Outside the ancient shrine.
The girl stepped over the red torii gate; the morning mist and the quiet, cool atmosphere of the mountains gave the buildings a strange, eerie feel.
Satou Yunona was naturally aware of the saying that stepping into the torii gate meant entering the realm of the gods, but her concept of faith had always been rather vague. Her studies of Honkai history and knowledge during her time at the St. Freya Academy further fueled her disbelief in the existence of so-called gods.
The root of the Kambara Family's tragedy can only be Honkai, Satou Yunona asserted.
Even so, when she entered the shrine grounds alone, the morning mist on her skin and in her heart inevitably sent chills down her spine.
That is the fear that humans experience when faced with the unknown and cannot control themselves.
Even with the help of Headmaster Theresa, the Living Doll was unable to find any similar cases when the database was searched.
If it weren't for the fact that Satou Yunona and Su Qing'an were the ones on the mission, Theresa wouldn't have easily allowed the Valkyrie of the St. Freya Academy to continue with such an overly unknown mission.
Perhaps this is the result of the headmaster's doting affection.
With Theresa's special permission, her powers are no longer restricted during this mission, and the bomb planted in her heart is now safe, provided that no attempt is made to remove it.
The Pseudo-Herrscher Core has been revived once again.
The long-awaited, unleashed Honkai Energy strange thorns to grow and spread. These plants, like snakes, slithered around the girl, forming a vast domain that became her vision and her sword.
The high concentration of Honkai Energy condensed and shaped an energy field, becoming Satou Yunona's last line of defense.
This is some application of Honkai Energy. Unlike when she first became Pseudo-Herrscher and knew almost nothing, Satou Yunona is undoubtedly more powerful now than she was back then.
After doing all this, the girl carefully stepped into the interior of the shrine.
In fact, the arrangements she was to make were already complete. The seeds buried in the soil in advance would sprout and bloom into tiny yellow flowers on the day of the sacrifice, forming a toxin that was harmless to life but could completely paralyze the human body and make people fall into a drowsy state.
Having dealt with the troublesome villagers in advance, all that will be left to deal with later are the Living Doll.
In theory, all Satou Yunona needs to do is this simple thing.
But now she has chosen to step inside the shrine where the Living Doll reside.
Kambara Shuichi had spoken to the two about the special characteristics of Living Doll.
Aside from unusual behaviors such as killing to draw blood after starving and the once-a-decade Day of Sacrifice, the Living Doll will always remain inside the shrine.
Unlike normal shrines where offerings and worship are made day and night, the interior of the shrine in Kambara Village is a forbidden area that is not to be entered, except for the Day of Sacrifice once every ten years and the large-scale Kagura Dance that follows.
According to legend, those who enter a shrine on a non- Day of Sacrifice will be punished by the gods.
This is one of the reasons why the villagers did not react much to the ban on the shrine by Kambara Shuichi. Because apart from the Day of Sacrifice, the shrine only has symbolic significance.
Kambara Shuichi didn't understand what divine punishment was. It seemed that because of the special nature of the Kambara Family bloodline, when this man, with a cigar in his mouth and an expressionless face, blasted Living Doll to pieces with a rifle ten years ago, his body showed no unusual reaction whatsoever.
The Living Doll did not retaliate. The doll, as vibrant and beautiful as a young girl, was easily shattered by bullets into countless fragments, as if it had truly and decisively died.
The next day, when Kambara Shuichi came to the shrine and saw the still intact girl doll with a faint smile on her face, he silently finished a cigarette, then threw the cigarette butt next to the doll, turned and left, never to step into the shrine again.
He understood that he couldn't kill the monster on his own.
It came from an unknown force on another level that he did not understand.
Later, as his connections and status rose to the top of Kanagawa, Kambara Shuichi vaguely confirmed the true nature of the Living Doll, which should be the calamity called Honkai.
Therefore, he went back into the shrine, smashed the Living Doll, picked up its fragments and handed them to Schicksal, saying that these were the remains left by the murderer at the scene.
Ultimately, all of this led to Satou Yunona entering the shrine.
Aside from the dust-filled room and the dim lighting, the only striking feature was the eerily lifelike doll.
That was indeed the exquisite face that only a doll could possess, with a unique beauty created artificially.
The girl doll knelt silently in the dust of the room, waiting for the passage of time. Her dark hair was spread out on the floor like a painting, and the pale blue veins on her bare legs and feet were clearly visible under her snow-white skin.
If it weren't for its lack of breathing and its physically empty eyes, Satou Yunona would almost never have realized that it was a doll.
Living Doll.
A truly fitting title.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself to face it, Satou Yunona still felt a sense of dread and fear.
Unlike the brutal and striking image of the corpses and gore in the mission photo, when facing the Living Doll, Satou Yunona felt a completely different kind of shock and eeriness.
After concentrating for a moment, the girl decided not to waste any more words on the doll.
The thorns twisted into long chains at her will and fell, and the Living Doll shattered into pieces in an instant, as expected.
Just like Kambara Shuichi's description.
The true nature of Living Doll is not simply that of a doll.
Dolls are more like a form of expression that carries a certain power, so destroying ordinary Living Doll would be meaningless.
Because the Living Doll outside of the Day of Sacrifice, their true forms are not entirely contained within the doll's body.
To put it simply, Living Doll is only truly Living Doll on the Day of Sacrifice, and only on that day is there a real possibility of killing it.
If Satou Yunona's power is the kind of domineering, offensive ability, she might be interested in destroying the entire shrine into nothingness and seeing if the Living Doll could be resurrected.
Unfortunately, her Pseudo-Herrscher ability is actually more of a support type. Although its offensive capabilities are terrifying against living beings, its destructive power is not very effective against inorganic matter that does not exhibit any vital signs.
In short, they are incompatible.
Of course, in the presence of a true Herrscher, the so-called Living Doll is nothing but a joke.
Satou Yunona looked at the remains of the doll on the ground and murmured:
"Is this made of a wood-like material? Or is it just a simple wooden doll?"
"But can simple wood really be used to create such exquisitely detailed dolls that look like real people?"
Yesterday she had already looked through the records of the Kambara Family. The Living Doll were indeed Kambara Family, but what kind of ingenious craftsmanship was needed to create such a creation?
Even if the Honkai and ritualistic practices may have tainted it with evil, the original Living Doll should have looked like this.
She crouched down, intending to pick up a shard.
Just to be on the safe side, the girl wrapped her palms in Honkai Energy, and a strange reaction occurred when the Honkai Energy at her fingertips came into contact with the remains of the Living Doll.
The wreckage instantly melted away, replaced by a very faint red mist that formed in a flash.
The familiar Honkai Energy mist obscured the girl's eyes.
Immediately.
A shift in perspective, a world turned upside down.