Yae Village is located deep in the mountains. The people here are isolated from the world, living a self-sufficient life, so life here is relatively backward.
Originally, a simple life should give rise to simple residents, but Yae Village is different from other places. There are strange sacrifices here; for the so-called god, a virgin must be offered to the deity.
Thus, the god would bestow blessings upon them, and in the coming year, through such traditions, Yae Village gradually developed under such beliefs.
To some extent, it echoed a certain saying.
[Poor mountains and bad waters breed unruly people]—this saying truly describes Yae Village and is the best metaphor for it.
Inaba Tsukiyo advanced according to her inner guidance. During this time, she encountered many early Honkai Beasts. These Honkai Beasts were Animals that had lost their sanity after being possessed by Honkai Energy.
However, these Honkai Beasts could not stop Inaba Tsukiyo's advance. No matter how many Honkai Beasts appeared in front of her, or how many blocked her path, none could make her retreat a single step.
Inaba Tsukiyo looked at the cross in her hand. This was the cross Kallen had given her last. She didn't know what meaning this cross held, but she understood that it was Kallen's last power.
Inaba Tsukiyo pressed on. As she advanced, the originally clear sky became shrouded in dark clouds, as if the entire world was enveloped in darkness.
"Roar, roar!!!"
Immediately after, Inaba Tsukiyo heard the roar of an Animal. This roar carried intense anger and hatred, as if it wanted to destroy everything in its sight.
"Theresa... Sakura..."
Realizing that the situation was somewhat dire, Inaba Tsukiyo used [Shukuchi] to quickly advance towards the shrine.
As she arrived at the shrine, Inaba Tsukiyo saw Yae Sakura and Theresa about to be attacked by a giant demonic fox.
This demonic fox was Higokumaru, whom she had met before. The culprit this time was indeed this fellow.
[It would have been fine if Moe just stayed inside my body, never to wake up...]
[Why... why do you resist me again and again!]
[Alright then... if you want to die, I'll grant your wish and burn you all to ashes!]
The demonic fox's flames were about to hit Theresa and Yae Sakura, but before the flames struck, a figure blocked their path, splitting the flames in two.
Theresa, eyes closed and bracing for the attack, did not feel the pain she expected. She opened her eyes, somewhat bewildered, and saw the figure blocking her way.
"Tsukiyo... chan?"
"It's me. I didn't expect you, Theresa, to have such dreams while sleeping. As an S-Rank Valkyrie, yet you have no ability to resist at all, it's a bit embarrassing."
Drawing mikazuki munechika and assuming the stance of drawing [Right Dragonfly], Inaba Tsukiyo looked at the Higokumaru in front of her and said softly.
"I didn't expect us to meet again in this way, Higanbana."
"Higanbana... Don't call me by that name! My name! Is Higokumaru!!!"
Higokumaru shouted, and its giant claw slammed down towards Inaba Tsukiyo. It wanted to repel Inaba Tsukiyo, but the moment the claw touched Inaba Tsukiyo, it was instantly bounced away.
"What? Why... This is clearly a space dominated by me, why do you still possess such power!"
Everything in this Stigmata Space is under Higokumaru's control, but why does Inaba Tsukiyo, an outsider, possess such immense power?
Inaba Tsukiyo did not answer Higokumaru's question; she simply swung her weapon, striking Higokumaru's massive body.
However, Higokumaru was unharmed; Inaba Tsukiyo's attack had no effect whatsoever.
"This... how is this possible! Why!? Why is this happening?"
Although no damage was visible on the surface, Higokumaru, as the one involved, could feel the changes occurring within itself.
Its own power was actually being weakened. How could this be? How could such an absurd thing happen!
"Demon-Slaying Sword Second Sword Style... this is a technique specifically created to deal with and subdue evil spirits possessing people. It seems this move is also effective against Honkai Energy."
Indeed, Inaba Tsukiyo's initial goal was not to kill Higokumaru; she only wanted to weaken the Honkai Energy within Higokumaru.
She could somewhat discern the essence of Higokumaru. If she wasn't mistaken, Higokumaru itself wasn't a fox spirit corrupted by Honkai Energy. It could be said that the fox spirit was merely a vessel; it had its own true form.
"Let me see... what kind of face is hidden behind the monster's appearance."
[Second Sword Style · Hundred-Blossom Cherry Slash]
Cherry blossoms fell before her eyes. Although the cherry blossoms had not yet bloomed, a large number of cherry blossoms suddenly appeared.
"So... so beautiful..."
Theresa was captivated by the charming scene before her. She couldn't help but reach out to touch the cherry blossoms flying past.
"Ah! It hurts."
But the pain in her palm the moment she touched the cherry blossom made Theresa retract her hand. Looking at her bleeding palm, she fearfully watched the dancing cherry blossoms.
Although the scene before her was very beautiful, it concealed murderous intent. A single petal had such power; then Higokumaru, at the center... Under the onslaught of Hundred-Blossom Cherry Slash and Second Sword Style, Higokumaru felt its Honkai Energy constantly draining away.
[No! No! I haven't taken revenge! I haven't taken revenge! How can I fall in a place like this! How can I!]
Higokumaru wanted to burn away the cherry blossoms before it, but the constantly diminishing Honkai Energy within it prevented it from even unleashing flames.
With the continuous weakening of Honkai Energy, Higokumaru's size gradually decreased, little by little, shrinking to about the same size as Inaba Tsukiyo.
After the cherry blossoms completely dissipated, what appeared there was not a demon fox, but a small girl with four tails and cherry-colored hair.
The girl sat on the ground, filled with resentment, and glared at Inaba Tsukiyo.
It was all because of this person, all because of her that her control over this Stigmata Space was weakening. With so little power, she couldn't even talk about killing Theresa and Yae Sakura to seize control of their bodies; she didn't even have the power to protect herself.
Watching Inaba Tsukiyo put away her weapon and walk towards her, the girl made up her mind that even if she were to die here, she would make this person bleed!
"I didn't expect... you would actually have such a form, or rather, hidden beneath the appearance of a demon fox, this is your true form."
The appearance of that demon fox was just an illusion used to conceal her true face. The real her was actually as fragile as she was now.
Inaba Tsukiyo reached out to caress her, but Higokumaru grabbed her hand and bit down on it.
Although this was a mental space, Inaba Tsukiyo still felt a slight sting. At the same time, the moment Higokumaru bit Inaba Tsukiyo, its eyes suddenly widened.
It looked at Inaba Tsukiyo with disbelief, and then, like a child who had done something wrong, blue tears streamed down its face.
"I'm sorry... I... I..."
"Don't apologize. You... you didn't do anything wrong. Higanbana."
The current her was not the demon fox from before, so the name Higokumaru, which referred to the demon fox, could no longer be used to address her. Now, she should be called Higanbana.
Inaba Tsukiyo held Higanbana in her arms, reached out to caress Higanbana's head, and said gently.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. No one here will hurt you, and no one will hate you. Tell me your grievances, tell me your anxieties, tell me everything."
Inaba Tsukiyo's words caused Higanbana's tears to flow continuously. Memories of the past surged like a tide. The unease, pain, and fear of that time made her cry out loud.
"Why? Why did you hurt me! I never, I never intended to hurt anyone! Why, why did you hurt me?"
Seemingly to vent the grievances that had been hidden deep within her heart, Higanbana grabbed Inaba Tsukiyo's clothes and asked loudly.
Yae Sakura also woke up, and with Theresa's support, came to Inaba Tsukiyo's side.
They heard Higanbana's words, exchanged a glance, and chose to listen to Higanbana's words instead of interrupting.
Regardless of Yae Sakura and Theresa, they had previously simply thought that Higanbana was a Honkai who wanted to destroy the world and harm humans.
But from Higanbana's words, they felt a lot, feeling that she was initially just a girl who had been persecuted.
She didn't want to become like this either, she didn't want to hurt others either, but why did they hurt herself? She clearly hadn't done anything wrong, she hadn't hurt anyone either.
Why... why did you hurt her? Why did you separate herself and her sister.
"My God, did I really... did I really do something wrong? Do I really have to die? Am I really..."
Like a drowning person, Higanbana clung to Inaba Tsukiyo tightly.
Her vision blurred with tears, but she still looked at Inaba Tsukiyo. She wanted to know if she was really a monster, an unacknowledged existence, as those people said.
Higanbana's words reminded Theresa of the Second Herrscher she had seen—Herrscher of the Void · Sirin.
Before Sirin had completely become a Herrscher, she had once seen Sirin's memories, had once seen Sirin's past.
The former Sirin was in the Babylon Laboratory in the Siberia snowfields. In order to study the combination of Honkai Energy and the human body, she was used as a test subject for human experiments by those scientists.
Sirin was one of the original test subjects. The reason why she became a Herrscher was because the experimenters injected a large amount of Honkai Energy into her body.
Second Herrscher—Herrscher of the Void · Sirin, this was created by humans themselves, and it was also humans who personally caused the Second Honkai Eruption war to descend upon the world.
In order to fight Honkai, they created the messenger of Honkai. There could be nothing more ironic than this.
And Higanbana was just like Sirin. She was also a Herrscher who descended upon this world because of humans.
They both wanted to return the suffering they had suffered to this world, both wanted to protect this world that had never been gentle to them.
But now, after seeing her God descend before her eyes, Higanbana wanted to know, what was the value of her existence?
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