"I remember you had left the headquarters before, which means Moth of the Flame did not forcibly require you to go to the front line, and you could also report your physical condition." Ato, who had been following Lin's real-time movements, was generally known as a mature and self-disciplined man, but now he appeared to be extraordinarily angry. "Why did you conceal your physical condition and go to the battlefield!"
"And you, Elysia." Ato furious gaze turned to Elysia on the side.
Elysia, suddenly called out, blinked and pointed to herself as if she had been called by the teacher in class: "Me?"
He questioned her: "You know about Lin's physical problem, don't you?"
"How could I~ Lin and I are so close. If I knew he had a physical problem, I definitely wouldn't let him go to the front line." Elysia tilted her head and smiled faintly, "Right, Lin."
Ato glared at her: "You better be telling the truth."
But what was done was done, and no amount of talking could change it. Ato could only say coldly, "You are not allowed to go out again," before slamming the door and leaving.
"What's wrong with Ato?" Lin asked Elysia.
Lin's impression of Heng was still fixed on the image of the top soldier of Moth of the Flame, as mentioned by Himeko when Lin first joined. Later, he only knew that Ato married Blanca and had Griseo.
Overall, Ato should be very similar to him.
Elysia looked at the weak Lin and sighed faintly: "Perhaps some of his thoughts changed after having a child."
...
"Hey! Wait for me, Ato!"
"..."
Ato, who was walking rapidly, stopped, turning back to look coldly at Elysia, who was chasing after him.
"Hoo... Why are you walking so fast? Are you trying out for a race? Even if you're angry, don't just leave Lin like that. How sad must he be?" Elysia ran up to Heng, let out a long breath, and gave him a reproachful look.
"Sad?" Ato said coldly, "Does he look like he's sad or remorseful?"
"Lin just doesn't show it. He is quite delicate inside."
"If he were delicate, he wouldn't do something like this!"
Ato angry roar made the whole building tremble.
"..." Elysia's flippant smile remained on her face, but there was absolutely no amusement in her eyes. "Ato... Has something happened between you and Lin?"
"No." Ato seemed to have calmed down after the outburst. He sighed and shook his head.
"You seem to have a lot to say. Shall we change the location?"
...
"Here is fine. We can see outside clearly."
Elysia found an unused office, closed the door, and walked to the window, her eyes shifting as she watched the intensifying hailstorm.
"Ato, since your relationship with Lin is not actually that close, why are you so angry?" Elysia turned to look at Ato, who was leaning against the wall. "It's unlike you."
Since Ato and Lin had no prior connection, why would the generally composed and mature Heng be so angry about Lin's situation?
"A few years ago, someone told me that a new recruit, who didn't have time to join a team, single-handedly defeated an Emperor-class Honkai Beast during the Second Honkai Eruption."
However, Ato did not directly explain the reason for his abnormal behavior but shifted the topic, starting from when Lin first joined Moth of the Flame a few years ago.
The Second Honkai Eruption was also the time when Elysia tricked Mobius out of her emblem to join Moth of the Flame. She disguised herself as a Moth of the Flame soldier then and later fabricated a complete joining process. In the records, her enlistment time was three years, and Lin joined Moth of the Flame shortly after that.
"I wanted to place Lin in my squad back then, but he consistently followed the orders of the higher-ups, so I didn't get to meet him much after that."
"Then came the Third Honkai Eruption. When I heard he had once again single-handedly defeated a Judgement-class Honkai Beast and assisted in defeating a Herrscher, I thought this person must be a remarkably capable young man."
As Ato spoke, his emotions became much calmer. He suddenly smiled then, saying: "Then Blanca and I got married, and she confirmed her pregnancy a month after we married."
"During that time, news about Lin never stopped. He was a highly talked-about person during that period, even becoming the Captain of Squad Seven. Before Kevin arrived, he was the youngest Captain among us."
"Do you know what I was thinking then?"
"Relief."
Hearing this, Elysia understood the reason behind Ato outburst.
"I saw hope in Lin. His appearance made me believe that this mission to fight the Honkai could be handed over to the next generation."
"..."
"But the person who was supposed to symbolize hope, now..." Anger flashed in Ato eyes again, but this time Elysia saw it clearly. It wasn't just anger at Lin for not cherishing his life, but also emotions like regret and pity. "I realized then that I had merely imposed hope onto him. He is, in fact, just an ordinary human."
"But it is precisely this imposed hope that led Lin to become this way."
"Why is it the younger him who is being eroded by Honkai energy? Why is he still fighting even in this condition?"
Elysia listened silently to Ato words, filled with indignation and helplessness. After a long pause, she spoke softly: "But, Ato, you would have done the same thing if you were in his place."
"..."
"Even if it were an order to face certain death, Ato, you would strictly execute it, because you, like Lin, view yourself as a soldier, not a warrior. This is your shared conviction, and it is also what you admire about Lin."
Elysia rendered Ato speechless with just two sentences.
"Ato, I do know about Lin's physical condition, but I didn't stop him," Elysia said with a sense of helplessness, yet without sadness. "Because this is the path Lin chose, and he is seeing it through."
In this tyrannical and unreasonable world, a person cannot choose their destiny.
But at least, on that dark path, a person can choose to walk on it resolutely and face their destiny.
...
"Old Man..."
Anna walked into the infirmary timidly. She seemed to have lost her usual vitality, looking at Lin on the hospital bed with an expression of wanting to speak but holding back.
He was leaning against the headboard, weak as a dog with broken bones.
"Are you... okay?"
Anna felt a bit stupid for asking. Lin clearly didn't look okay at all.
"I'm fine." However, Lin's customary reply made the atmosphere extremely awkward.
"..."
"..."
"Old Man, you once asked what a person who was about to die would do. Was that person... you?"