Watching a flicker of fire ignite within the plane wreckage that had crashed into the building, Gu Yu chose to turn around and stop watching the explosion...
—That was obviously impossible.
He was not one of those brainless anime idiots. In the years after his parents' deaths, he had watched plenty of films, television shows, and read plenty of novels to fill the emptiness in his heart.
Generally speaking, if an important villain exploded somewhere, the odds of that villain actually dying usually did not exceed thirty percent.
If the protagonist chose this moment to show off by pulling some "real men never look back at explosions" nonsense, believing the villain was dead and leaving the battlefield, then sooner or later, that protagonist would probably get dealt with on the spot by the villain after they returned stronger.
Therefore, well versed in the principle of finishing enemies off, Gu Yu tried to advance toward that building after blasting Cocolia's helicopter apart with a single sword.
"Don't laugh. Not yet. This is Anti-Entropy's mother fox. Who knows how many backup plans she has hidden..."
"—Forget it. I don't even believe that myself."
Still, the idea was wonderful, while reality was a little awkward.
The reason Gu Yu had been able to unleash such powerful lightning attacks in the battle just now was not only because of Kamen Rider Blade's abilities. He had also drawn upon the Honkai Energy left behind in Changkong City after the Third Honkai Outbreak caused by the Herrscher of Thunder.
Although Gu Yu had indeed executed his finishing move with ease just now, he had not noticed at all that his body had reached its limit in a short time due to absorbing excessive Honkai Energy.
Just like on the rooftop, merely moving one foot made him feel as though needles were stabbing into his head.
"Damn... this feeling again...!"
Gu Yu tried desperately to drive the stabbing pain from his mind, but at that moment, everything before him gradually began to darken.
"Elder Brother Gu!"
Kiana had already noticed the battle outside. Once it ended, she immediately saw Gu Yu's body begin to sway.
Before Gu Yu could collapse, she rushed out of the dojo in a single stride and caught his slightly heavy body.
"Are you okay?!"
"Kaslana... don't worry about me..."
As his consciousness gradually sank into darkness, Gu Yu immediately pointed toward the direction where Cocolia's helicopter had crashed and spoke in broken fragments.
"There's still... someone dangerous... over there..."
But before Gu Yu could finish, the erosion of Honkai Energy temporarily stole away the last of his remaining consciousness.
"Huh? Wake up!"
After shaking Gu Yu's body hard, Kiana looked with a headache at the black smoke rising from the flames, then at Gu Yu, who had reverted from his transformation and collapsed in her arms.
"Ahhh, I don't care anymore!"
Then, ignoring the direction Gu Yu had pointed, she hauled him up in one motion and supported him as she headed toward the dojo.
On the other side, Raiden Mei stepped out of the dojo as well. Looking at Bronya lying on the ground, she sighed softly.
Though she had fallen into grief because her father had been harmed, she was not yet the kind of cold-blooded person who could kill without hesitation.
Even knowing that the petite girl before her was an accomplice of that woman from earlier, Raiden Mei could not bear to leave her here.
"Sigh, forget it."
After slinging her packed backpack over her shoulders, Raiden Mei gently lifted the petite girl in a princess carry and looked helplessly at Kiana.
"Huh, Mei, are you taking this little runt with us?"
Looking at the unconscious Bronya, Kiana spoke with a displeased expression.
"This little runt is that bad woman's accomplice. Elder Brother Gu passed out because of these people."
"But we can't just leave her here."
Looking at the girl in her arms, Raiden Mei could hardly imagine that the girl had previously worn such an utterly cold, mechanical expression.
"Although there are no Meele near the Beichen Dojo, if we leave her here, she could still be attacked by them."
"Doing that... wouldn't be right."
"Fine, fine, I get it. Mei, you're always too nice."
Seeing that Raiden Mei had no intention of changing her mind, Kiana sighed in imitation of her.
"Then this young lady will carry Elder Brother Gu."
"Seriously, why does this feel like the script is wrong?"
After quickly hoisting Gu Yu onto her back, Kiana muttered in complaint.
"Shouldn't boys usually be the ones carrying girls?"
"The genders are backwards."
Building Rooftop: Helicopter Wreckage
Inside the helicopter wreckage, the utterly bedraggled Cocolia used the energy shield around her body to blast the debris aside, barely managing to crawl free.
"Tch, miscalculated."
This time, Cocolia had to admit that she had been far too impatient.
Because she had not detected the Third Herrscher's Honkai Energy, Cocolia had completely abandoned her usual methods in order to reach Raiden Mei before Schicksal did, choosing to charge in directly.
While sending Bronya to scout, she had also ordered the main force to head straight for Raiden Mei's apartment.
After discovering that the apartment was empty, she immediately chose to approach the Beichen Dojo where Bronya was located.
Logically speaking, even if Bronya had failed on the spot, as long as the Herrscher of Thunder had not appeared, Cocolia's Titan Brigade would have been invincible in the current Changkong City.
But no matter how much she calculated, she had never expected...
—The Conquest Gem of the Herrscher of Thunder had actually been taken by another brat.
And after taking the gem, that brat had actually understood how to use it immediately.
If Cocolia had not been carrying Anti-Entropy's newly developed portable Honkai Energy shield, she would probably have lost half her life in Changkong City this time even if she had not died.
"Tch, I'll admit defeat this time. But..."
After glaring resentfully at the Blay Rouzer dissipating before her, Cocolia immediately sneaked toward the rooftop door.
"Brat, I'll let you be proud for a few days."
"The Conquest Gem stored inside your body will be taken back by me sooner or later."
"Even if I have to use that 'Herrscher's' power, I'll reclaim this Herrscher Core!"
First, regarding Kiana and Mei's relationship: originally, I wanted to write them as strangers.
But on the day I wrote this chapter, I suddenly saw a short video—Thunder's Theater.
According to the in-game theater, Kiana already knew Mei when Mei was being bullied.
Mei's cooking was terrible at first, and it was only after Kiana praised her that she began to enjoy cooking.
It would have been one thing if I had not known, but now that I did, I could hardly just swallow it whole and pretend it never existed...
Forget it, forget it.jpg
Then, the second matter concerns the translation.
At first, I planned to use the Xinchuanghua translation. Even though that translation is pretty dumb, a large number of newcomers who got into the series last year probably did so through that translation, so I figured that version would be easier to accept. At least, that was my thinking.
But judging from things now, its reputation is not very good, so I'll just choose the version I like myself.
As for removing the translations entirely, that is obviously impossible.
There have been several hundred Riders throughout Rider history. Even an old fan might not recognize them all, and there are so many newcomers these days. Having translations at least makes it easier for newcomers to identify them a little.
Let's be considerate of each other, considerate of each other.
As for people saying Cocolia seems like an idiot...
All I can say is that she is a very contradictory person.
In the main story, she seems to treat her daughters like tools, but in the manga...
It seems to be the same there too. At most, they give her a close-up showing some reluctance, and she tries to stop things when something happens to her daughters.
From those actions, I can feel that she truly worries about Seele and Bronya, yet she is still carrying out this plan.
You have to view a character dialectically. The maternal Cocolia, the Cocolia who plotted against her companion Raiden Ryoma, and the bastard Cocolia who caused the Third Honkai Outbreak are all sides of her.
So, coming back to the matter at hand, while dispatching Bronya for the operation, it should not be that hard to accept that Cocolia would worry a little about her daughter within controllable limits and fly over in a helicopter... probably?
Within controllable limits, Cocolia would still be a good mother.
Within controllable limits, that is.
PS2: As usual, please vote, please vote. 1/26, 25 remaining.
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