Sparring Partner (Continued)

So-called full transmission meant one had reached the realm of mastery and had thoroughly grasped every trick and secret of that school.

"Then how does the swordsmanship of your Yae family compare to Hokushin Ittō-ryū?"

Ming Yu still had the leisure to converse with the shrine maiden in his mind.

"...In terms of technical finesse, it cannot compare at all."

Yae Sakura answered honestly.

—As a shrine maiden who lived apart from the village, although she had never slackened in honing her swordsmanship, the lack of guidance from a renowned master meant her achievements in the sword were actually rather limited.

Those sword techniques of hers had all been honed and developed through her daily training, not inherited from any famous school.

Of course, although her swordsmanship was inferior to his opponent's, she could still tell just what level the other party had reached.

"And... this Herrscher is much easier to communicate with than I imagined."

Yae Sakura spoke silently.

As someone who had "fortunately" experienced firsthand what it was like to be controlled by a Herrscher's will, she understood that state of losing oneself better than anyone.

A Herrscher's will used overwhelming negative emotions to drown out the original host's sense of self, then replaced it.

She had originally prepared herself to fight the other party to the bitter end, but judging from the current situation, that resolve seemed somewhat unnecessary...

What she had thought would be a life-and-death battle had instead turned into a pure contest of swordsmanship.

Well, calling it a contest was not quite right either. Whether in strength or technique, Ming Yu was being completely overwhelmed.

With a casual flick of her blade, she could send him flying through a precise angle and carefully applied force.

Under such circumstances, Ming Yu soon met his defeat.

After being effortlessly knocked away by the girl once again, the pain accumulated throughout Ming Yu's body finally reached its limit.

"...So this is all you amount to."

The black-haired girl came to Ming Yu's side as he lay on the ground.

—He was still far too weak. In less than thirty seconds, he had been completely knocked to the ground.

If she wanted to kill him, she had had countless opportunities during their exchanges just now.

In any case... he seemed unable to continue fighting. What should she do now?

The girl who stood as the Herrscher of Thunder was somewhat at a loss.

Should she say something to show concern for him? No, she had yet to acknowledge that he was qualified to be her friend.

For a moment, she stood motionless beside Ming Yu, unsure what to do.

While the girl wrestled with herself, a thought flashed through Ming Yu's mind.

"...Rewind."

Although he had temporarily boosted his abilities through forced growth, he was still facing a Herrscher. Even if she was clearly not using her full strength, dealing with a rookie like him was more than easy enough.

Yet despite his defeat, Ming Yu was rather pleased.

—This was an exceptionally rare sparring partner and opportunity.

It was true that he wanted to change the future fate of this Herrscher of Thunder personality from now on, but Ming Yu also deeply understood that if he truly wanted to change anything, he needed power to match.

Whether it was Cocolia in the early stages, Otto in the middle and later stages, or Kevin at the very end...

If he wanted to stop them from doing anything, he needed the corresponding ability.

Therefore, even if it was not for those girls he knew so well, even if it was only for himself, Ming Yu hoped to improve his strength as quickly as possible.

His ability to cross swords with her now relied entirely on Yae Sakura temporarily possessing him, so it could not yet be considered his own power. However, he could firmly retain the memories and techniques of wielding a sword and make good use of them in the future.

In any case, for now, he would let her become his swordsmanship instructor.

He set the moment he first saw the girl as a save point and began practicing against her with swords over and over again.

As long as his mind could endure it, he intended to keep repeating it.

Second attempt: You lasted thirty-five seconds against the Herrscher of Thunder.

Third attempt: You lasted forty-two seconds against the Herrscher of Thunder.

Fourth attempt: You lasted one minute against the Herrscher of Thunder.

...

One hundred and ninety-eighth attempt: Your sword battle with the Herrscher of Thunder can now last over three minutes.

Relying solely on swordsmanship, she no longer poses a threat to you. So she begins using some of her authority, wielding a sword in one hand and summoning lightning with the other. Under the paralysis of the electric current, she easily knocks you to the ground once more.

So you begin squeezing the power of the shrine maiden possessing you—no, Higokumaru—to resist the lightning. Seizing this opportunity, you begin learning the techniques by which Herrschers control Honkai energy.

...

Three hundred and twenty-sixth attempt: On the premise that this is not a true fight to the death, you can now barely avoid falling into a disadvantage.

"..."

A few minutes later, the girl was extremely surprised by Ming Yu's persistence.

The way he responded to her swordsmanship was practically like that of a friend who had spent every day at her side.

It was as if he understood her fighting techniques extremely well and had fought her countless times before.

...Had she overlooked something in Raiden Mei's memories?

And... could it be that what he said before had not been lies?

The black-haired girl finally began to waver.

At heart, she longed very much to communicate with others. Friends, family... these were terms she had only seen in Raiden Mei's memories, yet she too wanted a share that belonged to her alone.

Perhaps because of that momentary wavering in her heart, the sword in her hand slowed by half a beat.

Having become incomparably familiar with Mei's swordsmanship, Ming Yu instinctively seized the opportunity. He suddenly raised his hand, drew his blade, and knocked the longsword from her hand.

The girl, having come back to her senses, also raised her hand and unleashed lightning, sending Spirit Blade: Sakura Snow flying from Ming Yu's grasp as well.

Even so, due to momentum, she was still accidentally tackled to the ground by Ming Yu.

"...All right, that's enough."

Seeing Ming Yu so close before her, she somehow felt guilty and turned her gaze away.

For the first time, she had the urge to return control of this body to Raiden Mei and hide away again.

Upon hearing her words, Ming Yu also breathed a sigh of relief.

His earlier guess had been correct. This Third Herrscher did not possess such intense aggression or destructive urges.

Otherwise, Kiana could not possibly have subdued her through battle in the original timeline.

Well, her temper was not great and she hit rather hard, but she was actually the relatively easy-to-handle type.

Just as Ming Yu was about to get up—

"Mei, I'm here to save you!"

A white-haired figure suddenly arrived on the rooftop.

—It was Kiana Kaslana, who had arrived late.

Perhaps because the battle between Ming Yu and the Herrscher of Thunder on the rooftop had drawn her attention, she had fought her way up here.

She charged forward wielding a baseball bat that bore quite a few marks from battle, only to happen upon the sight of Ming Yu pinning Mei to the ground.

The white-haired girl's already simple train of thought did not consider much: Mei was her schoolmate, while Ming Yu was a stranger she had never seen before.

Therefore, Kiana probably decided that he was the Herrscher responsible for this Honkai outbreak!

Nor was she making that judgment based solely on her own imagination. From Ming Yu, Kiana could indeed sense a power similar to that of a Herrscher.

In any case, since Mei was in trouble, she had to help. Kiana rushed forward and struck Ming Yu with her bat.

That blow carried genuine force—then again, as expected of someone from the Kaslana family, she possessed monstrous strength by nature.

Of course, Ming Yu would not be injured by a single blow. However, his body, already somewhat exhausted after the fierce battle just now, could no longer support itself and simply collapsed downward.

By sheer coincidence, brow to brow, eye to eye, nose to nose, lips... to lips.

"...!"

The black-haired girl's eyes immediately widened.

Ming Yu was equally dumbfounded. All he felt was something incredibly soft pressed against him, along with the warmth touching his lips.

—Well, for both the boy and the girl, this was probably their genuine first experience.

After a brief delay of several seconds, Kiana's cry of shock sounded from behind them:

"Eh... eh?!!!!!"

While the rooftop was in an uproar, a silver-haired girl arrived belatedly nearby.

She was Bronya.

—After taking a long detour, she had finally found her mission target here.

It turned out that Raiden Mei, the mission target she had been searching for, had never left Chiba Academy since the Honkai outbreak began.

However, she also noticed that aside from Raiden Mei, there seemed to be two other figures on the rooftop.

Through Project Bunny's remote observation, she confirmed that one of them was Ming Yu, the survivor she had encountered in the city not long ago, accompanied by a purple-haired little girl.

At the time, she had been certain that he was an entirely ordinary person with no combat capability. Yet now, the Honkai energy signal detection equipment installed on Project Bunny was feeding Bronya an exceptionally powerful signal.

"..."

Had he deceived her before? Was he not merely a survivor?

A method of disguise capable of fooling both Project Bunny's scans and her own observations...

That put Bronya somewhat on guard, and she did not immediately rush forward to capture her mission target.

As for the other white-haired girl... Bronya did not know her either, but she did not seem ordinary.

Facing three opponents alone was not a wise choice.

To be safe, she remained here for the moment and used the biological chip in her brain to contact her Mother Cocolia.

"...Reporting, Mother Cocolia. Bronya has located Raiden Mei."

The silver-haired girl calmly informed the blonde noblewoman on the other end of everything she had seen.

"Understood, Bronya. You were right not to rashly initiate an attack. I have also received an important piece of intelligence."

Cocolia's voice reached Bronya's mind.

"Schicksal's... St. Freya Academy's battleship will arrive in Changkong City shortly."

"..."

Bronya immediately realized what that meant.

If Schicksal's people arrived here, then taking Raiden Mei away from this place alone would be nothing more than a fantasy.

How could she possibly fight a battleship carrying a Valkyrie squad by herself?

But if she did not take Raiden Mei away here, Seele's return would remain far beyond reach.

At that thought, the tone in Bronya's communication with Cocolia became slightly more urgent.

"...Mother Cocolia, please permit Bronya to deploy immediately and retrieve Raiden Mei."

Even if the hope was slim, she was willing to try.

"No, you do not need to act now, Bronya. I have my own arrangements."

Cocolia calmly conveyed her plan to Bronya.

"I have already arranged for a tactical mech unit to head there. Compared with the Hyperion, they will arrive earlier. If all goes well, they can retrieve Raiden Mei before Schicksal arrives."

This batch of tactical mechs had originally been stationed at the edge of Changkong City by her order, ready to respond at any time.

Although Bronya was very strong, Cocolia was still somewhat uneasy about entrusting the task of retrieving Raiden Mei entirely to her, so she had prepared some backup measures.

"...What if it does not go well?"