Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

“Yes,” Sato Yuno nodded in agreement.

This shouldn't be considered cheating, probably.

Sato Yuno easily accomplished what Kitahara Shin and Su Qing'an, who were both bad at talking, could not.

And the time of twilight tomorrow is drawing ever closer amidst this peaceful daily life.

This time, Yuno Sato didn't want to lose.

28. The day of the demon's encounter, the day of the sacrifice.

At dusk, at the hour of encounter with demons.

The time for the formal sacrificial ceremony finally arrived.

Sato Yuno wore that Kyo-Yuzen kimono, and the gorgeous and dignified clothing made her appear different from usual.

At this moment, she wore a polite, faint smile, but her dark eyes seemed to be curiously looking at the villagers surrounding her.

She is lively and agile, yet elegant and composed, which perfectly suits the image of a young lady of this age.

No villager doubted that the girl in front of them was not Shinbara Yu.

Whether it was Shuichi Kanbara's performance of setting off fireworks for the celebration yesterday, or the villagers' own reverence for the gods, they could not imagine that someone would be so audacious as to disguise themselves as a sacrificial offering and thus desecrate the gods they had worshipped for five hundred years.

Daigo, dressed in his priestly robes, looked solemnly at the shrine he hadn't visited in ten years. His gaze fell upon the shrine's interior, which was shrouded in darkness, and his expression gradually became humble and joyful.

He still remembered the promise he made with Shuichi Kanbara when they were children, but in Daigo's eyes at this moment, such an act was utterly blasphemous.

But the gods did not punish them for this. How compassionate and forgiving the gods are!

That was a great, gentle deity who offered ineffable protection to the village.

Why did I have such rebellious thoughts in the past?

It must be made up for.

That's why, after realizing his mistake, Daigo was the first to throw himself on Shuichi Kanbara ten years ago to stop him.

He cried and apologized to the man.

Even if it was to seek divine forgiveness, and even if Shuichi Kanbara's actions were blasphemous in his eyes, the fact remains that he betrayed their promise.

The Daigo who now transforms all his guilt and sorrow into reverence for the gods is a completely different person from the Daigo who, as a child, made a promise with Shuichi Kanbara to break the bad habits of Kanbara Village.

People change.

Even if he were to send that man's daughter to the shrine as a sacrifice, he would no longer feel guilt and sorrow, but only supreme joy.

In his eyes, the Kambara clan, who were qualified to offer themselves to the gods, were incredibly fortunate.

Seeing that Kanbara Yuuki possessed such glory and qualifications, he couldn't help but feel happy for Kanbara Shuichi, who had made the right decision.

After all, he was a friend.

Although they had gone their separate ways, Daigo felt happy enough that they were able to eventually return to the same path.

However, it was a bit of a pity that he didn't choose to come and witness the ceremony in person today, Daigo sighed inwardly.

The butler that Shuichi Kanbara brought this time was not absent.

He glanced at Su Qing'an, who stood out in the crowd, and tried his best to appear more dignified. With a stranger here to witness the ceremony, he couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

We must show him the respect that Kanbara Village has for the gods.

“Miss Yu, Lord Kanbara must have explained the ritual process to you. Although three days is a bit tiring, please bear with it,” Daigo said sincerely.

"Yes, Dad already told me. He said the ritual is very simple and that I should be obedient."

Sato Yuno nodded obediently. She glanced curiously at the eerily quiet villagers around her and asked:

"Uncle Dawu, has everyone in the village arrived?"

Daigo answered seriously upon hearing this:

"Of course, the festival day is a very important holiday in Kambara Village. Everyone will arrive early. There are only ten minutes left before the time, and no one will be absent."

"But Miss Xi, why are you asking this?"

"I see. If none of them are missed, then they can bloom without worry."

The girl ignored Daigo's question. She glanced at the seeds that had already sprouted new buds around the shrine and suddenly said something completely unrelated to the previous topic.

The tiny yellow flowers bloomed and withered in an instant under Sato Yuno's words. This scene appeared and disappeared too quickly, and almost no one noticed this bizarre scene.

However, the invisible neurotoxin instantly enveloped the entire area surrounding the shrine.

"Miss Xi...you...?"

Daigo's words came to an abrupt halt. The toxins created by his powers would take effect in less than a second on an ordinary human. His body was already paralyzed and unable to move. The overwhelming drowsiness pressed down on his nerves, and after uttering his last word, the man collapsed weakly to the ground.

It only took five seconds.

Ignoring the tolerance and differences of any individual constitution.

The villagers collapsed unconscious without causing the slightest commotion or disturbance.

Su Qing'an took the [Calming the Waves] instrument from the case on his back. He silently stepped over the bodies slumped on the ground and walked to Sato Yuno's side, saying:

"Yuno, how long does your poison last?"

“Just to be on the safe side, it’s three days’ worth,” the girl glanced at him and replied. “Let’s untie these people after we deal with the living dolls.”

In every sense, Sato Yuno was very cautious. In this first mission, she did not arrogantly choose not to make any preparations just because she possessed the power of a pseudo-Herrscher.

Clearing the area before fighting the boss is a wise decision.

Originally, she thought it would be necessary to specially prepare a formula to neutralize the toxins for Su Qing'an.

However, after testing the waters, the two discovered that the toxins, which were specifically designed to limit ordinary people, were completely ineffective against Su Qing'an's current physical condition.

It can only be said that the transplant of artificial stigmata has indeed improved his physical fitness a lot, but specific details such as immunity to certain toxins cannot be seen simply by looking at the data displayed on the panel.

"You asked Principal Theresa, didn't she give you a new answer about what you saw that day?"

"Headmistress Theresa could only roughly confirm that the shrine maiden's name was Yae Sakura, and that she was related to Kallen Kaslana, the most famous S-rank Valkyrie in history. She also mentioned many other minor details."

"However, there are not many things we can refer to based on the current situation. At most, we can only confirm that this place may be a continuation of Yae Village."

"Perhaps it was founded by the descendants of Yae Village, or perhaps there is something left behind by Yae Village that records that scene from back then, or perhaps it is both."

"If it is the latter possibility, the birth of the living doll is undoubtedly inseparable from this thing."

Sato Yuno explained in detail, summarizing the information sent by Theresa and sharing her own insights.

Su Qing'an nodded upon hearing this and said:

"The Honkai event couldn't have happened without a reason. If that's the case, the method of killing the living dolls might be related to that mysterious thing."

Instead of entering the shrine, the two chose to wait quietly for the ten-minute mark. Attacking the living doll before the exact festival day arrived would be pointless, a fact that Sato Yuno had personally confirmed.

However, both of them had already made preparations, and both the Valkyrie armor in Kyo-Yuzen and the special armor in the butler uniform were just the basics.

Su Qing'an pulled the box out from behind the tree and handed Sato Yuno two small katanas made of special alloy, a coat, and a pair of shoes.

The short sword is a creation of Nagamitsu Osafune, but apart from its excellent Honkai energy conductivity, its quality can only be described as average.

For Yuno Sato, this is part of adapting to the Valkyrie's fighting style and supplementing her melee capabilities.

Sato Yuno took off her Kyo Yuzen and straw sandals, neatly put on clothes over her Valkyrie armor, and stomped on her sneakers.

In battle, such a gorgeous and elaborate Kyo-Yuzen would naturally be a burden.

Since it's a burden, there's nothing to be nostalgic about, right?

She took a deep breath, and the pseudo-Herrscher core began to mobilize a large amount of Honkai energy.

This is a mountain forest, which is the perfect battleground for someone like her who can manipulate plants.

No matter how strong a living doll is, it can't possibly be at the level of a Herrscher. It seems that it is likely a monster evolved from the remnants of a suspected Herrscher within the shrine maiden's body.

From this perspective, it's impossible for Sato Yuno to be unable to defeat even a tiny fragment of the opponent.

Even under these circumstances, she chose to be on high alert.

Yuno Sato created countless vines that roamed over the surrounding plants, leaving behind the mark of her power using Honkai energy.

The excess vines entangled the villagers on the ground, keeping them away from the battlefield and preventing them from being caught in the crossfire.

Even though she disapproved of the villagers' actions, Sato Yuno could not completely ignore their lives.

If she could really do that, killing all the villagers would be the safest and most foolproof method.

After leaving her mark around the area, Sato Yuno's actions did not end there.

Building up your ultimate skill bar in advance after establishing a base is a fundamental part of the cautious strategy.

Unlike Sato Yuno, who could use her pseudo-Herrscher abilities to plan the battle in advance, Su Qing'an simply placed her hand on the hilt of her sword calmly and simply.

He stared at the entrance to the shrine, his eyes deep and cold.

29. How dare a mortal blaspheme against the gods?

Sato Yuno manipulates Honkai energy to continuously create her own creations.

This is the first time she has had the opportunity to wield her powers on such a large scale since becoming a pseudo-Herrscher.

A massive earthquake shook the area near the shrine, causing cracks to appear, and something enormous seemed to meander through the soil.

Faced with a living doll that is immune to poison, Sato Yuno's powers only allow her to resort to such a large-scale attack.

She and Su Qing'an speculated that if something truly caused the birth of the living doll, then that thing was likely sealed inside the shrine.

The reason is that the shrine has been held here for five hundred years, and there is no record of it being renovated. It has survived unscathed for five hundred years, which is enough to show that the shrine itself has something special.

They searched through all of the Kambara family's documents over the past two days but found no clues whatsoever about this item.

Therefore, the simplest and quickest way to find that thing is to destroy the shrine and expose it to the outside world.

Given her innate sensitivity to Honkai energy as a pseudo-Herrscher, she has a very high probability of finding it.

After all, she was already very familiar with the Honkai energy aura emanating from that fox shadow.

That "witch" who easily manipulated her made her truly understand what it meant to be powerless.