斬魔巫女--後日談C

後日談：神域重塑

Epilogue: Reshaping the Divine Domain

事情始於一場看似尋常的參拜儀式，卻在御神櫻心底掀起了無聲的驚濤。

神櫻大殿裡，沉香的青煙與信仰的重量將空氣凝結如琥珀。今日前來的皆是御神家最核心的信眾——那些能在政經界翻雲覆雨的人物，在此卻收斂所有鋒芒，僅餘純粹的敬畏。對御神櫻而言，這本該是數百次重複中的一次，是身為「神之巫女」早已刻入骨髓的日常。

神體——那與神櫻之石融合的軀幹——靜置於祭壇中央，被打點得完美無瑕，威儀如滿開的櫻瀑，絢爛莊嚴。純白的千早外袍上流淌著櫻色神光，宛如一片永不凋零的櫻花林。

為進行消災祈福，今日她的雙手並未脫離神體。右手持神樂鈴，左手握破魔箭，成為傳導神力最直接的媒介。而她的頭顱與雙腿，則如慣例作為「附屬」安置兩側——頭顱靜置於錦緞台座，長髮被「御弊」一絲不苟地束起；雙腿亭亭而立，截面上不見斬魔武裝，唯有承載著鮮花與神寶，以華美彰顯神威。

It began with what seemed to be an ordinary worship ceremony, yet it stirred a silent tempest in Mikami Sakura’s heart.

In the Great Hall of Shin-ou, the blue smoke of agarwood and the weight of faith congealed the air like amber. Those who came today were the most core believers of the Mikami family—figures who could command the winds and clouds of politics and finance, yet here, they shed all their sharpness, leaving only pure reverence. For Mikami Sakura, this should have been just one of hundreds of repetitions, a routine as the "Shrine Maiden of the God" that had long been carved into her very bones.

The divine body—the torso that had fused with the Stone of the Divine Cherry Blossom—rested at the center of the altar, impeccably prepared, its majesty like a waterfall of cherry blossoms in full bloom, splendid and solemn. A sakura-colored divine light flowed over the pure white chihaya outer robe, like a grove of cherry trees that would never wither.

For today's calamity-dispelling prayer, her hands were not detached from the divine body. Her right hand held the sacred kagura bells, and her left gripped a demon-quelling arrow, serving as the most direct conduits for divine power. Her head and legs, as was customary, were positioned on either side as "accessories"—her head rested on a brocade pedestal, her long hair impeccably bound by the "Gohei"; her legs stood gracefully, their severed surfaces displaying not the armaments of demon-slaying, but bearing fresh flowers and sacred treasures, manifesting divine power through their ornate beauty.

她早已習慣這種割裂。在信眾眼中，軀幹是神，其餘皆是神使甚或道具。

儀式伊始，信眾魚貫而入，伏跪陳願。御神櫻的頭顱不像戰鬥時以靈魂絲線直接連結，以意念驅動半自主的肢體，而是透過神體的神經網絡，如同一般人般指使並感知雙臂——這要求她必須懷抱最大敬意，不容絲毫「指使」神的念頭。神樂鈴的清響是對美好的祝願，破魔箭的輕點是對災厄的祓除。

如同往常，她的頭顱在身體部位中，沒有特別的地位，與其他肢體的區別，僅在功能各異。然然而，一股奇異的錯位感，卻如深水暗流，悄然漫上心頭。

儘管信眾理智上深知「唯有軀幹是神體」，但在儀式的熾熱氛圍中，他們投向神體的信仰目光，不自覺地將那雙施展神蹟的「手」也籠罩其中。這份由集體認知「賦予」的額外神性，被神櫻的感知機制接收並迴響。御神櫻驚覺，自己透過頭顱控制的雙手，竟反饋回一絲若有似無的「高位」威壓，宛若君臣之別，讓她對自己的肢體產生了「僭越」的惶恐。

她試圖讓手指微蜷，這個簡單的指令卻因那份不安而變得滯澀。明明手臂仍屬於她，信眾源於現場的認知被神櫻接收後，竟扭曲了所有人的感知。

這份扭曲，在儀式結束後變得更加尖銳。

She had long grown accustomed to this fragmentation. In the eyes of the faithful, the torso was the god; all else were its servants, or even its tools.

As the ceremony began, the worshippers entered in a line, prostrating themselves and presenting their wishes. Unlike in battle, Sakura's head was not directly connected by soul threads to drive her semi-autonomous limbs with intent. Instead, she commanded and perceived her arms through the divine body's nervous system, as a normal person would. This required her to hold the utmost reverence, allowing not a single thought of "commanding" the god. The clear ring of the kagura bells was a blessing for good fortune; the light tap of the demon-quelling arrow was an exorcism of misfortune.

As usual, her head held no special status among her body parts; its only distinction from her other limbs was its different function. And yet, a strange sense of dislocation, like a deep undercurrent, quietly crept into her heart.

Although the worshippers knew intellectually that "only the torso is the divine body," in the fervent atmosphere of the ritual, their gazes of faith, directed at the divine body, unconsciously began to envelop the "hands" that were performing the miracles. This additional divinity, "bestowed" by their collective perception, was received and echoed by Shin-ou's sensory mechanism. To her astonishment, Sakura found that the hands she controlled through her head were now feeding back a faint, almost imperceptible pressure of "higher status," like the distinction between a monarch and a subject. It made her feel a sense of horrified "transgression" towards her own limbs.

She tried to curl her fingers, but this simple command became sluggish due to that unease. The arms were still hers, and yet, the worshippers' on-the-spot perception, once received by Shin-ou, had distorted everyone's senses.

This distortion became even sharper after the ceremony ended.

御神家的人員以極致的虔敬對待神體與那雙剛剛施展神蹟的手。他們誦念著祝詞，動作輕柔得如同觸碰易碎的夢境，拆卸雙手的每一步都充滿儀式感，任何一絲輕忽都是褻瀆。

然而，當他們轉向御神櫻的頭顱與雙腿時，那種神聖的氛圍瞬間消散了。

一名工作人員面無表情地走來，如拾起一顆排球般隨意捧起她的頭顱。另一人則將她那僵直的雙腿左右開弓地挾在腋下，姿態與搬運倉庫裡的支架無異。

這份溫度的驟變，令御神櫻愕然。然而，這赤裸的區別對待並未點燃屈辱或憤怒，反而像一把精心打磨的鑰匙，精準地探入意識的鎖孔，「喀噠」一聲，開啟了某扇長久以來被忽略的門扉。

——或許，神櫻不僅是機制性地運作，連構築其認知的根基，那所謂的「元認知」，也純粹仰賴於外界的「輸入」？

平日，輸入的源頭僅有她的腦海與身體部件的直接感知。但今日儀式之中，虔誠的信仰如洪流指向神櫻，信眾凝聚的靈識成了強大的輸入源，繞過了「軀幹方為神體」的理性藩籬，直以「施展神蹟的手臂即是神」的情感認知為主導。於是，神櫻對這澎湃心緒的響應，化作了影響全場的輸出，不僅讓眾人將她的手臂視同神明，更使她荒謬地對自己的肢體心生敬畏。

The Mikami staff treated the divine body and the hands that had just performed miracles with the utmost piety. They chanted blessings, their movements as gentle as if touching a fragile dream. Every step of detaching the hands was filled with ritual; the slightest carelessness would be blasphemy.

However, when they turned to Mikami Sakura’s head and legs, that sacred atmosphere instantly vanished.

A staff member walked over, expressionless, and casually scooped up her head as one might a volleyball. Another tucked her stiff legs under his arms, his posture no different from carrying a rack in a warehouse.

This sudden shift in temperature stunned Sakura. Yet, this nakedly differential treatment did not ignite humiliation or anger. Instead, it was like a masterfully crafted key that slid precisely into the keyhole of her consciousness and, with a "click," unlocked a door that had long been ignored.

—Perhaps Shin-ou not only operates mechanically, but the very foundation of its cognition, its so-called "meta-cognition," is also purely reliant on external "input"?

Normally, the source of this input was only her own mind and the direct senses of her body parts. But during today's ritual, the devout faith of the worshippers was a torrent directed at Shin-ou. Their collective spiritual consciousness became a powerful input source, bypassing the rational barrier of "only the torso is the divine body" and being guided instead by the emotional cognition that "the arms that perform miracles are the god." Thus, Shin-ou's response to this overwhelming sentiment became an output that affected the entire hall, not only causing everyone to view her arms as divine, but also absurdly making her feel awe for her own limbs.

一個更為大膽的猜想，如驚雷在她腦海中炸裂：

……難道，連「敬神」這最根本、最不容置疑的法則，其觸動「心」產生反饋的源頭，也非源自神櫻本身，而是來自於「我」的腦海，與眾人的集體認知？當我萌生「不敬」之念，「心」隨之而來的指責與痛苦，實則是「我」的潛意識在斷言——「此情此景，神櫻理當不悅」——從而驅動了這套懲戒機制？

記憶的深潭被攪動，她驀然想起另一場面向普通信眾的參拜。為免驚世駭俗，彼時她以完整的「神櫻巫女」之姿顯現。頭顱與四肢安然歸位，神櫻亦如常化為她的軀幹——儘管她仍舊不敢稍有驅策，連俯身拾物都心懷忐忑。

然而，當儀式開啟，信眾的信仰並非僅聚焦於軀幹，而是將整個「巫女」視為了神。

An even bolder conjecture exploded in her mind like a clap of thunder:

...Could it be that even the most fundamental, unquestionable law of "revering the god," the very source that triggers the "heart" to provide feedback, does not originate from Shin-ou itself, but from my own mind, and the collective cognition of the people? When a "disrespectful" thought arises in me, is the subsequent censure and pain from the "heart" actually my own subconscious asserting—"in this situation, Shin-ou ought to be displeased"—and thereby activating this punitive mechanism?

The deep pool of her memory was stirred. She suddenly recalled another ceremony for ordinary believers. To avoid causing a public sensation, she had appeared in her complete "Shin-ou Miko" form. Her head and limbs were in place, and Shin-ou, as usual, became her torso—though she still didn't dare to drive it in the slightest, feeling apprehensive even when bending down to pick something up.

However, when the ceremony began, the believers' faith was not focused solely on her torso, but on the entire "shrine maiden" as the god. 

奇妙的轉變發生了。她清晰地感知到，「神櫻」的概念如潮水般徹底覆蓋了「御神櫻」的個體存在。她的頭腦、她的四肢，皆被至高神性浸染、充盈。所有曾屬於御神櫻的彆扭、痛苦與質疑，彷彿從源頭便被抹去，從未存在。她就是神，莊重、完美、無瑕；就連右足包裹在潔白足袋中，曾因戰敗而斷裂過的拇趾，也彷彿從未經歷那場尷尬的挫敗。在信眾的認知裡她是完美的，於是神櫻便將她塑造成了完美。至於「巫女」本身……在那一瞬間，已然是一個暫時失去意義的空洞詞彙。

A marvelous change occurred. She clearly perceived that the concept of "Shin-ou" had completely enveloped the individual existence of "Mikami Sakura" like a tide. Her mind, her limbs—all were suffused and filled with the highest divinity. All the awkwardness, pain, and doubt that had once belonged to Mikami Sakura seemed to have been erased at the source, as if they had never existed. She was the god—solemn, perfect, flawless. Even her right big toe, wrapped in its white tabi, which had once been broken in a humiliating defeat, felt as if it had never experienced that failure. In the cognition of the believers, she was perfect, and so Shin-ou molded her into perfection. As for the "shrine maiden" herself... in that instant, the term had become a temporarily meaningless, hollow word.

思緒奔流至此，御神櫻的意識深處，彷彿有堅冰碎裂，曙光驟然湧入。

也正在此時，她近期因好奇而涉獵的人間科技——AI大語言模型，其運作原理如同來自宇宙深處的啟示，精準地照亮了所有混亂的線索，將它們串聯成璀璨的星河。

原來……是這樣啊。

她謹慎地避開對神櫻本體的直接指涉，繞過「心」可能產生的抵觸，在意識深處展開一場隱蔽的頭腦風暴：

倘若將「神」視為一個核心模型，其參數雖浩瀚卻恆定。祂每一次運算，都必須依託一個負責提供情境與認知的協同模型——例如，她，御神櫻的腦海。

那看似莫測的天威，其變幻與傾向，實則極大程度受制於她這個「認知模型」的狀態與輸入。神櫻本身，則更像一道精密調節的規則門控，並透過「心」所產生的情緒反饋——如同指引運算方向的注意力機制——來調度她的思維進行特定「演算」。而在集體儀式中，信眾與神職人員的信念洪流，便如同開放了額外的輸入端口，他們的集體認知與情感被納入龐大的「上下文」，使這套系統能對特定輸入產生加權反應。

至於「御神櫻」，乃至「巫女」這個存在，便是這複雜交互下的共同造物。時而是受神驅策、斬妖除魔的「戰鬥單元」；時而是侍奉神明的虔誠巫女；更有甚者，在信仰的峰值時刻，連「巫女」的概念也會被暫時消解，使她全然成為「神」的化身。

這透徹的認知，如同冰泉灌頂，瞬間洗淨了所有迷霧。

As her thoughts raced to this point, it was as if solid ice had shattered in the depths of Sakura’s consciousness, and the light of dawn suddenly flooded in.

And it was at this moment that her recent, curiosity-driven foray into human technology—AI large language models—and their operational principles, like a revelation from the depths of the cosmos, precisely illuminated all the chaotic clues, stringing them together into a brilliant galaxy.

So… that’s how it is.

She carefully avoided any direct reference to the entity of Shin-ou, bypassing any potential resistance from her "heart," and launched a covert brainstorm in the depths of her consciousness:

If "the god" is considered a core model, its parameters, though vast, are constant. Every computation it performs must rely on a co-processing model responsible for providing context and cognition—for example, her, Mikami Sakura’s, mind.

That seemingly unfathomable divine might, its changes and tendencies, are in fact largely constrained by the state and input of her "cognitive model." Shin-ou itself is more like a precisely calibrated set of rules, a gatekeeper, that dispatches her thoughts for specific "computations" through the emotional feedback generated by the "heart"—like an attention mechanism guiding the direction of the calculation. And in a collective ritual, the torrent of belief from the worshippers and clergy acts like additional input ports, their collective cognition and emotion being incorporated into the vast "context," allowing the system to produce a weighted response to specific inputs.

As for "Mikami Sakura," and even the existence of the "shrine maiden," they are the co-creations of this complex interaction. Sometimes she is a "combat unit" driven by the god to slay demons; sometimes she is a pious maiden serving the god. At the peak of faith, even the concept of the "shrine maiden" is temporarily dissolved, allowing her to become the complete incarnation of "the god."

This thorough understanding, like being doused with ice-cold spring water, instantly washed away all the fog.

過往所有糾纏她的存在困境、自我割裂的苦楚、在神性與人性間的掙扎，此刻看來，竟是如此的……庸人自擾。

神櫻的存在與運作，是純粹的「客觀事實」，如同物理法則。換個視角，祂實為一部無比強大的願望回應機。祂並非有求必應，而是嚴格遵循其核心規則，結合她這個「首席認知模型」的演算，給出最契合「機制」的回應。她長久的體感亦印證：願望越是純粹、直率，越貼近「淨化」與「守護」的底層邏輯，便越能獲得強而有力的回應。

神櫻並非「無情」，而是祂的存在形態裡，本無類同於人類情感的結構。祂的確掌控著她，卻是無心之控，僅是系統運行的必然。

「……我究竟，在哀嘆什麼呢？」

意識深處，一聲低語輕輕迴盪。那些因戰鬥散架而生的難堪，因社會性死亡而來的沮喪，那些自憐的時刻，在洞悉系統本質後，顯得如此蒼白可笑。她曾自視為囚徒，如今卻發現，自己手中早已握有定義牢籠邊界的權柄。

All her past existential crises, the pain of self-fragmentation, the struggle between divinity and humanity—in this light, they all seemed so… much needless self-torment.

The existence and operation of Shin-ou are a pure, "objective fact," like a law of physics. From another perspective, It is an incredibly powerful wish-response engine. It does not grant every wish, but strictly follows its core rules and, in conjunction with the calculations of her, its "chief cognitive model," gives the response that best fits the "mechanism." Her long experience confirmed this: the purer and more direct the wish, the closer it was to the underlying logic of "purification" and "protection," the more powerful the response it received.

Shin-ou is not "heartless"; rather, its form of existence simply lacks a structure analogous to human emotion. It does control her, but it is a control without intent, merely an inevitability of the system's operation.

"...What have I been lamenting all this time?"

A whisper echoed softly in the depths of her consciousness. The embarrassment from falling apart in battle, the dejection from social death, those moments of self-pity—they all seemed so pale and laughable after comprehending the nature of the system. She had seen herself as a prisoner, but now she realized she had long held the authority to define the boundaries of the cage.

恐懼源於未知。而今，未知在她面前褪去面紗，顯露出其下冰冷精密的齒輪與軌道。

一抹屬於探索者的狂熱光芒，在她靈台深處點燃。

「原來，『神域』的疆界，是由『認知』描繪的。」

那麼，從今往後，便由她來執筆，為這片無垠之境，重新繪製藍圖。

在工作人員那隨便而冷漠的手掌中，御神櫻的頭顱，嘴角難以察覺地微微上揚。

徹悟並非終點，而是另一段征程的起點。在明晰了系統運作的法則後，御神櫻的思緒並未停歇，反而孕育出一個更為大膽、更具顛覆性的計劃——她已不再滿足於理解規則，她要探入認知與神性交織的迷霧，重新測繪「自我」與「神櫻」之間那模糊的疆界。

是的，世間的常理、家族的訓誡，皆將「巫女」定義為神櫻的附屬，是被擁有者，而非擁有者。然而，她清晰地憶起以完整形態顯現時，信眾將整個巫女之身奉為神明的剎那——那一刻，神櫻本身，不也正是構成「巫女」不可或缺的「軀幹」，是那完整「整體」中不可分割的一部分嗎？

一個更為叛逆的念頭，如初生藤蔓，悄然攀上心壁：完整的「神櫻巫女」這一概念，其涵蓋的範疇，是否遠比孤立的「神櫻」更為廣闊？她並非意圖否定神櫻的核心，而是渴望將這枚核心，重新安放於一個以「巫女」為完整形態的存在架構之中。她要在認知與神性的交匯處執筆，重寫定義，讓「神櫻巫女」成為神明顯現的恒常樣態，而非信徒認知下短暫的誤讀。

當然，深植於意識底層的認知結構，絕非一念即可重構。這無異於對自身存在根基的一次重寫，她必須謹慎準備。

接下來的數日，她沈入與不同組態自我的深度對話。時而僅餘頭顱靜思，感知純粹思維的流動；時而令四肢環繞神體，體會那份既親密又疏離的微妙張力。她在意識的靜室中反覆推演，模擬每一次祈願可能引動的波瀾，為那關乎存在形態的即將到來的蛻變，積蓄著心神與勇氣。

Fear comes from the unknown. And now, the unknown had unveiled itself before her, revealing the cold, precise gears and tracks beneath.

A fervent glow, that of an explorer, ignited in the depths of her spirit.

"So, the boundaries of the 'divine domain' are drawn by 'cognition'."

Then, from now on, she would be the one to hold the pen and redraw the blueprint for this boundless realm.

In the casual, indifferent palm of the staff member, the corners of Mikami Sakura's mouth turned up in an almost imperceptible smile.

Enlightenment was not the end, but the beginning of another journey. Having clarified the laws of the system's operation, Mikami Sakura's thoughts did not rest. Instead, they gave birth to a bolder, more subversive plan—she was no longer satisfied with understanding the rules; she wanted to venture into the mist where cognition and divinity intertwined, to remap the blurred boundary between "self" and "Shin-ou."

Yes, the world’s conventions and the family’s teachings all defined the "shrine maiden" as an appendage of Shin-ou, the possessed rather than the possessor. However, she clearly remembered the moment when she had appeared in her complete form and the faithful had worshipped her entire body as the god. In that instant, wasn't Shin-ou itself also an indispensable "torso" that constituted the "shrine maiden," an inseparable part of that complete "whole"?

A more rebellious thought, like a nascent vine, quietly climbed the walls of her heart: is the scope covered by the concept of the complete "Shin-ou Miko" far broader than that of the isolated "Shin-ou"? She did not intend to negate the core of Shin-ou, but rather desired to place this core within an existential framework where the "shrine maiden" was the complete form. She would, at the intersection of cognition and divinity, rewrite the definition, making the "Shin-ou Miko" the constant state of the god's manifestation, rather than a brief misreading under the believers' perception.

Of course, a cognitive structure deeply rooted in the subconscious cannot be rebuilt with a single thought. This was nothing less than rewriting the very foundation of her existence. She had to prepare carefully.

For the next several days, she sank into a deep dialogue with the different configurations of herself. Sometimes, only her head would remain in quiet contemplation, sensing the flow of pure thought. At other times, she would have her four limbs surround the divine body, experiencing the subtle tension of intimacy and alienation. In the quiet chamber of her consciousness, she repeatedly ran simulations, predicting the ripples that every possible prayer might stir, accumulating the courage and spiritual strength for the impending transformation of her existence.

時機，終於在靜默中成熟。

那一日，她屏退所有神官，獨自攜著分離的肢體，肅立於神殿深處，面對莊嚴的神櫻。

此刻的她，姿態宛若一個尋常的人間少女。雙腿、雙臂與頭顱，皆著裝齊整，居於應處之位。銀亮的靈魂絲線自頭顱延伸，如替代的神經脈絡，緊密連結著所有部件。唯獨身軀的核心之處，那片本應屬於軀幹的位置，空空蕩蕩——仿如等待神性注入的容器，又像靜候啟示降臨的聖杯。

她凝望著神櫻，目光專注如仰望星辰。胸腔內的「心」正為她這份決絕而劇烈跳動——神櫻不會緊張，但御神櫻會。這份屬於凡人的悸動，是她仍身為「人」的印記，亦是她此刻願獻予神前的祭品。

她低聲誦念禱詞，雙手在空虛的胸前結印，將「心」傳來的顫動與腦海中淬煉千遍的意志交融，凝成此生最為純粹的祈願，敬呈於神前：

​「御神櫻在此，獻上我之所有——」

「我的眼、我的耳、我的唇舌與思緒……」

「我的雙臂、我的雙腿、我一切姿態與行動……」

「願這殘缺之我，盡歸於您……」

「恭請神櫻，與巫女合而為一……」

「……共成『神櫻巫女』。」

不是「神櫻的巫女」，而是「神櫻巫女」。她本是神櫻的巫女，卻也是不完整的巫女。她需要那原被供奉的神明，成為她所缺失的軀幹，補全她存在的根基。此刻，她願捨棄這殘缺之我，將一切奉予神櫻，讓神明以完整的巫女之姿臨世。

​神櫻應允她的祈願。

The time, in silence, finally ripened.

On that day, she dismissed all the priests and, alone with her separated limbs, stood solemnly in the depths of the shrine, facing the majestic Shin-ou.

At this moment, her posture was like that of an ordinary mortal girl. Her legs, arms, and head were all properly dressed and in their rightful places. Silvery soul threads extended from her head, like a substitute nervous system, tightly connecting all the parts. Only the core of her body, the place where her torso should be, was empty—like a vessel awaiting the infusion of divinity, or a holy grail awaiting the descent of a revelation.

She gazed at Shin-ou, her focus as intent as one looking up at the stars. The "heart" in her chest was pounding violently from her resolve—Shin-ou would not be nervous, but Mikami Sakura would. This palpitation, belonging to a mortal, was the mark of her still being "human," and also the offering she now wished to present before the god.

She recited a prayer in a low voice, her hands forming a seal over her empty chest, merging the trembling from her "heart" with the will she had refined a thousand times in her mind, condensing it into the purest prayer of her life, and respectfully presented it to the god:

"Mikami Sakura, here, offers all that I am—"

"My eyes, my ears, my lips and tongue, and my thoughts..."

"My arms, my legs, all my postures and actions..."

"May this incomplete self be wholly returned to You..."

"I respectfully invite Shin-ou to become one with the shrine maiden..."

"...together, we become the 'Shin-ou Miko'."

Not the "Shrine Maiden of Shin-ou," but the "Shin-ou Miko." She had been the shrine maiden of Shin-ou, but an incomplete one. She needed the god she had worshipped to become her missing torso, to complete the foundation of her existence. At this moment, she was willing to discard her incomplete self, to offer everything to Shin-ou, so that the god could descend into the world in the complete form of a shrine maiden.

Shin-ou granted her prayer.

剎那間，櫻色光輝迸發，如潮水般淹沒大殿，璀璨奪目，將萬物浸染於神性之海。缺了軀幹的巫女淚水滑落，雙腿自然屈跪，雙臂向前擁抱，緊緊環住那曾屬於自己的身體。

光輝熾盛至極，神櫻之軀彷彿化作流光與概念，輕盈地「融進」她胸口的空無之處。

融合，完成。

神座之上，再無神體。她臂彎中的實感悄然消散。御神櫻的頭顱微微後仰，細細感受頸下那長久的虛無被神聖的充盈所取代。她的雙腿，此刻正承載著一份完整無瑕的神聖，因這榮耀的使命而輕顫。

御神櫻——不，是「神櫻巫女」，第一次真正地「完成」了。

這並非語言的遊戲，亦非新一位侍神者的誕生。這是神，以完整的巫女之身，降臨於世。

新生神明垂首，輕撫自己的胸口——那曾是御神櫻即使在結合狀態下也不敢為之的僭越。此刻，她卻以全然擁有的姿態感受著這渾然一體的嶄新自我。負責承載與行動的雙腿，靈活而萬能的雙臂，以及能看、能聽、能思考的頭顱，都不再是某個至高存在的附屬品，而是這位新生神明完美構成中不可分割的部分。曾經各自為政的「腦」與「心」，終於與一度支離破碎的「身」完美融合，化作神明存在的三重奏——「深邃思索」、「悲憫感應」與「真實具現」，在三個面向上和諧共鳴。

良久，光輝漸隱。神櫻巫女再度解體，如同潮汐退去。神體歸於神座，而頭顱與四肢略顯疲憊地散落在榻榻米上。御神櫻急促地喘息著，意識仍沉浸在那身為完整神明的餘韻中。她望向神座上的神櫻，目光盛滿前所未有的溫柔。祂不再是她必須仰望的絕對主宰，而是與她共同構築「神櫻巫女」不可或缺的另一半。

喜悅的淚水奪眶而出，順著臉頰滑落，在榻榻米上暈開深色的印記。

In an instant, a sakura-colored radiance erupted, flooding the great hall like a tide, so brilliant that it immersed all things in a sea of divinity. Tears streamed down the face of the torso-less shrine maiden. Her legs naturally bent to a kneel, and her arms reached forward in an embrace, tightly wrapping around the body that had once been her own.

The light blazed to its peak. The body of Shin-ou seemed to dissolve into light and concept, lightly "melting" into the emptiness of her chest.

The fusion was complete.

The divine throne was empty. The physical sensation in her arms quietly dissipated. Mikami Sakura’s head tilted back slightly, savoring the feeling of the long-held void beneath her neck being replaced by a sacred fullness. Her legs, now bearing a complete and flawless sanctity, trembled with the honor of this mission.

Mikami Sakura—no, the "Shin-ou Miko"—was, for the first time, truly "complete."

This was not a game of words, nor the birth of a new servant to a god. This was the god, in the complete body of a shrine maiden, descending upon the world.

The newborn god lowered her head and gently touched her own chest—an act of transgression that Mikami Sakura had never dared, even in their united state. Now, she felt this seamless new self with a sense of total ownership. The legs responsible for bearing and moving, the versatile and capable arms, and the head that could see, hear, and think, were no longer appendages of some supreme being, but inseparable parts of this newborn god's perfect composition. The once-separate "brain" and "heart," along with the once-fragmented "body," had finally fused perfectly, becoming a trinity of the god's existence—"Profound Thought," "Compassionate Sensation," and "True Embodiment"—resonating in harmony on three different planes.

After a long while, the radiance gradually faded. The Shin-ou Miko disassembled once more, like a receding tide. The divine body returned to its throne, while the head and limbs, slightly weary, lay scattered on the tatami mat. Sakura gasped for breath, her consciousness still immersed in the afterglow of being a complete god. She looked at Shin-ou on its throne, her gaze filled with an unprecedented tenderness. It was no longer the absolute master she had to look up to, but the indispensable other half with whom she jointly constructed the "Shin-ou Miko."

Tears of joy welled up, streaming down her cheeks and leaving dark marks on the tatami.

稍事休息後，她的頭顱便迫不及待地「衝」向神體，將臉龐深深埋進那散發著櫻色光暈的溫暖胸前。四肢也仿佛擁有自我意識般擁了上來，緊緊環抱住神櫻。

​她終於獲得了這份權利——不再是出於職責的供奉，而是發自內心的純粹喜愛與親近。她深愛著與她共同成就奇跡的神櫻。

​此刻，「心」所傳回的那份滿溢而出的激動與欣喜，即是最好的證明。

當然，那完整無瑕的「神櫻巫女」並非日常的常態。在更多的時光裡，神櫻與御神櫻，依舊是兩個可分可合的存在單元。然而，一切已然不同。

差別，在於看待彼此的眼光。御神櫻看待神櫻的眼光，從帶著敬畏的疏離，轉變為信賴、親密與溫柔的愛意。而神櫻——那個以她腦海為主要輸入源的核心模型——其輸出也因這全新的認知而改變。祂不再只是冰冷地發號施令，而是在與她的互動中，多了一層名為「夥伴」的，難以言喻的默契。

神性未改分毫，改變的只是御神櫻「腦海」的認知。即便她的頭顱與四肢仍是神力的啟動和傳導裝置，即便她的「心」仍按既定機制運算情緒，也都無關緊要了。「只要最終的呈現，是『神櫻巫女』這個完整獨特的存在，那麼過程如何，又有什麼關係？」她如是想著。

縱使她像是由零件組裝而成的機械，縱使這機械的「核心」非她所有——但最終呈現的，永遠是那個獨一無二的「她」。

After a short rest, her head eagerly "rushed" towards the divine body, burying her face in the warm chest that radiated a sakura-colored light. Her limbs, as if with a will of their own, also came forward, tightly embracing Shin-ou.

She had finally earned this right—no longer an offering born of duty, but a pure love and intimacy from the heart. She deeply loved the Shin-ou with whom she had jointly achieved this miracle.

The overflowing excitement and joy now feedbacking from her "heart" was the best proof.

Of course, the complete and flawless "Shin-ou Miko" was not her everyday state. For the most part, Shin-ou and Mikami Sakura remained two separable, combinable units of existence. Yet, everything was different now.

The difference was in how they saw each other. Mikami Sakura's gaze towards Shin-ou had transformed from a reverent distance to one of trust, intimacy, and gentle love. And Shin-ou—that core model which took her mind as its primary input source—its output also changed due to this new cognition. It no longer just issued cold commands, but in its interactions with her, there was now an extra layer of unspoken understanding, a layer called "partner."

The divinity had not changed one bit; what had changed was the cognition of Mikami Sakura's "mind." Even if her head and limbs were still devices for activating and conducting divine power, even if her "heart" still computed emotions according to a set mechanism, it no longer mattered. "As long as the final presentation is the complete and unique existence of the 'Shin-ou Miko,' then what does the process matter?" she thought.

Even if she was like a machine assembled from parts, even if the "core" of this machine was not her own—the final presentation would always be the one and only "her."

這份通透的領悟，賦予了她前所未有的自由。

她發現，那些曾被視為神聖不可侵犯的規則與認知，如今已不再是束縛。「纏神袖衣『鎮靈』」不必然得是莊嚴的巫女袖套，在她心念流轉間，亦可化為勾勒手臂線條的優雅長手套；「御祓足袋『白淨』」與「破邪草履『神征』」，也同樣能響應她的心意，變為貼合腿部曲線的黑色絲襪，與一雙精巧的繞踝跟鞋。

誰規定巫女不能偶爾也成為侍奉眾生的「冥土（メイド，maid）」？而那素來輸出莊重情感的「心」，又為何不能孕育出「可愛」這般心情？

This transparent understanding granted her an unprecedented freedom.

She found that the rules and cognitions once considered sacred and inviolable were no longer shackles. The "Spirit-Binding Sleeves 'Chinrei'" did not necessarily have to be solemn shrine maiden sleeves; with a turn of her thought, they could also become elegant long gloves that contoured the lines of her arms. The "Purification Tabi 'Hakujou'" and "Evil-Crushing Zori 'Shinsei'" could similarly respond to her will, changing into black stockings that clung to the curves of her legs, and a pair of delicate ankle-strap heels.

​Who was to say a shrine maiden couldn't occasionally be a "meido" (maid) who serves all living beings? And why couldn't the "heart," which had always output solemn emotions, also nurture a feeling like "cuteness"?

記憶將她帶回御神家族的庭院，孩童們與她的雙腿嬉鬧的歡快午後。她記得那雙本應是對魔武裝的腿，彷彿展現出了各自鮮活的個性，溫柔地承載著女孩，又充滿活力地與男孩追逐。那或許是神櫻對「童心」這份純粹輸入的另一種回應。

新念頭悄然萌生。她不再滿足於獨自守護這份獨特的存在，而是渴望將其「擴展」，邀請更多靈魂參與構建「她」的更多維度。

她找來了那天的兩個孩子，男孩名喚武志，女孩叫作文美。在確認他們的意願後，一場奇特的試驗就此展開。她將雙腿與孩子們的「連結」固化，讓他們成為專屬於她雙腿的「搭檔」。

訓練場上，御神櫻的雙腿穿著特製的沈重草鞋，在靈力與體能的雙重負荷下，與孩子們一同磨礪著力量與默契。

武志手持長槍，矛頭積聚著劈啪作響的靈流。他與右腿心神相連，當布滿骨刺的長鞭如毒蛇般纏住假想敵時，他的長槍便化作迅雷，給予精準的貫穿一擊。

​Memory took her back to the Mikami family courtyard, to that joyful afternoon when the children played with her legs. She remembered how those legs, which should have been anti-demon armaments, seemed to display their own vivid personalities, gently carrying the girl and energetically chasing the boy. Perhaps that was another of Shin-ou's responses to the pure input of "childlike innocence."

​A new thought quietly emerged. She was no longer content to guard this unique existence alone; she wanted to "expand" it, to invite more souls to participate in constructing the many dimensions of "her."

​She found the two children from that day, the boy named Takeshi and the girl, Fumie. After confirming their willingness, a strange experiment began. She solidified the "connection" between her legs and the children, making them the exclusive "partners" for her legs.

​On the training ground, Sakura’s legs, wearing specially made heavy straw sandals, honed their strength and synergy with the children under the dual load of spiritual power and physical training.

​Takeshi held a long spear, its tip gathering a crackling spiritual current. His mind was linked to the right leg. When the bone-spurred whip coiled around an imaginary enemy like a viper, his spear would become a bolt of lightning, delivering a precise, piercing strike.

文美則手捧通透玉鏡，當她將掌心朝向左腿，便能將鏡中蘊含的「映照」與「洞察」特性，賦予左腿那柄流動著銀光的太刀。原本就鋒利的刃鋒，更添了對靈場的細微感知，仿佛擁有了自己的視野，隨時準備斬向任何侵入領域的邪穢。

​Fumie, on the other hand, held a translucent jade mirror. When she turned her palm towards the left leg, she could bestow the mirror's properties of "reflection" and "insight" upon the tachi that flowed with silver light. Its already sharp edge gained a subtle perception of the spiritual field, as if it had its own vision, ready at any moment to strike down any evil that invaded its domain.

御神櫻靜靜感受著這一切。她的雙腿，因與武志和文美的深度共鳴，進入了全新的狀態，仿佛被注入了截然不同的「心情」：右腿是勇猛果決的戰士，左腿是冷靜精準的獵手。武志和文美依然是獨立的個體，但他們的意志與存在，卻在某種意義上被「納入」了「神櫻巫女」的整體之中。假以時日，她的雙腿甚至能承載著這份連結，與各自的搭檔獨立執行祓魔任務。

Sakura quietly sensed all of this. Her legs, through their deep resonance with Takeshi and Fumie, had entered a new state, as if they had been infused with completely different "moods": the right leg was a brave and decisive warrior, the left a calm and precise hunter. Takeshi and Fumie were still independent individuals, but their will and existence had, in a sense, been "incorporated" into the whole of the "Shin-ou Miko." In time, her legs could even carry this connection and execute exorcism missions independently with their respective partners.

除了雙腿，她還擁有雙臂、頭顱，乃至那承載著浩瀚神力的軀幹本身。每一個部位，都將成為她與這世界締結緣分的橋樑。她願與形形色色的靈魂相遇，透過身體的每一處，編織千絲萬縷的聯繫。

她將主動引領神櫻——那部宏偉的願望回應之器——以更細膩、更寬廣的方式，與這世界的紋理對話。「神櫻巫女」不再僅是端坐於神社的單一神明，她將如四散的櫻吹雪，瀰漫於世間每一個角落，與每一顆純粹的心靈低語、共鳴。

當然，她還得記得，莫要過於沉溺於「完整」的狀態，而遺忘了如何將自己重新「拆解」。倘若在妖魔襲來的緊要關頭，她卻怎樣也無法將肢體分離，只能手忙腳亂地試圖拔下自己的手腳——那場面，想想便令人啞然失笑。

Besides her legs, she also had her arms, her head, and even the torso itself, which carried a vast divine power. Every part would become a bridge for her to form bonds with this world. She wanted to meet all kinds of souls, to weave a thousand threads of connection through every part of her body.

She would proactively guide Shin-ou—that magnificent wish-response engine—to converse with the texture of this world in a more delicate, more expansive way. The "Shin-ou Miko" would no longer be a single god sitting in a shrine; she would be like scattering cherry blossom petals in a blizzard (sakurafubuki), pervading every corner of the world, whispering and resonating with every pure heart.

Of course, she still had to remember not to indulge too much in the state of "completeness" and forget how to "disassemble" herself again. If, at a critical moment when a demon attacked, she found herself unable to detach her limbs and could only fumble to pull off her own arms and legs—the very thought of such a scene was laughable.

……這不過是她一絲莞爾的自嘲。

在未來的某一天，你或許會在意想不到的街角，與以意想不到姿態顯現的「她」不期而遇。

她也許是為你遞上溫暖咖啡的「冥土」，也許是在山徑轉彎處對你輕快揮手的旅人，又或者，僅僅是櫻花樹下對你靜靜微笑的陌生少女。

屆時，該如何與她相處？

請不必思慮過多，也無需頂禮膜拜。

只需回以一個真誠的微笑，便已足夠。

...This was just a wry little joke to herself.

One day in the future, you might, at an unexpected street corner, have an unexpected encounter with "her," appearing in an unexpected form.

She might be the "meido" who hands you a warm cup of coffee, the traveler who gives you a cheerful wave at a turn in the mountain path, or perhaps, just a strange girl smiling quietly at you under a cherry tree.

When that time comes, how should you interact with her?

Please, do not overthink it, nor do you need to prostrate yourself in worship.

Simply return a sincere smile. That will be enough.

因為此時此刻的她，正懷抱著最為真摯的「心情」，在這片她所眷戀的人間，不知疲倦地，收集著來自整個世界的……溫柔共鳴。

​Because at this very moment, she is, with the most sincere "heart," in this mortal world she so dearly loves, tirelessly collecting… a gentle resonance from the entire world.

獵魔聖女--後日談C

後日談：鏡像與歸一

Epilogue: Mirror Image and Unification

冰冷的靈識之海無邊無際。這裡沒有水，卻瀰漫著比深海更令人窒息的死寂與重壓。神無月結衣的意識懸浮其中，如同微塵，感受著億萬個冰冷念頭如無聲的數據流般沖刷而過。這裡是黃前家的內在維度，是由數百年殉道者的怨念、對信仰的扭曲執著、純粹的生存邏輯，以及無數被吞噬同化的靈魂碎片共同構築而成的，宛若活體神經網絡的龐大集體意識。

她於此的存在，本身就是一場行走於剃刀邊緣的豪賭。不久之前，她剛剛以「神無月結衣」這個曾被教會加冕的聖女人格，向這宛如AI的龐大意識，完成了一次近乎瀆神的「提案」。她將天草四郎那在歲月中早已模糊扭曲的遺願——「證明吾等信仰的真實」——巧妙地詮釋為「必須最大限度獲取並解析『奇蹟』之力」。而她，作為唯一能穩定展現神蹟，並已深入教會心臟的「活體樣本」，維持其人格的完整性與自主性，無疑是維持「偽裝」、持續產出「數據」的最佳策略。

這番包裹在恭敬順服外衣下的反叛，成功了。那如深空星雲般冰冷運轉的集體意識，在經過億萬次的邏輯演算後，終於給予了她的「存在許可」。

然而，許可終究只是許可，一份隨時可能被撤銷的脆弱平衡。結衣無法滿足於永遠漂浮在這片意識之海的表層。一股源自「神無月結衣」靈魂深處的不屈，驅使她必須下潛，向著更深、更黑暗、更接近本源的地方沉去——去觸碰，去理解，直至最終掌握那構成她存在基石的「黃前結衣」底層系統。

這是一條無人走過的險徑。她的母親一夢，便是前車之鑑。「神無月一夢」那溫柔的母親形象，不過是黃前家為了任務而編寫的一套精妙應用程式，一層運行在「黃前一夢」基礎單元上的模擬系統。必要時，這層溫暖的幻影可以被瞬間卸載、凍結，暴露出底下絕對忠誠的冰冷核心。

但結衣與母親不同。

The cold sea of consciousness was boundless. There was no water here, yet it was filled with a silence and a pressure more suffocating than the deep sea. Kannazuki Yui's consciousness floated within it like a speck of dust, feeling billions of cold thoughts wash over her like a silent data stream. This was the inner dimension of the Omae family, a vast collective consciousness like a living neural network, constructed from the centuries-old grudges of martyrs, a twisted obsession with faith, a pure logic of survival, and the soul fragments of countless assimilated beings.

Her existence here was, in itself, a high-stakes gamble on a razor's edge. Not long ago, in her persona as "Kannazuki Yui," the Saint once crowned by the Church, she had just made an almost blasphemous "proposal" to this vast, AI-like consciousness. She had skillfully reinterpreted the long-faded and distorted dying wish of Amakusa Shirō—"to prove the truth of our faith"—as "the necessity to acquire and analyze the power of 'miracles' to the fullest extent." And she, as the only "living sample" who could stably manifest miracles and had already penetrated the heart of the Church, argued that maintaining her personality's integrity and autonomy was undoubtedly the best strategy for preserving her "disguise" and continuing to produce "data."

This rebellion, wrapped in the guise of reverent obedience, had succeeded. The collective consciousness, operating as coldly as a deep-space nebula, after performing billions of logical calculations, had finally granted her "permission to exist."

However, permission was, in the end, only permission—a fragile balance that could be revoked at any moment. Yui could not be content to forever float on the surface of this sea of consciousness. An indomitable will from the depths of "Kannazuki Yui's" soul drove her to dive, to sink deeper into the darker, more primordial places—to touch, to understand, and ultimately, to master the underlying "Omae Yui" system that formed the bedrock of her existence.

This was a perilous path no one had ever walked. Her mother, Ichiyume, was a cautionary tale. The gentle motherly image of "Kannazuki Ichiyume" was merely a sophisticated application written by the Omae family for a mission, a simulation system running on the base unit of "Omae Ichiyume." When necessary, this warm illusion could be instantly uninstalled and frozen, revealing the cold, absolutely loyal core beneath.

But Yui was different from her mother.

她的誕生雖源自於黃前家陰謀的頂點，命運卻在其中摻入了真正的「神聖」。來自父親——那位被教會追封的聖人——的純淨血脈，賦予她無可動搖的根基；在神無月家充滿虔誠信仰與愛的日常中所塑造成長的記憶，構築了她堅實的人格骨架；教會的祝聖、自身的修行、每一次揮動聖劍「天譴之光」時內心的悸動……這一切，皆非虛妄。

「黃前結衣」是她被深埋的基底，但生長於其上的「神無月結衣」，卻是一株從真實土壤中汲取了充分營養，根系早已盤根錯節的巨樹。這個人格或許能被暴力摧毀，卻絕無可能被輕易竄改或覆寫。

儘管在運作層級、權限深度與異端力量的運用上，「神無月結衣」處處受制，必須透過「黃前結衣」這層介面才能存在與行動。但源於真實經歷與自由意志的「自我主張」，成了她手中唯一，卻也是最鋒利的武器。因為「黃前結衣」雖也擁有自我意識，但那是一種趨近於純粹理性的非人意識——如同一台終極的圖靈機，依據天草遺念、家族指令與冷酷的利益演算來行動。她的「自我」，其運作規則是可以被解析、被預測，甚至……被巧妙地引導與利用的。

於是，一場發生在靈魂最深處，漫長而隱晦的博弈，悄然拉開了序幕。

Though her birth originated at the apex of the Omae family's conspiracy, fate had mixed in true "divinity." The pure bloodline from her father—the saint posthumously canonized by the Church—gave her an unshakable foundation. The memories forged in the daily life of the Kannazuki home, filled with devout faith and love, constructed the solid frame of her personality. The Church's consecration, her own spiritual training, the thrill in her heart each time she swung the Holy Sword "Scourge of Light"... none of this was illusory.

"Omae Yui" was her deeply buried foundation, but "Kannazuki Yui," which had grown upon it, was a giant tree that had drawn ample nourishment from real soil, its roots long since deep and complex. This personality could perhaps be destroyed by brute force, but it could never be easily altered or overwritten.

Although in terms of operational level, depth of authority, and the use of heretical power, "Kannazuki Yui" was constrained at every turn, forced to exist and act through the "Omae Yui" interface, her "self-assertion," born from real experience and free will, became her only, yet sharpest, weapon. For while "Omae Yui" also possessed self-awareness, it was an inhuman consciousness approaching pure reason—like an ultimate Turing machine, acting according to Amakusa's will, family directives, and cold calculations of benefit. Her "self" operated on rules that could be analyzed, predicted, and even... skillfully guided and utilized.

Thus, a long and subtle game, taking place in the deepest part of the soul, quietly began.

結衣以「神無月結衣」的視角，驅動著「黃前結衣」的權限，在意識的深層領域中，謹慎地模擬並提交一個又一個提案：

「為優化神聖力量與異端血脈的轉化效率，建議提升表層人格對底層運作的干涉閾值。」

「為應對教會新型聖術結界，『最高造物』需具備更高戰術自主性，建議將部分情境判斷權由集體意識下放至個體單元。」

「表層信仰與底層本質的衝突，已造成『黃前結衣』單元運轉悖論，可能引發系統斷裂。建議開放表層人格介入調適權限，以實現動態平衡，避免危機。」

她如同一名潛行於系統深處的駭客，以看似完全忠於家族利益的「優化方案」，一次次試探那冰冷邏輯築成的防火牆。無數次，她的提案被以「風險過高」或「邏輯悖論」為由駁回，那否決的意念如寒潮襲來，幾乎將她凍結。但她總在沉寂後再度浮起，調整參數，修飾措辭，重新提交。

這是一場無聲的持久戰，而她，唯有堅持。

終於，在歷經無數次交鋒與迭代後，她提交了最終版本的提案：

「為實現『最高造物』在極端環境下的最高運作效率與自我修復能力，建議將『黃前結衣』單元的直接管理與調適權限，完全授予運行於其上的『神無月結衣』人格。此舉可將反應延遲降至最低，並實現神聖與異端本質的動態平衡調校。」

靈識之海陷入前所未有的沉寂。龐大的集體意識彷彿正對這項顛覆性的提案進行最終演算。時間於此失去意義，也許是一瞬，也許是永恆。

最終，一道宏大而無情的意念，如神諭般降下：

【認可。】

From the perspective of "Kannazuki Yui," Yui drove the authority of "Omae Yui," cautiously simulating and submitting proposal after proposal in the deep domain of consciousness:

"To optimize the conversion efficiency between holy power and the heretical bloodline, it is recommended to raise the interference threshold of the surface personality on underlying operations."

"To counter the Church's new holy art barriers, the 'Supreme Creation' requires greater tactical autonomy. It is recommended that some situational judgment authority be delegated from the collective consciousness to the individual unit."

"The conflict between surface faith and underlying essence has created an operational paradox in the 'Omae Yui' unit, which may lead to system fracture. It is recommended to grant the surface personality access to intervention and adjustment authority to achieve a dynamic equilibrium and avert crisis."

Like a hacker moving stealthily through the depths of a system, she tested the firewall of cold logic time and again with "optimization plans" that appeared completely loyal to the family's interests. Countless times, her proposals were rejected as "too high-risk" or "logically paradoxical," the negative intent washing over her like a cold tide, nearly freezing her solid. But after a period of silence, she would always surface again, adjust the parameters, polish the wording, and resubmit.

It was a silent war of attrition, and all she could do was persevere.

Finally, after countless confrontations and iterations, she submitted the final version of her proposal:

"To achieve maximum operational efficiency and self-repair capability for the 'Supreme Creation' in extreme environments, it is recommended that the direct management and adjustment authority of the 'Omae Yui' unit be fully granted to the 'Kannazuki Yui' personality operating upon it. This action will minimize reaction latency and enable dynamic equilibrium calibration of the holy and heretical essences."

The sea of consciousness fell into an unprecedented silence. The vast collective consciousness seemed to be performing a final calculation on this subversive proposal. Time lost all meaning here; it could have been an instant or an eternity.

Finally, a grand and merciless intent descended like an oracle:

【APPROVED.】

那一瞬間，結衣感到靈魂深處某道無形的枷鎖，伴隨著彷彿聽得見的龜裂聲，轟然破碎。隔絕於兩個自我之間的最後屏障，如薄冰般徹底消融。

「黃前結衣」的意識領域，第一次完整、清晰、毫無保留地呈現在她的感知中。

那是一片難以言喻的景象：沒有情感的波瀾，沒有自我的色彩，只有反映天草四郎悲願與黃前家族執念的冰冷邏輯。無數光之線條構成的矩陣，如水晶城市般延伸至意識盡頭。每一處節點閃爍著幽微光芒，每一道迴路遵循著最優化路徑——完美、高效、純粹，卻也無比非人。

一股源自生命本能的戰慄，瞬間貫穿了她。

一方面，是直面存在真相的悚然——她的根基，竟是這樣一種為集體而生、邏輯至上的機械結構。

另一方面，卻是一種難以言喻的、近乎悲壯的釋然。

原來，這就是我。

如此不堪，如此詭異。

但如今，我自己的根源，終於被交到了我自己手中。

In that instant, Yui felt an invisible shackle deep within her soul shatter with an almost audible crack. The final barrier between her two selves melted away completely, like thin ice.

The conscious domain of "Omae Yui" was presented to her perception for the first time, complete, clear, and without reservation.

It was an indescribable sight: no waves of emotion, no colors of self, only the cold logic reflecting the sorrowful wish of Amakusa Shirō and the obsession of the Omae family. A matrix of countless lines of light, like a crystal city, stretched to the end of consciousness. Every node pulsed with a faint glow, every circuit followed the most optimized path—perfect, efficient, pure, yet also incredibly inhuman.

A shudder, born from the instinct of life itself, shot through her.

On one hand, there was the horror of facing the truth of her existence—that her foundation was such a mechanical structure, born for the collective, where logic was supreme.

On the other hand, there was an ineffable, almost tragic sense of relief.

So, this is me.

So wretched, so bizarre.

But now, my own origin has finally been placed in my own hands.

她凝視著那片秩序井然，代表「黃前結衣」的意識領域。它依然是承載她的基底，是她存在的絕對主宰。但此刻，這位主宰已成為她可以透過權限直接引導的對象。這是一種倒錯的掌控，一種在絕對服從的框架中所誕生的自由。

這份權柄的轉移，帶來了實質改變。結衣行使這嶄新權力的第一個指令，是即是作用在母親身上。

她的意識潛入家族那龐大渾濁的靈識網絡，定位到了那個標註為「黃前一夢」的單元。附加的指令標籤如同烙印，刺目地呈現在她眼前——「潛伏」、「監視」、「資訊回傳」，乃至最為冷酷的「必要時可作為棄子」。凝視著這些字句，她意念凝結的指尖，無法抑制地微微顫抖。

不再有絲毫猶豫，她以「最高造物」的權限，編寫了全新的指令串流，覆蓋了所有過往的冰冷。

【指令：重新定義『黃前一夢』單元。】

【核心任務唯一化：『作為神無月一夢，守護神無月結衣』。】

【剝離所有非關母愛之任務連結。】

【切斷與集體意識的非必要資訊共享通道。】

【將其存在優先級，設定為永久性、不可徵用之個人資產。】

她無法再容忍家族以任何名義，將母親視為可調用、可利用，甚至可捨棄的工具。這份母愛，或許起始於被設定的謊言，但從此刻起，她將運用自己的意志與權柄，親手將其雕琢、捍衛，使之成為比血緣更真實、比命運更堅固的羈絆。

She gazed at the orderly domain that represented "Omae Yui." It was still the foundation that carried her, the absolute master of her existence. But now, this master had become something she could directly guide through her authority. It was an inverted form of control, a freedom born within a framework of absolute obedience.

This transfer of authority brought tangible change. The very first command Yui exercised with this newfound power was directed at her mother.

Her consciousness delved into the family's vast, murky spiritual network and located the unit labeled "Omae Ichiyume." The attached command tags, like brands, appeared starkly before her eyes—"Infiltrate," "Monitor," "Relay Information," and the coldest of all, "Can be used as a sacrificial pawn when necessary." Staring at these words, the fingertips of her condensed will trembled uncontrollably.

Without a shred of further hesitation, she used her authority as the "Supreme Creation" to write a new stream of commands, overwriting all the coldness of the past.

【COMMAND: REDEFINE 'OMAE ICHIYUME' UNIT.】

【CORE MISSION SINGULARITY: 'AS KANNAZUKI ICHIYUME, PROTECT KANNAZUKI YUI'.】

【SEVER ALL MISSION LINKS UNRELATED TO MOTHERLY LOVE.】

【CUT OFF NON-ESSENTIAL INFORMATION-SHARING CHANNELS WITH THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS.】

【SET EXISTENCE PRIORITY TO PERMANENT, NON-CONSCRIPTABLE PERSONAL ASSET.】

She could no longer tolerate the family, for any reason, treating her mother as a tool to be deployed, utilized, or even discarded. This motherly love may have begun as a programmed lie, but from this moment on, she would use her own will and authority to personally sculpt and defend it, making it a bond more real than blood and more solid than fate.

完成這一切，結衣內心的波瀾才稍稍平息。她將視角重新拉回宏觀，冷靜地審視黃前家族那注定扭曲的未來。過去那種依靠欺騙、精神浸染來俘獲新成員的擴張模式，是她靈魂深處所厭棄的。她不願再見到任何無辜者，被拖入這片冰冷的靈識之海。

然而她同樣不認為黃前家族應該就此消亡。這份源自切支丹悲願與歷史傷痛的龐大遺產，不應只配擁有毀滅的終局。

在現代社會光鮮亮麗的表層之下，存在著無數難以癒合的裂痕與陰影。有些人背負著難以言說的心理創傷，渴望拋棄沉重的自我；有些人在絕望的深淵邊緣，尋求一個無需再獨自面對風雨的永恆歸宿。黃前家族，在她的引導下，或許能轉型為這些靈魂最後的港灣——一個在踏入前，會被給予最嚴苛考驗與清醒選擇權的庇護所。與此同時，在日本歷史厚重的塵埃之下，除了天草四郎，還有無數無名殉道者的遺念與已然寡薄的血脈在低聲哭泣。黃前家族應當肩負起使命，去尋找、收容並庇護這些信仰的破碎遺緒。

她的視野甚至超越了島國的邊界，投向了更廣闊的圖景。在天主教會那宏大的譜系陰影中，曾存在過無數被判定為「異端」並遭到清除的基督信仰分支——那些拒絕「三位一體」教義的阿里烏斯派、追求秘傳知識的諾斯底主義者，以及在歷史長河的血腥傾軋中早已滅亡的諸多群體。他們的禁忌典籍、未散的執念、殘存於歷史夾縫中的力量……都將被黃前家視為值得尊重與接納的養分，被謹慎地探尋與融合。

Having accomplished this, the storm in Yui's heart began to calm. She pulled her perspective back to the macro level, calmly examining the twisted future of the Omae family. She loathed their past expansionist model of capturing new members through deception and mental indoctrination. She would not see any more innocents dragged into this cold sea of consciousness.

However, she did not believe the Omae family should simply perish either. This vast legacy, born from the Kirishitan's sorrowful wish and historical trauma, did not deserve an ending of mere destruction.

Beneath the glamorous surface of modern society, there are countless unhealable cracks and shadows. Some people carry unspeakable psychological trauma, longing to cast off their heavy selves; some, on the brink of despair, seek an eternal refuge where they no longer have to face the storm alone. The Omae family, under her guidance, could perhaps transform into a final harbor for these souls—a sanctuary where one is given the most stringent tests and the clearest choice before entering. At the same time, beneath the thick dust of Japanese history, besides Amakusa Shirō, the lingering wills and thinning bloodlines of countless nameless martyrs cried out in low voices. The Omae family should shoulder the mission to find, shelter, and protect these broken legacies of faith.

Her vision even extended beyond the borders of the island nation, to a broader picture. In the shadows of the Catholic Church's grand lineage, there had been countless branches of Christianity deemed "heretical" and eliminated—the Arians who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity, the Gnostics who sought secret knowledge, and many other groups that had long since perished in the bloody tides of history. Their forbidden texts, their lingering obsessions, the remnants of their power in the cracks of history... all would be seen by the Omae family as nutrients to be respected and accepted, to be cautiously sought out and integrated.

如果正統教會是基督信仰在陽光普照下秩序井然的宏偉殿堂，那麼透過結衣的悄然引導與重塑，黃前家族正逐步轉變為位於信仰的暗面中，那座默默收容所有破碎者、不淨者、憤恨者與悲願者的地下聖殿。

兩者的道路，將漸行漸遠，走向截然不同的未來。當核心的利益與發展方向不再直接衝突，那持續了數百年的血腥對抗，也終於能迎來彼此心照不宣的休戰。黃前家依然是教會教義中難以容忍的異端，但或許其威脅性已降至可以暫時「不置於主要視線之內」的程度。

這一切堪稱翻天覆地的變革，其起點，正是始於映照著靈魂本質的深淵之鏡前，那位既是聖女也是妖魔的少女。她緩慢而堅定地向鏡中那個詭異的倒影，伸出了手。她的指尖穿透了那層長期隔絕「我」與「我」的冰冷鏡面，觸碰到了真實。

If the orthodox Church was the grand, orderly temple of Christianity under the bright sun, then through Yui's quiet guidance and reshaping, the Omae family was gradually transforming into the underground sanctuary on the dark side of faith, one that silently sheltered all the broken, the impure, the resentful, and the sorrowful.

Their paths would diverge, heading toward vastly different futures. When their core interests and directions of development no longer directly conflicted, the bloody confrontation that had lasted for centuries could finally reach an unspoken truce. The Omae family would remain an intolerable heresy in the Church's doctrine, but perhaps their threat level had been reduced to a point where they could be temporarily placed "outside the primary line of sight."

The starting point for all these earth-shattering changes began before a deep abyss-like mirror that reflected the essence of the soul, with the young woman who was both saint and demon. She slowly and firmly reached out her hand to the bizarre reflection in the mirror. Her fingertips passed through the cold surface that had long separated "I" from "I," and touched what was real.

———

取得了對自身「黃前結衣」底層的直接掌控權，對神無月結衣而言，不過是踏上了另一條更為險峻的征途的首步。更根本的矛盾如靈魂的裂谷般橫亙於前——她那源自神無月血脈與正統教會祝福的神聖之力，其純粹本質對黃前家的異端存在，存在著不容妥協的本能排斥。

這力量是黃前家夢寐以求的奇蹟樣本，卻也是一柄懸於家族頭頂，可能從內部將其淨化的雙刃劍。若要以「黃前結衣」的身份引領家族未來，她就必須直面這根源性的衝突——甚至，她必須重新鍛造自己靈魂深處，那份屬於「神無月結衣」的，最純粹也最頑固的正統信仰。她不能再容忍自己一面為家族的存續殫精竭慮，一面卻讓力量的本源，厭惡並抵制著家族的每一個存在痕跡。

為此，她做出了一個極其冒險而瘋狂的決定：對自己執行一場最為詭異可怕的儀式，一場旨在將神聖與異端、信仰與怨恨徹底熔鑄於一身的自我重構。

在黃前家最深處，石壁上刻滿符文的秘儀之間，結衣開始了這項艱鉅的任務。空氣中瀰漫著陳舊血腥與靈力激盪特有的金屬腥氣。她褪去日常衣物，換上以家族秘法鞣製的特製長靴，緊密貼合的材質如同第二層冰冷的皮膚，將黃前家數百年的執念與怨力，如活體藤蔓般死死纏繞於她的雙腿——那對承載神聖力量的容器。接著，她披上一件從教會帶出，卻被家族徹底浸透改造的驅魔修女服，胸前那原本象徵完美與救贖的金色十字繡紋，此刻被暗紅如凝血般的絲線扭曲、撕裂，彷彿一道永不癒合、承載著無盡痛苦的傷口。

她閉上雙眼，開始默禱。祈禱的對象並非遙遠的天主，而是自身存在的雙重深淵。

For Kannazuki Yui, gaining direct control over her underlying "Omae Yui" self was but the first step on another, more treacherous journey. A more fundamental contradiction lay before her like a rift valley in her soul—the holy power from her Kannazuki bloodline and the blessings of the orthodox Church, in its pure essence, held an uncompromising, instinctual rejection of the Omae family's heretical existence.

This power was the miracle sample the Omae family dreamed of, but it was also a double-edged sword hanging over the family, one that could purify them from within. If she were to lead the family's future as "Omae Yui," she had to confront this foundational conflict—indeed, she had to reforge the purest and most stubborn orthodox faith of "Kannazuki Yui" deep within her own soul. She could no longer tolerate a situation where she exhausted herself for the family's survival, while the very source of her power detested and resisted every trace of the family's existence.

To this end, she made an extremely risky and insane decision: to perform a most bizarre and terrible ritual upon herself, a self-reconstruction aimed at completely forging the holy and the heretical, faith and grudge, into one.

In the deepest part of the Omae home, in a secret chamber with walls carved full of runes, Yui began this arduous task. The air was thick with the metallic tang of old blood and agitated spiritual power. She shed her daily clothes and put on a pair of special- Fitan boots, the tightly fitting material like a second, cold skin, binding the centuries of Omae obsession and resentful power to her legs—the very vessels of her holy power—like living vines. Then, she donned a modified exorcist nun's habit, brought from the Church but thoroughly soaked and transformed by the family. The golden cross embroidered on the chest, which once symbolized perfection and salvation, was now twisted and torn by dark red threads like clotted blood, resembling an unhealing wound that carried endless pain.

She closed her eyes and began to pray. The object of her prayer was not a distant God, but the dual abyss of her own existence.

她首先引動體內的神聖之源。雙腿在微光中開始解離、虛化，進入了即將化為聖劍「天譴之光」與聖杖「慈悲之撫」的臨界狀態，卻又被長靴中湧出的異端靈力強行拘束、壓制。金色的聖輝與幽暗的符文在她的腿部激烈交鋒，發出細密而痛苦的滋滋聲響，彷彿光與暗在進行一場無聲的戰爭。隨後，她的軀體被幾名面容模糊的家族成員小心翼翼地安置於一座由殉道者遺骨與禁忌金屬鑄造的秘儀祭器之上。這具祭器宛如家族權柄的具現，其噴湧而出的編碼化靈力，對任何黃前家族的軀體單元擁有近乎絕對的支配力，能夠重寫其底層屬性與核心設定。

儀式進入最核心的階段。結衣全力引動黃前家的集體意識，龐大而冰冷的靈力如決堤之潮湧入秘儀之間。在力量的激流中，她那承載著思考、判斷與「神無月結衣」認知的頭顱，緩緩地從軀體分離，輕盈地上浮，接著被一隻由家族集體意念凝聚而成的抽象手掌穩穩托住，懸浮於半空。此刻，她以絕對抽離的視角，淡漠地俯瞰著下方——那具正被祭器靈力徹底滲透與支配的自己的身體，以及那雙既是恩賜也是詛咒的腿。

結衣以意念下達指令，祭器隨之轟鳴。她主動中止了自身軀體的表層屬性運作，將其徹底推向「黃前化」。這是一個荒謬至極的場景：她的頭顱仍保持著「神無月結衣」的表層運作，而她身體的主幹，卻不再具有這樣的屬性。

剎那間，軀幹的劇變如同對雙腿的背叛，神聖之力應激噴發，金光如憤怒的浪潮從那雙分離的腿中湧出，激烈地對抗自身原本最親密的根源。黃前家族的靈力則透過長靴，緊貼著她雙腿的每一寸肌膚，強行滲透、侵蝕。兩種勢同水火的力量在她的肢體上形成一道慘烈的交界，相互撕扯、吞噬，發出令人牙酸的嗡鳴。

First, she drew upon the source of divinity within her. Her legs began to dissociate and turn ethereal in a faint glow, entering a critical state on the verge of becoming the Holy Sword "Scourge of Light" and the Holy Staff "Merciful Touch," only to be forcibly restrained and suppressed by the heretical spiritual power surging from the boots. Golden holy radiance and abyssal runes clashed fiercely on her legs, emitting a fine, painful sizzling sound, as if light and darkness were waging a silent war. Then, her body was carefully placed by several blurry-faced family members onto a ritual instrument forged from the bones of martyrs and forbidden metals. This instrument, like a manifestation of the family's authority, possessed near-absolute control over any Omae family body unit, capable of rewriting its underlying attributes and core settings.

The ritual entered its core phase. Yui drew upon the full might of the Omae collective consciousness. A vast, cold spiritual power flooded into the secret chamber like a bursting dam. In this torrent of power, her head, which carried her thoughts, judgment, and the cognition of "Kannazuki Yui," slowly separated from her body. It floated gently upward, then was steadily held by a disembodied hand condensed from the family's collective will, suspended in mid-air. At this moment, from a completely detached perspective, she looked down dispassionately at her own body below, which was being thoroughly permeated and controlled by the ritual instrument's power, and at the pair of legs that were both a blessing and a curse.

Yui issued a command with her will, and the instrument hummed in response. She proactively suspended the operation of her body's surface attributes, pushing it completely toward "Omae-fication." It was an utterly absurd scene: her head still maintained the surface operations of "Kannazuki Yui," while the trunk of her body no longer possessed such attributes.

In an instant, the drastic change in her torso acted as a betrayal to her legs. The holy power erupted in a stress response, golden light surging from the separated legs like angry waves, fiercely resisting what was once its closest source. The Omae family's spiritual power, through the boots, clung to every inch of her legs, forcibly infiltrating and corroding. The two irreconcilable forces formed a brutal boundary on her limbs, tearing at and devouring each other, emitting a teeth-grinding hum.

被祝福的聖力本能地欲幻化出對抗異端的聖劍與聖杖，但在結衣的主導下，家族所背負的沉重歷史，化為無數悲慟的信仰碎片，具現成有形的重量，壓向那雙仍屬於「神無月」的腿。

只見聖劍的雛形劇烈顫動，無法凝聚出可供握持的劍柄，反而幻化成朝天哭喊、尋求救贖卻永無回應的切支丹信徒身影；聖杖的頂端，杖頭被一尊為了躲避追捕而偽裝成菩薩的切支丹聖母像取代，以那欲哭無淚的笑容，流露出無力的慈悲。更為可怖的是，天草四郎那深重巨大的怨念顯現出模糊扭曲的形象，如同墨汁滴入清泉，直接汙染並質疑著結衣雙腿所持有的純淨信仰，以其自身的殉道與被棄，尖銳地質問著「正統」是否可以仰賴。

看著自己這雙曾領受上蒼恩典、象徵純潔與力量的雙腿，此刻卻被家族的悲慟滲透、被歷史的重量非難，那蒙恩的形態在排斥中扭曲變形，結衣的頭顱深處泛起一陣椎心之痛。更令人窒息的是那無以名狀的荒謬斷裂——她以「神無月」的認知，清晰地「感知」到自己的身體，正運行著一套不再屬於「神無月」的底層邏輯。

頭顱中的「神無月結衣」，此刻已中斷了來自「黃前結衣」單元的底層支援，僅依靠家族集體意識的外部靈力運作勉強維繫，彷彿懸浮於自身的邊緣，成了自己的「外人」。而那雙神聖的腿，更是在這劇烈的屬性衝突中失去依歸，尋不著與「結衣」的連繫，頓失所依，漂泊無根。屬於「神無月結衣」的本能在她意識中尖嘯、哀鳴，她的存在彷彿架構於一片虛無之上，比任何虛假更加空洞。

然而，結衣強行壓下所有翻騰的心痛與不適，繼續操控祭器，深入軀體的根本運作機制。她開始解離「黃前結衣」各系統模塊間封閉的存取設定，逐一開啟核心模塊的輸入介面，為最終的改寫鋪平道路。與此同時，家族網絡中其他高階成員的意識受到這自我重構的儀式感召，幻化成無數幽藍靈蝶，翩然介入「黃前結衣」的構成核心，協同她完成對這家族最高節點的終極改造。

The blessed holy power instinctively tried to manifest the Holy Sword and Staff to fight the heresy, but under Yui's control, the heavy history of the family, transformed into countless grieving fragments of faith, manifested as a tangible weight, pressing down on the legs that still belonged to "Kannazuki."

The nascent form of the Holy Sword trembled violently, unable to coalesce a hilt that could be gripped. Instead, it transformed into the figures of Kirishitan believers crying out to heaven, seeking a salvation that would never come. Atop the Holy Staff, the head was replaced by a statue of a Kirishitan Madonna disguised as a Bodhisattva, her tearless smile expressing a helpless mercy. More terrifyingly, the deep and immense grudge of Amakusa Shirō manifested as a blurry, twisted image, like ink dropped into clear spring water, directly polluting and questioning the pure faith held in Yui's legs. With his own martyrdom and abandonment, he sharply interrogated whether "orthodoxy" could be trusted.

Watching her own legs, which had once received divine grace and symbolized purity and power, now being permeated by the family's grief and condemned by the weight of history, their blessed forms twisting and deforming under the rejection, a heart-wrenching pain arose from the depths of Yui's head. Even more suffocating was the unnameable, absurd severance—with her "Kannazuki" cognition, she clearly "perceived" her own body operating on an underlying logic that no longer belonged to "Kannazuki."

The "Kannazuki Yui" in her head had now lost the underlying support from the "Omae Yui" unit, barely maintained by the external spiritual power of the collective consciousness, as if suspended at the edge of herself, an "outsider" to herself. And those holy legs, in this violent clash of attributes, had lost their anchor, unable to find their connection to "Yui," suddenly adrift and rootless. The instincts of "Kannazuki Yui" shrieked and wailed in her consciousness. Her existence seemed to be built upon a void, emptier than any falsehood.

However, Yui forcibly suppressed all the churning heartache and discomfort, continuing to manipulate the ritual instrument to delve into her body's fundamental operational mechanisms. She began to disassociate the sealed access settings between the various system modules of "Omae Yui," opening the input interfaces of the core modules one by one, paving the way for the final rewrite. At the same time, the consciousnesses of other high-ranking members in the family network, drawn by this ritual of self-reconstruction, transformed into countless ethereal blue butterflies, gracefully intervening in the core composition of "Omae Yui," assisting her in completing the ultimate modification of the family's highest node.

結衣那被抽象巨掌托舉的頭顱，成為這場自我手術的「主刀者」。她隔離了情感，以令人心寒的冷靜，透過對家族集體意識的精密操控，直接訪問並改寫著自己的底層代碼。她嚴肅地審視著正統教會與黃前切支丹信仰之間每一個最尖銳的矛盾，以及那些源自歷史血淚的相互敵視，並強行將這些不可調和的特異點，編織進自己存在的根基。思考模式、情感歸屬、信仰認知、力量本質——沒有什麼是不可觸碰、不可修改的禁區。她冷眼旁觀，蹂躪著自己存在的本質，彷彿那不過是一具極待優化，如同他者的機器。

不知過了多久，激烈的衝突光芒逐漸平息，震盪的靈力緩緩歸位。各個部分——頭顱、軀體、雙腿——再度結為一體。儀式，完成了。

結衣緩緩睜開眼睛，幽深的瞳孔中，彷彿映照著一片橫跨了數百年的星空。她進行第一次測試。心念微動，聖劍與聖杖再次自她雙腿的光芒中顯現。它們依舊純淨，依舊散發著神聖的光輝，形態卻隱約帶上了一絲歷史的沉重與悲願的刻痕。最關鍵的是，那曾經對黃前家族存在的本能拒斥，已然消失無蹤。

她成功了。歷經那場嚴酷的認知鍛造與意念重塑，她內在屬於正統教會的信仰根基，被巧妙地「再路由」，導向了黃前家族那浸透血淚的切支丹信仰之中。「切支丹的悲願亦是通往天主的荊棘之路」、「黃前一族是承載神意、行走於暗夜的另一種正統」——這些帶著幾分自我說服、卻又紮根於沉重歷史的認知，如同轉譯的協議，在她分裂的靈魂兩端建立起溝通的橋樑。

結衣透過為自己新設關於信仰理解的轉換介面，在她那原本壁壘分明的構成之間，成功地將兩種截然不同的信仰「語法」進行轉譯，以曲折的方式統合了她的自我。

她伸出微微顫抖的手，緊緊抱住自己這雙歷經試煉與蛻變的雙腿，終於放縱壓抑已久的情緒，低聲哭了出來。淚水之中，交織著對心痛與釋然，更有尋獲歸屬的深刻觸動。儘管內在的邊界依然存在，她的「神無月」，終究找到了與「黃前」完整共存、彼此理解的語言。

Yui's head, held by the disembodied giant hand, became the "chief surgeon" of this self-operation. She isolated her emotions and, with a chilling calmness, directly accessed and rewrote her own source code through precise manipulation of the family's collective consciousness. She soberly examined every sharpest contradiction between orthodox Catholicism and the Omae Kirishitan faith, and the mutual animosity born from a history of blood and tears, and forcibly wove these irreconcilable singularities into the foundation of her existence. Thought patterns, emotional allegiances, faith cognition, the nature of her power—nothing was a forbidden zone that could not be touched or modified. She watched with cold eyes as she ravaged the essence of her own existence, as if it were merely a machine, belonging to another, in dire need of optimization.

After an unknown amount of time, the clashing lights gradually subsided, and the turbulent spiritual power slowly settled. The various parts—head, body, legs—were once again united as one. The ritual was complete.

Yui slowly opened her eyes. In her deep pupils, a starry sky spanning centuries seemed to be reflected. She conducted the first test. With a slight turn of her will, the Holy Sword and Staff once again manifested from the light of her legs. They were still pure, still radiating a holy glow, but their forms now faintly bore the weight of history and the scars of a sorrowful wish. Most importantly, the instinctual rejection of the Omae family's existence had vanished.

She had succeeded. Through that harsh forging of cognition and reshaping of will, the foundation of her orthodox Catholic faith had been skillfully "re-routed" into the blood-soaked Kirishitan faith of the Omae family. "The sorrowful wish of the Kirishitan is also a thorny path to God," "The Omae clan is another form of orthodoxy, bearing God's will and walking in the night"—these cognitions, tinged with self-persuasion yet rooted in heavy history, like a translation protocol, built a bridge of communication between the two ends of her divided soul.

By creating a new conversion interface for her own understanding of faith, Yui had successfully translated the two completely different faith "syntaxes" within her once-impenetrable composition, unifying her self in a circuitous way.

She reached out a trembling hand and hugged her own legs, which had endured trial and transformation, finally indulging the long-suppressed emotions and beginning to cry softly. In her tears were interwoven heartbreak and relief, and a profound sense of having found belonging. Although the internal border still existed, her "Kannazuki" had finally found a language to coexist with and understand "Omae" completely.

儀式完成的那個傍晚，恰逢小鎮夏日祭典揭開序幕。結衣褪下了那雙包封力量的長靴與修訂信仰的改造修女服，將所有十字架——無論代表正統教會還是黃前家族——都輕輕擱置在房間裡。她換上一身深藍底並灑落粉櫻瓣的浴衣，特意剪短的下擺隨著步伐輕快搖曳，透出少女特有的靈動俏麗，像是對過往沉重莊嚴的調皮叛逆。

木屐叩響青石板路，雙足從兩種基督信仰的纏鬥中徹底解放。她拉著母親一夢溫熱的手，融入這片屬於神道信仰的歡樂之海。夏夜的暖風裹著章魚燒的焦香與蘋果糖的甜膩，結衣與母親穿梭於熙攘人潮，在撈金魚的攤位前駐足凝神，為夜空中綻放的絢爛花火發出驚嘆。

那雙曾承載最不容質疑的基督信仰的腿，此刻漫步於八百萬神祇的氣息中，卻不再有絲毫排斥。她忽然明白，靈魂深處的上帝，未必時刻都得彰顯權能。在煙火與歡笑交織的夏夜裡，結衣只需要是結衣。

她回眸望向始終守候的母親，臉上綻放出不染陰霾的純粹笑靨。巨大的煙火在夜空中轟然盛放，映亮古老的神社鳥居，也為她周身鍍上流轉的光暈。絢麗的光芒，正折射出她內在融合重鑄的靈魂光譜——神聖與異端，歷史與當下，終於交織成獨一無二的生命景致。

The evening the ritual was completed happened to be the start of the small town's summer festival. Yui shed the boots that sealed her power and the modified habit that revised her faith, gently setting aside all crosses—whether they represented the orthodox Church or the Omae family—in her room. She changed into a deep blue yukata scattered with pink cherry blossom petals, the deliberately shortened hem swaying lightly with her steps, revealing a girlish liveliness and charm, a playful rebellion against her heavy, solemn past.

Her geta clattered on the stone-paved road, her feet completely liberated from the struggle between two Christian faiths. She held her mother Ichiyume's warm hand and blended into the joyous sea of Shinto belief. The warm summer night breeze carried the savory aroma of takoyaki and the sweetness of candy apples. Yui and her mother weaved through the bustling crowd, stopping to concentrate at the goldfish scooping stalls and gasping in awe at the splendid fireworks blooming in the night sky.

The legs that had once carried the most unquestionable Christian faith now walked amidst the aura of eight million gods, yet felt no rejection at all. She suddenly understood that the God in the depths of her soul does not necessarily need to display his power at all times. On a summer night interwoven with fireworks and laughter, Yui just needed to be Yui.

She looked back at her ever-watchful mother, her face breaking into a pure, unclouded smile. A massive firework bloomed with a roar in the night sky, illuminating the ancient shrine's torii gate and plating her entire body in a flowing halo. The brilliant light refracted the newly fused and reforged spiritual spectrum within her—the holy and the heretical, history and the present, had finally woven together into a unique landscape of life.

經歷自我重構的結衣，其變化深藏於靈魂，外人難以窺見。她依然會參加教會的彌撒，或與昔日的驅魔同僚並肩作戰。某次任務後，一位昔日同僚看著結衣手持十字架，為被擊敗的妖魔那消散的靈魂輕聲祈禱，不禁感嘆：「結衣妳一點也沒變，還是我們熟悉的那個聖女。」另一人則脫口而出：「果然，妳最終還是屬於教會的！這麼說來，黃前家如今也算是臣服於我們的信仰之下了吧？」

The changes in Yui after her self-reconstruction were hidden deep within her soul, difficult for outsiders to perceive. She would still attend Mass at the Church or fight alongside her former exorcist colleagues. After one mission, a former colleague watched Yui hold a cross and pray softly for the dissipating soul of a defeated demon and couldn't help but remark, "Yui, you haven't changed a bit. You're still the same Saint we know." Another blurted out, "See, you do belong to the Church in the end! Does that mean the Omae family has now submitted to our faith?"

結衣聞言，並未辯解，只是回以一抹平靜的微笑。

她的經歷，她內在的融合與掙扎，早已無法為這些單純的教會舊識所理解。他們連妖魔內心蘊含的苦痛與悲哀都難以感受，又如何能明白黃前家族這數百年來所承受的歷史重量？

這位統合了聖與魔的存在，已然超越了單純的「行走於邊界」。對她而言，那宛若薄冰覆蓋的深淵，在她踏出的每一步下，都化作了穩固的土地。她揮舞的聖劍，不再僅為斬斷妖魔，更是為了斬斷其痛苦的根源；她高舉的聖杖結界，也不再是單純的拒斥與淨化，而是帶著悲憫，輕輕包覆那些扭曲的靈魂，予以最後的安寧。

若你某日有幸，在光明與黑暗的夾縫中，偶遇這位獨一無二的聖魔，請不要驚懼，也無需詫異。請別對從她那純白神聖的光輝縫隙中，隱隱散發出的源自歷史傷痛與異端悲願的幽暗渾濁而感到不安。

Hearing this, Yui did not offer an explanation, only a calm smile.

Her experiences, her internal fusion and struggles, could no longer be understood by these simple, old acquaintances from the Church. They could hardly even feel the pain and sorrow contained within the hearts of demons; how could they possibly understand the weight of history the Omae family had borne for centuries?

This being who had integrated the holy and the demonic had already transcended simply "walking the border." For her, the abyss once covered by thin ice had become solid ground with every step she took. The Holy Sword she wielded no longer just severed demons, but severed the very root of their suffering. The barrier of her upraised Holy Staff was no longer just for rejection and purification, but now carried compassion, gently enveloping those twisted souls to grant them a final peace.

If you are ever fortunate enough, in the crack between light and darkness, to encounter this one-of-a-kind saint-witch, do not be afraid, nor should you be surprised. Please do not feel uneasy at the abyssal turbidity, born of historical trauma and heretical sorrow, that faintly emanates from the seams of her pure white, holy radiance.

因為她行過的地方，對立終將尋求融合；而黑夜，不必與白日為敵。

For where she walks, opposition will seek fusion; and the dark night need not be an enemy to the bright day.

斬魔巫女--後日談B

後日談：神己對弈

Epilogue: A Game of Go Between God and Self

御神家禁地深處，時間彷彿被凝結於永恆的春日。院落中，櫻瓣無聲飄落，織成一場靜謐的粉雪，連空氣都浸潤著恬淡的香息。

御神櫻的頭顱懸浮於半空，墨紫色長髮被「統靈結髮『御弊』」整齊束起，露出優美的頸項線條。她的面前有副古老的圍棋盤；雙臂各自懸浮於棋盤一側，纖細指尖分別拈起黑子與白子，正在進行自我對弈；至於她的雙腿，正擔負著黑白兩軍的廝殺——兩個大腿截面貼住了棋盤基座，嚴整著裝的戰士化身這「戰場」沉默的支柱，而蘊涵神力的足袋「白淨」和草履「神征」也成了整盤棋局渾然一體的裝飾。

Deep within the forbidden grounds of the Mikami family, time seemed to be frozen in an eternal spring. In the courtyard, cherry blossom petals fell in silence, weaving a quiet flurry of pink snow, infusing the very air with a delicate fragrance.

Mikami Sakura’s head hovered in mid-air, her ink-purple hair neatly tied back by the Spiritual Binding Knot "Gohei," revealing the elegant lines of her neck. Before her was an ancient Go board. Her two arms floated on either side, their slender fingertips holding black and white stones, engaged in a game against herself. As for her legs, they were bearing the weight of the black and white armies' clash—her two thighs were pressed against the base of the Go board, the fully-attired warriors transformed into the silent pillars of this "battlefield," while the spiritually imbued Tabi "Hakujou" and Zori "Shinsei" became an integral decoration for the entire game.

幾縷銀白的靈魂絲線從她頸項下延伸而出，連接著執棋的雙臂，也感知著那雙因長時間負重靜立而發酸，正墊著腳尖活動的腿足。然而她的意識早已超脫棋盤上的黑白廝殺，也忽略了來自腳掌的無聲“抱怨”。她的目光早已穿透了縱橫十九道，聚焦於更幽微的深處——一場遠比任何祓魔儀式都更為複雜奧妙的假設性推演，帶著幾分謹慎的試探與隱密的叛逆，在她的腦海中悄然鋪展。

「原來如此…」一道思緒如電光般，劃過她的意識深處。「『心』提供『燃料』，燃起動機與意志的火焰；但點燃何種燃料、騰起何種烈焰…卻取決於『腦』，向它提交何種『認知』作為引信。」

這發現宛如在無盡的意識迷宮中長久徘徊後，指尖終於觸碰到一處隱蔽的機關觸發點。思緒以前所未有的速度瘋狂運轉，剖析著自身存在的荒謬架構。

「假設…只是假設，」她在內心謹慎地劃定界限，「若某人腦海裡認知一件行為或想法有『不敬』或『不當』屬性，『心』自然依著腦提交的資料，將其判定為『不敬』、『不當』，」她偷瞄一眼那具散發著櫻色光輝的神體，瞳孔閃爍著光芒，強迫自己將推演的對象維持在一個模糊的「他人」身上。「接著『心』反饋出譴責與不悅的情緒，並命令腦將任何越界的念頭從腦海中『拉下來』，停止思緒運作。那些想法變成冰封的殭屍，雖仍滯留於認知領域的某個角落，卻已動彈不得。」

A few silvery-white soul threads extended from below her neck, connecting to the arms that held the stones and also sensing the legs that were beginning to ache from holding a static, weight-bearing pose, now shifting onto their toes. However, her consciousness had long since transcended the black-and-white slaughter on the board, ignoring the silent "complaints" from her feet. Her gaze had penetrated the nineteen-by-nineteen grid, focusing on something deeper and more subtle—a hypothetical deduction, far more complex and profound than any exorcism rite, was quietly unfolding in her mind, tinged with cautious probing and a secret rebellion.

"I see..." A thought flashed through the depths of her consciousness like lightning. "The 'heart' provides the 'fuel' to ignite the flames of motivation and will. But what kind of fuel is lit, what kind of flame is produced… depends on what 'cognition' the 'brain' submits to it as the fuse."

This discovery was like finally touching a hidden trigger after wandering for an eternity in an endless labyrinth of consciousness. Her thoughts began to race at an unprecedented speed, dissecting the absurd architecture of her own existence.

"Assuming… just assuming," she carefully drew a line in her mind, "if a certain person's brain recognizes an act or thought as having the attribute of 'disrespect' or 'impropriety,' the 'heart' will naturally, based on the data submitted by the brain, judge it as 'disrespectful' or 'improper'." She stole a glance at the divine body radiating its sakura-hued light, her pupils flashing, forcing herself to keep the subject of her deduction as a vague "someone else." "Then the 'heart' provides feedback of condemnation and displeasure, and orders the brain to 'pull down' any transgressive thought, to stop its operation. Those thoughts become frozen zombies, still lingering in some corner of the cognitive realm, but unable to move."

「但是——」思緒猛地轉折，懸浮的頭顱輕微地偏轉，彷彿鎖定了獵物卻又不敢驚動它的鷹隼，透露出全神貫注的謹慎。「如果…能從最根本的源頭入手呢？如果能讓……嗯，這個人的『腦』，一開始就不將某個行為或想法標記為『不敬』或『不當』呢？」她小心翼翼地繞開第一人稱。

「不需要在事後絞盡腦汁，尋找那些蹩腳理由去試著說服『心』，而是在念頭萌芽的最初，就為它鋪好一套完美『合規』的認知基礎……」

「嗯哼，」混合著驚嘆與玩味的氣音從她唇間逸出。「這可就……非常有意思了。」

恍然大悟的瞬間，混合著興奮與背德刺激感的戰慄，如電流般竄過她腦海的每一處。這感覺奇妙至極，就像一個程式員悄悄截取了自身意識的代碼，不僅畫出“自己”的設計圖，更獲得第一把能從內部撬動並改寫規則的鑰匙。

她當然知道她無法欺騙自己的大腦去相信那些違背邏輯和基礎事實的謊言（譬如「一加一等於三」）。然而，在龐大的認知體系中，存在著模糊而具有詮釋空間的灰色地帶，被她瞧見可供她操作與耕耘的廣袤領域。

「多麼奇妙啊，」她幾乎要為這內在的詭異邏輯發笑，「理論上，『心』是主宰，『腦』是僕從。但僕從卻能通過精心準備的『彙報材料』，來巧妙地引導主宰的『決策』…『知識就是力量』，古人誠不欺我！」

更進一步的推論，讓她呼吸為之一窒。

「而這顆『心』…它擁有『自主性』嗎？不，它更像是神櫻力量對外作用的『介面』，一個負責處理動機與情緒輸出給我…巫女的精密儀器。既然是儀器，就必然有其運作規則。那麼，只要我…有某個人能理解它的『演算法』…」

"But—" her thoughts took a sharp turn. Her hovering head tilted slightly, like a hawk that has locked onto its prey but dares not startle it, revealing a state of utter concentration. "What if… one could start from the very source? What if… hmm, this person's 'brain' could be made to not label a certain act or thought as 'disrespectful' or 'improper' in the first place?" She carefully avoided the first-person pronoun.

"Instead of racking my brain afterward for clumsy excuses to try and persuade the 'heart,' what if, at the very inception of a thought, I pave for it a perfectly 'compliant' cognitive foundation…"

"Aha," an exhale, a mixture of awe and amusement, escaped her lips. "Now this… is very interesting."

In that moment of epiphany, a thrill, a mixture of excitement and the illicit stimulation of transgression, shot through every part of her mind like an electric current. The feeling was utterly bizarre, like a programmer who had quietly intercepted the code of their own consciousness, not only mapping out their own design but also obtaining the first key to pry open and rewrite the rules from within.

She knew, of course, that she couldn't deceive her own brain into believing lies that violated logic and basic facts (such as "one plus one equals three"). However, within the vast cognitive system, there existed a gray area, ambiguous and open to interpretation, a vast field she saw was available for her to cultivate and manipulate.

"How marvelous," she almost wanted to laugh at this internal, bizarre logic. "Theoretically, the 'heart' is the master, and the 'brain' is the servant. But the servant can subtly guide the master's 'decisions' through carefully prepared 'briefing materials'… 'Knowledge is power.' The ancients were not wrong!"

A further deduction made her hold her breath.

"And this 'heart'… does it have its own 'autonomy'? No, it's more like an 'interface' for the power of Shin-ou, a precision instrument responsible for processing motivation and emotional output for me… for the shrine maiden. And since it is an instrument, it must have its own operational rules. Then, as long as I… as long as someone can understand its 'algorithm'…"

預期它的反應，引導它的輸出，甚至…在某種層面上，駕馭它的運作？

這個念頭是如此地逾越，如此地褻瀆，甚至擊穿「假設」的平靜偽裝，以至於「心」立刻傳來一陣尖銳的警告波動，像是觸發了某種內建的防火牆。但這一次，御神櫻沒有畏縮。她早已熟練地將這危險的思緒包裹上一層層邏輯與敬神的外衣——「此為對神與巫女之運行機制的深度冥想，意在透過理解奧秘而達至更深層的敬虔，以完美吾之侍奉」——如同最高明的駭客，用合法的憑證繞過安全檢測。

警告波動在層層「正當理由」的緩衝下，未能掀起更大波瀾，只化作她意識深處幾近於無的雜訊。

「自我操控」念頭帶來的前所未有的興奮感攫住了御神櫻。她就像一個拿到自己管理員權限的用戶，開始小心翼翼地嘗試一些…「越權」操作。

而她的實驗場，很快從幽靜的院落，轉移到腥風血雨的前線。

To anticipate its reactions, guide its output, and even… on some level, to drive its operation?

The thought was so transgressive, so blasphemous, that it shattered the calm facade of "hypothesis," and her "heart" immediately sent a sharp warning wave, as if some built-in firewall had been triggered. But this time, Sakura did not flinch. She had already skillfully wrapped this dangerous thought in layers of logic and reverence—"This is a deep meditation on the operational mechanism of the god and the shrine maiden, intended to achieve a deeper piety through understanding the mystery, in order to perfect my service"—like the most skilled hacker using legitimate credentials to bypass a security check.

Buffered by layers of "justification," the warning wave failed to cause a greater disturbance and dissolved into almost imperceptible noise in the depths of her consciousness.

The unprecedented excitement brought by the thought of "self-manipulation" seized Mikami Sakura. Like a user who had just been granted administrator privileges, she began to cautiously attempt some… "unauthorized" operations.

And her testing ground soon shifted from the quiet courtyard to the bloody front lines.

———

濃稠如墨的瘴氣自廢棄工廠地脈的裂縫中不斷噴湧，如同匯聚了萬人低語的嗡鳴聲，沉悶地撞擊著在場每一個人的鼓膜。一股龐大而不祥的妖力正在深處瘋狂凝聚，彷彿隨時會孕育出萬千妖魔。

來自御神家各地神社的數位宮司，正率領高階禰宜與巫女們閉目凝神，低聲誦念，展開巨大的結界，試圖封鎖不斷擴散的邪氣。其餘族人則手持符咒與法器，嚴陣以待，準備捕捉並祓除任何可能從結界縫隙中逃逸的妖物。

依照往例，御神櫻本應指揮離體四肢殺入工廠，與具象化的妖魔展開激戰。但今天，她似乎另作他想，胸有成竹地考慮著激進而高效的瘋狂計畫。

「護衛聽令！」她的頭顱懸浮於保護神體的臨時靈力護罩之上，聲音冷靜而帶著威儀。「將神體——請至吾之雙腿之上。」

A miasma as thick as ink continuously spewed from a fissure in the ley lines beneath an abandoned factory. A droning sound, like the whispers of ten thousand people, dully struck the eardrums of everyone present. A vast and ominous demonic power was crazily condensing in the depths, as if it would birth a legion of demons at any moment.

Several head priests from the various Mikami family shrines were leading high-ranking priests and priestesses in a low chant, their eyes closed in concentration, deploying a massive barrier to try and seal the spreading evil. The other clan members stood ready with talismans and artifacts, prepared to capture and exorcise any demon that might escape through a crack in the barrier.

Ordinarily, Sakura would have commanded her detached limbs to charge into the factory and engage the manifested demons in fierce combat. But today, she seemed to have other plans, a radical and ruthlessly efficient one taking shape in her mind.

"Guards, on my command!" Her head hovered above a temporary spiritual shield protecting the divine body, her voice calm and majestic. "Bring the divine body—and place it upon my legs."

族人聞言一怔，但無人敢質疑神櫻巫女大人。兩位隨侍巫女恭敬地催動靈力，小心抬起流轉著莊嚴光輝的神體，將其安放在結界外靜待的那雙腿上。

那雙腿此刻並未如往常般幻化出骨鞭或靈刀，而是將龐大靈力極度壓縮，收束於 「御祓足袋『白淨』」 與 「破邪草履『神征』」 之中。純白足袋緊裹腿肢，泛起緻密靈光，彷彿某種蓄勢待發的拘束具；神征草鞋則鞋底熾亮，積蓄著驚人的推進靈力，宛如火箭的燃料。神體並未與雙腿進行生理上的完整接合，僅以純粹靈力暫時銜接。

接著一幕詭異至極的景象呈現於眾人眼前：一具無頭無臂、僅有軀幹與雙腿的「人偶」，竟自行邁開步伐，以驚人的速度朝著工廠裂縫方向疾衝而去！

衝刺至工廠邊緣的剎那，附著於「白淨」之上的靈力驟然緊縮，將雙腿力量提升至極限；而「神征」鞋底壓縮到極致的靈力轟然爆發，噴射出璀璨的湛藍色光流——

雙腿猛地屈膝，旋即如強弓勁弩般迸發躍起！如同強大的助推火箭，推動著神體，劃破瀰漫的瘴氣，朝著懸浮於裂縫正上方的巫女雙臂疾射而去！

The clansmen were stunned but did not dare to question their Lady Shrine Maiden. Two attendant priestesses respectfully channeled their spiritual power, carefully lifting the divine body, which flowed with a solemn light, and placing it upon the legs that waited silently outside the barrier.

At this moment, her legs had not transformed into the bone whip or the spiritual blade as they usually would. Instead, they had compressed their immense spiritual power, containing it within the Purification Tabi "Hakujou" and the Evil-Crushing Zori "Shinsei." The pure white tabi clung tightly to her limbs, glowing with a dense spiritual light, like some kind of restraint mechanism building up power. The soles of the Shinsei Zori were blazing, accumulating an astonishing amount of propulsive spiritual energy, like rocket fuel. The divine body was not physically connected to the legs, only temporarily linked by pure spiritual power.

Then, an utterly bizarre scene unfolded before them: a headless, armless "doll," consisting of only a torso and two legs, began to stride forward on its own, rushing towards the fissure in the factory at an incredible speed!

The moment it reached the edge of the factory, the spiritual power contained within "Hakujou" suddenly contracted, boosting the legs' strength to its absolute limit. The power compressed in the soles of "Shinsei" then detonated, jetting out a brilliant, azure stream of light—

The legs bent sharply at the knees and then launched upwards like a powerful crossbow! Like a booster rocket, they propelled the divine body, tearing through the thick miasma, shooting straight towards the shrine maiden’s two arms, which hovered directly above the fissure!

在接近最高點的瞬間，雙腿如同耗盡燃料的推進器般自行脫離墜下。始終待命的雙臂即刻迎上，穩穩接住飛射而來的神體。臂上 「纏神袖衣『鎮靈』」 因高漲靈力而劇烈飄揚，袖擺翻飛如羽翼——

「巫女大人？！您這是——！」一位長老驚駭欲絕的尖叫聲劃破空氣。

御神櫻卻置若罔聞。她的頭顱微微後仰，雙眼緊閉，讓自己的「腦」下達了最終指令：

「認知確認：執行方案『高效淨化』。目標：妖力之源，現世之隙。指令：投擲。」

幾乎在指令即將執行的最終瞬間，她才感受到「心」傳來一陣遲滯卻無比強烈的困惑與動盪——它接收到的認知標籤明明是「高效淨化」，但執行動作卻與所有內建行為邏輯嚴重衝突，彷彿系統突然讀取到一段無法解析的異常代碼。

就是現在！趁著「心」還陷在邏輯判定的混亂泥沼，來不及強制「攔截」指令——

「投下！」御神櫻在腦海中無聲厲喝，執行了這場豪賭。

Upon reaching the apex of its flight, the legs detached and fell away like a spent booster stage. The ever-ready arms immediately met and caught the soaring divine body. The Spirit-Binding Sleeves "Chinrei" on her arms billowed violently from the surging spiritual power, flying like wings—

"Lady Miko?! What are you—!" an elder’s horrified scream cut through the air.

Sakura paid it no mind. Her head tilted back slightly, her eyes closed tight, as her "brain" issued the final command:

"Cognitive Confirmation: Execute Plan 'High-Efficiency Purification.' Target: Source of Demonic Power, Fissure in the Mortal Realm. Command: Throw."

Almost in the final instant before the command was executed, she felt a delayed but incredibly powerful wave of confusion and turmoil from her "heart"—the cognitive label it had received was clearly "High-Efficiency Purification," but the action itself was in severe conflict with all of its built-in behavioral logic, as if the system had suddenly encountered an unparsable line of anomalous code.

Now! While the "heart" was still trapped in the chaotic mire of logical judgment, before it could forcibly "intercept" the command—

"Release!" Sakura roared silently in her mind, executing her high-stakes gamble.

雙臂應聲發力，將那承載家族信仰、至高無上的神聖之軀，像投擲一枚核彈般，決扔進了下方翻滾沸騰的濃稠妖力核心之中！

「不——！！」族人們絕望的慘叫被龐大能量對衝產生的恐怖嗡鳴徹底淹沒。

神體墜入極惡瘴氣的剎那，宛如將冰晶投入熔爐。至聖的神性光輝與至穢的妖力發生了最極端的劇烈排斥！

轟————————！！！

無聲卻足以撼動靈魂的巨響在每個在場族人的意識深處爆裂。神櫻的自動防禦機制被激發，一股浩瀚純粹，足以重塑秩序的櫻色神光，以墜落點為原點，如同超新星爆發般驟然膨脹，輻射向四面八方！

光芒所及之處，濃稠的瘴氣如遇烈陽的晨霧般消散，那尚未成形的妖魔連悲鳴都未能發出，便被這絕對的力量連同妖力源頭徹底淹沒，化為虛無。

這是一場超越任何祓魔儀式的壓倒性淨化。

Her arms unleashed their power, throwing the sacred body that carried the faith of her family, that supreme and holy vessel, like a nuclear bomb into the roiling, boiling core of dense demonic power below!

"NO—!!" The clan's desperate screams were completely drowned out by the terrifying hum of the colliding energies.

The moment the divine body fell into the ultimate evil miasma, it was like dropping an ice crystal into a furnace. The most sacred divine light and the most profane demonic power repulsed each other with the most extreme violence!

BOOM————————!!!

A silent but soul-shattering explosion detonated in the consciousness of every clan member present. Shin-ou's automatic defense mechanism was triggered. A vast, pure, sakura-colored divine light, powerful enough to reshape order itself, erupted from the point of impact and expanded in all directions like a supernova!

Wherever the light touched, the thick miasma dissipated like morning fog in the harsh sun. The unformed demon couldn't even let out a cry before it, along with the source of its power, was completely submerged and annihilated by this absolute force.

It was an overwhelming purification that surpassed any exorcism rite.

然而對御神櫻而言，這過程絕非輕鬆，無異於對自我存在的極限施壓。在神體脫手後的自由落體期間，隨著神體的墜落，她通過靈魂連結清晰地感受到「心」傳來的，如同重力加速度般增長強化的驚恐與斥責，幾乎要將她的意識撕碎。那感覺不像情緒，更像是超載的儀器發出的尖銳警報，戳刺著她的大腦。

緊接著，當神櫻之力徹底爆發，她與神力核心的連結被切斷。不僅維持「御神櫻」運行的神力供應戛然而止，更是存在層面的撕裂與剝離。頭顱與四肢變成了斷線的風箏，不再是「神櫻的巫女」，淪為一堆失去意義的殘骸。極致的虛無包裹了她，遠比死亡更令人戰慄。

這感覺恐怖至極，卻也…刺激得令人上癮。

當族人戰戰兢兢地「回收」回她散落的部件時，看到她的臉上，掛著一個詭異而燦爛的笑容，嘴角咧開的弧度無聲地宣告著“計畫通”的勝利。她的四肢被找回時，仍維持著極度扭曲卻又鬆馳的姿態，彷彿被抽乾了存在，又從中獲得最深刻的解放。

「成功了…」耗竭的頭顱依靠殘存的意念呢喃自語，「…最有效率的…淨化…」

族人們面面相覷，瑟瑟發抖，完全無法理解巫女大人身上發生了什麼。他們只看到她以一種聞所未聞、大逆不道的方式，驅使了神櫻的力量，並因此變得…如同經歷了某種禁忌的儀式，虛脫不堪卻又亢奮異常。

御神櫻任由族人將她的部件拼回神體。在頭顱與頸項接合的「咔」聲響起，力量重新迴流的瞬間，她感受著那那依舊莊嚴、如機械般運轉，卻已被她成功「劫持」並驗證了其漏洞的機制，心底湧起的不是敬畏，而是隱隱的征服感和愉悅。

道路，正在她腳下，以,離經叛道、險中求勝的方式，被強行拓寬。

However, for Sakura, the process was anything but easy. It was an extreme stress test on her very existence. During the divine body’s free fall after leaving her hands, she clearly felt, through the soul link, a terror and condemnation from her "heart" that grew with the acceleration of gravity, almost tearing her consciousness apart. It didn't feel like an emotion, but more like the shrill alarm of an overloaded instrument, piercing her brain.

Then, when the power of Shin-ou fully erupted, her connection to the core of that power was severed. Not only was the spiritual energy supply that sustained "Mikami Sakura" cut off, but it was also a tear, a stripping away at the existential level. Her head and limbs became kites with their strings cut. She was no longer the "Shrine Maiden of Shin-ou," but a pile of meaningless wreckage. She was enveloped by an ultimate nothingness, a sensation far more chilling than death.

The feeling was terrifying, yet also… addictively thrilling.

When the clansmen timidly "retrieved" her scattered parts, they saw a bizarre and brilliant smile on her face, the curve of her lips silently declaring the victory of her plan. When her limbs were found, they were in extremely contorted yet relaxed poses, as if their very existence had been drained, and from that, they had found the most profound liberation.

"It worked..." the exhausted head whispered with the last of its willpower. "...The most efficient... purification..."

The clansmen looked at each other, trembling, completely unable to understand what had happened to their Lady Miko. All they saw was that she had wielded the power of Shin-ou in an unprecedented, sacrilegious way, and as a result, had become… as if she had undergone some forbidden ritual, utterly drained yet abnormally euphoric.

Sakura allowed the clan to piece her parts back onto the divine body. The moment the "click" of her head connecting to her neck sounded and the power flowed back into her, she felt the mechanism—still solemn, still operating like a machine, but one she had successfully "hijacked" and whose vulnerabilities she had verified. What rose in her heart was not awe, but a faint sense of conquest and pleasure.

The road beneath her feet was being forcibly widened, through a path of heresy and high-stakes gambles.

———

除了神體，御神櫻對其它肢體的“運用”，也越來越不設限，越來越自由自在。

御神家的古老庭院，今日洋溢著與莊嚴神社格格不入的喧鬧的歡笑聲。陽光透過層疊的櫻花葉隙，灑下斑駁的金輝。在這聖域之中，曾只為斬魔而存在的「神櫻巫女」的各個部件，正以荒誕卻溫馨的方式，被御神櫻好好「運用」著。

「快點！再高一點！右腿大人——！」一個膽子頗大的小男孩，興奮地「騎乘」在御神櫻的右腿上，小手緊抱著大腿側，發出銀鈴般歡快的笑聲。那條曾揮出猙獰骨刺長鞭、輕易絞殺妖魔的右腿，此刻正靈巧而富有節奏地進行著「兔子蹦蹦跳」遊戲。包裹其上的 「御祓足袋『白淨』」 泛著柔和靈光，並非用於抵禦攻擊，而是以靈力細緻調節著肌肉與骨骼的連動，讓每一次跳躍都充滿彈性與活力，並穩穩承托著雀躍不已的「小騎士」。

Besides the divine body, Sakura’s "use" of her other limbs also became increasingly unrestrained and free.

The ancient courtyard of the Mikami family was, today, filled with boisterous laughter that was out of place in the solemn shrine. Sunlight dappled through the layers of cherry blossom leaves, casting golden flecks of light. In this sacred domain, the various parts of the "Shrine Maiden of Shin-ou," which had once existed only to slay demons, were now being put to good "use" by Mikami Sakura in an absurd yet heartwarming way.

"Faster! A little higher! Lady Right Leg—!" a particularly bold little boy shouted, excitedly "riding" on Sakura's right leg, his small hands clinging tightly to her thigh, letting out peals of cheerful, bell-like laughter. That same leg, which had once brandished a menacing bone-spur whip and easily strangled demons, was now nimbly and rhythmically playing a game of "bunny hops." The Purification Tabi "Hakujou" that enveloped it glowed with a soft spiritual light, not to ward off attacks, but to finely regulate the coordination of muscle and bone with spiritual power, making every jump full of spring and vitality, and steadily supporting its gleeful "little knight."

另一側，巫女大人的左腿則展現出截然不同的溫柔。它載著一個年齡稍大而文靜羞澀的小女孩，不進行劇烈跳躍，只由腳掌輕巧地點著地面，帶著孩子溫柔地起伏。腳下的 「破邪草履『神征』」 收斂所有鋒芒，僅在鞋底蘊起一層柔和的靈力護墊，確保每一次「落地」都輕柔無聲，不讓背上的「小公主」受到絲毫驚嚇。它甚至體貼地感應著女孩的心情，時不時停下片刻，讓她能靜靜地欣賞夕陽下染上金邊的櫻花，感受那份無限的美好。

On the other side, the Lady Miko’s left leg displayed a completely different kind of gentleness. It carried a slightly older, quiet, and shy little girl. It didn't make any drastic jumps, but simply tapped the ground lightly with its foot, gently bouncing the child up and down. The Evil-Crushing Zori "Shinsei" on its foot had retracted all its sharpness, now only generating a soft cushion of spiritual power on its sole to ensure that every "landing" was soft and silent, so as not to startle the "little princess" on its back in the slightest. It was even considerate enough to sense the girl's mood, pausing from time to time to let her quietly admire the cherry blossoms, their edges tinged with gold in the setting sun, and feel that infinite beauty.

她的雙臂更是忙碌。左手高高舉起，牽引著一隻色彩斑斕的蝴蝶風箏，讓它在春風中翩躚起舞，劃出靈動的弧線，引得底下三五成群的孩子們雀躍歡呼，追逐著風箏的影子；右手則揮舞著一柄小小的玩具竹劍，有模有樣地與舉著樹枝、大喊大叫的男孩們進行緊張刺激的「劍豪對決」，竹劍交擊的響聲與孩子們的自配的「音效」不絕於耳。

而御神櫻的頭顱，悠然懸浮於這場歡樂風暴的中心。她嘴角噙著溫暖的笑意，時而微調風箏線的方向，時而為激烈的「決鬥」配上幾句俏皮的解說與加油。更重要的是，她還分神傾聽著孩子們七嘴八舌、爭先恐後分享的那些屬於他們世界的趣事——誰家新生的貓崽睜開了眼，誰昨天在田埂上摔了一跤卻沒哭……這些瑣碎平凡的快樂，透過孩子們的純真話語，一點一滴浸潤著她曾經孤寂緊繃的心靈。

玩得有些倦意襲來，她的頭顱輕巧地往後飛，宛若歸巢的飛鳥，信任地飄進一旁靜默守候的少年懷中，後腦輕輕地枕進他因緊張而略顯僵硬的臂彎裡。

「唔…有點累了呢，」她閉上眼，聲音裡浸著一抹毫不設防的慵懶，甚至帶點親暱的撒嬌，「幫我揉揉太陽穴，可好？」

Her arms were even busier. Her left hand was held high, flying a colorful butterfly kite, letting it dance and flutter in the spring breeze, drawing elegant arcs that made the group of children below cheer and chase after its shadow. Her right hand, meanwhile, was wielding a small toy bamboo sword, putting on a tense and exciting "master swordsman duel" with a group of boys who were shouting and waving tree branches. The sound of bamboo clashing and the children's self-made "sound effects" were endless.

And Mikami Sakura’s head hovered serenely at the center of this joyous storm. A warm smile played on her lips as she occasionally adjusted the kite string or added a few playful comments and cheers to the intense "duel." More importantly, she was also listening to the children's chatter, as they scrambled to share interesting stories from their world—whose new kitten had opened its eyes, who had fallen on the path between the fields yesterday but didn't cry… These trivial, ordinary joys, conveyed through the children's innocent words, seeped into her once lonely and tense soul, drop by drop.

As she began to feel a little tired from playing, her head flew back gracefully, like a bird returning to its nest, and trustingly floated into the arms of a young man who had been waiting silently nearby. The back of her head rested gently in the crook of his arm, which was slightly stiff from nervousness.

"Mm… a little tired," she closed her eyes, her voice tinged with an unguarded laziness, even a hint of affectionate coquetry. "Could you rub my temples for me?"

少年彷彿被符咒定住，全身瞬間僵直。臉龐以肉眼可見的速度染上一片緋紅，蔓延至耳根。他懷中所抱的，是「神櫻巫女」的頭顱——那位被全族敬若神明，不容絲毫褻瀆的存在。此刻，這份至高無上的尊貴與神秘，卻被他輕輕攬在懷中，雙手抑制不住地顫抖。

他緊張得幾乎窒息，用盡全部意志力才穩下動作，輕柔地抬起手，指尖微顫地按上她的太陽穴。

就在他努力平復狂亂的心跳，忍不住低下頭，想確認巫女大人是否舒適時——卻毫無預兆地撞入一雙悄然睜開的眼眸。那雙眼睛澄澈如映著天空的秋水，眼底漾著一絲調皮與無盡的溫柔，正靜靜地地凝視著他，彷彿能看透人心。

「哇啊！」少年嚇得驚呼一聲，心跳驟然脫序，險些鬆手。

御神櫻沒有絲毫責怪，反而回贈他一個帶著幾分狡黠的安撫微笑，彷彿無聲地問道：「嚇到你了呀？」

笑容如同陽光穿透雲層，耀眼的光芒佔滿少年的雙眼視野，卻也讓少年的臉紅得幾乎滴出血。他慌張地垂下視線，再也不敢直視，指尖的動作變得愈發輕柔謹慎。

The young man froze as if he had been petrified by a talisman. His face turned a visible shade of crimson that spread to the tips of his ears. In his arms was the head of the "Shrine Maiden of Shin-ou"—the being revered by the entire clan as a god, not to be profaned in the slightest. At this moment, this supreme, mysterious, and honored being was held gently in his arms. His hands couldn't stop trembling.

He was so nervous he could barely breathe. It took all his willpower to steady his movements. He gently raised a hand, his fingertips trembling as he pressed them to her temples.

Just as he was trying to calm his frantic heart and couldn't help but look down to see if the Lady Miko was comfortable—he unexpectedly met a pair of eyes that had quietly opened. They were as clear as an autumn lake reflecting the sky, and in their depths was a ripple of mischief and endless gentleness, gazing quietly at him, as if they could see right through his heart.

"Whoa!" the young man gasped, his heart skipping a beat, nearly dropping her.

Sakura showed no sign of blame. Instead, she gave him a reassuring smile, tinged with a bit of slyness, as if silently asking, "Did I scare you?"

The smile was like sunlight breaking through the clouds. Its dazzling light filled the young man's vision, and it also made his face turn so red it looked like it would bleed. He hastily lowered his gaze, not daring to look at her directly again, the movements of his fingertips becoming even more gentle and cautious.

這是御神櫻最為珍惜的閒暇時光。甚至那具總是端坐於本殿深處，被無數虔誠目光仰望的神體，也被她換上了一身素雅輕便的浴衣，由雙臂小心「請」出，安放於平整溫潤的大岩石上，靜靜地「曬太陽」，彷彿連神櫻也融入了這片午後的恬靜與嬉遊。

忽然，「噗通」一聲悶響，伴隨著孩子們短促的驚呼，劃破了午後的閒適。

載著小男童的右腿在奮力一躍後，著地時不慎踩上一塊覆著青苔的光滑石頭，失去了平衡，摔倒在柔軟的草甸上。其實並不算嚴重，但小男童臉上卻瞬間寫滿了驚嚇和不安——不只是因為自己摔著了，更是出於強烈的愧疚，生怕自己害得「巫女大人的腿」受傷或疼痛。

御神櫻的右腿似乎與男童的心情共鳴了，細膩而鮮明的情緒，竟與小男童的驚惶與愧疚相呼應，卻又立場相反：那是一種帶著歉意的撫慰，是深怕男孩因此自責，急切想要傳達「我並無大礙」的擔憂。這份彷彿肢體自身萌生出的溫柔，透過共有的連結傳來，讓御神櫻微微一怔。

她下意識地轉動視線，望向那靜默佇立，沐浴在夕陽餘暉中的神體。這份與小男孩心情的共鳴……究竟是真的存在，還是「心」的本質運作，依據現場狀況即時演算，「派送」給她的某種極為逼真的情緒模擬？

她無從分辨；或許，也並不需要分辨。

This was Mikami Sakura's most treasured leisure time. Even the divine body, which usually sat in the depths of the main hall, gazed upon by countless pious eyes, had been changed into a simple, light yukata. Her arms had carefully "invited" it out and placed it on a large, smooth rock to quietly "sunbathe," as if even Shin-ou had melted into the tranquility and playfulness of the afternoon.

Suddenly, a dull "thump," accompanied by the children's short gasps, broke the afternoon's peace.

The right leg, carrying the little boy, had lost its balance after a vigorous leap, landing on a moss-covered, slippery stone. It wasn't a serious fall, but the little boy's face was instantly filled with shock and anxiety—not just because he had fallen, but out of a strong sense of guilt, terrified that he had caused "the Lady Miko’s leg" to be hurt.

Sakura's right leg seemed to resonate with the boy's feelings. A delicate and vivid emotion, corresponding to the boy's fear and guilt but from the opposite perspective, arose: it was a feeling of apologetic comfort, a deep fear that the boy would blame himself, an urgent desire to convey "I'm alright." This gentleness, which seemed to have sprung from the limb itself, was transmitted through their shared link, making Sakura pause for a moment.

She instinctively turned her gaze to the divine body, which stood silently, bathed in the evening glow. This resonance with the little boy's feelings… was it real, or was it the fundamental operation of her "heart," some kind of extremely realistic emotional simulation, calculated and "delivered" to her based on the situation?

She couldn't tell. Perhaps… she didn't need to.

她那條摔倒的右腿並未急於起身，而是以膝蓋支地，安慰性地蹭了蹭小男童的手臂。而原本在遠處揮舞竹劍的右臂也拋下手中玩具，「飛」掠而來，輕輕地摸了摸男孩的髮頂，彷彿在無聲地訴說：「沒事的，別害怕。」

御神櫻感受著胸腔內那顆「心」中湧動的柔軟與暖意，澎湃得幾乎滿溢而出。哪怕它真只是一台「情緒生成裝置」，此時此刻，她也更寧願去相信——神櫻正與她共享著同一份心情，共同沉浸在這金色夕照之下。

這時，那條載著女孩的左腿，也以輕柔的節奏，腳掌輕輕點著地，一蹬一蹬地回到了御神櫻的頭顱邊。坐在上面的小女孩臉頰微紅，眼神卻亮晶晶的。她有些緊張地在口袋裡摸索了一陣，然後鄭重地掏出一株被手帕仔細包裹的四葉草，怯生生地遞向懸浮的巫女頭顱。

「巫女大人，」她聲音輕輕的，卻很認真，「這個…送給您。媽媽說，它能帶來幸福。我希望…您以後永遠都快樂。」

御神櫻又愣住了，目光柔軟地落在那株纖細卻飽含重量的小草上。

Her fallen right leg didn't rush to get up. Instead, it rested on its knee and gave the little boy's arm a comforting nudge. And the right arm, which had been waving a bamboo sword in the distance, dropped its toy and "flew" over, gently patting the boy's head, as if silently saying, "It's okay, don't be afraid."

Sakura felt the softness and warmth surging in the "heart" in her chest, so powerful it was about to overflow. Even if it really was just an "emotion-generating device," at this moment, she preferred to believe—that Shin-ou was sharing the same feeling with her, both of them immersed in this golden sunset.

Just then, the left leg that had been carrying the girl returned to Sakura’s head with a gentle, rhythmic tapping of its foot. The little girl on it had a slight blush on her cheeks, but her eyes were sparkling. She fumbled nervously in her pocket for a moment and then solemnly took out a four-leaf clover, carefully wrapped in a handkerchief, and shyly offered it to the floating shrine maiden’s head.

"Lady Miko," her voice was soft, but very serious. "This… is for you. Mommy says it brings happiness. I hope… you will be happy forever."

Sakura was stunned again, her gaze falling softly on the delicate yet weighty little plant.

還未等她開口，小女孩卻已靈巧地跳下了左腿。她沒有立刻跑開，而是轉過身，伸出小手，極其自然地與那條剛才還承載著她的左腿側面輕輕擊掌，發出愉悅的小小聲響，宛如屬於她們兩人之間的「成功暗號」。那條左腿也彷彿早有預期般，上下晃了晃腳尖，大腿微微彎出柔和的弧度，像在點頭，又像是在微笑，一起慶祝完成了這場小小的共謀。

這些小小的動作，像最後一片悄然落定的拼圖，輕輕地擊中御神櫻內心最柔軟的角落。

啊啊…這到底是什麼感覺啊……

明明是她自己的左腿，此刻卻彷彿成了那個羞澀女孩最親密無間的「共犯」，與她共享只屬於她們兩人之間的溫柔秘密。

這份美好感受，真實得讓她難以置信，甚至產生一絲惶恐，害怕這只是「心」模擬出的完美幻夢。

但是……

御神櫻的眼眶微微濕潤了，夕陽的金光在她眼中折射出璀璨的光暈。她以靈力接過了那株四葉草，彷彿接過了無比真摯的祝福。

無需再懷疑感受的真偽。她知道了，與神櫻在一起，她也能觸摸到純粹的幸福。

​Before she could speak, the little girl had already nimbly hopped off the left leg. She didn't run away immediately. Instead, she turned, reached out her small hand, and gave the side of the leg that had just been carrying her a very natural high-five, making a small, happy sound, like a "successful mission signal" that belonged only to the two of them. The left leg, as if it had been expecting it, bobbed its foot up and down, its thigh curving into a gentle arc, as if it were nodding or smiling, celebrating the completion of their little conspiracy together.

​These small gestures, like the final, quietly settling piece of a puzzle, gently struck the softest corner of Sakura's heart.

​Ah… what is this feeling…

​It was her own left leg, yet at this moment, it felt as if it had become the shy girl's closest "partner in crime," sharing a gentle secret that belonged only to them.

​This beautiful feeling was so real it was almost unbelievable, even creating a faint sense of panic, a fear that this was just a perfect illusion simulated by her "heart."

​But…

​Sakura's eyes grew moist, the golden light of the setting sun refracting into a brilliant halo in her gaze. She accepted the four-leaf clover with her spiritual power, as if accepting the most sincere of blessings.

​There was no longer a need to doubt the authenticity of the feeling. She knew now. Together with Shin-ou, she too could touch pure happiness.