Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

"Boom—" A thunderous explosion drowned out the rest of his sentence. Theresa, her body wreathed in flames, walked in through the hole in the wall, but she could not find any trace of Keng Huo.

At this moment, Theresa appeared to have undergone a huge change. The biggest change was not that her hair had slowly turned pink, nor that she had those unidentified animal ears on her head that were already beyond words.

Instead, she actually put on clothes!

This doesn't mean Theresa wasn't wearing any clothes before; she was wearing pajamas. But now, she's covered in a red and white Japanese-style outfit similar to a shrine maiden's attire.

With the appearance of this garment, Theresa's control over flames became increasingly precise and skillful. Theresa, who could only make flames adhere to her body before, was now able to make the flames leave her body at will and attach to objects she threw, and even use the flames to create a large explosion of unknown principle.

"Kill him... I must... hurry up..." The Honkai Will that was controlling Theresa's body was actually more anxious than Keng Huo. When she woke up, she discovered that the body she was in actually had the genes of an ancient Honkai Beast. This was perfect for her, as it not only made it easier for her to exert her power, but also saved her the time and effort of modifying the body.

Moreover, this body itself possessed excellent physical qualities, making her even more reluctant to part with it. Originally, she intended to kill Keng Huo and leave quickly, but Keng Huo's strength exceeded her expectations. In her current weakened state, killing Keng Huo would require considerable effort, and who knows how many unexpected events might occur during the wasted time. Therefore, after discovering how troublesome Keng Huo was, her broken will preferred to escape quickly and find a place to resolve the scattered fragments of will within her body, fully control this body, and then make a comeback.

But Keng Huo insisted on not letting her do that.

Every time she was about to escape successfully, her opponent would always find an opportunity to pull her back or launch a surprise attack.

Although the opponent's attacks were actually insignificant to her powerful body, Keng Huo's strange abilities made her somewhat wary. Although his attacks were strong, they were still within the realm of humanity. However, when her broken will tried to withstand Keng Huo's attacks and escape the medical center, the powerful aura that Keng Huo suddenly unleashed forced her to focus on dealing with him.

And as it turned out, her caution was indeed useful. Keng Huo's sneak attack was fast and fierce. The impact of that punch was incomparable to the attacks that had hit her in the previous battle. If the previous attacks were like small fists hitting her chest, Keng Huo's sneak attack was like a battering ram, which could completely threaten her when her strength had not yet recovered!

Looking at the empty lounge in front of her, her broken will was almost driven mad with anger. She stirred up all the flames in her body and swept them towards the small lounge in a venting manner.

But Keng Huo seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Ninja Art... Thousand Feathers Dance!" Suddenly, a powerful shout came from behind her. Theresa hurriedly ignited a large amount of flames to block the source of the voice and try to block the attack.

But this is useless.

Because Keng Huo didn't launch any attack at all, it seemed that the powerful roar just now was just background noise.

Realizing she had been tricked, the broken will trembled with rage. She grabbed her hair and screamed in frustration. With her screams, the flames swirling around her seemed to come alive, transforming into whip-like shadows that flew out the door, wildly striking everything around them.

After shouting, Keng Huo didn't linger at all and ran down the stairs in a flash.

"It was still too much to push myself..." Keng Huo clutched his waist. "Although the surface injuries have healed, the internal injuries remain... It's impossible for them to fully recover in such a short time..."

Keng Huo's physical condition was already very bad after the battle with the pseudo-Herrscher who manipulated plants. Although he was fortunate enough to have some injuries repaired by Honkai energy, he was definitely not strong enough to contend with the will of a Honkai controlling the body of an S-class Valkyrie.

"It hasn't been that long, and she's gone from only being able to use a portion of her physical strength to possessing extraordinary abilities..." Keng Huo hesitated, "If this drags on any longer, she might surpass the strength of an S-rank Valkyrie... That's definitely not something I can handle..."

Although Keng Huo was confident, he was by no means arrogant. He was always very clear about his own understanding and position. Because of his physical condition, he was actually only at the level of an elite B-rank Valkyrie. He didn't even need to wait for Theresa, who was being manipulated, to recover to the level of an S-rank Valkyrie. As long as her strength reached the level of an A-rank Valkyrie, he, who was hampered by his injuries and lacked equipment, would have no chance to fight her head-on.

To be precise, Keng Huo is now unable to confront her head-on. At this moment, the only abilities he can use are related to fist techniques, which are countered by Theresa, whose entire body is engulfed in flames, making it impossible for him to get close.

"Even with weapons, it would be difficult to fight back. Her range far exceeds close combat. Perhaps after this battle, it's time to prioritize long-range combat..." Keng Huo thought of his poor archery skills and felt a headache coming on. "I think I'll try using a gun instead..."

The flames seemed to have discovered Keng Huo's whereabouts, and swarmed towards him like venomous snakes, rushing to bite him. Keng Huo had no way to deal with this and could only run away.

“Unable to get close…if this drags on, it’ll get even more troublesome…in that case, we’ll have no choice but to…” A defiant glint flashed in Keng Huo’s eyes, “At worst, we’ll risk eighth-degree burns and fight her…”

————————————————————————————————————

“But that’s not the point of contention.” Bronya shook her head. “Her strangeness… is too numerous to count.”

"First of all, although this is a space of consciousness, everything here must be based on a reasonable explanation. That is to say, everything that happens here must be 'reasonable'. Otherwise, this 'dream' will be perceived by the 'dreamer' and then 'wake up'. In other words, this space of consciousness will collapse, and everyone's consciousness will be kicked out of here."

“But from the very beginning…” Bronya slowly closed her eyes, seemingly recalling the entire incident, “when she met us by the river, her first words were…”

"What brings you all to our Yae Village? But please wait a moment, she's quite badly injured. Could you please find some herbs to stabilize her condition?" Yae Sakura looked at Mei and the other two, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, with a worried expression and pleading eyes.

“When a normal person sees three people suddenly appear, and all three of them show concern for the injured nun, and one of them even has the same white hair as the nun, wouldn’t they usually assume that the three of us know the nun? But what she said sounded like…” Bronya tapped her teacup lightly, “as if she was convinced that we had absolutely no connection with the nun.”

“What happened next was even stranger. Do you remember her behavior? Two of the three of us weren’t of Asian descent, yet she showed no surprise or suspicion whatsoever…” Bronya’s face was tense, as if these questions were as difficult as Goldbach’s Conjecture. “When we entered the village… the villagers didn’t react at all when they saw us… or rather… they completely ignored us… and most importantly, when I asked one of the villagers why she had strange ears, that villager’s reaction was very strange…”

"Is something wrong with Lady Yae Sakura? What's wrong with her animal ears? Is she acting strangely?" The villager's tone was very confused, as if he were asking why the sun rises from the east.

Bronya seemed to grasp a fleeting inspiration, but she couldn't quite pinpoint what lay behind it: "The villager's appearance... do you remember what the villager looked like?"

Kiana and Mei looked at each other in bewilderment. They had seen many villagers on their way to the shrine, but now, upon closer reflection, they couldn't remember a single one's appearance, or even their age or height. It was as if they had been erased from their memories.

"Then why do we remember Kallen and Yae Sakura's appearances so clearly?" Bronya asked another question. "My intuition tells me that the truth behind this... is probably closely related to this Will Space. If we can solve this mystery, perhaps we can analyze the operating rules of this Will Space to some extent..."

Chapter Ninety-Five: The Priestess's Hidden Motives

Theresa was awakened by a chilling sensation. She opened her eyes abruptly and saw a face approaching her. She instinctively screamed and shoved the person away.

Caught off guard, Yae Sakura stumbled from the push and hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand to prevent the medicine from spilling. However, unexpectedly, the push caused her to accidentally swallow the bitter medicine.

Seeing Yae Sakura coughing incessantly, Theresa blushed, nervously hugged her arms, and hurriedly backed away, saying, "What are you doing! Don't come any closer!"

Yae Sakura coughed, trying to spit out the medicine in her mouth, but it was too late. She could only glare at Theresa with a slightly reproachful look, but that fierce look softened in the next instant.

“Kallen…” A moment of blankness flashed across Yae Sakura’s eyes. Memories that were not originally in her mind suddenly surged up, but there were no more images. She just instinctively felt that she had seen this scene somewhere before, but she had no clear memory of it.

Yae Sakura felt a headache coming on. She covered her forehead and muttered to herself in confusion, "What's wrong..."

"Stop struggling, Kallen is dead! There is no hope left in your world, Yae Sakura!" A voice suddenly appeared in Yae Sakura's heart, echoing in her ears, but unexpectedly, Yae Sakura seemed not to hear the voice and did not react at all.

But the voice, like a psychological suggestion, quietly erased Yae Sakura's confusion and the fleeting memory of Kallen.

"Don't misunderstand, I just saw you were unconscious and wanted to give you your medicine," Yae Sakura gently shook her head, banishing the phantom in her mind. "You can't take medicine when you're unconscious..."

"I...I...I know...I'll drink it myself..." Theresa's voice grew softer and softer, until it was barely audible, "When I suddenly woke up and saw someone trying to...of course I would push them away..."

Yae Sakura gently stood up and walked to the door: "I'll make you another bowl of soup. Your injuries haven't healed yet, so rest here. There's food prepared for you... By the way, my name is Yae Sakura, and I'm a shrine maiden from Yae Village. What's your name?"

Yae Sakura turned her head, tilting it slightly. The spring breeze blew warmly, and the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, fluttering around her like butterflies, playfully tugging at her delicate skirt.

“Me? My name is… Theresa…”

……

Theresa cautiously peeked out from the doorway, looking around: "Why hasn't he come back yet... Although that person seemed like a good person, this place always makes me feel uneasy..."

Seeing that no one was around, Theresa quietly stepped out of the room, closed the door gently, and began to explore the shrine.

"It tastes amazing!" Theresa took a huge bite of the rice ball, which was almost as big as her head. "But speaking of which, where am I?"

“I remember I was…” Theresa’s expression suddenly froze. “Where…where?”

“I am… Theresa… the Valkyrie of Schicksal… but… where is Schicksal? And where… where was I before?”

Theresa stood there, stunned, as if she had lost her soul.

“I can’t muster any strength in my hands and feet, I feel like I’ve experienced this before…” Theresa’s eyes widened in confusion as she gently touched her lips with her fingers. “That witch… the feel of her lips…”

Suddenly, a scene seemed to appear before her eyes, in which the witch held her hand and kissed her.

"Huh?" Theresa was incredibly surprised, instinctively feeling that the scene was not in the same place as what had just happened. But this surprise only lasted for a brief moment. Almost as soon as she remembered the scene, an unseen hand erased that part of her memory.

"What... was I thinking just now?" Theresa looked at the half-eaten rice ball in her hand with some confusion. "Never mind, I should go find Yae Sakura first... She should know something..."

Theresa walked through the corridor of the side room and arrived at the square in front of the shrine. It was deserted; there wasn't a soul in sight, let alone Yae Sakura.

“The view here is so beautiful…” Theresa looked at the view below the torii gate with some surprise, only to find that the shrine was actually built on a mountain, with long steps winding down and torii gates standing on both sides of the steps.

In the far distance lies a tranquil village nestled amidst lush forests and verdant mountains. From afar, one can even see wisps of smoke rising from chimneys, billowing like clouds. Fields of all sizes stretch out in neat rows, and a shimmering stream meanders through them, creating a scene of poetic beauty.

Theresa's ears twitched, and she keenly detected a very faint argument. Perhaps because she was too far away, Theresa almost didn't hear it. She followed the sound and came to the front of the main hall of the shrine. Through the wooden door, she could clearly hear the argument inside the main hall.

"...But before that witch appeared, no monsters had ever appeared in the village!"

"She brought this disaster!"

"My husband... was killed by a demon! That white-haired demoness must pay the price!"

The shouts, rising and falling, were filled with anger. These unfamiliar voices carried a fear masked by intense rage. The urgent, forceful cries pressed closer and closer to the witch sitting at the door, as if to tear her apart.

"...There is currently no evidence to prove that the girl is connected with the recently appeared monsters..." Yae Sakura lowered her head, closed her eyes tightly, and argued weakly.

"What more evidence do we need!"

"What are you thinking? Protecting the village is the shrine maiden's duty!"

"Have you forgotten how everyone in the village died?! You derelict priestess should be handed over to the gods for judgment!"

"Please give me some time," Yae Sakura didn't offer any further explanation, but silently endured the scolding and harassment. She bowed deeply, pressing her forehead against the tatami mat, and performed a solemn salute. "I will investigate everything thoroughly..."

In an instant, a torrent of curses and insults surged forth. Yae Sakura pressed her forehead to the ground, remaining silent, as if the scolding had nothing to do with her.

"My Lady." Finally, with the sound of a deep baritone voice, the sounds in the main hall seemed to have been turned off abruptly. The contrast before and after was so great that Theresa even wondered if there was something wrong with her ears. Unable to resist her curiosity, she secretly peeked into the hall through the crack in the door.

What came into view was Yae Sakura sitting in front of the door with her back to it, people sitting in two rows on either side of Yae Sakura, and a middle-aged man sitting at the innermost part of the main hall, facing the door. He was wearing a dark haori, which seemed to indicate his different status.

The middle-aged man's expression was indifferent, and his words were serious and weighty, giving one the feeling of being oppressed by a heavy mountain: "Even if that little girl has nothing to do with the monster, don't forget..."

"The day of the sacrifice is approaching."

Kneeling on the ground, Yae Sakura gasped for breath, her heart skipped a beat, and her hands clenched unconsciously, her long nails scratching a white mark on the tatami. Her face turned deathly pale instantly. She raised her head and met the gaze of the middle-aged man opposite her, her eyes filled with terror: "Father... Lord God?"

“It hasn’t rained in the village for three months. The Shiomi River is almost dry, and we can’t draw water from the wells. Our rice is almost dead. If this harvest fails or there is no harvest at all… our village’s food reserves will not be enough to last until the next harvest.” The middle-aged man stared at Yae Sakura with cold eyes. “As an excellent shrine maiden, I think you should know what choice you should make now.”

"Her appearance at this crucial moment... isn't this the last chance the gods have given us? If we don't sacrifice this outsider in the ritual, then we must offer up the village's virgin girl..."

"My lady, do you really want our village to be destroyed by famine and monster attacks...?"

"...Would Rin's sacrifice have been in vain?"

The words of the deity were like a sharp blade, piercing deep into Yae Sakura's mind and digging up memories she didn't want to recall, memories that had almost destroyed her entire world.

"Sister...you must become an excellent shrine maiden who can protect everyone!"

"No..." Yae Sakura's body trembled as a terrifying flood of dark memories overwhelmed her. Deep fear and regret filled her eyes. "Please... I..."

"This is your duty as a priestess..."

"We must offer sacrifices to the gods..."

"The demands of the gods are absolute..."

"As a priestess, one cannot have any selfish thoughts..."

"Do what you're supposed to do...make the choices you should make..."

The crowd in the main hall remained silent, but the devil's whispers echoed in her mind, amplified many times over, almost filling all her thoughts. A hoarse, mournful cry of incomprehensible meaning escaped Yae Sakura's throat. She could hardly think, unable to break free from those clinging, maggot-like voices.

"Stop it, all of you! A bunch of you ganging up on a girl...aren't you ashamed?!" Suddenly, the main hall door was flung open, and sunlight streamed in, making the figure of the girl who walked into the main hall with a radiant glow seem like a deity.

"You keep talking about gods and gods, are you cavemen?!" Theresa stood in front of Yae Sakura, pointing menacingly at the god seated in the main seat. "Do you really enjoy handing your fate over to others? Do you really enjoy letting some god decide your life and death? That's not a god! That's just robbers!"