Chapter Twenty: Of Course, Because I Like You

Kiana did not want to answer that question.

She did not want to remember.

Although she still had doubts and was worried about Kiana, Raiden Mei said nothing more. Instead, she turned around and silently began unbuttoning her shirt.

She slipped off some of her shirt and turned her back to Kiana. Somewhat embarrassed, she said, "Go ahead, Kiana."

When Kiana really saw Raiden Mei take off her clothes and reveal her snow-white, smooth back, she flushed instead and dared not look too closely.

She responded softly, then knelt behind Mei and brushed her hair over to the front.

She did not dare **.

She merely pressed the tip of her right index finger lightly against a suitable spot and asked in a small voice, "Is here all right? The Stigma will be imprinted onto your body like a tattoo. It won't disappear."

"It's fine."

Raiden Mei's face was slightly flushed as well. She was instinctively shy. Kiana was also a girl, yet the distance between them still felt strangely intimate.

Her heart could not calm down either.

Kiana took a deep breath and suppressed the joy, embarrassment, and excitement in her heart before placing the Thunder Soul Imprint onto Raiden Mei's body.

There was no doubt about the Thunder Soul Imprint's compatibility with Mei. The moment she placed the Stigma on Mei's body, the Thunder Soul Imprint fused with her, and the Stigma's pattern appeared on her skin.

[Thunder Soul Imprint successfully used]

[By applying a Honkai imprint to an important character in this world, Honkai Energy Concentration (Izumo) has permanently increased by 5%]

[The first time an important character in the world has been transferred to the Honkai Faction. Obtained Honkai's Gift—'Heart of Thunder']

[Heart of Thunder (Badge): Initial effect: Increases the wearer's lightning-element attack by 28.2%. The effect grows stronger with Honkai energy intensity, up to a maximum increase of 60%]

Although the End Cannon had appeared once before, the badge that appeared before her still shocked Kiana again.

It brutally yanked her out of her wild imaginings.

Weapons and badges had appeared. Would outfits and familiars appear in the future too?

Kiana's mouth fell open in shock.

Wait, are you seriously calculating damage in the trillions? I was joking!

This Honkai seemed a little different from the Honkai she had imagined...

"...Perhaps even an Aeon is nothing more than this?"

Good things came in pairs.

Kiana immediately stuffed the Heart of Thunder into Mei as well. With that, Mei's combat strength was directly raised by another level.

She wondered whether, if she gave Mei a little more time, Mei might even be able to solo that Takemikazuchi.

In truth, she had not been expecting much. She had merely wanted to cooperate with Kiana a little.

After Raiden Mei felt the Stigma Kiana called the Thunder Soul Imprint imprinted onto her body, along with the power it brought, she became completely immersed in shock and doubt.

Kiana was serious?

This power...

With the Stigma as its core, she sensed a strange power that she could control herself.

But before she could tell Kiana about her experience, she heard Kiana muttering to herself again.

"Is something wrong, Kiana?"

"No!"

Kiana came back to her senses, pulled Mei's half-removed clothes back up, and stood. "Why don't you try the Stigma's power?"

Mei was still in a daze and did not think much of it. She was no better off than Kiana and replied concisely that she would. She wanted to try the power Kiana had given her as well.

The two returned to the training ground from that morning.

Under the night sky, Raiden Mei found a sword and told Kiana to stand farther away and not get too close to the training ground.

After testing a few swings, she discovered that both her draw speed and strength had increased significantly.

Her technique could improve as well.

There was a great deal of room for improvement.

Her skills had originally reached a bottleneck, making further progress difficult, yet she now discovered many flaws she had never noticed before.

"Then, next..."

She returned the sword to its sheath and entered the state of Hokushin Itto-ryu. Adjusting her breathing and movements, she was surrounded by tiny arcs of electricity. When her condition reached its peak, the long blade in her hand truly transformed into a bolt of lightning. The ear-piercing crackle of electricity and blue arcs of lightning illuminated the surrounding night for an instant.

The moment she drew her sword, she vanished from where she stood and appeared more than ten meters away. This was not her limit, but the limit of the training ground.

"That's amazing!"

Was that sword energy or something else?

Kiana only saw a flash of lightning. Then a massive slash more than ten meters long had been carved into the training ground's floor, and Mei had followed the lightning to the end of the mark.

So cool!

Raiden Mei turned around and looked at the mark she had just left behind. Surprise appeared on her face as well. She had already tried to estimate the power of that slash as highly as possible, but she had still underestimated the enhancement brought by this power. She had not expected the destruction to be even more terrifying than she had imagined.

If she faced that Octopus Demon now, she had absolute confidence that she could completely kill it with a single slash!

Chapter Twenty: Of Course, Because I Like You

"Is this... the Stigma?"

Raiden Mei picked up the sword in her hand and looked at the training sword she had been using. Her voice was hazy, as if she were caught in a dream.

If the sword in her hand had not been a training sword but a divine weapon, the power of that slash would have been even greater.

If it were Narukami...

Raiden Mei sheathed the sword. Although she had many new ideas about her swordsmanship, Kiana was still waiting beside her.

"How does it feel?"

When Kiana saw her sheath the sword, she hurried onto the training ground and inspected the scorched crack that still radiated some heat.

There were traces of Honkai energy remaining.

Mei's slash just now had used Honkai energy. The Honkai Energy Concentration in this world was clearly still below 5%... No, it was now below 10%.

Wait!

Kiana suddenly realized that the rate at which the Honkai Energy Concentration was increasing had already surpassed that of her, the Herrscher of Finality.

"How does it feel?" Mei recalled what had just happened and said, "It's very easy to draw upon the Stigma's power, and it can also fuse perfectly with Hokushin Itto-ryu. But I may need some time to rethink a few sword techniques that can work with the Stigma."

Although the power could fuse perfectly with it, with the Stigma's enhancement, she had seen many of the limitations of Hokushin Itto-ryu—or rather, of herself as an ordinary human.

The Hokushin Itto-ryu she used now was not the original Hokushin Itto-ryu. She had incorporated her own ideas into it. It was the swordsmanship most suited to her, with every move and technique evolved from her pursuit of a higher realm.

Now, what she pursued had changed.

This world had demons, and in the future, her sword would certainly have to battle enemies like them.

She needed to rely on the Stigma's power to add techniques for killing such enemies to Hokushin Itto-ryu.

Kiana shook her head and took Mei's hand, asking worriedly, "I meant your body. Is there anywhere that feels uncomfortable?"

She knew that Stigmata represented resistance to Honkai energy, and that Mei could use Honkai energy now because she had a Stigma.

But Mei had never come into contact with Honkai energy before, so Kiana could not help worrying.

"Uncomfortable?"

Raiden Mei thought about the lightning that had accompanied her slash. Assuming Kiana was afraid she had been shocked, she explained, "The electrical currents didn't hurt me. I feel fine."

"It is Honkai energy, after all." Kiana reluctantly breathed a sigh of relief and released Mei's hand. "Although your resistance means you won't be corrupted, this is your first time using Honkai energy, so I was still a little worried."

"Honkai energy?" Hearing Kiana mention it again, Mei memorized the name, then said gently, "Don't worry, Kiana. I don't feel any discomfort."

"Then use Honkai energy to deal with those demons from now on!"

"Thank you, Kiana."

"It's nothing." Hearing her thanks, Kiana scratched her head. "Although Yae Sakura had a reason for taking Narukami, Narukami was still lost when I took you out shopping..."

Mei was slightly stunned.

"...Kiana thinks Narukami's disappearance was related to you and wants to make up for it, so that's why..."

Yes, that makes sense.

Kiana had mistakenly thought that Narukami's disappearance was related to her, so...

It's nothing.

But why does my heart feel a little blocked?

Why is it a little hard to breathe?

"Yes. If I hadn't suggested that Mei come out with me then, Narukami might not have been lost." Kiana still felt somewhat regretful when she recalled the incident, and added, "But Yae Sakura said that taking Narukami had something to do with your father. I wanted to help you get in touch with your father, so I had Yae Sakura leave Narukami behind."

Remembering what had happened before, she touched her already recovered arm. She still felt lingering fear when she recalled the pain.

"...But this wasn't your fault."

"I know Mei won't blame me, but I chased after her, so of course I had to get Narukami back!" She sighed. "It's a shame she was too strong. I was completely no match for her."

Raiden Mei began letting her thoughts run wild and could not control herself. She asked, "Did you give me the Stigma because you felt guilty about what happened to Narukami?"

More than anything, she hoped Kiana was not treating her well because of guilt or gratitude.

"Of course it wasn't because of that!"

If she had a choice, she would definitely have given Mei a sword as compensation.

Raiden Mei looked at her. "Then it was because..."

"You don't need a reason to be good to Mei. It's because I like Mei!" Kiana declared boldly.

"...Like?"

Raiden Mei looked as if she had been struck by lightning.

She froze in place. Even her body seemed to have become uncoordinated, and her mind was filled with Kiana's words from moments ago.

Li... likes me?

Kiana had said she...

After making a shallow probe, Kiana coughed lightly. "Ahem, I mean, I like Mei the most. Mei is the most important person to me, so I don't need another reason to be good to her!"

So that was the kind of liking she meant.

Raiden Mei sighed in relief, yet also felt a little disappointed.

Wait, something's wrong with me!

"Kiana is important to me too."

Her words of agreement sounded somewhat weightless.

Feeling that they could not perfectly express her emotions, Raiden Mei thought for a moment, then added with slightly flushed cheeks, "You're also the reason I wield my sword now."

So please don't leave.

Apart from the shrine and Hokushin Itto-ryu, she had always been alone.

But Kiana had entered her heart.

She cherished the time she spent with Kiana and hoped they would have more time together in the future.

Preferably...

They could stay together forever.

Her grip on the sword sheath tightened slightly. Seventeen-year-old Raiden Mei thought to herself:

She was willing to follow Kiana, draw her sword for Kiana, and resolve every problem Kiana encountered on the road ahead.

Before today, she had never understood what her father's words meant: "When your swordsmanship can advance no further and you understand why you wield your sword, you will have earned the right to master it."

It was only after hearing Kiana talk about demons and the Edict Blade today that she finally understood what her father had meant.