Honkai Impact 3: Deadwood

"I, I refuse!"

"Kiana...I know you hate me because of your mother. In your impression, Cecilia died because of fighting me, but have you ever thought about it, is this really the case? ?”

"...?"

The shock that flashed across Kiana's face gave the black shadow an opportunity to break through her psychological defenses. She floated behind Kiana and hugged her, stroking her cheek with her hands that had recovered at some point.

However, in the blind spot that Kiana could not see, the black shadow was smiling triumphantly, "Hehehe, Kiana~ Do you think, if your captain hadn't rescued me for their selfish desires, I would have died in that scorched earth. In that case, I would not have had the chance to escape, go back for revenge, fight with your parents, and of course your mother... certainly would not have died~☆ "

Like a haunting evil spirit, the black shadow whispered in Kiana's ear, trying to take this opportunity to defeat her in one fell swoop. Kiana also seemed a little confused, and for a moment she forgot to break free and resist.

"Kiana~☆" the black shadow said and floated in front of Kiana again, holding up Kiana's confused face with both hands. The clear outline of the black shadow was also reflected in the blue eyes, as well as other A cheerful look.

"No...that's not the case."

"Why not? Do you still believe those hypocritical adults now? Kiana~ Accept me, I will give you power beyond the S-class Valkyrie as agreed, and let you get everything you want."

"I…"

When the face of the black shadow gradually became clearer, the scene from the last confrontation with him suddenly flashed through Kiana's mind. At that time, she was also bewitched by the black shadow in front of her and fell into great confusion.

Different from now, at that time, there was someone who was always by her side, protecting her gently and guiding her, like a lamp holder in the fog, lighting the way forward for her.

But this time... there is no one who can let her hide behind her.

"I…"

Even though she knew that the truth was probably not the case, and what Siren said was just a sophistry after twisting the facts, but being influenced and penetrated by the black shadow's consciousness, the girl had to doubt whether all of this was really the case.

Even... Kiana began to doubt whether her trust in that person was true.

Then her vision became blurry... In front of Kiana's eyes was the black shadow trying to defeat her consciousness, and in her ears were the bursts of laughter that the black shadow could no longer suppress, and the sound of cold wind passing through her ears.

In a moment of trance, Kiana felt like she was back to that afternoon more than a year ago.

At that time, she was trying to skip class by climbing over the school wall that had been raised several times. When she climbed to the top of the wall, she happened to see a black-haired boy outside the wall that she had never seen before.

He stood by the lake not far from the wall, quietly staring at the clear lake playing with the warm sun in front of him.

The girl saw the birds in the sky singing and flying over his head, as if cheering for his arrival; the breeze blowing from the lake was blowing around him, washing away the bumps and fatigue along the way; even Those few petals that originally traveled with the wind will now rest on his shoulders through the wind.

Then, she noticed that the young man here turned his head and met her eyes. He smiled gently, and there seemed to be stars twinkling in his dark eyes, which made Kiana even have a feeling that the Milky Way should be cold and boundless. It is also an illusion of warmth.

But also because of this trance, Kiana slipped and fell to the grass before she could react.

After she was mentally prepared for the painful fall, the young man from before appeared in her field of vision at some point and stretched out his hand to her.

With no time to think, Kiana just stretched out her hand to grab it. When she finally grabbed the other person's hand, she saw that the crystal pendant in the other person's collar was emitting a little bit of light, and at the same time her body was like As if being held up by something, he was finally able to stand gently on the grass.

Against the backdrop of the lake reflecting the sun, that person's face was clearly imprinted in Kiana's mind. So far, it is not blurry at all.

That was her first encounter with the captain...and "Brad".

When she regained consciousness from confusion and sinking, Kiana seemed to feel the same warmth from the captain's hand again as she did then.

At this moment, the power transformed from that warmth was truly in her hands!

boom! boom! boom!

Facing the black shadow in front of her, Kiana kept pulling the trigger of the pistol in her hand, and the hot bullets penetrated the black shadow's body, telling the girl the answer in an extremely clear way.

"Huh!? Uh-huh!!!"

The black shadow, who did not expect this scene at all, twisted his face in pain and retreated into the distance after being shot by Kiana.

"Huh!? You, Kiana, what are you doing!!?"

The black shadow held his belly while roaring angrily at Kiana. It was clear that he had almost succeeded in defeating the other party's consciousness just as planned, but what was this overly determined resistance and resistance? ?

"Don't you...haven't you been...from the beginning?"

"Ha, did you just realize that? Fake crying is a necessary skill for girls. Besides, with such a method full of flaws, do you think you can deceive me?"

Kiana's confident smile was full of ridicule for Siren's clumsy play, which made the black shadow in the distance even more angry, "Why! Why are you resisting me!? Kiana, what good do you believe those people do to you?" !!?"

"Benefits?" Kiana shook her head disdainfully.

"It has nothing to do with that kind of thing, Siren. You keep saying that the captain is an out-and-out liar, and you also showed me those so-called "truths", but it was just your own imagination from beginning to end. . "

"What did you say?"

"You have obviously gotten along so closely with the captain... and Zhi, and you know in your heart that he has always treated you sincerely and tried his best to give you the warmth and kindness that the world has never given you. But in the end, you didn't feel that way at all. understand him!"

"Shut up!" Black Shadow yelled in a frantic voice, "What qualifications do you have to talk to me! He said it as if you knew him very well. He has never really told you about his past, has he? ?”

"so what?"

"...?"

"He is not deliberately hiding his past, hiding the "truth" in his heart, whether it is joy, sadness, pain, anger... You, and I, are what we have always thought we are. I know him very well, but I have never really understood everything about "Zhi". "

"..." Black Shadow clenched her hands. She was very angry, but she couldn't refute the other party's statement now.

"So, I, and everyone at St. Freya will slowly get to know him, move forward with him, fight with him, and witness together, witness that beautiful world without "collapse". I will work hard for this every day in the future until I truly understand and accept everything about "branch"! "

"Are you determined to go against me? Qi-Ya-Na-!!!"

On the pure white ground, the girl no longer hesitated. She tightened her grip on the gun and raised it toward the black shadow in the distance.

Although there will probably still be doubts and confusion in the future, but now...

"I am Kiana Kaslana, a member of the fifth team of St. Freya Academy, the bridge commander of the Hyperion: the Valkyrie of "Branch"! "

This was the girl's answer, and it was also her precious determination. Although the dark sky was still covered with clouds, there was still a ray of sunshine that penetrated through the thick clouds and shone on the pure white snow.

The white-haired girl who was embraced by the falling sunshine at this moment was just like what she saw at that time, the shining figure of the young man reflected in the waves in her eyes.