"You took quite some time fetching the blade. You're much later than the expected arrival time."
"What happened? Trouble on the road?"
Yae Sakura had only recently returned, having just handed Narukami over to Raiden Ryoma, and as promised, she had also relayed Kiana's message regarding Raiden Mei's thoughts.
But… how should she put it?
Raiden Ryoma was a stubborn man.
So, she hadn't achieved much.
"It took some time to explain."
Yae Sakura had made a promise, and she intended to fulfill it. She planned to find another opportunity to persuade Raiden Ryoma again.
No matter what, before war broke out, she had to complete Kiana's request.
She still couldn't understand why Ryoma was so obstinate. It wasn't as if he didn't care for his daughter, and he knew well that one day, Raiden Mei would walk the same path as the rest of them.
"Explain? Didn't you say bringing the sword over would be enough? Wait—don't tell me you ran into Ryoma's daughter?"
The Edict Edge bearers, those who wielded the divine blades to slay Kami, rarely stayed together. They usually scattered across Izumo, hunting down the hidden Yaoyorozu no Kami and maintaining what fragile order remained.
Only when facing one of the Twelve Kami—those possessing terrifying, unreplicable powers—did they lay down everything and gather in one place.
Together, they would join the war.
That was how it had been when they hunted down Sovereign of Revelation, and how it was again ten years ago when they defeated Eternal Zenith.
When it came to the Twelve Kami, humanity had no other choice. Every victory was paid for with countless lives.
No one was unafraid of death.
But everyone understood that if they hesitated to fight, Izumo would face utter annihilation.
They had to fight—and they had to win.
Because they each had their reasons to win.
"When did you start showing interest in Ryoma's family affairs?" Yae Sakura asked, glancing at the newcomer. "That's not like you, Sirin."
"Too much pressure lately?"
The purple-haired girl clicked her tongue, embarrassed at being so easily read. Her golden eyes glowed faintly, patterned with an unmistakable X-shaped mark.
Arms crossed, Sirin tilted her head toward the thunderclouds above. "If you were the wielder of Sky, the pressure would be worse for you than it is for me."
Ever since the institute detected signs that Almighty Thunder was about to break free from its confinement, they had immediately launched a series of countermeasures.
The initial plan—
—was for the wielder of Sky, meaning Sirin herself, to reinforce the spatial barrier and prevent Almighty Thunder from returning to the physical realm.
That method hadn't worked against Eternal Zenith. First, because its banishment had required the power of the first wielder of Truth, that hero who deconstructed the divine authorities of every Kami to forge a miracle capable of sealing Eternal Zenith.
And second, because the current wielder of Truth was nowhere near the strength of that first master.
But Eternal Zenith had already been slain, its power forged into a new Edict Edge—Sky.
Eternal Zenith had descended upon Sirin's homeland. Because of it, her home had been destroyed, her family annihilated.
And after Eternal Zenith was finally vanquished, she became the unfortunate soul chosen by Sky.
Not everyone was qualified to wield an Edict Edge. While most were harmless, those forged from the slain Twelve Kami carried rules of their own.
The researchers at the institute called this 'Adaptivity'. Over the years, they discovered that if a wielder's adaptivity with an Edict Edge was below fifty percent, not only would they fail to awaken the weapon's Kotodama, but even if they tried to force its power through fixed incantations, they would fail to channel it—and be consumed by its backlash.
Even those with over fifty percent adaptivity weren't safe.
They could wield the weapon, yes—but the longer they fought, the more the blade's corruption ate away at them.
Most didn't survive long enough to use it more than a few times.
This data had been accumulated over centuries of bloodshed—drawn from countless warriors who died wielding Truth in the campaigns that followed, long before the appearance of the current wielder, Welt, the new Sentinel of Truth.
The so-called 'Sentinel' referred to those whose adaptivity exceeded ninety percent.
Only when a wielder's adaptivity surpassed ninety percent could they wield an Edict Edge without suffering fatal corruption.
Sirin, however, had never wanted to become a Sentinel.
Her mother had died in the crossfire of war—whether it was from Eternal Zenith's power or human artillery, she never knew. What she remembered clearly were her mother's last words, spoken as she shielded her daughter with her life:
You must live on, no matter what. Even if I'm gone, you must live on.
After Eternal Zenith was finally defeated, Sirin was rescued by a relief squad and taken to a temporary base. There, all survivors underwent adaptivity tests.
No one expected it—this ordinary girl had a compatibility rate of ninety-nine percent with Sky, nearly identical to the first master of Truth.
Even after all this time wielding the blade, the only visible change in her body were her eyes—those golden irises crossed by an X-shaped mark.
It was enough to make others burn with envy.
But back to the matter at hand.
The higher-ups had ordered her to release the Edict Edge's full power to stop Almighty Thunder from escaping. But Sky's strength lay in spatial manipulation alone—it couldn't truly restrain a being that had been sealed for a thousand years. Even at full power, she could only delay its return to the mortal world.
"Sky's recognition? I'm afraid I'm not someone acknowledged by the heavens," Yae Sakura said calmly.
"You're such a boring woman," Sirin scoffed, crossing her arms. "That Raiden Mei—is she a shrine maiden too? Don't tell me she's just as boring as you?"
Although the forging of Narakumi (Howl) wasn't yet complete, meaning they couldn't formally confirm it, Sirin was certain that Raiden Mei—Raiden Ryoma's daughter—would have a high adaptivity with the blade as well.
But for Narukami to be forged, they first had to win this war.
"That Mei girl?" Yae Sakura shook her head. "I would have liked to speak with her, but unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to meet her."
"Hah?" Sirin gave her a look of disbelief. "Wait—you didn't meet her? Then who did you spend all that time explaining things to?"
Was there even a need to explain anything to anyone else?
Sirin was already frustrated. The pressure was suffocating. They expected her to both contain Almighty Thunder and assist in the offensive to ensure victory.
But Almighty Thunder was the embodiment of lightning—a dragon that soared through the skies, not some immobile target!
She had already tested her limits. Her power could only restrain it briefly. Defeating a Kami of that level wasn't something that could be accomplished quickly—or perhaps even at all.
If she had truly been capable of completely sealing Almighty Thunder, they wouldn't need to camp out here in the first place.
Yae Sakura, on the other hand, wasn't overthinking any of it.
When it came to Almighty Thunder, she had only one thought—to give it her all.
The pressure of the coming battle didn't matter. Her response to Sirin's question was calm and genuine: "She's a good girl."
"So you went out on duty, met a new friend, and spent half the day chatting?" Sirin raised an eyebrow. "That's not like you, Sakura."
"Not a friend yet."
Yae Sakura shook her head, correcting softly, "We made a promise. If we survive this war—if we win—then we'll become friends."
Sirin blinked, a series of question marks forming in her mind.
Had she been maintaining this barrier for so long that she could no longer understand how people thought anymore?
What did that even mean—if we survive, we'll be friends?
Yae Sakura… is your brain functioning properly?