"Hmph."
Rin paid no mind to the little girl's rudeness.
With a gentle wave of her long sleeve, the hemp rope binding Rin turned directly to ash.
The wounds hidden within the high cuffs of her tabi socks healed without a sound—the wounds where her hamstrings had been severed.
Yae Village offered sacrifices to their so-called god year after year.
And whenever disaster struck, they attributed it to a lack of "piety." If one girl wasn't enough, they would add another.
The last child tied here... because of a prolonged drought, the villagers, citing "impurity," requested that a sacrifice from the shrine maiden bloodline be offered once more.
Yae Rin, sickly and frail, naturally required more resources to survive in this era, and so she was chosen.
And the one presiding over the ritual...
...was Yae Sakura, watched closely by their father, the priest.
Yae Sakura did not want her sister to become a sacrifice, but just as she was performing the ritual, she found that her sister, whom she tried to pull away, could no longer run—
Her hamstrings had been personally severed by their own father.
Therefore.
For Yae Sakura, the scene unfolding before her eyes right now...
"Don't be afraid."
"I'm here to save you."
Rin slowly knelt before the somewhat frail Yae Sakura.
"A demon who can help you, or the kinsmen who want to sacrifice your sister."
Rin's gaze was incomparably clear.
"Have you thought it through..."
"Which will you choose?"
"..."
Clang!
Yae Sakura dropped the tachi in her hands.
The sharp metal struck the earth and stone ground, ringing out with the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil.
Even for a ceremonial blade, it was impressive that she had been able to hold it in that position for so long.
Yae Sakura turned her head to look at her frail younger sister.
To leave this place, find a doctor to cure her sister's illness, and then watch the cherry blossoms together in happiness—
This dream...
"Lady Demon."
"Can you cure illnesses?"
"Cure illnesses?"
Rin's gaze slowly swept over Yae Rin.
"Nothing could be simpler."
It wasn't an illness at all, but a precursor to a Stigma awakening. It was just that due to her innate frailty, Yae Rin's body couldn't withstand the external Honkai energy that was constantly pouring into her.
On a side note.
The Stigmata awakened by humans in this civilization were, in "concept," the same thing as a Honkai Beast's Honkai Core or a Herrscher's Herrscher Core.
"Little girl."
"Let me ask you a question as well."
Rin's gaze never left Yae Sakura for a moment.
There was no special meaning behind it; it was simply because she found her cute... a kind of cute that was stubborn and feigned strength. Rin believed that if her own older sister were here, she would probably be staring at the slightly chubbier Yae Rin without blinking as well.
"?"
"Are you afraid of becoming a demon?"
"..."
"By becoming a demon, can I better protect Rin?"
Yae Sakura did not hesitate for long.
"Of course."
"Then I'm not afraid!"
Rin's gaze grew even gentler.
"..."
"Such a good girl~"
Rin vigorously ruffled Sakura's hair.
At the same time, as Rin made this motion, the last survivors who had been standing "frozen" around the ritual site directly weathered away into the spring breeze that stirred the cherry blossoms.
Yae Sakura, her view blocked by Rin, saw none of it.
As for Yae Rin, who was less than two feet behind Yae Sakura and had witnessed the entire "ritual process" with her own eyes...
In her incomparably clear gaze...
There wasn't the slightest trace of hesitation or pity.
---o---
At the same time.
As the Honkai spread across Europe, [Tianming] successfully intervened in the political affairs of various European nations. The rapidly expanding Tianming gained immense prestige and power... accompanied by a gradually corrupting heart and desire.
With this.
Tianming brought all of Europe under its banner.
However, on their expedition to the East, they encountered the [Ming Empire]. After a long period of war, the two armies faced off in a final, decisive battle on the Kipchak Steppe in the year 1475.
Within a somewhat remote military tent.
"Even with Fifth Junior Sister's power."
"Facing thousands of soldiers, if your true qi (Honkai energy) is depleted, what good can you do?"
Dressed in practical combat attire, the red-haired "Peerless Immortal," a woman of unparalleled grace, directly refuted her senior sister's proposal.
This was the second disciple of Taixu, Su Mei.
On a side note.
Taixu Mountain was established by the Celestial Immortal Chiyuan (Hua) after she, feeling that her own strength was insufficient (to protect all of Shenzhou alone), adopted seven exceptionally talented children.
The seven disciples, in order, were Lin Zhaoyu, Su Mei, Jiang Wanxi, Jiang Wanru, Cheng Lingshuang, Ma Yanqing, and Qin Suyi.
It was the time of the decisive battle between [Tianming] and the [Ming Empire].
Although the so-called "people of the martial world" were a scattered bunch, in Central Plains' moment of crisis, they still answered the imperial court's call and came to the front lines of the battlefield.
"To put it bluntly."
"Our purpose here is merely to assassinate some 'Valkyries'—the Luochà people (Europeans) are not lacking in heroes and champions."
"Although we denigrate their methods as 'demonic arts,' any master who isn't top-tier will surely gain no advantage against them."
Tianming's ability to rule all of Europe was inextricably linked to the existence of its violent arm, the "Valkyrie force." These [Knights], relying on their excellent Honkai energy adaptability and the Honkai energy weapons (Soul Steel weapons) that Tianming had obtained, experimented with, and modified from various Previous Era ruins, were truly unstoppable.
However.
Tianming was, after all, far from home.
To break the stalemate with the Ming Empire, they had to resort to special measures—distributing Honkai energy weapons to ordinary soldiers who lacked Honkai adaptability.
"Since they are all going to die on the battlefield anyway, we might as well maximize their usefulness."
The above.
Were the unspoken words of the Tianming Bishop.
It was precisely because of this reckless action that the stalemate between the two sides was completely shattered. The [Ming Empire] had already fallen into a very dangerous situation during the day's battle. It was only thanks to the intervention of the fifth disciple of Taixu, Cheng Lingshuang—the strongest individual on Taixu Mountain and in the entire Ming Empire aside from the Celestial Immortal Chiyuan—who single-handedly killed nearly a hundred knights armed with Honkai energy weapons that had broken into their formation, that the decline was halted.
"Furthermore."
"To intervene in the struggles of mortals..."
"Senior Sister, you should know better than anyone how cold and detached Master's temperament is."
The Celestial Immortal Chiyuan wandered the world, but mortals did not know her true purpose. Although Hua's original intention was to find helpers to eradicate the Honkai together, she unfortunately did not know how to "build relationships."
Moreover.
The human mind has its limits.
Her unceasing experiences over four thousand five hundred years had forced Hua to rely on emotional detachment to preserve her memories. If she didn't, she would have to use [Fenghuang Down] to erase her memories just to maintain her sanity.
This was also the reason Su Mei called her "cold and detached."