What Do You Crave...

"Are you alright, demon sister?"

She watched as the demon shrine maiden killed everyone with a flintlock that should have only fired once, then sat on the ground, looking utterly drained and unable to accept what she had done.

Could it be... that this was the first time this strange demon shrine maiden had ever killed someone?

But wasn't she a demon?

Was it really so hard for a demon to accept their first kill?

However... for some reason, the girl did not feel afraid of this strange demon. Perhaps it was because she had saved her?

After hesitating for a moment, the girl climbed to her feet and walked over to Yae Sakura, looking at the demon shrine maiden who was clutching her own head.

She hesitated, then offered comfort...

"These bandits were heinous villains; you don't need to feel guilty. They deserved to die! They destroyed countless villages, killed so many kind people, and defiled... so many... innocent girls."

"You don't need to blame yourself at all."

The girl crouched beside Yae Sakura and comforted her.

She felt very grateful toward this demon shrine maiden who had saved her.

"I am not blaming myself..." Yae Sakura raised her head.

"Demon sister, you..."

The girl looked at Yae Sakura's expression and was instantly terrified, falling straight onto her bottom.

There wasn't a trace of self-reproach on the demon shrine maiden's face. Was this... excitement? No, it was something pathological!

A terrifying, pathological expression...

"Demon... sister, are you... okay?"

The girl swallowed hard and asked, stuttering.

"I'm fine..."

Yae Sakura picked up the Moon God from the ground.

Even though it was her first time killing, Yae Sakura did not feel the fear an ordinary person would. Instead, she felt something like "Saeko Busujima"... a sense of pleasure?

Was she not a normal person?

No... that wasn't it. She clearly remembered that the first time she killed a chicken, she hadn't had the heart to do it.

Though she had gotten used to it later.

But now, for her first human kill, she actually... felt like she couldn't stop.

This wasn't her own doing, or perhaps it was the reason of this body? This was Yae Sakura's body, so she was being influenced by it...

This state reminded Yae Sakura of... the emptiness that appeared in Yae Sakura after her sister, Yae Rin, was killed by their father in the Sakura Chapter, which the Honkai energy had taken advantage of...

It wasn't yandere; what she felt now was purely pathological!

Yae Sakura's yandere side was real. In a certain timeline, to keep Kallen by her side forever, she had turned Kallen into a doll—a classic yandere display, though one could also call it pathological.

But her current state wasn't entirely yandere, even if there were some connections...

However, the truth was that Flame Sakitama Yae Sakura likely harbored a pathological psyche; it was simply that she rarely let it show.

Setting that aside, during the 500 years that Yae Sakura and the Herrscher of Corruption were sealed, the Herrscher of Corruption, in its attempt to seize Yae Sakura's body, had repeatedly forced her to relive the history of her sister's sacrifice within the Stigmata Space, hoping to erode Yae Sakura's heart through the cycle.

Although Yae Sakura had held on, it was impossible for her mind to remain completely unaffected. Enduring five hundred years of agony would leave a mark on even a saint.

It was just a slow, incremental influence that usually went unnoticed.

Later, when Theresa accidentally entered the Stigmata Space and experienced the sacrifice where Yae Rin was replaced by Theresa, Yae Sakura, who saw Theresa as Kallen, finally began to break.

After countless cycles of collapse, although she was saved by Theresa, the trauma to her soul was not so easily healed.

Therefore, it was perfectly normal for Yae Sakura to possess a pathologically twisted psyche.

Having endured so many desperate cycles, the fact that Yae Sakura could still appear so gentle was not something that could be fixed by a few words from Theresa. She had simply hidden the pathology deep within her heart, where it usually didn't show.

Furthermore... the Herrscher of Corruption had appeared in a chibi form, fished out of a wine barrel by Yae Sakura and named "Higokumaru."

In the Tenshukaku within the Stigmata Space, she let go of her hatred. Higokumaru voluntarily gave up resistance, and the Herrscher core, following the previous generation's programming set by Dr. MEI in the box, transformed into the Divine Key [Jizo Mitama]. This was only the fourth cycle; there were other timelines that developed in different directions.

Thinking about it, Higokumaru really had committed too many unforgivable crimes against Yae Sakura...

Although Higokumaru herself was pitiful, having suffered much before becoming a Herrscher and even being killed by someone, that was no reason to fully forgive her sins against Yae Sakura.

However... she had confessed to Yae Sakura and decided to follow her forever, intending to spend her life making amends, so there was nothing left to say.

Her current pathological state must be due to the nature of Yae Sakura's body.

Yes... that must be it.

"Big Sister, are you alright!"

Just then, Higokumaru finally arrived late at Yae Sakura's side.

"I'm fine. Go and dispose of these bandits' corpses, and then... don't tell Kikyo about this."

Looking at Higokumaru beside her, Yae Sakura pointed to the bandit corpses in front of them. There was no need for Kikyo to know about these things.

"Yes, Big Sister."

Hearing this, Higokumaru spat out a mouthful of Fox Fire, quickly cremating the bodies.

"Go outside the village! There is a shrine maiden there dressed just like me; she will protect you. And don't say anything more about what happened here. I think you understand." Yae Sakura glanced at the little girl and pointed toward the outskirts of the village.

She had no intention of taking her along.

After parting ways with the little girl, Yae Sakura continued into the village with Higokumaru. Inside, the villagers' corpses lay on the ground, blood staining the earth.

The screams of the villagers and the excited shouts of the bandits rang out incessantly. In this era, the hearts of most bandits were twisted.

But...

"What am I craving?"

It was... slaughter!

Using a gun to kill couldn't vent this excitement; only a blade could, the pleasure of seeing blood with every strike.

She couldn't use the Spirit Blade to kill; too much slaughter... might turn it into a cursed blade.

She already had a cursed blade in the hands of Flame Sakitama; she didn't need a second one. The Spirit Blade's anti-divine properties were very useful.

Therefore... she sheathed the Spirit Blade and drew the katana Void from her waist...