Honkai Impact: Starting from Wandering with Kiana

Otto and Karen sat by the campfire, reaching their hands closer to warm themselves...

Otto shivered, which caught Karen's attention.

"Otto...are you shivering? Are you very cold?"

"It's...it's alright. My coat just got wet when I crossed the river..."

"...Hey! Wearing wet clothes in this weather could easily cause frostbite! Get up, I'll set up a frame and dry the clothes first." Karen said, picking up firewood from the side to build a frame.

“But… when we withdrew, we didn’t have any extra coats or blankets in our supplies…” Otto didn’t stand up, but shook his head at Karen.

"What are you talking about? Here, wear mine first." Karen grabbed Otto's wet coat and draped her own coat over him.

"The strongest Valkyrie of Destiny will not be defeated by mere cold. Achoo—" Karen had just patted her chest and was boasting to Otto when she suddenly sneezed loudly.

"What...you're sneezing too?" Otto opened his coat, covering himself and Karen.

"It's okay! Instead of taking care of me, you should take care of yourself first... really."

Afterwards, the two rested together under the starry sky, just like many nights before.

Image. (In the main text.)

Thanks to the resourceful group members for providing the accompanying image.

Chapter 90 Persecuting Heroes, Nurturing Evil

The defeat in the war brought enormous losses to Destiny. In order to compensate for the losses within the organization, Destiny issued "Indulgence Coupons," which further exacerbated the rampant extortion in the name of faith, and the conflict between the people and Destiny intensified.

Because of the war, Otto's talents were discovered by the Destiny organization, and he became an important member of the organization.

As for Karen... because of the defeat in the war, all the blame was placed on her. Karen was once considered a sinner of Schicksal and was despised by the Schicksal management. They made no attempt to hide their malice towards Karen, and even dared to mock her in the street.

Every time Karen went out, Otto would find various reasons to stay by her side, doing everything he could to shield Karen from the malice.

One day, Karen and Otto were walking down the street when Karen, who was looking around, accidentally bumped into a boy carrying an apple.

The boy fell, scattering apples all over the ground. Karen quickly apologized to the boy, helped him pick up the apples, and then smiled and asked if he was hurt.

But when the boy saw the Destiny organization badge on Karen, Apple was so frightened that she didn't dare to take it and ran away in a panic.

"Did you see how terrified the child was?" "They actually harmed such a young child for a few apples..."

People gathered together, pointing and gossiping about Karen. Perhaps some saw the truth, but after recognizing Karen as a member of Destiny, they also joined in the verbal attacks.

Karen couldn't understand why these people, who had been so courteous to her not long ago, were now constantly criticizing her.

"It's possible that the Mandate of Heaven has been forcing people to buy [Indulgences] during this period."

Destiny declares that everyone is born sinful and will continue to make new mistakes throughout their lives. These sins will accompany them throughout their lives, and Destiny has a responsibility to purify their souls.

Therefore, those who did not participate in the war must offer equivalent wealth to complete their redemption. Otto saw the confusion in Karen's heart and explained it to her.

Otto looked at the Schicksal emblem on Kallen's chest. It had once been Kallen's pride, but now it had become the source of her sins.

Otto understood this as early as the war: humanity has only ever had one enemy, and that is humanity itself.

"The user of the key, think carefully about what you truly want to protect." Karen recalled the words the Crimson Mandarin Duck Immortal had spoken to her.

"Otto...do you think...this is right?"

Otto couldn't answer Kallen's question; the truth was ruthless and cruel, almost destroying Kallen's faith.

Fortunately, Otto knew Kallen well enough to know what to do in this situation.

"Karen, why don't we go get something to eat first? It's not good to think on an empty stomach," Otto tried to distract Karen.

Upon hearing about food, Karen's previously worried face immediately brightened, and she happily raised her hands.

"good!!"

Otto took Karen to a shop called "GREEBUCKS COFFEE". The two ordered a lot of desserts, but almost all of them were placed in front of Karen, while Otto only ordered a small cake and a cup of coffee.

Karen happily devoured the food, and Otto had only taken a few sips of coffee when Karen had already swept away the entire table of desserts in front of her.

Otto put down his coffee and noticed Karen staring longingly at the small cake in front of him.

Both of them broke out in a sweat, looking slightly embarrassed. Otto reluctantly handed the small cake to Karen, who accepted it without hesitation and then swallowed it whole.

"Ah~ I'm full, I'm full." Karen patted her little belly contentedly.

At these times, Otto would silently watch Kallen from the side. He didn't say a word, but his gaze was full of tenderness.

At that moment, Karen and Otto were drawn by a cry.

"Please, please grant me a few more days," a woman pleaded with a lewd-looking missionary, clutching her child.

"Why haven't you bought indulgences yet? Someone must pay for your husband's sins." The missionary Victor ignored the woman's desperate pleas and insisted that she buy indulgences immediately.

"How about... we let Sasha work at the church for a while? That way, your husband's sins can be redeemed." Viktor grinned lewdly and reached out to the little girl in the woman's arms.

But the woman bit Viktor's hand hard, and Viktor, enraged, raised his hand to slap her.

"What are you doing!!"

Karen slapped Victor's hand away with a loud crack, then coldly retorted, "You, a missionary of Schicksal, dare to assault innocent women and children in public! What exactly do you want to do?!"

Victor recognized the girl who was questioning him. He sneered and said, "Oh? You suffered a defeat outside, but you're so arrogant in front of your own people! Sir Knight~"

What we're doing now is cleaning up the mess you left behind!

"What did you say?!" Karen exclaimed, her face a mixture of shock and confusion.

She wanted to continue questioning Viktor about what had happened, but Otto grabbed her arm.

Otto glared at Viktor, who was immediately too frightened to move. He then left after uttering a harsh threat.

After Victor left, Karen immediately went to help the frightened mother and daughter up from the ground, but the woman just said to Karen with a blank expression and a gloomy look, "I'm sorry, we're closed."

Then he took Sasha back to the shop, locked the door, and ignored Karen.

"How could such an absurd thing happen? Innocent people are being falsely accused..."

Karen looked bewildered, but then gritted her teeth in anger, her fists clenched. "And those who truly deserve punishment are left unpunished..."

Snapped--

Otto patted Karen, cupped her face in his hands, and made her look at him. "I know what you're thinking, Karen. But the naive idea of ​​an eye for an eye won't change anything."

"Come with me, I have something to show you."

Otto took Karen's hand and led her away.

Otto had his arm around Karen as they watched a masked man give a speech on stage amidst the crowd in the square.

That was Shakespeare, who rose to fame during this period.

"A person can pretend to be an angel."

But they might hide themselves deep inside.

.........

"They roamed like venomous snakes, and devoured like hungry rats."

Driven by self-interest, they indulged in unrestrained debauchery, greedily amassed wealth, and disregarded human life!

Shakespeare drew his sword from his waist and pointed the tip at Kallen, who was dressed in the Valkyrie uniform of the Destiny organization, in the audience.

"I, the righteous one wielding the sword, will slit the throats of your order!!"

Karen was deeply moved by Shakespeare's speech; she felt as if something within her was about to awaken.

But then the crowd began to stir.

"Seize her! She's the one who's slandering Mandate of Heaven everywhere!"

A group of missionaries rushed out of the crowd and pinned Shakespeare to the ground.

The Shakespearean mask, which had been pinned to the ground, had been knocked off, but she still defiantly shouted, "The people will no longer be deceived by you like this!!"

Seeing Shakespeare about to be arrested, Karen was frantic; she wanted to save him.

Then she saw Shakespeare's mask that had been knocked away.

Chapter 91 Ugliness is everywhere, beauty is nowhere to be found

Karen put on a mask on the roof and covered her clothes with a piece of linen.

"stop!!"

Karen shouted, drawing everyone's attention, and then leaped down to land next to Shakespeare.

"Who are you?!"

"I'm Karen... I won't tell you." Karen was about to answer, but thankfully she stopped herself in time. Then she kicked the person who asked the question away, picked up Shakespeare from the ground, and started running away.

Karen shoved the missionary of Destiny aside while shouting, "I'm sorry, please forgive me."