Sakura?

Two Imperial Guard Commanders closed in, while a Mortal: Divine Crossbow drew and nocked an arrow behind them.

"Disappear!"

That voice was very familiar. She was absolutely gentle toward her friends, yet decisive and ruthless toward her enemies.

Of course, that was assuming the enemy wasn't Kallen.

At the same time, Feng Chen collapsed as well, his body having been pushed far beyond its limits.

"Dust-kun!"

The person who arrived wore the white shrine maiden robes of Yae Village. Her long sakura-colored hair, pair of fox ears (?), and azure eyes were as blue as the sky.

"Oh my, the main character has arrived."

It wasn't only Feng Chen. Even Yae Sakura had heard that voice.

"Higanbana..."

"Huh? Big Sis, why are you calling me?" Hiyori Maru floated out from Feng Chen's clothes. She had been worried sick just now. She had wanted to go out and help Feng Chen, but because she was too small, Feng Chen kept holding her down.

"I wasn't calling you..."

She wanted to find the source of that voice, but her instincts told her that the voice was no longer on this floor.

"How is Dust-kun doing now?"

"Big Sis, come take a look! Feng Chen's injuries aren't very serious, but his overall condition isn't good at all."

Feng Chen actually only had two or three injuries. The real problem was that his body had been overloaded. A sixty-percent load was already extremely high for a human body when it was not fully in a state resembling a "heat engine."

The Herrscher of Erosion had been using dead soldiers far weaker than Feng Chen to wear down his stamina. A sixty-percent load was already the limit of his current condition.

After a rough "examination," Feng Chen showed no abnormalities. He was indeed simply exhausted from overexertion.

"He's fine. Let's take him back first. We only need to clear out the dead soldiers in Tenshu-kaku quickly. There's no need to linger here. As for that..."

Yae Sakura raised her head and glanced at the sky.

Those eyes looked so much like that person's...

"Let's leave it here for now. We'll deal with the rest later."

Yae Sakura carried Feng Chen back to the unoccupied Yae Village and brought him into the shrine.

"Really... just like before. He was the same back then, foolishly fighting alone, and by the time I found him, he had already passed out. I even had to clean up the trash for him."

Hiyori Maru knew that Yae Sakura was no different from a lovesick maiden right now. It was just that she was afraid deep down.

Afraid of what? Don't forget, Yae Sakura was a person from five hundred years ago. The Far East and the Divine Land had both still been feudal societies five hundred years ago, so their ideas went without saying.

Besides, Yae Sakura had no idea what people thought like now. She still assumed things were as they had been five hundred years ago, when yuri was considered heresy.

Though, well... in the eyes of certain people, it really was heresy.

For example, in the eyes of a certain First Green One, if Kallen were into women, that would be heresy, and he would surely do everything he could to make Kallen straight.

"Hiyori Maru, help me take off his clothes."

Feng Chen's clothes were already covered in blood and filth. They couldn't be worn anymore.

"Oh."

Hiyori Maru first undid the buttons, then pulled at Feng Chen's sleeve and removed one side before tugging at the other sleeve.

Fortunately, Feng Chen was wearing a shirt. If he had been wearing a T-shirt, Hiyori Maru might not have been able to take it off at all.

After a while, Yae Sakura carried over a wooden basin filled with water, with a towel draped over it.

She gently leaned Feng Chen's body back and carefully wiped his wounds.

Some blood stained her hands, but fortunately, she was not as easily affected by the Honkai Energy in the blood anymore.

She poured the water into a water tank, apparently intending to let it evaporate naturally. (Change of state—vaporization—evaporation.)

The water contained traces of Feng Chen's blood, which naturally meant it contained Honkai Energy. Water contaminated by Honkai Energy could not simply be poured away. It could only be left until the microorganisms in the water slowly decomposed the Honkai Energy. (Just assume that Honkai Energy contains organic compounds...) Of course, that was assuming the microorganisms could adapt to Honkai Energy. If they couldn't, the tank of water would turn into liquid Honkai Energy.

How should liquid Honkai Energy be handled? Just grab a dead soldier, force her to drink it, and then kill her. It was that simple.

"Hiyori Maru, bring me Dust-kun's clothes."

Hiyori Maru of course knew what this was for. After all, it had been the same last time.

Naturally, the clothes couldn't be taken to the river to be washed either, so Yae Sakura fetched another wooden bucket and washed them herself.

After washing the clothes, it was impossible to put them back on Feng Chen when they already had several holes in them. Yae Sakura brought out a needle and thread. Mending clothes was quite an ordinary task for a shrine maiden.

While Yae Sakura cared for Feng Chen, his consciousness had already entered the Stigmata Space.

"System, I didn't see it wrong before, did I? That was Sakura!"

"Host, calm down. That really was Yae Sakura, but..."

"But what?"

"She isn't the original Yae Sakura. She is merely a soul containing a portion of her consciousness and memories."

"Then where is the real Sakura?"

When he asked that, he sounded like an idiot.

Sakura had long since...

He clearly knew that. But why? Why couldn't he accept it?

"Is there any way to save Sakura?"

"Yes. Jizou Mitama. But with the host's current Honkai Energy reserves, even exchanging your life for hers would not be enough to revive Yae Sakura."

"...How is Xiao Yun?"

"She hasn't woken up yet. The stimulation caused by Honkai Energy with ninety-nine percent purity was too great for the Honkai Energy inside her body."

"Is there any way to wake her up sooner?"

"Yes, but the host cannot do it at present."

Cannot do it... Sakura was like this, and Xiao Yun was like this too. Was I really this weak?

"After I use the Shadow Knight: Moonblade data, roughly what level will my strength be?"

"Roughly between an Advanced Herrscher and a Simulated Herrscher, equivalent to one of the strongest A-rank Valkyries in Schicksal."

"If I want to revive Sakura, what level of Honkai Energy reserves would I need?"

"One-Core Herrscher."

The difference in strength was simply too great. It was impossible.

There was an insurmountable gulf between a Simulated Herrscher and a Herrscher. A Herrscher possessed a companion Honkai Beast and could create and command Honkai Beasts, while a Simulated Herrscher could not.

A Simulated Herrscher could only infect wild beasts with Honkai Energy and turn them into Honkai Beasts. They could not command them.

"The owner of this armor... What level is Hua?"

"One-Core Herrscher. After using two Divine Keys, she possesses the strength of a Two-Core Herrscher. If she wears the Shadow Knight: Moonblade and uses her two Divine Keys, her strength can threaten a Three-Core Herrscher. And that is after Hua underwent a major transformation. Before that transformation, Hua could defeat Kallen Kaslana without giving her any chance to fight back, using only one Divine Key."

What level was Kallen? Feng Chen had asked the system that long ago, when he first met Kallen. The system had only said that she was one of Schicksal's legendary S-rank Valkyries and had exterminated nearly a thousand Honkai Beasts during her life of more than twenty years.

"System, just how strong is Kallen?"

"Kaslana. Think carefully about that surname."

Kaslana... Kaslana...

"Kaslana?! The Kaslana of this civilization is the Kaslana of the previous civilization?!"

Honkai said nothing. It merely nodded.

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't have trouble finding it next time.