*BOOM—*
A massive bolt of lightning, several meters wide, descended from the heavens, shattering the roof of Homu Castle and engulfing Ryn and the surrounding insects.
"Ryn!" "Brother!"
Penglaiji Ryn and Seele shouted in alarm, but the blinding flash and the roar of thunder left them temporarily deaf and blind.
The moment the lightning struck, Bronya, who had lost control upon seeing Mei, felt a chill shoot up her spine, and she instantly calmed down.
The tables had turned. Now it was Bronya grabbing Seele and Penglaiji Ryn, who wanted to save Ryn, and running backwards, away from the lightning's range.
"Calm down..."
"Let go of me! Brother's in danger!"
Penglaiji Ryn struggled, trying to shake off Bronya, but the now-calm Seele also grabbed onto her.
Seele: "You can't withstand that, don't go and get yourself killed!"
"But..." Penglaiji Ryn wanted to say more, but couldn't get the words out. Now that she had calmed down, she realized she probably couldn't withstand that lightning either...
*Brother is a Herrscher, and Raiden Mei is also a Herrscher... there's no way one could instantly kill the other, right?*
*Right?*
The lightning dissipated, and the scene that appeared before them left everyone stunned in astonishment.
Ryn was holding Raiden Mei high in the air by her throat. Both their eyes were glowing red, but neither attacked, remaining in a standoff.
Black energy coated Ryn's left hand like a black silk glove. It was this very hand that had seized Mei's neck and lifted her up. But the sleeve on Ryn's right arm was gone, revealing a right hand as white as jade.
Lightning flickered in Mei's eyes. She reached up with both hands and gripped Ryn's left hand, wanting to disintegrate this hand into atoms just like before.
But the ability that should have been able to turn anything into atoms was completely nullified the moment it touched the black energy on Ryn's left hand.
Ryn smiled at the Mei before him, but contrary to his smile, his eyes glowed red, and the Heat Vision within them looked as if it could shoot through Mei's eyes and into her skull at any moment, melting her brain.
Mei looked at Ryn with contempt. "What, so enraged you want to kill the one you call your lover?"
"You're joking. Herrschers don't need to breathe anyway. What does it matter if I just choke you like this for a day?"
"Your words are completely different from the red light in your eyes. But, alas..."
Mei's anger-filled gaze dimmed slightly with that sigh.
The action of being lifted by the neck reminded Mei of some unpleasant memories. How should she put it?
In that world-destroying Great Honkai Eruption, wasn't she killed when Kiana grabbed her and snapped her neck?
Oh, right... she was already dead.
Is this self, created by Kiana based on leftover Stigmata information, really her?
"Heh, what a pointless existence... In this entire world, only three people truly exist..."
Mei's expression was now the same as in Penglaiji Ryn's dream—pitiful and helpless.
"But even so... it's enough." She gave a self-deprecating laugh, then vanished from Ryn's grasp in a flash of lightning.
"Leave this place. If you continue to stay in this dead world, you will die too...
Also, if you continue to naively harbor the idea of killing Kiana and choose to interfere with our lives, I will kill every single one of you..."
Raiden Mei was gone, just as she had appeared—suddenly and without warning.
"...So you can turn into lightning just by controlling it? Elementalization is such a broken ability..."
Ryn clenched his fist. There was nothing there but residual sparks.
He turned around, and Penglaiji Ryn and the others ran up to him, concerned and anxious, asking about his condition.
"Brother, are you okay?" "Ryn, you can actually fight a Herrscher to a standstill?" "Where's Big Sis Mei?" "Brother, what happened to your sleeve...?" "Ryn, are you hurt? I have bandages if you need them." "What did Big Sis Mei say? Has she been doing okay?"
The three of them chattered on, asking about various things. Penglaiji Ryn and Seele were worried if Ryn was injured, while Bronya was concerned about where her Big Sis Mei had gone.
Ryn smiled and patted Penglaiji Ryn's and Seele's heads. As for Bronya... as expected, the Bronya from any world is just as annoying!
"Yeah, I'm fine. But Mei... we can now confirm she is completely our enemy."
"Big Sis Mei, how could this be..." The light faded from Bronya's eyes, and she stumbled backward in disbelief.
"Big Sis..."
Seele supported Bronya from behind. Raiden Mei was Bronya's entire world; she knew how devastating this news was for her.
(I didn't write this in my novel, but in reality, after Kiana and Mei knocked Bronya out in Nagazora City and awakened her persona, it was Mei who taught Bronya step by step, letting Bronya experience motherly love and the emotions between people for the first time (yes, motherly love...), which is why Bronya is so fond of Mei, and Mei is practically Bronya's entire world.)
After Mei left, the newly hatched insects all died. Coupled with the effects of dealing with the King Insect earlier, this insect-type new species should be completely wiped out.
After packing up and confirming that Ryn was uninjured, the group, along with the soulless Bronya, prepared to return to the base.
However, on the way, Ryn and the others encountered Himeko and some Valkyries who had come out to support them.
After briefly explaining to Himeko what had happened with the Insect Queen and the castle, Himeko walked straight up to the head-bowed Bronya with a stern face.
Himeko: "Mei doesn't want to see us and has threatened to kill us. Bronya, you should know what this means."
"..." Bronya kept her head down, showing no intention of answering Himeko.
"It seems you've forgotten that Raiden Mei is one of the culprits who destroyed this world..."
"No, Big Sis Mei was just... just..." Bronya subconsciously started to rebut Himeko, but couldn't come up with a single excuse to defend Mei.
"You need to wake up. Don't forget she is a Herrscher. To save all of humanity, we must kill all the Herrschers, whether it's Kiana... or Mei.
If you continue to be so stubborn, lost in your beautiful dreams of the past, then you are no longer fit to be the leader of humanity..."
Listening in on their conversation, the two Ryns exchanged a look.
Penglaiji Ryn: *Brother, do Herrschers deserve to die? You're a Herrscher too...*
Ryn: *Not necessarily. Everything happens for a reason. Herrschers don't have to die. But for the survivors of the Great Honkai Eruption, the Herrschers must die.*
*What's more... if you don't kill Mei and the others, they will kill you. For Himeko and her people, this isn't a multiple-choice question.*