"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
The moment those words left her lips, everything aligned.
The White void shattered.
Himiko's eyes snapped open on her throne — completely blank white, utterly unconscious.
Her body began to evolve.
The grotesque mass rapidly compressed and refined, shrinking down into an elegant six-foot figure with exactly four limbs. Long, silky black hair spilled down her back with sharp white streaks running through it.
Her face transformed.
The jagged, gaping black maw slowly sealed shut. Cracked porcelain smoothed into refined, aristocratic features — high cheekbones, a sharp jawline, and full lips. Her face was strikingly beautiful, yet unmistakably inhuman. One eye burned a deep, furious crimson. The other glowed a cold, metallic silver-black.
Her body remained pure white porcelain — smooth, flawless, and clearly not human. She wore no clothes; instead, the porcelain itself had shaped into an elegant, form-fitting dress-like structure that clung to her frame, with flowing, jagged edges that looked both regal and dangerous. A high collar framed her neck, and the material shifted like liquid glass with every small movement.
Above her head, the black grudge shards fused into a majestic spinning crown of jagged darkness that rotated slowly like a halo of vengeance.
At the same time, white porcelain exploded outward from beneath her throne, flooding the entire hall and spilling into the courtyard. Jagged black shard pillars violently erupted from the spreading white in chaotic bursts. Every fly-head curse caught in the range flash-froze into porcelain statues mid-motion.
Then, just as suddenly, it all receded. The porcelain melted away. The pillars crumbled. The frozen fly-heads thawed.
The second they could move, they panicked and scattered, desperately squeezing into cracks, under furniture, behind pillars — whimpering in pure terror.
Himiko's eyes finally returned to normal.
She blinked slowly, now fully conscious, gently touching her new face with refined porcelain fingers.
"…What was that place?"
She ran her fingertips along her smooth cheek and sharp jawline, then looked down at her elegant porcelain body and the dress-like structure it had formed.
"I must have evolved again while I was sleeping. That's… incredibly inconvenient."
She sat there for a moment in perfect regal posture, then let out a small, elegant laugh.
"Great. I finally get a proper face and my own curses are now hiding from me like I'm about to eat them. Wonderful first impression."
Her crimson and silver-black eyes flicked toward the dozens of fly-heads still trembling in the corners.
She leaned back on the throne, crossing one leg over the other with effortless grace, and sighed.
"Note to self: never have a breakdown in your own mind. Apparently it upgrades you without asking and traumatizes your staff."
She rested her chin on her hand, crown of black shards spinning lazily above her head, and smiled with sharp, cold intelligence.
"…Still. I do look rather good now, don't I?"
Himiko let out a soft, regal chuckle, the sound echoing through the hall like wind chimes made of glass.
She slowly rose from the throne, moving with flawless grace. The crown of shards above her head spun a little faster.
"Come out," she called, voice smooth and commanding. "All of you. Your queen is waiting."
Not a single fly-head moved. They stayed crammed into corners and cracks, trembling.
Himiko tilted her head, one crimson eyebrow arching.
"…Really? I finally stop weeping like a broken widow and this is the result? The universe really has a cruel sense of humor."
She took one elegant step forward. The fly-heads somehow managed to squeeze themselves even deeper into hiding.
Her silver-black eye narrowed in amusement.
"Pathetic. I spent who knows how long drowning in guilt over Haruto and Ren, and the moment I let go… it turns me into this. As if my pain was the only thing keeping me ugly."
She placed a hand on her hip, voice dripping with regal arrogance.
"I suppose even curses have standards. Very well then."
She turned slowly, hair and crown flowing with her movement, voice dropping into something cold and commanding.
"I am no longer the mindless beast you served. I am Himiko. Your Queen. And queens do not chase their subjects."
She sat back down on the throne with perfect poise, crossing her legs.
"If you wish to serve a proper ruler instead of a screaming porcelain disaster, you will come out. On your own. Like civilized little monsters."
One by one, the fly-heads slowly crawled out of their hiding spots, still shaking, but too terrified of disappointing her to stay hidden.
Himiko smiled, satisfied.
"There we go. Much better. A queen should never have to beg."
She leaned back, eyes gleaming with cold intelligence.
"Now then… where were we?"
Meanwhile, on the ridge…
The four observers had settled back into their usual boredom.
Gojo no Kenji was lazily spinning his telescope between his fingers, half-dozing. The other three were either napping or staring blankly at the estate below. Down in the ruined hall, Himiko sat motionless on her throne, eyes closed, looking like she was peacefully sleeping.
Then her cursed energy suddenly spiked.
Kenji sat up instantly. "Wait… her energy just fluctuated. Hard."
The others tensed. The Kamo scout's eyes widened. "It's climbing fast. That's not normal at all."
A heavy, uneasy feeling settled over all four of them at the same time.
Kenji quickly lifted the telescope to his eye, zooming in. "She's… convulsing. Her body's jerking violently but her eyes are still closed. That monstrous thing is shaking like it's having a seizure."
The Zenin scout leaned forward. "Her form looks even more grotesque than usual. All those jagged extra limbs, that hulking porcelain mass… it's thrashing around on the throne."
For almost a full minute her monstrous body kept convulsing and twisting violently on the throne, like something inside her was trying to tear its way out.
Then it suddenly stopped.
Her eyes snapped open — completely white, blank, utterly unconscious.
The second her eyes opened, white porcelain exploded outward from beneath her throne like a flash freeze. It raced across the floor of the hall and spilled several meters out into the courtyard. Jagged black shard pillars violently erupted from the spreading white surface in random, chaotic bursts, shooting upward like dark spears all around the building.
The four men froze in pure shock.
"What the fuck is that?!" the Zenin scout hissed.
Kenji's hands were shaking so badly he nearly dropped the telescope. "Her body… it's changing right now. The monstrous mass is shrinking. The extra limbs are disappearing. It's becoming… humanoid. Long black hair is growing out, there are white streaks in it. A crown of shards is forming above her head…"
Just as quickly as it started, the white porcelain began to recede, melting away like frost under sunlight. The black shard pillars crumbled and vanished with it. The flash-freeze effect pulled back into the hall and disappeared completely beneath her throne.
Himiko's eyes finally returned to normal — one glowing crimson, the other cold silver-black.
She blinked slowly, now fully awake, sitting with perfect regal poise on the throne. Her new elegant porcelain body was unmistakable even from this distance.
Kenji slowly lowered the telescope, his face completely pale.
"…We're in serious trouble."
The four men stared at each other in heavy silence, the weight of what they had just witnessed pressing down on them like a mountain.
The monstrous vengeful spirit they had been watching for days was gone.
Something far more dangerous — something intelligent, regal, and terrifying — had just awakened.
Kenji's hands were still shaking as he lowered the telescope. "Tell me you all saw the same thing I did. Because I feel like I just lost my mind."
Zenin scout looked pale as a ghost. "I saw it. That hulking, multi-limbed monstrosity just… shrank. The extra limbs disappeared. It turned into a six-foot woman with long black hair, white streaks, and a damn crown spinning above her head. One red eye, one silver-black. She looks like a cursed empress."
Kamo scout's voice was hoarse. "The white porcelain… it exploded out of nowhere. It flash-froze the entire hall and half the courtyard. Black shard pillars were shooting up everywhere like spears. Then it all just… melted away. Like it never happened."
Abe onmyoji clutched his ripped talismans, breathing fast. "Her cursed energy spiked so violently my charms nearly caught fire. She was unconscious the whole time — eyes completely white. That wasn't a normal evolution. That was something forcing its way out of her."
Kenji rubbed his face, still in disbelief. "She sat back down like she owned the place. Perfect posture, crossed legs, looking amused. That thing used to be a screaming, lumbering nightmare. Now it looks like it could command an army with a single glance."
Zenin scout slammed his fist into the dirt again. "We were watching a grudge spirit! A monster! Now it's… it's regal. It has presence. It has a crown! What the hell are we even supposed to report? 'Hey council, the porcelain monster got hot and started acting like royalty'?"
Kamo scout let out a nervous laugh that sounded more like a whimper. "Five more days. We still have five days of this mission. How are we supposed to sit here for five more days knowing that thing down there is now self-aware? She's not mindless anymore. She thinks."
Abe onmyoji whispered, "If she senses us… we're finished. That wasn't a curse we saw. That was something that plans. Something that rules. The way she looked at her own hands… she was studying herself. She knows she changed."
Kenji stared down at the estate, eyes wide with dread.
"She's not the Porcelain Onryo anymore…"
He swallowed hard, voice barely above a whisper.
"…We just watched the birth of a queen."
Himiko remained seated on the throne, slowly running her porcelain fingers over her own arms, shoulders, and waist.
She studied herself with clinical curiosity, turning her wrist this way and that, watching how the smooth white porcelain caught the light.
"…Fascinating. The texture is flawless. Not a single crack remains. The weight is perfectly balanced. Six feet exactly. I feel… proportionate. Refined."
She lifted a lock of her long black hair, letting the white streaks slide between her fingers.
"Even the hair is an improvement. Dramatic, yet elegant. The white streaks are a nice touch — almost like the universe wanted to remind everyone I was once broken."
A small, arrogant smile curved her lips.
She leaned back, one leg crossed over the other, and tapped a finger against her chin.
"That power I felt… the one that surged through me when I evolved. It wasn't just energy. It felt like I was expanding my judgment across the entire space around me. Like I was looking at the world and simply… found it wanting. The hall, the courtyard, everything. It all felt inadequate. So it tried to remake it."
She let out a soft, regal chuckle.
"How delightfully arrogant of me. Even in my sleep I decided the world wasn't good enough and tried to overwrite it with something better. That's not the behaviour of a curse. That's the behaviour of a ruler who has grown tired of her surroundings."
Her crimson and silver-black eyes narrowed in thought, still sparkling with sharp intelligence.
"It was incomplete, though. Unstable. The moment my transformation finished, it collapsed in on itself. I doubt I could summon it again anytime soon. Pity. I would have enjoyed redecorating this entire estate in my image."
She glanced at the terrified fly-heads still cowering in the corners and gave them a pitying look.
"Relax, little ones. I'm not going to eat you. I have standards now."
She rested her cheek on her hand, crown of black shards spinning lazily above her head, and sighed with theatrical arrogance.
"Honestly. First I lose my husband and child, then I become a monster, then I become a queen… The universe really does enjoy dramatic irony, doesn't it?"
She smiled coldly, eyes gleaming.
"Very well. If fate insists on making me royalty, then I shall play the part properly."
Himiko's crimson and silver-black eyes narrowed with cold calculation as she studied the pathetic swarm before her.
"These fly-heads… they are loyal, I will grant them that. They followed me without question even when I was little more than a screaming mass of porcelain. But loyalty alone is not enough. A queen requires more than insects."
She rose from the throne, her long black-and-white hair flowing behind her like a banner. The crown of shards spun lazily above her head as she paced with regal elegance.
"If I am to build a court worthy of my station, I will need a general. Someone — or something — capable of commanding these creatures. Someone with true power.
"I need knowledge," she murmured, voice smooth and regal. "I know nothing of this world beyond my own death. I do not know how much time has passed. I do not know what has become of my husband and son. I do not even know what I truly am now."
She glanced down at her refined porcelain body and the elegant, dress-like structure it had formed. It was close enough to human that she could almost pass for a strange sorcerer — pale, beautiful, and clearly not normal, but not monstrous either.
"Very well."
She turned to her trembling fly-heads.
"You will remain here. Guard the throne. Do not follow me. I will not have insects buzzing around me while I walk among humans."
The fly-heads whined but obeyed, retreating back into the hall.
Himiko stepped out alone.
Himiko walked with elegant, unhurried steps, her long black-and-white hair swaying behind her like a banner of royalty. The crown of black shards rotated lazily above her head.
She passed the ruins of Akatsuki Village without slowing. The blood-stained square and broken well held no meaning for her — just another forgotten place. She continued on, unaware that the survivors had fled to the sister village she passed next.
Takayama received the same indifference. A modest settlement, nothing more. Not worthy of a queen's attention.
"Pathetic," she murmured, voice smooth and regal. "These mud hovels hold nothing of value."
She kept walking north, growing more impatient with every passing mile. Villages were useless. She needed a real town — somewhere with proper records, archives, and knowledge that could answer the questions burning in her mind.
Hours later, the landscape finally changed. The forest thinned, proper roads appeared, and in the distance she saw it.
Yoshino Town.
A proper settlement protected by the minor Yoshino Clan, known for their Echo Binding technique — the ability to capture residual cursed energy from past events and replay them as information or illusions. Their archive was famous even among smaller clans.
Himiko's crimson and silver-black eyes gleamed with cold satisfaction.
"Finally."
She adjusted her porcelain dress-like form, ensuring she appeared as an elegant, if eccentric, wandering scholar. Her mismatched eyes and pale skin would draw attention, but in this era it would likely be mistaken for a strange sorcerer's appearance.
Himiko approached the gates of Yoshino Town with regal confidence, only to be stopped by two guards.
"Outsider," one of them barked, lowering his spear. "Entry fee is five gold coins. No exceptions."
She paused, staring at them with mild annoyance. She had no coins. No purse. No possessions at all except the porcelain dress her own body had formed.
The second guard narrowed his eyes at her striking appearance — the long black-and-white hair, the mismatched crimson and silver-black eyes, the spinning crown of shards floating above her head.
"You don't look like a normal traveler. What clan are you from?"
Himiko lifted her chin, voice smooth and imperious.
"I am no one's subordinate. I seek only knowledge from your archive."
The guards exchanged a look and actually laughed.
"The archive? You must be joking. The Yoshino archive is clan property. No outsider steps foot inside unless they swear loyalty to the Yoshino Clan and join our faction. Even then you'd need to pass the binding ceremony."
The first guard crossed his arms. "So unless you've got five gold coins and want to kneel to our lord, turn around and keep walking."
Himiko's eyes narrowed, the crown of shards spinning faster above her head. A flicker of dangerous arrogance crossed her beautiful face.
She had no money.
She had no intention of swearing loyalty to some minor clan.
And she was not leaving without the knowledge she came for.
She stood there in silence for a long moment, staring the guards down with cold, regal disdain, already calculating her next move.
Himiko stood at the town gate, staring at the two guards with growing irritation.
When they demanded five gold coins and clan loyalty, she clicked her tongue sharply, the sound crisp and aristocratic.
"How distasteful."
She tilted her head, crown of shards spinning faster above her.
"You refuse to grant me your knowledge? This simply will not do."
She took one slow, graceful step forward, her voice dropping into something far more dangerous.
"How about I simply kill you all and skip that boring ceremony entirely?"
She smiled — a small, cold, regal smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Hmmmm? What do you think?"
Both guards froze.
The first one gripped his spear so tightly his knuckles turned white. The second one took an instinctive step back, face draining of color.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Then the first guard swallowed hard and stammered:
"…W-wait here. I'll… I'll get the captain."
He practically ran back into the town, leaving his partner standing there alone, visibly shaking.
Himiko remained perfectly still, one porcelain hand resting lightly on her hip, looking down at the remaining guard like he was an insect.
"Wise choice," she murmured. "A queen should never have to beg for what she wants."
She waited patiently at the gate, the crown of black shards spinning lazily above her head, already growing bored with the delay.
Meanwhile…
The four observers had been quietly following Himiko ever since she left the Sando Estate.
They moved carefully through the trees and along the roadside, staying far enough back that she wouldn't sense them. The mood between them was heavy and tense.
Gojo no Kenji kept his gaze locked on her elegant figure walking ahead.
"She's heading for Yoshino Town," he said quietly. "The one with the big archive."
The Zenin scout whispered, voice tight, "She just walked straight past Akatsuki and Takayama like they were nothing. Didn't even pause at the bloodstains or the graves. She really doesn't remember what she did, does she?"
The Kamo scout swallowed hard. "Look at the way she walks. That posture… that arrogance. It's like she already thinks she owns the land."
The Abe onmyoji clutched his talismans, whispering nervously, "Her cursed energy is completely different now. It's stable, refined… and it's growing. She's not the mindless monster we were watching anymore. She's calculating. She's thinking."
Kenji's jaw tightened as he watched her stop at the town gate and speak to the guards.
"She just threatened to kill them," he said, voice low. "Told them she'd skip the 'boring stuff' and slaughter everyone if they didn't give her what she wanted."
The Zenin scout let out a shaky breath. "We're following a queen now… not a curse. And she's about to walk into a town full of people who have no idea what she really is."
The Kamo scout muttered, "If she starts killing in there, the whole mission is blown. We won't be able to hide what we saw."
Kenji didn't answer. He just kept staring at Himiko's back, eyes narrowed.
"She's too calm. Too confident. Whatever she's looking for in that archive… I don't think we're going to like what she finds."
The four men stayed hidden in the treeline, watching in uneasy silence as their target stood at the gate, radiating regal arrogance and cold danger.
"For now… we just observe," Kenji finally said, voice low. "No matter what happens inside those walls, we don't interfere. That's still our order."
The others nodded grimly, eyes never leaving the porcelain queen at the gate.