Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"At that moment, I knew I had to leave."

Big Bob lowered his head in disappointment.

"If I don't leave now, I'll probably die quietly one day."

"I don't understand..."

He looked up at the two moons in the sky, which remained unchanged since time immemorial.

"I can't understand it."

"What magic does that little village, whose name is not even remembered by anyone, possess that could cause such a dramatic change in Talulah overnight?"

"I don't understand, Alina. She's such a kind person, why would anyone harm her?"

"Talulah, Talulah, was the smile on your face when you told us about your ideals by the fire in the past also a pretense?"

He growled in a low voice.

It's clear that he has been suppressing these issues for a very long time.

He wasn't even saying this to Xia Yu now, nor did he expect her to give him an answer.

After all, in his eyes, Xia Yu's only connection with the Reunion Movement was that battle where she single-handedly covered the rear.

But coincidentally, Xia Yu had the answer he needed.

“Talulah,” Xia Yu sighed, patting Big Bob on the shoulder, “her tragedy was probably destined from birth.”

"What?" Big Bob turned around in astonishment.

"Did you know that Talulah is actually the adopted daughter of Duke Koschei of Ursus? And she is Koschei's sole heir?"

"The Duke's adopted daughter?" Big Bob paused for a few seconds, then a wry smile appeared on his face.

"The Duke..."

“We’ve also thought that ordinary families can’t raise a daughter like Talulah. Compared to her, Alina is the kind of person we’re familiar with.”

"But I never expected that her background was so illustrious."

"Heh," Big Bob chuckled bitterly, "The Duke's daughter! And the undisputed next Duke, no wonder. But to be willing to forsake her own wealth and status to scheme against us penniless peasants..."

Should I say I'm honored?

“Actually, she didn’t intend to scheme against you,” Xia Yu said softly. “Do you know how she escaped from her home?”

"She killed her own father and nailed him to the duke's throne with a sword."

"Then he fled the duchy, went into hiding, and as for founding the Reunion Movement, that was another accident."

"She killed her adoptive father?" Big Bob murmured to himself upon hearing this. "Why?"

"Because she was taken back by Kosiché through trickery, kidnapped right in front of her own sister."

"But if there is such deep hatred, why would Duke Kosiché adopt her?"

“Because of her bloodline,” Xia Yu sighed, “Talulah is not Waifan.”

“She is the real Draco, born with the claim to the Victorian throne.”

"Then, her mother is a princess of the Great Yan Kingdom, which means that she also has royal blood of the Yan Kingdom."

“Oh, I see,” Big Bob said, his face crestfallen. “So even a dukedom isn’t enough to show her nobility…”

"So, she condescended to come among us commoners just for the status she inherited from her bloodline?"

"Is she just something we're using? Is everything she said a lie?"

It's clear that Big Bob was greatly affected.

There was a time when he was one of those who believed Talulah wholeheartedly.

Feeling completely convinced that he knew the truth, he even abandoned his usual caution and dared to yell at Xia Yu.

“No,” Xia Yu shook her head in response to his anger, “If she had been an ambitious person from the beginning, I wouldn’t have called this a tragedy.”

Big Bob was stunned when he heard this.

"The real mastermind behind it all, the person who changed Talulah's will in that small village, was her adoptive father, Koschei."

And this damn world.

And those unruly people from Ursus.

“But isn’t he dead?” Big Bob asked incredulously.

"You've been in Ursus for so long, have you heard of Duke Kosiché being stripped of his title?" Xia Yu asked in return.

“No, not at all,” Big Bob said, stunned. “I’ve never heard of it.”

"If Kosiché is really dead, then the duchy without an heir would have been wiped out long ago."

"Did he fake his death? Or was it a body double?"

“It’s much more advanced than that,” Xia Yu scoffed upon hearing this, “It’s immortal.”

"What?" Big Bob didn't understand.

"He is immortal. How could you possibly kill him with just a sword?"

"Kill a god!"

Although this god was so weak it was almost unbearable to look at.

"God?" Big Bob looked completely bewildered. "What...does this mean?"

Weren't we talking about Talulah and Koschke? Why did the topic turn to God?

"Do you believe in the existence of God?" Xia Yu asked in return.

"Well... what's there to believe or not believe?" Big Bob couldn't give an answer for the time being. "If I had to say, I'd say I believe, right?"

He himself was a little unsure about the answer.

“Whether you believe it or not, God exists,” Xia Yu said, looking at the twin moons in the sky. “Koschke is one of them.”

“Wait, my mind’s a little foggy right now,” Big Bob interrupted Xia Yu. “Koschei, that duke, Talulah’s adoptive father, is he a god?”

This topic is quite broad.

“That’s right,” Xia Yu nodded with a serious expression. “He told me this himself.”

Big Bob immediately fell silent.

"But...why?"

After holding it in for a long time, his face turned red, and he finally managed to utter this sentence.

Why? A god, a duke? And he adopted Talulah? And she killed him? Or faked his death? And then he changed Talulah in the end?

What's the point?

Big Bob couldn't understand.

You've become a god, why would you care about these things?

"Heh," Xia Yu said dismissively at his confusion, "Although he is called a god, how should I put it, he is quite different from the gods you know."

Xia Yu stretched out her right hand, with the tips of her thumb and forefinger touching, making a gesture of a galaxy at her fingertips.

"The difference is so great that I think calling him a god would be an exaggeration."

"Perhaps a malevolent spirit dwelling in the land of Ursus would be more suitable for Him."

"He cannot be omnipotent or omniscient; his actions on earth still require the support of a mortal body."

“You mean, the shell?” Big Bob keenly noticed the key point in Xia Yu’s words.

“That’s right, a shell,” Xia Yu nodded. “Just as you thought, Talulah is the shell he prepared for himself.”

"Ever since Talulah plunged the sword into His chest, Koschei has lurked in her soul like an evil spirit."

"The death of Alina that you mentioned, and what happened in that small village, all became bullets for Him to break Talulah's will."

"So that's how it is?" A hint of surprise and relief appeared in Big Bob's eyes.

"Talulah, is she no longer herself?"

"So, the original Talulah didn't actually change; she just had her body taken over by Koschei?"

Big Bob's offhand remark shows that Talulah was indeed very prestigious among them back then.

But that's not the truth.

The truth is slightly different from what he said.

Talulah is not innocent.

Koschei did not completely take over the body. Although he had been tempting Talulah, all the sins were committed by Talulah herself.

If it really was Koschei who did it, Frostnova and Patriots wouldn't have allowed Rhodes Island to imprison Talulah.

Unfortunately, all Kosiché did was seduce and manipulate.

He never truly made any decisions on Talulah's behalf.

Only after realizing Xia Yu's presence did he change his plan, begin to seal Talulah's will, and use this body himself.