On a bright sunny day inside the dormitory where Ayame rested.
Kouro could be seen sitting in a seiza in front of Ayame, who is glaring at him with a mixture of anger and embarrassment while rubbthe ear that Kouro blew in to.
Kouro's face has a fresh red slap mark on both his cheeks which were very obvious, yet as the two slap marks weren't there, he spoke innocently to Ayame.
"Why did you hit me, Ayame? When we were little, you always blew on my ear if I was angry, wasn't it? Isn't it pretty unfair of you to hit me when I blow on your ear now?"
"That's different! Back then, we were still kids, but right now we're adults!"
After their brief banter, several hurried footsteps could be heard coming from outside towards the room, then the door to the room was forcefully opened by Theresa who is the followed by Sakura and Higokumaru who is behind Sakura.
"Kouro, are you okay!?" Theresa shouted, but then fell silent when she and the others saw Kouro sitting in a seiza in front of an embarrassed Ayame.
Noticing that the situation feels a little strange, they turned to look at Kouro, and after seeing the red slap marks on his face, as if understanding something, they then turned to Ayame.
Ayame felt a little embarrassed being stared at, and just when she wanted to explain, Sakura butted in an spoke in a sympathetic tone.
"You don't need to explain, we understand." Looking at Sakura, Ayame felt that she really understands her, she then spoke to the rest, leaving Kouro in the corner, still sitting in a seiza.
Kouro, who was neglected at the side, stared at them while thinking, 'Weren't they fighting each other before? Why are acting like they're close friends now?'
Feeling clueless, he shakes his head, 'Women are hard to understand.'
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A few moments later.
Ayame looked at Theresa and the other two, she took a deep breath before lowering her head and bowing in a 90° posture, "Thank you for saving me."
Seeing Ayame bow her head in gratitude, Theresa shook her head and pointed at Higokumaru floating beside Sakura, "If you want to thank someone, thank to Higokumaru-chan, she purified your Herrscher powers."
"Hehehe." Higokumaru just laughed shyly while scratching her head.
Ayame then raised her head and passed her gaze over them once and said, "You may already know my name from Kouro, but let me introduce myself as well, my name is Akimitsu Ayame, you can just call me Ayame like Kouro."
Focusing his gaze on Ayame, who just finished introducing herself, Kouro is silent for a moment before asking.
"Ayame, if I may ask, how did you turn into a Pseudo-Herrscher? Ah, if you don't want to say it, it's fine."
Ayame shook her head, "It's okay." she turned her back to them and lifted her clothes a little to show her back to them.
"This!?"
(E/D: How people in cultivation novels/manhua reacts when they see or learn something unbelievable.)
Their eyes widened seeing a strangely shaped Stigmata tattoo on Ayame's back, but that wasn't the cause of their reaction, its because there is another stigma on her back, besides, that Stigmata seemed to be merging with Ayame's previous Stigmata.
"You have two Stigmata? Furthermore a mutated one!?" Theresa exclaimed in shock.
Higokumaru and Sakura were silent, but Kouro didn't really understand the situation so he asked, "Is there a problem Theresa-san?"
"Of course! As far as we know, people with a natural Stigmata would only have one, but now Ayame has 2 stigmata, moreover it's mutating."
"Wow, that's amazing..."
Ayame was silent for a while before she pulled her clothes down and turned to look back at them.
"I don't really remember how I turned into a Herrscher, the only thing I remember is the day before all the chaos (Third Eruption) happened. In the afternoon, I, who was on my way back to my dorm, met an unknown person wearing a black robe, she didn't say anything, she just stuck her hand out to me, and when I wanted to scream, a purple colored light filled my vision and after that, I passed out?"
You are reading story Honkai Impact : The Rise Herrscher of Shadow at novel35.com
"After waking up, I find myself in my own room still, I stood up to check my surrounding, but didn't find anything strange, it's as if the black robed woman didn't exist at all, ever since then, my emotions would become unstable, I became angry easily towards small things, and the climax resulted in the chaos engulfing Senba Academy." Ayame added.
"When I saw my classmate bite the person next to her, I wanted to help her, but just then, I felt pain on my back like it was on fire, then purple streaks started to form on my hands and then I fell down again, but my consciousness was still there, and I can faintly see what's happening from a bystander's point of view, like I was seeing everything in third person."
"I saw 'me' stab Kouro in the chest, I saw 'me' fight against your group, I saw everything from a bystander's viewpoint, but after Higokumaru-chan touched my forehead, I could feel my consciousness coming back to my body gradually until I was able to fully control my body again."
Kouro listened to Ayame's story from start to finish before falling into deep thought, the he said in surprise.
"If that's the case, then the additional Stigmata on your back..."
Ayame nodded in approval, "Yes, it belongs to that consciousness, the one you call a Pseudo-Herrscher."
Kouro was extremely shocked, countless questions appeared in his mind, 'Who is that black robed woman? What is her purpose? Why did that woman chose Ayame? Is it just a coincidence?'
They all didn't notice that Sakura and Higokumaru's face has turned cold when they heard of the black robed woman, their cold expressions were only there briefly before reverting back to normal.
Sakura then decided to ask, "Do you know any noticeable characteristics of that black robed woman, the most conspicuous, I mean."
Ayame searched through her memory before speaking, "The thing that stood out the most about that black robes woman is her short stature, coupled with her pale-green hair, which I don't understand why she didn't hide at all."
Hearing Ayame's answer, Sakura and Higokumaru were finally certain, that the black robed woman is someone they know, but they didn't speak their mind and just kept quite after asking the question.
Theresa also looked thoughtful before she says, "The black robed woman's goal is possibly you, or rather the Stigmata on your back, Ayame. And judging from the flow of the previous events, you were able to turn into a Herrscher, albeit partially, mostly because of that woman."
She then fixed her gaze at Ayame and said, "You'd better join our organization to keep yourself safe."
Theresa began to narrate about the St. Freya Academy 'independent' organization to Ayame, unlike before, Theresa was not rejected and even Ayame unhesitatingly accepted Theresa's proposal.
(E/D: They aren't really independent because Otto is still providing resources, albeit small amounts, to St. Freya, they even had a mole student that works with/for Otto in their school.)
Well, Ayame only accepted Theresa's proposal hastily because Kouro is also a part of St. Freya Academy.
After that, the four of them chatted to spend time until 2 hours passed.
Theresa and Kouro took the other 3 to where they docked the Helios aircraft.
Before boarding Helios, Theresa offered Sakura and Higokumaru a ride, but they still refused.
"Well then, goodbye Sakura, Higokumaru, hopefully we'll meet each other again someday." Kouro said as he stretched out his hand for a handshake.
Sakura stared at Kouro's extended hand for a moment before grabbing it and asking it, "Let fate decide."
After their goodbyes, Kouro and the others then entered Helios.
Sakura and Higokumaru looked at the aircraft that started to fly up to the sky and slowly accelerated, they both kept their eyes at Helios until it was out of sight.
Higokumaru's smile disappeared, only to be replace by a cold expression.
"I didn't think that person would still carry out the Project, and in desperation, even opted to use and ordinary girl with a natural Stigmata to serve as a guinea pig. Hahh, luckily, I have locked that person's location."
Sakura looked at Higokumaru's face without no ounce of surprise by her sudden change in expression, she just asked with her usual tone and expression.
"You mean that person?"
With the same cold expression, Higokumaru said in a low voice, "Yes, that person is Dr. Mobius."