Mei slowly pulled open the sliding door. A familiar figure wearing the Homu costume appeared before her eyes, making her breathe a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness, Homu Sword Saint. I'm so glad you didn't leave me…" Before Mei could finish, she was stunned by the scene in front of her.
Wasn't she in the Raiden family dojo? Where on earth had this taken her? Was this still Japan?
When Mei opened the washitsu door, she found herself on what looked like the high platform of a tenshu keep. It was open on three sides, with tatami in the center and normal wooden flooring around it.
In Mei's memory, the Homu Sword Saint seemed to be standing with his back to her, gazing at the snowy scenery outside the window… Had it snowed in Nagazora City? Why was there snow outside the window?
A cold wind blew in, making Mei shiver. This place was so high… Mei looked around and realized the building stood atop a mountain range.
Was she hallucinating… or…
Before Mei could think further, the Homu Sword Saint in front of her finally spoke.
"You've come, wolf… Then, draw your blade. Hesitation is defeat."
Eh? Wasn't the Homu Sword Saint's voice supposed to be that of a middle-aged man? Why… the voice she heard was that of an elderly person.
At this moment, the Homu Sword Saint before her had already drawn his blade, and a samurai sword with a red scabbard had also appeared at Raiden Mei's waist.
A swordsman's instinct made her subconsciously draw the blade and block the sudden attack from the Homu Sword Saint.
"Clang!" A fierce clashing sound rang out.
"So heavy." Mei struggled to block the strike. The blade in her hand nearly flew out of her grip, but the next sharp blade slashing toward her head left her no time to think about anything else.
She quickly crouched and dodged. The sidelocks sliced off by the blade seemed to tell Mei that this was not a dream, but real swordplay.
Yet this solemn and murderous atmosphere did not frighten her. Instead, it made her forget her sorrow. An unnamed emotion surged in her heart.
Raiden Mei slowly assumed the starting stance of Hokushin Ittō-ryū and calmly declared, "Hokushin Ittō-ryū, Menkyo Kaiden Raiden Mei, entering the fray!"
"Ashina Style, Isshin Ashina." Sure enough, hearing the Homu Sword Saint's self-introduction, all of Mei's previous doubts finally settled.
This was not the dojo in her house. The person before her was not the Homu Sword Saint in her memory. This place… was perhaps not the real world!
The chuunibyou soul of a person from Japan burned fiercely within her. Combined with today's experiences… perhaps she really was the protagonist!
Looking at the inexplicably fired-up Raiden Mei, Shun, hidden beneath the Homu doll costume, couldn't help but feel speechless. Was this what they called Japanese chuunibyou?
Although he had deliberately guided Mei so she wouldn't have a mental breakdown, she accepted this setting way too easily, didn't she?
Where was her sadness? Where were her tears? Where had the Raiden Mei with that same deadpan "Erzhu" face from earlier gone?
From here, the development of events became obvious. Shun had used the Cosmic Juggernaut to create a small world bubble. That was why, after Mei entered the washitsu, she saw an entirely different world.
He remembered that when reading novels in the past, there was a popular trope: "XX Who Returned from XX." It was as if after experiencing an unforgettable adventure, the originally useless protagonist would suddenly become overpowered.
Yes, a certain someone named Lu Mingfei was being called out here. From the stars all the way to Sekiro, just to make Lu Mingfei stand tall.
Perhaps he could also do "Raiden Mei Who Returned from Sekiro." Would that make the originally timid Raiden Mei stand tall as well?
Moreover, since it didn't involve electromagnetic physics, Mei who could only discharge and slash with the power of the Thunder Herrscher would only gain improved swordsmanship and willpower here.
Shun felt this was worth trying. Rather than letting Raiden Mei stay at school every day being pressured by her classmates, it would be better to let her skip class and come to the dojo to play Sekiro.
This world bubble was temporarily created by Shun. The rules inside followed those of the game Sekiro exactly. Even if Mei died here, only the fake body Shun had created would die. She could be revived completely.
Using the Fenghuang Down that Fu Hua had left in his head to copy Mei's consciousness onto the fake body in the world bubble was extremely simple. The ultra-high computational power from the Cosmic Juggernaut could easily support an entire real world.
While Shun calculated in his mind, he also thought about how to fight next. After all, Mei was already at the Menkyo Kaiden level. Even if she was still young and inexperienced, she was not some random small fry.
Shun's advantages were superior physical qualities and the profound swordsmanship he had learned from Fu Hua.
"Here I come!" With a thunderous roar like a great bell echoing through the skies, Shun's feet kicked up wind. His figure shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, charging toward Raiden Mei at astonishing speed.
Every step he took on the ground produced a dull thud, as if even the earth trembled. The sharp blade gripped tightly in his hand drew fierce arcs in the air as his body rushed forward, stirring up gusts of howling wind.
"Clang!" The intense clash of steel reverberated throughout the top floor of the tenshu keep.
"What? It's not that big a deal?" Raiden Mei discovered that once she adapted to the opponent's attack rhythm, she could easily parry every attack coming from any angle using the blade's seemingly built-in deflect function.
Even the occasional red "danger" signals appearing above the opponent's head would not threaten her as long as she paid attention to dodging.
After all, post-attack recovery in the real world could be canceled. There was no need to fear being unable to dodge if she got greedy with attacks.
"Is that all you've got?" Feeling the advantage was hers, Raiden Mei couldn't help but taunt.
How could Shun tolerate being provoked by a little girl? He had spoiled her too much. Didn't she know that although he could be called a Sword Saint, what he was best at using were actually spears?
The Homu Sword Saint before her seemed to have heard her provocation. He casually discarded the blade in his hand and pulled out a massive jumonji yari from somewhere.
Then, the Homu Sword Saint leaped high into the air. A streak of golden lightning struck down, attaching itself to the spear blade as it slashed toward Raiden Mei.
Wait, I was just saying that casually! Don't actually do it!
Raiden Mei watched the Homu Sword Saint descending upon her like the Thunder God incarnate and was momentarily stunned.
The golden lightning struck straight down, electrocuting Raiden Mei until she twitched on the ground. At that moment, the noble no-damage player finally broke her streak.
Raiden Mei had not seen the prompt and naturally didn't know how to counter the lightning.
After landing the hit, the Homu Sword Saint quickly retreated. Raiden Mei, feeling the lightning rampaging through her body, struggled to use her blade as a crutch to stand up.
She must not let him use that move again. She had to interrupt him… Raiden Mei reminded herself in her heart while raising her guard, lest this somewhat insidious Homu Sword Saint pull another dirty trick.
But how could the Ashina Style sword techniques be so easily seen through by a young girl like Raiden Mei?
Shun calmly took out a hand cannon from his bosom.
"Wolf, the times have changed." The hand cannon suddenly spewed a cloud of thick black smoke. The cold metal bullet, wrapped in a sharp whistling wind, shot straight toward Mei like lightning!