Someone in Izumo, Making Honkai Great Again

Before I entered the Imaginary Space, when I was muttering about Yae Sakura's jinx, I also thought about Kiana, the one she mentioned.

I wondered what kind of person could be worth Yae Sakura's attitude, trusting her like she was brainwashed after just one meeting?

Sirin was very curious about Kiana.

But she didn't expect to meet the Kiana Yae Sakura mentioned so soon.

Although Sirin didn't answer, the expression on her face made the answer very clear.

Kiana asked curiously, "Are you friends?"

It wasn't appropriate to ask about Takemikazuchi right away, so I should say something else to break the ice.

"No!"

Sirin retorted instinctively.

Who was friends with that jinx?

If it weren't for that jinx talking about sacrifice, about how anyone could die, she wouldn't be so unlucky!

"...We just know each other."

After denying it, she felt it was wrong, so Sirin quickly added a sentence. Her thoughts were similar to Kiana's.

She wanted to use the connection through Yae Sakura, whom they both knew, to build a bridge for future communication.

"I've heard her mention you," Sirin said, her small face tense as she studied Kiana's face. "She likes you a lot."

Yae Sakura, Yae Sakura, I didn't expect you to be useful after all.

Consider yourself lucky.

"Kiana... is something wrong?"

A knock sounded on the door, followed by Raiden Mei's confused voice.

Finding that Kiana hadn't come out and waiting outside for a while, Raiden Mei, who had intended to have a good talk with Kiana about the situation in Changkong City, was getting restless.

Because logically, there was no reason for Kiana to stay in her room. Although not explicitly stated, Kiana certainly knew she was waiting outside.

Suspecting something had happened, Raiden Mei went directly to the guest room door.

Unexpectedly, she heard unfamiliar voices from Kiana's room, which immediately made Raiden Mei wary.

She remembered very clearly.

Kiana didn't have a phone!

After all, she had wanted to add Kiana's contact information before, but couldn't. And she was afraid Kiana would refuse, so she couldn't give Kiana a phone.

So who was it?

Who 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 is here."

Kiana instinctively stood up, but her joy lasted less than a second before she looked at Sirin, who was lying on the bed, with a frightened expression.

...How was she supposed to explain this?

Raiden Mei? Raiden Ryoma's daughter?

Sirin knew who she was.

She wasn't close to Raiden Ryoma, but she knew him.

Noticing Kiana's strange look, Sirin returned a strange look. "Aren't you going to invite her in?"

"Cough, I'll invite her in now."

Never mind, it's best to just tell the truth.

Kiana, who had conjured a living person out of thin air, went to the door and opened it, giving Raiden Mei, who was standing outside, an embarrassed smile.

"Nothing's wrong, no, something is wrong, but it's not what you think, Mei."

Kiana reached out and grabbed Raiden Mei, pulling Mei, who was standing at the door, into the room.

Then she looked at Sirin on the bed.

"Who is she?"

As expected, someone was in Kiana's room.

And... lying on the guest room bed?

Raiden Mei silently looked at the half-sitting, unfamiliar purple-haired girl, her eyes filled with confusion and vigilance.

"She is..."

Before the unfamiliar Kiana could introduce her, Sirin looked at the newcomer thoughtfully. "I am a comrade-in-arms of your father, Raiden Ryoma."

"Father's comrade-in-arms?"

Raiden Mei thought she was Kiana's friend, but she didn't expect her to be her father's comrade-in-arms.

This has gone from peer to elder.

Looking at the girl who seemed to be around her own age, Raiden Mei narrowed her eyes, her tone unfriendly.

"A comrade who slays Oni Gods? If you're Father's comrade, why are you in Kiana's room?"

And still lying on Kiana's bed?

Moreover, Takemikazuchi is causing trouble, and she didn't hunt it down, so how did she end up here?

Sirin looked at Kiana. "Good question, I'd like to know that too."

What did she mean?

Mei followed her gaze to Kiana, looking at Kiana, implying this had something to do with Kiana?

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

"It's like this. When I used that ability, 'Phase Shift,' I detected an anomaly in subspace. So, as soon as I got back, I went to investigate."

"And the result? I found Miss Sirin, who had a faint resonance with subspace. She was lying in a collapsing Imaginary Space, severely wounded and on the verge of death. Seeing that she still had a breath left, I brought her back."

Subspace?

She saved herself from a collapsing Imaginary Space?

Hearing Kiana's explanation, Sirin's face remained expressionless due to her lack of complete trust, but a storm raged within her heart. She glanced at the room again.

Did she pick up the 'Heavenly Blade'?

No, the Heavenly Blade was discarded on the battlefield. This place was clearly not near the battlefield.

However, she could hear the sound of thunder. This place wasn't particularly far from the real battlefield.

It was an area that might be affected.

Without the Heavenly Blade, how did this girl named Kiana travel through other dimensions?

"I think she just fought Takemikazuchi, so I helped her with some treatment."

Subspace... What is Imaginary Space?

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

This purple-haired girl was severely injured and close to death, but she was lucky enough to be rescued from the battlefield by Kiana.

"...What's the date today?"

Hearing about the treatment, Sirin on the bed finally reacted and asked for the time.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Butterfly Effect of Honkai

"Don't worry, not much time has passed."

Kiana turned back to comfort her. "Takemikazuchi only appeared today, and the sky only darkened today."

"...Today?"

Sirin clearly remembered her condition at the time. Honestly, she didn't think she would survive. To protect the Heavenly Blade from being left in the Imaginary Space, she chose to use her last bit of strength to preserve the blade.

Such a severe injury, and it happened today?

A flash of shock crossed her face, but she quickly suppressed her inner emotions because this girl had no reason to lie to her.

"So, what's the deal with this Takemikazuchi?" Kiana asked. "Yae Sakura didn't tell me much yesterday, just that she took the Narukami to slay Takemikazuchi."

She took the blade yesterday and started fighting today. Even from Kiana's perspective, it felt too rushed.

"...Takemikazuchi is more powerful than we anticipated, so it descended earlier."

Sirin closed her eyes in pain. As the master of the Heavenly Blade, responsible for observing the state of nearby space, she failed to detect Takemikazuchi's anomaly immediately, which allowed Takemikazuchi to catch everyone off guard.

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

But Takemikazuchi was stronger than she thought.

How did those people successfully defeat Amatsukami more than a decade ago and forge it into the 'Heavenly Blade'?

"...Earlier? Then when was Takemikazuchi originally supposed to descend?"

Kiana suddenly thought of the spider Oni God she and Mei had just killed, the Honkai energy corrosion patterns on its body.

Sirin originally intended to say it was meaningless now.

But when she opened her eyes and saw Kiana's solemn expression, and then thought of this girl as her savior, she swallowed her words.

"...Half a month later."

"So, they are at a disadvantage over there, right?"

Sirin remained silent.

Takemikazuchi had caught everyone off guard. To avoid major casualties, her weapon was destroyed by Takemikazuchi before it could even be activated. She chose to delay it in the Imaginary Space.

She did delay Takemikazuchi's advance, but at the cost of herself...

She wanted to clench her fist, but her powerless hand could only form a loose fist.

"It's very bad."

"We understand," Kiana realized something and didn't press further. She stood up and said, "I just pulled you back from the brink of death. Your body hasn't recovered yet."

"Rest now. Only by resting well can your body recover faster."

After speaking, Kiana tugged at the contemplative Mei and urged in a low voice, "Let's go out and let Sirin rest properly for a while."

"...Mm." Raiden Mei stood up and took one last look at the purple-haired girl. "If you need anything, you can find me anytime."

"Thank you."

Sirin listened to the thunder outside, her mind no longer here, but back on the battlefield.

Takemikazuchi was already strong, and the subjugation team had lost me, a warrior wielding the Imperial Blades of Heaven, right from the start.

The situation was dire.

Sirin even wondered if her mistake would lead to...

Kiana closed the door, her face full of worry. She didn't let go of Mei's hand until they returned to the living room before speaking, "Mei, do you think the sudden appearance of Takemikazuchi has anything to do with the Honkai?"

It was half a month early.

Kiana didn't believe this was due to the errors of the observation and calculation departments.

A deviation of a day or two was normal.

But half a month was completely unexpected. Under normal circumstances, such a major change shouldn't have occurred.

Unless there was a third party...

The Honkai that descended upon this world perfectly fit the criteria for a third-party force.

Moreover, she had seen that spider Oni God being corrupted by the Honkai without dying, and it might have even become stronger because of the Honkai energy.

And this was less than ten percent!