Awakening (Continued)

However, the former and the latter were completely different when it came to the two sides in battle.

Siegfried might not have liked Schicksal, but he had held back against Lin Yu, making him something of a hero for the human camp.

And Sirin... Sirin would have loved nothing more than to wipe Lin Yu, a mere human, right off the face of the earth the moment she saw him.

Heading over to help Siegfried now was certainly dangerous, but it still left a glimmer of survival.

If Siegfried truly bit the dust and the Herrscher of Thunder came looking for him, Lin Yu would be completely dead with zero chance of escape.

As for how Lin Yu was going to help Siegfried... the HSN Serum.

This stuff was the genuine article, certified by the system. As long as it was jabbed into Mei's body, even if it couldn't directly scrap the Herrscher of Thunder's powers, it would still suppress her Honkai Energy.

Once it reached that point, the odds of Siegfried winning the fight were quite high.

"Senior! The Honkai Energy is coming over!"

"Ah, I know."

Having just hopped off the motorcycle, Lin Yu spoke to Kiana.

"I'll leave the bike to you. Now, run straight into the urban area without looking back."

"Huh?????? ?"

Looking at Lin Yu's resolute expression at that moment, Kiana gasped and cried out.

"Didn't you say this is a massive Honkai outbreak just as terrifying as the Second Honkai Eruption?"

"Senior, are you really..."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"Trying to get myself killed? Ha, as if."

Forcing himself to stay calm and charge forward, Lin Yu activated Mirror Mind and looked back at Kiana.

"Don't worry, Kiana."

"I'm a member of Schicksal, and when it comes to fighting the Honkai..."

"I'm no amateur. I'm a professional."

"I'm no amateur. I'm a professional."

As he spoke those words, Lin Yu actually felt...

terrified out of his mind.

It was absurd.

Even though he had already used Mirror Mind, the fear from the depths of his heart still made his body tremble almost against his will.

Yet faced with Lin Yu's composed expression, Kiana couldn't tell what he was really thinking at all.

"A professional?"

Looking at the man before her, Kiana dropped her usual sweet tone and poked Lin Yu's body with her finger.

"With a physique that doesn't have an ounce of muscle on it, Senior, aren't you just running to your death if you charge in there?"

"Miss Kiana just remembered: that trick you used to shatter the floor earlier--you actually can't use it frequently at all, right?"

"Otherwise, why wouldn't you have used it from the start to intimidate me? Why bother parrying for so long?"

...Damn, why was this brat's brain spinning faster and faster?

"Look, you're not denying it."

Kiana said angrily as she glared at Lin Yu.

"Besides, even if you can use a move like that, if you run into a horde of Honkai Beasts and Meele, you're still toast."

"Miss Kiana has fought Honkai Beasts before and knows how hard they are to deal with. Senior, you..."

"I don't plan on fighting them head-on."

At that moment, Lin Yu forcefully suppressed the fear in his heart and maintained his expression as he spoke to Kiana.

"I have a trump card against the Honkai in my hands, and this trump card can even take down the highest-ranking Honkai Apostles and Herrscher."

"But that still doesn't stop you from acting with me. Why should Miss Kiana..."

"I don't have time to waste talking nonsense with you!"

Lin Yu stepped forward, grabbed Kiana by the collar, and spoke with a ferocious expression.

"Do you really need me to spell it out for you? It's much easier for me to move alone, and you're just dead weight if you tag along."

"The people in our organization will figure out a Honkai outbreak is happening here and head this way sooner or later. Once they do, you won't be able to leave even if you want to!"

"If I can't leave, then I won't..."

Before Kiana could finish, she felt Lin Yu's fist about to strike her face.

If not for her own intuition sensing his movement and dodging at top speed, Kiana felt she would have at least gotten a bloody nose from that punch.

"Y-You, what are you doing!"

Looking at Lin Yu, who had already dropped into a fighting stance, Kiana said with a hint of grievance.

"Miss Kiana was just..."

"Get lost."

"If you don't get lost, I'll knock you out and dump you here."

"I already said, I don't have time to waste on these things. If you really care about me..."

"--Then for fuck's sake, don't make things difficult for me!"

Looking at Lin Yu's ferocious face, Kiana finally realized that the aura around him was steadily climbing.

He was serious.

Whether it was deciding to head to the battlefield alone or wanting her to survive safely, Lin Yu meant every word.

"...I get it."

Mounting the motorcycle, Kiana put her helmet back on and glanced back at Lin Yu.

"Senior, don't die on me."

"Ah, I know."

Watching Kiana depart, Lin Yu let out a long breath of stale air.

Only now did he realize how immature he still was.

Even as he made his decision, Lin Yu had thought he could rely on Mirror Mind to suppress his inner emotions and let his reason drive his actions.

Yet right now, having confirmed that Kiana had gone far away, Lin Yu pulled a third motorcycle he had prepared out of his storage space.

Just the mere act of mounting the motorcycle made Lin Yu feel his body trembling.

Mirror Mind was a state of mind that Domon Kasshu, the Gundam Fighter and King of Hearts, only comprehended when pushed to the absolute brink of despair.

Before that, he had endured cruel trials: his father being sentenced to cryogenic freeze, his death, his older brother becoming a wanted fugitive, and his master's betrayal.

Tortured by these experiences, Domon Kasshu, a master of martial arts, thoroughly grasped the state of mind known as Mirror Mind.

And what about Lin Yu?

Perhaps compared to the King of Hearts, he only seemed to lack an older brother.

In reality, however, the differences between the two were vast.

Unlike Domon, Lin Yu had been an orphan from the start; he had never felt familial affection from anyone, nor had he ever held familial affection for others.

Never possessing that warmth to begin with was sometimes far luckier than losing all of it after having it.

His skills were given to him by the system.

With a state of mind that fell short, he could only rely on this skill to suppress the terror in his heart at the moment of life and death.

Right now, let alone mastering the skill completely, even maintaining it was terribly difficult.

"Tch... What on earth am I afraid of?"

That's right, there was nothing to fear at all.

With Kevin out of the picture, Su peeking from the sidelines, and Fu Hua battered and bruised, Siegfried was undoubtedly the strongest person in the world.

Even if he had lost an arm, all the tragic experiences over the years had honed his combat techniques and mindset alongside the sorrow and pain.

In terms of physical performance, Siegfried had indeed grown weaker.

Yet in terms of mindset and technique, he was surely stronger than he had been fourteen years ago.

With his current state, he only needed to drain the Herrscher of Thunder's power, and I would have the chance to finish her off with the HSN Serum.

So now...

Staring at the Honkai Energy still spreading endlessly ahead, Lin Yu took out the HSN Serum and plunged it straight into his own body.

Extracting 20% of the HSN Serum to counter the continuously expanding Honkai Energy should be roughly enough.

The remaining 80% would be kept as a trump card.

After injecting the 20% HSN Serum, Lin Yu could feel that his bodily functions had not dropped at all.

Come to think of it, the HSN Serum was what Dr. Mags had used to turn Valkyries back into ordinary humans after his granddaughter died.

To Lin Yu, who had no Honkai Energy in his body, this stuff was a pure Honkai Energy barrier.

At the very least, the HSN Serum had very few negative side effects on him for now.

And the moment he finished his preparatory actions, he heard the system's voice ring out once more.

Having used such a harsh method to send away that less-than-cute underclassman, you know your chance has come.

Oh wow, what chance? A chance to court death?

After all, people only pursue a few things in this life. Knowing full well that the system in your hand is unreliable, you've decided to--carve out a world of your own.

...No, it doesn't have to be like that.

I feel like you're actually pretty reliable most of the time, aside from when you're trolling while writing the narration.

To get what you want, you can only pull off enough achievements to fulfill your own ambitions.

Go on, host, and offer up the Herrscher of Thunder, Siegfried Kaslana, and the Flame-Chaser's Judgment in his hand as sacrifices! As long as you do that--

You can skip that one part alone.

Siegfried held back when he fought me. Running over to scavenge kills at a time like this and dragging him down with it...

I'm no good guy, but I can't cross that line in my heart.

Can't cross that line? Having said those words, you immediately let out a cold laugh.

Right, you really should do it. A living Siegfried is much more useful, and if you mess with him and cause an accident, K423 might still go on a rampage.

Alright, enough nonsense.

Look, the system is telling you--you pretty much won't listen to whatever the system says anyway, so what harm is there in the system just talking a big game?

Yeah.

The person who decides the path forward is ultimately just myself.

Gazing at the Honkai Beasts appearing ahead, Lin Yu forced himself to calm down and shoved the motorcycle straight to its maximum speed in the shortest time possible.

Still, something was a bit off.

Most of them were prowler-class and templar-class, and they were all tiny in size.

If I didn't know the plot, I'd even think this wasn't the Third Honkai Outbreak with an awakening Herrscher at all.

Was there some detail I missed, or perhaps...