Inheritance

Yae God Master brought Yae Sakura and Yae Rin before the divine statue and said to them, "Sakura, Rin, in a moment, drip your blood into the statue's chest together. Then you'll be able to see what the Divine Lord looks like... Remember, no matter what you see, you must tell me after it ends."

"Understood, Father."

Yae Sakura and Yae Rin answered in unison, extending their hands and allowing their father to use Kite Bird to make a small cut on each of their fingers.

Thin streams of scarlet blood emerged from the girls' wounded fingers and quickly ran down their pale skin.

"Quick, drip the blood in now."

At Yae God Master's shout, Yae Sakura and Yae Rin hurriedly pressed their bleeding fingers against the statue's chest.

Once the blood entered the statue's chest, the formerly rigid statue seemed to come alive in an instant, completely absorbing the blood within the hollow in its chest.

The next moment, Yae Sakura and Yae Rin lost all awareness of their surroundings.

—Yae Rin—

Yae Rin only felt dazed for an instant before she regained consciousness.

Yet the environment around her left her utterly confused.

"Isn't this the hillside I often visit? Why am I here? Wasn't I in the shrine, undergoing the Divine Lord's trial?"

"And my illness..."

Feeling a lightness she had never experienced before, Yae Rin walked toward the hillside in confusion, as though she wanted to see whether this truly was the place she often visited.

But after passing through a small patch of woods and arriving at the spot where she usually stayed, she saw someone else sitting there.

Though Yae Rin did not know why, she hid behind a small tree, poking out only half her head as she watched that person from afar.

He was a man dressed in an ancient white robe, with long hair streaked with gray. He sat upright atop the large rock Yae Rin often sat on, his gaze fixed on the direction where the sun was setting.

Although the man wore no expression, Yae Rin kept feeling that there was a kind of... sorrow about him.

As though he were blaming himself.

"Could he be... the Divine Lord?"

Yae Rin was puzzled.

"...Who's there?"

The man seemed to sense something and looked toward the small tree where Yae Rin was hiding.

"Ah... it's you..."

"Eek!"

Startled by the man's movement, Yae Rin sat bolt upright from the floor.

"Rin, you're awake."

Yae God Master asked Yae Rin with some concern, "How was it? Did you see the Divine Lord?"

"Just now..."

Yae Rin was confused. She had just been on that hillside outside, so why had she returned to the shrine in the blink of an eye?

Yae Rin also saw Yae Sakura lying beside her. At that moment, Yae Sakura's brows were tightly furrowed, and sweat covered her forehead, as though she were enduring some kind of pressure.

"Sister!"

Yae Sakura's appearance made Yae Rin panic.

"Rin, don't touch Sakura."

Yae God Master stopped Yae Rin. "Your sister is receiving the Divine Lord's inheritance."

"The Divine Lord?"

After calming down a little, Yae Rin asked her father, "The Divine Lord... is he an uncle wearing white clothes?"

"Rin! You saw him!?"

Yae God Master excitedly grabbed Yae Rin by the shoulders. "Quick, tell me, what kind of fighting did you see him using?"

"It hurts..."

Yae Rin was frightened. Her father's current expression was a little scary to her. "That uncle wasn't fighting..."

"He wasn't?!"

Yae God Master's voice rose sharply. "Impossible.

Every Miko throughout the generations who has seen the Divine Lord has witnessed him fighting beasts clad in white bone armor. So what did you see?"

"I... that uncle was sitting on the hillside outside Yae Village. He wasn't doing anything... He was only staring in the direction where the sun set..."

After hearing Yae Rin's answer, Yae God Master fell silent. He seemed unable to believe such an answer, and also somewhat disappointed.

"Rin!"

At that moment, Yae Sakura beside them called Rin's name and woke from her unconsciousness.

The awakened Yae Sakura looked at Rin beside her and immediately pounced on her. "Rin, it's wonderful that you're all right!"

"Sister?" Though Yae Rin did not understand what had happened, she still comforted her sister. "It's all right, Sister. We're both fine."

"Sakura, what did you see there? Tell me!"

Yae God Master anxiously questioned his other daughter, as though he desperately needed an answer.

"Huh?"

Yae Sakura reacted almost the same way as Yae Rin had, but she still obediently released Yae Rin and answered her father.

"I saw someone holding a sword. With one slash, he destroyed a huge, huge monster!"

Yae Sakura gestured with both hands, seemingly trying to show the massive monster that had been far larger than herself.

"Swordsmanship?"

Delight appeared on Yae God Master's face as he pulled Yae Sakura into his arms.

"Just like your mother... This is... wonderful..."

Yae Rin tilted her head and watched her father joyfully weep as he hugged her sister.

Father... seems very disappointed in me...

Night fell.

In her sleep, Yae Rin slowly felt her body becoming lighter and lighter. In the end, it seemed to lose all weight as she gradually floated into the air.

When Yae Rin opened her eyes again, an endless expanse of stars lay before her...

And far below her was the earth.

"Eek!"

Frightened by her situation, Yae Rin flailed in midair. "I... how did I get here!"

"Waa... Sister, where are you..."

Yae Rin, on the verge of tears, looked helpless and pitiful high in the sky, but it was completely useless...

Until the next moment, an alarmingly calm young man's voice rang through her ears.

"You learned to leave your body with your soul so quickly, yet unconsciously drifted all the way here. Should I say you're extraordinarily gifted, or frighteningly foolish? You truly are that crazy girl's daughter."

Below Yae Rin, a large hand appeared out of thin air and gently grasped her floating body.

The large hand carried Yae Rin rapidly downward, all the way to the ground, to the hillside Yae Rin often visited.

Yae Rin saw that man once again.

"This is our second meeting, little girl."