Chapter 30: Road to the Tower
After dropping off Siegfried at a nearby base, the duo of Alex and Cecilia began their journey towards Babylon Tower.
It was a lengthy and treacherous journey as the two had encountered and fought off numerous Honkai Beasts on their way to the tower.
Eventually though the encounters began to decrease as they saw the tower not too far in the distance, meaning that they were approaching their destination.
As they were on their way, Cecilia suddenly giggled which caught Alex's attention.
"Hm? Something funny on your mind?" Asked Alex.
"Well, kinda. That other voice that was accompanying Theresa, what's her name?" Asked Cecilia.
"Um, I-It's Kiana. Kiana Kaslana." Said Alex, not really able to lie since she had asked out of the blue.
"Huh. Interesting. Not only does she sound exactly like my daughter, she also has her entire name. First and last." Said Cecilia as Alex nervously chuckled to himself.
"Y-Yeah. Really coincidental ain't it?" Said Alex as he nervously laughed.
He then saw Cecilia turn on the device and flip the switch as she began to play around with the radio frequency as constant static was heard until one was meet with just dead silence.
"Hello? Is this Kiana?" Asked Cecilia which caught Alex off guard.
'I-Is she actually trying to contact Kiana? No way she actually got her right?' Thought Alex.
Then, a voice came through.
"Hm? C-Cecilia!? Why are you calling me!?" Asked a shocked Kiana.
'She actually succeeded!?' Thought Alex who was also in shock.
"Yes I knew it! This voice is definitely Kiana!" Said an excited Cecilia.
"I-Is there anything you need from me Cecilia?" Asked Kiana who was a bit nervous as she totally didn't expect this sudden call.
"I have a favor to ask." She said.
After hearing that, Kiana immediately perked up as her nervous was replaced with sudden sheer amounts of confidence.
"A favor!? T-Then I'll definitely do anything you ask, Cecilia! I'll even put my life on the line for it! Just tell me what I gotta do!" Said Kiana.
"Don't worry it's not serious. Now, I know this may sound a little weird, but, could you say mom to me?" Asked Cecilia.
"H-Huh? Wait, why?" Asked Kiana who totally didn't expect this to be Cecilia's favor.
"Please, just do it for me. You really sound like my daughter's voice if she was grown up." Said Cecilia.
"O-Okay then. Um...mom." Said Kiana, trying her best not to make it completely awkward.
"T-Thank you! That was perfect! I definitely gotta record this as soon as possible!" Said Cecilia who was extrmely overjoyed at hearing that.
'Well, glad that went well I guess.' Thought Alex who was admittedly a little glad that Kiana had a little bonding moment with her mother.
"W-Wait hold on. Cecilia could you do a favor for me?" Asled Kiana.
"Sure. What is it Kiana?" Asked Cecilia.
It took Kiana a moment to responded but then she did.
"I-I'm sorry to sound like Aunt Theresa, but, could you also abandon the mission?" Asked Kiana.
Cecilia simply let out a playful sigh.
"Is that so? Well then, I'd like to know why you also think that?" She asked.
"W-Well, Theresa said that you weren't combat ready after giving childbirth, a-and then you put yourself in poor health, healing Siegfried which weakened your strength even more." Said Kiana.
"Yeah you're right. Siegfried was in pretty bad condition. I also haven't been feeling well these past few days. The 2nd Herrescher looks pretty strong on paper as well. To play it safe, I do have an 80% chance of winning, correct?" Asked Cecilia.
"Wait, 80%? If that's the case then why's Aunt Theresa so worried?" Asked Kiana.
"That's just how your Aunt Theresa's always been. Don't you worry Kiana. "Mom" is a lot stronger than how she looks. We'll be there very soon." Said Cecilia as she turned off the comms device.
After that brief interaction and with the tower in sight, Alex and Cecilia began to pick up the pace as they now rushed their way towards the tower.
[Meanwhile]
After being slightly delayed due to Kiana and Cecilia's chat, she and Theresa had eventually made it to the main port as they walked up a small flight of stairs as they were then met with the sight of Babylon Tower, right in the center, essentially a few minutes away with the surrounding laboratories around it.
Theresa began to look around the area for a bit before eventually stopping as she looked back ahead at the tower.
"There it is. We're finally at Babylon Labs. No sign of the 2nd Herrscher outside though. She's probably made her way inside the tower already." Said Theresa.
Suddenly, rumbling began to be felt on the ground as in front of them, a large beast like leg appeared in front of them until eventually a massive Honkai beast emerged from beneath the ground, as it gave out an loud roar
"A-Aunt Theresa!" Shouted Kiana.
"Yeah I know a high level Honkai Beast. Considering the current circumstances that we're in, it's highly likely that it's only buying time and allowing the 2nd Herrscher to fully regain her strength back within the tower." Said Theresa.
"Damn! That means we gotta take this bad boy down in a hurry!" Said Kiana.
"Yep. Now then come on Kiana. Let's work together!" Said Theresa.
With that being said, the next couple of minutes were spent in a furious haste and Theresa and Kiana frantically tried to take down the beast as quick as they could, however no matter how many times it got struck, the beast still stood as if it hadn't suffered any damage while Theresa and Kiana began to get exhausted.
"Dammit. At the rate this is going, by the time we enter the tower the Herrscher's alrea-." Said an annoyed Theresa.
In a coincidentally timed moment however, right as Theresa said that a bright shining light came from above as suddenly, something had pierced right through the beast as it immediately went limp and had been slained, disintegrating away leaving a lance pierced into the ground in its place.
"H-Holy crap! That Honkai Beast went down in just one hit to whatever that thing is!" Shouted a shocked Kiana.
Theresa saw the lance and immediately sighed, and then chuckled to herself as she smirked.
"Yeah you're right. It did kill in one hit, beause that isn't a normal weapon. Only a Sacred Relic like that can manage to kill in one strike, and I know who was the one behind this kill." Said Theresa as landing from above was Cecilia who stood next to and grabbed her lance's handle.
"Nice work Theresa. Unfortunately though, I've seem to have stolen your prey." Said Cecilia jokingly.
"Heh. No need to be upset. It's just what I expected from the strongest valkyrie in all of Schicksal." Said a smug Theresa.
"Hehe please no need to say that Theresa. You know I'm shy about it." Said Ceclia as she blushed a little while giggling before she turned to face Kiana. "I assume that young lady next to you is Kiana? Hi. It's nice to finally meet you face to face."
"C-Cecilia...mom." Said Kiana, unable to believe that she was finally seeing her mother.
As that was happening, Alex had eventually caught up to the scene after seeing Cecilia take off and jump ahead to the battlefield as he approached and tapped Kiana on the shoulder letting her know that he was there.
"Hey sorry I'm late. Your mom just suddenly took off and left me behind. From the looks of it, it seems like she took care of something." Whispered Alex.
"Oh yeah she totally did! Mom thrusted her lance down onto a massive Honkai Beast and killed it in one strike!" Excitedly whispered Kiana.
'Christ. I knew she was joking when she said that she looks stronger than her appearance but I didn't think she was THAT strong.' Thought Alex.
Once this short interaction was over, Cecilia and the group all looked up and turned their attention towards Babylon Tower.
"So, I heard that she escaped into there right?" Asked Cecilia.
"Yeah. Intense Honkai Energy was detected within the tower. The 2nd Herrscher is definitely up at the top." Said Theresa.
"Alright then it's settled. Theresa, Kiana, Alex, get ready and keep all of your guards up." Said Cecilia as her and then Theresa walked ahead to enter the tower.
As Alex was about to walk ahead, he looked and saw Kiana with a smirk on her face.
"Looks like something has you in a good mood." Said Alex.
"I can finally fight alongside my mom side by side! I gotta give it my all! You better do the same as well! After all we're both in this together!" Said an excited Kiana as she held her hand out wanting a fist bump.
Alex immediately chuckled and returned the fist bump with no hesitation as he also smirked.
"Alright then it's an agreement. We'll do our best to take down this Herrscher and then return to reality!" Said Alex.
"Yeah!" Shouted Kiana in agreement as the two began to follow Cecilia and Theresa into the tower.
Unbeknownst to them however, they were being watched, but not from a distance.
Instead, they were being watched by a holographic screen on a desk as a person sat on a chair, looking at the screen with entertainment.
"Huh. That's interesting. I didn't expect the development to have progressed this far already. Not only that, but to think that the merc has also accompanied them is an unexpected, but welcome surprise." Said a male voice as the person chuckled to themselves before having two more screens, this time communication ones, appear.
"You two, keep an eye on them. Make sure all the current progress made doesn't go to waste." Said the male.
"Understood! Leave it to me Bishop." Said a voice as one screen went away.
"Yes. I'll continue to carry out my mission." Said the other voice, eerily similar to Fu Hua's as the other screen went away.
That just left the male and the one screen that was surveying what was happening in Siberia, as he held a hand to his face and simply chuckled to himself.
"It's only a matter of time until the vessel is back in my possession." Said the voice.
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Chapter 30: Complete
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