The moment the words left her lips — "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" — something inside her snapped.
The endless white void shattered.
Himiko's eyes flew open on her throne, blank white and unseeing. Her body began to change.
The grotesque, hulking mass of porcelain rapidly shrank and tightened, compressing down into a tall, six-foot figure. Long black hair spilled down her back, streaked with sharp white. Her jagged maw sealed shut, smoothing into a face with high cheekbones, a sharp jaw, and full lips. It was strikingly beautiful, but clearly not human. One eye burned deep crimson. The other was cold silver-black.
Her body stayed pure white porcelain, now shaped into an elegant, form-fitting dress with flowing jagged edges. Above her head, the black grudge shards fused together into a slowly spinning crown of darkness.
At the same time, white porcelain exploded outward from beneath her throne, flooding the entire hall and spilling into the courtyard. Jagged black shard pillars shot up violently from the spreading white surface. Every fly-head curse in range froze mid-motion, turned into porcelain statues.
Then, just as suddenly, it all receded. The porcelain melted away. The pillars crumbled. The frozen fly-heads thawed and immediately panicked, scrambling into cracks, under furniture, behind pillars — whimpering in terror.
Himiko blinked slowly. Her eyes returned to normal. She was fully conscious again.
She gently touched her new face with porcelain fingers.
"…What was that place?"
She ran her fingertips along her smooth cheek and jaw, then looked down at her refined body and the dress-like structure it had formed.
"I must have evolved again while I was sleeping. That's… incredibly inconvenient."
She sat there for a moment, then let out a quiet laugh.
"Great. I finally have a proper face and now my own curses are hiding from me like I'm going to eat them."
Her crimson and silver-black eyes flicked toward the trembling fly-heads still crammed in the corners.
She leaned back on the throne, crossing one leg over the other.
"Note to self: never have a breakdown in your own mind. Apparently it upgrades you without asking and traumatizes your staff."
She rested her chin on her hand, the crown of black shards spinning lazily above her head, and smiled with cold intelligence.
"…Still. I do look rather good now, don't I?"
Himiko rose from the throne with smooth grace. The crown spun a little faster.
"Come out," she called, voice smooth and commanding. "All of you. Your queen is waiting."
Not a single fly-head moved. They stayed crammed in corners and cracks, trembling.
She tilted her head, one crimson eyebrow arching.
"Really? I finally stop weeping like a broken widow and this is what I get?"
She took one elegant step forward. The fly-heads somehow managed to squeeze themselves even deeper into hiding.
Her silver-black eye narrowed in amusement.
"Pathetic. I spent who knows how long drowning in guilt over Haruto and Ren, and the moment I let go, it turns me into this. As if my pain was the only thing keeping me ugly."
She placed a hand on her hip.
"I suppose even curses have standards. Very well then."
She turned slowly, hair and crown moving with her, voice dropping into something cold and commanding.
"I am no longer the mindless beast you served. I am Himiko. Your Queen. And queens do not chase their subjects."
She sat back down on the throne with perfect poise, crossing her legs.
"If you wish to serve a proper ruler instead of a screaming porcelain disaster, you will come out. On your own. Like civilized little monsters."
One by one, the fly-heads slowly crawled out of their hiding spots, still shaking, but too afraid of disappointing her to stay hidden.
Himiko smiled, satisfied.
"There we go. Much better. A queen should never have to beg."
She leaned back, eyes gleaming with cold intelligence.
"Now then… where were we?"
Meanwhile, on the ridge, the four observers had settled back into their usual boredom.
Gojo no Kenji was lazily spinning his telescope between his fingers, half-dozing. The others were either napping or staring blankly at the estate below. Down in the ruined hall, Himiko sat motionless on her throne with her eyes closed, looking like she was peacefully sleeping.
Then her cursed energy suddenly spiked.
Kenji sat up instantly. "Her energy just jumped. Hard."
The others tensed. The Kamo scout's eyes widened. "It's climbing fast. That's not normal."
Kenji lifted the telescope to his eye. "She's convulsing. Her body's jerking violently but her eyes are still closed."
The Zenin scout leaned forward. "Her form looks even worse than usual. All those jagged limbs… it's thrashing around on the throne."
For almost a full minute her monstrous body kept twisting and convulsing violently.
Then it suddenly stopped.
Her eyes snapped open — completely white, blank, unconscious.
White porcelain exploded outward from beneath her throne like a flash freeze. It raced across the hall and spilled into the courtyard. Jagged black shard pillars erupted violently from the spreading white surface, shooting upward like dark spears.
The four men froze in shock.
"What the fuck is that?!" the Zenin scout hissed.
Kenji's hands were shaking so badly he nearly dropped the telescope. "Her body… it's changing. The monstrous mass is shrinking. The extra limbs are disappearing. It's becoming… humanoid. Long black hair, white streaks, a crown of shards forming above her head…"
Just as quickly as it started, the white porcelain receded, melting away. The black pillars crumbled. The flash-freeze effect pulled back into the hall and vanished beneath her throne.
Himiko's eyes returned to normal — one glowing crimson, the other cold silver-black.
She blinked slowly, now fully awake, sitting with perfect poise on the throne. Her new elegant porcelain body was unmistakable even from this distance.
Kenji slowly lowered the telescope, face pale.
"…We're in serious trouble."
The four men stared at each other in heavy silence.
The monstrous vengeful spirit they had been watching for days was gone.
Something far more dangerous — something intelligent, regal, and terrifying — had just awakened.
Himiko remained seated on the throne, slowly running her porcelain fingers over her own arms, shoulders, and waist. She studied herself with calm curiosity, turning her wrist, watching how the smooth white porcelain caught the light.
She lifted a lock of her long black hair, letting the white streaks slide between her fingers.
"Even the hair is an improvement."
A small, arrogant smile curved her lips.
She leaned back, one leg crossed over the other, and tapped a finger against her chin.
"That power I felt when I evolved… it wasn't just energy. It felt like I was expanding my judgment across everything around me. Like I was looking at the world and simply found it wanting."
She let out a soft chuckle.
"How delightfully arrogant of me. Even in my sleep I decided the world wasn't good enough."
Her crimson and silver-black eyes narrowed in thought.
"It was incomplete though. The moment my transformation finished, it collapsed. I doubt I could summon it again anytime soon."
She glanced at the terrified fly-heads still cowering in the corners and gave them a pitying look.
"Relax, little ones. I'm not going to eat you. I have standards now."
She rested her cheek on her hand, crown spinning lazily above her head.
"First I lose my husband and child, then I become a monster, then I become a queen… The universe really does enjoy dramatic irony, doesn't it?"
She smiled coldly.
"Very well. If fate insists on making me royalty, then I shall play the part properly."
Himiko's eyes narrowed with cold calculation as she studied the pathetic swarm before her.
"These fly-heads are loyal, I'll give them that. But loyalty alone is not enough. A queen requires more than insects."
She rose from the throne, her long black-and-white hair flowing behind her. The crown spun lazily above her head as she paced.
"If I am to build a court worthy of my station, I will need a general. Someone capable of commanding these creatures. Someone with real power."
She murmured to herself, "I need knowledge. I know nothing of this world beyond my own death. I do not know how much time has passed. I do not know what has become of my husband and son. I do not even know what I truly am now."
She glanced down at her refined porcelain body. It was close enough to human that she could almost pass for a strange sorcerer.
"Very well."
She turned to her trembling fly-heads.
"You will remain here. Guard the throne. Do not follow me. I will not have insects buzzing around me while I walk among humans."
The fly-heads whined but obeyed, retreating back into the hall.
Himiko stepped out alone.
She walked with calm, unhurried steps, her long black-and-white hair swaying behind her. The crown of black shards rotated lazily above her head.
She passed the ruins of Akatsuki Village without slowing. The blood-stained square meant nothing to her now. She continued on, unaware that the survivors had fled to the sister village she passed next.
Takayama received the same indifference. A modest settlement, nothing more.
"Pathetic," she murmured. "These mud hovels hold nothing of value."
She kept walking north, growing more impatient with every mile. Villages were useless. She needed a real town — somewhere with records, archives, knowledge.
Hours later the landscape changed. The forest thinned, proper roads appeared, and in the distance she saw it.
Yoshino Town.
A proper settlement protected by the minor Yoshino Clan. Their archive was famous even among smaller clans.
Himiko's crimson and silver-black eyes gleamed with cold satisfaction.
"Finally."
She adjusted her porcelain form, making herself look like an elegant, if eccentric, wandering scholar.
She approached the gates with calm confidence, only to be stopped by two guards.
"Outsider," one barked, lowering his spear. "Entry fee is five gold coins. No exceptions."
She had no coins. No purse. Nothing except the porcelain dress her own body had formed.
The second guard narrowed his eyes at her appearance — the long black-and-white hair, the mismatched eyes, the spinning crown of shards floating above her head.
"You don't look like a normal traveler. What clan are you from?"
Himiko lifted her chin, voice smooth and imperious.
"I am no one's subordinate. I seek only knowledge from your archive."
The guards exchanged a look and laughed.
"The archive? You must be joking. The Yoshino archive is clan property. No outsider steps foot inside unless they swear loyalty to the Yoshino Clan and join our faction."
The first guard crossed his arms. "So unless you've got five gold coins and want to kneel to our lord, turn around and keep walking."
Himiko's eyes narrowed. The crown of shards spun faster above her head. A flicker of dangerous arrogance crossed her face.
She had no money.
She had no intention of swearing loyalty to some minor clan.
And she was not leaving without the knowledge she came for.
She stood there in silence for a long moment, staring the guards down with cold, regal disdain, already calculating her next move.