"Do you have Sirin's contact information?"
Seeing her stare blankly ahead, eyes wide and unblinking, Mei instinctively spoke up to draw Kiana's attention.
"Huh?" Tanaka Nao turned her head. "You don't have Lady Sirin's contact info?"
"I forgot to ask," Mei explained. "I need to reach her about something, but I can't find her."
"That's… not something I can help with," Nao replied awkwardly. "Lady Sirin is famous for hating work. She doesn't join any of our group chats, and I've barely ever spoken to her—there's no way I'd have her as a friend."
Mei's mouth twitched slightly. So even this approach didn't work, huh?
"I can try asking some friends at Command," Nao added, "but don't get your hopes up. I heard she hasn't even added the Command staff."
All mission coordination was done entirely through her earpiece.
Only the intel agents specifically assigned to relay information to her had any direct means of contact.
"…Thank you."
"No need to thank me."
Raiden Mei was surprisingly easy to get along with. Nao couldn't help doubting some of the rumors she'd heard about her.
"What about Yae Sakura?" Kiana asked, putting away the healing spray as a thought struck her. "Do you know her? Do you have her contact info?"
"Miss Yae?"
Nao blinked, looking at Kiana in surprise before nodding. "I don't have her added, since we're stationed in different regions. But she's much easier to talk to than Lady Sirin. I can ask some friends about her."
"Yae Sakura?" Mei murmured, remembering the name—the woman who had delivered her father's letter, taken Howl, and injured Kiana.
"She probably knows Sirin," Kiana said thoughtfully, nodding to herself. "Judging by her strength—just drawing her blade dropped the temperature and covered the ground in frost—she must be one of their top fighters."
She was also the one who had told Kiana about the Edict Edge, and the half-finished blade she wielded was one of its prototypes—just like the Narukami before it.
"Miss Yae, huh…" Nao nodded. "That's actually pretty likely."
As the sky darkened, Mei exchanged contact information with Nao, and the three of them decided to head down the mountain. They parted ways at Mirror Lake after Nao promised to inform Mei immediately if she got Yae Sakura's contact.
Once it was just the two of them walking back, Mei finally took out the crystal she had obtained after slaying the Kami.
It was as pitch black as the previous ones—but subtly different.
"There seems to be Honkai Energy inside."
"Really?"
[Special Honkai Cube (B): Can be used to upgrade 'Cursed Blade' series weapons. Has a small chance to add bonus attributes.]
It was completely unlike the low-quality energy crystals they had seen before—not only were its effects enhanced, even its name had changed dramatically.
"A Honkai Cube… Mei, the Kami you killed must have fully transformed into a Honkai creature."
Reading the description about the chance to add bonus traits, Kiana didn't immediately recycle the cube. Instead, she stored it away carefully.
"Why not offer it up?"
"It has other uses," Kiana explained. "I can offer it anytime, but this cube can strengthen the Cursed Blades' power—better to hold onto it for now."
"Keeping it around won't be dangerous?" Mei asked, clearly uneasy.
"Of course not!" Kiana shook her head, opening her palm. The item appeared out of thin air. "Besides, I'm not actually carrying it on me."
Mei nodded. As long as it wasn't being kept close, it should be fine. Whether it was a Kami's curse or Honkai corrosion, neither were things to take lightly.
"As for that Kami, I killed it too quickly," she said. "I didn't really feel anything unusual about it."
"If you'd still been at your pre-Howl strength, you probably would've noticed the difference," Kiana mused.
"Didn't feel much of an improvement though?"
"Not as much as with the spider," Mei said after a thought. "That spider was the hardest opponent I've fought besides Almighty Thunder."
The Kami they had just fought—and the spider before it—were both far stronger than the weakest of their kind. But that spider with only a human head had been several times more troublesome than the one they had just faced.
Of course, with Mei's current strength, either battle could be ended with a single strike.
"It seems that weaker Kami, even when corrupted by the Honkai, don't gain that much power," Mei observed.
"Kami like Almighty Thunder—or those close to that level—might be a different story. The stronger they are, the more they'll be enhanced."
"That makes sense," Kiana nodded in agreement.
Of course, there was another possibility.
For these relatively weak Kami, their limited increase in power after Honkai corruption might simply be due to insufficient Honkai Energy concentration.
Unlike powerful Honkai beasts, they didn't possess the ability to raise the surrounding Honkai density along with their transformation.
…But how exactly was Honkai Energy concentration measured?
She could feel it rising—an undeniable sense of escalation—but so far, there had been no reports of zombies, nor any sign of a full-blown Honkai Eruption.
What would happen when the concentration reached one hundred percent?
Unknown.
She had no idea what awaited them then.
But one thing was certain—Finality would descend.
"Once we get in touch with Sirin, maybe we can learn more," Mei said.
She recalled what Tanaka Nao had revealed earlier and began to understand why Sirin had spoken the way she did.
Sirin had probably confirmed the existence of the Honkai herself—and had already informed the Sentinels about it.
That explained why even someone like Tanaka Nao, who they had just met, could immediately identify the phenomenon as Honkai corruption.
Whether Sirin's intent was driven by caution or by a desire to protect Kiana, Mei couldn't help but feel grateful.
At least she hadn't exposed Kiana's identity.
"You're right," Kiana agreed. "Sirin's probably working with others right now, studying the Honkai."
Thanks to Mei's reminder, Kiana recalled how Nao had recognized Honkai corruption instantly when facing the mutated Kami.
That meant Sirin had spread the information—and that many already knew that Kami could be tainted by the Honkai's power.
The good news was that weaker Kami didn't become outrageously powerful after corruption.
That alone eased Kiana's greatest fear—that everything would spiral out of control.
At least for now, the advantage was still hers.
Thinking back to the Honkai Cubes dropped by those Kami, Kiana couldn't help but feel that—for the moment—the benefits of Honkai might actually outweigh its dangers.
At least, at its current concentration.