"Let's hurry and leave Nagazora City to finish the mission… This perspective feels weird." Kiana spoke.
Right now, only Levi could hear her voice. The two of them shared one body, and communicating felt like their thoughts were overlapping, ideas popping out one after another without either of them being able to control it.
"I'm afraid that won't be fast."
As he spoke, Levi turned his head toward the school building from before. Across the hundred-meter gap, his gaze met that of the purple-haired woman standing on the opposite rooftop.
Levi recognized her.
The third Herrscher born in Nagazora City, the Herrscher of Rice.
Cough, cough! Herrscher of Thunder. Herrscher of Thunder. "Herrscher of Rice" was just an affectionate nod to her ability.
"Didn't expect to run into the Herrscher of Rice right at the start. Does this count as walking out the door and meeting the final boss?"
'Herrscher?!' Sharing Levi's vision, Kiana also saw the figure on the opposite rooftop.
But…
'What the hell is a Herrscher of Rice?!'
'A Herrscher who kills people by cooking?!'
At this point, Kiana had long since run out of words to complain about Levi's naming sense.
"Big boss! Where? Where?!"
Elysia, having absolutely no sense of danger, placed one hand on Levi's shoulder to steady herself and the other over her brow to look in the direction he had just been staring.
A slender figure appeared in her pupils, and she gasped, "Oh, oh, oh! I see her! I see her!"
"Let me have a look too!"
Lumine joined in on the peeping.
"…Are you three finding this fun?"
A cold, sharp voice sounded from above. Elysia and Lumine both froze.
When they looked up, the Herrscher of Thunder Levi had just been talking about was suddenly standing right in front of them.
She'd been hundreds of meters away just moments ago, and in the blink of an eye, she was here.
That kind of movement, practically teleportation, made both girls exchange a glance.
Then they both looked straight at Levi, who didn't look the least bit surprised.
A second later, they stepped back in unison. Their meaning was clear.
'She's all yours, Mister Miracle Fighter.'
Levi sighed.
But right now, he was the only one who could deal with her anyway.
So instead of pushing them forward, he took the initiative and stepped up himself.
He raised his head to face one of the main characters of Honkai, Raiden Mei.
Calmly, he said, "Something you need?"
"I know you." Raiden Mei, no, the Herrscher of Thunder, spoke coldly.
"Kiana Kaslana, the transfer student from Europe. Popular, admired Kiana… I thought all of you had died. Didn't expect there'd be one fish that slipped through the net."
"?"
Hearing this, Levi, who had been planning to use Kiana and Raiden Mei's relationship to talk her down easily, was instantly thrown off.
In his mind, he asked, 'How's your relationship with Raiden Mei, anyway?'
At that moment, Kiana, who had now fully realized who the Herrscher was, was just as stunned.
'How could it be… her?'
After hearing Levi's question, she replied, 'We're… average, I guess.'
If she had to be honest, they barely had any relationship at all.
Aside from seeing each other twice at school, they'd basically never interacted again.
When Levi heard that, he couldn't help asking, "Didn't you like Raiden Mei? How could you two just be average?"
According to the original storyline, she wasn't just a crush, she was at least a close friend, right?
'That's because… wait! How do you know I like her?!'
"…Do you really think this is the time to talk about that?"
Levi pointed at the lightning-cloaked "Pikachu" standing before them.
Clearly, Kiana knew when to quit, so she didn't push further. Instead, she started explaining why her relationship with Raiden Mei wasn't close.
Apparently, she'd been too busy handling chat group affairs, so she'd always missed her chance to get acquainted with Raiden Mei.
Levi's face turned into a perfect "black question mark" meme.
No matter how much Kiana tried to dress it up with flowery excuses, he could see the truth behind her words.
Translation: She was too busy shitposting in the chat group.
BOOM!
A bolt of purple lightning struck Levi squarely.
Seeing him swallowed by thunder, Elysia and Lumine both swallowed hard.
"He's not gonna... like... die instantly, right?"
Elysia said uncertainly, "He shouldn't… right? He looked pretty confident just now…"
As it turned out, Levi had every right to be confident.
When the Herrscher of Thunder's attack dissipated, Levi stood perfectly fine on the rooftop.
Even his hair was exactly the same, not a strand out of place.
The Herrscher of Thunder frowned. When her attack had landed, she'd felt a familiar energy from him.
An energy just like her own.
Levi brushed back his hair by his ear, his expression unchanged, and looked at her with the same calm as before.
"Something you need?"
To start the game fighting the enhanced Nagazora City boss, the Herrscher of Thunder, if it had been his real body, the guy who only knew hacking, all he could've done was infiltrate Nagazora City's network and broadcast "Listen to Me Say Thank You" on loop.
Maybe he could awaken Raiden Mei's kindness that way.
If it failed, well, at least the four of them could die together and become deadwalkers, at least they wouldn't be lonely.
Looked at that way, it wouldn't be a total loss.
But now, things were different.
He was invincible.
At least within Nagazora City, he was absolutely invincible.
Levi's words seemed almost like provocation. The Herrscher of Thunder, already suppressing a storm of negative emotions within her heart, heard him and felt the fire inside her ignite completely.
Through her violet eyes, one could almost see the flames flickering within.
Facing her distorted expression, Levi remained perfectly calm.
When he didn't get an answer for a long while, he tilted his head and repeated, "Something you need?"
"..."
"..." ×2
Lumine whispered to Elysia, "Isn't he basically giving her a buff?"
Anger, reduces sanity, increases attack power.
That's definitely a buff.
"Maybe it's because he's confident?" Elysia said uncertainly.
Looking at "Pikachu," whose face was already twisting with rage, and at Levi, who remained calm as a mountain, Elysia decided it was best to quietly sneak somewhere safe.
When gods fight, mortals suffer.
She really shouldn't be getting involved in this.
Thinking that, she subtly tugged Lumine along toward the wide-open iron door.
"Your very existence disgusts me!"
The Herrscher of Thunder glared at Levi, collapsing Honkai energy into her hand, which then transformed into blinding lightning.
As the shape of a blade began to form, she swung her arm toward him.
With each swing, the blade became more complete.
"To make the Thunder Queen of St. Freya Academy feel disgusted, what an honor."
Levi didn't counter directly; he only tilted his body slightly to dodge her strike. But the Herrscher of Thunder clearly wasn't done, she continued slashing relentlessly.
Lightning spread like a spiderweb, surrounding Levi completely.
This time, he didn't plan to dodge. Constantly avoiding attacks would only make the opponent think he was easy to push around.
The lightning's speed was terrifying, reaching him in an instant.
But for him, that instant was more than enough.
Snap!
Levi snapped his fingers. The sharp sound cut through the thunder-filled rooftop and landed precisely in everyone's ears.
Elysia and Lumine, who had been stuck behind the door watching, and even the Herrscher of Thunder herself, all froze.
The attack stopped instantly and vanished.
"Confidence is a good thing," Levi said calmly, looking at the Herrscher of Thunder and pointing a finger at her. "But…"
"You need to stay confident within your limits. Otherwise, it becomes arrogance."
"And arrogance… is the beginning of a Herrscher's downfall."