A Person in Izumo, Making Honkai Great Again

With a complex heart, her hands trembling slightly, she tore open the letter and read the contents written to her inside.

The letter was not long. There was no concern, no explanation of where he had gone or why he had taken 'Narukami'—only cold, detached warnings.

Do not seek where he has gone or what he has done. As his daughter, your sole duty is to guard this shrine.

She could hardly describe her feelings.

Ever since she could remember, her father's image had been stern and unapproachable, while her mother had passed away from illness when she was very young. Her father had been the one to initiate her into the way of the sword, teaching her the Hokushin Itto-ryu when she was still a child. Even before she could take care of herself, he would often board her with other families while he traveled alone to challenge dojos in distant lands, frequently gone for months at a time.

Every time he returned for a reunion, there was no joy on his face. In her eyes, her father was always silent and severe.

Because they were often apart and rarely together, she seldom received his praise or a smile. Before her father's disappearance, she held resentment toward him, and their relationship was far from good.

But no matter what, he was still her father. Deep down, Mei had always believed that he simply didn't know how to express himself—that he loved her too.

Yet this letter...

Tears streamed down her cheeks, falling onto the letter paper in her hands. Raiden Mei's body trembled lightly. "Why? Why, when you've already come back, won't you meet me? Won't you say goodbye?"

Chapter 4: The Blade Thief—Yae Sakura!

"Despicable thief!"

Kiana placed the blame for the loss of 'Narukami' squarely on herself. In her eyes, if she had just stayed obediently at the shrine practicing swords with Mei today, 'Narukami' would never have been stolen.

After all, Raiden Mei was a renowned prodigy of the sword, and daring to steal the enshrined 'Narukami' from the shrine—that wasn't something just anyone could pull off.

She had to make amends.

She had to catch the thief!

Only two paths led out from the shrine. One went toward the city blocks—the one they had just taken. The other, a small trail, led out of town. Without a second thought, Kiana chose the more secluded path.

The chances of finding anything now were slim, but after just a few steps, she spotted a figure in a black cloak, impossible to tell if it was male or female.

In broad daylight, dressed all in black, wrapped up tight—nothing was visible at all.

That was clearly no upstanding person.

"Stop!"

The figure stood beneath a cherry blossom tree. Kiana didn't hesitate, charging forward.

If they weren't the thief, she'd apologize.

The black-robed figure under the sakura tree heard the voice and turned to look at the white-haired girl running toward her. Beneath the brim of her hood, her brow furrowed slightly.

Raiden Mei didn't come?

...Never mind.

The black-robed figure had no intention of conversing with Kiana. Light as a swallow, she leaped several dozen meters away in a few steps, preparing to leave.

"'Narukami'?! You despicable thief!"

When the black-robed figure moved, the cloak was lifted by the wind, revealing the two blades tucked at her waist.

Kiana's fury erupted instantly.

"Give Mei's Narukami back!"

Even though this world had no Honkai energy, her physical abilities still far surpassed ordinary people by an unknown margin.

Only one thought filled her mind now: she couldn't let this despicable thief take the shrine's 'Narukami' away right under her nose!

She had to stop her!

Chasing after me?

The black-robed figure frowned and sped up, trying to shake off this girl who wasn't part of the plan, but Kiana's full sprint was not much slower than hers.

This one moves so nimbly.

Could she be an Oniified human as well?

After several attempts failed to lose the girl clinging to her heels, the black-robed figure leaped onto a large tree and turned to face Kiana, stopping.

"Run! Go on, run if you can!" Kiana panted a few times but still had energy left, her eyes locked onto the woman standing on the tree branch.

From straight on, she could make out the gender—even see her face. Though dressed strangely, she hadn't covered her features.

Her face was beautiful.

In terms of looks alone, she rivaled Mei.

"Hurry up and give Narukami back!"

No matter how pretty, she was still a despicable thief!

Two blades hung at the black-robed figure's waist. One, like crystalline ice, Kiana didn't recognize. The other was the Narukami enshrined at Mei's family shrine.

"You already have a sword, yet you still sneak around stealing the shrine's enshrined Narukami—you shameless scoundrel!"

The black-robed figure remained silent.

She was studying Kiana, searching for traces of Oniification on the girl, but found none. This girl was not one of their kind.

She had not been eroded by the Kishin.

She was purely human.

"This Humble One is no thief." Unable to shake the girl off, she had no choice but to explain: "I was merely entrusted to bring it to where it belongs."

"Where it belongs is the shrine!" Kiana pointed at the blade at her waist, furious. "And taking something without asking is stealing!"

The Black-robed Figure shook her head. "This Resonating Blade is not the property of the Raiden family. The Raidens were merely keeping it safe."

"You say it isn't, so it isn't? This blade has been enshrined at the shrine for centuries!" Kiana steadied her breathing, eyes locked on the blade at the woman's waist as she warned again: "Give the blade back to me!"

The Black-robed Figure reached for the twin blades at her own waist and said, "As early as a thousand years ago, the twelve blades—including the Resonating Blade—already existed, but they had not yet been forged. They carry the fate of being Imperial Blades, awaiting the destiny of becoming complete Imperial Blades. You need not worry. Everything I say is the truth."

"I don't care about any of that. Give the blade back to me now!" Kiana made it clear she didn't understand. All she wanted was to take the blade back to the shrine and hand it to Mei.

Imperial Blades, fate—she could think about all that after she got the blade back.

Seeing how utterly unreachable she was, the Black-robed Figure sighed. The power the blade wielders commanded was meant to cut down Kishin.

She would not draw her blade against this girl.

"What if this blade concerns the very survival of all Izumo?"

Kiana froze.

Seeing it had an effect, the Black-robed Figure pressed on: "And as I said just now, This Humble One was entrusted to come and retrieve the Resonating Blade. What you call 'taking without asking' is not quite accurate. The one who asked me to retrieve the Resonating Blade was none other than Raiden Ryoma himself."

Even if Mei had never mentioned her father's name, Kiana knew there was a ninety percent chance he was called Raiden Ryoma.

Mei's father wanted to take the Resonating Blade?

"Don't try to trick me. If he really asked you to take Narukami, why didn't you come when Mei was at the shrine and just ask her directly? Why sneak off like a thief after stealing it?"

The Black-robed Figure was silent for a moment, then shook her head. "This was Raiden Ryoma's request. He did not wish for Raiden Mei to know too much about our affairs."

It was a flimsy explanation, but if it was Raiden Ryoma, Kiana felt it wasn't entirely impossible.

In the Honkai Impact 3rd story, Raiden Ryoma, as an Executor of Anti-Entropy, had a daughter who knew nothing about the Honkai.

Twelve was also a number worth noting.

And Imperial Blades...

Kiana's eyes flickered. She took a deep breath, her tone softening: "So you're saying all of this was Uncle Raiden Ryoma's request? He told you not to let Mei find out?"

The Black-robed Figure nodded.

But Raiden Mei would eventually become one of them. In her eyes, Raiden Ryoma's wish to let Raiden Mei live a normal life a little longer was meaningless.

"Get down here!"

The Black-robed Figure paused. After a moment's thought, she jumped down from the tree, landing opposite Kiana, and studied the white-haired, blue-eyed girl whose physical ability was monstrous.

This girl had pink hair.

Up close, Kiana finally noticed her hair color. Connecting it to the familiar voice, a guess formed in her mind.

"I'm not Raiden Mei, so telling me the truth won't break your agreement with Uncle Raiden Ryoma, and it'll let me stop bothering you. Right?"

The Black-robed Figure nodded.

"My name is Kiana. First, tell me your name. That way I can trust you."

"...Sakura. Yae Sakura."

Chapter 5: Long Ago, the Eight Million Gods Descended Upon This World

Holy crap!

So you really are Yae Sakura!

Kiana tried not to show any cracks in her expression as she looked at Yae Sakura. "Now you can explain."

"Do you know of Kishin?"

Yae Sakura opened with a bombshell.

"K-Kishin?"

Kiana froze. Izumo, Imperial Blades, Kishin—if she still hadn't caught on, all her time playing games was wasted.

"Yes, Kishin."

Yae Sakura sensed she was strong and likely resilient enough not to have her will crushed by the truth, so she laid the world's reality bare.

She pointed at the celestial body in the sky that resembled the moon. "Up there, in a place we call Takama-ga-hara, dwell a horde of maddened Kishin."

"Long ago, the Eight Million Gods descended upon this world, slaughtering the living and bringing calamity to mankind. To save the world, Izumo mobilized its entire nation to fight them. After paying an unimaginably heavy price, they finally slew Tsumugari no Kami and forged the true World-Protecting Imperial Blades."

"From then on, Izumo set out on the path of reaping gods and protecting the world. A thousand years ago, with the help of the Blade Master who wielded the 'True' blade, deconstructing divine power to recreate miracles, and at the cost of all the Pioneers' lives, the remaining eleven gods were sealed away, buying Izumo time."

So this wasn't a Honkai parallel world.

It was...

Honkai: Star Rail?!

Yae Sakura drew the 'Narukami' from her waist as she spoke, gazing at its blade. "After slaying Tsumugari no Kami, Izumo forged eleven more unfinished Imperial Blades. The 'Narukami' enshrined at the Raiden family shrine is one of them."

"Though we have spent these thousand years trying to prevent the Evil Gods from breaking free and returning, the Blade Master of the 'True' blade has fallen, and no new suitable candidate has reached the heights of the first Blade Master. We can no longer stop their return."

"And to save Izumo from these Kishin, we must forge the complete set of twelve Imperial Blades!"

Kiana looked at the Narukami she had drawn, her emotions tangled. "So that abnormal thunder earlier..."

"Was Takemikazuchi." Yae Sakura gazed toward the horizon. "Retrieving the Resonating Blade also means we're about to set out to slay Takemikazuchi."

Kiana, who had planned to trick Yae Sakura into coming down and steal the blade, was a mess of confusion. She really hadn't expected the system to send her to Honkai: Star Rail.

And of all places, to Izumo, which had been swallowed by the Black General!

She looked up at that black sun.

So...

Was that the shadow of Nihility?

"So This Humble One is not a thief."

Yae Sakura earnestly defended herself again. She wasn't a thief. This blade was something Raiden Ryoma had entrusted her to retrieve, and taking it was to save Izumo.

"Only by killing Takemikazuchi with the Resonating Blade can it become a true World-Protecting Imperial Blade!"

This was Honkai: Star Rail.

So the Mei she knew... was she actually... Yomi?

Kiana hadn't absorbed a word of the explanation.

Yae Sakura thought she was just stunned by the truth. She sighed inwardly, but she could understand Kiana's feelings.

When she herself had first learned the truth, her reaction hadn't been much better than Kiana's. Back then, she had been just like the current Raiden Mei—guarding a shrine, enshrining the blade now hanging at her waist: 'Frost.'

"This Humble One has told you the truth. Since you now know it, This Humble One will take leave."

Yae Sakura sheathed the Resonating Blade, turned around, and prepared to continue on her way.