A Person in Izumo, Making Honkai Great Again

There were no additional effects.

It was just a very ordinary baseball bat, but combined with her strength and a bit of Honkai energy, it could still take down a little monster with one swing.

There were also one hundred Honkai energy crystals left, which she could use to buy another identical weapon, allowing the bat to be upgraded to two stars.

But a two-star bat still had no extra affixes, so upgrading it wasn't as worthwhile as directly buying a badge that boosted melee damage.

The boost from a one-star badge was only that much, and Kiana dismissed the idea of buying a badge after a moment's thought.

"I'll buy a new sword for Mei too!"

Mei was already very strong; giving her a better weapon would let her unleash even greater power.

Having sorted out her own weapon, Kiana planned to spend the remaining one hundred crystals on Mei—she had to take care of her wife!

There weren't many melee weapons capped at two stars, and Kiana was surprised to find a two-star katana with an affix among them.

[Yamamoto Night Shadow Samurai Sword (One Star): On hitting an enemy, has a chance to inflict a bleeding state for 3 seconds.]

A weapon with an affix—did she need to hesitate?

Bought!

After spending all two hundred crystals, Kiana reluctantly turned her gaze to the high-tier equipment section.

Equipment capped at three stars cost ten times as much as two-star gear, meaning one thousand crystals; four-star cost ten thousand, with each tier multiplying the price by ten.

Kiana suddenly felt motivated to slay gods and demons across the world, though even killing them all probably wouldn't let her afford the highest-tier gear.

Wait—wasn't the End Cannon the system had rewarded earlier a five-star piece of equipment, and a fully upgraded one at that, without needing to buy duplicates to raise its star level?

How many Honkai energy crystals was that worth?

"Kiana, you're awake?"

Mei's voice pulled her back to reality from her daze. Kiana shook her head hard, then cheerfully produced a katana out of thin air: "Mei, try this!"

How could Honkai energy crystals compare to Mei?

Besides, Stigmas couldn't be bought in the shop, and the value of the Thunder Soul Imprint was surely higher than a five-star weapon.

If another Stigma came up next time, she'd pick it again!

Mei was a bit confused: "Where did this come from?"

And where did she pull it out from?

"A new weapon for you!"

Kiana shoved the katana into Mei's hands, looking satisfied as she watched her with the new gear.

"I'm fine with just this sword."

Mei was also an expert and could tell at a glance how sharp this blade was; she wanted to leave it for Kiana herself.

"Don't refuse me—this Yamamoto Night Shadow Samurai Sword was prepared specially for you!"

Kiana refused, then a baseball bat appeared in her hand. She swung it a couple of times and nodded in satisfaction.

"I'll use this!"

The weight was just right, easy on the hands without strain.

This metallic-gleaming baseball bat looked sturdy at a glance; hitting those monsters with it would definitely land every time.

Seeing the bat in her hand, Mei hesitated as if to speak, wanting to say a sword was better, but then she remembered Kiana's terrifying strength that could toss gods and demons around like sandbags.

A baseball bat... was actually pretty good too.

"...Then I'll take it."

Mei didn't inspect the sword, simply hanging it at her waist alongside the ordinary blade she had brought.

"We should go."

"Go?"

Kiana was stunned for a moment, snapping out of her excitement over the new gear. Indeed, the area around them was no longer safe.

Seeing the neighborhood residents all carrying large bags and small bundles, stopping not far away and staring at them expectantly, Kiana understood.

This must have been Mei's doing.

There was no need to ask further about the situation.

"No problem. Leave the dangers on the road to me. Let's head to the Shelter now."

"I know where it is. I'll take the front; Kiana, you... take the rear."

Mei ignored her previous remark. Kiana had given her a Stigma and a new sword—if she still needed Kiana to fight, that would be too ungrateful for Kiana's care.

There were quite a few people, and walking together risked being unable to watch both ends.

Thinking that the nearest Shelter wasn't far, Mei planned to have Kiana guard the back, where the chance of encountering danger would be lower.

"No problem." Kiana didn't overthink it and nodded in agreement with Mei's arrangement, brimming with confidence: "Leave the rear to me!"

"Be careful." Seeing Kiana so confident, Mei couldn't help but remind her: "The gods and demons we've met are probably the weakest batch, and their abilities all differ—there's no telling if we'll run into a troublesome one."

"Mm-hmm, I know, I know what to do. Okay, Mei, let's get started—the noise over there is getting louder..."

Mei was perfect in every way.

She just underestimated her strength too much.

They said this was the weakest of the gods, a monster at this level was nothing but cannon fodder in her hands. With a bat in hand, she could kill as many as came, no problem.

But Mei caring about her proved that Mei valued her. Hehe, rounding up, Mei was concerned about her, liked her.

Yep! No flaws there!

Raiden Mei, leveraging her recent strike that had slain the god and her reputation as the Narukami Shrine Maiden, had already organized the group while Kiana was figuring out how to spend the Honkai energy crystals.

Now that Kiana was ready, this line could set off directly, heading toward the Shelter.

There was no time to mourn the fallen Osaka for long. This world had clearly turned strange now.

Even with a powerful shrine maiden guarding them, no one felt safe, because monsters could attack from all directions.

The shrine maiden could slay monsters, but she might not save someone suddenly ambushed by one, so everyone in their hearts hoped to reach the underground Shelter quickly.

There was only one door there—as long as it held, the inside of the Shelter was safe.

"Check if there's anything left behind. We're setting out."

She reminded the crowd one last time, but they were already anxious to leave, voices calling out things like "Let's go already."

Seeing this, Raiden Mei hesitated no longer. She glanced toward the end of the line, spotted that white-haired puffball, then turned and walked to the very front to lead the way.

Chapter 28: Gunfire from the Shelter's Direction

The procession moved in a mighty throng.

Along the way, many who hadn't encountered the god and didn't know what was happening joined in.

This swelled the group's size considerably, and Raiden Mei at the very front had to stay on high alert.

Until, amid the unceasing thunder, after nearly half an hour of walking in the gloom, just as they were about to near the Shelter's entrance—

Raiden Mei, accustomed to the thunder, caught a different sound within it.

—Gunfire!

The sound of gunshots came from the direction of the Shelter.

Many people were firing.

But there was no sound of bullets hitting flesh, nor any screams. Judging by the frequency of the shots, the firepower wasn't weak.

"There's gunfire ahead."

Raiden Mei stopped and turned to look at Granny Zhuohua, the manager following behind her.

"Take them and hide on the spot, get into the buildings. I'll go ahead and check."

"Gunfire up ahead... could they be facing the same situation we just did?" Granny Zhuohua asked, worried.

She'd lived over seventy years, and this was the first time she'd encountered something like this—monsters, a shrine maiden slaying them.

It completely overturned her worldview at her age, along with the unending thunder in the sky, and she thought back to what Kiana had told her yesterday about Takemikazuchi.

Granny Zhuohua had a wealth of life experience, but whether that experience would be useful against monsters was anyone's guess.

"It's very possible."

Unfortunately, due to the pitch-black thunderstorm, visibility in the city was low, and she couldn't make out what was happening over there.

In short, Raiden Mei was now the pillar of support for these people who had seen Osaka killed by monsters.

Granny Zhuohua inwardly disapproved of her leaving, but she understood reason—she knew that everyone following along would lead to greater casualties.

And if there really was a god ahead, it was best for the Narukami Shrine Maiden to go ahead and deal with the trouble.

They couldn't hold her back.

"Go on, Shrine Maiden-sama. I'll help settle everyone down and find them places to hide."

Raiden Mei nodded, then hesitated, glancing back toward the rear of the line. After some deliberation, she didn't ask Granny Zhuohua to tell Kiana to stay here and not come close.

Putting herself in Kiana's shoes—

If the person heading into danger were Kiana, she would surely worry too and refuse to stand still and wait.

She nodded to Granny Zhuohua, then dashed alone toward the Shelter, quickly disappearing.

"Everyone, stop. Pass the word to those behind—find a safe spot nearby and rest. There's danger ahead, but the Shrine Maiden-sama has gone to investigate. I'm sure we'll have results soon."

Granny Zhuohua's voice wasn't loud, but her authority on Zhuohua Street was high, and her words tied into the current situation and the shrine maiden.

Those in the front who had witnessed what happened and heard the message relayed it to those behind.

But someone up front saw this and voiced dissatisfaction: "Granny Zhuohua, how could you let the Shrine Maiden-sama leave alone?"

The speaker was a bit harsh, worried that Raiden Mei might abandon the group and run off.

Even though a full-speed sprint would take less than five minutes to reach the Shelter's entrance, wasn't it dangerous over there?

Without the shrine maiden leading the way...

How were ordinary people like them supposed to get across?

Granny Zhuohua swept a cold glance over that person, then looked at the others who remained silent, seemingly agreeing with what had just been said.

Her voice was not loud: "Is that what all of you think?"

"...Yeah, Granny."

"If the Shrine Maiden leaves, what are we supposed to do? If more monsters show up, we won't stand a chance!"

"That's right, that's right. You didn't see Osaka—that Lame Uncle who sold sushi, died horribly! The monster's claws were sharper than a blade, and with one swipe, Osaka was killed!"

"Yeah, it's terrifying. What if there are more monsters..."

Discontent spread through the crowd. Human nature was selfish, especially when life and death hung in the balance—that selfishness only magnified.

"Hmph!"

Granny Zhuohua slammed her cane hard against the ground, her murky eyes sweeping over the crowd as she scolded: "You're nothing but a pack of ungrateful ingrates. The Shrine Maiden has no obligation to save us. Going ahead to scout the path was for our sake."

"If you're dissatisfied, then leave the group and follow her. This old woman won't stop you. Anyone afraid can go ahead—just don't drag the rest of us down."

After Granny Zhuohua finished speaking, silence fell for a moment. In the end, the unknown ahead was too terrifying, and Granny Zhuohua's authority ran deep enough.

"Don't be angry, Granny. We're just scared out of our wits. Of course we know the Shrine Maiden is doing this for our own good."

"Yeah, yeah."

Those who had been complaining quickly changed their tune, mainly afraid that Granny Zhuohua would tattle to the Narukami Shrine Maiden later.

That Narukami Shrine Maiden didn't seem like the saintly type. Anyone who had been to the Narukami Shrine knew it was different from other shrines.

Now, the power Raiden Mei was using directly unraveled the long-standing mysteries in some of their hearts.

They attributed Raiden Mei's power to the Narukami of the Narukami Shrine—that the Narukami had granted the Shrine Maiden her strength.

After all, hadn't they seen that the Narukami was a blade, and the Shrine Maiden also used a blade, one wreathed in lightning that drove away evil spirits and monsters?