The morning sun shone down on 'Senba Academy' in Nagazora City. On a small path in Senba Academy, a giant golden cross stood tall, its sharp base deeply embedded in the concrete floor like a city wall.
A girl with green vines wrapped around her body slowly walked towards the conspicuous cross in her line of sight. As a Pseudo-Herrscher, she instinctively felt the threat the cross posed to her... Even though she had absorbed the Honkai energy in this area, she had not yet been able to form a 'Herrscher Core'...
"What an eyesore!" Yuno's green eyes stared at the annoying golden cross. With a raise of her hand, she released a thick vine. The vine, covered in blood-red thorns, struck the outer shell of the golden cross with immense kinetic energy like a long spear.
"Clang!" A crisp sound of metal colliding rang out. The vine was directly repelled. The golden cross trembled slightly but didn't move, still standing firmly on the concrete ground.
"Stop your useless efforts..." A voice suddenly came from behind Yuno, causing her to whirl around... Behind her were the white-haired kid from before, a boy who had appeared suddenly, and a maid. Only the pink-haired girl was missing.
"Judah's Oath is made of Soul Steel (Soul Metal), an extremely rare metal from the Previous Era," Theresa said as if giving a science lesson, completely unfazed. "It's not something a mere Pseudo-Herrscher who hasn't even formed a 'Herrscher Core' can shake. Even if you use all your strength, you won't be able to leave a single white mark on it."
"Oh? Is that so~" Yuno, whose attack had failed, turned her head nonchalantly to look at Theresa, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"I don't know how you got rid of the Herrscher's poison, but you must be incredibly stupid to come back here to die..."
"I was just careless last time!..." Theresa said, her face flushing. "This time, I'm serious."
"Hey, are you sure you'll be okay? Need my help?" Li Xuan looked at Theresa standing in front of him. Her words didn't sound very reliable to him.
"O-of course! Just watch me!" Being doubted by Li Xuan, who was about to become her student, made Theresa feel a little embarrassed.
"Heh, big talk." The vine-entwined girl, Yuno, said with some annoyance. "Then let me see you try..."
"Swish!" Several vines as hard as steel instantly shot towards Theresa's body. "Bang!" The sharp vines plunged directly into the ground where Theresa had just been standing, but she was gone.
"Up here!" Theresa, who had leaped high into the air, shouted loudly, not at all afraid of revealing her position. Yuno, looking up, raised her hand to control the vines to attack... but she was a step too late.
"Ha!~" Theresa's straightened leg kicked the Fourth Herrscher right in the chest before she could attack.
"Ugh!" An unexpected force came from her chest. 'Damn it, how does this kid have so much strength?!' The Fourth Herrscher was forced to retreat several steps before she could stop, nullifying the force from her chest.
"Too slow. As long as I don't get touched by your vines~" Using the force from kicking the Fourth Herrscher Yuno away, Theresa jumped directly onto the cross behind her. She sat leisurely on 'Judah's Oath', sticking out her tongue and making a face at the 'Fourth Herrscher' Yuno in front of her. "Your poison is useless!"
"..." The hunched-over 'Fourth Herrscher' Yuno slowly straightened up. Her slightly long bangs covered her face, obscuring her expression as she said, "I have to admit, you're indeed very strong..."
"If I hadn't relied on a sneak attack before, I wouldn't have been able to defeat you..."
"Yesterday, the Herrscher fluctuations produced by that fox woman kept interfering with me, making it impossible for me to calm down and absorb the Honkai energy in this area..." The 'Fourth Herrscher' Yuno suddenly lifted her head, her green-glowing pupils staring at Theresa, her peripheral vision catching Li Xuan and Liv not far from her.
"For some reason, the fluctuations suddenly disappeared yesterday, as if that fox had died..." Yuno raised her hand, and the vines on her body trembled slightly as if summoning something. A wave of imperceptible fluctuations emanated from her body.
"Having drained the energy of this area, my power has reached its peak!"
"Crack!~" A thick vine suddenly shot out from under Li Xuan's feet. The vine shattered the concrete ground and, in Li Xuan's sight, wrapped around his entire body like an extremely agile snake in the blink of an eye, tying him up like a rice dumpling for the Dragon Boat Festival.
"Master!" Maid Liv was also unfortunately bound by the vines, only able to stare with wide, anxious eyes.
"Hahaha! This man should be quite important to you, right?!" Yuno walked over to the indifferently staring Li Xuan, reached out a cold hand, and stroked his warm cheek.
"This man smells a little fragrant. Should I have a bite?" Yuno licked her lips with her bright red tongue, looking teasingly at the anxious Theresa.
"...Damn it!" Theresa gritted her teeth. Li Xuan was a student she was preparing to bring back to St. Freya High School. This was a human with a Natural Stigmata!... And she... she wants to eat him?!
"Hahaha!~ I love your expression!" Yuno said with satisfaction, watching Theresa's anxious yet hesitant and conflicted expression.
"You probably don't know, do you? You've actually been poisoned again!" Yuno looked at Theresa teasingly as a vine in front of her sprouted a blood-red flower.
"!!!" A faint floral fragrance wafted over. Theresa sniffed lightly and then abruptly covered her nose. "Could it be... the fragrance just now..."
"What a beautiful flower!~" Yuno smiled, plucked a blood-red, vibrant flower from the vine in front of her, held it to her nose, and sniffed it lightly.
"You should have a sniff too~" To Theresa's despair, Yuno, with a malicious smile, extended the flower in her hand to Li Xuan's nose, who was staring at her faintly.
"No!" Theresa, whose body was starting to feel weak, reached out to stop Yuno but was unable to move. That was a Natural Stigmata, a stigmata that could extend the life of that big idiot Himeko... Theresa closed her eyes helplessly.
"Hahahaah!!" Yuno covered her eyes, looking at the despairing Theresa. It felt as satisfying as drinking a glass of ice-cold coke on a hot summer day.
"I say.... do you want to die?" Suddenly, a man's voice came from behind her.
"H-how is that possible!" Yuno whirled her head around to look at the man who had been staring at her indifferently. It's impossible for someone poisoned by a Herrscher to still be able to speak!
A faint green light emerged from the man's body. He looked up at her as if looking at an ant, his left eye shimmering with a green light like an emerald.
The vines wrapped around Li Xuan went limp on the ground as if a commoner had met their emperor, not twitching in the slightest.
(End of this chapter)