Show Mercy

"Watch out!"

Yae Rin pointed toward the sky and cried out.

Han Jiang immediately tucked Theresa under one arm and Yae Rin under the other, then ran.

The moment they moved, fireballs crashed down behind them, their scorching shockwaves rushing straight at Han Jiang's back.

Several villagers charging at Han Jiang were struck by the fireballs. In an instant, limbs flew everywhere, and their bodies were scorched black.

"Stop! Don't hurt them!" Yae Sakura shouted as she dodged the fireballs Hiyori spewed out.

Hiyori sneered. "They're mere mortals. What does it matter if I kill a few?"

As it spoke, Hiyori spun around and swept several approaching villagers away with its tail.

Watching from afar, Han Jiang was stunned. This was what happened when immortals fought—mortals suffered.

With no time to pity the villagers, Han Jiang clenched Muramasa of Bizen between his teeth and carried a little girl in each arm, constantly dodging the fireballs raining down from above.

The vast shrine square was scorched black everywhere. Han Jiang only stopped and bent over, gasping for breath, after Hiyori finally ceased launching fireballs.

"You really didn't need to worry about me." Yae Rin's little face was filled with concern.

"Pah!"

Han Jiang took a moment to remove the blade and spat. Holding the back of a blade in his mouth kept making him drool. It seemed three-sword style was not something just anyone could pull off.

"Don't be ridiculous. If I were going to ignore you, I might as well have left you in the room. Once Theresa wakes up, that evil god will be finished."

After saying that, Han Jiang bit down on the back of the blade again and darted around with the two little girls in his arms.

Hiyori could not kill Yae Sakura anytime soon, so it could only resort to dirty tricks and target Han Jiang.

Not only that, it also controlled the villagers and had them continuously besiege Yae Sakura.

Facing the villagers drawing ever closer, Yae Sakura could not bring herself to attack them and could only keep dodging.

But Hiyori had no such kindness. While attacking Yae Sakura, it could nearly kill a villager with every swipe of its claw.

"Have you remembered? Have your old memories returned? It was like this back then—almost exactly the same!" As Hiyori spoke, it did not forget to summon dark clouds overhead.

Torrential rain poured down, and bloodwater flowed across the ground.

The villagers mindlessly obstructed Yae Sakura while Hiyori let out an eerie laugh and kept attacking.

"What's wrong? Does it hurt to watch the villagers die one after another?" Hiyori kept provoking Yae Sakura's emotions.

"Do you see those two outsiders? Crushing them to death would be as easy as swatting flies.

"Weren't you planning to give all your power to that white-haired little girl? Luckily, I stopped you in time and did not let you succeed.

"Now I will invade her heart and turn her completely into my puppet!"

Yae Sakura's eyes turned blood-red. Without saying a word, she continued inflicting damage on Hiyori.

At that moment, she remembered everything that had happened.

For five hundred years, it had always ended this way. Every time, the woman and the fox would both be severely wounded.

That was why Yae Sakura had wanted to entrust this power to someone else—to a little girl who carried the aura of "that person."

As for Han Jiang, he had been a backup plan she came up with on a whim.

When that boy asked her whether she was lonely, she decided to leave him a tenth of her power.

Before all those arrangements could be completed, Hiyori made its move first.

It dragged the two people who had come into contact with Yae Sakura into the Stigmata Space. It not only wanted to kill Yae Sakura, but also turn those two into its puppets.

"Mmph... no..."

Theresa muttered softly in Han Jiang's arms, her face full of pain.

"She's entered her own memories. If her negative emotions gain the upper hand..." Yae Rin said worriedly.

Han Jiang shook his head. "Don't worry. Believe in Theresa."

At that moment, Theresa was suffering through an intense inner struggle. She watched her grandfather, Otto, conduct experiments on her step by step.

Like she was a machine, he tested her abilities bit by bit.

"This is the evil in your heart. Come, kill me, and you can be reborn." Otto spread his arms and spoke to Theresa.

Theresa clenched her fists as Judah glimmered with golden light beside her.

She knew that as long as she picked up Judah and attacked the man before her, all her hatred would drift away with the wind.

But...

"But it was because of Grandpa that I came into this beautiful world, that I met Cecilia, that I learned about family and friendship, that I came to possess such rich emotions!" Theresa threw herself at Otto.

Instead of picking up Judah, she buried her petite body against Otto's.

"I know that hatred can only lead people astray. It cannot bring anything good. Grandpa taught me the feelings of family, so as his family, I will forgive him."

"What? Why?!"

Hiyori stared at Han Jiang, who was leaping about all over the place. Its eyes, as large as bronze bells, darted around as it could not believe what it sensed.

"Why? Why can I still sense that woman's aura?!"

A crack split open in the sky, and light shone down upon Theresa in Han Jiang's arms.

A streak of golden light flashed down from above, and Theresa awoke in Han Jiang's arms.

"I won't let you seal me again! I'll kill all of you!"

Theresa caught the light flashing down from the sky, and a massive cross-shaped weapon landed beside her.

"Initiating transmission—God's Blessing!" Theresa's eyes brimmed with confidence. Her power had returned!

"Yae Sakura, let's attack together!" Theresa activated Judah's attack mode and drew a spear from it, thrusting at Hiyori.

Han Jiang took Muramasa of Bizen from his mouth and planted it in the ground. Holding Rin in a princess carry, he watched Theresa recover her S-rank Valkyrie strength.

There was no need to say how it ended. How could the principal of St. Freya High School lose to an Erosion Herrscher that had not even recovered to its peak?

As Theresa's strength returned, the villagers of Yae Village gradually transformed into specks of light and vanished from the Stigmata Space bit by bit.

With the strength of an S-rank Valkyrie, Theresa was simply not someone Hiyori could resist.

In less than three minutes, Theresa and Yae Sakura joined forces and beat Hiyori to the ground.

"I don't want to be sealed again!"

"Show mercy, Principal!"

Hiyori's cry and Han Jiang's shout rang out at the same time. Theresa, who had been about to pierce Hiyori to death with her spear, stopped.

Theresa snapped her fingers. Judah's attack mode shifted, and chains shot out to bind Hiyori.

"What is it?" Theresa looked curiously at Han Jiang.

Yae Sakura put away her spirit blade. She first thanked Theresa, then said, "This beast no longer has the ability to fight back. There is no need to kill it in such a hurry."

With Hiyori defeated, the rain stopped, the dark clouds dispersed, and sunlight shone upon the earth.

Han Jiang carried Yae Rin over and stepped on Hiyori's claw.

"Roar!"

Hiyori let out an unwilling roar, displeased by Han Jiang's action.

"The sky's clear and the rain has stopped, and you think you're tough again?" Han Jiang mocked mercilessly, not forgetting to give it another kick.

"Behave yourself. I have a few questions for you. Otherwise, I'll have the Principal kill you right now!"

"Why has Rin's remnant soul remained here for five hundred years? This Stigmata Space is formed from your power, so don't tell me you don't know!" Han Jiang demanded fiercely. This concerned whether Rin could be successfully revived.