The owner of the memory slammed the table in fury.
"Acting? What do you mean, acting? This is absurd!"
"Whether you see her as nothing more than your daughter, or you pity her—that's your choice! But—what am I supposed to call her? Does she even have a name? Am I just supposed to call her Siegfried's daughter?"
"…"
Tesla's tone softened slightly.
"Mr. Siegfried, a person living in this world is not only someone's child—they are also their own self. That is the meaning of a name. It helps us recognize who we are, and hints at the path we may choose in the future."
"So I'm very curious—what exactly do you plan to call this daughter of yours?"
"Does she only deserve to be called K-423, and not deserve a name of her own?"
"This isn't just about you or your family. Perhaps the entire world is waiting for your answer."
Under Tesla's questioning, Siegfried fell silent.
But clearly, he had been persuaded.
Or rather… he had already realized long ago that K-423 needed a real name—
A name he had prepared long ago.
Outside the screen.
As the person involved, Kiana's body swayed slightly.
Even though she already knew the full story, seeing Siegfried's experiences again still made her heart ache, her eyes reddening.
No matter what—Dad would always be her dad.
That would never change.
And as Durandal witnessed this long chain of Siegfried's memories, doubts began to rise in her heart.
Why… were there so many of Siegfried's memory fragments?
Or rather—
Did all the memory fragments found in this space share something in common?
With these questions, Durandal continued exploring other memories.
As expected—
They were still memories related to Siegfried.
[A car horn cut through the dusk, bringing a faint but comforting sense of everyday life.]
"Cleared safely, Kiana."
"Dad, I didn't blow our cover, did I?"
"Mm. You did great. No one will suspect a thing."
"That's good! Though this Rubik's Cube is way too hard—I almost forgot what we even came here to do."
"Haha, that's exactly what makes it natural. Otherwise people might see through us."
"Umm… but this '2007 Revised Anti-Entropy Infiltration Manual' says that when disguising yourself, you should act like your usual self…"
"Huh? Wait, does it really say that…? The more detailed your disguise is, the harder it is to expose. Yeah, that sounds right."
"Alright, alright—hide that booklet quickly. And don't keep talking about Anti-Entropy."
"Hmph, don't worry. I know—we're still Schicksal personnel right now. That's right, Anti-Entropy are the big bad guys, biiig bad guys! Really hateful, huh? Who knows what Anti-Entropy spy infiltrated Schicksal to steal our top-secret experimental results!"
"Now's not the time for jokes. Even though we thoroughly checked this car with professional equipment, we still need to be careful of prying ears."
"Mm, then I'll stay serious—stay serious!"
The memory came to an end.
Durandal smiled faintly, warmly.
"That was Siegfried and young Kiana Kaslana? Were they planning to infiltrate somewhere together?"
"Wait… when was this?"
Another memory followed immediately.
"Alright, Kiana—repeat our operation plan."
"First, we leave the family villa we've been staying in for several days and drive to the development center outside Klossten."
"Once there, we go to your personal training room, Dad. If anyone talks to us, I'll say you finally came home and I want you to teach me more of the Kaslana family's ancestral gun-kata."
"Then, in the training room, we climb out the window into the unused locker room next door—Dad, you'll change into a hazmat suit and disguise yourself as maintenance staff, and I'll hide inside the waste container you're transporting."
"Once everything's ready, we'll infiltrate the experimental zone's waste yard. I can crawl in from the reverse direction of the waste chute into the core experimental level!"
"During that time, Dad, you'll go secure a stealth fighter. I'll cut open a window from the inside of the lab to let you in."
"Finally, we find the lab where the clone is kept and snatch her away from those bad guys! If intercepted, we break through with force!"
[Ningguang]: Siegfried's memories again…
[Ningguang]: This space seems very unusual.
[Einstein]: Indeed. So far, all the memory fragments seem to share something in common…
[Tesla]: Wait—
[Tesla]: Aren't all of these… members of the Kaslana family?!
[Tesla]: Which means… Durandal really is—
[Durandal]: …
[Theresa]: N-no way…
[Rita]: So it really is like this…
[Kiana]: Kiana… Kaslana?
The chat trembled.
That earlier speculation was becoming more and more real.
On screen, Durandal, within the Sea of Quanta, murmured to herself, suspicion also forming.
"The memories mention Anti-Entropy manuals more than once—and more importantly, that girl. She mentioned a clone, and said she had to snatch her away from those bad people."
"Which means… these two memories really are—"
At that moment, the mysterious voice spoke again.
"Very good. You realized this with the help of another power."
Durandal frowned.
"I don't like speaking to someone who hides in the shadows. Say it plainly—what exactly do you want from me?"
The voice did not answer directly.
"We'll meet soon. I told you—I am the consciousness of this space itself. More precisely, the adjudicator who provides your trial."
"My current personality comes from a fragment you just saw—one left behind here. Siegfried Kaslana."
Instantly, many viewers were shocked.
Durandal paused, then said calmly:
"You're nothing like him."
"Perhaps. I don't possess emotions as complete as humans do. But since the conditions of memory are now largely met—it's time to give you the chance to face me directly."
Darkness swallowed Durandal.
When light returned—
She stood once more in that crimson desert.
Before her appeared a huge, worn, brown puppet.
"Alright. Let's discuss the remaining questions face to face."
"The trial… you want me to defeat you under rules you set?"
"You could say that. Though the one who constructed this space and established these rules wasn't me. Everything I do is merely to guide his descendants—guide the inheritor of that special stigmata."
"The inheritor of a special stigmata… do you mean someone like Siegfried? Or… me as well?"
"Siegfried… a pitiful man. Even I feel sorrow for him. He had already lost his chance to awaken, yet he challenged me again and again. I warned him that doing so would only drag him deeper, peeling away more and more fragments of his personality—but that man was stubborn to the extreme, just like his ancestors."
Durandal looked at the puppet in confusion.
"Ancestors?"
"Who else could it be? His distant progenitor—Kevin Kaslana. His bloodline passed down a special stigmata, giving birth to this space, and to me as I am now. You've fought him directly—you know exactly what kind of existence he is."
"You… can even see memories like that?"
"Of course. Do you remember the black memory monoliths you saw along your path? They are fragments of the past surfacing with the fluctuations of this space—waves I casually stir in the sea of memory. And they also mean that the more you explore here, the closer you come to me—and the more tightly you're bound."
The massive puppet stared deeply at Durandal.
"If you're still unsure of the most fundamental reason—I may as well let you revisit some memories that brushed past you before revealing the final truth. This may be unfair to you… but if you wish to regain your freedom from me, it's something you must face."
Durandal fell silent.
Her confusion deepened.
Memories related to her… that had brushed past her…
What… were they?
And what was the final truth the puppet spoke of?
Before she could respond—
White light engulfed everything.
A memory unfolded in Durandal's mind—
and before the eyes of all viewers.
Otto's voice rang out.
"Oh, Ragna, you came at just the right time."
"Lord Bishop, this is…?"
"The child you brought back. She was badly injured, so I had to use special means to treat her."
"So you believe she can survive?"
"She's a monster with an absurdly strong life force, isn't she? Hit directly in the head by wreckage at several thousand meters, falling freely into a snowy mountain range—and still showing vital signs when you found her. That kind of vitality is far beyond ordinary humans."
"So… she'll still be herself? Not even a single hair affected?"
"That would be exaggerating, but broadly speaking, yes. I don't need to create another Soulium clone, and she will certainly become Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie. Survive a great calamity, and good fortune follows—right?"
"Then… Siegfried and Lady Theresa…"
"I'll handle them. You don't need to worry about my family matters—I don't want her to be Kiana Kaslana anymore."
"She has the right to escape adult conflicts, to walk her own path, and become the strongest warrior in Schicksal's history."
"When she awakens, she'll have a new name, a new beginning. She'll completely sever herself from the personal grudges trapping her now—"
"So let me put it this way. When that time comes, I'll give this child a goal far more important than personal vendettas."
"And once she accomplishes that goal… she will, incidentally, achieve her revenge on me."
"That would be a perfect ending—don't you think?"
The memory clearly showed—
Otto hiding the real Kiana.
Durandal asked softly:
"What you just showed me… was Senior Ragna's memory?"
"No. That wasn't hers."
"Then it can only belong to Bishop Otto."
"Unfortunately, no. Remember what I said—these memories are proof of your entanglement with me."
"To put it another way—this domain I guard can only hold the memories of a single group of people."
"For them, the primordial stigmata is inherited through blood, binding them to the very origin of history."
"Here, countless generations of conscious or unconscious, voluntary or involuntary memories—because they share this unique bloodline—are naturally gathered by me and incorporated into this Kaslana Stigmata Space."
The puppet spoke at length.
Durandal reacted immediately.
"Then you're saying… that memory could only come from a third participant…"
"Correct—the child wrapped in Otto's Soulium, undergoing treatment."
Still wearing Rita's appearance, the puppet continued, its words leaving Durandal no time to care about appearances.
"Think back. Everything you've seen here—Dr. MEI's child, Kallen and her father, Theresa, Siegfried, and that child just now… they all share the same blood, the same sleeping stigmata."
"And I, deep within the Sea of Quanta, have become entangled with this stigmata space—with you."
Durandal's eyes sharpened.
"So my memories became mixed with theirs, preventing me from returning to my original world… and all of this was part of Otto's plan."
"Although your memories did not originally belong here, your entanglement with this space was no coincidence."
Rita's voice remained calm.
"I said earlier—experiencing memories like that is somewhat unfair to you. Because their foundation exists within you as well: the Kaslana stigmata. They simply remained dormant in your body, rather than settling into my space."
"To put it more plainly, Miss Durandal—your body carries not only pure Kaslana blood…"
"And the memory we just saw was indeed recorded through your own senses."
"You… are the third participant in that memory."
!!!
In an instant—
Durandal's body shook violently.
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