System Quest Issued / Massacre

"You... defeated a Ballista-class Honkai Beast? How?" Bronya frowned deeply. No one understood Ishiu better than she did. She knew perfectly well that aside from having a decent face, this guy had nothing else worth mentioning. Yet someone like him had defeated a Ballista-class Honkai Beast.

If it had been another member of the Seven Nights clan, they might have maliciously guessed that Ishiu had used some underhanded method or found some bug in the Imaginary Space. But Bronya would not think that way. The former did not matter—when dealing with Honkai Beasts, no method was too dirty. As for the latter, it was impossible. Ishiu did not have the ability to find bugs in the Imaginary Space.

Facing Bronya's question, Ishiu merely smiled and shrugged. "It was simple. I charged over, chopped it to death with my sword, and that was it."

Bronya's brows furrowed even tighter. She thought Ishiu simply did not want to answer her question.

"Forget it. If you don't want to say it, I won't force you." Bronya paused, looking at Ishiu with a complicated expression before continuing, "You... I know about how you've been acting these past few days. I don't know whether you've really changed, but I hope it's true. Because you are Lady Cocolia's son. She has already lost a great deal because of you. I don't want to see her suffer because of you again..."

"Alright, Little Pudding, I know what you mean. Just think of the old Qiye Ishiu as dead. The current me is just Ishiu." Ishiu directly interrupted Bronya. He knew what she meant, and naturally, he would not be like that Qiye Ishiu, who spent every day causing trouble instead of doing anything useful.

He still had to find a way back to his original world.

After saying that, Ishiu walked past the stunned Bronya and slowly left.

"Bastard! What did you just call Bronya?!" Only after Ishiu had walked away did Bronya react. Her little face immediately flushed red, and she angrily prepared to go settle the score with him.

However, by the time she ran out, Ishiu was already nowhere to be seen. She could only curse a few times before returning in frustration.

A few days later, one morning, Ishiu had barely stepped out of his room when he immediately sensed the heavy atmosphere within the Qiye Family. Everyone wore grave expressions, as if something terrible were about to happen.

Ishiu wanted to ask someone what was going on, but because of his special status, everyone avoided him on sight, which gave him quite a headache.

It was not until Cocolia summoned everyone to the family hall for a meeting that Ishiu understood why the atmosphere was so tense today.

The Qiye Family had detected a gathering of Honkai Beasts near the town, advancing in their direction. At their current speed, they would arrive around noon.

Cocolia solemnly analyzed the number and types of Honkai Beasts in the incoming horde. No one looked pleased, because the scale of this attack was the largest in several decades.

If they mishandled it, the entire force could be wiped out, the town could fall, and millions of people would be mercilessly trampled by the Honkai Beasts.

As the leader, Cocolia quickly issued orders to the combat and logistics teams. The entire Qiye Family sprang into action because of this Honkai surge.

The only ones who were not assigned tasks were the elderly and children under ten in the Qiye Family, as well as... Ishiu.

Once Cocolia's orders were given, everyone began bustling about. Those preparing weapons prepared weapons, those checking mechs checked mechs. In short, everyone had been stirred into action.

After all, this battle concerned the lives of millions and their home. No one could afford not to care.

System Mission Issued

"Mom, I want to go to the front lines too."

"Ishiu, stop making trouble for me. Stay home obediently and wait for the good news of Mom's triumphant return, alright?"

"No, I can help. I promise I won't cause you any trouble."

"Ishiu! Can't you listen to Mom for once? Do you know how dangerous the front lines are? Do you want to make me worry so much that I can't sleep for several nights again, like last time?"

"..."

That was the conversation when Ishiu went to Cocolia and asked to join the battle, only to be refused.

He really wanted to say that he was no longer the useless Ishiu from before, but he did not know how to explain it. Cocolia's concern for him was unquestionable, so she would never send him onto the battlefield. She was even planning to have Ishiu evacuate with the children. If they failed to hold the line, then these remaining children and elderly people would be the Qiye Family's last seeds.

Ishiu was both speechless and somewhat moved by this.

In the end, he decided to wait and see. If the situation went wrong, it would not be too late for him to act. Although one person's strength would not have much effect on the course of a war, he still wanted to do something—at the very least, protect Cocolia and Little Pudding.

Although he still did not feel much connection to the people of this world, for Cocolia and Bronya's sake, even knowing they were not truly related to the two people in his memories, he still did not want to see anything happen to them.

And so, Ishiu was left alone at home while Cocolia led the Qiye Family's forces, bringing weapons and mechs as they marched out to meet the Honkai Beasts.

Ishiu did not remain idle either. He went to the Qiye Family's control room, where the logistics staff and researchers unable to go to the battlefield were gathered. They were closely monitoring the situation on the battlefield and ensuring timely communication with Cocolia's side.

The battle between the Qiye Family and the Honkai Beasts was almost ready to erupt at any moment.

The moment the two sides met, neither hesitated. They immediately began fighting with everything they had.

This was Ishiu's first time truly witnessing a battle between humans and Honkai Beasts. When he saw the dense swarm of Honkai Beasts, stretching out like a tide as far as the eye could see, he immediately felt ashamed of the pride he had felt after easily defeating a Ballista-class Honkai Beast.

Yes, the reason Honkai posed such a great threat to humanity had never been determined by the strength of one or two Honkai Beasts.

You might defeat one Honkai Beast, or ten Honkai Beasts, but could you defeat a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand?

Moreover, Honkai's invasion of the world brought not only Honkai Beasts, but also infected Zombies and environmental changes.

Driving out Honkai was not easy at all. Ishiu once again deeply understood this fact.

No matter what Ishiu was thinking, the battle between the two sides on the battlefield would not change because of it.

Although the Honkai Beast army was numerous, the mechs Cocolia had deployed were no pushovers. These mechs were unmanned and possessed extremely high combat power. Even if they were destroyed, there was no need to worry about casualties.

Combined with the Qiye clan members' firepower suppression, the battlefield was still roughly balanced for the time being.

Everyone in the control room watched the battle on the screens with extreme tension, desperately praying for their side to win. Then, at that moment, a buzzing alarm suddenly sounded.

"Th-this is bad! Another group of Honkai Beasts has appeared in the southwest and is advancing toward the town!" a female researcher cried out.

"What?!" Everyone's expressions changed drastically. "Why weren't they discovered sooner?!"

"Th-they were traveling by water before, and the Honkai Energy detector in that direction malfunctioned. We didn't discover them until after they came ashore."

"Th-then what do we do now? Lady Cocolia has taken everyone to the front lines. Even if we dispatch people to defend the town now, it'll be too late!"

The control room immediately descended into chaos. No one knew what to do. After receiving the news, Cocolia's side swiftly sent a small team back to defend the town, but they were simply too far away. By the time they returned, those Honkai Beasts would likely have already broken into the town.

"Don't panic. I'll stop those Honkai Beasts." Just as everyone was at a loss, Ishiu's voice rang through the control room. It was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.

"You?" Everyone looked at the calm Ishiu in surprise.

"How many Honkai Beasts are there?" Ishiu ignored their strange gazes and directly asked the female researcher.

"T-ten. Seventeen in total. One Chariot-class Honkai Beast, three Ballista-class, five Knight-class, and eight Charge-class." The female researcher answered instinctively.

"Okay, leave it to me." Ishiu nodded, then turned and left.

"Wait! What are you planning to do? With your strength, going there would be suicide! I can't let you go!" A white-haired, white-bearded old man stepped in front of Ishiu and stared at him sternly.

Although Ishiu's reputation in the Qiye Family was terrible, he was still Cocolia's son. As members of the Seven Nights clan, they could look down on Ishiu, but they absolutely could not stand by and watch him die.

"Don't worry. I never do anything unless I'm sure of it." Ishiu smiled slightly and placed a hand on the old man's shoulder. Then everyone's vision blurred, and the old man who had just been standing in front of Ishiu was suddenly ten meters behind him.

"Alright, just wait for my good news." Ishiu waved his hand, glanced at the old man's uncertain expression and the Qiye clan members who looked as though their worldview had been shattered, then turned and walked out the door.

"..." Everyone fell silent. They had no idea what this young master, whom everyone considered useless, intended to do, but Ishiu's move had truly shocked them.

Just as everyone was still struggling to recover, Ishiu appeared at the doorway again. He had come back.

Ishiu scratched his cheek awkwardly and said in a low voice, "Um... can anyone give me a map?"

After obtaining a map, Ishiu immediately ran out of town. At the same time, he received a mission from the system.

Ding! System mission issued: Help the Qiye Family stop the Honkai Beast invasion. Mission reward unknown.

Although he had no idea what reward this damn system would give him this time, based on past experience, he had only just received a major reward like the complete version of the Seven Nights Assassination Technique. This time, it would probably be something like candy or handkerchiefs. If the system was being even more awful, it might even give him a girl's unwashed panties.

Slaughter

After running out of town, Ishiu followed the direction marked on the map. The Honkai Beasts really were already very close. He had run for less than ten minutes before catching sight of them.

"Damn... their size is as exaggerated as ever."

Looking at the thirty-meter-tall Chariot-class Honkai Beast, Ishiu felt a headache coming on.

"Young Master Ishiu, if you can't handle it, it's not too late to retreat now. We've already had the townspeople begin evacuating." The female researcher's voice came through his earpiece. Through the drones, they had also seen those Honkai Beasts.

"It's fine. I can handle it."

Ishiu tightened his grip on the Plasma Katana in his hand, glanced at the Chariot-class Honkai Beast, then set his sights on the other Honkai Beasts.

There was no helping it. He could not handle that big guy yet, so he could only take care of the smaller ones first.

At that moment, the Honkai Beasts noticed Ishiu as well and let out howls signaling their attack.

"Young Master Ishiu, be careful! They've spotted you!"

Along with the female researcher's panicked cry, a massive fireball flew straight toward Ishiu. A Ballista-class Honkai Beast had launched the first attack.

The fireball was incredibly fast. From a distance of one hundred meters, it reached Ishiu in less than a second.

Watching this scene, everyone in the control room involuntarily closed their eyes, their hearts heavy.

In their eyes, Ishiu would surely be reduced to nothing by that attack.

However, a few seconds passed, and the previously silent control room suddenly rang with someone's delighted shout.

"Y-Young Master Ishiu isn't dead! He's still alive! He's still dealing damage! He's still dealing damage!"

Everyone immediately opened their eyes and looked at the large screen.

Sure enough, Ishiu appeared thirty meters away from where the fireball had exploded. Not only was he alive, he had not even suffered a scratch.

"H-how is that possible..." Everyone was both delighted and confused. Then they widened their eyes, eager to see what Ishiu could do after surviving.

Unaware that he had become the protagonist of a live broadcast, Ishiu easily dodged the fireball before charging toward the Honkai Beast horde.

This was his first true battle against Honkai Beasts. It was different from the training room. The atmosphere and smell of the battlefield were not something a training room could replicate.

Yet unexpectedly, his heart was completely calm. So calm that even he found it strange.

It was as though... these Honkai Beasts could not stir his fighting spirit at all.

Just as humans would not become enraged by the provocation of ants.

It sounded somewhat arrogant, but that was genuinely what Ishiu thought, and it was indeed what he did.

Clang—!

Squelch—Squelch—Squelch—!!!

Blade light flashed. Amid sounds like fabric being torn apart, Ishiu's figure flickered swiftly through the Honkai Beast horde.

He was like a merciless reaper. Every appearance, every strike, inevitably took a life.

The Honkai Beasts roared furiously, but they could do nothing to Ishiu. A Knight-class Honkai Beast had just raised the lance in its hand when, in the next second, the man who had been standing in front of it silently appeared behind it—and its head fell to the ground.

Flash Sheath - Four Ghosts Annihilation!

A sharp cross-shaped blade light flashed past, and a Ballista-class Honkai Beast was instantly cut into four neat pieces. Its life extinguished, and it dissolved into the purest Honkai Energy, scattering into the world.

Flash Sheath - Six Paths of Thoughtless Calamity

A white streak instantly split into six slashes, landing upon six Charge-class Honkai Beasts at the same time. Before they could even cry out, their heads were severed.

Ishiu seemed to have become a reaper wielding a scythe. No Honkai Beast could survive even a single exchange with him, nor did they have the slightest ability to resist.

And during this process, Ishiu became increasingly skilled in his use of Flash Sheath and Flash Step.

The Seven Nights Assassination Technique had always been a killing art. Until it had truly been stained with blood, no amount of training could allow one to comprehend the might of this power.

The various techniques seemed to come alive in his hands, flowing with incomparable ease. By the time Ishiu stopped moving, only the Chariot-class Honkai Beast remained in the field.

"This performance still wasn't perfect enough."

Ishiu slowly exhaled, his sharp gaze locking onto the Chariot-class Honkai Beast. If the previous battle had merely been a warm-up, then now it was time for the real show to begin.

At that very moment, everyone in the control room who had watched Ishiu's near-massacre was stunned.

Their eyes widened in unison, their mouths hanging open. Some even wondered whether they were dreaming and secretly pinched their own thighs.

But no matter how hard they pinched themselves, the intense pain clearly told them that this was not a dream. Ishiu had truly killed sixteen Honkai Beasts alone, and it had been a completely one-sided slaughter.

"C-could that be the legendary technique of our Qiye Family, the Seven Nights Assassination Technique?" Someone seemed to realize something from Ishiu's movements and cried out in horror.

The entire control room immediately descended into chaos because of that one sentence.

Fortunately, someone stopped the chaos at that moment. Cocolia's voice came through the communication channel.

"How is it over there? The squad I sent out still needs ten minutes to arrive. Have the Honkai Beasts entered the town yet?"

"L-Lady Cocolia, the Honkai Beasts haven't entered the town. They've all been killed. Only one Chariot-class Honkai Beast remains."