"Bronya," Mikoto got a headache because of the newfound problem. "I will join you to your base later," he continued.

"What happened?" Bronya raised her eyebrow. She noticed Mikoto's face became pale while talking to her.

"It's Kiana," Mikoto answered. "She's calling me."

"No! You will die if you go to her!" Bronya refused immediately.

"But all of us will die if she gets into bad mood," Mikoto countered.

"Even then!" Bronya tried to argue, but Mikoto beat her to it.

"You are leading a group, Bronya. Do not get emotional for a man you just met," Mikoto warned her sternly. "She must have some hope left in her to take the others out of this Stigma Space if she was willing to protect me along with her subordinates," Mikoto thought.

Bronya went silent and bit her lips. She doesn't want to let go of the people's only way out of this world. She was already tired of leading the resistance against Kiana and Mei.

Things were going nowhere, plus she saw no way of winning against the Herrschers. But she has to stay strong for the people following her. She doesn't know what she'll do if she also loses Seele in this war against her former friends.

Sensing her inner crisis, Mikoto sighed. "Such troublesome," he muttered. Scratching the back of his head, Mikoto gave her a hint. "Take care of Kyuushou. She's the key to solve this crisis."

"Pardon?" Bronya tilted her head.

"She is not someone from this world. Something must be wrong with her transportation process, making her lose her memories," Mikoto answered. "Kiana won't allow normal person to get into this world," he added.

Now, why did Mikoto tell Bronya about this? Well, it told her because he wanted Bronya to get off his back and pester the Houkai Jesus instead. Now that he thought about it, wasn't Kiana also a Houkai Jesus? With her being part of the Keeper of Wills.

"I see," Bronya's eyes sharpened at the information. "Thank you for telling me this info," she added and started thinking about how to handle the issue.

"You're welcome," Mikoto sighed. "At least with this, I hope she won't keep bothering me," he thought to himself.

"Wait! How do we contact you?" Bronya stopped Mikoto to ask the question.

"That's the neat part, Bronya," Mikoto suddenly has the urge to smoke. "You don't. You won't find me until I want you to," he jumped onto the streetlamp and disappeared into the night sky.

---

"I should take a detour," Mikoto thought as he jumped onto the building. "If I remember correctly, Theresa should be hiding near the border of the Academic City," he also double-checked the info from his [System].

"The Houkai Beasts are making way for me," Mikoto muttered as he walked through the road. "Was Kiana controlling them or was it Mei? But again, it cannot be Mei because she won't leave Kiana now that the whitehead had awakened," he huffed. Various Houkai Beasts and zombies had made way for Mikoto as he walked around the city.

The city was cloudy, and it was hard to see the sunlight. "I wonder how the trees are still alive," Mikoto looked around the surroundings to search for a pack of cigarettes.

"No, this one is already stale. This? Nope this package is already opened," Mikoto is currently inside a ruin of a supermarket, searching for the bane of his existence. "Now that's what I'm talking about," Mikoto smirked as he opened the sealed package and found the good cigarettes.

"Thank you, Kiana, for your generosity," Mikoto thanked his goddaughter because God Tuna is currently the strongest being in the world.

Lighting the cigarette, Mikoto greedily puffed the smoke. "How many years has it been since I last smoked?" he thought as he blew out the smoke. "Shit. I'd rather play rock-paper-scissors with Nanook than deal with the Herrscher of the End. That bastard better has a drink when we meet, or I'll fucking lose it," Mikoto thought of the frenemy he encountered on one of his journeys across the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta.

"Man, that hit the spot," Mikoto stomped the cigarette and evaporated his sweat using the Herrscher of Fire to wash away the smell of the cigarette. He also changed his clothes. After all, he is going to meet with his goddaughter. He can't smell like an uncle who smokes heavily. He even stored his packet in [Inventory] to keep away the smell.

"Let's forget about Theresa. I'll go meet her if I get out alive from the Senba Academy," Mikoto sighed. He was too lazy to go and meet with the legal loli. Mikoto steeled his resolve and walked bravely inside the school.

---

"Mei," the first person he met was, of course, Mei, who keeps guard of Kiana.

"Uncle Mikoto," Mikoto raised his eyebrow at that. He could understand why Kiana called him 'Uncle Mikoto'. But Mei? He didn't have the slightest idea why.

"I saw you from Kiana's dream," Mei replied without any emotions on her face.

"So, she saw me while she was dreaming. Good to know why Kiana of this place knew about me," Mikoto nodded and just took in whatever they threw at him. He was too tired to deal with these bs.

"This way, Uncle Mikoto," Mei took the lead and walked around the school. And finally, they arrived where Kiana had been sleeping all these years.

"Uncle Mikoto," Kiana acknowledged Mikoto's existence. "I'm sorry for pulling you away from your original teleporting destination," she apologized first.

"Just… ask me next time. You know how much I'd thought how much I was screwed?" Mikoto sighed and shook his head.

"Please," Kiana raised her eyebrow. "Don't try to lie to yourself," she added.

"Well, being an uncle also has its perk," Mikoto shrugged his shoulders. "So? Why did you call me here, into this Stigma Space?"

"I saw you when I was dreaming. And I couldn't help but notice something," Kiana leaned her body onto the table. "You… you seem to know what'll happen in the future," she looked dead straight into Mikoto's eyes.

"So, you noticed that, huh?" Mikoto heaved out a tired sigh. "Well, nothing less expected from my goddaughter," he chuckled. The redhead knew it would be useless to lie to her.

Kiana said nothing but waited for Mikoto's answer in silence. She had all the time in this world. She can wait.

"Yes, I know the future in advance," Mikoto admitted.

"Are you also the victim of the circle of samsara?" Kiana asked in confusion.

"No, I'm not. Our world doesn't have Stigmata Terminal to reset the world. We might have 50,000 years long circles, but it is different from yours," Mikoto answered honestly. Or rather, he was explaining things for his goddaughter to understand.

"So, different worlds, different customs?" Kiana tilted her head to put it on Mei's shoulder.

"I don't know if we can use that phrase but yes," the redhead chuckled. "So, what do you want to ask me, Kiana?"

"What will happen to that girl's future?"

"You meant Houraiji Kyuushou, right? Well…," Mikoto drew out his voice. "She's alive after encountering the Keeper of Wills," he answered.

"I see…," Kiana nodded. "Then what about us? What about everybody else?"

"Everybody except Bronya got a happy ending after fighting against the Will of Houkai," Mikoto pulled out three boxes of Mei's bento boxes from his [Inventory] and pushed two of them toward the two Herrschers.

"Bronya has always been strong," Kiana smiled fondly at the thought of their interactions. "Uncle," the whitehead called. "Can you help her when the time has come?"

"Which one? The one from the outside or the one here?"

"You knew what I was talking about," Kiana narrowed her eyes.

"Well, I could call Nanook if things went south," Mikoto shrugged.

"He won't be enough to fight against the Keeper of Wills," Kiana denied immediately.

"How about Yog Sothoth and Ling Yi? They are just one call away," Mikoto took out his phone and showed her his contacts.

"What?!" That got the reaction out of the expressionless Kiana. "You got the contact information of the Outer God?! And who is the other girl?" She stood up and slammed her hands onto the table.

"Well, I lure Yog Sothoth with the knowledge. She likes to collect books and is a sucker for gaining more wisdom. I met her when I went for a walk around the Imaginary Tree," Mikoto answered honestly. His luck must be over the chart to meet a being from the outside of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta.

"Only you, Uncle. Only you," Kiana sighed. "And the other one is?"

"She's $ %$*! *&%$!" Mikoto answered, but only gibberish came out of his mouth. "Ah, fu… fuji," Mikoto nearly cursed out loud. "Sorry, Kiana. I guess she doesn't want you to know," he added.

"What. Was. That?" Kiana found herself drenched in a cold sweat for the first time since she had become the Herrscher of the End.

"Just… take it as she is nearly or as strong as the Outer Gods. But unlike them, her gaze is always over your world and this Stigma Space is a part of it," Mikoto explained.

"Is that so?" Kiana sighed in relief. "That mean you won't be in danger when encountering the Keeper of Wills," she added.

"Yeah, Yog Sothoth might help me if she's free. But I don't think we can count on Ling Yi."

"At least your chance of surviving is higher, right?"

"Yes," Mikoto nodded.

"Then please, Uncle. Please help us from the outside world to break the Samsara," Kiana smiled bitterly. "Me meeting Mei is the predetermined destiny. The world was already doomed the moment I met her. Please, help us break that circle," she gently holds Mei's cold hand.

"Troublesome," Mikoto muttered. "But it is a request from my goddaughter. Well, I'll try," Mikoto walked toward Kiana and gently ruffled her hair.

"Thank you, Uncle," Kiana knew she was asking a lot from this man who was nothing but a stranger to her. He was nothing but the god-father of another her from another world. Yet, she had used his kindness for her selfish cause.

"Don't beat yourself up about it. I knew it from the beginning that I'll be meeting many Kiana across the different worlds. And I've already decided to treat them as my Kiana back home. So, you are my goddaughter from the moment I met you," Mikoto smirked.

"Thank you," Kiana smiled. "You can leave this Stigma Space whenever you like."

"Nah, I still want to see the brilliance of the Savior," Mikoto shook his head. Now that he knew he was in no danger, he decided to stay and watch the rise of Houraiji Kyuushou.

He won't bother changing the storyline because most of what happened here is already set in stone. Bronya went batshit crazy? Yup! Himeko's death at the hand of her student, Mei? Needless to say. Depressed and drunk Theresa? Don't ask the obvious.

"I've told Kiana to end their sufferings. And we cannot redeem anyone including herself," Mei expressionlessly said the two.

"Well, my dear god-daughter-in-law, that's where you went wrong," Mikoto chided. "We got the collective will of Humanity acting as Houraiji Kyuushou to break the circle."

"Do you want to watch it together, Uncle?" Kiana asked.

"Maybe later. I'm thinking about visiting Theresa," Mikoto replied. "Do you mind if I call her here for a visit?"

"Little Aunt," Kiana felt sorry for Theresa. "I won't recommend it. She won't be able to handle the Houkai Energy emitting from us. You were fine because you are also a Herrscher."

"Well, do you have something to say to her?"

"Please tell her that this useless niece is sorry," Kiana answered.

"Got it," Mikoto walked out of the school without a single scratch on his body. "Well, it went a lot better than I'd expected," Mikoto mused. "Thank God she was someone who knew about me. Else I'll have to destroy this Stigma Space to make out alive," he added.

"Now, onward to Theresa's hideout!"

---

Author's Notes;

So... some might be confused with some name drops in this chapter. Don't worry. They won't appear for more than a chapter in the future.

Mikoto wanted to meet Theresa because there was no Theresa back in his world, and he very much wanted to meet Cecilia's best friend.

As for Mikoto's first meeting with Aeon of Destruction, things got a little messy and ended in an all-out brawl inside a sub-space. That's all I can tell you for now.

Yog Sothoth is from Kizuna. As a being from beyond time and space, Yog Sothoth is one of the people I had my eyes on to help Mikoto when things go south. FYI, her three sizes are 79/56/81.

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So, who was Ling Yi? Well, she's kind of miHoYo's mascot and is known for constantly breaking the 4th Wall. She may or may not be part of the screenwriters of Houkai Gakuen 2.

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So, how did Mikoto meet those two? Well, that's for the future chapters. For now, I'll end here. Let's meet again next week.