"Um... Miss Yae, could you help me with something?" Although getting a Good Person Card felt incredibly awful, Feng Chen somehow felt a little happy after realizing that his chances of winning over Yae Sakura were very low.
"Go ahead. As long as it's not helping the Honkai. Also, just call me Sakura."
??? What's going on with this plot development?
"System, what's going on?"
"Because of the events five hundred years ago, Yae Sakura has very few people she can trust. If the host can gain her trust, then even with a Good Person Card, the relationship can still develop. In addition, your actions of not pressing her for answers and giving her water just now have already raised her favorability by quite a bit."
"Right, where's my rice ball?"
"I can't make them. Asking me is useless. Go ask Yae Sakura."
This system was far too irresponsible. Who would go to the quest target to collect the quest reward?
"Right, I also made some rice balls. Here, Dust-kun." Just as Feng Chen was about to complain about the system, Yae Sakura stuffed three rice balls the size of three people's faces into his arms.
"Th... thank you." Carrying three rice balls that huge was exhausting, especially for this frail young man who had been a shut-in before transmigrating—probably, at least. He tossed all three rice balls into his storage slot. Sakura already knew about this "ability," anyway.
"Now then, what was it you wanted?" Sakura's smile had appeared very rarely in the five hundred years since then. Although she was still as beautiful as a celestial maiden in a painting, she had lost some of her natural air. It felt as though she was forcing the smile out, making it seem stiff.
That only made Feng Chen want to learn more about the past of the girl before him—even if Sakura was still quite young in the face of the Honkai, probably. From what the system had said, Sakura's past seemed to be shrouded in darkness.
"Kallen Kaslana..." Feng Chen murmured.
Sakura seemed to have vaguely heard something and asked, "What?"
"No, it's nothing. I wanted to ask you—or rather, I should say, request that you accompany me to defeat the Third Herrscher. If I go alone, I'm afraid I won't stand much of a chance."
Sakura didn't know why Feng Chen wanted to defeat the Third Herrscher. It couldn't be for her Herrscher Core. Although she had only met Feng Chen twice in one day, she had an exceptionally sharp intuition. Feng Chen definitely wasn't that kind of person.
"Sure."
Feng Chen hadn't expected Yae Sakura to agree so readily, and he was rather surprised. Aside from having different ideals and refusing to work together, there didn't seem to be any reason for Herrschers to fight one another. Yae Sakura was a Simulated Herrscher, but her combat strength could absolutely rank among the One-Core Herrschers, so there was even less reason for her to do so. She had chosen neither humanity nor the Honkai. Her choice lay with Kallen.
Whichever side Kallen Kaslana chose, Sakura would follow her.
Even her killing Honkai Beasts and the dead was all because of Kallen. Sakura hadn't chosen humanity. She had chosen Kallen.
However, since Kallen and the Honkai were enemies, Sakura would have to fight the Honkai even as a Simulated Herrscher.
"Is this love...? What should I do, System? I'm a little jealous of that Kallen."
"You've fallen for her already? It's only the first day. This is worrying me. Did I end up with some womanizer?"
"A womanizer? Maybe. I had plenty of waifu characters before I transmigrated, after all. But I don't think I've fallen for her yet. I'm just envious of their love, that's all."
"Then why don't you put in some effort?"
"How? If I'm not mistaken, the white-haired dumpling likes Yae, and that little girl with the twin spiral ponytails likes Yae too. None of the girls I've met so far are ones I can win over."
"Sirin. With me here, she can't possibly kill you. You only need to pursue her."
"Sirin...? Why would I pursue a dead person? Besides, after awakening, she isn't the same Sirin anymore, right?"
"What if I told you I had a way to send you back fourteen years?"
"Fourteen years ago? What was that?"
"The Second Honkai War, the appearance of the Second Herrscher, and also the 'confirmed death' of the Second Herrscher."
"How can I go back?"
"Once the host truly understands Sirin, I'll send you back. But there will only be one chance. If the host can't save Sirin, it will be useless."
Only one chance...? The strength required to kill Sirin was probably no lower than that of a Six-Core Herrscher. The system had said he would definitely become a One-Core Herrscher within two years, but... would that really be enough?
"I won't be able to save her, will I? Sirin is a Six-Core Herrscher, so the one capable of killing her must also have the strength of a Six-Core Herrscher."
"That's Cecilia Schariac, Destiny's strongest S-rank Valkyrie. Her weapon is the Sixth Divine Key, Black Abyss White Flower, forged from the Herrscher Core of the Sixth Herrscher—the Herrscher of Death—from the Previous Era."
"Death...?"
"But don't worry, host. Once your strength grows powerful enough, your abilities will surpass Black Abyss White Flower. (Why am I using Black Abyss White Flower as a comparison? Why don't you all take a guess?)"
To conserve their strength, Feng Chen and Yae Sakura chose to walk all the way toward the direction of the trio.
There were still two days before the Third Herrscher emerged to cause trouble, so taking their time was fine.
Along the way, plenty of Honkai Beasts and the dead came willingly to deliver experience, making Feng Chen extremely happy. With Yae Sakura beside him, he wouldn't be afraid even if it wasn't just Honkai: Crush but several Emperor Honkais.
"Disappear."
Several Temple-class Honkai Beasts instantly turned into Honkai Energy and were absorbed by Yae Sakura. Since Yae Sakura had done all the work, Feng Chen felt too embarrassed to snatch her Honkai Energy. He wasn't that shameless.
However, Yae Sakura only needed to absorb Honkai Energy to level up, while Feng Chen needed Herrscher Experience. As for those tiny golden fragments, he accepted them without hesitation.
"System, how much more do I need to level up?"
"The host has currently obtained 92% Herrscher Experience. The remaining 8% is required to level up."
Feng Chen no longer blamed the system, because he had discovered that his strength grew as his Herrscher Experience increased. For example, Feng Chen had previously needed to use Death Force Breaks the Sea to blast a Honkai: Crush apart. Now, he only needed to use sixty percent of his strength for a single punch to leave Honkai: Crush half-dead.
"System, how about we discuss something? Could you increase the experience required for every level-up by a hundred—no, ten thousand times? That way, I'd have more motivation to improve!"
"Don't think I can't tell what you're thinking. Stop dreaming. This is already the maximum growth potential. Any higher, and you'd be able to dismantle the Earth with your bare hands once you reached a One-Core Herrscher."
"Dust-kun, look ahead!" Yae Sakura suddenly called out to Feng Chen, who was still talking with the system, and charged forward at the same time.
Feng Chen saw it too: a figure with purple hair and purple lightning flashing around her was toying with Kiana and Bronya.
What was going on? Was Changkong City really this small? It had only been a day, and he was already about to finish the mission?
"What lowly amusement. To think you'd toy with little girls."
Yae Sakura drew one Katana from her waist, while the other slid slightly from its sheath.
"Swish!"
The Third Herrscher felt threatened for the first time. In Changkong City, there was actually someone capable of threatening her?
Before you continue