I Am In Izumo, Making Honkai Great Again

It's great that you could be by my side...

"It's all part of what I should do," Kiana said, feeling a little embarrassed as her hands were held and thanked.

Mei shook her head. "Kiana, no matter what the future holds, I'll always stay by your side."

Hearing her own words echoed back by someone else, Kiana realized just how impactful her impulsive statement had been.

No wonder Mei had fallen silent when she heard it.

"...Mm! We'll always be together."

If we leave, we leave together. If we stay, we stay together. Kiana couldn't help but think to herself.

Her negative emotions gone, Mei relaxed and smiled, looking at the blushing Kiana. After a moment, she noticed that she and Kiana seemed to be more than just friends.

What kind of friends hold hands while talking and say they'll always be together?

What's the difference between this and a confession?

Mei, realizing this belatedly, also blushed. However, her composure, honed by experience, held. She didn't let go of Kiana's hands or pull away as if startled.

Instead, she pretended nothing was amiss and said, "I hope Miss Yae knows Miss Sirin. I know you really want to hear news about her."

"...No, that's not it."

Kiana's face turned even redder. Was she that obvious? She wasn't... Okay, maybe a little. The more she thought about her dream of being a superhero, the more her heart fluttered, and the more impatient she became.

"Sirin, Sirin should make a move in the next few days. I believe she'll be preparing the reward for the treatment as soon as she gets back."

It just needs a little time.

After all, others who kill Oni Gods can't refuse the invasion of curses, turning their power into a convenient, portable crystal.

She understood the logic, but impatience and longing were unavoidable. She wasn't anxious, she was anticipating!

Seeing Kiana's face show complete trust in Sirin, Mei couldn't help but ask, "Preparing it immediately upon returning? That seems unlikely. News of the Honkai is more important, and haven't you only met Sirin twice?"

"We've only met twice, but we hit it off. And about the Honkai, the Honkai matter is important, but I also believe she won't go back on her word and will take my business seriously. It's my intuition."

"Intuition, huh..."

What a convenient explanation.

But wasn't Kiana a bit too trusting?

Chapter 61: You Shouldn't Have Acted Against Kiana

It wasn't that she had a problem with Sirin.

It was just that the priority of a debt was clearly lower than a Honkai disaster.

If she had to guess, Mei thought Sirin would still be investigating the Honkai's traces and its impact.

After investigating everything, she would then return to Kiana with the payment, and perhaps ask for more information related to the Honkai.

That's what a normal person would do.

But Sirin was clearly not a normal person.

So, half an hour later, she found a purple-haired girl at the shrine, uninvited. And accompanying her was another girl with cherry-pink hair, wearing a black robe very similar in style to the one Tanaka Nao wore.

"Kiana, I've come to see you."

Upon entering the shrine and seeing the two of them, Sirin walked straight towards Kiana and greeted her.

"And Raiden Mei. It's been a few days, do you have any urgent business with me?"

"Sirin? Yae Sakura? What are you two doing here? Could it be..."

Kiana's eyes widened in surprise as she saw them. She had just been thinking Sirin would take a few more days to come find her.

She hadn't expected her to show up today.

And with Yae Sakura, no less.

With Yae Sakura...

Right, Sirin had mentioned Yae Sakura to her before. They knew each other.

So, when Yae Sakura had told Mei to wait just now, it wasn't because she was busy, but because they were on their way and would meet directly later?

"Of course, I'm here to fulfill my promise." Sirin turned to Yae Sakura again and said, "This one said she had a promise to meet you again, so she came along."

"Kiana, it's been a long time." Yae Sakura entered the shrine, no longer hiding, and took off her hood. "I've returned alive."

Mei: "???"

Ignoring Mei, Kiana became the center of attention. Question marks seemed to float above Mei's head. This person was Yae Sakura, who had come with Sirin.

That was surprising enough for Mei.

What was even more surprising was the phrase, "I've returned alive"?

Had something happened between her and Kiana that she didn't know about?

"Welcome back." Kiana heard her and reached out a hand in her direction, offering a friendly smile. "Then we're friends from now on."

Sirin tutted, and before Yae Sakura could get close, she grabbed Kiana's hand and pulled it over.

"I'm your friend too, why aren't you reaching out to me?"

Kiana looked bewildered. "But weren't we already friends before?"

"Then why didn't you reach out before?"

It was because the atmosphere was right.

Since Yae Sakura had said that, she couldn't just nod with a smile, could she? That would be too cold.

This fox clearly cares.

"We met someone from your group yesterday, and she told me you relayed my decision to the Command Center," Mei walked up to Kiana and stared at Sirin. "May I ask what decision it was?"

"It's a decision that's beneficial to you, of course."

Seeing Mei's expression, Sirin dropped the pretense, releasing Kiana and putting her hands on her hips, speaking sarcastically. "Young people these days are so ungrateful. If I had a senior helping me back then, I wouldn't be in this mess now."

Mei, however, paid no mind to Sirin's sarcasm and merely glanced at Kiana.

Kiana thought Mei wanted her to ask, so she tugged on Sirin's sleeve and asked, "So what exactly is this help? Let's get our stories straight."

"It's indeed a good thing for Sirin." Yae Sakura suddenly joined the conversation, looking at Mei with some guilt in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Miss Raiden, for taking Narukami away without your permission earlier."

"You don't need to apologize to me; it was my father who asked you to do it." Mei's first sentence responded to Yae Sakura's apology, but her tone shifted drastically in the next. "But why did you injure Kiana? And in such a cruel way?"

Kiana, watching from the side, was startled. She hadn't expected to be mentioned. She widened her eyes slightly, looking at Mei, then at Yae Sakura.

"Mei, no, it's not her fault. She tried to persuade me to give up for a long time, but I didn't want to, so I kept pestering her and even ambushed her, which is why she had no choice but to act."

That fox did hit hard, and it hurt for a long time, but it wasn't entirely Yae Sakura's fault.

Yae Sakura didn't want to fight at first.

Mei held out a hand to stop her, her voice suppressing a chill. "I know. That's why I'm asking, why did you do it in such a cruel way?"

"Stop defending her." Sirin, never one to shy away from trouble, put her hand on Kiana's shoulder and pulled her closer, saying gleefully, "Who makes friends by beating people up first? And I want to be friends with you, do you agree?"

Kiana slapped Sirin's hand away. "Don't cause trouble. It's not like you said."

However, Yae Sakura nodded very seriously, looking at Kiana with apologetic eyes. "It was indeed my fault."

"Why are you like this too?" Kiana put her hand on her forehead. "You apologized back then, and it was me who pushed my luck and ambushed you. You only had no choice but to slap me when Narukami was almost taken back by me."

Just that one hit.

Yae Sakura only moved once, and it hurt so much Kiana wished she didn't have that hand. Fortunately, the intense pain didn't last long, otherwise, she really would have cursed Yae Sakura eight hundred times.

"The apology back then wasn't very sincere, and I also said at the time that if I could return alive, I would formally apologize to you and Miss Raiden."

Besides the promise of friendship, she was also here to apologize.

"Also... I failed your trust." Yae Sakura bowed to Kiana. "I didn't manage to persuade him as I promised."

"This..."

Kiana glanced cautiously at Mei. Of course, she knew Yae Sakura was referring to Raiden Ryoma contacting Mei.

"Are you referring to my father replying to me? You don't need to apologize to me or Kiana for this. The day after Narukami was stolen, the Thunder Calamity broke out."

Mei also knew about this.

Kiana had told her about it that day, and after hearing it, Mei had even wondered if her father would come back or contact her.

"He's very stubborn, and it's normal that you couldn't persuade him. I don't care that Narukami was taken, nor do I care that he didn't contact me."

Knowing her father's whereabouts and that he was alive, Mei no longer cared much about it.

"You shouldn't have been so harsh on Kiana."

"...I understand, and I've always felt guilty about it. I'm very sorry, Kiana. I was inconsiderate when I acted back then, and I must have caused you a lot of trouble?"

Did this whole thing blow up too much?

Kiana quickly waved her hands. "Then I'll say it again, I've already forgiven you, so please don't worry about it anymore."

"You've forgiven me, but I haven't forgiven myself. The harm has already been done. I was in a hurry to leave, and my actions were too harsh..." Yae Sakura paused and then continued, "Sirin mentioned that you wanted to collect Demon Blades, so I took the opportunity these past two days to hunt a group of Oni Gods with other swords and forged this Demon Blade. I hope you can accept it as a gift to apologize."

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Nuances of Sword Forging

"...There's no need for this."

She hadn't expected Yae Sakura to come with Sirin. Apart from the day they met, when she'd grumbled a few times about how hard Yae Sakura had hit her, she hadn't thought about this person again.

Looking at the swords on her, Yae Sakura definitely wouldn't have sent anything before Amatsuyu.

"I hope you can accept it."

Yae Sakura took off one of the extra swords she was carrying and handed it to Kiana.

Kiana had initially thought she was carrying two swords, and the other would be Narukami, which she was returning.

She hadn't expected it to be a gift for her.

"I accept, but please don't bring this up again. If you promise, I'll take it."

It's hard to say, but because of the endless pestering, she ended up being pinned to the ground by someone, which is a bit of a dark history.

Whenever someone brought it up, she would awkwardly recall what happened that day, and her own powerlessness.

From her perspective, Yae Sakura only made a move to subdue her because she was fed up with her pestering.

"No problem."

Kiana breathed a sigh of relief, accepted the gift Yae Sakura offered as an apology, and glanced at Mei's reaction.

Mei nodded at her.

Even if it was a sincere apology, she wouldn't hold onto it. Kiana was being too aggressive because she wanted to see Yae Sakura's reaction, to know if she had done it intentionally.

Kiana was too easily deceived.

She didn't want Kiana to trust people she shouldn't and get hurt.

"Then let's continue talking about that 'decision'," she said.

It was as if they were turning over a new leaf, disregarding the stolen sword and all the subsequent events.

[Demon Blade (A+): A demon blade forged at the cost of fifty-six Oni Gods' lives. The power within the blade is conflicting and mixed, causing a 10x erosion effect on the wielder during use.

Special Effects: Hundred Oni (This blade can contain the power of one hundred Oni Gods, with each Oni God providing a 5% damage bonus), Entwine (Unleash the curse within the blade, temporarily boosting all attributes by 300%. During the boost effect, the erosion effect doubles, and the wielder continuously suffers from curse erosion.)]

[Recycle: There are losses in the fusion process of multiple powers. Recycling this equipment will only yield 38,000 Honkai energy crystals.]

Just looking at the stats, this weapon seemed pretty good. With its effects fully utilized, it could provide a 500% bonus, followed by an additional 300% boost to all attributes.

But upon closer inspection.

Good heavens, a 10x erosion effect, which doubles to 20x when the active skill is used.

How many people could withstand such an outrageous negative effect?