The Herrscher knew she was presently outclassed. More figurative than literal. She had little more than attitude and an unreliable Divine Key. Though it was still a super-weapon of the Previous Era, this one had plenty of… shortcomings. Her foe stood in stark opposition. It was this gulf that Mei would cross. Lightning crawled over her flesh and haloed her body as Mei changed the rules of the game.
A nearby humongous analogue clock capped the top of a multi-storey glass office building. The large arm ticked onto the number 6 digit. Thirty seconds.
Mei looked inward. She felt the power that hummed within. The overwhelming desire and the sacrifices she was willing to pay for it. She had lost something of herself to attain this power and gained something new of herself in turn. An honesty that was previously absent. The power of each Herrscher was fixed upon an idea, a core concept, a locus of understanding and near obsession. That power could be made manifest through their will. It could also be coalesced into physical existence. The concept of a Herrscher as a singular expression of their destructive impulses.
Crackling arcs of lightning snapped about Mei's right hand. Concept met will and was expressed as reality. A flash accompanied the overwhelming scent of ozone that blanketed the building rooftop. Gripped tightly in Mei's right hand was the Key of Lightning. A weapon existing as an expression of the Core of Lightning that lay within her. The katana's hilt was black metal shaped like a long, angry thundercloud with smaller dark streamers of actual vapour falling from it. The blade itself was again dark black, veins of glowing purple electricity and crackling arcs etched into it. The katana blade would have been a rough, jagged curve if not for the living lightning, in shades of white, azure blue and lilac, that formed a perfectly curved monomolecular edge.
The large arm of the analogue click ticked a single interval past 6. Thirty-one seconds.
Spinning on the ball of her left foot, Mei turned to face Kiana where she knelt and thrust her left hand toward her companion's chest.
"If you aren't going to use it then I certainly will."
Lightning arced between Mei's hand and Kiana's chest. Gripping an invisible hilt, Mei spun back around and drew a blade from the air. The blade was a smaller wakizashi. This made sense. A smaller blade from a smaller Core of Lightning. A smaller Key of Lightning from the owner's smaller will. The wakizashi had a similar thundercloud hilt as the katana. But the blade looked like lightning had been trapped within a pane of glass that curved as a wakizashi would.
Mei took note of the look from the wounded deadweight where she lay. The woman appeared genuinely shocked. It wasn't every day you travelled with two Herrscher. But something else tinged her eyes. A hint of caution that had Mei evaluating what further questions she would ask of the woman once this fight was over. Still, she had more pressing matters and an unexpected arrival to deal with.
"Raiden niten ichi," Mei whispered.
The sky boomed in thunderous symphony with Mei's will. The Herrscher of Lightning bathed in that elemental fury. On calm feet she walked toward her enemy, strikes of lightning preceding each step, distant booms of thunder flanking her steady pace.