A Person in Izumo, Making Honkai Great Again

She created an opportunity for Welt at his command, but she hadn't expected Welt to embed himself into the sword, maximizing the activation of the 'Shin' blade, unleashing the fully realized Imperial Blades and striking Takemikazuchi down from the clouds.

Is this how this sword is meant to be used?!

The greatsword, the embodiment of 'Shin', pierced Takemikazuchi's massive body, cutting it down from the clouds and pinning it to the ground.

The Oni God, over a hundred meters long, fell from the sky, smashing heavily onto the scorched earth and kicking up large clouds of dust.

Golden radiance followed closely behind.

The scene was breathtaking.

However, shock or not, no one let this prime opportunity pass. Disregarding the endless horde of weaker Oni Gods, most of the skilled blade wielders turned their attention to Takemikazuchi.

Strike it while it's down!

Sirin, unable to search for Welt who had disappeared after his full-power strike, threw the 'Ten' Imperial Blades. It hovered directly above Takemikazuchi's head.

"Void Descent!"

Countless golden chains, spreading out from the void, bound the heavily wounded Takemikazuchi's body.

But Takemikazuchi was only heavily wounded, not dead. It naturally wouldn't sit idly by.

Feeling the danger to its life from its severe injuries, it unleashed an unimaginable power. The strength belonging to an Oni God erupted under the suppression of Sirin and the 'Shin' blade.

The strange patterns on Takemikazuchi's body deepened in color, and their scope expanded.

Pain!

The pain of being corrupted and modified, the pain of its body being pierced by the greatsword, drove Takemikazuchi mad.

Its crimson giant eyes were filled with frenzy.

Sirin's brow twitched. She moved further away from the enraged Takemikazuchi. The power leaking from it had turned the surrounding area into a no-go zone.

The others also retreated, using ranged attacks to weaken Takemikazuchi as much as possible.

Sirin wasn't idle. Several thick, nail-like golden objects pierced through the lightning storm and embedded themselves into Takemikazuchi's body. The powers within them connected, exerting an unusual force in an attempt to trap it there.

"It's happening again..."

Sirin's eyes flickered.

She confirmed that her previous actions weren't a mistake, and Takemikazuchi hadn't been holding back then either, intending to catch them off guard.

Just like the current situation.

Takemikazuchi was different from how it was recorded. Perhaps this was an aspect of the Oni Gods they hadn't explored?

Its burst of power had increased.

And it was becoming stronger!

Was this a desperate struggle born from sensing the threat of death?

But that previous opening...

The space suppressing Takemikazuchi began to shake. Sirin saw this familiar sight and inwardly cursed, wanting to do something.

But Takemikazuchi unleashed an even more terrifying power than before. Endless lightning, like a divine punishment, descended, turning an area of a hundred meters into a forbidden lightning zone.

It twisted its massive body, and its power shattered the nails Sirin had embedded in it. Even the 'Shin' blade, which had pierced through it and pinned it, couldn't hold on for long under its power.

Sirin retrieved the Imperial Blades and charged into the lightning storm.

Takemikazuchi flung away the Imperial Blades stuck in its body, rose without hesitation, and unleashed a devastating sweep across the ground. It then drew down the lightning storm from the sky, striking an area of dozens of miles. It had no intention of fighting further, and with a flick of its tail, it disappeared into the clouds.

"Quick, lock onto its position!"

The survivors shouted anxiously. Sirin pursued Takemikazuchi closely. As it dove into the clouds, Sirin followed.

The worst had happened. Takemikazuchi had brought the battlefield to another location.

An area of dozens of miles around them had become a human forbidden zone, and their forces had suffered heavy casualties under the widespread attack.

But they had achieved good results.

Takemikazuchi couldn't maintain its burst state indefinitely. Once its power began to wane, that would be their true chance to slay it.

Compared to the last suppression, although this current one had many unexpected events, the outcome was surprisingly good.

The current personnel losses were less than a third of the previous expedition, and other losses were negligible in comparison.

After the last expedition, Amatsukami had appeared in the far north. Eighty percent of the blade wielders were killed or wounded, and many areas in the far north suffered devastating blows.

Amatsukami could traverse space at will. To defeat Amatsukami, they had to make sacrifices, and the battlefield expanded to the entire far north.

The battle lasted for several days. By the end, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the far north was practically deserted.

It was precisely because of the painful lessons learned last time that they had gone to great lengths to deploy, intending to fix the battlefield in this area.

Unfortunately, much of the heavy weaponry they had prepared with great effort went unused. The weapons that could hit Takemikazuchi only caused some weakening damage, not fatal.

A portion of the remaining capable individuals were tasked with dealing with the Oni Gods attracted by Takemikazuchi, searching for the missing Welt, and recovering the Imperial Blades. The rest would temporarily rest and await instructions from headquarters regarding Sirin's location and subsequent arrangements.

"The smell of Honkai."

Kiana was sure that the thing that had just fallen was definitely Takemikazuchi.

Was Sirin that strong?

The day wasn't even over, and she not only returned to the battlefield but also defeated Takemikazuchi?

Before she could marvel, she saw the blue light disappear, followed by incessant thunder that exploded like firecrackers, even the thunderclouds above their heads.

It seemed Takemikazuchi had fled.

This time, Kiana didn't need Mei to remind her; she could feel the Honkai energy reaction from that direction herself.

She wondered if it was due to its identity, or perhaps the Honkai energy on this planet was brought by her.

Even from this distance, she could sense the Honkai energy reaction there.

"It's gone."

Raiden Mei's expression was grim, and the sense of urgency she already felt intensified.

Without a doubt, it had escaped.

Raiden Mei couldn't help but recall Kiana's earlier words, that Changkong City would likely face an attack from Takemikazuchi.

If its escape route led to Changkong City, and it turned the city into a new battlefield...

She, who struggled to defeat such a weak Oni God, would be utterly helpless against the pinnacle of Oni Gods, the being known as Takemikazuchi.

Looking at the sky, completely obscured by thick thunderclouds, Raiden Mei felt a chill. An enemy that could so easily alter the weather and hide within the thunderclouds to unleash divine punishment was something she didn't even know how to fight.

Her hands, cold from anxiety, were grasped by Kiana's warm, small hand.

Mei instinctively looked over, meeting Kiana's determined, azure blue eyes.

"Don't worry, Mei," Kiana said, her voice devoid of fear, full of confidence. "I won't let anything hurt you in front of me."

"If it dares to come looking for trouble, I'll just blow myself up with it!"

Mei: "..."

No, Kiana, I'm not afraid of such an enemy. I'm afraid that you'll put yourself in danger, and I won't have enough strength to help you!

Chapter 44: Victory is Within Reach

"...I don't do things beyond my capabilities, and neither should you, okay?" Raiden Mei said, looking into her eyes.

So Mei wasn't worried about others, but about me?

Mei's gaze was easy to understand.

It was concern.

Kiana paused for a moment, not out of reluctance, but because Mei's repeated concern made her truly realize that she might have actually won her over.

The progress bar was at least at ninety percent.

She felt a little dazed.

"Kiana!"

Mei clasped Kiana's hand in return, her eyes even holding a hint of pleading.

"Don't put yourself in danger."

"Sorry, sorry, I zoned out just now."

Kiana covered her thoughts with an awkward smile and instinctively reached to scratch her head, but Mei's grip was tight, and her hand wouldn't come free.

Such strong resolve!

"Please promise me."

It seemed she was genuinely worried Kiana would impulsively rush towards Takemikazuchi.

And really blow herself up with Takemikazuchi.

Kiana took a deep breath and simply said, "Don't worry, I haven't lived enough yet, so I won't do anything suicidal."

"...If you absolutely must do something to feel at ease, then please, bring me along."

"Please believe me," Kiana said earnestly. "On this planet, I am the last person who would possibly die."

The changes to her status panel were unrelated to defeating the Oni God or recovering crystals.

She had some guesses about the changes to her status panel after this whole day.

Belief, or the determination to become stronger?

In short, it was something profoundly mysterious.

She felt that if she were truly in a life-or-death situation, the possibility of a burst of power fueled by sheer belief was very high.

Without facing the "Black Knight" directly, she didn't know if the power of the Finality, or Honkai, could contend with the power of the Void.

But if she had to say who had the highest chance of survival.

On this planet, it was only her and Raiden Mei, who would clearly become Yomi in the future.

"...I understand."

It was a rejection.

Raiden Mei let go of Kiana.

Kiana had her own thoughts and beliefs, and she would follow them. That was a good thing.

Her role wasn't to restrain Kiana, to become a burden out of worry.

She had already told herself in her heart that no matter what Kiana wanted to do, she would walk alongside her.

So, she should support Kiana.

Instead of holding Kiana back out of fear that she would get hurt, or even die, by trying to restrain her thoughts and beliefs.

"Um, Mei, I..."

Seeing that Mei understood, Kiana wanted to say she didn't mean it that way. Of course, she was willing to listen to Raiden Mei.

But what if she got too excited and became the Herrscher of the End? How could she explain something like that to Mei?

Should she say that they didn't need to fear those bosses at all because she would become the ultimate big boss?

Mei would probably just pat her head and tell her to stop staying up so late and get some sleep.

"I was just too nervous," Mei said, a gentle smile returning to her face. "We agreed, no matter what you want to do, I'll support you. This time is no different."

"It's the same for me with Mei!"

Kiana moved closer to her again, smiling fawningly as she hugged Mei's arm. "But you really don't need to worry too much about Takemikazuchi, because my hidden power is even stronger than it."

"It's just that it will cause some bad outcomes. You've seen the effects of the Honkai. If I use more power, the Honkai's influence on Izumo will deepen, and Honkai disasters will occur. It's no different from the arrival of the Oni Gods."

"I won't use this power casually, but if there's a situation where it's absolutely necessary, I won't hesitate."

As she finished speaking, a giant dragon fell from the sky, crashing heavily into the distant city.