"Lin, you are our hope."
"Bang!"
Something fell from the sky.
PROMETHEUS said in an even tone, "Lin, you cannot return to the high Honkai energy concentration area."
"…"
"Cannot."
Auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, fatigue, nausea, high fever…
It was true that he "cannot". Everyone told him he couldn't, because that was the reality.
"PROMETHEUS… how much further…"
"…"
If his death could save one more person, how wonderful that would be.
Why did these people always try to save him, a person who was originally of little value and wouldn't live much longer anyway?
Why… until now, could he still hear their final wishes…
…
"Commander-in-Chief, why are we stopping now…" someone in the command center hesitantly asked Sigma, who had been constantly observing the squads' movements.
The first wave of small Honkai Beasts in Trant City had been mostly cleared. Shouldn't they strike while the iron was hot and go immediately to subjugate the Fifth Herrscher? Why the sudden stop now?
"This is a directive from Headquarters." Sigma coldly glanced at him, "Do you have any objections?"
"No… I just feel like…"
The person who was about to say that it might not be a good idea to delay any further stopped himself when he saw Sigma's icy stare. The other person had more experience than him, so he must not be wrong...
All squads were deployed in an awkward position. On the map, this position was very close to the orphanage where the Herrscher was located, but the actual distance did not meet the conditions for an immediate offensive with a single command.
Except for one squad.
…
The atmosphere among the group was somewhat heavy. Ato was clearing the way in the front, while the team members behind him appeared particularly discouraged, having lost their initial optimistic attitude.
Throughout the journey, Ato and Kosma had been clearing all the Honkai Beasts. They wanted to help, but their lack of coordination with each other and the panic caused by the new recruits seeing a real Honkai Beast for the first time made their attempts to help feel more like dragging them down.
Moreover, they seemed to have penetrated too deeply now, and the number of Honkai Beasts was surging. It was nothing to Ato—he could wipe out all these Honkai Beasts fighting solo—but the random gunfire from the new recruits disrupted his combat rhythm, forcing him to pay attention to both his team members and the Honkai Beasts when facing multiple enemies, making him feel a bit overwhelmed.
"Captain Ato."
Kosma kicked a Honkai Beast away, caught his breath after a few supplementary shots, and looked towards Ato.
Ato noticed Kosma's gaze and glanced at the team members behind him.
They were not badly injured, but their spirits seemed somewhat weary. Running such a long distance from the outskirts of the city and maintaining high-intensity combat was not an easy task for them.
So, after checking their position on the locator, Ato ordered the entire team to rest in place.
They had reached the required position, and the next step was to wait for the command from their superiors.
He looked towards the very nearby orphanage. From this vantage point, he could see a towering block of ice that had frozen the entire orphanage, like a gigantic cocoon cast in ice.
"Is that where the Herrscher is?" Kosma also came up beside Ato. He gazed at the ice cocoon, silently clenching his fists.
During the Fourth Honkai, he had only seen the storm caused by the Fourth Herrscher and her minions, but he had not seen the monster herself, who could tear apart the sky with a casual strike. Therefore, he might have to face the Fifth Herrscher, who was likely of the same caliber, and it was impossible not to be nervous, to be honest.
He secretly observed Ato's expression and found that he was not overly nervous, which made him sigh, thinking that he truly lived up to being a captain on par with Kevin, surely a veteran who had fought Herrschers before.
"Mm… This Herrscher is acting strangely. She hasn't gone on a rampage after birth; instead, she's stayed in one spot and hasn't moved," Ato replied to Kosma's comment and also voiced the doubt in his own mind.
"Captain Ato, have you never encountered a Herrscher like this?"
"I've only fought the First Herrscher."
"Huh?"
Only fought the First Herrscher?
But hadn't four Herrschers been born from the First Honkai until now? Excluding the Fourth Herrscher, he should have encountered three Herrschers and had plenty of experience.
"The Second Herrscher was subjugated by Elysia," Ato saw Kosma's confusion and said indifferently, "The Third Herrscher was subjugated jointly by Lin and Dr. Mei. I haven't directly encountered any of them."
"But you…"
"Don't look worried?" Ato checked the weapon in his hand without raising his head, "If extreme emotions can't bring you any benefit, then their existence is superfluous."
As expected, he was very dependable.
Kosma guarded against new Honkai Beasts that might appear in the surroundings, but after a while, he suddenly realized something.
"Speaking of which, why haven't the other squads come to support us yet?"
"…" Ato remained silent.
Regardless of what was happening, it was a bit strange. Even their squad, which had the lowest efficiency, had penetrated this deep, yet the other supposedly stronger squads hadn't appeared.
In the heavy snow, Kosma picked up his communicator and sent a message to Squad One.
"…"
There was no response, like a stone sinking into the sea.
It was then that Kosma finally sensed something was wrong. His gaze shifted to Ato, who had been silently looking down.
"There will be no backup."
That was the first sentence Ato said.
…
"Shh…"
The lead small boy made a shushing gesture to his two companions behind him. Only after they nodded did he cautiously poke his head out from around the corner.
"Ugah—" An unnatural low growl came from a bloodless mouth.
An ordinary zombie was stumbling aimlessly.
This was a human corrupted by the dispersed Honkai energy in Trant. He happened to be at the edge and his Honkai resistance was coincidentally too low, which was why he was converted into a zombie.
The unnatural floating color and the eyes that were only white made the small boy gulp, but he still bravely turned back to his companions and nodded firmly. Then, he and another slightly stronger boy strained to lift a stone about a third of his height.
The remaining little girl stepped out from around the corner and yelled at the zombie, "M-monster! Come here!"
"Gah—"
Upon seeing a human, the formerly wandering zombie immediately sped up and approached her.
"Ahhhhh!" Tears welled up in the little girl's eyes, and she ran back around the corner, with the zombie immediately following.
"Haaaaah!"
As its foot entered the corner, the two boys used all their strength to smash the stone onto its head, knocking it to the ground.
"Run!"
The three immediately ran past the zombie.
"Boom."
However, a sound simultaneously chilled their blood.
A massive, grotesque figure stood before them. A leg, easily two stories high, landed and caused the ground to cave in.
Its scarlet single eye slowly looked down at the three tiny ants.
The little girl took a step back, tripped over the zombie's arm, and fell to the ground, crying hysterically, "No… don't! Hina! Anna!"
"Swish—"
A bright light descended from the sky.