Lightning Empress

Yae Shrine, Tenshukaku.

"Jingzhe, I need your help with my training!"

The declaration was forceful and resounding. Even with Jingzhe's composure, she suddenly wanted to turn around and run.

But she still came.

She staked the pride of a Dali Temple official on it: once she accepted someone's favor, she could no longer remain impartial in judgment. Any debt of gratitude had to be repaid on the spot, or it would disrupt her state of mind and naturally disqualify her from serving as a Dali Temple official.

Jingzhe could not back down.

Besides, she was prepared. After so many years at Dali Temple, what storms had she not weathered?

Too young!

Brimming with confidence, she sat down and let Hoshino reach out, lift her heavy hood, and reveal dreamlike qilin horns and a head of crackling hair.

Jingzhe looked like a divine beast with its fur standing on end.

She did not try to hide it. In Jingzhe's mind, her identity was no secret to the shrine maiden; it should have been exposed long ago.

Sure enough, Hoshino did not look surprised in the slightest.

Without a word, she gently stroked upward along Jingzhe's hair roots, caressing her coral-like horns. Crackling sounds arose where her palm touched, and Jingzhe's soft pink hair puffed up, making her look like a ferocious fox.

Electric charge flowed from Jingzhe's body into hers, like some strange, wondrous rhythm.

Hoshino nodded.

"Shock me."

"Huh?"

"Don't hesitate. Go ahead and shock me."

Some wire in Jingzhe's head must have gotten crossed. She had never heard such an absurd request, absurd enough that she thought she had misheard.

Jingzhe blinked. "Are you sure you really want this?"

"Hurry up."

This was not her trying to act cute, but a lingering habit from work—something like a disclaimer. Jingzhe let out a breath of relief, her eyes widening as bright yellow light coursed over her body.

Hoshino felt a faint prickling sensation, followed by a burning pain.

The voltage was around 18V.

It seemed Jingzhe had still held back instinctively.

That was probably an occupational habit of Dali Temple officials. During interrogations, they kept their targets alive because the goal was questioning, not killing the criminal outright.

A chime rang in her ear.

The Lightning-element character, Lightning Empress's Lightning Empress, was unlocking.

Ummmmm.

Hoshino felt strangely conflicted. The characters she had unlocked before were all A-rank; this was her first time unlocking an S-rank character. Yet the character's power seemed unrelated to their strength in the game, and instead had much more to do with the story.

This system had felt slapdash ever since it started handing out missions.

Lightning Empress was unlocking.

But the voltage was too low. Even though Hoshino's hand had already touched Jingzhe's qilin horn, the progress remained agonizingly slow.

She was unwilling to accept that.

Hoshino wanted to pull a stunt.

In her view, the slow progress was because Jingzhe was not putting her all into the discharge. To make her cast aside the restraint of a Dali Temple official, she needed to give her a powerful emotional shock and plunge her into sudden panic.

"Jingzhe."

"?"

A shadow suddenly fell over Jingzhe's vision. The shrine maiden released her grip on the qilin horn and threw herself forward. Completely unprepared, Jingzhe was knocked to the ground by the sudden attack.

"?"

"??"

"??????"

Dark clouds blanketed the skies above Yae Shrine, oppressive and heavy. Thunder roared with tremendous force, as if Takemikazuchi himself had descended.

BOOM!

"Why would you suddenly do something like that?!"

Jingzhe shoved Hoshino away and instinctively tried to perform CPR on her, just as she had done for everyone struck by lightning in the past. Those who controlled lightning were the most adept at this form of treatment; practice made perfect.

But this time, Jingzhe's medical skills had no effect.

Hoshino rolled over and spat out a mouthful of black smoke. Her soft pink hair had completely fluffed up, but she was still full of life and apparently unharmed.

"Thank you."

What exactly are you thanking me for?

Her face was covered in soot, so after saying thanks, Hoshino ran off to wash her face.

After a while, Hoshino returned gracefully. Her face was clean as new, the excess charge had all been discharged, and her hair was once again as sleek and smooth as before.

Under the stimulation of that powerful shock, the new character had been unlocked almost instantly.

Lightning Empress's Lightning Empress.

The armor gleamed brilliantly within the system, flashing like a newly released Kamen Rider upgrade armor waiting for Hoshino to select it.

She thanked Jingzhe again.

"Thanks."

"Don't be like that. Please act normal. You're scaring me."

With her hood removed, Jingzhe seemed to have gained a trace of human warmth, no longer as stern and impartial as she had appeared at first.

Jingzhe's heart had suffered a tremendous shock.

Why did this person specifically thank me for electrocuting her? Could she actually enjoy that feeling?

Could it be...

How shameless!

"You're blushing?"

Hoshino found it rather baffling. Jingzhe had agreed to help with her training—how had Jingzhe gotten flustered before Hoshino did?

That would not do.

Jingzhe was no longer useful to her. No matter how slapdash the system was, one electric shock could not unlock every character that dealt Lightning damage. Hoshino only wanted to see her out quickly so she could try out Lightning Empress's Lightning Empress.

"I hope you enjoy your time in Lungmen."

Hoshino treated her to a meal. Throughout it, Jingzhe was extremely cautious, repeatedly confirming that the rice balls contained no sleeping aids.

How baffling.

Jingzhe's heart was full of doubts. Even though her vacation was not over yet, she no longer wanted to stay in Lungmen. Wasn't the Eighteen Provinces of Han China wonderful? Why did she have to remain in a place like Lungmen, where everyone was so inexplicable?

Was she looking for suffering?

Before she left, Hoshino gave Jingzhe several large rice balls, which Jingzhe accepted with a face full of question marks.

Once she confirmed that Jingzhe had gone down the mountain, Hoshino hurried back to Tenshukaku, rubbing her hands together. After making sure no one was watching, she struck a transformation pose.

"Lightning Empress's Lightning Empress, henshin!"

BOOM.

The thunderstorm that had just departed once again blanketed all of Yae Shrine.

It was an entirely different feeling. Yae Sakura possessed swordsmanship that communed with the gods, while Kallen possessed immense physical strength. But Lightning Empress... Hoshino tugged at her tattered black stockings and felt an indescribable sense of control.

That was right, a sense of control.

It felt like communicating with some great will. In religious terms, it was an [Apocalypse]. Hoshino found it strange.

It was genuine divine assistance.

She frowned, touching the glowing blue demon-mask hair ornament. With a snap of her fingers, purple lightning curled around her fingertips. It seemed she did not even need a blade to inflict remarkably devastating damage.

Just as she was trying to figure out the structure of Lightning Empress's body, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.

Jingzhe had actually come back after leaving?

In Hoshino's eyes, she stood there with a large rice ball in her hands, wearing a solemn expression.

The strange feeling she had displayed when leaving was gone.

"It is strange. Why did lightning stir up at the shrine again after I left? So... what sort of divine being are you? State your name!"