"Hey, you are… Lin, right? Look at this."
Under the glaring lights, a barefoot man in a white coat was scratching his messy hair with one hand and shaking a small bottle containing tiny, starlight-like azure particles with the other.
I didn't look at the bottle, pointing instead at his feet, exposed to the cold floor.
"Barefoot? Never mind that, I was half-asleep and forgot to put on shoes." He placed the bottle, containing particles resembling fireflies, onto the table and pushed it toward me. "What do you think? Isn't it beautiful?"
"…"
"Hey, come on, give me some reaction. This is the energy for the Titan you wanted, usable Honkai Energy converted through the transformer."
The man helplessly patted my helmet. He didn't need to do that, as I had been looking at him and those particles the entire time.
"This is the limit of what humanity can do right now. The transformer is far from capable of converting large amounts of Honkai Energy, but even this little bit can light up a laboratory for a whole day." The man stared at the Honkai Energy particles with some emotion. "Honkai Energy… after being materialized, it looks so beautiful. It's a substance that causes devastating destruction to humanity. It's probably like how brightly colored mushrooms are often poisonous."
"…"
"But, sometimes I think, the denser the Honkai Energy, the more likely it is to give birth to Honkai creatures with intelligence close to that of humans. It's as if it's saying that the danger of humanity itself actually surpasses the Honkai… Hehe, maybe I'm overthinking it."
I listened to the man's rambling, staring at the Honkai Energy particles.
They were indeed beautiful, fragile and illusory, as if they would dissipate the moment one reached out to touch them.
"This is… souls," I uttered in a low voice, the tone so cold it seemed to lower the ambient temperature.
"Hmm?" The man's eyes widened slightly. This was an expression of surprise.
"In the densest areas of Honkai Energy, the number of dead people is also the highest. Their souls transform into more Honkai Energy. The aggregates of their thoughts form the sentience of those Honkai creatures, which is why they resemble humans."
"…An interesting theory." The man showed an intrigued expression. "So you're suggesting that all this time, humanity has been fighting against humanity?"
"No… Humanity has always been fighting against thoughts."
…
"Nerve disorder caused by Honkai Energy is an extremely rare type, even among Honkai Virus cases. You mentioned your brain underwent modification surgery; that surgery must be the cause."
The Sixth Herrscher held Lin upside down, hovering over Nagazora. This city, once destroyed by disaster and rebuilt through countless hardships, seemed to have returned to its former prosperity, ablaze with lights, like a dancer shedding her disguise to dance in candlelight.
The scythe was still plunged into Lin's abdomen. Perhaps the Sixth Herrscher had used her ability to shrink the wound a little, as not much blood was flowing out. Moreover, the scythe was accurately positioned to avoid vital organs.
"How tragic," the Sixth Herrscher released Lin's feet, sneering as she watched him freefall. "You walk the path chosen for you by the person who hurt you, and when you reach the end, all you see is your own grave."
"One moment you are willing to sacrifice without hesitation for others, the next you are forced to cling to life in order to save more people."
"You don't care about anything that belongs to you, yet you can only watch those around you die, while you miraculously survive every time."
"Those who don't want to die, die. Those who want to die, live. Humans truly are contradictory to the point of being laughable, just as that man said."
During Lin's fall, the Sixth Herrscher swooped down and grabbed his feet again. This violent action tugged at his wound, blurring his consciousness again.
"Don't fall asleep. Watch closely how all of this is utterly destroyed by my hands."
Lin abruptly opened his eyes, pulled out his handgun, and fired several shots at the Sixth Herrscher's head.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
However, the Sixth Herrscher, who was mocking Lin, emerged from behind the black mist unharmed. She swiftly snatched the handgun from Lin's grasp, then skillfully removed the magazine and emptied all the bullets one by one.
Finally, she placed the empty handgun back into Lin's hand.
A wide smile on her face.
"This is your current state: a gun with no bullets, whose only value is to amuse me with your ridiculous actions."
The Sixth Herrscher was ecstatic. She wanted to see a change in Lin's expression—disappointment in humanity, shock toward her, deep regret over the past… anything, she wanted to see it all.
But to her disappointment, Lin remained perfectly calm, as always. Not a single muscle twitched from beginning to end. His eyes were so clear that she wondered if he was still plotting how to deal with her.
The Phase Transfer device was back in her hand. His threat was neutralized. All she wanted was to see this unflappable man despair to cheer herself up.
"Forget it. I'm not that interested in watching a cripple perform anymore. Now, for the main event."
"Who will be the ones to face me…"
"Boom!"
The black mist appeared just in time to block the bullet aimed at her head. The Sixth Herrscher's leisurely expression instantly vanished. She looked coldly at the four Titans flying toward them from the direction they came.
The cockpit door of one of the Titans was wide open. The person kneeling inside, sniping with a rifle, shifted his gaze from the scope, taking a look at the Sixth Herrscher's familiar face and Lin, whom she held like a broken doll.
Then Kevin did not hesitate to raise his gun and fire a continuous volley.
The four Titans also fired simultaneously, attacking the Sixth Herrscher with the maximum firepower of their loaded weapons. In an instant, dazzling beams of light and the roar of explosions erupted over Nagazora.
"Are there fireworks tonight?" Someone looked up confusedly, seeing the brilliant beams and explosions in the sky.
Immediately following, the alarm pierced the night.
"Hmm? I'm finding you humans increasingly baffling. Did my memory get it wrong, or are humans actually far less 'human' than I thought?"
The Sixth Herrscher flew out of the void, still holding the completely unconscious Lin. She said to Kevin with a smile: "You can even shoot at your own friend without hesitation. For you, the lives of everyone in this city are far more valuable than his, aren't they? Hehehe… That's truly heartbreaking."
But Kevin was not swayed by her words. He merely observed her, seemingly trying to find her weakness.
That look made the Sixth Herrscher pause. It reminded her of a person.
That person was currently in her hand.
Suddenly, Kevin vanished from the cockpit.
A blur appeared beside the Sixth Herrscher. His cold-blooded pupils reflected the face of the Sixth Herrscher, who hadn't had time to form an expression.
Time Fracture device? But that speed—
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"
Gunshots roared.