23: Chapter 22 Families

The three bypassed the collapsed school building and followed the Honkai Energy in the air to the riverside garden at the side of Chiba Academy.

This was once the place where Kaiwen and Raiden Mei discussed how to win Kiana over, and they had created many fond memories here.

But now, this place was the axis of the storm.

Dark purple storm clouds in the sky rotated extremely slowly. Dazzling flashes of lightning occasionally gleamed at the center of the vortex, yet mysteriously made not a sound.

Beneath the dark clouds, the surface of the water was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the swirling vortex of dark clouds above.

The Chinese-style pavilion by the riverbank was the sole exception to this dead silence.

A translucent barrier of light, like an inverted glass dome, shrouded the otherwise dark pavilion in a purple glow.

On the stone bench at the center of the pavilion, Raiden Mei sat quietly.

Her long, pitch-black hair glistened slightly in the purple light. She held a teacup between her fingertips, slowly bringing it to her lips.

Her movements were so gentle and slow, as if the cataclysm around her—where heaven and earth seemed to fall—was nothing more than irrelevant scenery.

Seeing the miraculous scene before them, Kaiwen's group could not help but stop in their tracks.

Thus, the three stared at the figure inside the pavilion through the transparent electromagnetic barrier.

In the end, it was Kaiwen who broke the silence.

"Mei!"

Her voice was not loud, yet it rang out exceptionally clear beside the riverbank.

Inside the barrier, the hand holding the teacup froze mid-air.

Clack.

The teacup set lightly back down onto the stone table.

Raiden Mei slowly turned her head.

The purple eyes that were once gentle were now cold and unfamiliar.

Her gaze swept past Kiana without pausing, landing directly on Kaiwen.

Then, a smile broke across that icy face.

"You came."

Her voice sounded strange, like two people speaking simultaneously—one deep, one crisp.

"I knew you wouldn't die." The Herrscher of Thunder stood up, scanning Kaiwen up and down, her tone laced with unhidden admiration. "Look at your hair, and the Honkai Energy flowing inside you... You truly survived my power."

She took a step forward, her purple eyes flashing with a glint of delight. "You have completely become my—"

Mid-sentence, she paused.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, as though catching onto some subtle incongruity.

She tilted her head, remaining silent for a few seconds as the smile on her face faded bit by bit.

"No," she muttered softly. "The power inside you... is not mine."

She scrutinized Kaiwen anew. "It's resisting me."

After a brief silence, the Herrscher of Thunder's lips curled up once more, but this time there was no admiration in her smile—only cold obsession.

"Still, it doesn't matter. We have plenty of time."

She raised her right hand, slender fingers slowly spreading open in the air as purple electric arcs began to frantically condense between her fingertips.

"Since it failed before, we'll just do it again. This time, right by my side, nothing will go wrong."

"Wait a minute, Mei!"

Kaiwen took a step forward and shouted.

The Herrscher of Thunder's raised hand paused slightly. She turned her face toward her, a touch of confusion in her eyes.

"Do you want to resist me?" She scoffed softly, the electric arcs at her fingertips crackling even more fiercely. "Or do you think the three of you can stop me?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she gave Kaiwen no further chance to speak, pressing her right hand lightly downward.

The electromagnetic barrier that had previously only shrouded the pavilion suddenly expanded outward! The speed was so fast that no one could react in time, wrapping around all three of them in the blink of an eye.

Feeling a fine numbness crawling over her skin,

"Bronya, run!" Kaiwen lowered her voice and shouted urgently. "Find a place to hide!"

This shout sounded extraordinarily abrupt beside the silent riverbank.

"Bronya?"

Hearing the name, she shifted her gaze with amused interest, landing on Bronya, who was hiding behind Kiana at the very back.

Looking at the girl, the Herrscher of Thunder idly flicked at a stray electric spark dancing in the air.

"I almost didn't recognize you."

She tilted her head, her tone mocking: "Just earlier at home, when you were catalyzing my birth, you weren't like this."

"Why are you hiding behind someone else like an ostrich now?"

Hearing the words "catalyzing my birth," Kiana's shoulders stiffened noticeably.

Then, like a rusty machine, she turned her head bit by bit toward the girl behind her.

Bronya raised her eyes, her gray orbs quietly gazing at the Herrscher of Thunder in the pavilion, neither making excuses nor dodging her gaze.

"Sister Kiana."

She spoke in a soft, steady voice.

"Bronya lied to you. Bronya did go to Sister Mei's home before."

Kiana said nothing, her blue eyes staring intently at her, though her trembling fingers betrayed the turmoil within her heart.

"It was Bronya who triggered Sister Mei's Herrscher awakening."

Her voice remained steady: "Bronya's consciousness was controlled by Mother at the time, but this disaster... indeed started because of Bronya."

She raised her eyes to meet Kiana's gaze, saying word by word:

"Therefore, Bronya will end it with her own hands right here."

Kiana looked at her for a long time before slowly withdrawing her gaze, turning back toward the figure in the pavilion.

"When everything is over," her voice was low, devoid of emotion, "I want a full explanation."

"Bronya understands."

Her answer was brief and calm.

The moment the words fell, she released her fingers that had been clutching the hem of Kiana's clothes and stepped out from behind her.

A heavy metallic hum resounded across the quiet riverbank.

A flash of white light glinted, and a silver-gray mecha nearly three meters tall appeared by her side. Its cannon barrel slowly raised, aiming straight at the person in the pavilion.

Project Bunny 19C.

Seeing the mecha already charging its power, Kaiwen's heart tightened, and she was about to speak to tell her to stop.

But there was not a trace of hesitation on Bronya's plain face as she shouted quickly:

"Project Bunny, full firepower!"

Project Bunny's cannon barrel suddenly illuminated with blinding white light.

Before Kaiwen could get her words out, a thick beam of energy tore through the sky, blasting straight toward Raiden Mei at the center of the pavilion!