In the azure sky, a fissure suddenly tore open. A sphere composed entirely of iron chains plummeted from the heavens, smashing directly into the mountain forest below.
The chain-sphere carved a massive crater into the earth upon impact. After a moment, the chains slowly retracted, revealing the three figures inside.
"We landed on both feet~" Kallen retracted all the chains back into Starry Judah, then looked around. "Looks like we made a forced landing."
"Given the situation just now, a normal landing was impossible." Irene rubbed her head. Despite the violent fall that had blasted such a large pit in the ground, they were unharmed.
Kallen was the most relaxed of them all; after all, she had Starry Judah right beside her. With Judah's intelligence, it certainly wouldn't let Kallen suffer any mishaps in such a situation. The chains that had wrapped around Kallen earlier had bound her securely.
The Cat hadn't suffered any injuries either. After all, the Cat was the Cat; a 360-degree mid-air turn followed by a smooth landing was basic of the basics for her.
Irene's martial arts had also achieved decent results through training in the space of consciousness. Coupled with the Cat's assistance, she hadn't taken any damage from the crash landing either.
"This place..." Kallen looked around. The fact that they could appear here meant this should also be a space of consciousness similar to the Palace of Consciousness.
So they likely hadn't gone to the wrong place. This was indeed the Stigmata Space. Only... why would there be a mountain forest in a Stigmata Space?
Looking at the lush, verdant woods surrounding them, Kallen scratched her head in confusion. She had been fully prepared to start fighting the moment they touched down, intending to save Yae Sakura as quickly as possible.
But the surrounding environment didn't look like a runaway state at all, nor did it look like it had been eroded by the Herrscher of Corruption.
"This should be the mountain forest near Yae Village." Irene wasn't surprised by the scenery. Whether in the Sakura Samsara storyline or the manga, such a space always existed here.
The so-called Stigmata Space was never a simple spatial construct. Hmm, how to put it? It was like a Reality Marble from Type-Moon. It could be said to be a space formed by reflecting the holder's Heart Aspect.
Of course, if it were a Stigmata passed down through a family—like the Kaslana Stigmata Space—the composition inside would be much more complex.
But for Yae Sakura, what best represented her Heart Aspect was this land of Yae Village. It was the place she was most familiar with and missed the most. This village raised her, nurtured her, and was where she grew up with her younger sister.
It held laughter, sorrow, and longing, even though it was the village she eventually destroyed.
"But where did Theresa fall?" Kallen looked around, worried about Theresa. She wouldn't believe it if anyone claimed Theresa wasn't from the Kaslana Family, given her appearance.
Although her profile stated she was Theresa Apocalypse, the three major families intermarried frequently back then. Kallen herself had an engagement with Otto, though there had been a "slight" accident in the middle.
So, Kallen didn't question why Theresa was named Apocalypse instead of Kaslana. Of course, this was also because Irene hadn't yet told her what Theresa's situation actually was.
Considering the circumstances of the A-series clones, given Kallen's personality, she probably wouldn't know how to face Theresa—and Otto would probably get beaten even harder.
"If we crashed down, then Theresa's situation probably isn't much better. Falling from such a height... will Theresa be okay?"
Unlike Kallen, who entered as a consciousness entity equipped with Starry Judah, Theresa had entered completely unequipped. Could she handle this situation?
"Don't worry too much about that," Irene said, observing their surroundings. "Theresa is an S-Rank Valkyrie, after all. Although her combat power will drop without Oath of Judah, she isn't so weak that she can't handle a high-altitude fall."
One had to remember, the very thing that got Irene into Honkai Impact 3rd was the CG of Kiana leaping from high altitude, piercing through the clouds, and crashing straight onto the Moonlight Throne!
Although Valkyrie armor provided some assistance, it showed that Theresa's physical constitution wouldn't be harmed by a mere fall from this height.
Moreover, Theresa was different from them. They had practically forced their way in, whereas Theresa was technically the current holder of this Stigmata. She shouldn't suffer such harsh treatment upon entry.
Though, naturally, Theresa's situation couldn't be described as good either. As the current holder of the Stigmata, the Herrscher of Corruption had certainly marked Theresa as the primary target.
She just didn't know what the Herrscher of Corruption was doing to Theresa right now.
After explaining the current situation to Pardofelis and Kallen, Irene looked around. Finally, she cast her gaze toward Kallen. Kallen was the only one who might be familiar with the environment.
"The urgent task now is to find Yae Village. Kallen, do you know the way?"
"Don't look at me like that. How am I supposed to know the way in this situation?" Under Irene's gaze, a look of embarrassment appeared on Kallen's face. She had been to Yae Village, sure, but at most, she only knew the general layout of the village itself.
Recognizing paths within the mountain forest based on that? Kallen wasn't that skilled.
"Alright then. The only one who knows the place doesn't recognize the road." Irene looked at the Cat. Since Kallen was unreliable, they could only rely on the Cat's luck.
"No problem." Pardofelis nodded immediately, then scanned the surroundings. After pondering for a moment, she pointed casually in a direction. "I feel it's this way."
"Mn, let's go." Irene nodded without a shred of doubt and followed Pardo. After all, with Pardo's luck, leading them to Yae Village wouldn't be difficult if she willed it.
If Irene remembered correctly, Pardo's file mentioned that when she went on reconnaissance, she could sneak into heavily guarded bases and steal their target without anyone noticing, bringing it out effortlessly.
If we apply that here, leading them to the village should be a piece of cake. Irene even suspected the Cat might accidentally lead them straight to the final boss.
Just as Irene was thinking this, the forest ahead suddenly thinned out. At the foot of the mountain, a small village nestled among the peaks came into view.
At this moment, smoke was curling up from the village's chimneys. It seemed to be lunchtime, presenting a scene of perfect peace.
"This should be it." Irene looked at the village at the foot of the mountain, then turned to Kallen. Although there shouldn't be any other villages in the Stigmata Space, it was better to confirm.
"That's right, this is the place." Kallen nodded. Her gaze didn't linger on the village; instead, she looked up and pointed toward the opposite side.
"Do you see the other side? That is the shrine. If I'm not guessing wrong... Sakura should be there right now."
"Sister Sakura?" Since people of the Previous Era didn't have surnames, Pardo still wasn't used to it. Between the abbreviations of names and Pardo's focus being entirely on Rin and Sakura, she didn't react immediately.
"No, the 'Yae Sakura' Kallen is calling is a different person from the 'Sakura' you know," Irene shook her head, explaining to Pardo. "Though they do look exactly the same."
"Perhaps this is some kind of fate. In the end, we need Sakura's help to resolve the Herrscher of Corruption."
"Eh?"
—————— Yae Shrine ——————
In the courtyard, Theresa, dressed in a petite miko outfit, held a rice ball the size of a human head in one hand, taking bite after bite. But even as she ate, Theresa was thinking.
"Where exactly did Irene go?"
It wasn't that Theresa wanted to be this leisurely, but in her current situation, she had no choice. It felt as if this space was targeting her, or perhaps there was another reason.
Leaving aside Oath of Judah, her physical constitution as an S-Rank Valkyrie hadn't been brought in at all. She couldn't do anything. She hadn't even been able to defeat a seemingly ancient Honkai Beast where she woke up.
Later, she was saved by that Yae Sakura again and even brought back to be cared for. The nun's habit she originally wore had been forcibly changed into these miko robes at that time.
Theresa finished the rice ball in her hand, then clenched her fist, testing her current strength. Her physical condition was simply terrible; it felt about the same as Irene's current state.
She didn't know where things had gone wrong. Logically speaking, the Memorial Arena should have completely replicated her power from the records.
Could this be the special nature of the Stigmata Space? Or was it because her method of entry was problematic? If she had known, she wouldn't have had itchy hands—no, itchy feet.
Theresa devoured the rice ball in two or three bites, then continued to wander aimlessly around the shrine's backyard, a look of contemplation on her face.
With her current physical stats, she couldn't do anything at all. For now, she could only go with the flow and see what was up with that Yae Sakura.
After all, she hadn't seen the so-called runaway situation yet. If it had truly run away, it shouldn't be this peaceful, right?
But Theresa didn't think Irene was lying to her, because that blood-colored cherry tree in the Memorial Arena gave off a very ominous feeling no matter how one looked at it.
And there was no need for Irene to lie to her. It couldn't be that Irene plotted to scare her in her room just because Theresa happened to have a dream today.
So, something must have changed in the Stigmata, and she just hadn't discovered it yet. Was it not time for the change to occur, or had something already happened that she simply hadn't noticed?
Deep in thought, Theresa slapped her own face. No, she was Principal Theresa! How could she just stay here waiting for Irene to save her without doing anything herself?
At the very least, she had to figure out the general cause of the runaway so that Irene could handle the problem better. Theresa sat in the courtyard, pondering the possible reasons.
According to what Irene revealed earlier, what existed within the Stigmata Space was a memory. And it was precisely this memory, or consciousness, that formed the Stigmata Space.
In other words, was it Yae Sakura's memory? If so, what kind of memory would cause a person to go berserk?
Just as Theresa was deep in thought, a cherry blossom petal suddenly drifted past her face. Theresa looked up at the towering cherry tree in front of her.
"It seems..." Theresa looked at the tall cherry tree. It didn't seem any different from the one that appeared in the Memorial Arena.
However, if the blood cherry tree in the Memorial Arena was wrapped in an ominous aura, then what she felt from this pink cherry tree before her was purity and... nostalgia?
While Theresa was puzzled, she noticed a tombstone next to the cherry tree. Had she unknowingly wandered into a graveyard?
As someone who was considered half a nun—she wore the habit, after all—Theresa knew that trespassing on someone else's grave was bad manners.
Just as Theresa was about to leave, a faint voice drifted into her ears.
Theresa turned to look. Above the tombstone, a phantom suddenly floated up—a pink-haired girl wearing a pale pink miko outfit.
Theresa looked at the other party, specifically the almost transparent hem of her dress, and revealed a guarded expression. "Is this... a ghost?"
Theresa's gaze shifted downward to the tombstone from which the figure had emerged. A name was carved on it: Yae Rin.
While Theresa was distracted, Yae Rin gazed at her, a pleading look in her eyes. "Please, save my sister from the curse of memory."
"Your sister?" Theresa immediately shifted her gaze back to Yae Rin. After pondering the name, Theresa asked tentatively, "Is your sister Yae Sakura?"
Yae Rin nodded. "Please. Only you, who do not belong to this world, and that silver-haired knight can end all of this. So, please."
"Silver-haired knight?" Theresa tilted her head first, then asked, "Are you talking about Irene?"
"No, that silver-white knight is named Kallen." Yae Rin's body gradually became more ethereal and illusory. "Please, there isn't much time left. Save Elder Sister, save her."
Watching the phantom disappear into the tombstone, Theresa fell into silence. She had seen similar developments in Homu comics. Looking at it this way...
Was this Yae Rin actually Yae Sakura's heart knot? Was it a knot caused by a relative dying, or perhaps dying inside here? If that was the case, was that the root cause of Yae Sakura's runaway?
Having thought this through, Theresa decided to go find Yae Sakura immediately to check the situation. If she remembered correctly, Yae Sakura seemed to have been called away by someone just now and should be in the shrine.
As long as she could resolve the heart knot, the Stigmata's runaway state should end.
"Heheh, I didn't expect it to be this simple." Believing she had obtained the key clue so quickly, Theresa immediately tiptoed toward the shrine.
"Looking at it this way, I don't need Irene's help at all. I can solve this myself~"
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