Humans are in chaos, despicable outsiders.

The hermit's cold voice recounted the story depicted in the scene, while Kiana, standing to the side, clenched her fists so tightly that her nails seemed to draw blood from her palms.

"Hermit! Stop talking..."

"The lucky girl eventually survived the trials, but her former companions fell one by one to the endless Honkai energy injection experiments. The little girl buried them in the snowfield, hoping they would find final peace..."

"There were no elaborate tombstones, only three withered branches serving as their only markers; there were no mourning crowds, but researchers shouted at her from behind, calling the tiny life buried beneath the snowfield 'garbage and scrap'—"

The hermit's cold voice did not stop despite the white-haired girl's request; it was like a sharp scalpel, dissecting the ugliness of reality layer by layer, revealing it to Kiana.

"Enough...please stop talking..."

Having witnessed the cruelty and filth of this world, she chose to tear open the hearts of humanity. She no longer believed in the goodness of the world, and she vowed to burn human civilization to ashes with the flames of revenge—she is the Second Herrscher...she is Sirin...

"...She is the terminator of civilization."

...

The Hermit glanced at the Second Herrscher, who was already fighting Yang in the scene, and then turned his gaze to Kiana beside him, who was looking down with her head clenched tightly and her face gloomy.

"As you can see—besides the beautiful things, the world also has many ugly, never beautiful, dark and dirty places..."

The snowfield began to crumble, and the cemetery she had seen during the day appeared before Kiana. The white bouquet she had personally laid out now lay beneath the monument...

"The pioneers of this academy, who experienced the injustice and darkness of the world, ultimately witnessed the brilliance of humanity and the beauty of the world, and here they made a common vow—"

"They will fight for all that is good in the world!"

"Now it's your turn—!"

"You have experienced the beauty of the world, the warmth of humanity...—but now you witness the darkness and depravity of humankind, the filth of the world..."

"Knight Kiana Kaslana, what is your true oath?"

The Blade of Destruction was taken down and stood on the earth... standing before the girl. It was the glory of this family, the inheritance of this bloodline and belief. In the ancient past, countless knights of Kaslana had made vows before this sacred relic, vows they would uphold for their entire lives.

Now, the liberated holy sword is right in front of the girl. The throbbing from the depths of her blood and soul tells Kiana that the swordsman before her is an ancestor from the ancient past.

And at this moment she was waiting for her answer—there was plenty of time, enough for the girl to think and ponder. The witness in front of her did not urge her, just like the ancient tradition of the distant past.

The young people knelt in the sanctuary of the Kaslana family, where sacred artifacts were placed on the highest altar. The elders stood quietly to one side, holding longswords, waiting. Perhaps it would only take a day, or perhaps three days or even longer, for the new generation of knights to contemplate and make their own unique vows.

.....

"I..." The girl looked at the holy sword in front of her, her emotions flickering like the flames on the sword.

"What is my vow...?" The girl fell into deep thought.

A minute, an hour, a day, a week... The long contemplation blurred the concept of time. Kiana stared intently at the burning flaming sword before her... The flames on the sword seemed to dispel all darkness and illuminate all the gloom.

“Light up…dispel…” The girl stared at the flames, lost in thought.

"I want to change those unpleasant stories... I want to transform this imperfect world into the one I desire..." the girl murmured to herself.

"Yes... I want to transform this imperfect world into the one I desire!"

The girl opened her eyes wide, looked up at the hermit, and began to express her beliefs.

"This is your vow?!"

The hermit looked at the girl before him, his questioning voice like thunder, shattering all illusions and the will of those with weak hearts—

"Yes—! This is my vow!"

The girl's bright blue eyes had lost their childishness, and she looked at the hermit before her without compromise, conveying her will.

"Then, remember your oath—descendant of the Kaslana family!"

We will witness it with our own eyes—

The response left to the girl seemed to include a slightly cold voice from a young man.

The girl looked up and saw the illusory figure of a white-haired youth dressed in a black, white and blue combat uniform, who was now on either side of the Hermit, gripping the hilt of the Heavenly Fire Judgment sword and staring at her.

Then, the dream shattered.

Dawn is breaking—

Chapter 74 Don't come any closer!

Kiana sat up as she opened her eyes once more, her eyes filled with determination. Just moments before, she had made a vow to an unnamed ancestor, a vow that would stay with her for the rest of her life.

However, the young knight lady seems to have encountered a problem. A huge pile of history and math homework is now in front of her. Her single ponytail, tied up after a quick wash, sways with distress as she looks at her head.

After all... math is something you just can't do if you don't know it.

"How about I lie back down and dream about asking my ancestor how to solve this problem? Uh... that ancestor must have lived for hundreds of years, would he really know how to solve this kind of problem...? Wait, why would that ancestor know so much about the Second Honkai Impact..."

A multitude of wildly imaginative and impractical ideas raced through the girl's mind. Finally, she picked up her homework from the table and pondered who in the dormitory could help her.

Squad leader Fu Hua went out for her morning exercise and won't be back for a while; Mei is downstairs preparing breakfast, so I won't bother her; and Teacher Himeko drank all night yesterday because of her period and is probably unconscious now...

Bronya? After considering the gray-haired girl's sharp tongue, Kiana decisively passed on this option.

"Then it's only Jiuxiao... I feel like Jiuxiao is usually quite easy to talk to..." Kiana knocked on Jiuxiao's door with her homework in hand.

--

"Is this why you came to see me?" Jiu Xiao raised an eyebrow as he looked at the math homework in front of him.

"Please! Jiuxiao, please guide me..." The knight girl clasped her hands together, making a pleading gesture.

"Alright... Oh, the new look is good, you look like a warrior now..."

"—Listen carefully, I will explain each of these questions to you. What you need to remember is the problem-solving approach, not the answer, understand?"

"Understood!" Kiana nodded seriously.

Jiu Xiao took out a pen and paper and started making marks on the homework, while the white-haired girl listened attentively and asked questions from time to time.

Time passed quickly. Kiana, having received her answer, thanked Jiuxiao and left. Fujin, who had been hiding on the rooftop for a long time, flew in through the window as Jiuxiao closed the door again.

"I'm starting to wonder what you did to that little girl, Fujin... She's changed so much... Normally she would have kicked down my door, but this time she actually knocked obediently, and... she was actually asking me for help with my studies???"

Jiuxiao tilted his head, looking at the little raven that had flown in and was standing on the table preening its wings, its tone full of confusion.

"Actually, I don't know either..." Fujin shook his little head, picked up a melon seed from the table, and swallowed it.

"Hmm... I still prefer the creamy sunflower seeds from last time. Ah... the trials in the Dreamland were actually led by the adults themselves; I was just an intermediary signal station."

"...Snow in charge? Fine, so she's not planning to come back before the battle at Schicksal headquarters?"

Jiuxiao rolled his eyes.

"According to that person's wishes, her true form will return with the leader of the World Serpent... Before that, you may encounter her incarnations a few times."

"So, what are they doing in the sea...?" Jiu Xiao pursed his lips.

"Uh...you really want to know?"

Fujin paused for a moment, tilted his little head, and looked at Penglai Temple Jiuxiao.

"Nonsense... I haven't even settled the score with her for insulting my wife last year—"

The purple-haired woman seemed to remember something, glaring through gritted teeth at the blonde figure in the photo on the desk.

"Emmmm.....Well, I'll tell you then..." Fujin picked up another melon seed from the table and swallowed it.

"Speak quickly!"

"Uh... Your Excellency, Lord Kevin, and Lord Su are all lurking in that world... Walter Yang, the leader of Anti-Entropy, has already noticed Lord Kevin, the World Serpent Lord who is peering into reality."

"He constructed numerous labyrinthine seals outside the World Bubble in an attempt to prevent Lord Kevin from leaving..."

"It's something I envisioned, so what's wrong with saying it?" Jiuxiao gave Fujin a strange look.

"Because... Lord Kevin doesn't actually plan to leave right now... He just wanted to go for a walk on a whim... Mr. Walter Young built the maze, and now the three of you are using it as a plaza for your after-dinner stroll..."

"By the way, the hissing sound Mr. Yang heard was actually the sound of those three slurping noodles..."

Fujin scrambled across the table, finding a comfortable position to curl up in.

"What kind of bad people are they? They didn't even include me in their noodles."

Jiuxiao's face clearly showed his displeasure at how you guys caused trouble without even taking me into consideration.

"These bastards, if it weren't for wanting to see Ningdi, I would have jumped down too..." the purple-haired woman muttered.

"Behave yourself, Miss Kiana still needs you to keep an eye on her..." Fujin, seeing the terrifying resentment emanating from Houraiji Kushou, decisively chose to move his nest to a more distant place.

"Hiss... So she's going to continue... uh... train... oops, nurture, no! Hmm, cultivate that little knight?"

"As you say, yes. This simplest change is far from enough for Miss Kiana."

Fujin nodded, acknowledging Jiuxiao's question.

"I don't know if this is lucky or unlucky for her... She dreams of being tormented by Snow every night... Tsk tsk tsk."

Jiuxiao thought about what would happen to that Miss Kiana in the future and clicked his tongue.

"She was certainly lucky; it was better than the irreversible ending of killing her own teacher with her own hands..."

A familiar voice, long unheard, rang out from behind. A black and white combat suit with gold accents adorned the girl's body; the avatar of Snow Apocalypse appeared beside Jiuxiao.

"Long time no see... Although this is just an avatar, it's probably impossible for you to do anything strange."

"Who wants to do anything weird with you!"

Jiuxiao's face flushed red instantly, and he retorted loudly...

"But a hug is still possible—"

"What's wrong, my little savior? Why don't you give it a try?"

The blonde girl clung to Penglai Temple's Kusho once more, reminding her of the unpleasant experience she had a year ago...

"Don't come any closer... Waaah—"

The girl's mouth was gagged....

Chapter Seventy-Five: Clown Alpha, Hermit Omega

As night fell, the girls of the academy drifted off to sleep, and the white-haired young knight once again entered the dream world.

...