Chapter 36: Who Are You, Who Am I

Durandal strolled through this familiar yet unfamiliar orphanage, feeling segments of memories where the protagonist seemed to be herself, but they weren't experiences she truly lived.

"Teacher Luo Lin! Look, this is the clay I made!"

Little Bianka held up a blob of clay, her face smeared with colors from goodness knows where, eagerly showing her artistic creation to Luo Lin.

Luo Lin forced a smile but still praised Bianka because at least the things made by the little golden-haired bundle had some semblance of shape, unlike the works of others... uh, those might be mistaken for oddly shaped mounds if placed in the garden.

"Teacher Ragna! This is the starfish Teacher Luo Lin taught us to make! I want to give it to you! Thank you for exercising with me!"

Little Bianka held a small glass jar filled with colorful handmade "starfish," and Ragna happily accepted the bottle, solemnly placing it in her own suitcase.

"This is the gift Little Bianka gave me. I will cherish it well. When you grow up, I'll let you see your past works too!"

Ragna rubbed Bianka's cheeks and hair, feeling her mood subtly improve.

Durandal looked on with a wry smile, realizing that regardless of which world, Teacher Ragna would always enjoy rubbing her head like that.

She had figured out where this scene came from—the unfamiliar warrior woman called "Luo Lin" in her memories, whom Durandal had seen on the large screen in the briefing room at Hyperion.

Luo Lin wasn't the Valkyrie of this world, and the scenes in the Stigmata Space should be memories from her world.

She touched her chin, fingers running through her silky hair, murmuring with some confusion, "Does it really feel that good?"

Luo Lin and Black Homu followed Durandal, but somehow, they managed not to be noticed by Durandal, who was exploring everywhere, instead catching snippets of her self-talk.

The girl's expression was subtle because she also liked rubbing Little Bianka's head. She even had a go at rubbing Kiana's head. The two of them truly were sisters (?). The feel of their heads was perfect, really addictive to touch.

Soon, Durandal had browsed through the fragments of memories here. After all, when Luo Lin resonated with the Stigmata Space, she didn't summon Little Bianka to assist in battle. Only the remnants of the Kaslana Stigmata on her body could manifest limited memories.

Following the steps, Durandal found another vine-covered structure behind the orphanage building, which had finally restored its previous appearance.

The blonde knight understood that after touching this structure. She would be transported to another scene and encounter more memories... memories closely related to her, Bianka Durandal Ataegina.

This space seemed to be showing the girl something, or perhaps digging into her memories.

But that didn't matter. Durandal was already well-prepared to face whatever challenges lay ahead.

She reached out and pressed it—

The next memory that appeared before Durandal was her conversation with Shigure Kira.

As the dialogue progressed, Durandal gradually furrowed her brows.

Shigure Kira seemed to be hinting at something back then, but at that time, she was too young to realize there was more to her words...

Just as the golden-haired knight pondered, a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"That idol girl, she likes to compare you with someone named Cecilia. Unfortunately, the real 'strongest' cannot be measured against her."

Durandal looked around but didn't find any trace of others, so she sarcastically remarked, "You finally started directly intruding into my memories. Enjoying meddling in others' affairs?"

"Enjoyment? I don't have that concept. Perhaps your Overseer can explain to me if he enjoyed similar processes."

"... How much do you know about Otto?"

"Your memories told me... Besides, I can tell you, you were deliberately sent here by his power."

"You and him don't seem to be on the same side."

Durandal and Black Homu conversed across space, their views sharp, each step pushing closer, seemingly able to spark flames in the air.

"Alright, there's no need for us to linger in the crevices of memories." Black Homu made a decision, "Next, let's discuss the remaining issues face to face."

As before, a gust of wind swept by, and the scene shifted back to an endless desert.

Only this time, the color of the sand was no longer yellow but blood-red...

Luo Lin immediately looked into the distance, where floating, faded buildings came into view, making her shudder.

—Goodness, did I come to the set of Thus Spoke Apocalypse?

While she pondered such matters, Durandal had already noticed the appearance of Black Homu and Luo Lin. The golden-haired knight looked at the Black Homu with a strange expression.

"Your appearance is quite unexpected."

"This shouldn't be a detail you need to concern yourself with. After all, I'm just a shadow, an existence that can only communicate with you by attaching to other personalities."

"So, is this Luo Lin also part of you?"

"Uh, sorry, Miss Durandal. I accidentally left the previous Bubble World and fell here." Luo Lin scratched her head with a dry laugh, indicating that she was an independent person, not something conjured up by the Stigmata Space, "And then it caught me."

"... Do you know what you're saying?" Durandal's expression turned serious, "Even though the barriers of the Bubble World are much weaker compared to parallel worlds, it's not something you can just 'accidentally' fall out of... What exactly happened?"

"Well... To put it simply, our 'Cosmic Juggernaut' was hit by a huge external force and then exploded. Everyone fell out of that Bubble World, and I guess some of my companions fell into Kolostein." Luo Lin explained briefly, but it left the golden-haired knight even more puzzled. Durandal tried to understand this short explanation, but it was beyond her imagination.

"Anyway, you've traveled through the Bubble World and ended up here... So, what about you, Black Homu? Who are you really?"

Black Homu didn't mind being interrupted in his introduction and continued in a leisurely tone, "I am the Will of this space, an extension of the Stigmata—also the one who will provide you with trials."

"I see, then all I need to do here is defeat you." Durandal straightforwardly stated her main point, pointing the shining spear in her hand towards Black Homu.

"You're quite impatient... But what you said is correct. Through my trial, you can gain the power to defeat Otto." The consciousness of the Stigmata Space chuckled lightly, "However..."

"Conventional attacks probably won't have any effect on me."

Answering Durandal's question, the black puppet looked quite composed. Even suggesting that Durandal review certain memories she had missed before.

That was a conversation between Otto and Ragna, about the story of a severely injured girl being saved.

Durandal listened to those words, her eyes gleaming.

"It seems you still don't understand? Let me put it another way. This space I guard, the Stigmata Space, can only bear memories of the same group of people." The consciousness of the Stigmata Space paused for a moment before continuing, "They, because they share this extraordinarily special bloodline, were spontaneously collected by me and joined this space called 'Kaslana'."

"So you mean... the memories we just saw actually come from a third party..."

Durandal's tone gradually became heavy.

"That's correct—namely, the child wrapped in Otto's Soulium and receiving some kind of treatment in that memory." The Will of the Stigmata continued, "Recall everything you've seen here—your body not only carries the pure blood of Kaslana... but also the memories we just saw did indeed come from your own senses."

"You are the 'third party' in that memory."

"In that memory, you were called by Otto Apocalypse—"

"Kiana Kaslana."