The Dust Settles

Yae Sakura stepped forward and examined the extent of Sheng Jiu's corruption. His entire right cheek was covered in fine orange lines, crisscrossing each other in a sight that made one's scalp crawl.

"...Mr. Sheng, I'm sorry to tell you this, but unless you receive effective treatment within five hours, you'll likely become a mindless zombie, completely devoid of emotion..."

"...I understand. Thank you, Sakura."

Yae Sakura gazed at the unconscious Theresa and smiled with relief. "Hiyori."

"Hmm?"

"You said there was another way to neutralize a Herrscher's poison, right?"

"Wait! You're not thinking of...?!" Hiyori grew visibly agitated.

"Hey! Are you crazy?! If we give her our core, we'll disappear too! Why would you do that?!"

Yae Sakura turned around, her expression serious. "Because she still has someone she wants to protect..."

Then she cradled Theresa's face and gently kissed her.

Their lips slowly parted. Yae Sakura's body began to turn transparent, dissolving into petals that drifted away, while a strange mark appeared on the back of Theresa's neck.

Sheng Jiu watched everything in silence. At last, as if he had made up his mind, he spoke. "...Sakura, Kallen said, 'She loves you'..."

Yae Sakura was startled, then smiled faintly. In her final moment before vanishing, she bowed to Sheng Jiu. "Thank you, Mr. Sheng... You must all live well..."

Yae Sakura's body completely dissolved into petals. Before Hiyori vanished, she tossed Sheng Jiu a black pill. "Hey, you scum, catch!"

"What is this?"

"It's my inner core. After eating it, you'll gain combat strength rivaling a Herrscher for a short time. But an ordinary person will suffer severe side effects. I've been sick of that vine woman for a long time. Kill her for me..."

Sheng Jiu put away the inner core and walked over to Kiana, gently nudging her.

After being unconscious for an hour, Kiana slowly opened her eyes.

An orange eye filled her vision. "Aaaah!" Kiana jolted upright in fright. Only then did she realize she was somewhere unfamiliar. She stared at Sheng Jiu in front of her and gradually came to her senses.

"?! You lazy bum, what... what happened to your face?!" Kiana raised a trembling hand, staring in disbelief at the orange lines on Sheng Jiu's right cheek.

"Ah, it's a long story. I ended up like this—like a calico cat. Looks pretty good, right?"

As Kiana gazed at the smiling Sheng Jiu, tears welled up in her eyes despite her efforts to hold them back. "...I'm sorry. I was too weak, and that's why you..."

Seeing Kiana suddenly start crying, Sheng Jiu panicked. "Hey, hey, don't cry! I'm fine, aren't I? Look, look! Doesn't this look cool?" He hurriedly tried to comfort her and wiped away her tears with a tissue, but Kiana kept clinging to his arm as if he would disappear the moment she let go.

Just then, Theresa slowly opened her eyes on the bed. Seeing the two of them before her, she froze for a moment. Then she noticed Sheng Jiu's condition and covered her mouth. "Sheng Jiu, you?! How did the corruption spread so far through your body?"

"Ah, it's a long story, Principal Theresa." Sheng Jiu then briefly recounted what had happened while the two of them were unconscious.

"Yae Sakura... I never thought she really was still alive..." Kiana scratched her head as she looked at the scattered petals on the ground.

"...I see. I feel full of strength now." Theresa got up and stretched. "Let's go retrieve Oath of Judas together and put an end to all this. We can't let Sheng Jiu's corruption go on any longer!"

Oath of Judas stood alone in the schoolyard. Yuno slowly approached from a distance. "Is that the weapon of that little girl?" She extended a vine and stabbed hard at the center of Oath of Judas.

"Bang!" A dull thud rang out. Yuno pulled back the vine and stared in confusion at Oath of Judas's unscathed outer shell. "Damn it, what is this thing made of? Why is it so hard?"

"Don't bother. Oath of Judas's outer shell is forged from Soul Steel specifically to deal with scum like you!" Theresa appeared behind Yuno with Kiana and Sheng Jiu.

"Oh~ So the three of you are the defeated stragglers. What, come back to die again...? Hey, you over there, looks like the poison hasn't gotten too deep into you." Yuno sneered at Sheng Jiu.

Sheng Jiu calmly drew Zetsuei. "I'll make sure you leave this world without pain."

"Hahahahaha! Big talk. I'd like to see how you're going to kill me!" Yuno roared and charged at the three of them.

"Oath of Judas!" Theresa stretched out her hand. Behind her, Oath of Judas tore free from the ground and flew straight into Yuno from behind, knocking her off course.

"Fuck you!" Sheng Jiu roared as he charged at Yuno, punching into the mass of vines rushing toward him. Perhaps his strength had increased now that his body was turning into that of a zombie. His punch sent Yuno, at the other end of the vines, crashing into a concrete wall.

Kiana and Theresa stared at Sheng Jiu in stunned silence. Theresa was shocked, but her heart sank too. It meant Sheng Jiu's corruption was getting worse...

"Rumble!"

Yuno shattered the concrete wall and burst free.

"Let's go, Kiana!"

"Okay, Auntie!"

Theresa opened Oath of Judas. Two chains shot out from within and wrapped around Yuno. Kiana raised her Colt, aimed at Yuno's left chest, and fired a suppression round designed specifically for Honkai Beasts. The bullet streaked forward with a blue trail and pierced Yuno's chest. Her violently struggling body jolted, then gradually slowed until it was completely still.

Kiana immediately ran to Sheng Jiu and asked anxiously, "Lazy bum, how are you feeling?"

With his entire body stiff, Sheng Jiu took out the white pill Yae Sakura had given him and swallowed it in one gulp. "...I'm okay."

Anyone could see how dire Sheng Jiu's condition was. Kiana immediately helped him up. "Quick, let's go! Auntie, you—"

"No! She's not dead yet!" Theresa stared at the bound Yuno in alarm and flung out two more chains toward her.

"...Hehehehehehahahahahaha! You insects! I'll crush you!" Yuno, who had been keeping her eyes shut, suddenly opened them. Her eyes had turned completely green. The ground shook violently, and four enormously thick vines shot up from beneath it.

With the vines' help, Yuno quickly broke free of the chains. Supported by them, she floated lightly in midair. She snapped her fingers, and a tide of vines surged out from across Senba Academy, coiling around the three of them like snakes and trapping them in the middle of the schoolyard.

"You two, get back!" Theresa shielded them. At the same time, Oath of Judas's weapon rack unfolded completely, and a dozen golden spears flew out automatically like arrows loosed from bows, cutting through the vines lunging at them.

"Auntie! What's going on?!" Kiana nimbly dodged a vine thrusting at her and struck back wildly with a baseball bat in hand.

"Tch, it looks like this Pseudo-Herrscher has evolved far beyond what I expected. If we don't eliminate her here today, she'll become a serious threat!" Theresa strained as she used a chain to wrap around one of the support vines attached to Yuno, trying to pull her down from the air.

At the same time, Sheng Jiu gripped Zetsuei in both hands and drove the blade into a thick vine.

"Tch, that little attack feels like a tickle. You're all going to die!" Two thick vines lashed across like whips. Just as they were about to hit Kiana, Theresa shoved her hard, letting her narrowly dodge the attack. But Theresa and the weakened Sheng Jiu were both sent flying more than ten meters.

"Sheng Jiu, are you okay?!" Theresa struggled to her feet and looked anxiously at him.

The light armor on Sheng Jiu's body shattered, exposing large patches of ashen-gray skin. Only then did Theresa realize that his condition was critical.

"Hang on... It'll be over soon!" Theresa gently patted Sheng Jiu's shoulder, took off her nun's habit, and tenderly draped it over him. Sheng Jiu struggled to get up, but fell to the ground again. All he could do was watch helplessly as Theresa walked toward Yuno.

Yuno grinned and directed a vine to slam down at Theresa. At that moment, Sheng Jiu also took out the black pill...

The vine smashed into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Through the haze, Yuno saw a pair of crimson eyes.

When the dust cleared, Theresa stood in the center, holding the thick vine in one hand and lifting it up. At some point, her hair had turned cherry-blossom pink, two beast ears had appeared, and her eyes had turned the same shade. A cold smile curled her lips.

"What?" Sheng Jiu stared in shock at the change before him, then tucked the black pill in his hand back into his pocket.

"Auntie...?" Kiana looked at the familiar yet strange Theresa, her eyes filled with worry.

"Hmm? Wait! Her aura... How did she get so powerful?" Yuno stared at Theresa in amazement, then sent another huge mass of vines flying toward her.

"Whoosh—" Theresa touched down on all fours and shot toward the mass of vines like a cannonball. Then she opened her mouth and bit off a huge chunk of vine.

"You! Monster... You're all monsters!" Only then did Yuno realize something was wrong. She began summoning even more vines to attack Theresa.

Theresa raised a hand and spoke softly, but her voice sounded neither male nor female. "Oath of Judas—" Beside her, Oath of Judas's second weapon rack unfolded. To everyone's astonishment, this time the weapons that flew from the rack weren't spears, but gleaming cherry-pink swords.

"Oath of Judas? Spirit Blade Style: Slay!"

A dozen cherry-pink swords flew quickly to Theresa's side, then formed a rapidly spinning ring around her, slicing through the surrounding vines. The moment the vines touched the blades, they were cut to pieces.

"Hehehe. You can rest easy now. You're about to die." A chilling smile appeared on Theresa's face. She pushed off with her toes and charged at Yuno in the air.

"Insect! You've only grown a pair of rabbit ears. I'll cut them off and use them as hair clips!" Yuno's hands turned into spikes as she charged at Theresa.

With the sound of flesh and bone tearing, Theresa landed steadily with Yuno's left arm in her mouth. The severed arm dried up at a visible rate, finally turning into something like a piece of firewood.

"...You...?" Yuno stared at her wound in disbelief and shrieked like a madwoman.

"You're too loud!" With her back to Yuno, Theresa made a gesture as if beheading her. A cherry-pink sword appeared silently behind Yuno and pierced her right chest.

Yuno stared in shock at the sword, spat out a mouthful of green fluid, and fell from the air to the ground.

As Yuno fell, the vines in the schoolyard immediately withered and crumbled, losing all life.

Lying on the ground, Yuno felt her body growing colder. White light gradually filled her vision...

Yuno slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying in a comfortable bed. The morning sunlight poured into the room, bathing it in a lazy warmth.

"Hmm? I'm not dead? Or was it all a dream?" Yuno stared at her unharmed hands in amazement.

"Yuno, time to get up. If you don't, you'll be late!" A familiar voice came from the doorway.

A woman stood at the door, smiling as she gazed tenderly at Yuno in bed.

"L-late?"

"If you don't want to be late, hurry up and get out of bed. I made your favorite miso soup for breakfast!"

"Okay, Mom!" Yuno's face lit up with a happy smile.

So it had only been a nightmare...

A nightmare that would haunt her... forever...

In the schoolyard, Yuno wore a contented smile as she slowly vanished under Theresa's gaze...

Theresa turned around and looked at Sheng Jiu, who was lying on the ground.

By now, most of Sheng Jiu's body had turned an ashen gray, like a zombie. The golden lines on his right cheek had spread to his left, and it looked like he would become a zombie before long.

"Cough... Hurry... I can't..." Sheng Jiu painfully reached out and scratched at his body, leaving one bloody mark after another.

"Lazy bum, hang in there!" Kiana knelt beside him and clasped his hand in both of hers. Feeling the warm, soft touch in her palm, Sheng Jiu inexplicably began to calm down.

"Auntie... What do we do... What do we do? Please, can you save him?" Kiana begged Theresa through her tears.

"Hmph! You scum... I'm in a good mood today, so I'll save you this once." Theresa still spoke in that neither-male-nor-female voice. She bent down, pressed a hand to Sheng Jiu's chest, and murmured an incantation the two of them couldn't understand.

A miracle happened. The orange lines on Sheng Jiu's face slowly faded, and the ashen-gray color of his skin gradually lightened until his complexion returned to normal.

"Tch... Is time up already...? Never mind. This body will be mine sooner or later." Theresa sat on the ground with a cold smile, then closed her eyes.

The beast ears on Theresa's head, resembling Yae Sakura's, slowly faded away. When she opened her eyes again, her cherry-pink irises had returned to their original blue.

"What... happened to me?" Theresa weakly held her forehead.

"Auntie! You're awake!" Kiana embraced Theresa with relief. "I was so scared... I thought you'd all..."

Theresa gently patted Kiana's back. "There, there, Kiana. I'm here. No one will hurt you..."

Theresa looked at Sheng Jiu. His eyes were still closed, but his even breathing and relaxed expression showed that he had simply fallen asleep.

With Oath of Judas on her back, Theresa walked out of Senba Academy alongside Kiana, who carried Sheng Jiu on her back. Neither of them ever looked back...