Cortana?"
"Let's do it. The energy should be sufficient now," Cortana nodded.
Then, in unison, they shouted the phrase:
"Zero Rated Power — Virtual-Real Conversion!"
Energy from the Sea of Quanta began converging on Ryn. He then channeled this energy through his body to Cortana. Streams of data flowed through Cortana's eyes, her body began to glow, and soon the completely bewildered Kallen nearby started to glow as well.
Kallen's virtual data body began to transform into flesh and blood reality.