In Izumo, Making Honkai Great Again

After spotting her from afar, he began to slow down gradually, then stopped in front of Sirin.

"Lady Sirin!"

She's really still alive, that's great!

The werewolf quickly unbuckled the box on his back and opened it, revealing the Imperial Blades within, which had degenerated into the appearance of ordinary swords.

No words were needed. Sirin nodded in thanks and reached out to take the familiar Heavenly Blade from inside.

Perhaps Kiana is also a suitable candidate.

This thought suddenly popped into her mind.

Kiana could enter the Imaginary Space even without the Imperial Blades, and even rescued her from the collapsing Imaginary Space.

She definitely has a talent for this.

Making a slash in the air with the Imperial Blades, Sirin, along with the sword, returned directly to the battlefield through spatial transfer.

Kiana saved her, how could she have the terrible idea of repaying kindness with enmity and pushing Kiana forward?

She silently dismissed the thought.

She didn't want the Kiana who saved her to bear the same fate of unfreedom as herself one day in the future.

The battlefield was incredibly brutal.

Countless broken swords were either stuck in or lying on the scorched earth.

The instigator was the giant black dragon in the thunderclouds, an existence named Takemikazuchi.

Killing a demon god of the level of the Twelve Oni Gods was already incredibly difficult, let alone the fact that it could fly, with the entire dragon hidden in the clouds.

Most of the sword users were helpless against it, only able to do their best to kill the lower-level specters that Takemikazuchi attracted, preventing them from affecting the main force attacking Takemikazuchi.

There were more than a dozen bucket-thick lightning bolts descending from the clouds, but they did not hit the sword users who were desperately killing the ghost gods attracted by Takemikazuchi.

Those lightning bolts were blocked by a barrier.

A transparent spatial barrier.

"It's Lady Sirin!"

"It's the Heavenly Blade!"

As soon as Sirin appeared, she blocked Takemikazuchi's attack. The news that she was still alive greatly boosted everyone's morale.

"You are as useless as ever."

Glancing at the broken swords lying on the scorched earth, Sirin's eyes grew cold.

She didn't turn her head, but her words were clearly directed at the brown-haired man with glasses not far away.

He was the new wielder of the True Imperial Blades, inheriting the name of Welt.

"Welcome back. But our situation is dire; command's weapons can't reach Takemikazuchi."

Facing her decade-long taunting, Welt reacted calmly, as he was long accustomed to it.

"I know you're still bothered by what happened over a decade ago, but with the enemy at our doorstep, I need you to cooperate with my actions unconditionally."

"You?"

Unleashing the Void Imperial Blades, Sirin's voice carried a hint of sarcasm aimed at Welt: "Cooperate with you to turn this place into a new northernmost region?"

"If turning this place into a new northernmost region is enough to defeat Takemikazuchi, then I will execute it without hesitation."

Welt's words almost ignited Sirin's killing intent.

Before Sirin could say more, Welt directly gave the order: "Cooperate with my actions and create an opportunity for me to heavily damage it!"

Chapter 42: Falling from the Clouds

"Let's tally today's harvest!"

After a day of hunting, if it weren't for the fact that they could still perceive time through other means, they wouldn't have known what time it was now with the sun obscured by dark clouds and everything pitch black.

Kiana was very excited.

She and Mei split up today, following the markers left by those people, and killed six guishen in just a few hours.

Of course, they were the lowest level ones.

But this still brought in six hundred crystals, directly pushing her balance over a thousand again.

"This is mine."

Raiden Mei took off the temporary cloth bag hanging from her waist and spread it out on the table.

Inside were a full twelve black crystals, a number that shocked Kiana.

"How did you do it, Mei?"

"On the way to the marked point, I encountered a few ghosts and spirits gathered together," Raiden Mei explained.

It was a matter of one strike.

Those few ghosts and gods turned into one crystal that Kiana needed.

"Let's sacrifice them."

"I'll recycle them now!"

Kiana held the crystals in her hand, recycling them, and asked Mei, "Mei, do you feel like there's anything you need to improve on?"

"Me?"

Raiden Mei pondered for a moment, knowing Kiana was asking for her opinion, and then upgraded her samurai sword-like weapon to improve her strength.

With every battle, she felt herself growing stronger.

If she had to mention a weakness...

"Speed," Mei said. "If my speed were a little faster, I wouldn't have to waste time traveling."

Against enemies she couldn't defeat in one strike, she could also wear them down with greater speed.

Just like the one she encountered earlier...

"What is this!" As she was recycling, Kiana found a B-rank crystal worth a thousand. She slammed her hand on the table. "Did you run into another monster like that spider Oni God just now?"

Suddenly, she had an extra thousand crystals.

But Kiana didn't feel happy at all.

She looked at Mei anxiously, reaching out to check her, but felt too embarrassed to pull at Mei's clothes.

"Are you injured? I have healing potions here. Mei, don't push yourself too hard."

Raiden Mei's heart warmed, her eyes softening. "Don't worry, Kiana, it's just a superficial wound."

"Even a superficial wound shouldn't be underestimated!"

Kiana hadn't been injured at all during the journey, and she hadn't encountered any more Oni Gods of that spider Oni God's caliber.

As for low-level Oni Gods, she could defeat them with a single punch.

She still had some leftover healing potions, so Kiana threw one on the ground. Green healing mist enveloped Mei.

"This is a healing potion. It continuously heals anyone within the mist for five seconds. I used this to heal Sirin."

Kiana's movements were too fast, and Mei couldn't refuse before being enveloped by the green mist. Because she trusted Kiana, Mei wasn't startled.

Feeling a tickle on the wound on her hand, Mei calmly recounted her experience after they split up to Mei in a gentle voice.

It was a two-headed giant wolf whose speed surpassed Raiden Mei's.

Forced to defend, Raiden Mei, who eventually killed the two-headed giant wolf at the cost of an injury, also realized that her speed might become a weakness.

But thankfully, she had this samurai sword.

She triggered bleeding multiple times, injuring the giant wolf and slowing it down, before using her calmness and judgment to find an opportunity to slay it.

"...It's my fault. If I had considered this earlier, Mei wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"I didn't expect speed to be a weakness in combat until I encountered an enemy who excelled at it."

Mei shook her head, comforting the dejected Kiana. "Kiana has already helped me a lot. It's thanks to this samurai sword that I was able to slay that Oni God with minimal cost."

"So you need speed, right?"

After receiving the two thousand one hundred crystals from Mei, plus her original one thousand two hundred, her current savings reached three thousand three hundred.

However, this was still not enough to buy high-star equipment with strong amplification. Three-star equipment wasn't very valuable, so she could only continue to buy equipment with a maximum of two stars.

"It would be best if it could increase my speed."

In terms of strength, she could break through defenses, and her Stigmata were also making her stronger in combat, so she wasn't in a hurry.

Kiana urgently needed crystals from defeated Oni Gods. If her speed were faster, her efficiency in slaying Oni Gods would also improve.

"I understand!"

Regarding speed-boosting badges, there was only one she could afford at the moment.

[Gale Art (First Stage) 2-star: Increases the wearer's permanent speed by 19.49% and melee attack speed by 3.39%. Effects are enhanced with Honkai energy intensity, with a maximum increase of 24.97% permanent speed and 5.39% melee attack speed.]

She bought four identical pieces of equipment to synthesize two 2-star badges. She also bought another Yamamoto Night Shadow Samurai Sword and upgraded Mei's sword by one level.

"This spray is for healing, Mei. You should take it with you too."

She couldn't gather ten thousand, let alone a hundred thousand, in a short period, so Kiana spent the money without any hesitation.

She already had a target in mind for the badges she needed.

That would be 'Knights Don't Die Unarmed'!

She felt that a badge that significantly increased unarmed damage was much more useful than any guns or cannons.

Once Sirin paid her, and she became rich, she would get herself a 'Savior's Medallion' that would increase unarmed damage by six hundred times.

With the buffs from these badges, Kiana confidently felt that she would be an 'One-Punch Man' then.

Even conservatively, it wouldn't be impossible to punch that black dragon out of the sky with a single blow.

Her mind wandered, but her hands didn't slow down as she handed the newly purchased equipment to Mei.

"Want to try it outside?"

Kiana made a suggestion.

Mei, now equipped with two new badges, felt their effects and nodded, "I really do need to get used to them."

If her speed increased, her moves would have to change as well.

Her swordsmanship truly hadn't reached its peak yet. She'd heard that legendary swordmasters could adapt their techniques and wield anything with ease.

But she believed she could reach that level too, and it wouldn't take too long.

"I'll go try it out with you. After we're done..."

A bright color, unlike lightning, illuminated a corner of the sky. Its watery blue hue even overshadowed the thunder.

"What is that?"

Kiana stared at the unusual corner. She remembered that direction; it was where Takemikazuchi was located.

An unusual light...

Was it a battle?

No!

The distance was too great, and they could only see a corner of the sky dyed blue by the light. But Kiana's eyesight was excellent. It wasn't an illusion; she saw an unidentified object falling from the clouds.

She couldn't see clearly because of the distance, but something was definitely falling from the clouds, visible even from so far away.

Chapter 43: Escape

"Welt, you lunatic!"

Takemikazuchi, unaware that it had been suddenly weakened, lost its mind in the midst of its absolute advantage and went berserk.

But neither she nor Welt let this perfect opportunity slip by.