"Ah?! How could they..."
Kallen gasped, her hands trembling as Yae Sakura's story reached its harrowing climax. She could not fathom the brutality of murdering one's own flesh and blood to appease an ethereal, unseen god. Even though Schicksal itself operated as a religious organization, Kallen had never put her faith in so-called deities, let alone accepted such barbaric sacrifices.
In this world, there were no benevolent gods gazing down with pity. After performing countless plays and enduring endless simulations, it was Evan who had saved her in the end—not a god.
Facing Kallen's visceral reaction, Yae Sakura's expression remained disturbingly calm.
"Sakura could not believe her father would make such a decision either. So, she began to quietly pack her bags, planning to flee with her sister the day before the ritual. Although the future was uncertain, anything was better than letting her sister be killed."
The shift in the narrative made Kallen exhale a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"Then, Sakura took her sister to find a doctor, cured her illness, ate the most delicious food, and watched the most beautiful cherry blossoms... right?"
Regrettably, if everything had happened as Kallen hoped, it would have been a fairy tale, not a tragedy.
Yae Sakura shook her head slowly.
"The Head Priest had anticipated everything. He sent Rin to the altar ahead of schedule and appointed Sakura as the ritual officiant. He handed her the blade and ordered her to kill her own sister."
"Sakura didn't do it, did she?"
Kallen's heart was in her throat. She looked at Yae Sakura with intense anxiety, having long realized that the 'Sakura' in the story was the woman standing right before her.
"No, Sakura would not kill her sister. She used the blade to cut the ropes binding Rin, intending to escape with her. But... the Head Priest had prepared for that too. He had already severed Rin's hamstring tendons. Before they could run, Sakura hadn't even noticed it beneath her sister's brave smile. A frail little girl, crippled and untreated, somehow endured the agony just to smile for her sister."
"..."
"Sakura couldn't possibly escape with a crippled Rin while surrounded by adults. She was paralyzed by shock, forced to watch as her father—the Head Priest—picked up the blade and killed her sister himself."
"!!!"
"And then, it rained. The pure blood of the shrine maiden seemed to truly move the Fox God. Three months of drought ended with a torrential downpour. All the villagers at the ceremony cheered and danced with joy. Only Sakura wept, shedding a lifetime's worth of tears in a single moment."
Sakura had cried herself dry back then, which is why her voice remained flat as she recounted her past now.
Kallen and Evan remained silent. Verbal comfort would feel powerless and ridiculous in the face of such trauma. Yae Sakura seemed to have either walked out of that shadow long ago or been swallowed by it so completely that she could never leave.
Watching from the shadows, Higokumaru sensed the shift in Yae Sakura's emotions. Having waited for a moment of weakness to strike a fatal blow and seize control of her body, the fox spirit emerged without hesitation.
"You must be that Fox God?!"
Kallen, still immersed in sorrow, immediately flashed a look of wariness and loathing upon seeing Higokumaru.
A god that demanded the lives of innocents in exchange for fair weather could only be an evil deity—an entity that needed to be destroyed.
Hearing Kallen's interrogation, Higokumaru looked puzzled. How can this fake construct, devoid of true intelligence, question me so coherently?
However, sensing Yae Sakura's attachment to this "Kallen," Higokumaru decided to offer an explanation.
"The so-called Fox God was nothing more than a fox-type Honkai Beast. Four years after that incident, it died. Because of you... heh, because your original body brought the Black Box here. Yae Sakura accidentally broke the seal on the Black Box and released me. I simply took the opportunity to erode the soul of that fox beast and take over its body. Come to think of it, I should be considered Yae Sakura's benefactor. I not only killed the Fox God for her but also guided her to slaughter every single villager in revenge. Hahahaha!"
Yae Sakura kept her head lowered, offering no rebuttal to Higokumaru's twisted logic.
Higokumaru ignored Kallen—who it still considered a fake—and turned its gaze to Evan.
"Hey, St. Freya Academy brat. Standing right in front of you is a Pseudo-Herrscher with countless lives on her hands. Are you really just going to stand there? Pick up your weapon, attack her, and enforce your justice."
"Watching her father kill her sister, watching the villagers cheer over her sister's corpse... even after all that, she was only disheartened. She only killed after being manipulated by you, and very likely while her body was under your control. I do not believe Yae Sakura is an enemy that needs to be purged."
As Yae Sakura lifted her head in surprise at Evan's words, Higokumaru scoffed, its body erupting with dark red flames.
"It seems the one you want to purge is me. Come then. Kill me, or kill Yae Sakura—it's all the same in the end. But can you really kill me? Weak human."
Evan ignored Higokumaru's taunt. He turned and handed the Nitrogen Crystal Sword to Kallen.
"Take this for self-defense, just in case Higokumaru tries to ambush you."
"Handing a weapon to a fake... it seems you aren't just weak, but arrogant too."
"Let him go, Higokumaru. I will give you complete control of my body. I only ask that you maintain this space and let Kallen and me live in it."
Yae Sakura, who had been silent, suddenly stepped forward, blocking Evan and Kallen from Higokumaru.
The one who responded was not the fox spirit, but Evan behind her.
"Kallen finally escaped a stage where she replayed the same tragedy countless times. Why force her back into being a bird in a cage?"
Confusion. Perplexity.
Yae Sakura could not understand Evan's words. She stared blankly as he walked past her, stopping directly in front of Higokumaru.
A Schicksal Valkyrie without a weapon is incredibly weak.
Higokumaru had learned this lesson clearly five hundred years ago. If Kallen hadn't deployed the [Oath of Judah] back then, it never would have been defeated and sealed.
Now, the greatsword in Evan's hand was already inferior to the [Oath of Judah], yet he was approaching unarmed.
Higokumaru had already placed itself on the victor's podium.
"What? You don't intend to accept Yae Sakura's proposal? Good. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if you escaped and reported this to St. Freya Academy."
"I indeed have no intention of accepting. I can resolve the matters here myself."
A brilliance, strikingly similar to the dark red flames surrounding Higokumaru, began to flow and take shape in Evan's right hand, condensing into a weapon.
"Fate is truly a mysterious thing. I hold the 'Fruit,' and you are the 'Cause.' When cause and effect cycle back to one another, everything falls into place."
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