In Izumo, Making Honkai Great Again

"You're welcome," Kiana said, her brilliant smile masking her guilt and embarrassment as a first-time merchant. "You paid for it."

"Mm," Sirin nodded. "So, the total was..."

"Let's just call it a thousand," Kiana said.

Kiana voluntarily waived the remainder. She had already earned enough, and earning more would be impolite.

"No, I promised you I'd repay all your expenses tenfold."

Sirin had no intention of reneging on her promise. However, she was quite happy with Kiana's decision to waive the remainder, and her affection for Kiana increased significantly.

She became determined to be her friend.

"If I remember correctly, it should be sixteen bottles, plus the initial hundred, making it seventeen hundred."

Sirin thought for a moment, feeling that Kiana must have used more than one treatment to save her from her near-death state.

"Including the life-saving grace..."

What was her life worth?

It was priceless, immeasurable!

Sirin fell silent for a moment, calculating the number of Oni Gods she had slain over the years. She looked up and said, "The energy of five thousand low-level Oni Gods."

"How, how much?!"

Five hundred thousand Honkai Crystals?!

Wow, was this the composure of a rich woman?

She casually promised five hundred thousand Honkai Crystals. If she had to kill them herself, she would probably dull her sword before she could kill that many! Kiana couldn't help but take a step back, as if Sirin was radiating a golden glow.

It was the glow of a rich woman!

Kiana looked at the dazzling Sirin with a lack of confidence, her voice strained. "One thousand will be fine."

One hundred thousand Honkai Crystals was already more than she could stomach. Five hundred thousand...

"Five thousand low-level Oni Gods' energy is equivalent to five hundred mid-level Oni Gods, or fifty high-level Oni Gods."

Calculating it this way, Sirin smiled. "I'm very strong. It's just five top-tier Oni Gods. As long as they aren't the strongest twelve Oni Gods, the rest are no match for me."

Although it had only been over a decade since she became the master of the Heavenly Blade, she had only killed two top-tier Oni Gods.

Before the twelve Oni Gods were at large, the top-tier Oni Gods lurking in famous mountains, rivers, and seas were their targets.

"But just five top-tier Oni Gods?"

Kiana swallowed. She suddenly felt her horizons were a bit narrow.

She had underestimated Sirin.

"I won't let my friend suffer a loss," Sirin said, looking at Kiana. She smiled and extended her hand, asking with a hidden motive, "You're willing to be my friend, right?"

"Of course!"

No one could refuse a rich woman!

Five hundred thousand, that was five hundred thousand!

Kiana suppressed the urge to invest more in Sirin, as the amplification of a one-star item was limited, and a one-star weapon was definitely not as useful as the Imperial Blades.

As for the healing spray...

She had just made fifty thousand from Sirin with healing items, how could she turn around and give them to Sirin?

Wouldn't that clearly tell Sirin that she had just lied and been fleeced like a fat sheep?

Sirin would probably turn hostile immediately.

"Ahem, I don't have anything suitable on hand right now. Next time, next time we meet... when you've paid me back, I'll give you a surprise."

Kiana was unskillfully making empty promises.

Her heart pounded wildly. Even though she hadn't received a single crystal yet, she believed Sirin wouldn't default on her payment!

That was five hundred thousand.

How would she spend it?

A five-star weapon only cost one hundred thousand, and equipment around five-star could already provide a significant boost.

"Then I'll prepare a surprise for you next time too."

Sirin nodded secretly, looking at Kiana's uncontrollable excitement. The only thought in her mind was 'Got her.'

Kiana felt embarrassed listening to her. The rich woman saw her as a friend, while she saw the rich woman as a leek.

"You're returning to the battlefield now, right? Is there anything we can do to help you?"

She would compensate Sirin a little more later, perhaps give her a five-star piece of equipment.

Thinking this, the guilt of treating her friend like a leek immediately vanished.

This was a win-win situation, and she wasn't the only one profiting. She wasn't scamming anyone out of nothing.

So why feel guilty?

"No need to trouble you," Sirin shook her head and walked out of the room on her own. As she walked, she said, "Leave the battlefield to me."

Kiana and Raiden Mei's strength would likely only make them cannon fodder, so it was better to stay in this city and kill more Oni Gods.

"I believe you can win!"

Sirin was slightly stunned. When she looked back and saw Kiana's trusting gaze and smile, the sense of urgency in her heart eased a little.

"You're right," she smiled back. "I will win."

She liked hearing words like that.

And she also believed she could win.

"Thank you, Kiana."

Why are you thanking me again?

Without waiting for the curious Kiana to ask anything, Sirin had already walked into the living room.

Mei, who had just finished communicating with the military and was waiting for Kiana with her sword, saw not Kiana but the girl who called herself Sirin walking into the living room.

Kiana followed closely behind.

"You?"

Raiden Mei frowned.

Was this person going with them?

Chapter 41: Return to the Battlefield

"Raiden Mei, right?"

Sirin sized up Raiden Mei again. Her attitude towards Raiden Mei wasn't as good as towards Kiana, but it was still acceptable.

"After we've dealt with Takemikazuchi, we'll come find you again."

Raiden Ryoma didn't have a strong adaptability to Oni God power. His body already showed signs of Oniification, so there was no need for the complete Meito for adaptive testing.

He was definitely not the wielder of the war blade.

And with Yae Sakura, who previously worshipped the Frost Blade, as a precedent, a shrine maiden who could kill Oni Gods with an incomplete Frost Blade.

In their eyes, Raiden Mei had a very high probability of becoming the wielder of the Resonant Blade.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll understand then."

The Ming Blade had not yet been forged, and it was not yet certain whether Raiden Mei was the true master of the Ming Blade. Sirin did not want to explain things clearly at this time.

"Kiana, let's part ways here."

Sirin said goodbye to Kiana one last time. Her heart was still preoccupied with the battle against Takemikazuchi, and she had no intention of staying here any longer. She turned and left the shrine in a hurry.

Only Raiden Mei remained, frowning and bewildered.

"What is she doing?"

"Isn't she in a hurry?" Kiana was still a little dazed, as if in a dream. "She just asked me for a paid healing."

"Her injuries are healed, so she's preparing to return to the battlefield now."

Her gaze swept over Kiana with a hint of surprise, but thinking about the Stigmata and the weapon Kiana had given her, healing didn't seem like something to be overly astonished about.

"Then let's get moving too. I just communicated with the military, and they agreed readily. They also asked us to meet near the shelter where we dealt with the spider Oni God before, and they're willing to provide us with some equipment assistance."

Sirin was merely an unexpected interlude; she wasn't important.

Her departure was no big deal.

Raiden Mei felt a little worried about her father, who was on the battlefield. But thinking that he had even prepared a suicide note for her and was ready to leave without saying goodbye, that worry turned into a complex emotion.

She could only try her best not to think about it, to avoid causing trouble for herself, her father, or Kiana.

She understood her father's intentions.

It was precisely because she understood that her mood was exceptionally complicated, and she didn't know what she should do.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Kiana was unusually excited, as she would have to wait until after defeating Takemikazuchi to get Sirin's 500,000 Honkai Crystals.

Besides, even a mosquito's leg is still meat. Kiana, who had earned hundreds of thousands of crystals with just a few hundred, was now exceptionally hyped.

"Yeah, let's go."

After Sirin left the shrine, she got lost for a while. Finally, she found the city's official forces by looking at a city map.

After explaining her identity, those people immediately made arrangements according to her request, sending her from Changkong City to the city closest to the battlefield and successfully contacting the command center.

"Sirin, you're alive?"

The command center personnel were overjoyed to hear her news; much of the gloom weighing on their hearts lifted, and the heavy pressure eased considerably.

Regardless, the fact that she was still alive was the greatest encouragement to everyone still holding their ground on the battlefield!

"Wait where you are, we'll bring the Heavenly Blade to you right away!"

Sirin had thrown out the Heavenly Blade with the intention of dying, so the command center had naturally retrieved it.

But among the current blade masters...

There wasn't a single other person who could wield the Imperial Blades of Heaven!

Cutting off the communication, Sirin looked at the giant black dragon churning within the thunderclouds in the sky.

Memories of her previous battle with Takemikazuchi flashed through her mind, and the pain of being struck by 'Heaven's Punishment' resurfaced.

Will they win?

A doubt flickered through Sirin's mind.

Even in the Imaginary Space, she couldn't stop Takemikazuchi, nor could she inflict any effective damage on it.

Would she and Welt really win?

They would win.

The doubt in Sirin's heart was instantly replaced by confidence, because they had the reasons and the conviction to win.

She still owed Kiana five thousand Oni Gods.

She didn't want to be someone who defaulted on her debts.

She didn't wait long. A human resembling a wolf-like creature ran towards her on all fours, like a gust of wind.

This was someone who had over-slain Oni Gods and, lacking resistance to the curse of the Oni Gods, had been eroded by it, reaching nearly eighty percent Oniification.

He carried a box on his back.