One-Punch Man

"Take it back and offer it as a sacrifice or keep it in your collection, but whatever you do, don't use it."

Seeing her stare at the blade Yae Sakura had given her, Sirin opened her mouth in astonishment and came over to remind her.

"Normally, a Cursed Sword is made by first hunting down a powerful Kishin, then using it to kill weaker Kishin and turn them into nourishment for the powerful one. Although this also worsens the corrosion of the human body, a Cursed Sword forged this way is still controllable."

Sirin left Yae Sakura to explain things to Raiden Mei. After all, Yae Sakura had been listening from the side during the meeting.

She knew no less than Sirin did.

"I don't know how many Kishin she killed with this blade, but I do know she didn't take it from the Command Center. So this blade definitely wasn't forged by the conventional method."

There hadn't been any reports of high-level Kishin in the vicinity at the time, so Yae Sakura had most likely used a mid-level Kishin to christen the blade, then killed quite a few Kishin of the same level in a short period.

"There's actually that much to it?" Kiana's face was full of shock. "It's so troublesome. Doesn't that mean the number of usable blades you have is pitifully small?"

"Exactly. If not for that restriction, after Izumo had fought these invaders from Takama-ga-hara for a thousand years, the number of Cursed Swords accumulated wouldn't be small even without counting the blades that had worn down to the point of breaking. The Blade Masters could gather more than a million people just by rounding up whoever was available."

"You've probably heard Yae Sakura mention the story of the 'Eight Million Gods of Takama-ga-hara,' right? The Eight Million Gods doesn't mean that Takama-ga-hara invaded Izumo with that many Kishin. It means there were countless of them."

"Tch. There are also people who willingly degenerate into Kishin, and people corrupted and corrupted by the power of Kishin. In any case, we've been killing these things for a thousand years without wiping them out. Every so often, some annoying fellow appears, forcing me to run around everywhere."

"But as long as we subjugate all Twelve Oni Gods, Izumo should be able to completely put an end to this Kishin disaster."

Sirin looked somewhat more spirited when she said this.

"...Why do you say that?"

"That's what the pioneers left behind." Sirin casually explained it to Kiana. "As long as we kill the twelve strongest Kishin, we'll be able to drive all the invaders back to Takama-ga-hara."

"So you all believe that once the Twelve Oni Gods are completely slain, Izumo will have won, is that it?"

"I know what you want to say, but think about it. If we can successfully subjugate even the twelve strongest Kishin, what waves could those remaining weaklings possibly make?"

"..."

That was true.

But Izumo's true enemies weren't limited to Takama-ga-hara. There was also the shadow that had already enveloped Izumo.

We held hope for tomorrow in our hands, and victory after victory was ours.

Until—they were all broken.

For some reason, Kiana suddenly remembered these two lines from Yomi's PV.

"Why are you making that face?"

Sirin looked puzzled as she leaned closer and stared at Kiana's pursed lips.

"Isn't that how it is?"

"What if I said they weren't the end, but rather..."

"I know. You're going to say Honkai, right?" Sirin slapped her forehead. She had momentarily forgotten about that. "But don't worry about it too much. If we can defeat the Kishin, Honkai naturally won't be a problem either. If we can't even defeat the Kishin, then worrying too much about Honkai will only give us more trouble."

No. I'm worried about the Void. Once you're infected, there's no escape. Wherever you are, you'll only sink deeper and deeper.

"Enough, let's not talk about this. I brought everything I promised you. Come on, let's go outside. I'll give it all to you."

"Okay!"

Hearing that Sirin had brought all the things she wanted most, Kiana's eyes lit up, and she put the Void aside.

There's still time until then.

Right now, the most important thing is to strengthen myself and hurry up so I can become One-Punch Man.

She had thought it through long ago. Becoming One-Punch Man was currently the most cost-effective choice for her.

Kiana happily followed Sirin out of the shrine and into the open space outside. Mei merely glanced over before continuing her unfinished conversation with Yae Sakura.

After Yae Sakura's detailed explanation, Mei now understood what kind of organization the Demon Slaying Blade Masters were and what "her decision," which she had heard from the others yesterday, actually meant.

Kiana was right. Miss Yae really was a pretty good person.

Chapter 63: One-Punch Man

Sirin casually drew the Edict Blade through the air, slicing open a circular spatial rift. The swords piled inside poured out as the exit opened.

The metallic clashing of weapons rang out without end.

By the time the spatial rift closed, a small mountain of blades and swords had piled up in front of her.

"Looks like quite a lot, but most of these are low-quality Cursed Swords. They aren't worth much."

"...That's way too many!"

Kiana truly hadn't expected Sirin to give her such an enormous gift.

After receiving the gift Yae Sakura had given her, she had assumed Sirin's gift would be a similar Cursed Sword.

But thinking about it, this made sense.

On the fourth day, where could Sirin have found a Cursed Sword worth five hundred thousand Honkai Crystals for her?

"Ahem, I was just clearing out my inventory." Sirin was a little embarrassed, but still asked, "Can't you sacrifice them all at once?"

"...I can."

Kiana used the recycling function to select the pile of blades and swords before her, successfully selecting all the Cursed Swords.

Fortunately, she didn't have to do it one at a time.

Otherwise, it would have taken forever.

"You really don't want any of them?" Before the final recycling, Kiana reminded Sirin again. "I haven't checked the abilities of these Cursed Swords. Once I sacrifice them, I won't be able to get them back."

"Go ahead and sacrifice them."

Everything here was for clearing out inventory. Most were the lowest-grade, inferior Cursed Swords, while a small number had killed so many Kishin that their curses had accumulated to the point where no one could use them anymore.

As for their total value...

[All-quality Cursed Swords (324) recycled. You obtained 637,200 Honkai Crystals. Honkai Crystals can be exchanged for items in the shop]

How much?

Staring at the final number, Kiana froze slightly, then looked at Sirin. "Did you make a mistake? There's almost one hundred and forty thousand extra."

"One hundred and forty thousand? Hmm... Is that the currency after sacrificing them?" Sirin thought for a moment before saying, "I didn't know whether the Kishin power within the Cursed Swords had deteriorated, so I brought some extra Cursed Swords."

"...That's way too much extra!"

"It's fine. The excess can just—"

"Stop!" Kiana hurriedly made a stopping gesture. "I've already taken a huge advantage from you. Let's count the extra as payment for you buying equipment from me."

Seeing Sirin shake her head, Kiana didn't wait for her to refuse. She grabbed her and headed inside, saying as they walked, "Come to my room. I'll find some paper and a pen and write down the equipment I can buy for you. You can choose from it."

During this time, she had carefully considered what kind of equipment to buy. The variety couldn't be too broad, and she was also limited by her lack of funds. At most, she could choose equipment with a four-star limit, while most of it would be one- or two-star equipment.

Kiana dragged Sirin along like a gust of wind, rushing inside and then farther in. When Mei saw Kiana's figure appear, her gaze involuntarily followed her until she disappeared.

Seeing this, Yae Sakura couldn't help sighing. "You care about Kiana very much too."

What do you mean, 'too'?

Mei frowned slightly. For some reason, she felt uncomfortable, and her favorable impression of Yae Sakura dropped a little. "She's the most important person in my life. Of course I care about her. But Miss Yae, you've only met Kiana once, haven't you?"

"What I mean is that you care about her just as she cares about you. That's wonderful."

"...Why do you say that?"

Why was Yae Sakura so concerned about this?

"Perhaps because..." Yae Sakura thought for a moment, then answered honestly, "I envy you."

"Envy me?"

Mei couldn't understand what Yae Sakura meant. She felt that her life had been a complete mess before she met Kiana.

"Yes. Even though she no longer had the ability to keep fighting, she still stood up, and then stood up again, all just to help her friend reclaim what belonged to her and allow you to contact your father again. She didn't fear death or pain. With the determination to never give up no matter what, she stopped me when I wanted to leave."

Yae Sakura said earnestly, "It was her spirit that moved me, so I wanted to make a promise with her."

Mei: "..."

Meanwhile.

After returning to her room, Kiana found paper and a pen, then excitedly opened the shop and began her shopping spree with her fortune of 637,000.

--Knights Don't Die Unarmed!

Buy!

[Knights Don't Die Unarmed (★★☆☆)

Special Effects:

--Unarmed Damage Increase: Increases unarmed attack damage by 82 times

--Enhanced Increase: Increases the V-Pattern weapon damage increase effect by 60%]

--Savior's Insignia!

Buy!

[Savior's Insignia (★★★★☆)

Special Effects:

--Honkai Unleashed: Continuously attacking enemies increases all damage dealt, up to a maximum increase of 100%

--One-Punch Man: Increases unarmed attack damage by 600 times, increases range by 80%, and restores 100% of current weapon ammunition]

Honkai Crystals -110,000.

Kiana stared at the insignia for a while, thought it over, and maxed out all the stars on the insignia.

Total Honkai Crystals -230,000. More than 400,000 of the funds Sirin had given her remained.

She had also specifically searched for "Meeting You," but unfortunately, the shop didn't stock that insignia. This also made her realize that not all game equipment was available for purchase here.

She lamented it inwardly.

"I can provide all of these. I wrote the prices on them too."

Kiana handed the paper she had filled out to Sirin, her barely concealed eagerness shining in her eyes.

She felt terrifyingly strong now.

As for Sirin's gift, Kiana had actually already decided what she wanted, but her eyes happened to land on an interesting item in the equipment section.

"Sirin, do you want to become a magical girl?"

Sirin, who had grown increasingly astonished while reading the paper Kiana had written, heard something incredible and couldn't help shifting her attention away from the equipment.

"What?"

"A magical girl!" Kiana repeated, excitedly gesturing as she tried to make Sirin understand. "The kind of magical girl who can wave a staff and cast magic."

"Huh?"

Sirin almost thought she had misheard. She looked at Kiana suspiciously, but saw no sign of a joke on her face—only excitement and burning anticipation.

Sirin fell silent.

How should she put it? Her feelings were somewhat complicated. She was happy that Kiana thought she resembled a magical girl, but to make her act like the ones on television...

She shook her head rapidly. "I have an Edict Blade. You should keep this kind of thing for yourself."

She couldn't even imagine pulling out a magic wand and transforming in front of all her comrades.

Just thinking about it made her want to die of embarrassment.

"All right."

Kiana bought V-Pattern: Knight's Experience. All she wanted was the line on the insignia that increased melee weapon damage by 100%.

Just as Sirin had said, she already had an Edict Blade, and her combat system had taken shape. What suited her best was this kind of simple, brutal damage increase.

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