Chapter 134: My Wife
The man who was the very image of Yae Sakura's father, a phantom manifested by Higokumaru, was kneeling piously before the stone effigy of Jizo Mitama.
"Divine Master, please grant us your blessing," Yae Sakura said earnestly, stepping forward and offering a slight bow.
But in the next instant, a firm hand caught her arm and pulled her back. Rovel stepped in front of her, shielding her.
Yae Sakura looked up at him, her expression a mask of confusion. Rovel's gaze, however, was fixed, hard as steel, on the unmoving statue.
"A blessing?" The phantom of her father rose unsteadily to his feet, a low, grating chuckle escaping his lips. "Hehehe… Lady Miko, you are truly as naive as you've always been."
"Alright," Rovel said, his voice calm and cutting through the tense air. "This little play should be about over."
"The end?" The man turned, his face twisting into a terrifying, unnatural smile. "Oh no… this is only the beginning."
He spread his arms wide, a grand, mocking gesture. "Before you two ascended, the people of Yae Village had already brought out all their ritual vessels. They are gathered around the base of the Tenshukaku even now, waiting for the blessing from their 'God'."
His smile widened, becoming a grotesque leer. "And until this 'Sacrifice' is completed, no one can leave this place."
Rovel's eyes narrowed as he stared at the phantom. Even with only a tenth of his power remaining, it was more than enough to escape with Yae Sakura. Or so he thought.
'Rovel, a restriction of rules has been placed around the Tenshukaku,' Klein's voice echoed urgently in his mind. 'He's right; no one can leave until the 'Sacrifice' is finished.'
'Is there any way to break it?' Rovel asked mentally.
'I am attempting to parse the illusion and force open a path for you,' Klein replied, her tone strained with effort. After that, she fell silent, focusing all her processing power on the task.
A wave of oppressive heat washed over them. The air around the Tenshukaku was abnormally dry, feeling as though they were being slowly roasted over a furnace. The stifling atmosphere severely limited Rovel's Authority to manipulate water.
"Young man," the phantom sneered, "the Tenshukaku is a place watched by God. Your sorcery cannot take effect here."
As he spoke, a complex formation etched in glowing purple light blazed to life on the ground. From its incandescent center, a massive, hulking figure began to materialize. An Oni Warrior, twice the height of a man and bristling with demonic power, solidified in the space before them.
"The Sacrifice has begun!" the phantom shrieked with glee. "Only the blood of a Blasphemer can stop the Oni God! Lady Miko, do enjoy your 'wedding' with the Blasphemer!"
With a final, booming laugh that echoed off the stone, he vanished.
"Why… why is this happening…?" Yae Sakura stared at the monstrous Oni Warrior, her eyes filled with a dawning horror and confusion.
"Don't worry. I'm here." Rovel gently squeezed her hand. The simple, firm pressure was a small anchor, slightly dispelling the chilling gloom that was creeping into her heart.
Facing the colossal demon, the two exchanged a single, determined look. They nodded in unison and then charged.
But this Oni Warrior, empowered by the very fabric of the illusion, was just like the modified Honkai Beast from the data space. It could not be felled by normal means. Last time, Rovel had barely managed to triumph by borrowing the power of the Jizo Mitama. But what about this time?
The Oni Warrior brandished its twin blades and let out a sky-shaking roar. The sound was a physical force, a concussive wave that slammed into them and forced them back.
The devastating cry also stirred the villagers gathered below, their murmurs of anticipation turning to cries of unease as they wondered what was happening atop the Tenshukaku.
"That Blasphemer has angered 'God'!" the phantom's voice, now belonging to Yae Sakura's father once more, boomed from below. "The Oni God has descended! Only the Blasphemer's blood can appease its wrath!"
As his declaration reached its peak, the top floor of the Tenshukaku suddenly splintered and collapsed. With a crash of timber and tile, the massive Oni Warrior was revealed to everyone below.
It leaped from the ruined platform, its entire body radiating an ominous black aura as it plummeted toward the ground.
The Oni Warrior raised its hands high, swinging its twin blades not at Rovel or Sakura, but toward the terrified crowd of Yae Village's people.
Blood sprayed across the sacred ground of the Tenshukaku. Wails and cries for help erupted, turning the once-pious gathering into a scene of utter chaos. Some tried to flee, only to slam into an invisible wall that blocked their path, trapping them in the slaughter yard.
"Run! Quickly!"
Yae Sakura surged forward, her katana, Sakura Blossom, flashing out to intercept the Oni Warrior's devastating slash. The impact sent a violent tremor up her arms, a proof of the creature's terrifying strength, but she held her ground.
Her heroic action, however, did not earn the gratitude or sympathy of the villagers.
Instead, it brought only accusations.
"Why has an Oni God descended?! It must be because Lady Miko's marriage to that Blasphemer has angered 'God'!" a man screamed, pointing a trembling, accusatory finger.
"Aren't you the Miko of Yae Village? Isn't it your duty to protect us?!" another shrieked.
"Only by killing the Blasphemer can God's wrath be appeased! Kill the Blasphemer!"
Hearing their cold, venomous words, a sharp pain lanced through Yae Sakura's heart. She gritted her teeth, her entire focus dedicated to parrying the Oni Warrior's relentless attacks, blow after crushing blow.
But it was too late. The surrounding villagers, their faces contorted with fear and rage, had already picked up farming tools and ceremonial weapons. They weren't charging the monster. They were rushing toward Rovel.
"No!" Yae Sakura's eyes widened in horror.
The Oni Warrior seized the moment of her distraction. It instantly broke away from her, its body blurring into a whirlwind of steel and death. It tore through the crowd of villagers like a meat grinder on a battlefield.
Before the terrifying power of the Jizo Mitama's incarnation, these ordinary people were like lambs to the slaughter, completely unable to resist.
"No… please, no…" Yae Sakura watched, paralyzed, as the corpses of her people piled up around her. The sight was a blade twisting in her soul, stinging her with an agony she couldn't process.
Her dormant memories began to stir, dredged up from the deepest, darkest corners of her mind. Her eyes slowly lost their focus, becoming hollow and vacant.
It turned out that the one who killed the villagers of Yae Village wasn't the Oni Warrior at all.
It was… her.
The so-called Oni Warrior, this demonic form, was the physical incarnation of hatred and slaughter.
And this hatred… it didn't just come from Higokumaru. The greater part of it came from Yae Sakura herself.
She was an executioner. Five hundred years ago, she had slaughtered every last villager.
She could never forgive herself. Even though she had hated them for what they did to her sister, her kind nature still forced her to shoulder all the blame.
Finally, after the last villager was split in two by the Oni Warrior's blade, only three people remained standing amidst the carnage.
The Oni Warrior finally stopped its rampage.
"Do you see, Yae Sakura?" Higokumaru's voice, dripping with malice, came from the phantom of her father. "This is the consequence of defying God."
"All the villagers of Yae Village died because of you!" he twisted the knife.
Yae Sakura looked down at her hands. At some point, they had become covered in blood. Fear and despair, cold and absolute, began to grow uncontrollably in her heart, threatening to swallow her whole.
Rovel walked up to her, his steps steady in the field of death. He gently cupped her face, forcing her to look at him, to meet his gaze in her own eyes, which had gone lifeless with pain.
"Sakura, this isn't your fault," Rovel comforted her, his voice a soft anchor in the storm of her despair.
"No… it was me… I killed them…" Yae Sakura clutched her head, her knuckles white, as fragmented memories from five hundred years ago flashed before her eyes. The final sacrifice of Yae Village… it was she who had killed them all, she who had destroyed the village with her own two hands!
"Fine," Rovel said, his tone unwavering. "If you insist on thinking that… then it seems this fault can only be shared by the two of us."
He gave her a small, sad smile.
"After all… you are my wife now."
Rovel's words were like a single, brilliant beam of light piercing the suffocating darkness in Yae Sakura's heart.
She looked up at him, her breath catching in her throat. His smile was still so gentle, so genuine, without a hint of pretense or judgment.
In that dazed, fragile moment, she thought she saw another face superimposed over his. For a fleeting second, she saw Kallen.
And then, she understood. At that moment, Yae Sakura seemed to understand why Rovel had always felt so familiar, so warm.
Because… in his unwavering devotion, in that gentle smile that refused to falter even in the face of her deepest sins, he carried the echo of Kallen's love for her.
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