The Butterfly Effect Brought by Honkai

Before entering Imaginary Space, when she muttered about that jinx Yae Sakura, she had also wondered briefly about the Kiana Yae Sakura had mentioned.

What kind of person could possibly deserve that attitude from Yae Sakura—to earn her trust after meeting just once, as if she had been brainwashed?

Sirin was very curious about Kiana.

But she had never expected to meet the Kiana Yae Sakura had mentioned so soon.

Although Sirin did not answer, the expression on her face had already made the answer perfectly clear.

Kiana asked curiously, "Are you friends?"

It would be inappropriate to ask about Takemikazuchi right away. She had to talk about something else first and try to draw a little closer.

"No!"

Sirin instinctively denied it.

Who was friends with that jinx?

If that jinx had not gone on about sacrifice and how anyone could die, she would never have ended up so unlucky!

"...We just know each other."

After denying it, Sirin felt that something was off and quickly added another sentence. Her thoughts were much the same as Kiana's.

She could use their mutual acquaintance, Yae Sakura, to close the distance a little and build a bridge for their conversation.

"I've heard her mention you." Sirin kept her face stern as her gaze sized up Kiana's face. "She likes you a lot."

Yae Sakura, Yae Sakura... Who would have thought you could actually be of some use?

Consider yourself lucky.

"Kiana... did something happen?"

A knock sounded at the door, accompanied by Raiden Mei's puzzled voice.

After discovering that Kiana had not come out, Raiden Mei had waited outside for quite a while. She had intended to have a proper talk with Kiana about the situation in Changkong City, but she was beginning to grow restless.

Because logically speaking, Kiana had no reason to stay in her room without coming out. Although it had not been stated outright, Kiana definitely knew that she was waiting outside.

Suspecting that something might have happened, Raiden Mei went straight to the guest room door.

She had not expected to hear an unfamiliar voice coming from Kiana's room. That immediately put Raiden Mei on alert.

She remembered very clearly.

Kiana did not have a phone!

After all, she had tried to add Kiana's contact information before but had failed. And she had been afraid that Kiana would refuse, so she had not dared give Kiana a phone.

So who was it?

Who had sneaked into Kiana's room?

The name Yae Sakura flashed through her mind. It was the name she had heard from Kiana yesterday, and Kiana had even praised her as a good person.

"Mei's here."

Kiana instinctively stood up. Her happiness lasted less than a second before she looked at Sirin lying on the bed with a terrified expression.

How am I supposed to explain this?

Raiden Mei? Raiden Ryoma's daughter?

Sirin knew of her.

She was not familiar with Raiden Ryoma, but she knew him.

Noticing the strange look in Kiana's eyes, Sirin responded with a puzzled look of her own. "You're not going to invite her in?"

"Cough, I'll do that."

Forget it. She would just tell the truth.

Kiana, who had somehow produced a living person out of nowhere, hurried to the door and opened it. Seeing Raiden Mei outside, she gave her an embarrassed smile.

"Nothing happened. No, that's not right—something did happen, but not what you're thinking, Mei."

Kiana reached out, grabbed Raiden Mei, and pulled her into the room.

Then she looked toward Sirin on the bed.

"Who is she?"

Sure enough, someone had been in Kiana's room.

And she was even... lying on the guest room bed?

Raiden Mei silently stared at the unfamiliar purple-haired girl who was sitting half upright. Confusion and wariness filled her eyes.

"She is..."

Before the unfamiliar Kiana could introduce her, Sirin looked thoughtfully at the newcomer. "I'm your father Raiden Ryoma's comrade."

"My father's comrade?"

Raiden Mei had thought she was Kiana's friend. She had never expected her to be her father's comrade.

That was a shift from the same generation to an elder.

Looking at the girl who seemed to be about the same age as herself, Raiden Mei narrowed her eyes. Her tone was far from friendly.

"A comrade who fought Kishin? Since you're my father's comrade, why are you in Kiana's room?"

And lying on Kiana's bed at that?

Besides, with Takemikazuchi rampaging, she had not gone to subdue Takemikazuchi. So how had she ended up here?

Sirin looked at Kiana. "That's a good question. I'd like to know the answer myself."

What did she mean?

Mei followed her gaze toward Kiana. Was she saying that this had something to do with Kiana?

"Mei, sit down first and listen to me."

"It's like this. Earlier, when I used that 'Phase Shift' ability, I discovered something out of place in the subspace, so I went to investigate as soon as I returned."

"As a result, I found Miss Sirin, who had a weak resonance with the subspace. She was lying in collapsing Imaginary Space, gravely wounded and on the verge of death. Since she still had a breath left in her, I brought her back."

"Subspace?"

"She rescued herself from collapsing Imaginary Space?"

Hearing Kiana's explanation, Sirin showed little expression because she had not completely trusted them yet. But inside, a huge storm had risen, and she glanced around the room again.

Had 'Heaven' been picked up by her?

No, the Heavenly Blade had been thrown onto the battlefield. This clearly was not near the battlefield.

Still, she could hear the sound of thunder. This place should not be considered particularly far from the actual battlefield.

It was a region that could potentially be caught in the aftermath.

Without the Heavenly Blade, how had this girl named Kiana traveled between other spaces?

"I thought she had probably just fought Takemikazuchi, so I treated her."

What were subspace and Imaginary Space?

Raiden Mei frowned. The terms were unfamiliar, but she could roughly understand them from the context.

This purple-haired girl had been gravely wounded and on the verge of death, but fortunately, Kiana had rescued her from the battlefield.

"...What day of the month is it?"

Hearing about the treatment, Sirin finally reacted and asked about the date.

Chapter 37: The Butterfly Effect Brought by Honkai

"Don't worry. Not much time has passed."

Kiana turned around and reassured her. "Takemikazuchi only appeared today, and the sky only darkened today."

"...Today?"

Sirin clearly remembered the state she had been in. To be honest, she had not thought she could survive. To keep the Heavenly Blade from being left behind in Imaginary Space, she had chosen to use her last bit of strength to protect it.

With injuries that severe, it was still today?

Shock flashed across her face, but she quickly suppressed her emotions. There was no reason for this girl to lie to her.

"So what exactly is going on with that Takemikazuchi?" Kiana asked. "Yae Sakura didn't tell me much yesterday. She only said that she took Narukami to slay Takemikazuchi."

She had only taken the blade yesterday, yet the battle had already begun today. Even Kiana felt it was far too rushed.

"...Takemikazuchi was even stronger than we expected, so it descended ahead of schedule."

Sirin shut her eyes in pain. As the master of the Heavenly Blade and the person responsible for observing the state of the surrounding space, she had failed to discover Takemikazuchi's abnormality in time. That was why Takemikazuchi had caught everyone off guard.

That was also one of the reasons she had desperately tried to buy time and test Takemikazuchi's limits.

But Takemikazuchi was stronger than she had imagined.

How had those people managed to successfully subdue Amatsukami and forge it into the blade called 'Heaven' more than a decade ago?

"...Ahead of schedule? Then when was Takemikazuchi originally supposed to descend?"

Kiana suddenly thought of the spider Kishin she and Mei had just killed, and the patterns on its body that had been eroded by Honkai energy.

Sirin had wanted to say that it no longer mattered.

But when she opened her eyes and saw Kiana's solemn expression, she remembered that this girl had saved her life and swallowed those words.

"...Half a month from now."

"So they're at a disadvantage over there, right?"

Sirin fell silent.

Takemikazuchi had caught everyone off guard. To avoid major casualties, she had chosen to delay it in Imaginary Space after her weapon was destroyed before it could even be activated.

She had indeed delayed Takemikazuchi's advance, but she herself had also...

She tried to clench her hand, but it had no strength at all and could only weakly form a fist.

"It's bad."

"We understand." Kiana saw that something was wrong and did not continue questioning her. She stood up. "I only pulled you back from the brink of death. Your body hasn't recovered yet."

"Rest for now. Only after you've rested properly can your body recover faster."

After saying that, Kiana tugged at Mei, who was deep in thought, and urged her in a low voice. "Let's go out and let Sirin get some proper rest."

"...Mm." Raiden Mei stood up and gave the purple-haired girl one last look. "Call me anytime if you need anything."

"Thank you."

Listening to the thunder outside, Sirin's thoughts were no longer here. They had all returned to the battlefield.

Takemikazuchi was already powerful, and the subjugation team had lost the warrior who wielded the Imperial Blades of Heaven right at the start.

The situation was terrible.

Sirin even wondered whether her own mistake would cause...

Kiana closed the door, her face filled with worry. She did not release Mei's hand until they returned to the living room, where she finally spoke. "Mei, do you think Takemikazuchi's sudden descent could be related to Honkai energy?"

A full half-month ahead of schedule.

Kiana did not believe this was because the observation and calculation departments had made a mistake.

A deviation of one or two days was normal.

But a full half-month was completely unreasonable. Under normal circumstances, such a major change could not occur.

Unless there was a third party...

The Honkai that had descended upon this world perfectly fit the standard of a third-party force.

Besides, she had seen that the spider Kishin could be corrupted by Honkai without dying. It might even have become stronger because of the Honkai energy.

And this was with less than ten percent!