The Third Herrscher Crushed

The Third Herrscher gave up chasing Kiana and Bronya and turned to deal with Yae Sakura. She did not know who Yae Sakura was, but she knew that this was merely a Simulated Herrscher. With the strength of a One-Core Herrscher, defeating her should have been easy.

Unfortunately, she was mistaken. Although Yae Sakura was a Simulated Herrscher, she had far more combat experience than the Third Herrscher. After just a few Dimensional Slashes, the Third Herrscher abandoned her offensive.

After all, this move was impossible to properly block. Those were invisible Sword Qi, for goodness' sake. How was anyone supposed to dodge them?

Who could withstand that?

As they fought, the Third Herrscher gradually discovered that Yae Sakura's moves had begun repeating, and she slowly figured out her attack patterns.

They were nothing more than swordsmanship superior to her own, along with invisible Sword Qi. If she could not see them, she would listen. If she could not hear them, she would destroy them by force!

The Third Herrscher gripped the Katana · Electric Soul in her hand and began swinging it before the next Dimensional Slash arrived.

Purple lightning bolts danced around her with the Katana's movements, breaking through quite a few Dimensional Slashes.

"Look out!" Feng Chen struck out with both palm and fist, ignoring the recoil of Death Force Breaks the Sea. This did not cause the Third Herrscher much damage; it merely interrupted her movements. The damage it caused Feng Chen, however, was considerable. His body had never been particularly strong, and now both his arms had gone numb.

"You are..." The Third Herrscher looked at Feng Chen, feeling a faint sense of unease.

She had seen it earlier: the will of Honkai had appeared within this young man. Men who could avoid being corroded by Honkai Energy were exceedingly rare. Yet this man before her had not only survived without being corrupted—he had even been possessed by the will of Honkai.

"Swish!"

Three more Sword Qi slashed toward the Third Herrscher. Yae Sakura did not know what she was thinking, so she simply assumed the Third Herrscher was planning to do something harmful to Feng Chen.

The Third Herrscher hurriedly retreated. She did not dare do anything to this man who had attracted the attention of Honkai, so she shifted all her hatred onto Yae Sakura instead.

"Dust-kun, are you all right?" Yae Sakura came to Feng Chen's side. Seeing his limp, dangling arm, she assumed the Third Herrscher had injured him and sent out several more Sword Qi.

"Sakura, don't kill her..." If Sakura accidentally killed the Third Herrscher here, it would likely cause a major disaster. He was not afraid of Schicksal or Anti-Entropy. Rather, the system had told him that this Kiana Kaslana before him was a clone, and hidden within her was... an existence he could not afford to provoke.

"Huh? All right."

Yae Sakura swung the Katana in her hand. Her swordsmanship had received no special instruction and was purely self-created. It was also quite different from ordinary Katana techniques.

Although the Third Herrscher already possessed the strength of a One-Core Herrscher, she had only just awakened. On top of that, she had to fight Mei for control of the body. She could not even properly release her lightning, let alone fight Yae Sakura.

The Third Herrscher hurled a bolt of purple lightning like a spear.

With the Third Herrscher's current strength, the purple lightning she threw was naturally not moving at the speed of light, merely approaching it. But thanks to a shrine maiden's intuition, Yae Sakura had already dodged by the time the lightning's trajectory was initially confirmed. At the same time, three Sword Qi burst from her body.

The three Sword Qi did not inflict much damage on the Third Herrscher. To a Herrscher, that degree of damage was no more than a tickle. Still, it left the Third Herrscher feeling puzzled. Judging by the strength Yae Sakura had displayed earlier, she should not have been this weak.

Suddenly, Yae Sakura's figure seemed to become a thin sakura-colored line that swept behind the Third Herrscher.

Yet it left only a tiny wound on her body, no larger than a mosquito's whisker. It neither itched nor hurt.

Yae Sakura sheathed her sword, and a Sword Qi suddenly erupted inside the Third Herrscher's body. If Yae Sakura had not held back, that strike would probably have killed the Third Herrscher outright.

The Third Herrscher's body swayed precariously, and the aura around her gradually weakened.

"That's a complete crushing... Looks like choosing to find Sakura was the right call." If Feng Chen had handled this himself, the situation would probably have been completely one-sided—with the Third Herrscher crushing him, of course.

"Please be careful, Host. The Honkai Energy within the Third Herrscher is already approaching the level of a Two-Core Herrscher!"

Feng Chen had thought the mission was already complete, but he was startled to see the Third Herrscher's body steady itself. She had absorbed a large amount of Honkai Energy from the nearby Honkai Beasts and the bodies of the dead soldiers, and a pair of purple lightning wings had grown behind her.

A trickle could gather into a river, and this Honkai Energy was by no means insignificant for a Herrscher. Perhaps because the Third Herrscher was inherently stronger than an ordinary One-Core Herrscher, the accumulated energy had brought her close to the level of a Two-Core Herrscher.

"As long as she hasn't reached the level of a Two-Core Herrscher, Sakura should be fine, right?"

"Yes. But the Host should consider the other side."

"The other side?"

He instinctively looked toward Kiana and Bronya. Bronya was fine; she merely felt powerless because she could not interfere in this battle. But Kiana...

Kiana's eyes had turned golden, and her body was continuously absorbing Honkai Energy.

"Mei..." She covered her head with one hand, as if she had noticed something as well.

"My head... It hurts so much. What's happening?"

Feng Chen's hands had recovered considerably. He imbued one with Wind of Serenity and struck the back of her head with the edge of his hand.

Bronya had no idea what had happened. She had not even noticed when the man before her approached, but she had a feeling that he would not harm them.

"Keep an eye on her. Don't let this happen again."

After setting Kiana down, Feng Chen returned to his original position. He was not as helpless as Bronya, but there were not many opportunities for him to intervene either.

Yae Sakura knew that she could no longer hold back against an enemy like this, or she would be the one to lose. However, defeating her without using her full strength would indeed be difficult. Once she went all out, even Yae Sakura might lose control and accidentally kill the Third Herrscher.

"System, Sakura will have to use her full strength to win, but she's afraid she'll accidentally kill the Third Herrscher. What should we do?"

"Simple. I only need to preserve the lives of the Third Herrscher and this little girl. Let her use her full strength."

The system gave him that assurance, so he relaxed and said to Sakura, "Sakura, use your full strength. The Third Herrscher won't die."

Sakura trusted Feng Chen. She put away the blood-red Katana in her hand and drew the other sakura-colored Katana from the two scabbards at her waist.

The sakura-colored Katana flashed with dazzling sharpness as it left its sheath. The Third Herrscher failed to evade its edge and was grazed by the Sword Qi.

Thin sakura-colored lines, no thicker than mosquito whiskers, continuously swept across the Third Herrscher before finally becoming a single movement from Yae Sakura.

Sheathing the sword.

When the Katana slid into its scabbard, the sharp Sword Qi had already disrupted the Honkai Energy within the Third Herrscher's body. She would be unable to fight again for a short time.

"I have fulfilled my duty."