"MSA-079 has been shot down! Vital signs are weakening!"
The monitor couldn't bear to look at the screen showing the vital signs of the soldiers instantly disappearing. In just one second, several soldiers had died. Shortly after, Lin's movement also stopped, and his vital signs abruptly ceased.
"What did you say?" Sigma, who was giving operational commands, stared wide-eyed at the monitor, "Where is Ato's squad?"
"Ato's squad has suffered over fifty percent casualties… They are, however, pursuing the Fifth Herrscher."
"No, there's no time! We cannot afford further losses. Tell them not to approach the Fifth Herrscher too closely and to wait to rendezvous with the other squads!"
However, the monitor's next sentence made Sigma's heart colder than the air outside.
"A-at the center of the city, an ultra-low temperature reaction is rapidly spreading! The projected area will freeze the entire landmass of Trant!"
…
The Fifth Herrscher hovered in the air. Beneath her feet, an unremarkable small ice block fell from the air to the ground.
"Crack."
The moment the ice block touched the ground, a terrifying frigidity assaulted the area within a radius of tens of meters, then began to spread outward without stopping, freezing everything in its path.
To say the ground was frozen three feet deep would not be enough to describe this power.
After using a vast amount of her authority, the Fifth Herrscher landed on the ground again, preparing to freeze herself for self-protection.
Not far from this location, a man with his face covered by cloth, whose rags had fallen off after a Ballista-type Honkai Beast was smashed into the ground, stood with his muscular upper body exposed. He looked up and surveyed his surroundings.
"Cold… leave…" He muttered something softly, then seemed to intend to leave this world of ice and snow.
However, the direction he headed was exactly the location of the Fifth Herrscher.
…
"This is Squad One, Captain Kevin."
Kevin flashed past, dodging an attack mixed with debris and ice particles. The ice block that materialized above his head hadn't fully descended before he shattered it entirely with his gun.
He directed the rest of his squad to disperse their formation while leaping into the air, narrowly avoiding the impact of the colossal creature. Then, he reported over the communication channel, "Squad One cannot provide support. A new enemy has appeared on the battlefield."
The enormous, sky-obscuring figure only stopped after continuously crushing everything in its path for several hundred meters, leaving behind only massive ruins and rampant Honkai energy.
Two grotesque long tusks swung with its agitated movements. Countless Honkai energy flowed through the white lines within its black body.
"Preliminary deduction is…"
"Howl————"
Opening a giant mouth that took up half its body, the beast-tusked maw emitted a roar that shook the air.
An even more intense cold descended.
"Emperor-class Honkai Beast."
The battle resumed. The pig-like Honkai Beast closed its mouth upon seeing Kevin. Judging by the chilling air and Honkai mist escaping from its tusks, it was condensing a beam-like attack.
"Switch to Formation B. Everyone except me, stay away from the Emperor-class Honkai Beast." Kevin charged toward the Honkai Beast with his rifle without hesitation. His armor joints engaged and locked, allowing him to use less physical strength for greater speed, and then…
"Sizzle—"
The lower part of his leg, like Lin's jet device, provided him with a secondary acceleration. He turned into a blur, charging toward the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
Kevin's armor, unlike Lin's functionally complex device designed to handle all situations, was a lighter-weight set of protective gear with simplified devices added to complement his burst strength. Because his core strength already surpassed Lin's, he focused more on his own abilities.
"Roar!"
The Emperor-class Honkai Beast opened its monstrous mouth the moment its power reached its peak. A terrifying amount of energy poured out, turning into an icy-blue beam. Anything it touched was first frozen by the cold air and then destroyed by the Honkai energy, annihilating the contacted objects like a bulldozer.
But Kevin ran toward his target, unfazed by the sweeping beam. At the critical moment, he activated Time Fracture, leaping over the beam from above and landing in a relatively closer position mid-air.
His rifle was aimed at the Honkai Beast. Kevin intended to find the Emperor-class Honkai Beast's weak point, such as its eyes, but at first glance, the Honkai Beast didn't have eye-like parts, only thick black armor and cushioning white stripes.
However, there was one more place!
The calm Kevin immediately drew a portable compressed bomb and threw it toward the open mouth of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
Time Fracture ended, and Kevin had just cleared the path of the beam attack. Before the Emperor-class Honkai Beast could finish its beam attack, the bomb exploded directly inside its defenseless oral cavity.
"Boom—"
Kevin immediately commanded, "Now! Fire!"
The standby squad members, hearing Kevin's order, immediately fired their remote weapons at the exploded area. For a moment, bullets flew everywhere, showering the Emperor-class Honkai Beast like rain.
"Screech."
However, the Emperor-class Honkai Beast curled up into a circle in full view, and the armor on its body deflected all the attacks.
"It's going to do that again—" Kevin saw it start rotating on the ground and instantly turned to run backward.
The world-destroying disc, like a giant boulder rolling down a mountain, was bearing down on Kevin's head.
…
"Everyone halt, wait for support."
Ato stopped the squad members, primarily to stop the blindly charging Kosma. He grabbed Kosma's shoulder, forcing him to snap out of his blood-red-eyed state of killing Honkai Beasts.
The others were the opposite of Kosma. While he vented his anger on the Honkai Beasts, the rest of the members were losing their fighting spirit. Retreat and avoidance even occurred during the fight. If it weren't for Ato's strong adaptability, there would have been more casualties on this road.
Although both saw their comrades die tragically in front of them, Kosma's situation was completely different from theirs.
But Ato didn't want to criticize them, nor did he have the authority to, because many of them did not truly join the Moth of the Fire to fight the Honkai.
Some, having lost their homes to the Honkai, impulsively sought revenge, only to realize on the battlefield that their objects of vengeance were bloodless, tearless alien monsters. Others were forced to join the Moth of the Fire, their enthusiasm even lower than the former.
Individuals like Kosma, who chose to become a soldier of the Moth of the Fire purely out of fervor, were very rare. Even Kevin only joined for Mei.
"Kosma, be careful. You are not fighting alone."
Ato's words instantly calmed Kosma, whose mind was buzzing with the frenzy of battle. He looked at the disheartened team members behind him, took a deep breath, and nodded at Ato.
"This is Elysia. Ato, please lead your squad to stay put and maintain vigilance. We will arrive in three minutes."
At that moment, the communication channel spoke.