"One-star equipment can be upgraded to two stars, and the price is… only one hundred Cubes? That's not expensive at all."
"So they really do sell badges and outfits as equipment—and their prices are the same as weapons?"
Kiana thought for a moment. What she needed most right now was a handy weapon. Her first choice was a pistol.
Because subconsciously, that was what came to mind first.
But she quickly dismissed the idea. All these guns required ammunition, and she didn't have any ammo boxes. More importantly, she didn't know the Kaslana Gun Kata.
Better to go with a melee weapon.
Guns could wait for later.
A melee weapon…
A baseball bat!
Of course—it was Kiana, after all. Why shouldn't she get herself a trusty, ancestral baseball bat?
Kiana quickly locked onto her target—the only bat she could afford and actually liked the look of.
[WR750 Baseball Bat (★)]
It didn't have any additional effects.
Just a plain old bat—but with her strength, plus a little Honkai Energy, she could easily take down a small fry with a single swing.
She had another hundred Honkai Cubes left. That was enough to buy another of the same weapon and upgrade it to two stars.
But even the two-star version had no additional attributes. Instead of upgrading it, it would be better to buy a badge that boosted melee damage.
Yet, one-star badges barely offered any bonuses, so Kiana changed her mind and gave up on that idea.
"Let's buy Mei a new sword too!"
Mei was already strong—if she got a stronger weapon, her combat ability would soar even higher.
Kiana had solved her own weapon problem, so she decided to spend the remaining hundred Cubes on Mei. She was going to spoil her wife!
There weren't many melee weapons that could be upgraded to two stars, but to her surprise, Kiana spotted a two-star katana that even had a special attribute.
[Yamato NS Katana (★): When striking an enemy, there is a chance to inflict Bleed for 3 seconds.]
A weapon with a special effect—was there even a need to hesitate?
Buy it!
Kiana spent all two hundred Cubes and then reluctantly glanced at the high-tier equipment section.
Three-star gear cost ten times as much as two-star gear—that was one thousand Cubes. Four-star gear cost ten thousand. Each tier's price was ten times higher than the last.
Kiana suddenly felt a surge of motivation to slay Kami across the world. Even if she killed them all, she might still not be able to afford the highest-tier equipment.
Wait—didn't the system reward her earlier with the Houkai Final Handcannon, which was a five-star weapon? And it was already at max level without needing duplicates to upgrade?
Just how many Honkai Cubes was that thing worth?
"Kiana, you're awake?"
Mei's voice pulled her out of her daze. Kiana shook her head vigorously and smiled as she pulled a katana out of thin air. "Mei, try this one!"
What were Honkai Cubes compared to Mei?
And besides, Stigmata couldn't even be bought in the shop—Thunder Soul Engravings were worth far more than any five-star weapon.
If she got another Stigmata in the future, she'd definitely choose it again!
Mei blinked in confusion. "What's this?"
Where had she pulled it from?
"Your new weapon!"
Kiana shoved the katana into Mei's hands, smiling brightly as she admired the sight of Mei holding her new gear.
"This sword is more than enough for me."
Mei was experienced—one look told her this blade was incredibly sharp. She wanted to let Kiana keep it for herself.
"No refusing! This Yamato NS Katana was specially picked for you!"
Kiana rejected her protest outright. Then, in her hand appeared a baseball bat. She gave it a few swings and nodded with satisfaction.
"I'll use this!"
The weight was just right—easy to handle and wouldn't hurt her hands.
The metallic bat gleamed faintly, looking sturdy enough to crush any monster with a single hit.
Seeing the bat in Kiana's hand, Mei hesitated. She wanted to suggest using a sword instead, but then remembered Kiana's terrifying strength—the way she had treated Kami like sandbags.
A baseball bat… wasn't such a bad idea, actually.
"…Then I'll accept it."
Mei didn't even inspect the blade. She simply hung it at her waist beside the plain sword she'd brought before.
"We should get going."
"Go?"
Kiana blinked, snapping out of her excitement over the new gear. Right—this area wasn't safe anymore.
Seeing the residents of the neighborhood carrying bags and boxes, stopping nearby and glancing anxiously in their direction, Kiana quickly realized what was going on.
This must have been Mei's doing.
There was no need to ask any questions.
"No problem. Leave any danger on the road to me. Let's head to the shelter now."
"I know where it is. I'll lead the way. Kiana, you… should stay at the back of the group."
Mei ignored Kiana's earlier comment. Kiana had already given her a Stigmata and even a new sword—if she still let Kiana do all the fighting, that would be far too ungrateful of her.
There were quite a few people. Walking together in a crowd meant it was easy to miss something behind them.
Since the nearest shelter wasn't far, Mei decided to have Kiana guard the rear of the group, reducing the chances of an unexpected attack from behind.
"Got it." Kiana didn't think too much about it and nodded confidently. "Leave the rear to me!"
"Be careful," Mei reminded her gently, seeing how confident she looked. "The Kami we encountered before were probably among the weakest kinds. But remember—their abilities vary. Some can be very troublesome."
"Mhm, I know, I know. I know what to do. Alright, Mei—let's get going. The noises over there are getting louder…"
Mei was good at everything.
She just tended to underestimate Kiana's strength.
If these really were the weakest Kami, then they were nothing but cannon fodder to her. With a baseball bat in her hands, she could smash through as many as appeared!
Still, Mei worrying about her meant Mei cared for her. Heh, in other words—Mei cared, and that meant Mei liked her.
Yup! No mistake there!
Relying on her recent strike that felled a Kami and her reputation as the shrine maiden of Narukami Shrine, Raiden Mei had already organized the crowd while Kiana was busy figuring out how to spend her Honkai Cubes.
Now that Kiana was ready, the group could depart immediately—heading straight toward the shelter.
There was no time to mourn for the late Osaka. The world had clearly started to fall into chaos.
Even with a powerful shrine maiden by their side, no one felt truly safe. The monsters could attack from any direction.
A shrine maiden could slay Kami, but she couldn't guarantee saving anyone caught off guard by a sudden ambush. That was why everyone silently prayed they would reach the underground shelter soon.
There was only one door there—as long as that door held, everyone inside would be safe.
"Check to make sure you haven't forgotten anything. We're leaving now."
Mei gave one last reminder to the crowd. But the people had already grown restless, voices rising with anxious calls like "Let's just go already!"
Seeing that, Raiden Mei didn't hesitate any longer. She turned and glanced toward the rear of the group, catching sight of that familiar white-haired bundle of energy. Then she faced forward again and took the lead, guiding the way ahead.