"Secret Technique: Bare-Handed Cleaver Catch."
Ryn used "Insight," the check succeeded, and he successfully saw through the trajectory of Mei's cleaver attack. He then executed a lightning-fast slide, moving into the predetermined path of the falling cleaver, successfully catching it and snatching it away.
"Mei, the world is so beautiful, yet you are so irritable. This isn't good..."
Mei's eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of her mouth turning up in a teasing smile. Then, her eyes snapped open, revealing that they had turned into a sakura-purple lightning.
"Mei? Sorry! It's not Mei right now~"
The Herrscher of Thunder pointed a finger to the sky, and the weather instantly turned into a thunderstorm. Then, she swiped down at Ryn, and a bolt of lightning tens of meters long struck down directly from the sky.
Ryn hurriedly spread out his Honkai field to protect Himeko's house and the surrounding area, preventing the Herrscher of Thunder's attack from affecting the vicinity.
Seeing that her attack was ineffective, the Herrscher of Thunder summoned the samurai armor she had once pulled from Jizo Mitama, forming a massive set of ghost armor that enveloped her.
"You bastard, I told Mei not to be with you long ago, but she insisted. What's so good about being with you and feeling wronged every day! It would be better to listen to me, break your limbs, and lock you in the basement..."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't talk nonsense! You're trying to turn Mei into a yandere! That's definitely not right! Also, this time it's really a misunderstanding, that little brat and I don't have that kind of relationship!"
The Herrscher of Thunder glanced coldly at Hare, then turned back to Ryn. Her right thumb pressed against the tsuba of her sword, pushing it slightly to reveal the blade's edge.
"What does it matter if it's true or not? I don't care. All I care about is whether Mei is sad or heartbroken. And now, your repeated betrayals have made Mei very sad..."
Kiana is even sadder! the Herrscher of Thunder silently shouted in her heart, then drew her blade for an iaijutsu strike at Ryn.
"Forget it, I'll let her get a hit in."
Ryn picked up Hare and held her in front of him, standing still and letting the Herrscher of Thunder's slash come at him.
Hare looked up at Ryn with a smile, "So romantic? Journeying to the underworld with me?"
"You can shut up now. I really want to strangle you, you bastard."
"Hmph hmph, I don't care, you owe me a life for this, you know~"
"I give up..." Ryn grabbed Hare's neck, preparing to kill this bastard first. If she kept talking, Ryn's blood pressure was going to explode.
Boom—
A red light flashed, shattering the tachi swung by Mei.
Kika maintained her firing stance, looking coldly at the Herrscher of Thunder before her. Two Sabayons floated on either side of Kika's body, just like the two giant ghost hands beside Raiden Mei. The space near the muzzles was still distorted from the high temperature of the shot just fired.
The Herrscher of Thunder looked at the shattered tachi in her hand and had to condense a new one. She then looked at Kika speechlessly, "Tsk, is there something wrong with your brain? Aren't we on the same side?"
"You said it yourself, you're not Mei, you're the Herrscher of Thunder! If you're not Mei, you think you're worthy of hitting my man! Fire!"
Without another word, Kika activated the Sabayons again, launching a saturation strike at the Herrscher of Thunder.
The Herrscher of Thunder rapidly swung the tachi in her hand, blocking Kika's shots. But before she could block more than a few, the tachi condensed from her Authority was shattered by Kika.
The Herrscher of Thunder had no choice but to transform into lightning, dodging Kika's shots at high speed. At the same time, she summoned lightning to attack Kika, but it was all either blasted into particles and dissipated by Kika or blocked by the Sabayons.
"I told you... if you point those Sabayons at me again, I'll break your arms and legs."
The Herrscher of Thunder shouted angrily, then swung her blade with the might of a thousand thunderbolts and charged at Kika.
"Just a thunder mouse, and you dare to speak with such a tone!"
Kika raised her Sabayons contemptuously and fired a world-destroying shot at Mei.
In Ryn's arms, Hare couldn't help but chuckle, "Hahaha, Ryn, would you call this your harem catching on fire?"
"I'll deal with you, the instigator, in a moment."
Ryn took a sharp breath, then flashed between Kika and the Herrscher of Thunder, stretching out his hands and using the Grips of Taixuan to block Kika's attack.
And the Hare in his arms also raised her small, delicate hand, grasped the Herrscher of Thunder's tachi, and with a slight squeeze, crushed it.
"You're banned." "You're banned."
Ryn and Hare, in perfect unison, shouted the same words at Kika and the Herrscher of Thunder respectively.
Kika trembled all over, and the Sabayons fell from her control to the ground.
The Herrscher of Thunder also froze abruptly, her Herrscher Authority becoming completely unusable.
Ryn and Hare looked at each other, exclaiming in surprise at the same time: "You have that move too?"
The Herrscher of Thunder tried to mobilize her power, but it was as if the channel for energy transport had been completely blocked.
"Hmph, boring."
The Herrscher of Thunder pouted, her consciousness subsided, and she returned the body to Raiden Mei.
Ryn and Kika hurriedly ran up to catch the unconscious Raiden Mei.
Kika: "To be able to crush Mei's tachi with your bare hands, with that kind of strength, it's hard for me not to suspect that this is your and Durandal's child."
"Nope~ 'Daddy' is just a cute little nickname between Ryn and me, actually..."
"Alright, alright, you don't have to explain."
Ryn speechlessly covered Hare's mouth, then grabbed her by the back of her collar and lifted her up, kicking her in the butt like a soccer ball and sending her flying.
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"Bronya, is it going to rain because of the thunder?"
"It doesn't matter, Big Sis Mei will bring in the clothes."
"Oh... but I feel like this thunder sounds a bit strange."
"Stupid Kiana, don't get distracted while playing games!"
"Okay... whatever, the thunder has stopped anyway."
——————————————
Although the Herrscher of Thunder using Mei's body didn't cause Mei any harm, it did consume most of her stamina.
Ryn and Kika carried the unconscious Mei back to her room, letting her rest properly in bed.
Ryn also took this opportunity to explain the situation with Hare to Kika, solemnly clarifying that it had nothing to do with Durandal.
Then, Kika and Ryn sat by Mei's bed, holding photos of Durandal as a child and photos of Hare, carefully playing spot-the-difference.
After looking for a long time, they found that besides a few minor differences, the biggest difference seemed to be only their hair color.
Kika tossed the photos aside and lay down directly on the bed, her head resting on Mei's body and her legs on Ryn's lap.
Kika: "Sigh, out of the billions of people in the world, I've seen people who look alike, but I've never seen anyone look this alike. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they're twin sisters..."
Ryn: "Maybe we can find a chance to show Durandal. Who knows, maybe she really is Durandal's twin sister?"
"Unlikely. Durandal is European, with those beautiful, lovely golden waves. But Hare is Russian, and her hair is white. Besides looking alike, the only thing they have in common is probably that they're both monsters in terms of strength, right?"