Torn muscles in the left hand and left arm. Blood glued his eyelid to his eye socket. A heavy, jarring noise came from within his body.
Himeko stomped on a zombie's head, crushing it, then glared viciously at the Emperor-class Honkai Beast, which was equally battered.
The porcupine-like Emperor-class Honkai Beast was missing one eye, one of its hind hooves, and its tail had been severed at the base. The anger in its murky beast eyes had largely diminished, and it actually looked somewhat pitiful.
Himeko looked relatively unharmed, but in reality, she was exhausted. The only reason she could fight this Honkai Beast to a stalemate of mutual damage was that it was not as formidable as Himeko had initially feared.
Indeed, this Honkai Beast felt like it was powerful in appearance but weak in reality.
Should she call it overly cautious? After being overwhelmed by Himeko's aura, it seemed to be wary of Himeko attempting a mutual destruction attack. Furthermore, it had already expended considerable Honkai Energy, making it even more cautious. It often had other Honkai creatures block her attacks before daring to attack itself.
This also made Himeko realize a fundamental difference between it and the previous Emperor-class Honkai Beasts. Those Honkai Beasts, even with some intelligence, did not care for their own lives, so they fought with all their might, making them extremely difficult to handle.
This porcupine, however, gave her the strange illusion of fighting a human.
Both sides were estimating the opponent's strength and endurance, waiting for the moment the other exposed a flaw to deliver a decisive strike.
Himeko couldn't even tell if its current state was just a disguise. A Honkai Beast this cunning was truly unprecedented.
After the interference from the Emperor-class Honkai Beast ceased, the defense line gradually stabilized, and there were no more casualties.
The birth rate of Honkai creatures in the city also drastically decreased because the overall Honkai Energy concentration was dropping. Once this number fell below what the Titan unit could handle, victory would be theirs.
However, before that, she couldn't afford to waste any more time with this porcupine.
The Emperor-class Honkai Beast seemed to sense her intention. Black energy surged wildly over its body. It too looked ready to quickly end this battle.
The destructive, dark-colored beam once again gathered in the Emperor-class Honkai Beast's mouth, while Himeko narrowed her eyes, raising her sword with one hand, aiming at its head.
Both sides were waiting for an opportunity.
Whoever struck first would lose the initiative.
But the Emperor-class Honkai Beast had other Honkai creatures assisting it. Himeko couldn't maintain her stance for more than twenty seconds before being interrupted by a Chariot-class Honkai Beast charging from behind.
The arrow was already on the string and had to be loosed.
Himeko charged fiercely forward, her single blade slicing through all the monsters blocking her way. The Emperor-class Honkai Beast's eyes showed a human-like sneer, and the beam in its mouth shot out with a roar!
The moment the beam made contact with Himeko, a black shadow leaped from above the beam. The Emperor-class Honkai Beast accurately captured this inconspicuous movement.
The exact same tactic as last time.
It suddenly raised its head. The originally horizontal beam instantly became vertical, accurately swallowing the figure.
When the beam dissipated, nothing was left there.
…
"…"
Elysia's beating heart stilled the moment she saw Lin's motionless corpse.
She had mentally prepared herself for this. This was the path Lin chose, and he would follow it unreservedly to the end. Even when he was taken away from Fire Moth, Elysia knew it wasn't what Lin wanted, so she respected Lin's choice and told him someone was waiting for him.
Therefore, she wouldn't be surprised if Lin died on the battlefield, or in Fire Moth.
But all this happened too suddenly, so suddenly that Lin didn't know the full truth. He passed away before he could even take a final look at the world he protected.
Elysia had burned the letter the Councilman gave him. That letter wouldn't have changed Lin's path, but it would have cut another wound into his already scarred heart. So Elysia wanted to conceal the Councilman's cruelty, letting Lin believe until the end that the Councilman could abandon his strict tenets for the sake of the person he loved.
Returning to Fire Moth, Lin could return to his friends. Even if this was an insignificant gesture of kindness, it should have allowed this man, who had never felt warmth since birth, to at least experience the feeling of being awaited.
But in the end, he rushed into the bloody torrent, swallowed by death without looking back.
But Elysia did not allow herself to show any more grief. There were still people waiting to be saved. That was everything Lin wanted to protect, and she had to fulfill his wish.
At least for now, neither Elysia nor Ato could afford to mourn.
"Prometheus I, take Lin back."
Elysia tore her gaze away from Lin's face. She stood up, watching the Titan's cockpit door slowly close and Prometheus I's vacant pupils vanish, before turning around, listening to the roar of the Titan's engine and the fierce wind that billowed her clothes.
All sorrow would wait until everything was over.
"Elysia, based on my observation, the tree's root system is incredibly entangled. It's impossible to clear it out all at once. Chopping the trunk mid-way might be easier."
Ato, after giving Elysia a brief moment of peace, recounted the detailed combat intelligence. Because the tree's threat level was a notch lower than the Emperor-class Honkai Beast and the Herrscher, not many Titans were allocated to assist him.
"No… Ato, you're forgetting something." Elysia's voice was much calmer than before. Her pupils focused on the colossal tree, which writhed like a demon. She spoke softly, "Even if it is a Honkai creature, it will adhere to common sense to a certain extent. It cannot escape the boundaries of science."
"Even if a tree is cut down at the trunk, the main root will still survive. Furthermore, this tree's vitality is already among the strongest organisms in the world. Even clearing out most of the root system might not be enough to kill it."
"Then what should we do?" Ato grit his teeth, wanting to slam his fist against the inner wall of the Titan's cockpit. His mood was no better than Elysia's.
The Honkai had killed Lin, but Ato believed Lin would accept this outcome calmly. They would all accept it because they were soldiers, prepared for sacrifice at every moment.
But he could not accept that in this moment of human-induced internal strife, of self-slaughter, destroying everything they had built, Lin would still drag his crippled body onto the battlefield and die for it.
The significance of the fallen, Lin's significance, seemed so tiny in the face of this ridiculous world.
"What should we do… Since the Sixth Herrscher is a Herrscher with two fundamentally different powers, she can inject life into this plant. Naturally, she can also use the other power to destroy it."
Ato abruptly looked up.
"Are you saying…"
"Have you heard the story of the strongest spear and the strongest shield?"