Chains of void energy tightened around Almighty Thunder, binding it even more firmly. Sirin aided Raiden Mei in suppressing the Kami's immense power.
"I'll trust you this once."
Since Mei had said she would bear all the consequences herself, Sirin no longer objected. Ignoring the irregularity of the situation, she decided to help her this time.
"Thank you."
Mei stepped up before Almighty Thunder, meeting its pair of scarlet, vertical pupils without fear.
So this was the mightiest of the Kami?
The feeling it gave was completely different from any she had faced before.
"It's time to end this."
Perhaps sensing danger—or maybe simply feeling insulted—the heavily restrained Almighty Thunder struggled under Sirin's spatial chains, its massive body writhing as if to crush the human before it.
But Mei's speed surpassed even the lightning it commanded. She dashed forward in a blur, closing in fast.
"The weak point is the head," Sirin reminded her calmly.
Still not fully transformed, severely wounded, and restrained by Sirin's spatial confinement through the Edict Edge, Almighty Thunder was like prey on a butcher's block.
Yet as one of the most powerful Kami, its strength was not so easily suppressed. Blood-red lightning surged around its form, shattering some of the chains that held it with an inexplicable force.
"It's actively converting itself toward Honkai corruption—preparing to abandon everything…"
Kiana could feel the Honkai Energy within it accelerating. The power that once resisted the erosion was now embracing it—melding itself with the Honkai instead.
A discovery that could not be worse.
Do you even understand what Honkai is—and still you choose to embrace it?
There was nothing more to say.
Without hesitation, Kiana bought a rocket launcher, hefting it onto her shoulder. She stepped back from Mei's position near the head and fired several rounds straight at Almighty Thunder's body.
Sirin, maintaining the spatial chains, caught sight of Kiana's sudden weapon and thought her eyes deceived her—until the explosions erupted across Almighty Thunder's scales. Her eyes widened at the sight of the launcher in Kiana's hands.
Where did Kiana even get that from?
Healing potions were one thing—small and easy to understand—but this? A shoulder-fired rocket launcher, unaffected by the crackling blood-red lightning, hitting its mark with full force? Where had she gotten something like that?
Even the base's heavy weapons weren't so compact or so devastating.
Almighty Thunder's defense was terrifying; the rockets struck its body without tearing open its flesh. If not for the weakening of its struggling force, Sirin would've thought the blasts had done nothing.
"Kiana, keep going!"
If it worked, then keep it up.
"Got it!"
It was Kiana's first time using such a weapon—but she had to admit, the firepower felt incredibly satisfying.
And against a creature of this size, the effect was spectacular.
Aiming at the same spot, she unleashed the rest of her ammunition, sending every last round into the black dragon.
A series of deafening explosions followed.
Through the roaring detonations, Mei's afterimage flashed forward. Her focus sharpened to a single point as she charged.
The closer she got to Almighty Thunder, the stronger the overwhelming pressure became. Enduring the suffocating force, Mei leapt high into the air.
At that moment, the overcharged Honkai Energy emanating from Almighty Thunder became her strength.
Within the high-density Honkai zone—empowered by her Stigmata and her unshakable resolve—she drew her blade and descended, unleashing the brightest strike she had ever made upon the open maw of Almighty Thunder.
"Mei!"
Blinding lightning erupted from Almighty Thunder's body, shredding everything in its path. The radiant blast drowned the entire battlefield.
Kiana couldn't see Mei at all. Her heart seized with panic—she tossed the launcher aside and dashed toward the storm of lightning.
Still reeling from the shock, Sirin snapped back at Kiana's voice. Acting swiftly, she grabbed the girl's arm before she could run into danger.
"Relax—she's fine," Sirin said, eyes fixed on the dazzling burst before them.
If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it—Raiden Mei had turned Almighty Thunder's own power against it, using its might as the very means to end its life.
Sirin could only acknowledge it with genuine respect.
She believed her now—the one destined for Narukami.
"The chosen wielder of [Howl]."
Sirin let out a long breath. If her own compatibility with the Edict Edge was infinitely close to that of the first Sentinel, then Raiden Mei possessed the same innate talent as the very first true wielder of the blade, [Truth].
Resonance…
Sirin couldn't be bothered to ponder why such a phenomenon occurred. She was merely a bladebearer—her duty was to slay the Kami, nothing more.
If the first Sentinel from a thousand years ago had shared this same resonance ability as Raiden Mei, then their ability to slay the formidable Sovereign of Revelation without the aid of the Edict Edge would be perfectly understandable.
"Let go of me first."
Kiana shook off Sirin's hand.
At that moment, the blinding thunderlight finally faded, revealing the aftermath before them.
The radiance had come from Raiden Mei's blade. She stood atop Almighty Thunder's massive head, her katana still crackling with the remnants of lightning that had moments ago torn through everything—shattering the black dragon's defenses and destroying its core.
With Sirin's aid, Almighty Thunder had nowhere to escape. In its critical moment of transformation, the uncontrollable Honkai power it had absorbed—along with its own rapidly assimilated Kami energy—could no longer serve as its final defense.
Thus, Almighty Thunder, one of the Twelve Kami who had invaded from Takamagahara a millennium ago and known as the mightiest among them, fell by the hand of Raiden Mei—who had only just set foot upon the path of godslaying.
You could say Almighty Thunder was utterly ruined by Honkai itself.
Without the Honkai Energy, it would never have lost so miserably—so swiftly.
Had it fully accepted the Honkai power and reemerged as a Honkai Beast, even Izumo's combined might might not have been its match.
But instead, it chose to tear open its restraints midway—at the most precarious moment of all.
With Almighty Thunder's death, half of the Kami energy within its body remained, while the other half had already been distorted and assimilated by the invading Honkai.
It was as if some unseen law had taken hold.
The blade that struck down Almighty Thunder was now being warped by the Kami's remaining power. The dragon's energy, entwined with lingering Honkai, merged into the sword lodged within its skull.
Mei swiftly released her grip and leapt down from the corpse, her eyes fixed on the scene unfolding before her.
Just like when she had slain the other Kami before, Almighty Thunder's body began to collapse—disintegrating into a pure, unsettling energy that surged madly into the blade.
Dark mists coiled around the weapon, forming a vortex. Perhaps the energy was too immense, for even the clouds above churned violently, drawn into the storm. The remnants of Honkai and the ominous aura fused into a massive, swirling maelstrom that filled the sky.
"Are you hurt?" Kiana rushed to Mei's side, grabbing her arm anxiously.
"Don't worry, Kiana."
Shaking off the strange sensation that still lingered within her, Raiden Mei patted Kiana's hand, assuring her that she was unharmed.
How should she describe it…
She had indeed been the one to deliver the killing blow to Almighty Thunder—but the sensation of that strike felt… strange.
She had prepared herself for the battle, but never once imagined that she could fell such a terrifying Kami with a single strike.
Yet the unthinkable had happened.
And after slaying Almighty Thunder, the Stigmata's enhancement on her normal state had multiplied several times over.
It felt as though… she had undergone a metamorphosis.