"What's wrong? Are you worried that you'll lose control if you touch that divine key?"
Inaba Tsukiyo immediately saw Higanbana's concern, though she didn't realize Higanbana was more worried about being pummeled by Inaba Tsukiyo.
Higanbana scratched her head and, while the others weren't paying attention, flew onto Inaba Tsukiyo's shoulder and whispered into her ear.
"My Lord, that divine key was sealed in the box with me. If I touch that divine key, I will be controlled by my evil side. But... but I won't do it on purpose, I might not be able to do anything."
Higanbana, being a coward, chose to tell Inaba Tsukiyo about the situation in advance before being beaten up.
If her evil side accidentally said something bad, besides being insubordinate, she would also be beaten to death.
She still clearly remembered Inaba Tsukiyo's sword skill used to deal with the Honkai. Troubling Inaba Tsukiyo would purely be asking for trouble for herself.
"...I understand. However, I believe in you. Even if your other side still hates this world, we have all seen your kindness. Yae Sakura has already forgiven you, but there are still things you two must resolve."
Yae Sakura and Higanbana's other side needed to personally understand certain things, and besides Yae Sakura, Kallen also did.
However, Kallen was no longer here. Now, the one who could replace Kallen, besides herself who couldn't intervene, was Theresa, wearing the oath of judah.
"I will not intervene. I believe that Yae Sakura and you can resolve all of this. So... go. Open this door and completely bid farewell to this power meant for revenge."
"...Mm! I understand! Thank you, My Lord."
Higanbana was silent for a moment, then nodded, as if she had made a decision, and flew towards the door on the top floor.
Behind this door, a divine key that had been dormant for tens of thousands of years was sealed. This power, originally intended for revenge, would now be used by others.
Regardless, everything of the past was in the past. Now she had found a new pillar, and she no longer needed to rely on this hatred to live.
Higanbana opened the door sealed with talismans, and inside lay the divine key known as Jizo Mitama.
It was a divine key created from the core of the Twelfth Herrscher—the Herrscher of Erosion.
"Is this the divine key? Last time Anti-Entropy took the xuanyuan sword from us. With this divine key, we can..."
"We can use it to fight the Honkai, Theresa?"
Compared to the excited Theresa, Inaba Tsukiyo didn't show much emotion.
Although Jizo Mitama was called a divine key, her preferred weapon was mikazuki munechika, which had always accompanied her.
In fact, ever since she saw the phantom on the oath of judah just now, Inaba Tsukiyo had been wondering if mikazuki munechika also had something similar inside it.
Weapons could be sentient, or rather, perhaps every weapon had its own soul, it just hadn't been discovered yet.
If her beloved sword truly had such an ability, Inaba Tsukiyo would like to see what kind of child this sword spirit, which had accompanied her for so long, truly was.
While she was thinking, Higanbana had already touched the divine key, and as expected, was controlled by her evil side.
Under the power of the divine key, the Onigami Jizo Mitama appeared before Yae Sakura.
Inaba Tsukiyo saw Jizo Mitama glance at her side first, and after seeing no movement from them, she began to speak provocatively.
How to describe this feeling... Higanbana in her fox demon state appeared very Madness (wild/mad), but Higanbana's female voice in her Jizo Mitama state sounded very strange.
Especially when she heard Higanbana say, 'How foolish,' Inaba Tsukiyo felt goosebumps rising.
It seemed everyone had their chuunibyou phase. Even after tens of thousands of years, Higanbana's chuunibyou hadn't disappeared, or perhaps it had become even more severe?
Since she had promised Higanbana not to participate in the battle, Inaba Tsukiyo had no intention of breaking her word.
Having nothing to do, she walked out of the door, preparing to watch their battle from there.
[Thump]
At this moment, Inaba Tsukiyo noticed a plate had appeared beside her at some point, with wine and snacks on it.
There was no one else around, yet this plate suddenly appeared, leaving Inaba Tsukiyo a bit baffled. However, as soon as she noticed Jizo Mitama's gaze, she understood.
So, this guy was trying to bribe her with this stuff to keep her from getting involved.
Oh well, she was bored anyway, so she might as well see if the things in this dream world actually tasted like anything.
Of course, there was a possibility of poison or foul play, but Inaba Tsukiyo didn't think Higanbana had the guts to do such a thing.
The battle continued. At first, it was just Jizo Mitama versus Yae Sakura, but then Theresa couldn't stand it anymore and smashed down with the oath of judah.
The oath of judah possessed the strongest power of [Restraint], but Jizo Mitama had the power of [Erosion].
So, neither of their abilities had an initial advantage, but Theresa and Yae Sakura's cooperation, one defending and one attacking (fuhai: I see the relationship), gradually put Jizo Mitama at a disadvantage.
This made Jizo Mitama a bit fed up. Originally, without Inaba Tsukiyo's help, it was confident it could deal with Yae Sakura, but with Theresa's appearance, the situation changed.
Neither its full-screen ultimate moves, nor summoning weapons to buff itself, nor even finally summoning its clones, could affect them.
"Hey! You're going too far! Two against one, what kind of skill is that?!"
"..."
Theresa and Yae Sakura, who hadn't expected Jizo Mitama to pull such a move, were stunned.
Although it still looked like a weapon-armor, they could see the grievance hidden deep within the armor.
It had clearly... clearly said harsh words before the battle began, but all it got was abuse and its moves being broken, completely lacking the feeling of being a final BOSS.
These two were clearly bullying it, not even giving it the dignity of a final BOSS. It was truly too much.
"Sigh! Really... I thought that clone was embarrassing enough, but I didn't expect this one to be even more..."
Jizo Mitama's performance reminded Inaba Tsukiyo of Wart when he invaded St. Freya Academy before. As a clone of the First Herrscher, his strength could be said to be quite terrible.
According to the strength assessment of this world, the strength of this clone was probably around the level of an A-Rank Valkyrie.
Because Higanbana's power had been dispersed by Inaba Tsukiyo, she was no longer as powerful as before, and thus not as capable of facing the attacks of Yae Sakura and Theresa.
Regarding Jizo Mitama's embarrassing performance, Inaba Tsukiyo really didn't know what to say, so she just picked up her teacup and sighed, remarking on how nice the sun was today.
"Hmph! Aren't you very powerful! And when you used me against Sakura before, didn't you sever my hand and foot tendons! This is my repayment to you!"
"That was just an illusion of the Stigmata Space! It was just an illusion! When did I ever attack you!"
"How can you say that! I still remember the pain of my foot and hand tendons being severed back then! Just now you were so small, and protected by Sakura and Tsukiyo-chan, so I couldn't touch you. Now I'll let you know how many ways there are to use Judah!"
Despite being an S-Rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, Theresa had suffered various injuries, big and small, while on missions in the past.
When facing the Second Herrscher Sirin back then, Theresa even had her right arm broken.
(Theresa: Ahhhh!!! My King's Power!!!)
But the pain was different! This continuous suffering made Theresa furious, and she wanted to let this guy know how formidable she was!
In simple terms, Theresa was currently in a state of 'I won't listen! I won't listen! The scoundrel is chanting scriptures,' dragging the wryly smiling Yae Sakura to attack Jizo Mitama.
It could be said that the subsequent battle was almost entirely Theresa dragging Yae Sakura to attack, and to punish Jizo Mitama a bit more, Theresa even deliberately controlled the force of her attacks.
Finally, when Jizo Mitama's body disappeared and Higanbana reappeared before them, she was already covered in wounds.
"Welcome back, Higanbana."
"Hehe~ Big Sister, I'm back."
Higanbana rubbed her small head, and seeing Theresa standing behind Yae Sakura, she was so scared that she quickly scrambled up from the ground and flew towards Inaba Tsukiyo.
"Hehe~ It seems she's quite afraid of you, Theresa. You were a bit too violent just now."
Higanbana's frightened actions made Yae Sakura laugh. Remembering Theresa's laughter during the battle just now, Yae Sakura couldn't help but tease her.
"No, I wasn't! Hmph! Since I couldn't deal with this guy, I just vented all my inner dissatisfaction just now."
Theresa huffed defiantly and waved her small pink fist at Higanbana, who was peeking at her.
Higanbana, who had pounced into Inaba Tsukiyo's arms, saw this scene and quickly buried her head in Inaba Tsukiyo's embrace, refusing to come out.
Inaba Tsukiyo stroked Higanbana's head, trying to soothe Higanbana's emotions.
However, she noticed Higanbana's stiff body and motionless head, and her expression darkened.
"Is it very hard?"
"No... Uh, no! No! I don't have such a powerful thought at all."
Higanbana, who had originally intended to say 'yes', quickly changed her words after feeling the killing intent emanating from Inaba Tsukiyo.
Although it sounded a bit hurtful, Inaba Tsukiyo's embrace was not as soft as imagined, possibly due to her physique.
Inaba Tsukiyo's physical condition was similar to an Elementary School Student, meaning she hadn't yet entered puberty. Although her chest had developed somewhat, it was still struggling between A- and A.
Inaba Tsukiyo's face was dark, and she placed her hands on either side of Higanbana's cheeks, smiling at her.
However, Inaba Tsukiyo's eyes held no smile at all, and even black aura emanated from behind her, causing Theresa and Yae Sakura, who had intended to approach, to take a few steps back.
"Shall we... have a good talk? Higanbana...-chan."
"Ahhhh!!!"
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