'Wh-what?' Sirin's eyes rolled and with a face flushed like an apple felt dizzy as thousands of questions popped into her mind.
'What's wrong with this guy? I let him in because he has a Herrscher's aura... But now he suddenly says that he loves me! Who is this guy really?'
At first, she waited for Theresa to enter the Honkai cocoon and then exposed her memories to gain her sympathy.
This cocoon was connected to the pocket dimension she created using her Herrscher ability.
But then she sensed an unfamiliar Herrscher aura from outside the cocoon, so out of curiosity and caution, she let the person in.
After all, who knows, right? If that person also turned out to have the same goal as her, considering that person was also a Herrscher.
And that person was the man who was currently hugging her tightly.
The man had snow-white hair, and he was wearing a black-coloured mask so Sirin couldn't tell his appearance, only the man's bright purple eyes that she could see clearly.
She felt the sincere feelings of this man, and the words "I love you" were probably a form of expressing his sincere feelings.
But it was because of this that Sirin became confused and caught off guard.
After all, no matter what, Sirin before becoming Herrscher was just an ordinary 12-year-old little girl without a complete education.
If the person who said that was a girl, Sirin would have felt nothing but happy that her plan had succeeded, but if it was a boy...
Sirin didn't know what to do, after all, she didn't have any male friends at all, and all her friends were girls.
This was the first time she was hugged by a man, the feeling of being hugged by a man was completely different from being hugged by a woman.
How should she put it... It felt a bit... comfortable? Sirin could feel Kouro's powerful body and soothing fragrance, giving a sense of security and comfort.
'No! Sirin you must focus! Don't get distracted!'
She pushed Kouro, before taking a few steps back while clutching her chest, she felt her heart beating very fast.
Her mind at this time was still unstable and immature, her trauma towards the scientists who conducted experimental tests on her made her hate humans.
But at the same time when she heard Theresa's dream of creating a sanctuary for people who had the same fate as her, she on the surface did seem to sneer at the dream but in her heart, a little hope arose.
It's just that in the original plot Theresa's kindness backfired on her, the naive kindness Theresa had made Sirin feel disgusted, she felt Theresa was just a hypocrite.
But even so, it was because of that naive kindness that made Sirin only beat her to death and not kill her immediately.
And now because of Kouro's excessive kindness and the Herrscher aura she felt from him. Sirin's heart warmed up a little, but even so, she didn't show it.
In the language of 'cultured' people, Sirin who hides her true feelings is referred to as a Tsundere.
(E/D: She also has great legs in Kiana's body so... I say smash. What do you say, members of the council of Tsunderes.)
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" asked Sirin warily.
Kouro who was pushed by Sirin scratched his head, he realized the mistake he had made.
"Ah! I'm sorry for hugging you suddenly, I'm a little emotional...By the way, you can call me Kouro. I found out your name because your friends told me."
Sirin's eyebrows raised as she looked at Kouro seriously "What do you mean? I don't remember my friends ever meeting you?"
"Of course, I know that they are long dead... I was told by the spirits of your friends to help you." Kouro said in a soft voice.
"Lies! That's impossible!" cried Sirin with a distorted expression, Kouro's words hitting the weak spot of her heart.
"Nothing is impossible with a Herrscher's powers." said Kouro calmly, he then raised his hand towards Sirin, a black mist was seen coming out of his hand before slowly turning into a small green grasshopper the size of an index finger.
The green grasshopper seemed to have a puzzled expression before jumping off Kouro's hand and flapping its wings and going in a certain direction.
Unfortunately, because the place they were currently in was a pocket dimension Sirin created, the grasshopper crashed into the barrier and ended up falling before dying.
Sirin's eyes widened when she saw this, she wanted to be strong as it was the only way to avenge herself and her friends, but even so, she knew doing so would not bring her friends back.
Her friends had died, but the ability displayed by Kouro had opened her eyes, and a great hope appeared in her chest, if she had this ability didn't it mean she could bring her friends back to life?
Sirin's eyes seemed to shine brightly when thinking about this, 'Mom... With that ability, I can bring mom back to life! I must obtain this ability at all costs!'
Looking at Sirin who was looking at him like she was looking at a god, Kouro from behind the mask visibly grimaced, his heart really hurt when deceiving Sirin especially when he saw Sirin's hopeful expression towards him.
After all, his deception was a hundred times worse than a stranger giving candy to a child before kidnapping her.
'Wait, I think this metaphor is a bit off...'
Well... The point is that Kouro feels really bad that he gave Sirin false hope, especially since that hope was so high that when Sirin finds out the truth...
Kouro immediately shook his head, he was determined anyway and was ready to accept the consequences.
As long as he was not beaten to death, he was even willing to run naked around the European continent as long as it could appease Sirin's anger.
'Wait... Why does it feel like I've raised a flag?' Kouro thought with a strange sense of dread.
Well... He was probably just overthinking it.
Back to the main topic, the green grasshopper he had created earlier wasn't actually alive, but Kouro had given it some basic commands to make it look alive.
Creating a 'living creature' was also really wasteful, creating a grasshopper the size of an index finger alone required 500 SP.
"Kouro... You... What Herrscher are you?" asked Sirin with her eyes shining brightly.
Kouro straightened his back and looked at Sirin for a moment before saying, "I am the Herrscher of Death, I have the ability to manipulate life and death."
"Is... Is it possible to learn this power?"
"Of course, you can, my dear Sirin, you are the most talented Herrscher I have ever seen. I can teach you but on one condition..." Kouro said in a soft voice while slowly approaching Sirin.
Seeing Kouro approaching, Sirin felt the atmosphere around her become strange and then unconsciously walked backwards.
The two of them maintained that state for several minutes before Sirin finally reached the dimensional barrier.
Sirin leaned her body against the dimensional barrier with her eyes unblinkingly looking at Kouro who was slowly approaching her.
The closer Kouro got, the faster her heart beated, what kind of strange situation was this? It wasn't that she hated him, but the feeling that arose in her heart was very strange.
Just when her mind was focused on the strange feeling that arose in her heart, Kouro was already in front of her.
Sirin's golden eyes reflected Kouro's bright purple eyes that were also staring at her.
'Wh-what is he going to do?' Sirin thought with a flushed face.
She remembered Kouro's words, "I love you Sirin." making her face turn even redder.
'Wh-what would he do? But I'm only 12 years old!' some strange thoughts flashed through Sirin's mind.
(E/D: I am a man of equality who believes every Waifu no matter age or gender is smashable and my proof is that I have slept with a man... he was pretty cute... like Astolfo-level cute.)
Kouro who was standing still staring at her then slapped the dimensional divider next to Sirin and brought his face closer to Sirin's face.
Sirin's heart was currently beating so fast, she was even worried whether Kouro could hear the sound of her heart beating.
Her face was completely flushed, her mind completely blank, even so, her eyes seemed to look into Kouro's eyes without blinking.
Kouro then whispered, "...My condition is, I want you to-"
*BAM!*
A giant gold-coloured cross suddenly appeared and flew towards Kouro's face from the side, knocking him away.
[HP: 41,500/44,000]
Sirin blinked her eyes a few times with a blank expression, she turned to look at Kouro who was lying stiffly on the ground before turning to look at Theresa who was currently running towards her with a worried expression.
"Sirin! Are you alright? Did that person do something to you? Are you hurt?"
Hearing Theresa's successive questions, Sirin only nodded her head stiffly.
Seeing that Sirin was okay, Theresa let out a sigh of relief before looking at Kouro who was pretending to be dead.
Previously, when she was forcibly abducted into the Honkai cocoon, she experienced the same thing as Kouro, namely being shown Sirin's bitter memories and experiences.
Her feelings of resentment had disappeared and were replaced by feelings of pity and sadness when she saw all the sad things Sirin had experienced.
That's why when she was in a strange dimension where she saw Sirin being 'abused' by a man, she unceremoniously threw the Oath of Judah with all her might at the man.
Theresa was currently staring at Kouro with an angry expression and knife-sharp eyes as if she was staring at trash.
Theresa felt that this person as a man should control his lower half properly, there were many girls of age out there, but this person chose little girls instead.
Wait, Higokumaru previously said that her friend was inside Honkai's cocoon, was that guy her friend? If so, then this guy must have a weird fetish!
Just thinking about it made Theresa's anger flare up, even more, she will teach this man an unforgettable lesson.
If Kouro knew what Theresa was thinking, he could only be silent and unable to deny it, after all, technically he did seduce an underage girl.
But he had his reasons for doing so! He did it just to catch Sirin off guard! He swore that he had no dirty thoughts!
After all, he was normal, he didn't have any fetishes like that...
But Kouro couldn't say this to Theresa, right now Theresa didn't know him and the situation wasn't suitable either.
"Oi! Despicable bastard, I know you're pretending to be unconscious, hurry and get up! Or I'll crush you with Judah!" Theresa shouted to Kouro with Sirin in tow.
Kouro stood up while rubbing his face which felt very painful, fortunately, it was not swollen just bruised.
When Theresa saw Kouro's face, she was a little surprised that Kouro turned out to be quite young around his twenties, she also at the same time felt a little familiar, had she seen him before?
She quickly shook her head, no matter what, she had to teach this youngster a lesson.
"You young man! You have a handsome face and a strong body! I believe that your future must be bright! But why would you destroy all that just to satisfy lust?" Theresa said.
Kouro's eyebrows twitched when he heard Theresa's words, he wanted to shout loudly that he was not a lolicon.
But unfortunately, Theresa only believed what she saw and that was enough proof.
Kouro was now labelled as a lolicon by Theresa.
Kouro who was holding his face and realized that his mask had fallen and his appearance had been exposed so he quickly looked around for his mask and quickly found it without realizing that Sirin's eyes widened when she saw his face.
A memory then flashed through her mind.
...
Inside the cage-like prison.
Sirin was sitting on her knees leaning against the cold wall.
Her eyes looked empty, her body still aching from yesterday's experiment.
She was currently alone, all her friends had died, and only she alone survived in this cold prison without any friends.
Sirin bowed his head before hearing the sound of footsteps from outside.
Her body seemed to jerk when she heard the footsteps, shakily she then raised her head to look at someone from outside the prison who was staring at her calmly.
That person was a man around his twenties, the man had short black hair and black eyes wearing a doctor's robe with a nameplate above his shirt pocket.
[Hanagami Sagaki]
The man had exactly the same appearance as Kouro, except for the different colors of his hair and eyes.
"...Do you hate me... Sirin?" asked Sagaki in a deep voice.
Sirin gasped when she heard his question, this was the first time the man called her by her name, usually, he called her by a number, and even so her hands seemed to be clenched very hard.
She hated the man in front of her, she hated him so much that she wanted to tear him apart with her own hands.
Sensing Sirin's killing intent, Sagaki still wore a calm expression, "...It's good that you hate me. That means you're not giving up."
Hearing Sagaki's words, Sirin put on a confused expression, she really didn't understand how this man felt happy that she hated him.
".... Do you know Sirin? I have a son, he is currently dying due to illness, I as his father am willing to do everything to cure him, even... If it soils my own hands."
"I'm not fighting for Schicksal, humanity, or even the world, I'm fighting for my son."
Sagaki looked straight into Sirin's face, no, straight into her confused-looking golden eyes, "I'm not saying this to get your forgiveness Sirin, I'm saying this to make you understand, you can even use this excuse to hate me more... After all my life is not long anymore."
He then looked at his watch before turning to look at Sirin, "Goodbye... Sirin. This will probably be our last meeting."
Sagaki then turned to leave, leaving Sirin staring back at him with a complicated expression.
...
Sirin's heart was currently filled with disappointment, hatred, disbelief, and anger.
Sirin's brows were furrowed to the limit, her eyes burned with negativity as her clothes seemed to be slowly changing.
She started to float slowly.
Theresa who was in front of her felt strange and finally turned around before looking at her with a surprised and wary expression until finally jumping back.
Sirin didn't care about her, she was currently focused on staring at Kouro who was overlapping with that man called Hanagami Sagaki.
She who was full of various emotions felt that her head was very heavy, her heart hurt like being pricked by thousands of needles, and tears had escaped from both eyes.
"I can't forgive what you did to us... I hate you... Hate you from the bottom of my heart! Give me back my friends!" Sirin shouted.
Her clothes had completely changed, she was wearing a purple dress that had a very long shawl, her hair fluttering due to the fluctuations of her 'Void' ability.
Kouro who had put his mask back on looked at Sirin in confusion, he didn't understand why the situation had changed so suddenly.
He then recalled Sirin's reaction when she saw his face before finally understanding, his father worked as a scientist in the Lab tower, and he had the same appearance as his father so was misunderstood as his father by Sirin.
He didn't know what his father had done to make Sirin hate his father so much, but certainly, his chance to change Sirin's mind towards humans had disappeared.
Thinking of this, Kouro finally sighed, since the opportunity had disappeared, the only way now was...
Kouro summoned the Xuanyuan sword before then looking at Sirin who was currently staring at him hatefully.
The bright shining golden eyes clashed with the purple eyes that were also shining.
"I don't know why you hate me Sirin." Kouro said to Sirin.
"Shut up!" Sirin shouted as dozens of spears appeared around her.
"I will avenge them!"
Hearing Sirin's shout, Kouro closed his eyes and sighed again before setting up an attack stance.
His purple eyes were now glowing coldly.
In the end, the battle between Herrschers was inevitable...
(E/D: Drama!! Wooo! Baby! Also, who is pulling for Albedo.)