Last Wish?

Whether human or Herrscher, each was an individual living being.

Herrschers had no right to take human lives, just as humans had no right to take Herrscher lives.

That was how it should have been.

But Herrschers were called "messengers of God," and that "God" was Honkai—the consciousness this world had produced to prevent itself from collapsing.

In that case, Herrschers were weapons this world used to defend itself.

Humans had destroyed the beauty of this world, so Herrschers could destroy the beauty of humanity. People had to stay alive to possess anything at all, so the Herrschers only needed to take their lives.

"Are they returning humanity's sins doubled?"

"If they were doubled, that wouldn't be my intention. When the Herrschers were still human, they had been hurt by their own kind. All they wanted humanity to repay was what they had lost. They had lost happiness, so humanity would lose happiness as well; they had lost their families, so humanity would lose their families as well; they had lost love, so humanity would lose love as well. That was all. What they were doing simply happened to coincide with my goal."

He had no response. What she said was not without reason. When people were hurt by their own kind, they would inevitably fight back. When they could not resist on their own, they would rely on outside forces to achieve their goals.

Those wounds could be physical, or they could be emotional.

"Hey, host, have you never thought carefully about the times you were hurt by humans?"

"The times I was... hurt by humans?"

"The Herrscher Core isn't something everyone can accept. Anyone who can accept a Herrscher Core must be dissatisfied with something in this world. And from observing you, I can tell—"

"Your dissatisfaction with humanity is unmatched by anyone else in this world."

"Shut up!"

Just as Honkai stretched out her slender arms and was about to embrace him, Feng Chen's mind cleared. He stepped back several paces, his foot pressing on Wind of Serenity.

Honkai's words had struck directly at his weakness. If the Stigmata on his forehead had not reminded him and kept him somewhat clear-headed, he might already have become a true Herrscher.

"Sakura..."

The reason he had been able to remain conscious was that the Stigmata on his head had begun to ache faintly just now. Although Yae Sakura was gone, a vague trace of consciousness still remained within the Stigmata. Feng Chen had promised Yae Sakura that he would never stand on Honkai's side.

"What a pity. I failed. But that's exactly what makes you worthy of being my host."

With a soft chuckle, Honkai thrust out one hand and sent Feng Chen out of the Stigmata Space.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar ceiling. His clothes had been changed, and there was no blood on his body. Clearly, Yae Sakura had done it.

Lying beside the quilt was a tiny creature the size of a palm. Her five fox tails were wrapped around her body like a blanket.

Seeing Hiyori Maru sleeping, Feng Chen could not help laughing. "Could it be that all foxes sleep like this?"

He lightly tapped the little creature's forehead with his finger. Hiyori Maru naturally could not tolerate that and pounced at his finger.

Then she exposed her saw-like teeth and bit down.

"Hiyori Maru, stop biting! It's me! Let go!"

Feng Chen waved his hand, trying to shake Hiyori Maru off.

Feng Chen had already guessed how strong Hiyori Maru's bite was. She only released him after drawing some blood.

Of course, she had not let go willingly. The Honkai Energy in his blood had scalded her.

As the Herrscher of Erosion, Hiyori Maru's Honkai Energy purity had reached at least ninety percent. Under the burning of the ninety-nine-percent-pure Honkai Energy in Feng Chen's blood, even she could not endure much.

"Why is your blood so hot?"

"You were the one who bit me. Why blame me?"

"Bleh! You weren't sleeping properly, so why did you come bother me?"

"Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day? The sun will dry you out later!"

"I'm the Herrscher of Erosion. How could the sun dry me out?"

"Can't it just evaporate all the water in your body?"

"Do you think I never studied physics? This isn't a desert. How would it evaporate all of it?"

Amid their argument, Yae Shrine, which had been quiet moments ago, suddenly became lively.

"What are you two arguing about?"

There was not no third person at Yae Shrine. She simply had not been inside the room.

Who else could the newcomer be besides Yae Sakura?

"Sakura... is it really you?"

Yae Sakura tilted her head slightly in confusion. Her gaze at Feng Chen was somewhat strange.

"Of course I'm me. What's wrong?"

"N-No... nothing. It just feels a little unbelievable."

As for why it felt unbelievable, Feng Chen did not dare say it aloud. He had already realized that this wisp of Yae Sakura's soul did not belong to his Yae Sakura.

His Sakura existed only in that instant when the cherry blossoms bloomed. At all other times, Yae Sakura was the Simulated Herrscher who had fallen in love with a Valkyrie.

Unfortunately, the consciousness within this wisp of soul came from the instant before the cherry blossoms had decided to bloom.

"System, is this Sakura's favorability toward me only ninety-five? Or is it one hundred?"

"The consciousness within this wisp of soul is from before Yae Sakura made her decision, so it can only be ninety-five. Besides, in this Sakura Cycle, her emotions will only make her think of Kallen."

"So she really isn't my Sakura..." Feng Chen shook his head with a bitter smile. Had he still thought too simply about this?

"But what exactly counts as the third mission? Is it a capture mission?"

"That's more or less what it means. After capturing her, complete a mission and you can recruit a girl. How great is that?"

"She's dead. What the hell are you recruiting?"

"There's still a wisp of soul here. Can't you revive Yae Sakura by using this wisp of soul together with Jizou Mitama?"

"Can you guarantee that the one revived will be my Sakura?"

"..."

The system fell silent. Human souls were also within the scope of her abilities. She had given the Herrscher of Death the ability to control life and death, but she had never given any Herrscher the ability to control emotions.

After all, she did not understand human emotions. That meant the soul of the Yae Sakura who had existed for only an instant could not be retrieved. She could never return.

"If you can't, then forget it. I'm not doing this mission."

Feng Chen was even preparing to open the map and leave Sakura Cycle.

"Wait!"

The system efficiently closed his map, then added, "This is Yae Sakura's last wish. Don't you plan to help her fulfill it?"

"Last wish?"

"Mm. Her last wish is for Jizou Mitama to have a true wielder, and for Hiyori Maru never to suffer the same pain she endured before."

The pain she had endured before... the pain of being locked in a dark world for tens of thousands of years?

"All right, I'll listen to you this time. By the way, make sure my exclusive Stigmata is strong enough."

"No problem. I'm only afraid that after using it, you won't want it anymore."

"How could I?" Feng Chen kept those words to himself, because he could tell from the system's tone that his exclusive Stigmata was very powerful.