Honkai Impact 3rd, but I have too many mods.

The tatami-mat shrine's main hall is occupied by a purple-haired general, who sits in the main seat (not the nine-year-old one). Instead, there is a white-haired fox-eared dancer.

"Please feel free to express your opinions."

"Perhaps we can look forward to alien technology?"

The fox-eared shrine maiden with cherry-blossom hair sighed and spoke slowly.

"Anyway, we can't find a better way right now, can we? Do you guys really think that the Honkai erosion caused by guarding the Far East for so many years can be solved by medicine?"

“But the risks…” A hint of hesitation appeared on the cold-faced female general’s face.

“Saro, when is there any treatment without risk?”

"...You are right."

Objective facts aside, even knowing this, Kujo Sara still hoped for something that would be entirely beneficial.

"Besides, we don't have enough time, do we?"

Sitting next to Kujo Sara, the cherry-haired shrine maiden with a sword at her waist couldn't help but speak up.

"The general doesn't know how long he can hold out... Now that someone is willing to lend a helping hand, I think we may not have much of a choice."

We can't just watch our general die like this.

We have to take the gamble no matter what.

“…That makes a lot of sense, Sakura.”

The priestess named Fox Palace spoke here.

"Given this, can I assume that our overall opinion on the matter of 'having aliens treat the general' is close to 'agreement'?"

All the attendees nodded silently.

With no better options available, this is the only path we can take.

“Very good, but some preparations are needed before agreeing.” Fox Palace sat up straight.

Upon seeing this, all the attendees tensed up.

"Son of God."

"exist."

"You are now in charge of the shrine operations in the Sky Dome District."

"The shrines in the Sky Dome District... they're practically on the verge of bankruptcy, aren't they? I understand."

Yae Shenzi bowed.

"Sara."

"exist."

"cherry."

"exist."

"The two of you will accompany the Divine Child to help him rebuild the Tenkyu Shrine and attempt to make contact with the target individuals... Just follow the Divine Child's instructions throughout the entire process."

"Yes."

Seeing the two men nod in agreement, Fox Palace nodded, then looked at the head of the Kamisato family beside him, wanting to say something, but gave up.

Although the young lady of the Kamisato family is of marriageable age, she cannot bring herself to ask for a marriage proposal.

There's no need to make people sacrifice their families.

“It’s not that our Inazuma group can’t offer a bargaining chip, it’s just that we can’t accept unacceptable costs. Shinji, I believe you can know what’s what.”

If you want money, give money. If you want things, give things.

As long as the demands don't involve excessive issues like personal dignity, they can be agreed to.

I don't care if I go bankrupt.

"...Of course, we should also try to get in touch with the World Serpent."

Based on the limited information provided by the Chamber of Commerce, the most likely request from World Serpent is for research.

It's right at the point where it's hard to accept, but also acceptable.

It sounds nice to say it's about sacrificing oneself for scientific research, but it's really unpleasant to say it's about being a lab rat.

Nobody wants their highly respected general to be studied on an experimental table, but if it's the price to prolong his life, it seems quite worthwhile.

"Why not just arrest them directly?"

A somewhat indifferent female voice came from behind the screen behind the Fox Abode Palace.

“I’ll go there myself and bring him here.”

"Stop fooling around, Shadow." Fox Palace sighed. "That's all for this meeting. Thank you for your help."

"It's your job."

The divine child nodded, and everyone turned and left one after another.

As they left the shrine, someone called out to the priestess from behind.

"Lord Son of God."

"Sakura, how is your sister's health?" Shigemiko smiled at Sakura.

"Thank you for your concern. My younger sister is getting better." The girl called Sakura smiled back, but then became serious. "By the way, I always feel that Lord Kitsai-no-miya seems to have something to say, but I don't know why he didn't say it."

"Hmm...it's because it's hard to say, Sakura. Do you know what the most effective way to win someone over is?"

"?"

Sakura looked confused.

"...And you're a woman from a martial family." The goddess sighed. "To be frank, it's a marriage alliance. Status, power, and money can all be given away through marriage. Even if there's a mutual bond, generally no one will refuse, and being bound together isn't necessarily a bad thing... not to mention that in ancient times there were methods like giving away concubines."

“This…” Sakura frowned.

"Don't worry, Lady Fox-Sai-gyu didn't say that she gave up on the idea, or that if it really came to that point, Lady Fox-Sai-gyu wouldn't sacrifice others. She's the kind of person who would rather sacrifice herself than others—and so is the General."

The divine child fanned himself with a fan.

“Sakura, don’t worry too much. If you ask me about this, I think… if it can be done, great. It’s good for everyone to be prepared for the worst—although it’s not easy to accept rationally.”

“…I understand, Divine Child.”

Sakura could only nod.

Just like the goddess said, preparations are one thing, but this matter... is indeed very distressing.

Especially a good person like our own general.

"Let's talk about you. How's the routine with your Spirit Blade going?"

"Very well, those two are both very reasonable people... But why ask this? Is it necessary to use a knife this time?"

"You're with Sara, and you're asking if it's necessary to use knives this time?" Shigemiko smiled. "The last resort is to kidnap them."

"Huh? What about the arranged marriage we talked about before?"

"Idiot, how do you arrange a marriage in someone else's home? Of course, you snatch the person away and then apologize. The final step in apologizing is to arrange a marriage—you can't offend someone and then expect them to dedicate themselves to saving them, can you?"

"what……?"

"The people of Fox Ridge Palace are all incredibly cunning and ruthless... it's just that you guys aren't very familiar with them yet."

I discard

Yae no Miko smiled mischievously.

"Goodbye, I'm going back to Yaedo to review the manuscripts. I need to finish reviewing them before I leave, and then I need to urge those authors who like to delay their work. Sigh... Time is tight and the task is heavy."

"The Divine Child was quite serious today too."

"Lord Shanluo?"

Sakura was startled again by the Tengu female general who came out from behind her.

"Are you... are you listening?"

“Although it sounds like I was eavesdropping, well, I heard it.” Josara nodded. “The Divine Child doesn’t often say such a long string of serious words. I’m sure she feels quite a bit of pressure.”

"...Now that you mention it, I feel a lot of pressure too."

Sakura looked aggrieved, realizing she couldn't bear such a heavy burden.

"It's okay, I'm under a lot of pressure too."

Sakura wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she saw a wry smile on Kujo Sara's face.

"Let's encourage each other, Sakura, for the sake of the General."

"For the General."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"……This is?"

Huang Quan, who was suppressing his strength to practice moves on Liu Bai, looked at his wooden sword that had been deflected with some surprise.

It shouldn't be.

Although the force was suppressed and the weapon was a hastily carved wooden sword, the attack shouldn't have been one that Liu Bai could easily deflect. This strike was meant to train Liu Bai to parry, to prevent him from being intimidated by attacks, and to ensure that his sword wouldn't be easily knocked away.

All Liu Bai needed to do was raise the knife and grip it tightly.

But the slash just now... was actually deflected, and Huang Quan even felt his territory shake for a moment.

"...an incomprehensible parrying technique."

Shake the knife.

Huang Quan found it to be completely unskilled, yet he managed to deflect the attack at just the right moment.

This isn't a proper skill, and perhaps... it's even more difficult to understand?

—It wasn't that I was deflecting the attack, but rather that I was momentarily unsteady on my feet.

Deflecting attacks is the least important thing. Whether a novice has good luck or keen insight, it's just about deflecting attacks to feed the opponent's moves.

The most crucial thing is to lose your composure.

"...I can't explain the principle behind this either; I learned it from this." Bai tossed the parry skill book he had finished reading yesterday to Huang Quan.

Did Huang Quan's stance bar really move just now?

If it weren't for the bar icon that only he could see appearing on Huang Quan's body, Liu Bai wouldn't have known whether he had deflected the attack himself or Huang Quan had raised the knife again on his own.

Moreover, the timing of this parry was too difficult to grasp. Huang Quan struck more than ten times with the same move before Liu Bai finally got a feel for it and managed to parry once.

"Bullshit."

Huang Quan quickly flipped through the book and threw it back.

It's confirmed; this technology is just something you can fool kids with at a street stall.

...although their own employer did indeed reproduce the skill.

Hmm, Huang Quan really can't do that... Could it be that his employer is actually a martial arts genius?

Parry...

Although the principle is very simple, it's still too absurd.

Is physics all about bullets?

If this were in the universe, Huang Quan wouldn't mind unleashing a "super-powerful slash" to test the mettle of the person who dared to say such a thing.

But since my employer can do it, then...

"Next, please try to deflect my attacks."

Although he spoke very politely, Huang Quan had already raised the wooden sword in his hand and quickly closed in.

—This is no longer the mechanical, repetitive slashing technique we just practiced!

Chapter Sixty-Three: The Aftermath Continues... Perhaps?