Everyone Says This Isn't a Life Simulation Game! Part 22

"...Hen, Himiko, the two of you have the most command experience here. Tell us what you think."

"Given the current situation, our only option is indeed to organize an aerial assault team and kill Gabriel in one strike. But we can't all go. Someone has to stay behind on the ground to hold the line and command the defenses."

Himiko spoke quickly.

"Wang, Sakura, your fighting styles aren't suited for aerial combat, and you'd be more useful staying on the ground to reinforce the defensive line. So you'll remain here, primarily dealing with areas under heavy defensive pressure, while focusing on locating and containing or eliminating high-threat targets."

"Fine." "Understood." x2

Xi Wang and Sakura nodded, neither surprised by the arrangement.

"Hen, you know the battlefield better than I do. Can I ask you to take command and coordinate support? If anything unexpected happens, I'll need you to handle it as well."

"While I appreciate you coming up with a nicer-sounding reason, there's no need to beat around the bush just to assign me a rear-area duty. I may be married, but I'm still a soldier."

Hen spoke helplessly. Ever since he got married, he felt like everyone had been looking out for him—he was a warrior too! He was a soldier too!

Still, he accepted his responsibility.

"But I understand. I'll handle it properly. If there's an emergency, I'll immediately lead a team out to provide support."

"Good. I'll lead a team in from the air and try to clear an opening through the airborne Honkai Beasts. Then, Hen, I'll leave it to you to arrange for rockets to be fired and kill Gabriel."

Himiko nodded and laid out the plan.

"Wait, rockets? Didn't you try those before? They didn't work, did they?"

Hen immediately frowned and asked.

"They were just delivered from above—the experimental kind. You understand, right?"

"...No. That's far too dangerous."

Hen thought it over carefully, then shook his head and rejected the proposal.

"Someone in my squad was already injured because of a new weapon's instability... You know, those new weapons are loaded with Honkai Energy, so naturally, he was infected."

"..."

"But don't worry. I... dealt with him. He's lying with the fallen soldiers now... I hope I can bring him home afterward and have his death recorded as a sacrifice."

"Even if you didn't say so, that would happen. I don't think the people above would be so heartless over something this serious."

Himiko sighed.

No, they would be. It was Honkai infection, and it happened on the battlefield. When the time came, they could just blame it on the Honkai Beasts and save themselves the extra compensation. Xi Wang thought of it instinctively, but said nothing.

And weapons like "Honkai Energy rockets," powerful and untested weapons that had been hauled straight onto the battlefield for soldiers to use without a second thought... who knew if the higher-ups had lost their minds. If Moth to Fire soldiers didn't die fighting the Honkai but instead died to their own side's weapons, even a Herrscher would clap in approval. The Honkai Beasts would probably laugh out loud if they found out.

"...All right, I understand what you mean. Rockets are different from individual firearms. If Honkai Energy on that scale detonated, the entire defensive line could collapse."

Himiko agreed with Hen's objection and promptly revised her plan.

"Then I'll carry a Honkai Energy bomb up myself. Those bombs have specially designed safety mechanisms, so they should be more stable than rockets. If we throw one into Gabriel's horn opening and detonate it, that should be enough to kill it."

"But that would make your mission far more dangerous, Captain Himiko."

Kevin suddenly spoke up from the side.

"That's true, but it's something that must be done. And the dangers everyone else will face are no less than mine."

Himiko merely answered calmly.

Whether it was Xi Wang and Sakura facing the tide of Honkai Beasts and the constant high-intensity combat, or Hen coordinating the entire defensive line, analyzing the battle situation, and preparing support and extraction, everyone had their own dangers and duties. These were things they could not avoid.

"No, I mean you need a partner."

Kevin shook his head, his gaze resolute.

"I'll go with you."

"...Ha, well said. Keep it up, and you might start looking like a captain."

Himiko laughed, then quickly rose to her feet.

"All right, now that it's decided, get moving! We'll kill Gabriel before the next horn sounds! We must win this battle!"

After the brief meeting, everyone quickly dispersed and headed in their respective directions.

Xi Wang and Sakura returned to the defensive line, clearing out the endlessly emerging Honkai Beasts.

Hen headed to the rear to coordinate with the command personnel of the other soldiers, doing his best to grasp the real-time situation across the entire defensive line.

Meanwhile, Himiko led Kevin, the temporary captain, toward the aircraft.

Soon, amid the thunderous roar of artillery fire, the defensive line began reducing the number of airborne Honkai Beasts, striving to ease the pressure on Himiko and Kevin as they approached Gabriel.

Xi Wang only glanced up before withdrawing his gaze. His and Sakura's duties were just as demanding, and perhaps because they had sensed the threat, the Honkai Beasts' assault had grown much fiercer, forcing him and Sakura to keep racing between different points along the defensive line.

The sudden pressure also left Hen overwhelmed. While directing the battle, he led his squad around to provide support, helping stabilize damaged sections of the defensive line.

The battle in the sky was even more intense. Swarms of flying Honkai Beasts were as numerous as mosquitoes in a jungle. The escort aircraft fell one after another, and until their final moments, their occupants thought only of killing a few more Honkai Beasts. In the end, every single one perished. Even Kevin and Himiko's aircraft had one of its engines shot out.

But fortunately, they still managed to approach Gabriel.

Then Gabriel moved.

Its shattered six wings trembled as its enormous horn-shaped body slowly descended toward the sea. At the same time, the Seawater below churned, revealing that numerous Honkai Beasts lay concealed beneath the surface.

That left Kevin, Himiko, and the others suspended in midair, unable to advance or retreat.

If they climbed higher, they could avoid the danger, but this operation would be for nothing. If they went down, they would likely be swallowed by the tide of Honkai Beasts before they could stuff the bomb into Gabriel's mouth—even though its actual body was a horn.

"That's why I wanted to use rockets... Wouldn't this all have been for nothing now?"

Himiko gritted her teeth. After a moment of silence, she stopped Kevin, who had been about to jump down with the bomb and force the plan through.

"Put away your grief and that pointless desire to sacrifice yourself, Kevin. I know the annihilation of your squad has left you sad and lost, but this is a battlefield. Stay calm, assess the situation, fight seriously, and don't make meaningless sacrifices."

Himiko stared intently at Gabriel below. As she used her weapon to clear the Honkai Beasts around the aircraft, she spoke.

"Do you know that you're acting just like that boy you saved before? Besides, someone like you, who has the ability to kill a Herrscher alone, shouldn't be sacrificing himself over a danger of this level... Watch Gabriel's movements carefully."

After giving Kevin a brief reminder, Himiko immediately turned and shouted to the pilot.

"Turn around! Back to the defensive line! Tell Xi Wang and Sakura to prepare for the enemy! Have Hen lead a support team!"

"Understood!"

The aircraft immediately turned around, wobbling as it flew back toward the defensive line.

"..."

At that moment, Kevin noticed that after drawing close to the sea's surface, Gabriel began moving slowly. Then it gradually accelerated, rapidly approaching the defensive line. It seemed to be preparing to attack it, and it was considerably faster than their aircraft. At the same time, the entire horn began to tremble—the prelude to sounding its call.

"Sakura."

"Mm."

Having received Himiko's warning, Xi Wang quickly called out to Sakura. Sakura nodded knowingly. After adjusting her breathing slightly, she put a little distance between herself and Xi Wang, maintaining a position behind and to his side.

Xi Wang, meanwhile, held his breath and focused, watching the sea churned up by the Honkai Beasts and Gabriel as it rapidly approached.

He took a deep breath, then... charged!

A dark figure and a cherry-colored figure shot out across the sea one after the other, moving so fast they were nearly impossible to see. Then everyone witnessed something utterly absurd—the two of them were running atop the sea, even carving a path through the horde of Honkai Beasts with Blade Techniques too fast to make out.

Good thing their weapons had been upgraded this time. If they had still been using their old weapons, the blades would have chipped after only a few strikes.

But before long, the cherry-colored figure stopped. Using several Honkai Beasts that leaped from the sea as footholds, Sakura made a few jumps back to shore, while the dark figure continued toward Gabriel.

That was only natural. Sakura was genuinely running on the water, so she could not keep it up for long. Her main duty was simply to clear away the surrounding Honkai Beasts while Xi Wang concentrated, reducing his pressure.

Xi Wang, meanwhile, was running on Honkai Beasts. Through observation and his excellent memory, he memorized the frequency and magnitude of the sea's churning to determine the positions of Honkai Beasts beneath the surface, then advanced across the sea by stepping on their bodies.

Well... it could only be said that both of them were pretty absurd.

Before long, Xi Wang met Gabriel.

Just as Xi Wang had anticipated, he stepped onto the sea's surface—though in truth, he stepped on a Honkai Beast hidden beneath it—and leaped directly onto Gabriel's enormous horn-shaped body. With a light tap of his toes, he swiftly reached the position of its shattered six wings.

Although a Honkai Beast's ability to fly had nothing to do with whether it had wings—after all, Honkai Beasts themselves were formed from Honkai Energy—current research showed that after a flying Honkai Beast lost its wings, if it had any, it would temporarily lose its ability to fly. However, it would quickly recover afterward. It was speculated that this was caused by a gap or disruption in the energy responsible for sustaining flight within its body. Therefore, making a flying Honkai Beast fall was simple: just break its wings, like a bird's. —Excerpt from "Moth to Fire: Key Points of Anti-Honkai Combat, Part Three"

Xi Wang swung his blade without hesitation.

A powerful resistance traveled through his hand, and the energy glow along the blade began to flicker. Clearly, this prototype alone was not enough to sever the opponent's wings. No wonder this thing had been able to keep floating in the sky. If even a Honkai Energy weapon struggled like this, ordinary weapons truly stood no chance.

Fortunately, Xi Wang's strike had genuinely "injured" it, disrupting its flight ability. Its entire body paused for a moment, and the body that had been trembling, about to sound its horn, seemed to have been forcibly interrupted as well.

The Honkai Beasts lurking nearby quickly leaped out of the seawater and attacked Xi Wang.

Xi Wang forcefully pressed his blade downward, lowering his body and further damaging Gabriel's wings while avoiding the Honkai Beasts' first wave of attacks. Then, with a sliding step and half-turn, he drew the blade back in a counterattack, killing the incoming Honkai Beasts with the blade that was on the verge of overloading and failing before driving it into the wings again.

"Xi Wang! Move!"

Kevin's voice rapidly approached from above, followed by the sound of gunfire. Several Honkai Beasts that had tried to leap from the sea were struck and fell back into the water.

Xi Wang promptly abandoned his blade and withdrew—its breaking point was near anyway, so it might as well remain lodged in Gabriel's wings and do some final good.

BOOM!!!

Kevin, carrying the bomb, landed directly atop Gabriel with a heavy thud.

Kevin was pretty absurd too. He had jumped straight down from the aircraft and acted as though nothing had happened.

"How the hell did you just jump down like that?! Aren't you afraid of falling to your death?!"

Amid the rapid gunfire, Himiko's shout came from nearby before becoming an urgent command.

"Detonate it while it still can't move!"

Kevin quickly activated the bomb and secured it to the horn opening in Gabriel's body. Then he and you grabbed hold of the ladder lowered from the aircraft, while Himiko used her weapon to clear the surrounding Honkai Beasts and ensure your safety.

The aircraft swiftly carried you toward the shore, trying to bring you to a safe location before the bomb exploded.

Then...

BOOM!!!

A massive explosion erupted in a blaze of fire, sending enormous waves surging up from the sea.

It could only be said that Honkai Energy truly lived up to its reputation. The power of this bomb was absurd as well; an ordinary bomb of the same yield would never have had such destructive force.

As the explosion faded and the disturbed waters gradually settled, countless people stared toward that spot, eagerly waiting for the news they hoped for.

But unfortunately... it was not enough.

With the sound of seawater flowing, Gabriel's battered body slowly emerged from the sea and appeared before you once more.