MIKOTO KNEW HER ROLE IN THE FESTIVAL BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE, BUT EVEN SHE DIDN'T KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH. Her sword was the temporary shell of Obsidian Lord until he chose a suitable vessel made of flesh and blood. She was simply the delivery girl. She didn't even know where she was delivering it to, or why. That part would be handled by other members of the First District when the time was right, and it wasn't something she needed to be concerned with. All she had to do was protect the sword with her life.
The old temple monks with their veiled threats and their feigned kindness told her nothing would happen to her brother just as long as she fulfilled her simple, harmless duty. Reito would never have to know about his sister's ties to this depraved ritual. He'd never have to find out how close his life almost came to an end at the hands of First District assassins. In Reito's eyes, Mikoto was just a quirky girl with a special affinity to the family heirloom and a knack for staying out late at night.
The First District certainly knew how to keep their princesses motivated.
Becoming friends with Mai had made her lose track of that duty. After being part of all the grief Mai had gone through, she honestly forgot her own part in Obsidian Lord's awakening. The wool the First District always left over her eyes obscured most of her vision, while the tears she had shed after Takumi's death made her completely blind. A flighty girl by nature, she simply never connected the dots. It never truly occurred to her she was fighting the very being she had helped put into power ever since that night with Akane in the chapel.
And because she was distracted, there was a second, far more sinister role intended for her that she never could have known. A secret so dark and deadly that it would tear her friendship with Mai apart. Something she would have no control over if certain conditions were met and she was called to fulfill that role.
She was Plan B.
Under the otherworldly nebulous sky, Obsidian Lord narrowed his single menacing eye toward Mikoto. She felt the horror grip her the instant their gazes met.
The wrath of the Earth reached up to grab her paralyzed ankles. An aura of darkness grew over her from her toes to her head. Tower after tower of black rocky spires violently erupted around her as she lifted her claymore off the floor.
Mikoto became a dark, foreboding figure even under the brightest of lights. Malice itself given feminine form.
The black spires grew higher than they ever had when Mikoto used her Earth-changing powers as a normal HiME, and then they started to move. From underneath the dangerous rocky formations emerged her Child: A massive red ogre covered in the spires and carrying a jagged mace in its three arms. Miroku.
This cursed form of Mikoto was a pure monster. She lacked Akane's compassion—making the HiME more fearful for their lives. She lacked Akane's reasoning and intelligence—making Obsidian Lord more enraged for having to resort to these measures.
The three apocalyptic forces aligned. Mikoto stood on the ground brandishing her mighty glowing claymore. Miroku hovered in the air behind her holding his brutal club. Behind him, Obsidian Lord loomed over them all with hatred burning through his iris.
Obsidian Lord spoke in a terrible voice that could split the Earth itself.
"Now eliminate these false brides, my HiME."
Miroku slammed his club to the ground, causing more spires to appear and force the HiME to scatter. Mikoto ran screaming toward the person who had caused this brilliant plan to fall apart—Natsuki.
Mikoto mindlessly roared in revenge even time she swung her sword. Natsuki barely dodged each attack as her eyes grew wide with terror. She tried to fire off her Elements only to have the two ice pistols slashed out of her hands, nearly taking off both of her arms in the process. Mikoto plowed into Natsuki's gut with the edge of her shoulder, making Natsuki double over in pain.
Natsuki was backed into one of the massive dark crystals with nowhere else to escape. Mikoto roared again as she lifted the volcanic claymore over her head. The blade descended in an arch to cleave Natsuki in two.