Yae Sakura, the shrine maiden of Yae Village 500 years ago. After Kallen, who had fled from Schicksal, arrived in Yae Village with a black box, they became close friends.
Subsequently, she was possessed by Ling, the Twelfth Herrscher of the Previous Era, who was sealed within the black box. Infected, she became a Pseudo-Herrscher, and after slaughtering her village, she was sealed by Kallen.
And now, Honkai energy spread across the area where she slumbered, calling out to the Uncataloged Herrscher sealed by Judah.
As if awakening from a dream, Yae Sakura opened her eyes.
The first thing that entered her vision was an unbelievably wide and flat road, followed by a vast, somewhat unbelievably large, jungle of steel and concrete.
Slightly turning her head, she could see a large number of steel behemoths, somewhat resembling carriages but with very peculiar appearances, slumbering.
There was not a soul in sight.
"Where is this place?"
The Pseudo-Herrscher, just revived from her seal, was somewhat bewildered.
She walked dazedly to the side of a steel behemoth, stroking its cold frame, receiving no response. Then she walked forward again, surveying her surroundings.
Everything around her was different from the era she knew.
"It seems we've awakened in a rather interesting era, haven't we?"
A considerably chilling voice sounded beside Yae Sakura's ear. Then, an eerie mist began to diffuse from behind her.
A shadow shimmering with a faint purplish-red light, a black fox with nine tails, gradually shifted from illusory to real.
It surveyed its surroundings, its voice laced with mockery.
"It seems humanity has developed quite well during our slumber."
So, I'm still alive?
The shrine maiden, who had thought she would die, clutched the spirit blade in her hand, recalling the voice from her memories, and remained silent for a long time.
Then, what about Kallen?
"Hey, Sakura, have you thought about what kind of identity we should adopt to live on from now on?"
The fox, existing by relying on the half-finished Jizo Mitama, chattered incessantly to the shrine maiden beside it.
Amidst the black fox's incessant nagging, the persistently silent shrine maiden turned her head, her voice cold.
"Don't use that disgusting term 'we', Higokumaru."
"A monster like you and I have never been on the same path!"
As if hearing an extremely amusing joke, the black fox's face revealed an exceedingly human-like mocking smile.
She flicked her tails, and dense black energy gathered like a cloud in front of the shrine maiden, solidifying, finally transforming into a mirror.
"Take a good look at what you look like now, Sakura."
The shrine maiden glanced at the mirror out of the corner of her eye.
In the mirror was a beauty.
Cherry-blossom pink long hair, blue eyes.
She wore an off-shoulder miko outfit with a black undergarment, a plaid short skirt, white thigh-high stockings, and geta.
Her exposed shoulders were delicate, like fine jade, making one unable to resist the urge to touch and feel their warmth.
A large expanse of fair skin was revealed between the short skirt and the thigh-high stockings, exuding a captivating allure.
Her slender legs were straight, their curves full, making one want to feel their warmth.
Without a doubt, this was an unparalleled beauty.
However, whether this beauty could still be called a "human" was now an unknown.
On her head were extremely vivid ears, resembling those of a rabbit yet also like a red donkey's.
That feature was clearly not something humans should have, or at least, not normal humans.
"Monster?"
The fox, not minding in the slightest being called a monster, slowly opened her mouth, her tone light and carefree.
"You're right, I am a monster."
"But, aren't you also a monster now?"
Her form dispersed like smoke and clouds, then re-formed on the shrine maiden's shoulder, the fox's whiskers brushing against the shrine maiden's bright and captivating cheek, as she whispered.
"Your beloved sister was killed by you, the villagers you hated were killed by you, and Kallen, who loved you, was also brought to ruin by your selfish desires."
"Someone like you, who could do such things, even if your body hadn't transformed, you'd still be a monster unaccepted by the world, wouldn't you?"
The shrine maiden fell silent once more.
She couldn't refute the words of the demon named Higokumaru.
Her fate had been decided at birth—to be the murderous blade for carrying out human sacrifices.
In the seventh year of the Bunshō era, Yae Village suffered a long drought. Rin was chosen by the villagers as a sacrifice to the Fox God, and she killed Rin herself.
In the eleventh year of the Bunshō era, she saw Kallen choose to warm others during a ritual, and the thought of turning Kallen into a puppet solely for herself emerged, then she was possessed by the fox demon.
And then—
She killed all the villagers of Yae Village, and then raised her blade against Kallen.
To personally send to their graves the person she loved, the people she hated, the person who loved her...
She was indeed a monster.
The most suitable place for a monster like me is probably hell.
Yae Sakura thought.
She then glanced at the spirit blade Sakura Blizzard in her hand.
Ending my own life with this blade, which killed Rin, the villagers, and harmed Kallen, seems like a good choice.
"Sakura, are you saying you don't want to live anymore?"
The black fox's tone became affectionate, but if one listened closely, one could discern the glee hidden within that affectionate tone.
"What if I am, what if I'm not."
The woman holding the exorcism blade asked this demon, which had been entangled with her for a lifetime and was now inseparable, with great calmness.
"Since you don't want to live anyway, why not give this body to me."
The black fox's voice carried obvious mockery.
"I'll make good use of your body to live on."
The shrine maiden's eyelids drooped, and she said nothing.
She pressed her fair hand onto the blade, caressing it, an action reminiscent of preparing for a festival in the past, polishing the blade.
"Hey, hey, I spent several days digging you out, and you're just going to kill yourself like this? Is that really okay?"
A clear and bright voice of a young man came from a distance.
With these words, the shrine maiden, who was wiping her blade, looked up. She froze, halting her seemingly suicidal action.
"Human, interrupting someone's important business comes with a price!"
The fox demon, attempting to usurp her body, looked at the young man who had disrupted her plans, and flew into a rage.
Terrifying blackness emanated from her body, transforming into a sharp claw.
Like a black lightning bolt, the claw shot directly towards the young man's neck, the turbid black mist trailing behind its charge, twisted into a shocking spiral.
It tore through the atmosphere, ravaged the land, and the rapidly generated wind pressure howled like vengeful spirits.
An attack from a former Herrscher was undoubtedly extremely dangerous.
But, it's merely dangerous, that's all.
The targeted young man thought, looking at the sudden attack.
After all, on my side, there's a true Herrscher.
As if the very laws of physics were being overturned, an immense gravitational force descended fiercely and without warning.
That was the power of the First Herrscher.
It was a force hundreds, even thousands of times stronger than Earth's gravity; the furiously attacking black claw was pulverized in the storm of gravity without any resistance.
The fox, perched beside the shrine maiden, suddenly let out a wail, then dissipated into a puff of black smoke.
"You are—"
The shrine maiden, who had been ready to draw her blade to save the young man, looked at him standing in the distance, her expression slightly bewildered.
"I merely came to invite Miss Yae to discuss a few matters."
The young man who had deliberately awakened the Pseudo-Herrscher said with a smile.