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ArabicHonkai Impact: My Power Grows When Valkyries Fall For Me — Chapter 9
Chapter 9: The Judgement of Shamash
“Proof?”
Siegfried leaned back into the worn cushions of the sofa, his arms crossed defensively over his chest as he fixed Lucian with an intense, scrutinizing stare.
“Alright.”
“First question,” Siegfried began, his voice low and gravelly. “On February 17th, fourteen years ago, at the Babylon Tower in Siberia… what exactly did the Second Herrscher do?”
He watched Lucian with a hawk’s gaze. Naturally, he wasn’t about to simply believe this kid’s story. The claim that he didn’t exist in this world before the age of fourteen because there was no record of him was a flimsy, almost laughable excuse.
“She used a fragment of the Divine Key, Fenghuang Down, to trap you and Cecilia in an illusion,” Lucian stated calmly. He paused, a flicker of empathy in his eyes, then added, “In that dream, Sirin became your second daughter. The one who ultimately woke you was Welt Yang.”
“…You really know?”
Siegfried was visibly shaken. For a moment, the hardened facade of the cynical fugitive cracked, revealing raw disbelief. He had never spoken of the finer details of that day, not even to Theresa. In theory, only he and Welt should have known the truth of that nightmare. If this kid was with Anti-Entropy, surely he would have recognized him…
“Second question.” Siegfried shifted, his posture becoming rigid and formal. He leaned forward slightly, looking Lucian directly in the eye. “My daughter. The real Kiana. Where is she?”
Lucian’s calm expression faltered, and he fell silent for a long moment. “The answer to that question,” he said carefully, “depends on whether you can accept a fact that will sound utterly unbelievable.”
“Just say it,” Siegfried growled, his brow furrowing. He despised riddles; people who spoke in them always made him feel like he was being led by the nose.
Lucian gave a slight nod. “Your daughter is not dead. She is currently serving as the Captain of Schicksal’s Immortal Blades—Bianka ‘Durandal’ Ataegina.”
Siegfried’s pupils contracted into pinpricks.
Lucian continued, his voice an even, unwavering anchor in the suddenly turbulent room. “Four years ago, she fell from a snowy mountain. Her own tenacious will to live kept her alive just long enough for a Schicksal rescue team to arrive.”
“Otto personally oversaw her treatment, saving her life. The price… was that the color of her hair was permanently altered to gold, and her memories were severely damaged.”
“…And how am I supposed to believe you?” Siegfried’s voice was a strained whisper. He stared at Lucian, desperately searching for any trace of a lie, any hint of wavering on the young man’s face.
But Lucian’s gaze was frank, open, as if he had fully anticipated this reaction.
Siegfried fell silent. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, believe such baseless words. But if… if what he said was true, if the real Kiana wasn’t dead… He studied Lucian’s face again, trying to dissect his expression, but all he found was a deep calmness and an indescribable complexity swimming in the depths of those purple eyes.
“I need evidence,” Siegfried finally managed, his voice rough. “Not some… fantasy story.”
“I don’t have any physical evidence on me,” Lucian admitted honestly. “But the method for verification is simple enough. Go find Theresa. Have her arrange an opportunity to acquire a strand of Durandal’s hair, correct?”
“You…”
After another long, heavy silence, Siegfried spoke again, a note of helpless resignation creeping into his tone. “You know too much. Otto would never allow one of his own subordinates to know this much.”
“As I said, I come from another world.” Lucian walked over and took a seat on the opposite end of the sofa, facing Siegfried directly. “In that world, your stories… they were recorded, in a way.”
He met the older man’s gaze. “I have ‘observed’ a great many of them.”
Siegfried took a deep, shuddering breath, leaned back, and rubbed his temples with a weary hand. “Kid, if everything you’re saying is true… then you’re a bigger anomaly than any Herrscher.” He lowered his hand and pinned Lucian with a sharp look. “Why tell me all this?”
“Because I need your help.”
Siegfried raised a skeptical eyebrow, a self-deprecating smirk touching his lips. “Me? I’m a fugitive wanted by all of Schicksal. What could I possibly help you with?”
“I need the Divine Key,” Lucian said, his voice dropping, “the Judgement of Shamash.”
“…?”
Siegfried was dumbfounded. He had run through a dozen possible answers in his head—that Lucian needed him to protect Kiana, that he needed him to help contain Otto—but he had never, in a million years, expected this.
“Kid, you’re an ordinary person,” Siegfried said, his voice laced with disbelief. “Forget about wielding its greatsword form; just carrying the Judgement of Shamash on your person would kill you. The Honkai energy radiating from its core would burn you out from the inside.”
“I’m aware of the risks, but I need power.” Lucian’s expression didn’t show the slightest hint of hesitation.
“What kind of power is worth gambling your life for?” Siegfried’s eyes narrowed, his gaze shifting from appraising to one you might give a madman. “Do you have any idea what the Judgement of Shamash does to a normal person?”
From Siegfried’s perspective, Lucian had to be insane. For someone with such a frail body and pitifully low Honkai resistance, it would be a miracle if he wasn’t incinerated the moment he touched the Divine Key.
Yet, faced with that unnervingly calm expression, Siegfried fell silent once more.
“You really are crazy, kid.”
After a tense moment, Siegfried let out a sigh. With a series of practiced, metallic clicks, he unbuckled the holsters at his waist. He placed the twin pistols on the coffee table and gave them a firm push. The heavy metal guns slid across the wooden surface with a dull, scraping sound, coming to a stop right in front of Lucian.
“Thank you.”
Lucian looked down at the legendary pair of pistols. Their cores pulsed with a scorching aura, and even from this distance, he could feel a sharp, stinging pain lance through his right eye.
Ever since his injury, his right eye had become painfully sensitive to any contact with Honkai energy. Now, faced with the raw, untamed power radiating from a Herrscher Core, the pain wasn’t just a sting. Waves of dizziness began to emanate from deep within his brain, making the room tilt.
“Your eye… was it injured?”
Siegfried’s voice cut through the haze. Lucian looked up to find the older man staring at him, a surprised and thoughtful expression on his face.
“Yes. During a mission, I came into contact with a high-concentration Honkai energy crystal and passed out. When I woke up, my right eye was blind.”
Siegfried’s frown deepened. He scrutinized Lucian’s right eye, which now seemed to emit a faint, otherworldly purple glow. He appeared to be pondering something deeply.
“Before this… have you ever looked in a mirror while you were near a dense source of Honkai energy?”
The question caught Lucian off guard. He thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “No. Since the injury, I’ve made a point to avoid high-concentration Honkai environments. I’ve worn sunglasses almost constantly.”
“I suggest you go look in a mirror now.”
Lucian hesitated, not understanding Siegfried’s intent, but he stood up and walked towards the small bathroom anyway.
The room was cramped, its only furnishing a square, water-stained mirror hanging over a sink. Lucian stood before it, lifted his head, and his gaze immediately locked onto his right eye.
And then, he froze.
The familiar purple iris was now surrounded by a noticeable halo of light. The violet glow pulsed, brightening and dimming rhythmically, as if it were breathing. And within the light, complex golden patterns swirled like molten gold, outlining the distinct shape of a diamond.
“…What is this?” he whispered, his own voice sounding distant.
“Don’t know. But you’d better be careful.”
Siegfried had somehow appeared at the bathroom door, leaning against the frame. His gaze wasn’t on Lucian, but on his reflection in the mirror, fixed on the abnormality in his right eye.
“Changes in the eyes are usually not a good sign,” Siegfried noted grimly, “especially when you’re surrounded by Honkai energy.”
The throbbing pain in his eye was the only thing that kept Lucian grounded in reality. But at the same time, the golden diamond pattern seemed to flicker in perfect rhythm with the pulses of pain, as if it were responding to something.
Lucian raised a trembling hand, his fingertips lightly touching the cold surface of the mirror. Under his own gaze, the glow of the diamond pattern seemed to grow clearer, more defined. It wasn’t just a simple pattern; it looked more like some kind of… mark.
“It started glowing the moment you saw the Judgement of Shamash,” Siegfried said from the doorway, his voice low and serious. “That eye of yours… it’s probably not just an injury.”