"Welt, you madman!"
No one had expected Almighty Thunder to suddenly weaken. Once at an overwhelming advantage, it had now gone berserk—losing all reason in its madness.
But neither she nor Welt missed the golden opportunity that appeared before them.
She followed Welt's orders, creating an opening for him—but she hadn't expected that Welt would merge his very being with the sword itself, fully unleashing the Edict Edge. With that, he drew out the blade's complete power and struck Almighty Thunder from the sky.
Was this how Truth was meant to be used?!
The colossal greatsword, embodying Truth, pierced through Almighty Thunder's enormous body, tearing it from the clouds and pinning it to the ground.
The Kami's massive, hundred-meter frame fell from the sky, crashing into the scorched earth and sending up a blinding wave of dust.
A golden radiance followed closely behind.
The sight was awe-inspiring—truly breathtaking.
But there was no time to linger in awe. None of the warriors wasted this chance. Abandoning the weaker Kami that kept regenerating endlessly, the stronger Sentinels all turned their focus toward Almighty Thunder.
Strike while it's down!
Sirin, too, searched desperately for any sign of the missing Welt after his final strike. Raising Sky, she hurled it with all her might—embedding it directly above Almighty Thunder's head.
"Manifestation of the Void!"
Countless golden chains burst forth from the void, wrapping tightly around Almighty Thunder's wounded form.
But Almighty Thunder was only heavily injured—not dead. And a being like that would never die quietly.
Sensing imminent death, it unleashed an unimaginable surge of divine power. Under Sirin's restraint and the suppression of Truth, its energy erupted in full force.
The strange glowing lines across its body darkened and spread further.
Agony.
The agony of corruption, of being pierced through by the divine sword, drove Almighty Thunder into madness.
Its enormous scarlet eyes filled with frenzy.
Sirin's brow twitched, and she quickly distanced herself. The energy pouring from its body turned the surrounding area into a deadly lightning zone where no one dared approach.
The others retreated as well, attacking from afar to whittle it down as much as possible.
Sirin did not stay idle—massive golden spikes burst from the storm, impaling Almighty Thunder's body. Each connected to the next with arcs of divine power, forming a binding web to hold it in place.
"Again… it's the same."
Sirin's eyes flickered with realization.
So she hadn't miscalculated earlier—and Almighty Thunder hadn't been hiding its strength just to catch them off guard.
This was exactly like before.
Almighty Thunder was… different from what was recorded in the ancient texts.
Perhaps this was a facet of the Kami they had never uncovered before.
Its power was surging.
And growing stronger still.
Was this a desperate struggle born from sensing its own death?
But that earlier opening…
The space restraining Almighty Thunder began to distort. The moment Sirin saw the all-too-familiar phenomenon, her heart sank. She knew what was coming.
Before she could act, Almighty Thunder exploded with a power far beyond its previous outburst. Endless bolts of divine lightning descended, turning the surrounding hundred meters into a prison of thunder.
Its enormous body writhed. The power shattered the golden spikes that bound it—and even Truth piercing through its body could not withstand for long.
Sirin reclaimed her blade and charged into the storm.
Almighty Thunder shook free the swords embedded in its flesh, then without hesitation, lifted itself skyward. It lashed out with a devastating tail sweep that tore the ground apart, then summoned a rain of thunder from above, covering several kilometers in annihilation.
It had no intention of continuing the fight.
With one final sweep of its tail, it dove into the clouds and vanished.
"Track its position—now!"
The survivors shouted frantically. Sirin followed close behind, pursuing Almighty Thunder into the clouds.
The worst had come to pass—Almighty Thunder had taken the battle elsewhere.
The area spanning dozens of kilometers had become uninhabitable, a forbidden zone for humankind. Many of their comrades had perished in the storm's relentless fury.
But despite the devastation, they had achieved something remarkable.
Almighty Thunder could not sustain its rampage forever. When its strength began to fade—that would be their true moment to strike.
Compared to the last subjugation, this one had been filled with far more chaos and uncertainty.
But against all odds… the results were surprisingly good.
The casualties this time were less than one-third of those from the previous subjugation, and the rest of the losses were negligible in comparison.
During the last battle against Eternal Zenith in the Far North, over eighty percent of the Sentinels had fallen, and many areas across the region had been devastated.
Eternal Zenith could freely traverse space itself, forcing them to make heavy sacrifices just to bring it down—and the battlefield had expanded across the entire northern expanse.
The fighting had lasted several days, and by the time it was over, the Far North was left almost completely barren.
Because of that bitter lesson, they had gone to great lengths this time to prepare, doing everything possible to confine the battle to this one area.
Unfortunately, most of the heavy weaponry they had painstakingly arranged never came into play. Even when they managed to strike Almighty Thunder, the damage inflicted was only enough to weaken it—not kill it.
A few combat-ready soldiers remained behind to handle the lesser Kami drawn by Almighty Thunder's power and to search for the missing Welt and recover the Edict Edge. The rest were ordered to rest while Command tried to pinpoint Sirin's position and determine their next move.
...
"The scent of Honkai."
Kiana was almost certain that the thing which had fallen earlier was none other than Almighty Thunder.
Sirin was that strong?!
It hadn't even been a full day, and she'd not only returned to the battlefield—but also knocked Almighty Thunder out of the sky?
Before she could finish marveling, the blue light vanished. Thunder roared in the distance, and lightning rippled through the clouds above them like fireworks.
It seemed Almighty Thunder had fled.
This time, Kiana didn't need Mei to point it out—she could feel the surge of Honkai Energy coming from that direction.
Maybe it was her identity—or maybe it was because the Honkai Energy on this planet had come from her—but she could sense its presence even from this far away.
"It's gone," Mei said, her face tightening. The tension that had already been building in her heart only deepened.
There was no doubt about it—it had escaped.
And she couldn't help but recall Kiana's earlier warning: that Almighty Thunder might target Nagazora City next.
If the direction it fled in was toward Nagazora—and it turned the city into its new battlefield…
Then what could she, who had struggled even against lower Kami, possibly do against one of their apex forms—the Almighty Thunder itself?
Staring up at the sky, now shrouded completely in storm clouds, Mei felt a chill run through her heart. The mere thought of an enemy capable of altering the sky and raining divine punishment from within the clouds filled her with dread. She didn't even know how to begin fighting such a foe.
But the coldness in her hands was soon dispelled—by Kiana's warm grasp.
Mei looked up instinctively, meeting Kiana's unwavering blue eyes, filled with determination.
"Don't worry, Mei," Kiana said confidently, without a hint of fear. "I won't let anything hurt you while I'm here."
"If it dares to come here looking for trouble, I'll just blow it up myself!"
Mei: "…"
No, Kiana—it's not the enemy I fear.
It's that you'll throw yourself into danger… and I still don't have the strength to stand beside you.