Conversation, Choice.

Under the moonlight, the boy stood in the long corridor, watching the Miko approaching from afar, and said:

"Miss Yae, you haven't lost your memory, have you?"

The Miko did not give an answer immediately; she gazed intently at the boy's face.

Su Qing'an.

Yae Sakura wasn't familiar with this person, and her level of knowledge about the boy was almost the same as Hiyori's.

In a sense, the two were meeting for the first time today.

The Miko nodded in agreement:

"As you suspected, I haven't lost my memory."

In fact, aside from her attitude towards Theresa, Yae Sakura made almost no attempt to hide anything.

Rather, even if Su Qing'an hadn't discovered it, she would have confronted him sooner or later.

He was drawn into her battle with Hiyori as soon as he came into this world.

She pretended not to know Theresa because she didn't want to get involved, but ignoring the two of them and letting them wait for the ending was not something she would do.

Su Qing'an nodded, took out a golden cross from his pocket, handed it to the Miko, and said:

"Miss Kallen asked me to give this to you."

In this way, he could be considered to have fulfilled his promise to the nun.

Yae Sakura accepted the jewelry, gazing at the gleaming cross under the moonlight, her heart filled with complex emotions.

After a long while, the Miko seemed to Awakened from a brief, fleeting dream, and she said:

"That's not Kallen; the real Kallen is dead."

"That's just Kallen that Yae Sakura wanted to exist."

The Miko sighed:

"I don't need this anymore, Su-kun."

She handed the cross back to Su Qing'an without any hesitation.

"Please take this with you and that girl. It will guide you to a part of the Hiyori, where the power within the cross will suppress it. At that time, a gap will appear there, through which you can return to the present world."

Su Qing'an remained silent for a moment, pondering the meaning behind the other person's words, before asking:

"Where is Headmaster Theresa?"

Yae Sakura bluntly stated:

"That's all I can do. The Yae Sakura standing before you is nothing but an empty shell. I can't defeat Hiyori in this state."

"That cross houses my obsession with Kallen, and also the last bit of power that could barely overpower Hiyori."

"And all it can do is let you leave, and let that girl hold on a little longer."

Su Qing'an was suddenly speechless. He thought they were counting on him to come up with some useful information, but he just raised the white flag and said they couldn't win.

It's like the battle between good and evil in a martial arts novel. The leader of the righteous faction raises his arm and calls out, and countless heroes rush to respond. Everyone thinks the outcome is still evenly matched. But on the day of the final battle, the leader of the righteous faction spends all his money and says, "Go home, I've left you a way out." But this battle is already lost.

So you took the money and embarked on your journey home, feeling utterly utterly pissed off.

Su Qing'an has the same thought now, but the difference is that he can't just easily choose to go back.

He said:

"Miss Yae, do you think you're doomed to lose?"

"Why? If it's just about preventing the tragedy that happened in Yae Village in history, things shouldn't have reached the point of no return."

Yae Sakura sighed:

"Su-kun, this is just a replay of history. Even if it's changed, it's meaningless. The key to victory or defeat has never been this, and from the very beginning, I could never have beaten Hiyori."

Yes, Yae Sakura cannot defeat Hiyori.

From the very beginning, it was Yae Sakura who sought powerful strength from Hiyori in order to use it for revenge.

Yae Sakura is not exactly known for her unwavering will or selfless sacrifice; all these years she has simply been atoning for her past actions.

It was the existence of that Saintess and the occasional Hiyori played by Hiyomaru that allowed her to persevere until now.

"Su-kun, you might find this strange, but Yae Sakura is no longer normal. From the day she descended into the mortal world, I had already lost."

The Miko looked at the boy expressionlessly, her tone calm and collected.

Actually, it shouldn't be like this. Yae Sakura should be even more agitated, more manic, and more hysterical, just like when she drew her sword and held Sakura Fubuki to her father's neck. Yae Sakura's current state is very unstable, and even her excellent self-control cannot hide this fact.

But the moment the cross touched her palm, something warm entered her, abruptly calming and soothing the Miko's heart.

Even so, her eyes were like a lifeless sea, containing nothingness that enveloped everything.

It is an emptiness that even warmth cannot fill.

The Miko slowly said:

"Because... I'm tired."

"I... want to die."

"Right now, all I need is to rescue Rin, and then I can disappear after satisfying myself once in the reflection of history."

"For me, things outside this illusory world are not important. I was never a great person. I am not a selfless Saintess like Kallen. I am just an unqualified Miko from a rural mountain village. All I have done in the past five hundred years is to atone for the sins of one person and myself."

"Now that I want to die, why should I care what happens to the world? The person standing in front of you is this kind of guy, so if you don't want to die, you'd better run away quickly."

Su Qing'an was stunned. His first reaction was that Yae Sakura had said something completely unlike what Yae Sakura would say. How could Yae Sakura ignore Theresa, who looked so much like Kallen?

How could Yae Sakura say something like, "What does this world have to do with me?"

Even if she truly couldn't do it, she shouldn't have this attitude.

But then he thought, what gave him the right to claim he knew Yae Sakura so well?

Based solely on fragmentary information from the game and a few historical events documented in documents?

That was just his subconscious arrogance and self-righteousness; besides, Yae Sakura is no longer normal.

To Yae Sakura, she and Theresa were nothing more than strangers, and this cross was the greatest kindness she could offer.

Her current stance is to avoid involving innocent people as much as possible, and whatever the outcome, it has nothing to do with her.

Su Qing'an casually handed the crucifix back, as if he were handing over not a treasure that could save him from death, but just an ordinary crucifix.

The Miko took it blankly, and the boy's words reached her ears.

"Please accept this, Miss Yae. I promised her I would give it to you; it's a promise."

"And agreements, regardless of the reason, must be kept."

Su Qing'an spoke earnestly and rigidly, and continued:

"I won't leave. If Hiyori takes over the headmistress's body, the me outside will die anyway. It would be stupid to just leave like that."

"Besides, my purpose in coming here is to rescue the headmistress. I don't want to give up halfway, and I don't want to have any regrets."

"Therefore, I respect Miss Yae's decision and feelings, but I also hope that Miss Yae can understand my choice."

After saying that, Su Qing'an turned and left.

He understood that if he didn't follow the Miko's instructions, his own survival might be virtually impossible, but if his brief survival meant sacrificing Theresa's life, then he would rather stubbornly stay here.

Moreover, no one could understand what Hiyori, the Herrscher of Corruption, would do in that peaceful and tranquil academy after completely taking over Theresa's body.

Even if it's just to prevent St. Freya Academy from becoming a dead place, Su Qing'an absolutely cannot just leave like this.

There, his very important friends and relatives were.

Yae Sakura stared blankly at the boy's retreating figure, enveloped in a black and red mist.

The omnipresent demon suddenly hovered beside the Miko, whispering in her Miko:

"What an idiot, isn't he?"

The Miko was not surprised; she responded as if it were commonplace:

"Yes, Hiyori..."

"Do you think someone like him could change the outcome?"

The mist trembled unhappily, and the devil replied irritably:

"How could that be, you foolish Miko?"

Yae Sakura gazed at the clear moonlight spilling across the courtyard like mercury and smiled:

Perhaps.

Standing behind a pillar not far away, the white-haired girl sat on the ground with her knees drawn up to her chest, a wistful smile on her delicate and youthful face.

She murmured:

"Su Qing'an... I don't know what to say to you anymore. Should I be glad that I heard everything?"

"After all, it would be a shame if no one saw such a handsome side of him."

"Hmph. I'll admit it, even though it makes me look like an idiot, I don't hate doing it this way."

Moreover, Theresa might understand a little about why Satou Yunona was able to regain her self-awareness.

You see, if it's someone like Su Qing'an, it's not surprising that Satou Yunona would work her butt off.

Because Su Qing'an had already risked his life for her, she naturally didn't want to disappoint him when it came to her.

The same applies to Theresa now; she doesn't want to disappoint Su Qing'an.

Even though she knew the other person wouldn't feel that way, the girl didn't want to disappoint the student in any way.

"Stigmata Space, Reincarnation, Battle, Death..."

Theresa muttered these fragmented pieces of information, the smile on her lips fading, and the azure color in her eyes growing even deeper.

Unlike Su Qing'an's naive idea, Theresa never had the idea that she could leave. A perfect ending was too dreamy. In her mind, being able to perish together with Hiyori, send Su Qing'an back, and save St. Freya Academy would be a beautiful enough ending.

She was no longer young; she had witnessed much of the world's beauty and ugliness. In Theresa's eyes, the beautiful things were so numerous that they were equal to the unpleasant ugliness.

But what about Su Qing'an? His parents died because of his Schicksal's work, and after two near-death experiences in Changkong City, he only had less than ten years left to live. For this young man, daily cultivation and the torment of the Stigmata were commonplace.

Su Qing'an is too easily satisfied; he's the kind of person who can withstand a thousand armies' worth of malice as long as there's a glimmer of hope left.

And that's why.

"I absolutely cannot let you die here, my dear student."

The girl murmured softly, clutching the cross to her chest, a holy smile on her face.