The Blade Thief-Yae Sakura! / Long Ago, the Eight Million Gods Descended Upon This World

With mixed feelings, she slightly trembled as she opened the letter and saw the words written for her.

The letter was not long. There was no concern for her, nor any explanation of where he had gone or why he had taken Narukami. There was only a cold warning.

Do not investigate where he went or what he did. As his daughter, all you need to do is guard this shrine.

Her feelings were difficult to describe.

Ever since she could remember, her father had been stern and aloof. Her mother had died of illness when she was very young. Her father had been the one to introduce her to swordsmanship. When she was little, he had taught her Hokushin Itto-ryu. Before she was even able to look after herself, he had often left her to stay with other families while he traveled alone to distant places to challenge dojos, frequently disappearing for months at a time.

Whenever he returned for a reunion, there was never any joy on his face. In her eyes, her father had always been silent and stern.

Because they spent so little time together, and because she rarely received praise or a smile from him, Mei had resented her father before he disappeared. Their relationship had never been particularly close.

But no matter what, he was still her father. Deep down, Mei had always believed that he simply did not know how to express himself, and that he loved her.

But this letter...

Tears rolled down her cheeks and fell onto the letter in her hands. Raiden Mei's body trembled slightly. "Why? Why, when you've already returned, are you unwilling to see me or say goodbye?"

Chapter 4: The Blade Thief—Yae Sakura!

"Damn thief!"

Kiana blamed herself for the theft of Narukami. In her eyes, if she had obediently practiced with Mei at the shrine today, Narukami would never have been stolen.

After all, Raiden Mei was a renowned swordsmanship prodigy, and anyone bold enough to steal the enshrined Narukami from a shrine was no ordinary person.

She had to make amends.

She had to catch the thief and bring her back!

There were only two roads leading out of the shrine. One led to the streets—the road they had just taken. The other was a small path leading outside the city. Without giving it much thought, Kiana took the more secluded route.

There was a good chance she would find nothing by chasing after the thief now, but after walking only a short distance, Kiana spotted someone in a black cloak whose gender was impossible to make out.

Dressed in black in broad daylight and wrapped up so tightly that nothing could be seen.

That was obviously not a good person.

"Stop!"

The figure stood beneath a cherry tree. Without thinking twice, Kiana charged forward.

If she was not the thief, Kiana would apologize.

The Black-robed Figure beneath the cherry tree heard the shout and turned to glance at the white-haired girl running toward her. Her brows drew together slightly beneath the brim of her hat.

Raiden Mei hadn't come?

...Forget it.

The Black-robed Figure had no intention of speaking with Kiana. Moving as lightly as a swallow, she leaped several times and covered more than ten meters, preparing to leave.

"Is that Narukami?! You damn thief!"

When the Black-robed Figure moved, the wind lifted her cloak, revealing the two blades hanging from her waist.

Kiana instantly flew into a rage.

"Give Mei's Narukami back!"

Although this world had no Honkai energy, her physical abilities were still far beyond those of ordinary people.

There was only one thought in Kiana's mind: she could not let this despicable thief take the shrine's Narukami right under her nose!

She had to stop her!

She's caught up?

The Black-robed Figure frowned and sped up, trying to shake off this girl who was not part of her plans. But Kiana's full-speed sprint was hardly slower than hers.

This girl's movements are incredibly agile.

Could she also be a human who has undergone Oniification?

After several attempts failed to shake off the girl relentlessly pursuing her, the Black-robed Figure leaped onto a large tree and stopped to face Kiana.

"Run, go on! You're so capable, so keep running!" Kiana took several breaths, but she still had plenty of strength left. Her eyes remained fixed on the woman standing on the branch.

From the front, her gender was obvious, and Kiana could even see her face. Although her clothing was strange, it did not cover her face.

She was beautiful.

Just from her looks, she was no less attractive than Mei.

"Give Narukami back!"

Even a beautiful woman was still a despicable thief!

Two blades hung at the Black-robed Figure's waist. One was made of something resembling ice crystals, which Kiana did not recognize. The other was Narukami, enshrined at Mei's family shrine.

"You already have a blade, yet you still sneak into a shrine and steal its enshrined Narukami! You shameless woman!"

The Black-robed Figure remained silent.

She studied Kiana, trying to find traces of Oniification on the girl. But there were none. She was not one of them.

She had not been corrupted by the Kishin.

She was a pure human.

"I am not a thief." Unable to shake the girl off, she could only explain, "I was merely entrusted by someone to take it to the place where it belongs."

"The place where it belongs is the shrine!" Kiana angrily pointed at the blade hanging from her waist. "And besides, taking something without asking is stealing!"

The Black-robed Figure shook her head. "This Resonating Blade does not belong to the Raiden Family. The Raiden Family was merely keeping it in their care."

"You say it doesn't, so it doesn't? That blade has been enshrined at the shrine for hundreds of years!" Kiana steadied her breathing and stared at the blade at the woman's waist, warning her again. "Give me the blade!"

The Black-robed Figure reached toward the twin blades at her waist and said, "As early as a thousand years ago, twelve blades, including the Resonating Blade, already existed, though they had yet to be forged. They were destined to become Edict Blades, awaiting the day they would be completed. You need not worry. Everything I have said is true."

"I don't care about any of that! Give me the blade!" Kiana made it clear she understood none of this. All she wanted was to bring the blade back to the shrine and hand it to Mei.

Whatever Edict Blades or destiny meant, she could think about that after retrieving the blade.

The Black-robed Figure sighed at her stubbornness. The power wielded by the Blade Masters was meant to strike down the Kishin.

She would not draw her blade against this girl.

"What if this blade's fate concerns the survival of all Izumo?"

Kiana froze.

Seeing that her words had worked, the Black-robed Figure continued, "And as I said, I was entrusted by someone to take the Resonating Blade away. What you call taking without asking is not actually the case. The person who asked me to come for the Resonating Blade was Mr. Raiden Ryoma himself."

Even though Mei had never told her father's name, Kiana knew there was a ninety percent chance that his name was Raiden Ryoma.

Mei's father wanted to take the Resonating Blade?

"Don't try to fool me. If he really asked you to take Narukami, why didn't you come while Mei was at the shrine and ask her for it directly? Why steal it and run away like a thief?"

The Black-robed Figure was silent for a moment before shaking her head. "That was Mr. Raiden Ryoma's request. He did not want Miss Raiden Mei to learn too much about us."

It was a very unreasonable explanation, but if it was Raiden Ryoma, Kiana felt that it was not impossible.

In the story of Honkai Impact 3rd, Raiden Ryoma had been an agent of Anti-Entropy, yet his daughter knew nothing about Honkai.

Twelve was also a number worth paying attention to.

And then there were the Edict Blades...

Kiana's eyes flickered. She took a deep breath and softened her tone. "You're saying all of this was Uncle Raiden Ryoma's request? That he didn't want you to let Mei find out?"

The Black-robed Figure nodded.

But Raiden Mei would become one of them sooner or later. In her eyes, Raiden Ryoma's wish to let Mei live as an ordinary person a little longer was meaningless.

"Come down!"

The Black-robed Figure paused. After a moment's thought, she jumped from the tree and landed opposite Kiana, studying the white-haired, blue-eyed girl whose physical abilities were monstrous.

This woman actually had pink hair.

It was only at close range that Kiana noticed the woman's hair color. Combined with the familiar quality of her voice, it gave Kiana an idea.

"I'm not Raiden Mei, so telling me the truth won't violate your agreement with Uncle Raiden Ryoma. It'll also reassure me and stop me from pestering you. Am I right?"

The Black-robed Figure nodded.

"My name is Kiana. Tell me your name first. Then I'll be able to trust you."

"...Sakura. Yae Sakura."

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

No way!

You really are Yae Sakura!

Kiana did her best not to show any sign of recognition as she looked at Yae Sakura. "You can explain now."

"Do you know about the Kishin?"

Yae Sakura opened with a bombshell.

"Ki—Kishin?"

Kiana was completely stunned. Izumo, Edict Blades, Kishin—if she still had not figured it out, then all the games she had played would have been for nothing.

"Yes, the Kishin."

Yae Sakura felt that she was fairly capable and probably had a strong capacity to accept the truth. She would not be crushed by it. Thus, she frankly revealed the truth of the world.

She pointed to the celestial body in the sky that resembled the moon and said, "There, in the place we call Takama-ga-hara, there is a group of mad Kishin."

"Long ago, the Eight Million Gods descended upon this world, slaughtering its people and bringing disaster to mankind. To save the world, Izumo fought them with the strength of the entire nation. After paying an extremely heavy price, we finally slew Tsumugari no Kami and forged the World-Protecting Imperial Blade—'Truth'!"

"From then on, Izumo embarked on the path of slaying gods and protecting the world. A thousand years ago, with the help of the Blade Master who wielded 'Truth'—who deconstructed divine power and recreated divine miracles—and at the cost of every Pioneer sacrificing themselves, we banished the remaining eleven gods and won Izumo time."

So this isn't a Honkai parallel world.

But...

Honkai: Star Rail?!

As she spoke, Yae Sakura drew Narukami from her waist and gazed at its blade. "After slaying Tsumugari no Kami, Izumo forged eleven more incomplete Edict Blades. The Narukami enshrined at the Raiden Family shrine is one of them."

"Although we have spent the past thousand years preventing the Evil Gods from escaping and returning, the Blade Master of 'Truth' sacrificed herself, and no new successor has been able to reach the height of the first Blade Master. We can no longer stop their return.

"And if we want to save Izumo from these Kishin, we must forge all twelve Edict Blades in their complete form!"

Kiana watched her pull out Narukami with complicated feelings. "So the strange thunder earlier..."

"It was Takemikazuchi." Yae Sakura looked toward the horizon. "We took the Resonating Blade because we are about to set out to subjugate Takemikazuchi."

Kiana, who had intended to trick Yae Sakura into climbing down and then seize the blade, was thrown into turmoil. She genuinely had not expected the system to send her to Honkai: Star Rail.

To Izumo, which had been swallowed by the Black General!

She looked up at the black sun.

So...

That is the shadow of Nihility?

"So I am not a thief."

Yae Sakura earnestly explained herself once more. She was not a thief. Raiden Ryoma had asked her to take the blade, and she had taken it to save Izumo.

"Only by using the Resonating Blade to kill Takemikazuchi can the Resonating Blade become a true World-Protecting Imperial Blade!"

This was Honkai: Star Rail.

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

Kiana had not taken in a single word of the explanation.

Yae Sakura thought the truth had frightened her. She sighed inwardly, though she could understand Kiana's feelings.

When she had first learned the truth, her reaction had been no better than Kiana's. In the past, she had been just like Raiden Mei was now, guarding a shrine that enshrined the Frost currently hanging at her waist.

"I have told you everything I know. Now that you know the truth, I shall take my leave."

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