Chapter 48: The calm before the storm
Inside the building, in one of the rooms, Kouro helps Kiana and Mei treat their wounds.
To be honest, Kouro didn't expect that Mei who had lived independently for a long time and Kiana who had experience in fighting Honkai Beasts wouldn't know how to deal with non-lethal wounds like these scratches.
Well... Given that the situation was so emergency and filled with danger, as young girls they must have been under heavy stress physically and mentally.
Even now Kouro also felt a little sad, the city of Nagazora that he had considered his hometown had been devastated into a dead city like the uninhabitable city of Chernobyl due to nuclear radiation.
Both of them are likely experiencing the same thing so they are looking for comfort to lower their tension.
Family, Friendship and Love are what is most needed at times like this to calm down.
Kouro doesn't look exhausted now despite being internally injured earlier due to absorbing Honkai's energy forcibly damaging all his organs, as he used 'Status Recovery' to heal his wounds.
It was truly a miracle, he wondered if one day 'Status Recovery' could be used on others.
Currently, Kouro was wrapping Mei's disinfecting wrist with a bandage.
Although this level of contact would normally make the girl feel embarrassed.
It seemed like Mei was currently lost in her own thoughts, so she didn't seem to care about Kouro who was currently very close to her to deal with the wound.
But when Kouro was tending to Kiana's wounds, the white-haired girl was not the humble type.
"Ouch! It hurts! The more you hold the wound, the more it hurts! Did you do that on purpose!?"
Hearing Kiana's protests, Kouro just rolled his eyeballs and said calmly.
"I disinfected the wound to avoid infection. I also did the same thing when I treated Mei's wound, but look at her, she didn't say a word."
"I don't care! You should treat me with care. Can't you be gentle with me? No matter how you say it, I'm still a girl." Kiana replied with a firmness that made the corners of Kouro's mouth twitch.
In the end Kouro relented and said softly.
"Alright. I'll do it gently, now tilt your head slightly."
For a moment, Kiana was lost in Kouro's gentle tone and actions, she narrowed her eyes with a small smile feeling comfortable with Kouro's treatment.
After a while, Kiana realized that her behavior was extremely embarrassing, a blush quickly covering her face as she turned her face away from Kouro to avoid his gaze.
Unfortunately, Kouro was too focused on her wound that he was too late to witness Kiana's antics.
After Kouro finished treating their wounds, Mei who was beside him asked helplessly.
"What should we do next?"
Kiana could only stare at Kouro when she heard Mei's question.
With the current state of Nagazora City, they couldn't stay here for long.
This raised several questions, how would they escape from Nagazora City? Which direction should they escape to?
The two girls couldn't decide on their own and began to think of Kouro as their backbone.
"First, we should rest and recover our stamina, leave the rest to me."
Kouro was then seen tapping his palm before continuing.
"Right, I also went to the bathroom earlier and checked the water. Fortunately, the water hasn't turned off yet. Take this opportunity to clean yourself up. "
The city of Nagazora is now almost completely turned into a ghost town, the power plant and its workers should have already been evacuated.
Although right now, the power machines haven't stopped working which means electricity and water haven't been cut off, tomorrow might be different.
They should seize the opportunity while water and electricity are still available.
Women love cleanliness, which is why Kouro suggested it.
Mei and Kiana didn't mind either, in situations like this, they usually didn't have time to shower and could only change into clothes that were already dirty with sweat and dust.
Now, at least, they could wash them because otherwise they would have trouble sleeping with the pungent smell of dust and sticky sweat.
In addition, bathing can ultimately relax people.
Mei, who was daydreaming, temporarily held her thoughts and engaged in conversation with Kiana while walking downstairs to go to the only place that had a bathroom.
Mei and Kiana found some new clothes scattered around so they didn't worry about not having a change of clothes after the shower.
Kouro who was outside could hear Kiana and Mei in the bathroom.
"Hmm..." It felt a bit awkward because he felt like he had peeked at them so he went away.
It was a pity that the relaxed atmosphere did not last long, about fifteen minutes when Mei and Kiana finished bathing and put on a change of clothes.
*Boom!!!
A deafeningly loud sound was heard near them.
Their ears both buzzed loudly making them pause for a moment, right after which they both looked at each other with worry visible in their eyes.
They both immediately rushed over and saw that the floor had been shattered into two by a large object near where they were.
"What happened here!?" Kiana said, shocked at the sight.
However, now, outside the building, there was a creature bigger than the building itself.
After all, the building they were currently in had more than ten floors and could be considered a relatively tall building in Nagazora City.
It was an enormous knight-like humanoid-shaped Honkai Beast with a shield in one hand and a spear in the other.
The monster that easily split the building into two halves like tofu was an enormous Templar-class Honkai Beast.
Templars are humanoid Honkai Beasts that have high combat experience, have strong defenses and attacks that make their danger level only one level below Emperor-class Honkai Beasts.
This Honkai Beast is also not an ordinary templar, but a variant of templar called 'Storm Templar'.
It is likely that this monster was created when Mei turned into Herrscher and evolved again when the large-scale Honkai Eruption occurred.
The Storm Templar's weapon is clearly a spear that uses the stabbing technique as the main attack method.
Yet the monster slashed using the spear as if it were a sword.
The weapon was also enormous in size and possessed an extremely terrifying power.
At this moment, a few meters away from Mei and Kiana was a bottomless pit created by the Storm Templar's attack.
The surrounding buildings had collapsed as the steel and concrete could not withstand the attack.
Due to the attack, the walls, rooms and floors had split apart and created a large V-shaped hole.
Through this hole, Mei and Kiana were able to look up and gaze at the Storm Templar that was more striking than the clouds in the sky.
Their hearts raced when they saw that the place attacked by the Storm Templar was the room they had stayed in before and Kouro was still there.
"No! No way! Kouro can't be dead! Impossible!" Kiana shouted in disbelief.
At the same time, beside her was Mei whose expression and eyes went blank.
Her body trembling violently, her mind that was shaken by the violent explosion had cleared and changed drastically at this moment.
"KOUROOO!!!!"
Mei screamed as loud as she could as a huge purple lightning bolt fell from the sky and illuminated the entire night sky and wrapped around the enormous Storm Templar.
"Kyaa!!!"
Kiana was thrown hard against the wall due to the impact of the aura Mei emitted.
"Mei... senpai... Kou... ro." Kiana stretched out her hand weakly before fainting.
In front of that bright light, at this moment, it seemed that the true Third Eruption was coming.
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