Life Was Fragile.

The pure white flames melted into a radiant light that covered the heavens and the earth, bathing the entire Sydney International Airport in a single hue. Unlike the aftershocks of a nuclear bomb, which, when observed from a distance, were enough to scorch the eyes, the heat and visual effects of the scattered flames here were confined to that small central area.

From an outsider's perspective, it was a pure white barrier connecting heaven and earth, encroaching on a large area, much like the miraculous pillar of light that caused a stir before the Great Honkai. Although its core was much larger and more dangerous, simply looking at it would not cause any serious consequences.

The Moth to Fire in Sydney were supposed to be led and commanded by their captain, Himeko, but after being unable to establish contact with the enemy, she temporarily handed over the corresponding authority to her adjutant.

Based on past experience and data analysis, this phenomenon can be attributed to the Herrscher's metamorphosis. Once the monsters within fully awaken, the entire city of Sydney will be destroyed in a very short time.

Unable to contact Himeko, the adjutant accurately conveyed the order to evacuate immediately.

Taking advantage of the time before the Seventh Herrscher Awakened to leave Sydney and head to the branch for support is the best option.

As for the survivors, facing imminent danger of their own survival, the Moth to Fire could only prioritize preserving their remaining fighting force.

Human conventional armies are meaningless against supernatural individuals called Herrscher. This fact has been recognized internally and even worldwide after the Herrscher demonstrated their power in previous instances. Therefore, the order given by the adjutant is the only option that can be carried out.

Reality is always crueler than imagination.

Even disregarding any other survivors, it would be incredibly difficult for the Moth to Fire soldiers to save themselves and escape in the current chaotic situation.

It is estimated that an Emperor-class Honkai Beast has already appeared in the city outside the Radiation Range of the Herrscher's birthplace.

The detectors have detected double-digit numbers of Temple-class Honkai Beast. They will patrol the entire city with the solemnity of lancers, wantonly trampling across the streets that should be peaceful, and coldly plundering all life within their sight.

The Charge-class and Chariot-class tanks continue to be created, like NPCs arbitrarily created in a sandbox game.

At this rate, the number of Honkai Beast will soon exceed the current number of survivors.

To think that rescue operations could be carried out under these circumstances is nothing short of wishful thinking.

Only a few minutes have passed since the initial signs of the Honkai outbreak. With such limited reaction time, coupled with the complete cutoff of regular communications, the only orders received were basic evacuation orders. The Moth to Fire stationed in Sydney were scattered and unable to be organized into a cohesive unit for a collective evacuation.

The Moth to Fire Unit stationed in each city are similar in function to local police stations. The number of permanent personnel is actually not large, since most situations are handled by Mechanical Force, and having extra personnel for guarding is just a waste of resources.

The Moth to Fire assigned to reside in the city was far greater than the number of soldiers actually involved in the defense of Sydney.

In the face of such a massive, overwhelming crisis, these soldiers were not necessarily much more likely to survive than the other survivors. Luck was perhaps the most important factor, rather than combat prowess and overall skills.

People with bad luck always live a hard life, and those with even worse luck are more likely to encounter accidents.

Therefore, survival itself is a fortunate thing, Shiyu Qiluo does not want to complain about the current situation.

The phenomena caused by Honkai outbreak are never limited to the pure screening of Honkai Energy. At that time, Canghai City seemed to be limited to that, but now Sydney is located in the center of the Honkai Energy comes from all over the world at once, and the consequences are far more terrifying than before.

The Honkai Energy tides intertwine to create countless strange phenomena, and the laws of physics and the rules and regulations of the world are shattered into nothingness under the expansion and collision of this power.

The energy tide, coiled into a violent posture, stirred up a roaring storm on the coastline, blowing endless tons of Seawater to high places. As the Honkai and selection process arrived, it crushed most of the houses within tens of kilometers of the coastline, extinguishing nearly ten thousand sparks of life.

The area where Shiyu Qiluo and Carole were located was also within this affected area.

The sea, once a balm for the soul, has now become a life-threatening medium. Small galleries never visited, cafes selling ice cream and desserts, restaurants never tried, and theaters never visited have all been destroyed in an instant, as if to say that the so-called everyday life is just such a fragile thing.

So what if they are soldiers Moth to Fire?

Humans are ultimately fragile beings; no one can remain unaffected by natural disasters.

The crushing force of the sea echoed deep within her consciousness, and the suffocating despair still lingered in her nostrils. The emptiness and intense resonance affected her awareness, but she still managed to break free from the weight of the surrounding building debris, supporting her body from the icy Seawater, and moving away from the shadow of death.

The Honkai Energy shield surrounding them reached its limit and shattered and disappeared like specks of light.

Shiyu Qiluo silently held the unconscious girl tightly, dragging her battered body away into the distance.

Her back was directly facing the dazzling white light, so frail yet exuding determination.

Still alive...

Her consciousness was becoming increasingly muddled and unclear. She could no longer think about how she and Carole had managed to escape death in this situation. Obviously, the intelligent system mounted on the armor played a part in it, but luck was still an indispensable factor.

He's still alive.

The girl clung desperately to this fragile reality, fighting against the pain coursing through her limbs and the unpleasant experience.

The death throes that raged during that long yet fleeting tsunami were enough to leave a deep, somber mark on the memories of the rest of their lives.

But in any case, the process is no longer important.

He's still alive.

Shiyu Qiluo kept repeating this fact to herself, ignoring the intense pain of the nano-medicine constantly reorganizing her bones and flesh, and walked step by step toward the pure white, magnificent radiance.

In the moment of crisis, the armored core in the neck made its own judgment, spreading nanomedicine throughout the body from the spine as the origin, allowing it to maintain basic mobility.

However, her hazy consciousness prevented her from making any meaningful judgments. She didn't know what had happened, why a tsunami had occurred, why the Honkai had broken out, or that the Herrscher was in Sydney and that going there was really dangerous.

Shiyu Qiluo only understood one reality.

That means if they faint or stop here, the girl in their arms, whose body is cold, will only face her final fate.

She listened silently to the deathly stillness, feeling the sticky warmth gradually flowing into her arms. Her lips moved slightly, and she murmured softly:

"Pepper, you'll be alright."

There was no response.

There was, unsurprisingly, no response.

For some reason, Himeko's words suddenly echoed in my extremely confused mind at this moment.

Everyone dies somewhere unknown; life is so fragile. No one knows if they will become one of them soon.

For the first time, the girl looked down at the person in her arms. A blurry crimson and a huge emptiness came into view, and along with the low voice, they enveloped her senses, giving her a suffocating feeling even deeper than being plunged into a dark ocean current.

Shiyu Qiluo's tense body relaxed, and as she took her first step, she stumbled over the uneven obstacle and fell to her knees in the icy Seawater...

Ignoring all of that, she stared blankly at the exposed white bones and internal organs, the empty right arm that had been washed away to who-knows-where, the hollow chest cavity from which blood was slowly flowing, and... the pale face and the dark, empty eyes, falling into silence.

Shiyu Qiluo's pale lips moved for a long time, but she still couldn't utter a single word.

After a long while, the faint sounds of the Seawater and heavy footsteps reached her ears. She looked up and saw a figure holding a white bone spear slowly walking towards her in the distance, and a smile appeared on her face.

That's fine too.

That's good.

Kevin silently brushed aside the flames surrounding him. The chilling current that could freeze everything spread around him instinctively without any deliberate effort, reducing the temperature—enough to melt diamonds—to body temperature.

Within three minutes of the Honkai, he had already returned to Australia and set foot on the outskirts of Sydney.

Mei didn't actually need to reveal the exact location. This extremely intense Honkai Energy was like a giant lighthouse in the center of Australia, illuminating the long night. Just by stepping onto the edge of this continent, Kevin already understood the true location of the Herrscher.

But what concerned him even more was the rest of the information the other party brought.

[The Herrscher's prototype is suspected to be Himeko.]

[Based on the answers you obtain after witnessing it firsthand, it will be determined whether Mr. Su's support can proceed as originally planned.]

Kevin understood the meaning of these words. He was the first to realize that assisting her in battle was putting pressure on Su Qing'an herself, and he had also heard about Himeko's interactions with her. Under these circumstances, if the Herrscher's true form was as Mei said, then the plan to have the teacher help them needed to be considered carefully.

However, for the sake of the survival of all humanity and civilization, even if we are extremely unwilling, this plan may still be necessary to implement in the worst-case scenario.

To avoid that outcome, Kevin must shoulder more responsibility and obligation, and defeat the Seventh Herrscher alone.

In the original timeline, this was a victory he could have achieved alone.

But now, Kevin Kaslana stared at the source of it all, falling into a suffocating silence.

The metamorphosis and transformation have come to an end.

Himeko, the Herrscher of Flames, stood in the center of a magnificent, pure white sea of fire. She wore a long, jet-black dress that covered most of her skin, the style of which was as simple as when she first met the captain of the Moth to Fire, yet it accentuated her alluring figure and charm.

A warrior who is both fierce and gentle.

This has been the long-standing assessment of this woman within the Moth to Fire.

Compared to his own time and experience fighting against the Honkai, the person in front of him was a true predecessor who had been fighting on the front lines of the war from the very beginning.

Kevin Kaslana was able to enjoy those peaceful and wonderful times because warriors like Himeko bravely rushed into the meat grinder known as Honkai.

But now, she has been forcibly twisted into her current state by her Honkai will, receiving no kindness or gentleness, but instead being defiled in the worst way by the so-called gods and the so-called mechanisms.

Kevin couldn't forgive the one behind it all. The colder his body became, the hotter the flames within burned. He gazed at the silent Herrscher and whispered:

"I don't know if you can still hear me, senior, but I cannot offer you salvation."

"But at least I can stop you from committing an act more agonizing than death, and for that... I will send you off to your grave."

In the instant the last two words were uttered, the muzzle of the Holy Judgment's gun was aimed at her body, pulsating with intense wavelengths. The cells between her body naturally squeezed out countless Honkai Energy, which merged with the energy formula formed in an instant.

In the next instant, crimson flames engulfed the pure white world, and the distorted, evaporating air arbitrarily obstructed the refraction of light in hundreds of places, turning the world in sight into a violent and chaotic illusion.

The red-haired beauty stood serenely amidst a world that seemed to be shattered.

Her Amber eyes seemed to be gazing at a distant, boundless place, empty and drifting away.

The attacks of the Holy Judgment seemed to have no effect on her. The scorching flames before her were like mad serpents that could not find their target, indifferently rushing towards empty space. Even without any deliberate defense, these attacks, which could not even touch the hem of her clothes, could not interfere with the Herrscher of Flames's body in the slightest.

Kevin took a deep breath; from the very first moment they met, he had already anticipated its strength.

The result... seems to be worse than initially anticipated.

The index rose.

According to data analysis, that attack just now was enough to kill the Herrscher of Ice that the teacher faced last time.

Although the prediction was for Herrscher in a partially crippled state, the comparative data seems clear enough.

The distance between a fatal strike and a gentle breeze can only be explained by an exponential increase.

In an instant, the white-haired warrior understood why his attack had become uncontrollable. The essence of this Herrscher's power was still similar to what the teacher had said: it was the exact opposite of the Herrscher of Ice, accelerating molecular motion.

However, the Seventh Herrscher's potential and power are on a completely different level compared to the Herrscher of Ice, which results in the Herrscher of Ice being able to use her powers with greater precision and breadth.

The Herrscher of Flames did not do nothing. In that instant, she accelerated the Great Honkai energy that was about to fall, causing it to lose its original structure as it approached her, and then naturally disintegrate midway, losing all precision.

The aftershocks from such an attack could be ignored by simply using the Honkai Energy that naturally flows across the body, but Himeko still noticed the presence in front of her as Kevin made his move. She reacted to the life form in front of her and slowly extended her palm to make a grasping motion.

The Seventh Herrscher Core its extremely high permission in the Imaginary Space, unleashed a massive amount of Honkai Energy as payment. The white-haired warrior sensed an unprecedented terror in the brief moment his pupils trembled, and he understood the opponent's actions almost instantly.

At a distance of hundreds of meters, the water molecules within every cell of one's body are being forced to operate at an accelerated, frenzied pace. A scorching heat slowly erupts and spreads from every inch of flesh and blood within the body, causing the skin to crack simultaneously. The physiological mechanisms are collapsing and becoming disordered...

In just one exchange, Kevin Kaslana sensed the approach of death, and the instant he understood the crisis, he retreated.

Even though the other party did not pursue, but merely shook hands lightly, the distance had increased to ten kilometers, and this interference with oneself still did not stop in the slightest.

In a single breath, the man understood something.

The Seventh Herrscher is unlike any Herrscher before her; her power is fundamentally different.

Directly using one's powers to remotely interfere with beings other than oneself, and doing so with such precision, is an unprecedented event.

Both the teacher and Mei have said that any extension of the nature of power will produce terrifying abilities and results, and the actions of the Herrscher of Flames have already proven the correctness of this judgment.

But that's not enough for Kevin Kaslana right now; if he were a normal human, he would have died just now.

No one can survive after their internal moisture is forcibly evaporated, along with their internal organs spontaneously combusting.

The Fusion Warrior are not human on a physiological level. The large amount of Honkai Energy stored between their cells is used for cooling and repair, and their extremely vigorous vitality continuously repairs the damage to their skin and organs to their original state.

Kevin breathed in the incredibly dense Honkai Energy around him, replenishing his physical strength to a certain extent, just like a human breathing oxygen. His pupils turned into pitch-black vertical pupils indifferently, but his body showed no signs of mutation.

This is the result of completely controlling the beastification phenomenon. At least until the Chimera Project is truly accepted, the white-haired warrior's full power will only affect minor details of his appearance.

As for the core, it had already completely deviated from humanity after the gene transplant was completed, and in return, it gained this extraordinary strength and power that was enough to confront the Herrscher.

The interference of powers slowed down considerably after the Fusion Gene were manifested to their limit, indicating that the interference was related to the strength of the enemy's body, but it was still very dangerous.

At critical moments, the life of Fusion Warrior will be on the verge of collapse under the interference of this power, like a candle flame, or smoke easily blown away by a strong wind, leaving no trace.

Kevin pressed the button on his headset and said softly:

"Mei, you guessed right. No need to call the teacher, he'll die."

"... Can we win?"

Hearing her whisper, the white-haired warrior's lips curved into a slight smile as he murmured:

"They'll most likely lose."

Kevin Kaslana gazed at the distant enemy, slowly raised the Holy Judgment, and said with certainty:

"But I will win, and I must win."