"You know me?"
Holding the freshly formed energy crystal, Mei could already sense how different it felt from previous ones—when she suddenly heard a startled voice call out her name.
The cloaked girl's face was unfamiliar.
Mei was certain she had never met her before. There was no way this was a former acquaintance or classmate.
That left only one possibility.
"Mei!"
Kiana, lagging far behind, finally caught up, cheeks puffed in frustration. She silently cursed herself—she should've just bought some speed-enhancing badges instead of waiting for Sirin's five hundred thousand to arrive.
At least then she wouldn't be left behind. And besides, if she didn't need them later, someone else could always use them.
The girl in the cloak followed Mei's gaze and turned to look at Kiana—a white-haired girl, unfamiliar, unarmed. A civilian, by all appearances.
She drew her conclusion.
While the black-robed girl was sizing Kiana up, Kiana had already noticed her as well. The cloak she wore was nearly identical to Yae Sakura's, and judging by the scene—the aftermath of a fierce battle—there was no mistaking it.
Just from the robe, Kiana could tell this girl was one of the same organization as Yae Sakura: a Slayer of Kami.
"Where's the Kami?"
"Already slain."
Since there was a stranger present, Mei slipped the crystal away and let her gaze fall briefly on the girl's inhuman hand—blackened, clawed, like a beast's.
"You know my name. Why?"
Know Mei's name?
Kiana blinked but held her tongue, choosing instead to stay quiet and observe while she took in the battle's aftermath.
Mei could tell the girl was likely part of the same organization as Sirin—and her father—but she wanted to hear it confirmed directly.
"You're Howl's Sentinel."
The girl took a deep breath and flexed her arm slightly, trying to ease the stiffness from her body caused by the demonic blade's corruption.
"Tanaka Nao," she introduced herself. "In charge of the Mirror Lake sector in Nagazora City." She hesitated before continuing, "I heard you refused to return to the unit—but your name and Howl's are known to everyone."
"Refused to return?"
Mei froze slightly.
She understood her own name and Howl's being famous—the Edict Edge's full power was terrifying enough to level a city.
But 'refused to return'? That, she didn't understand.
What 'unit'? And when had she ever refused to rejoin it?
Seeing her puzzled expression, Tanaka Nao quickly added, "Lady Sirin conveyed your decision to the Command. But don't worry—so long as you're willing to participate in the upcoming battles against the remaining Twelve Kami, no one will hold it against you."
"…"
What decision? Told to the Command?
Sirin again?
Kiana instantly realized this must've been one of Sirin's self-appointed explanations. To give Mei a moment to process, she quickly changed the subject. "You mentioned a 'purge.' Does that mean you've been patrolling this area, hunting any Kami that appear?"
"Yes." Tanaka Nao nodded.
This white-haired girl might be an ordinary person, but since she was with Raiden Mei, there was no reason to worry about secrecy.
"There are a few of us working together. We're in charge of defending the eastern sector of Nagazora, purging any Kami we encounter."
"No wonder we rarely see any Kami," Kiana said.
So that was why—it wasn't that Kami weren't appearing, but that these people were intercepting and killing them before they could approach the city.
"Most of the time, they hide in the shadows," Nao explained. "Preventing them from spreading chaos and fear is what drives us. You must've encountered Kami in the city before, right? That was because Almighty Thunder triggered the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. During that time, we were all summoned by the Command to the battlefield."
Kami of that level made any defense pointless. Almighty Thunder was, by every measure, a natural disaster.
Kiana nodded in understanding.
So during peacetime, these Sentinels formed invisible nets, quietly hunting Kami in the shadows, far from the eyes of ordinary people.
Unless it was during something like the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons—or sheer bad luck—the odds of meeting a Kami were about as likely as winning the lottery.
"That must be exhausting, huh?"
Tanaka Nao's eyes softened slightly as she shook her head. "It's our duty—something that must be done by someone."
How noble.
Can we join too?
Kiana almost blurted the question out, but thankfully stopped herself in time. That would've been impossible to explain.
From what the girl had said, it seemed Sirin had made some kind of decision on their behalf. That probably explained why no one had come to find them so far.
"You're hurt?"
Kiana, now closer, noticed the blackened, claw-like hand and the blood pooled on the ground beneath it.
She hurried over immediately.
"Don't worry, it's not serious," Nao replied calmly.
"That injury wasn't from the Kami just now, was it?" Mei asked as she approached.
"No. It happened while chasing a smaller Kami—one that used slashing attacks," Nao sighed. "Before the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, I had already found traces of it. After the war ended, I went to follow up on the lead right away… but that Kami had mutated."
She raised her pale left hand. Dried streaks of blood were still visible along the back of it.
"Lady Sirin mentioned it—when you two slew Almighty Thunder, it showed the same kind of mutation. Something called… 'Honkai,' was it? I think that was the name."
The one who brought the Honkai into this world suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
Kiana quickly pulled out a healing spray. "Here, let me treat you."
"…Then I'll trouble you," Nao said after a pause.
Her injuries really did need to be treated quickly. If not for Raiden Mei's presence, she would have already fired a flare to summon her comrades.
But when she started to lift her sleeve to expose her wound, Kiana simply aimed the spray at her uninjured side and pressed the trigger a few times.
Nao blinked. "???"
Shouldn't you spray it on the wound?
Before she could ask, a faint mist enveloped her body for barely a second—and then dispersed.
"So the Kami in these mountains… they've all undergone Honkai corruption, like the one you just fought?" Kiana asked.
"Yes."
Nao answered absentmindedly—she was still staring at Kiana's strange spray, half-tempted to correct her.
But then she realized—
The pain was gone.
Startled, she lifted her sleeve and checked the wound. There was no trace of the gash that had been there just moments ago.
Completely healed?!
Nao looked at the spray in Kiana's hand with shock and awe. Could it be that the power used to forge divine blades could also be infused into something as simple as a spray bottle?