Possession and Repeated Accumulation of Experience

Ming Yu was troubled by the fact that he currently lacked the combat power to take part in the incident. If he could obtain Yae Sakura's help, he would at least earn the right to take the stage.

"I know this is very dangerous, so I will give you sufficient compensation."

Yae Sakura added.

If one wanted to ask someone else to do something, naturally, one had to offer appropriate compensation—especially for something that could endanger their life.

"Compensation?"

"...If there is anything you want to accomplish later, I can help you once, as long as it is in the Far East."

Yae Sakura made this promise.

She still did not know what the world had become, but in any case, she had no intention of leaving the Far East for now.

Even after making such a promise, she still felt somewhat uneasy about whether he would agree.

Higokumaru was right. Ordinary people would indeed find it difficult to agree to something like this.

After all, it was an extremely dangerous venture—one that could even be called a near-certain death.

"..."

Ming Yu did not immediately agree to Yae Sakura's request. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes.

He explored the possibilities of other timelines.

For example, whether there was a possibility where he did not encounter Yae Sakura and went directly into Chiba Academy.

He soon obtained the answer.

—After confirming it multiple times, he found that no matter which direction he approached Chiba Academy from after parting with Raven, Yae Sakura would always stop him halfway and have the same conversation with him.

Whether he took the main road or this side path, she would easily find him.

In other words, as long as Ming Yu still wanted to approach and enter Chiba Academy, he would inevitably encounter Yae Sakura. Every time, she would make the same request, wanting to possess his body for battle.

—Perhaps only flying in from the sky, as he had done with Bronya the first time, would allow him to avoid being intercepted by her.

Of course, he could still refuse Yae Sakura. But given that he currently had no combat power on his own, accepting her proposal was clearly the wiser choice.

Otherwise, just getting inside Chiba Academy would require him to expend endless effort trying.

At that moment, Ming Yu caught sight of another black fox abruptly appearing behind Yae Sakura.

It bared its fangs and claws at him, faintly seeming to threaten him.

So this is Higokumaru...

Ming Yu thought silently.

Compared with this giant fox form, he still preferred the little fox she became after turning over a new leaf.

If someone who knew nothing saw this thing, they would probably be frightened off by her enormous body.

Fortunately, he knew more or less about this former Jizo Mitama.

She did not retain much power now. She was merely a wandering ghost dependent on Yae Sakura for existence.

Yae Sakura had clearly noticed Higokumaru's stealthy appearance as well, and immediately ordered her to disperse and not appear here again.

"I am willing to lend you my body for possession, but I have one condition."

Ming Yu looked at Yae Sakura as he spoke.

"Go ahead."

The pink-haired girl nodded.

"...I will have control during the battle."

Chapter 10: Possession and Repeated Accumulation of Experience

"By you...?"

The pink-haired girl frowned slightly.

Compared to him, she believed herself to be far more skilled and experienced in combat.

No, that was not right... She could not jump to conclusions...

She had only just been released from her seal and knew nothing about the world five hundred years later. Having spent her life in the remote little place known as Yae Village, she also knew almost nothing about the powers beyond it.

Perhaps this human before her was a warrior from some organization—after all, ordinary people would not appear in a scene ravaged by Honkai like this.

As for organizations beyond the village that she knew of...

There was only Schicksal, the organization that her former close friend, Kallen Kaslana, had once belonged to. It was located far away from the Far East.

Five hundred years had passed. Did Schicksal still exist?

And Kallen... she had only been an ordinary human without a long lifespan. By now, she should have long since ceased to exist.

"Human, what is your reason?"

The girl asked.

"The one who became a Herrscher inside is someone I know. I think I have a way to save her, so I hope to keep control of my own body."

Ming Yu explained.

Even if he handed control of his body to Yae Sakura, she probably would not be able to defeat the Third Herrscher head-on.

There was a considerable gap between a Pseudo-Herrscher and a true Herrscher. Back then, the several Pseudo-Herrschers created from the power divided by the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, had all been effortlessly defeated before truly powerful opponents.

She was probably only stronger than an A-Rank Valkyrie, yet weaker than an S-Rank Valkyrie.

Rather than fighting head-on, it would be better to rely on his rewind ability and find a way to break through this deadlock.

"...All right. But if it becomes necessary at a critical moment, I will take control of the body."

Yae Sakura nodded and agreed.

Although she had initially intended to exterminate the Herrscher, Ming Yu's words reminded her of Kallen, who had awakened her back then.

If possible, she also hoped to save a lost girl.

Before possessing him, she abruptly asked:

"By the way, human, do you know Schicksal?"

"Hm?"

Ming Yu raised an eyebrow slightly and answered at once:

"Of course. It is the largest organization in the world that fights the Honkai."

The largest in the world...

Yae Sakura seemed to be pondering something.

Ming Yu guessed that she wanted to learn about Kallen, so he said:

"Schicksal has a branch in the Far East now. If there is anything you want to know, you can go there afterward."

Come to think of it, Theresa, as an artificial human, had Kallen's blood flowing through her veins. She could be considered to have some connection to Yae Sakura as well.

"Then... are you from Schicksal?"

The pink-haired girl nodded, then continued asking.

It seemed that he truly knew something about this era.

"Not yet, but perhaps I will be in a little while."

Ming Yu chuckled softly.

If he could smoothly follow The Three Families into St. Freya Academy, the Far East Branch, then he could naturally count as a member of Schicksal in the future.

That was also why he wanted to involve himself in the Chiba Academy incident and face the Third Herrscher.

If he wanted to continue growing stronger, he would eventually have to enter one of the three major organizations.

Having reached an agreement, Yae Sakura began to attach herself to him.

She still had quite a few detailed questions about Schicksal that she wanted to ask, but for now, the Herrscher took priority.

Like a ghost possessing someone, the girl's already somewhat illusory figure vanished, turning into specks of light that flowed into his body.

At the same time, Ming Yu felt a warm current enter his body, bringing abundant Honkai energy and... a faint sensation of pain.

If it had been his former self, an injection of Honkai energy at this level would have been enough to make Honkai energy patterns spread across his entire body and transform him into a Dead Soldier.

But now... he could barely withstand Yae Sakura's power.

"...This is my first time attempting something like this as well, human. It may hurt a little."

No longer coming from outside, Yae Sakura's voice sounded directly in his mind.

"It is not a big problem."

Ming Yu answered casually.

Compared with the pain of personally experiencing death over and over before, pain of this level was no trouble at all.

"...By the way, I have not asked your name."

"Just call me Ming Yu."

Under the Honkai worldview, the most fundamental factor determining a person's combat ability was their resistance to Honkai energy.

The Kaslana family's warriors were among the most prominent examples.

—Having inherited the genes of Kevin, the strongest warrior of the Previous Era, the Kaslana family possessed the greatest resistance to Honkai energy, ensuring that every generation of the family produced powerful warriors.

Whether it was Kallen or Siegfried, both were geniuses born with exceptionally strong resistance to Honkai energy.

The stigmata created by Mobius, as well as the Artificial Stigmata modern Schicksal had continuously researched, were essentially attempts to improve humanity's overall resistance to Honkai energy and enhance the Valkyries' ability to fight the Honkai.

Because of Xiaokong, Ming Yu's resistance to Honkai energy had already improved to some extent. He now had the foundation to grow stronger; what he lacked next was combat experience.

As a transmigrator who had once lived in a peaceful world, let alone killing people, he had never even killed chickens or pigs.

But after arriving here, after repeatedly experiencing death and witnessing countless others die, he had become somewhat numb to such things.

All he needed to do next was raise the blade in his hand and take the lives of those monsters. He believed he could manage that.

After all... he was not killing people.

As Yae Sakura's power flowed into him, Ming Yu felt his body become lighter, while his limbs became stronger than ever before.

Places that had once required him to jog for a while to reach now seemed reachable in the next instant with just a thought.

Even the several-story buildings beside him seemed easy enough to leap onto.

Along with the obvious enhancement to his physical strength, some fragments of Yae Sakura's memories also flowed into Ming Yu's body.

The moment during the Night of Sacrifice when her father, the High Priest, had forced her to raise her blade and kill Yae Rin...

Scenes of her ignoring the villagers' agonized struggles and controlling Honkai Beasts to slaughter them...

Scenes of her fighting Kallen to the death and grievously wounding her...

Hatred, fury, despair, unwillingness, pain.

Ming Yu noticed that none of the memory fragments pouring into his mind were pleasant scenes.

At first, he had thought this was a side effect of Yae Sakura possessing him, but now it seemed that was probably not the case.

"Heh, was this your doing?"

Ming Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. He already knew perfectly well who was behind it.