"I don't care if you're a goddess or not, can you let me pass? I need to retrieve that gem."
Although Kiana didn't have Eresh's physique, her own blood flowed with the blood of the Kaslana Family and Schariac.
Even in this place where high concentrations of Honkai were gathered, she wasn't greatly affected. In fact, she could even eat and sleep here without any problems.
Kiana looked at Eresh warily, giving the impression that she was ready to fight Eresh to the death.
"Oh? You want to retrieve this gem? Hmm~ If you want to retrieve it, then go retrieve it. Why ask me? What a strange fellow."
Eresh wasn't that annoying Ishtar, who would never say something obnoxious like, 'As long as you lick my feet, I will bestow the gem upon you.'
To be honest, Ishtar was truly a unique character. Despite her alignment being Lawful Good, she managed to offend everyone in Uruk.
Not only Gilgamesh, but even Enkidu and Eresh had strong opinions about her, even though Eresh was her twin goddess.
Conversely, the Chaotic Evil Eresh was like an angel. With her passive and introverted personality, she couldn't express her true thoughts very well.
"Really? You won't suddenly attack me when my back is turned, will you?"
"If I wanted to send you to the Underworld, I would have acted long ago. Why would I be standing here talking so much to you? Besides, if this gem continues like this, the large-scale Honkai outbreak would cause the hope of millions of people to be lost."
"If everyone swarmed into the Underworld, I'd be in a difficult position… Building cages to imprison souls is also very tiring… I don't even know if I could provide comfortable lodgings…"
Her voice grew softer and softer, and the words at the end were almost inaudible.
However, Kiana still believed Eresh's words and cautiously tried to retrieve the gem of serenity.
But the moment she stepped out, the Old Grandpa who came with her suddenly grabbed Kiana's hand.
"Fool! Are you crazy? What do you think you're doing? Do you think you can stop Honkai Energy by just holding it in your hand?"
The Old Grandpa knew the power of the gem of serenity very well; his Granddaughter had died in an experiment involving the gem of serenity.
Through the glass window, he could only watch helplessly as his Granddaughter's mind collapsed under the power of the gem of serenity.
"But… there's nothing to control it now, and this is the only method I can use, Old Grandpa."
Facing the Old Grandpa's words, Kiana just smiled at him, a smile that reminded the Old Grandpa of his Granddaughter's smile before she underwent the experiment.
This made the Old Grandpa's tears flow uncontrollably; he wanted to stop Kiana, but Eresh next to him shook the lantern in her left hand, and the Old Grandpa's body was restrained by an unknown force.
Completely unable to move, the Old Grandpa could only watch as Kiana approached the gem, reached out, and firmly grasped it in her hand.
"Why! Why are all you Valkyries like this! Always so naive! This world isn't a place where courage and belief alone can succeed!"
He had worked for Schicksal for forty years, transforming countless girls like Kiana into Valkyries and sending them to the battlefield.
These Valkyries all held the belief that they wanted to protect this world, the determination to protect their families, but what was the outcome?
They sacrificed themselves one by one, and in the end, even his Granddaughter died before his eyes.
Why fight Honkai? Why should these girls, who should be experiencing a beautiful youth, face such things? Why be so foolish?
Eresh glanced indifferently at the Old Grandpa, who was crying with his head in his hands, then refocused her gaze on Kiana.
The gem of serenity seemed to be stuck to Kiana; no matter how much she tried to shake it off, it wouldn't budge, but under Kiana's touch, the Honkai Energy in the room was continuously decreasing.
"My head… My head hurts so much! It hurts! Ahhh!!!"
Suddenly, Kiana lost consciousness and fell to the ground, unmoving.
"Oh no! Has the Honkai Energy invaded her brain? It will be bad if it's not dealt with in time!"
"Deal with your own problems, human. This girl is fine, she's perfectly alright."
It was just that a certain entity slumbering within her was gradually awakening under the power of the gem.
"Is that so? That's good then. Although this girl is foolish and acts very recklessly, her courage indeed brought about a miracle. She… is a very excellent Valkyrie."
"If Lin were still alive, she would surely have become an excellent Valkyrie like her."
Hmm? Lin? This familiar name made Eresh look at the Old Grandpa; the lantern in her left hand shook, and the Old Grandpa, who had been unable to move, regained his ability to act.
At the same time, a girl's shadow appeared beside the Old Grandpa; this suddenly appearing girl was the Lin the Old Grandpa spoke of.
"…Fine, even if this goddess is in a good mood, I'll be merciful and let you meet. Anyway, you're all going to die, so I'll make you a little more comfortable."
As the goddess of the Underworld, Eresh possessed the power to imprison souls, and of course, also the ability to make souls reappear.
It wasn't because the Granddaughter's name was also Lin that she couldn't help but use her power to allow them to meet again.
It was just that the unknown personality within Kiana was about to awaken, and if she didn't take her away quickly, something big would happen.
Picking up Kiana with a slight look of disdain, Eresh turned and left the Queen Hotel, using her power to instantly arrive near the Queen Hotel's dock.
Looking at the vast sea before her, Eresh then looked at Kiana in her arms, and suddenly had an urge to throw her in.
Kiana wasn't wearing thigh-high stockings right now, and her combat power was extremely weak.
Although Eresh only wore a thigh-high stocking on her right leg, it was still far, far better than Kiana, who wasn't wearing any.
Just as Eresh lifted Kiana high above her head, intending to throw her into the sea, Kiana finally opened her eyes.
"Wait! What exactly do you, this lowly and insignificant fellow, intend to do?!"
"Hoh oh~ To call the goddess who governs the Underworld lowly and insignificant, your tone is really quite something, isn't it?"
Although Eresh had a good temper and liked to take care of others, she would still get angry when someone called her lowly and insignificant.
"Goddess who governs the Underworld? Don't overestimate yourself! Let me show you the true power."
Black and white intertwined light appeared on Kiana's body; this power was very similar to that of the divine key—Black Abyss White Flower.
However, before Kiana could even unleash a magic storm, the power on her body was restrained, leaving her completely unable to move.
"You… you fellow! What exactly did you do to me?"
"Did nothing, just temporarily restrained the power on your body. As the goddess of the Underworld, I can certainly do that much."
Saying this, she directly lifted Kiana's body above her head and threw her into the sea.
The personality controlling the body now was Sirin's personality, but without sufficient power, Sirin couldn't fly like she used to, only flailing her arms in panic in the air.
Finally, under the effect of gravity, she fell directly into the sea with a "thud."
Because she opened her mouth, a large mouthful of seawater poured directly into Sirin's mouth.
"Gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle"
Although she couldn't fly freely, Sirin could still swim to some extent, and her head quickly surfaced.
"Cough cough cough cough!!!!"
Sirin coughed violently, spitting out mouthfuls of seawater.
"You fellow!!!"
Sirin glared fiercely at Eresh, and just as she was about to utter threats, Eresh directly squatted in front of her, treading water.
Looking at Sirin's expression of grief and indignation, wanting to tear her into pieces, Eresh recalled the days when Ishtar used to tease her.
For some reason, a feeling called pleasure welled up in her heart; she extended her finger to Sirin's head, and with a slight push, directly made the other party sink back into the water.
"Gurgle gurgle gurgle"
"Cough cough cough!!! Damn it!!!"
"Gurgle gurgle gurgle"
"Cough cough! Bastard! Bastard!!!"
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle."
"Cough! Cough! D-demon! You... you'll die a horrible death!"
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle."
No matter what Sirin said, Eresh didn't stop, as if addicted, she plunged Sirin's head back into the water.
Even knowing that Sirin was just another will possessing Kiana's body couldn't stop Eresh's urge to tease Sirin.
To teach a naughty child like Sirin a lesson, only fighting fire with fire was the best approach.
Eventually, Sirin actually started crying. When had Sirin ever suffered such indignity? As a Herrscher, she had always been the one to hurt others. When had she ever been teased like this?
Finally, with no other option, Eresh pulled Sirin out of the water after seeing her cry.
Sirin was furious and also felt incredibly embarrassed because she had been teased to tears. Even though she wanted to calm down, her tears just wouldn't stop flowing.
Eresh, having no experience with such matters, didn't know what to do. She could only continue to suppress Sirin's powers, sitting on her weapon and watching Sirin cry.
As she cried, Sirin realized that Eresh had no intention of comforting her. Angrily, she scrambled up and lunged at Eresh.
"Hey (#`O´)! What do you want to do? Are you planning to be disrespectful to a goddess?"
"I don't care about you! Even if I don't have power, I'll still bite you to death, you demon! Go to hell!"
"I am the great Honkai Queen! Even if you can torture my body, you cannot destroy my will! I will not surrender!"
"..."
She was already planning to attack with her teeth, yet she still called herself a queen. Wasn't that a bit too comical?
"Alright, since you call yourself the Honkai Queen, let me see just how powerful you are. Anyway, the gem on you needs to be taken out, and I have many ways to make you hand over the gem, you know."
"First... would you mind accompanying me to the Underworld?"
"Eh? What... what do you want to do!?!"
"Don't come any closer!!!"
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