Perhaps it was because she heard the seriousness in Ming Yu's words and felt the sincerity in his tone, but Higokumaru's struggles gradually weakened.
"Really?" Higokumaru's voice sounded again, but it was less deep and had more of a lively, cheerful quality.
"Yes, I swear it!" Ming Yu held the fox shadow up in front of him and looked into its red eyes, speaking with earnestness.
Higokumaru still seemed a little unconvinced, staring into Ming Yu's eyes for a long time, trying to find any hint of wavering, but his eyes held only pure determination.
At this stage, Ming Yu wasn't really worried about Herrschers. Apart from a certain Second Herrscher who was determined to destroy humanity, the others didn't seem to be that big of a deal.
The First Herrscher fought for humanity; Welt Joyce sacrificed himself to protect New York City, and Welt Yang was constantly popping in and out of his coffin. The Third Herrscher was being a good girl at St. Freya, responsible for feeding a whole house of people every day. As for the Fourth Herrscher, she was a disgrace to all Herrschers; Ming Yu had never seen such a useless one.
So, in this era, humans and Herrschers coexisting really wasn't a big deal.
Of course, this was inseparable from the current strength of humanity. With the legacy of the Previous Era, the humans of this era were far stronger than the Honkai. To deal with Herrscher-level enemies, humanity had floating battleships, Divine Keys, Divine Throne weapons, prototype 4th-generation Valkyrie Godslayer Armor, and so on. A single Herrscher couldn't cause much trouble at all.
Otto and Cocolia could even artificially create Herrschers to hunt them. If people from the Previous Era saw this, who knows what they would think. It was practically courting death.
As for what future Herrschers would be like, that was not something the current Ming Yu could consider.
"Well then, I'll tentatively believe you this once," Higokumaru said softly.
With Higokumaru's compromise, the entire space gradually dissipated, turning into purple fragments that vanished into the void. The fox shadow in front of Ming Yu also slowly faded, transforming into the little fox from Sakura Samsara, Hiyokumaru.
By the time Ming Yu came back to his senses, the scene before him was no longer the ruins of the previous battle, but a perfectly intact Yae Village.
Theresa and Yae Sakura, who were standing nearby, saw Ming Yu reappear and hurried over.
Noticing the little fox next to Ming Yu, Theresa asked with confusion, "Who is this? And why has the space changed again?"
Just a moment ago, Ming Yu had been swallowed by black flames, and now he had reappeared with a little fox, and the scene had refreshed itself. Not only was Theresa confused, but Yae Sakura was also curiously looking at Hiyokumaru's fox ears, looking like she really wanted to pinch them.
Seeing their curious expressions, Ming Yu quickly explained, "This is the big fox from before, Higokumaru. But now, she should be called Hiyokumaru."
As he spoke, he gestured to show the difference between the two and briefly explained what happened in the illusion, saying Hiyokumaru's origin was that of a victim of the Honkai War in the Previous Era.
Hiyokumaru sat nervously on Ming Yu's shoulder. Having lost her Herrscher personality, she had also lost most of her memories as a Herrscher, reverting to that timid little girl. The unfamiliar environment and people made her feel very insecure; only by staying near Ming Yu could she find some comfort.
Although she had lost her memories, she still remembered that this person had said he would protect her.
Imagining Higokumaru's ferocious appearance and then looking at the current Hiyokumaru, Yae Sakura exclaimed with a cute, stunned expression, "So that big fox can become this cute?"
As she said this, she couldn't help but pick Hiyokumaru up and gently pinch her small fox ears.
In Yae Sakura's hands, Hiyokumaru squirmed uncomfortably but couldn't escape her grasp. She could only cast a pleading look at Ming Yu.
Seeing Yae Sakura's blissful expression, Ming Yu's fingers also twitched. Those ears looked like they felt amazing. Naturally, he ignored Hiyokumaru's silent plea for help.
Theresa gently tugged on Ming Yu's sleeve, making him lean down, and whispered in his ear, "Can this Hiyokumaru be trusted?"
It wasn't that Theresa was being overly suspicious. Herrschers had always been the natural enemy of humanity, with the goal of destroying it. As a warrior fighting against the Honkai, Theresa's attitude toward Herrschers was quite cautious. Even after taking in Mei, she had a bomb installed next to her heart. This was even more true for a Herrscher like Hiyokumaru, who had been trying to kill them just moments ago. No amount of caution was too much.
Looking at Theresa's solemn little face, Ming Yu smiled and said, "It's fine. The one fighting us before was the Herrscher personality. This is her true self."
Hearing Ming Yu's explanation, Theresa pondered for a moment, considering the relationship between the Herrscher personality and the normal personality. In the end, she nodded, temporarily accepting Ming Yu's view.
Suddenly, a light screen appeared in front of them. It was a communication from Bronya. When Higokumaru disappeared, the shield in this space was lifted.Seeing Theresa next to Ming Yu, Bronya breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The communication from the Stigmata Space was blocked for a while just now, and everyone was very worried. It seems you are all safe now. Has the problem been resolved?"
Theresa glanced at Yae Sakura and nodded. "Yes. Can you get us out now?"
Bronya made some adjustments and said, "No problem, anytime. I'll get you out now."
"Bronya, wait a moment," Ming Yu quickly called out. He hadn't forgotten his original goal. Despite the many twists and turns, he couldn't give up on Jizo Mitama. "There's one last thing to do here."
Ming Yu turned to Theresa and explained, "Although Hiyokumaru's Herrscher personality and normal personality have separated, it hasn't disappeared. We still need to eliminate that Herrscher personality."
Theresa looked into Ming Yu's eyes, as if trying to gauge the truth of his words. But Ming Yu's urgency didn't seem fake, so she chose to trust him one more time.
"Then let's leave it at that for now. We'll contact you again in a while, Bronya," Theresa said to the light screen in the air.
Although she wasn't entirely clear on the situation, Bronya followed the order and didn't immediately retrieve their consciousnesses.
Noticing that Ming Yu and Theresa had finished their communication, Yae Sakura came over, holding Hiyokumaru, and asked, "Are you leaving?"
Seeing Yae Sakura's slightly downcast expression and the hopeful look in Hiyokumaru's eyes, Ming Yu's heart ached a little. For Yae Sakura, after Ming Yu and the others left, only she and Hiyokumaru would remain here. It would undoubtedly be much quieter.
Shaking his head, Ming Yu recalled Judah. The giant golden cross reverted to a necklace and returned to his hand. Its power was depleted; it was now just an ordinary necklace.
He reached out and felt the warmth of the cross, a faint warmth emanating from the necklace. Ming Yu knew it was the lingering thoughts engraved on the cross, which had not faded even after five hundred years.
He handed the necklace to Yae Sakura, placed Hiyokumaru on his shoulder, and said with a smile, "All good things must come to an end. But before we leave, there's one more thing we haven't done."