Chapter Fifteen: Elegy of the Sinner
The screen showed a sky shrouded in dark clouds, with rain and thunderstorms churning overhead, heralding terrible weather.
On the roof of a high-rise building, Kiana and Raiden Mei were locked in fierce combat.
"Give up."
Mei grabbed Kiana by the neck and pinned her against the railing. Lightning flickered across her arm for a moment before she suddenly flung Kiana away.
"I won't let you leave!"
Kiana braced herself against the railing with one hand, slowly rising to her feet as she shouted.
Raiden Mei tilted her head and gave her a disdainful look. "With you barely hanging on like this?"
"With my fists!"
Kiana threw a punch that grazed Mei's face, only to be tripped and sent crashing to the ground. After gathering her strength again, she was pushed back by Mei's palm, and the two remained locked in close combat for quite a while.
Raiden Mei kicked out, her white leg clad in stockings sending Kiana flying several meters before she crashed to the ground.
Kiana lay sprawled on the ground, gritting her teeth as she slowly forced herself back up.
The moment she woke up, she discovered that Mei was about to leave her behind, heading somewhere incredibly dangerous to do something incredibly dangerous.
She swore that she would keep Mei here, even if they had to settle it with their fists.
Kiana gathered all her strength and charged forward once more.
The two clashed again, but Mei kicked Kiana into a chair before sending her flying dozens of meters away, crashing onto a distant rooftop.
Kiana: "That hurt! Mei, you hit me so hard! You were really rough—I can tell it hurt just by looking at it."
Raiden Mei: "I think... I must have had a compelling reason, right?"
Even Mei herself lacked confidence now.
She thought she did not have a violent personality, so why did she have to hit Kiana that hard?
Or was there some unknown truth behind it all?
"I don't care! Mei, you hurt me. Tonight, I want fried chicken and chips, or I won't talk to you for an hour."
Himeko wrapped her arms around Mei's slender waist, threatening her in what she believed was the cruelest way possible.
"Fine, fine. I really can't do anything with you. I'll make it for you tonight."
Raiden Mei stroked Kiana's head, comforting her.
Watching Kiana get beaten up, especially by her own hand, how could she not feel heartbroken?
She would make more delicious food tonight as an apology.
Bronya: "Sister Mei, don't let Kiana fool you. Bronya thinks she deserved it. You should have hit her even harder!"
Kiana: "Bronya, do you have no sympathy at all? I got beaten up so badly."
Bronya: "You brought it on yourself. Think about it carefully—how could someone as gentle as Sister Mei strike so ruthlessly?"
There was only one truth!
Bronya: "You must have refused to listen and insisted on doing something dangerous. Most importantly, you wanted Sister Mei to stay out of it because you didn't want to drag us down."
Bronya: "That's why Sister Mei accepted World Serpent's recruitment. She even beat you up before leaving to show her resolve!"
Kiana: "...Was that really what happened?"
The atmosphere instantly changed.
Himeko could even feel several dangerous gazes—Mei's, Teacher Himeko's, and Theresa's.
Himeko Murata: "Kiana, I think you need to give us an explanation."
Theresa: "Niece, why did you have to face danger alone? Didn't I teach you that only by standing together can we overcome difficulties?"
Kiana: "Um... what if Bronya guessed wrong?"
Elysia: "Whether that's true or not, won't we find out if we keep watching? Look, Kiana used Herrscher Authority—the Herrscher of the Void's Void Lance."
After Raiden Mei sent Kiana flying, countless Void Lances suddenly appeared around her in the next moment, pinning Mei firmly to the ground.
Kiana stepped forward one step at a time, standing atop a halo.
One of her pupils had already turned golden. Having overexerted herself and consumed too much Honkai Energy, Kiana was in terrible condition, as though she could collapse at any moment.
Yet even so, she did not shed a single tear for herself.
Kiana had only one thought in her mind: keeping Mei from leaving.
"You've always... been like this, Kiana. You've always been like this!"
Mei closed her eyes and voiced the emotions in her heart—her love for Kiana, her unwillingness to accept it, and her obsession.
"Even when you're covered in wounds, you still force yourself to smile. You saved me, you saved everyone, yet you insist on bearing all the pain alone! Even at the cost of your life!"
Every moment they had spent together resurfaced in Mei's mind.
The wounds on Kiana's body, the exhaustion that left her lying in bed unable to even move—Mei had long known everything, yet she could only helplessly watch it all happen like a spectator.
Every image became Mei's most resolute conviction at this moment.
"Mei!"
Kiana shouted, wanting to explain something, but when the words reached her lips, all that remained was a helpless, heartbreaking excuse: "This is my mission."
Rumble!!!
The thunderstorms in the sky suddenly flashed, as fierce and turbulent as the Queen of Thunder's emotions.
Missions, fate—she did not want to care about any of it now.
The only person Mei cared about was the one before her, battered and covered in wounds.
"I understand all that grand talk about saving the world, but how am I supposed to endure this?!"
Mei grabbed a Void Lance, letting its sharp tip slice open her neck and leave a vivid red wound.
"Mei, don't!"
Kiana took a step back, but it was already too late. Raiden Mei had only one thought left in her mind.
A thought she would pursue at any cost, even if she had to fall into the abyss, just to ignite a sliver of hope for Kiana's future.
"All I know is that, in my heart, you are more important than this world!!!"
With an enraged roar, Raiden Mei surpassed her limits and exceeded the Herrscher of the Void's Authority.
If justice and kindness could not save Kiana, then she was willing to become a sinner.
If the Raiden Mei of the past could do nothing, then she would become an evil dragon and devour sin.
Even if it meant standing against everyone—even against the world itself.
Even if these hands that cooked for her would be stained with sinful blood.
Mei became a streak of flashing lightning, racing through the sky. Just as the Herrscher of the Void was about to seal off her path, Mei shattered its Authority with a single blow.
Lightning transformed into Oni-Kiana, crimson light forming her blade.
Mei stood beneath the stars, high in the sky, and aimed her final strike at the person most important to her.
Lightning tore through the heavens for this moment alone.
—To sever the past.
"That day, you reached out your hand to me."
Kiana's body fell toward the earth, and Mei reached out and tightly grabbed her arm.
Just as Kiana had grabbed her arm on that rooftop long ago.
Mei had already engraved that smiling face into her heart. She could never forget it.
"From the moment you grabbed me, you changed our destiny."
"You are the most important person in my life."
The Queen of Thunder's eyes were filled with sorrow, as though she ached for the coming farewell.
She placed Kiana on the ground, then silently turned around.
"If saving you is a sin, then I'll be the sinner... Goodbye, Kiana."
A crimson dragon summoned a storm and vanished with Mei, flying unwaveringly toward the horizon.
Chapter Sixteen: Mobius's Scheme
Pardofelis: "So cool! Is this the Herrscher of Thunder fifty thousand years from now? The Queen of Thunder is seriously amazing. But why is it that, even though it was so thrilling, I wanted to cry as I watched?"
Eden: "Separation and conviction, sacrifice and redemption—these have always been humanity's most tragic songs... Pardo, we were moved by art."
Theresa: "What kind of art is this? It leaves people feeling all twisted up. I want to cry, but I also want to grab Judah and smash a few Honkai Beasts."
Everyone could not help wiping away their tears.
The Queen of Thunder was clearly so cool, and her aloof bearing had practically conquered their hearts. Yet the atmosphere of life-and-death separation pierced straight into their hearts, making them feel unbearably depressed.
Eden: "That is precisely the charm of art. The unwavering feelings in Mei's heart are one of humanity's greatest forms of art."
It could not be described with words, carried by song, or immortalized in books and paintings.
The conviction to dedicate everything and sacrifice oneself for someone important was the spirit Mei had displayed.
Kiana: "Waaah, Mei, don't leave me! I'll never act recklessly again."
Raiden Mei: "I-I haven't left, have I? Kiana, don't wipe your tears on my clothes."
Kiana: "I won't! Mei, you absolutely can't leave!"
Seeing Mei pay such a huge price for her made Kiana's heart feel as though it were breaking.
If it were not for her, Mei would not leave.
She would not go to dangerous World Serpent, nor would she beat Kiana up before leaving.
Raiden Mei: "All right, I haven't left yet. As for the future, as long as we work hard, things can definitely change."
Kiana: "Yeah! I'll go master divine skills right away. No matter what demons or monsters come, leave them all to me!"
Himeko Murata: "Kiana, you're spouting nonsense again!"
Teacher Himeko punched Kiana on the top of her head. Kiana crouched down in pain, clutching her head.
There had to be a huge bump on it.
Himeko Murata: "Have you forgotten what I taught you? No matter what happens, don't carry everything alone. Theresa and I will help you."
Theresa: "Of course. I'm the only S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal's Far East Branch. Whatever the problem is, leave it to me."
Kiana: "Everyone..."
Himeko wiped away her tears, immersed in the feeling of being cared for by everyone.
No matter what, she would not repeat the same mistakes and make everyone sad again!
Elysia: "It would be too much to leave us out. Aren't we friends? Friends should help each other, right, Pardo?"
Pardofelis: "Huh? Sister Elysia, why are you dragging me into this too? I want to help as well, but I'm not good at fighting."
Still, judging from the combat strength Kiana and Raiden Mei displayed in the video, Pardofelis felt she might be able to try fighting head-on.
No, no, no.
After thinking it over, Pardo decided she should just be a proper cat. It was better to leave fighting to Sister Elysia and the others.
Bronya: "The key question now is, how exactly did Kiana become a Herrscher? Also, neither the Headmistress nor Teacher Himeko were seen. Bronya smells a conspiracy."
Theresa: "Could it be that my idiot niece swallowed a Herrscher Core like candy?"
Himeko Murata: "Uh..."
Kiana: "Auntie, are you joking? No matter how greedy I am, I wouldn't shove just anything into my stomach, would I?"
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