Kenji
The first warning wasn't the sound. It wasn't the explosion of wind. It was the feeling of absolute oppression.
Kenji had taken one step toward Wendy, his mind still processing her words, when his Danger Sense activated.
It wasn't a tingle or a jolt like it usually was. It was an ice pick of pure agony slamming into the base of his skull. A continuous, high-pitched scream of absolute, catastrophic danger that overloaded his every thought.
In the exact millisecond, the cold, pulling sensation in his chest vanished. A hot, violent throb replaced it.
Whatever inside him that had been passively drawn to the Gem was now reacting violently to Wendy. It felt like something was trying to burst out of his ribs, a panicked, painful pulse that matched the scream in his head.
He barely had a fraction of a second to process this dual-sensory assault before the world ended.
A column of brilliant green wind erupted from Wendy.
The shockwave hit him not as a gust, but as a solid wall. Kenji was lifted off his feet and sent flying backward, his body slamming hard into the base of a concrete pillar. The air was ripped from his lungs, and the world dissolved into a ringing, pressurized void.
He crumpled to the pavement, his ears screaming, his chest aching, and his mind still reeling from the mental assault of his own powers.
"Gah... hhk..." He coughed, dust and grit filling his mouth.
The pressurized ringing in his ears slowly faded, replaced by a sound he'd never heard before—the high-pitched, furious howl of a cyclone as large as the island.
He pushed himself up, his arms shaking. The courtyard, once a pristine green space, was now a cratered ruin. Kiana, Mei, and Bronya were scattered, pushing themselves to their feet.
Kenji looked up.
Wendy was floating ten feet above the ground, at the epicenter of a gathering storm. The wind whipped her pale hair around her, her simple white dress billowed violently, and green wings materialized behind her.
But it was her eyes that made his blood run cold.
They were no longer human. They were twin points of glowing, toxic green light, brimming with cold, inhuman rage.
"I hate you..." Her voice was layered, distorted, as if a dozen voices were speaking at once. "ALL OF YOU!"
A panicked voice crackled in his ear, static-filled and sharp. "What's that honkai reading?! It's off the charts! Team, what's going on?!" Himeko shouted through the comms.
"We don't know! She was fine just a few seconds ago, but now she's suddenly like this! Did she awaken the gem's power? Is she a Herrscher now?!" Kiana was the first to recover, her pistols snapping up. "Guys, come on! Get ready to fight!!"
"No, Kiana, wait!" Mei scrambled to her feet and grabbed Kiana's arm, placing herself between her friend and Wendy. "No, not yet! We can still help her. She can still come back from corruption! Just look!"
Mei turned to the team, her eyes wide with desperation. "This is like what happened to me… She's still in there! We can save her. We just have to bring her to her senses, not fight her!"
Kenji stared at Mei. His Danger Sense was still screaming. It was telling him that fighting Wendy would almost lead to certain death.
Mei's plan was suicidal. The woman floating in the air was not Wendy. It was a monster that would tear them apart before they could say a word.
But he looked at Mei's face—the terror and hope—and then at Kiana and Bronya, both showing a look of pain at Wendy's current state. It was obvious what his team wanted to do.
And he couldn't just let Wendy be either. If what his team says is true, then it's still possible to bring her back.
Even if this plan was stupid beyond all accounts, he couldn't just let Wendy stay like this.
Another burst of wind hit the team, pushing them back slightly. 'Wendy's attacks are too strong; if we get hit without defending, there's a high chance we could die… Except for me! I can risk getting hit without suffering permanent damage! '
He stepped forward, planting his feet. "Alright then, we're going with your plan, Mei!" he shouted, locking eyes with the floating Herrscher.
"I'll try to draw most of her attacks! You guys try to snap her out of it!"
"Got it!"
"Thank you, Kenji!"
"Defensive modules ready, The Bronya is prepared for battle."
"The fuck are you talking about?!" Himeko roared over the comms. "That's too risky, this is a Herrscher you're talking about! Your orders are to... Damn it, fine! Kenji, don't be reckless!"
He let out a nervous laugh. "I'm always reckless!"
Wendy, her gaze now cold and distant, looked down at them. She didn't see friends. She saw liars. Ants to be obliterated.
She raised her hand, and the air itself split apart as a dozen razor-sharp blades of wind shot directly at them.
Kenji made good on his promise.
"Heads up!" he yelled, activating 35% of One For All. He sprang forward, reeling his fist back and countering the barrage with his own blow.
The world dissolved into a flurry of green light and deafening shockwaves. His counterattack destroyed a half-dozen of the wind blades, but the attacks just kept coming.
His team quickly sprang into action, splitting up to surround the newly awakened herrscher.
Wendy was about to unleash an attack on them, but yelled out in shock as a strong gust of wind slammed into her side. She turned, glaring at Kenji, who had just released a finger blast of wind.
"Really? Using wind against me?!" She shouted, then sent an all-encompassing blast of wind that completely engulfed him, the attack spreading too wide for him to dodge.
He braced his body for the attack, going up to 50% to tank the blow.
This was much worse than the wind blades. It felt like getting hit by the Templar all over again, the attack ripping through his battlesuit and the flesh beneath.
"Damn!"
"Kenji!" He heard Kiana shout out.
"I'm alright, just go!"
He looked down. Deep bruises and parts of flesh torn from his body, and his arms were bleeding profusely. But the wounds quickly began to smoke.
It was a dull, throbbing sensation, but his base regeneration was already at work. The lacerated flesh began to knit itself closed, the skin slowly stitching itself back together.
Wendy, floating at the center of her storm, visibly recoiled. Her glowing green eyes narrowed. A normal human knight would have been shredded to pieces.
This... this was defiance. The sight of him healing, of him standing, focused all her chaotic rage onto him.
"Shit, this is going to suck!"
He slammed his fist into the plaza's pavement. The ground cracked, sending a shockwave of shattered concrete toward Wendy, forcing her to raise a wind barrier to deflect the debris for a moment.
It was the opening Kiana needed.
She dashed in, pistols held low to show she wasn't a threat, but at the ready just in case. Ducking and weaving past stray wind blades that were sent flying towards her.
"Wendy, stop this!" she yelled, her voice straining to be heard over the howl of the wind. "We're your friends! We're trying to help you!"
"FRIENDS?!" Wendy shrieked, the word a torrent of rage. Kiana's words were the worst possible trigger. They were the exact promise they had made to her just before she heard Himeko's words. "You lied to me!"
She created a concentrated ball of wind in her palm before releasing it towards Kiana. Sending blasts of wind that Kiana was able to mostly avoid, until a patch of unsteady ground made her lose her balance and get picked up by the strong winds.
"Whoa!" Kiana shouted as she was sent flying up into the cyclone.
Bronya was quick to act. Project Bunny 19C materialized in a flash, catching Kiana mid-air with a heavy metal hand before bracing its shield against the lingering gale.
"Dammit!" Kiana cursed.
Kenji shared her frustration, fighting someone with wind manipulation was a pain in the ass for people who focus on close-quarters combat.
Using her pistols would also be impossible, as the wind would just blow the bullets away.
Wendy's full attention snapped back to Kenji, the regenerating obstacle. She unleashed a new barrage, this time a vortex of wind that lashed out with pressurized tendrils.
Kenji dodged, danger sense warning him of the attacks way before they hit. But dodging literal wind was tricky.
He had to mainly stay on the ground because jumping would risk getting caught in the cyclone, leaving him a sitting duck mid-air.
He needed to make another opening.
Gritting his teeth, Kenji pushed his power through his legs and charged directly into the vortex.
Wendy's eyes widened, expecting an attack, she released another barrage of attacks at him. The wind tore at him, but he powered through. Finally, releasing a 50% punch upwards.
The force was enough to create a shockwave that dispersed her cyclone, for a moment at least.
"Mei, go!" he roared, staggering back as he clutched his pained arm.
Mei dashed in, avoiding swirling tornadoes formed by Wendy. Her hands were ready at her katana, but it was still purposely sheathed. "Wendy, please! I know exactly what you're going through!! I'm also a Herrscher!"
Wendy turned, her glowing eyes fixed on Mei.
"That power, the voice in your head. It's not you! It's corrupting you!" Mei's own eyes were shining with unshed tears, "Don't let it control you! Don't let it win! I know it's scary, but please let us help you!"
If it were anybody else, Wendy would have shredded them for even implying that they understood her. But having those words come from another Herrscher, her furious expression crumpled. The howling cyclone around her weakened.
The green light in her eyes flickered, revealing the terrified, pale girl beneath. The agonizing bursting in Kenji's chest eased for a split second.
"You...you know...?" Wendy whispered, her own voice finally breaking through.
It was working.
But as the glimmer of hope surfaced, it was washed away as her eyes suddenly glowed fiercer. "You... you just want the Gem!" she screamed, the Herrscher voice returning. "You want to use me! Then leave me for dead, just like they did!"
She thrust both hands out. A massive, focused gale erupted, much stronger than the blast that had hit Kiana.
Mei had no time to react.
"Mei!" Kenji yelled, putting all his power into his legs and snatching her out of the way before the attack hit. The blast completely decimated everything behind them, uprooting trees and demolishing what was left of the buildings.
He landed on his feet, Mei still in his arms. Setting her down, he turned his attention back to Wendy, who ominously floated above them.
This wasn't good. None of what they tried was working, and only served to enrage Wendy further. She floated in the eye of her storm, her chest heaving, and a dangerous glint started to appear in her eyes.
"If you won't leave..." she whispered, her voice layered and cold, "then you will all be erased."
She raised her arms. The wind in the courtyard stopped. The howling died, replaced by an oppressive, suffocating pressure. Kenji's Danger Sense immediately picked it up. A warning that spread to every single cell in his body
He realized what Wendy was going to do. She wanted to wipe them out with a single, powerful attack.
The air above Wendy began to compress. Debris—chunks of concrete, shattered pillars, twisted metal—was torn from the ground and pulled into a swirling vortex above her.
A massive, churning tornado of razor-sharp shrapnel was forming, completely engulfing the sky above them, an attack she intended to unleash to wipe them all out.
Bronya immediately ran in front of them, projecting a shield from Project Bunny. But her face showed that she wasn't confident in taking the hit.
He cursed under his breath, "Kiana!" She turned to him, "Remember how you wanted to see me split the sky again?!" Kiana slowly nodded before her eyes widened as she finally realized what he meant.
The rest of his team didn't like the idea, their gaze showing reluctance. But they knew that they had no other options to counter this attack.
Kenji sighed. He knew his current power was nowhere near the level it had been at the Eruption. The only reason he had been able to do that was because of Elysia. Using 100% now and blowing his arm off would only put him at a disadvantage.
"Come on..." he growled, planting his feet. He drew on One For All, and his muscles screamed as he pushed past 50%, past 70%.
Red lightning, more violent than ever, began to erupt from his body, cracking the pavement beneath his feet. He could feel his bones groaning under the strain.
'Eighty percent.' This should be enough to disperse Wendy's attack while not completely blowing off his arm.
"Die!"
Wendy thrust her hands down. The tornado descended.
Kenji roared, punching the air with every ounce of his being..
A concussive, red-streaked shockwave erupted from his fist. The force from his punch collided with the green tornado of the Herrscher.
For a single, silent millisecond, the world went white.
The resulting explosion was deafening. The two opposing forces tore each other apart, obliterating the courtyard in a blast of light and sound that sent Kiana, Mei, and Bronya flying. The shockwave vaporized the debris in the tornado, the sheer force turning concrete to dust.
Wendy herself was blasted back, her power shattered, her body slamming hard against the far wall of the plaza before she crumpled to the ground, the green light in her eyes flickering. She turned her gaze to the sky only for her eyes to widen in shock.
The storm around the island was gone.
Kenji collapsed to one knee, his body trembling violently. He looked down at what was left of his right arm.
It was a mangled pile of flesh and bones. The bones from his knuckles to his shoulder were shattered, twisted at grotesque, unnatural angles. Purple, blackened flesh hung limply, the limb completely pulverized from the reckless force of his own attack.
'At least… I didn't… Blow off.. My arm…'
He tried to breathe, but the pain was so blinding it stole the air from his lungs.
Wendy pushed herself up from the rubble, her body shaking. She stared at him, her Herrscher rage broken, her eyes wide with shock. He had... he had overpowered her.
She prepared to attack again, to defend herself, but she stopped.
Kenji was on one knee, his right arm a mangled wreck, his body steaming and broken. He was regenerating, but the damage was too severe, so the process was agonizingly slow. He looked up at her, and his gaze shattered her remaining fury.
There was no hatred in his eyes. No malice. No triumphant glare.
But only pleading.
"We're not... going to fight you, Wendy," he forced the words out, his voice a broken rasp. "We just... want to help you."
He struggled, pushing himself to his feet, his broken arm hanging uselessly.
"Please... come back with us," he begged, taking a single, agonizing step toward her. "We can protect you. I promise."
Wendy stared at him. This didn't make sense to her. He had crippled himself to stop her, not to hurt her.
Every one of their attacks was never aimed at actually harming her. He was still offering her hope. These people... they truly wanted to help her. But Himeko... Schicksal...
It was too much. The rage, the betrayal, the fear, and now this desperate plea for her salvation...
Her mind, caught between the Herrscher's fury and her own human panic, finally snapped.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed, her voice no longer a Herrscher's roar, but the terrified, broken cry of a young woman.
She threw her hands out, not in an attack, but in a defensive blast. A massive, non-lethal wall of wind erupted from her, filling the entire courtyard with a blinding, opaque cyclone of dust and debris.
"Kenji!" Mei and Kiana screamed, their voices lost in the howl.
The gale raged for ten seconds and then, as quickly as it had come, it died. The courtyard was silent, and Wendy was nowhere to be found. Kenji collapsed onto his remaining hand, his body finally giving out.
"Kiana... Mei..." he panted, looking up.
The dust settled. Wendy was gone.
The three rushed to his side, their faces pale with terror. "Kenji! Your arm! Oh my god..." Kiana stammered, her hands hovering uselessly over his shattered limb.
"I'm... I'm okay. It'll heal…"
He looked at the sky, not seeing even a trace of Wendy anymore. "Fuck, she ran away."