The Strange Shrine Maiden

Sheng Jiu looked closely at the girl before him, dressed in shrine maiden robes.

She had thick sakura-pink hair, with two slender, foxlike ears poking up from it. She wore a clean, off-the-shoulder shrine maiden outfit, and a long sword and a short one hung at her waist.

"Who are you?" The girl sized up the unexpected visitor.

"I'm a warrior from Schicksal's Far East Branch. Who are you?" Sheng Jiu watched the fox-eared girl warily, his hand gripping the hilt of Shadowless behind him...

But the girl reacted faster than he did. She kicked the stool between them with her wooden sandal, sending it flying toward Sheng Jiu. He cut it in half with one slash, but the girl had vanished. In her place was a huge black shadow formed of mist. It gathered in front of Sheng Jiu into the shape of a giant fox, its scarlet eyes fixed on him. "You vermin! I'll kill you!"

Sheng Jiu stared at the shadowy fox before him, his expression grave. Who was that woman? Anyone who could summon such a monster was no ordinary person. Could she... be a Herrscher, like that Poison Ivy woman?!

"What's wrong, vermin? Make your move! Has Honkai Energy eaten away at your brain?" the shadow sneered, looking at him with disdain.

"Eaten away? What do you mean?" Sheng Jiu didn't understand what the shadow meant.

"Hmph. See for yourself." The shadow held a shard of mirror in its mouth. Only then did Sheng Jiu see that his right eye had somehow turned a lifeless orange, and thin golden lines covered his face.

"What?!" Sheng Jiu stared in shock and rubbed his right eye. Just then, the strange shrine maiden emerged from behind the shadow and said softly, "You've been corrupted by Honkai Energy."

"That's impossible! I was once injured down to the bone in a Honkai Beast attack, but I showed no signs of corruption!"

The shrine maiden shook her head gently. "Your injury came from the Pseudo-Herrscher at Senba Academy. Its attacks contain an enormous amount of Honkai Energy. As for why you didn't feel anything, you were probably numb from being pricked by the thorns on its vines."

"...It's over. Everything's over." Sheng Jiu slumped to the ground, his eyes vacant.

He drew Shadowless, and just as he was about to take his own life, the girl caught hold of its hilt. "There's still a chance."

"What do you mean?"

A faint smile tugged at the girl's lips. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yae Sakura, and I'm a shrine maiden."

"Wait, you're Yae Sakura?" Sheng Jiu stared at the fox-eared girl before him, eyes wide.

"...You know me?" Yae Sakura looked at Sheng Jiu in surprise.

"...A friend mentioned you to me once." Sheng Jiu thought it over and decided not to tell her about what had happened in the virtual database. Not everyone could accept the existence of a virtual personality.

"I see. So you were an old friend of mine..." She paused. "Then you can be my friend, too. Hiyori, stand down."

Yae Sakura waved to Hiyori, and the shadow slowly dissipated.

"Thank you, Miss Yae Sakura. Have you seen my friends? A white-haired girl and a short white-haired woman?"

"Before that, I think you should be more concerned about your own injuries." Yae Sakura moved closer to Sheng Jiu and examined his mutated right eye.

"...The corruption has already gone quite deep, but there's still hope." Yae Sakura took out a pill and put it in Sheng Jiu's mouth.

"Mmph! What did you make me eat?"

"Relax. It's an anti-corruption pill I made myself. It can effectively slow your transformation into a zombie." Yae Sakura handed Sheng Jiu another identical pill. "These should keep you going until you're rescued."

"Thank you, Miss Yae Sakura—"

"Just call me Sakura."

"Sakura, could you tell me if you've seen my two friends?"

"...Come with me."

Sheng Jiu followed Yae Sakura through a door at the back of the room. Theresa and Kiana were lying inside.

"Kiana! Principal!" Sheng Jiu rushed over to them.

Kiana was leaning against a stool with her eyes closed and seemed to be all right. Theresa, however, was in much worse shape. She lay in the center of the room on a bed, covered with a thick blanket, with a thick ice pack on her forehead. She was clearly burning with a high fever.

"The young lady is unharmed. After meeting me, she resisted fiercely, so I had no choice but to let Hiyori knock her out. The other woman is in much worse condition. The Pseudo-Herrscher's vines pierced her body and flooded it with toxins. Her condition is terrible."

Yae Sakura gently cradled Theresa's head and wiped her forehead.

"This woman doesn't have long to live. Why waste time trying to save her?" Hiyori appeared beside Yae Sakura. "You haven't forgotten that you were once a demon, have you, after five hundred years?"

"I know why you want to save her. It's because she has that woman's scent, doesn't she? Kallen Kaslana..."

"You know there's no saving someone poisoned by a Herrscher. Just let me bite through her throat, and then—"

"Get lost!" Yae Sakura glared at the shadow, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

As the shadow dissipated, Yae Sakura continued wiping Theresa's forehead. She turned apologetically to Sheng Jiu, who had quietly gripped Shadowless's hilt. "I'm sorry. Hiyori can be a little extreme. I apologize on its behalf."