HI3: I Don't Want to Be a Valkyrie

Blood-red moonlight spilled over a dark and eerie royal palace.

At the heart of the palace, five colossal bone dragons floated in mid-air. An utterly wicked lich, crowned and wielding a bone staff, stood atop the most powerful dragon in the center.

Before him, dozens of meters away, stood a fox... with a girl perched atop its head. She had ears like a rabbit's and wore a distinctive pink and white outfit.

Though her voice was soft, it carried clearly to the lich's ears.

In that instant, the world seemed to be enchanted by the Space-Time Demon God, as everything around froze.

All movement ceased, frozen in time.

It was unclear how much time passed—perhaps mere seconds, or perhaps an eternity—before the frozen moments finally resumed their flow.

Countless pink cherry blossoms appeared out of nowhere, dancing in the air... petals swirling in a flurry...

As the lich prepared to command his dragons to attack, the girl transformed into a blur of sword glares, reappearing behind him in a flash.

"Die! Crimson Naraka!"

Appearing behind the lich, atop the bone dragon's head, Yae Sakura brutally swung her spiritual blade at its skull with both hands.

The lich...

Liches were the byproduct of failed gods.

Had they succeeded, they would have become deities wielding dominion over the underworld.

Failure reduced them to liches, demigods...

Every lich was a demigod; their godly essence grant them far greater power than beings of similar rank.

Yet... such godly beings... were precisely the favored prey of the gyakushinn miko. For... whether in profession or weaponry, Yae Sakura specifically targeted... godly creatures.

Wielding a spiritual blade imbued with the ability to specifically weaken godly beings, she slashed towards the lich's neck. The blade emitted an eerie crimson glow, eager to once again deal a fatal blow to another godly entity.

Once revered by believers, the blade's nature began to transform when its wielder became the "gyakushinn" miko, now aligned with her divine intent.

-

However... Yae Sakura's slash missed its mark...

The lich before her had inexplicably vanished, leaving her sword to cleave nothing but air.

Creeee... Not bad, challenger.

That grating voice echoed again, drawing Yae Sakura's gaze to the lich's throne, where the lich had returned.

A wave of the lich's hand sent all four remaining bone dragons hurtling toward Yae Sakura once more.

"Well then, let's start by taking apart your bony frame first..."

Yae Sakura didn't bother pursuing the dragons, instead opting to position herself between the oncoming beasts and the one below her feet.

It was still time for big moves, and Yae Sakura didn't want to waste spiritual energy.

As blinding sword glares, she darted between the five bone dragons with inhuman speed—faster than the blink of an eye.

The colossal bone dragons were utterly helpless against Yae Sakura; they couldn't even graze her. By the time one dragon prepared to strike, Yae Sakura had already materialized atop another.

In this manner, within a mere five seconds, Yae Sakura had left her distinctive Sakura Mark on all five bone dragons.

"Now then... feast your eyes on the magnificent spectacle of a Blade Storm! Shunmetsu!"

Glancing at the lich seated on its throne, ready for some good entertainment, Yae Sakura promptly triggered each of the Sakura Marks.

The five enormous bone dragons exploded almost instantly as the terrifying wave of blade energy was unleashed from them.

Within a matter of seconds, the five bone dragons had been reduced to nothing more than ash in the lich's eyes.

"You dare!"

The Lich King of Demons had summoned his five precious bone dragons to assess the power of this pseudo Hero, a demihuman. His plan was to observe her strength and determine what type of undead transformation would be most suitable for her.

Never did he imagine that she would instantly annihilate all five of his beloved bone dragons.

These were bone dragons, not some common skeletons! Although considered the weakest among dragons, they were still dragons nonetheless.

Typically, two bone dragons would be sufficient to take down a Hero. The Lich could never have foreseen five bone dragons being vaporized before his very eyes, and in a manner that rendered them completely beyond resurrection.

As fury engulfed him, the Lich's heart ached with pain. Bone dragons were far from easy to create; they were undead... beyond cultivation or growth.

Only by using the corpses of other dragons could they be created, but obtaining such remains was no easy feat. These five bone dragons were his prized treasures, collected over great effort and time.

"Next... it's your turn."

Yae Sakura alighted before the lich, her blade at the ready as she regarded it calmly.

"Is that so? Seems you've underestimated me. After all, I am a Demon Lord! Allow me to extract your soul and replenish my losses with your essence and body!"

The lich rose to its feet, reaching towards Yae Sakura with a single hand through the air.

In an instant, before Yae Sakura could react, she felt as though her very soul was about to be torn from her body.

Liches... were masters of manipulating souls, their mysterious and unpredictable methods making them impossible to guard against. Thus, liches were the absolute worst adversaries for even the bravest adventurers and Heroes.

But...

"Do you... believe in holy light?"

"Oath of Judah!"

Two crosses radiating holy light plummeted directly towards the Witch King's head.

"What?"

Sensing the fatal danger above, the Witch King looked up to see two crosses—clearly his sworn enemies—crashing down on him. Panic immediately set in.

Despite being a demigod among undead, the Witch King was still an undead creature. The mystical crosses of Judah were his bane, even if this Four Star Oath couldn't severely damage him. However, their sudden appearance still plunged the Witch King into alarm.

At that moment, Yae Sakura locked onto the Witch King, once again materializing behind him. Her spiritual blade pierced directly through his heart.

This time, he didn't escape.

As the blade lodged in the Witch King's heart, its power to suppress divinity began to take effect, starting to destroy him from within.

-

Moments later, Yae Sakura sensed the Lich's body rapidly inflating, becoming increasingly unstable.

Realizing the danger, she swiftly released the Spiritual Blade and fled.

As Yae Sakura ran several hundred meters away, the Lich's body finally met its breaking point. Bones cracked, and in the next instant...

BOOM!

Like a devastating bomb, the Lich exploded!

The entire Demon Lord's palace was flattened in an instant.

Yae Sakura stood not far from the blast, watching the explosion's aftermath. Shockwaves hit her body, but she paid them no heed.

Instead, she glanced around, puzzled. Where did Higokumaru go?