Honkai Impact 3rd: Catching the Herrscher of Sentience at the Start

"It's time to make a move. Yae Sakura can't handle Yuna; let me down, Fu Shi!"

The Herrscher of Sentience followed Fu Lin's command and dropped him down, landing between the two creating a deep crater.

Seeing this, the Herrscher of Sentience mumbled to herself in the sky. "Oops! Looks like I didn't control my power well."

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Yae Sakura curiously looked at the deep pit that had suddenly appeared on the ground. Suddenly, a hand emerged from it, startling Yae Sakura into retreating, ready to adopt a "fox" attack stance.

"Ugh, ugh, hiss! I almost fell to my death," Fu Lin spat out the mud from his mouth and slowly climbed out of the pit while holding his waist.

The moment his head emerged, a glimmer of cold light approached.

Startled, Fu Lin quickly pulled his head back into the hole. Even with Fu Hua's immortality, it would still hurt, and he was not into pain.

Seeing that the attack had missed, she immediately jumped back to her original position, waiting for the right moment while remaining wary of the pseudo-Herrscher opposite her.

"Yae Sakura, don't attack me, I'm here to help you." Fu Lin raised a makeshift white flag made from torn fabric and waved it wildly.

When Yae Sakura heard someone in the pit call her name, her bright eyes flickered slightly, and she slowly approached the edge of the pit to look at the person inside.

"You... know... me?" Yae Sakura said slowly while looking down at Fu Lin, who was gazing up from the pit.

Fu Lin, lying in the pit, waved the flag. As the light dimmed, he looked up and was met with a beautiful sight, causing him to hurriedly lower his head.

Inside, Fu Lin was so excited he couldn't find the words: I just hit the jackpot!!!

Seeing Fu Lin remain silent for a long time, Yae Sakura placed her hand on the katana at her waist, coldly staring at Fu Lin. She was ready to draw her sword at the slightest hint of movement.

"I know you, of course I do. I even know Kallen," Fu Lin retorted, thinking to himself: who doesn't know the cursed character in the guaranteed supply?

Noticing that Yae Sakura was ready to draw her sword at any disagreement, Fu Lin organized his words carefully, though he certainly wouldn't say the last part out loud.

"You know Kallen? How is she doing now?" Yae Sakura asked, pulling Fu Lin out of the pit, gripping her hands excitedly.

"Let's talk about that after we deal with the Herrscher behind me," Fu Lin said, breaking free from Yae Sakura's soft grip and turning to face the pseudo-Herrscher Yuna.

Seeing the person from school chasing her again, Yuna felt a surge of confidence in her own power and coldly laughed, "I was just about to find you, and now you've delivered yourself to me. Prepare to die."

As soon as she finished speaking, countless vines erupted from the hard concrete ground, rushing toward Fu Lin. However, Fu Lin leisurely took out a pocket watch, pausing time in that moment.

He moved behind Yuna and executed a heart extraction move, pulling out the pseudo-Herrscher's core, carelessly flicking away the blood from his hands as time resumed.

The vines continued to attack the spot where Fu Lin had just stood, stirring up a cloud of dust. When the smoke cleared, the ground was left riddled with holes and in ruins, yet Fu Lin was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, what are you attacking?" Fu Lin said, resting his chin on Yuna's shoulder.

Upon hearing the voice from her shoulder, Yuna finally noticed the hole in her chest, where her core had been extracted.

"When did this happen?!" Yuna exclaimed in shock, turning her head and collapsing uncontrollably into Fu Lin's embrace.

Yae Sakura looked at Fu Lin in equal astonishment; there was no way she could match that speed.

"Of course it was... but I can't tell you. You're dead anyway." Fu Lin set Yuna down, stowing the core in his system space as he turned to walk toward Yae Sakura.

"I've gained powers beyond anyone else—why is this happening?!" Yuna shouted at Fu Lin in frustration.

"I was the chosen one! Why am I dying here?" Yuna's voice grew softer, soon fading away completely.

"Alright, now it's time to talk about our matters," Fu Lin said, approaching Yae Sakura with a sunny smile.

The Herrscher of Sentience also descended from the air, coming to stand next to Fu Lin and wearing a smile reminiscent of a paramecium, though she couldn't escape a smack on the head from Fu Lin.

"It wasn't on purpose~" the Herrscher of Sentience said, holding her head and squatting down in grievance.

Seeing this scene reminded Yae Sakura of her sister. A massive fox spirit appeared behind her, but only Sakura could see it.

"Your sister is already dead. I only released a bit of collapse energy, and those stubborn villagers worshipped me as a god, sacrificing your beloved sister!"

"Shut up!!!" Yae Sakura's cold voice rang out, causing the fox spirit to dissipate.

Seeing Yae Sakura's cold demeanor, Fu Lin realized that Higokumaru had appeared, and it was time to find a way to turn Higokumaru obedient or find a way to control it.

But this was no simple matter; even after fifty thousand years, the fox still hadn't calmed down, and thinking about it made Fu Lin feel overwhelmed. 

"Sorry, I wasn't talking about you just now," Yae Sakura said, bowing slightly in apology.

"It's fine. Something appeared earlier, right? I can help you deal with it," Fu Lin replied, trying to get closer to the main topic by asking about Higokumaru's whereabouts.

"...Yeah." Seeing this, Yae Sakura decided there was nothing to hide and invited Fu Lin to a nearby apartment for tea and a more in-depth conversation. 

...

"Can you tell me what happened to Kallen afterward?" Yae Sakura asked, tightly gripping the steaming teacup and nervously watching Fu Lin.

"After Yae Village was destroyed, Kallen was seriously injured and taken back by Schicksal, where she claimed you were innocent and took all the blame on her head, ultimately being sentenced to execution by hanging."

"But there were already people prepared to rescue her, only to be killed by the honkai beasts released by the unaware Otto Apocalypse."

Fu Lin took a deep breath and summarized the situation, then took a sip of the brewed tea to clear his throat.

"Why did this happen?" Yae Sakura felt a deep sense of guilt; it was her fault that Kallen had suffered.

"You are lonely; the only one who accompanies you is me." The voice of the fox spirit echoed again, but this time it was in Sakura's mind. It sensed the energy emitted by the core of the Herrscher within Fu Lin and didn't dare to appear as easily as before.

"The person in front of you is a herrscher! Stay away from him." Yae Sakura was shocked as she looked at the cultured and refined man, doubting the truth of what the fox spirit had said.

"I know this much; now it's your turn, Miss Yae Sakura, or should I say, Miss Pseudo-Herrscher." Setting down her teacup, Fu Lin played with his hair, watching the dazed Yae Sakura with amusement.

"You know my identity!" Yae Sakura instinctively grabbed her weapon.

"Don't worry; I'm only interested in the fox spirit behind you."

Seeing Yae Sakura's agitation, Fu Lin stepped closer, gently stroking her fox ears, causing Yae Sakura to emit strange sounds.

"Ah! Mmm~ Wh... what are you... doing?" Yae Sakura covered her ears, her shy face glistening with tears as she stared at Fu Lin.

"What a tempting expression~," Fu Lin said, covering his face and peeking at Yae Sakura through his fingers, just as Herrscher of Sentience delivered a heavy punch.

"Get a grip!" The Herrscher of Sentience, noticing Fu Lin was about to act up again, punched him into the wall, wondering why it was like this. 

"Sorry! Can you help me get down from the wall?" Fu Lin's apologetic voice came from the wall, and once the Herrscher of Sentience saw he had returned to normal, it helped pull him out.

Fu Lin brushed off the dust from his clothes and returned to his previous position, pretending nothing had happened.

Of course, it would have been perfect if there weren't a human-shaped indentation in the wall behind him.