I Am Not a Hero

"There isn't much time for you to verify things right now."

Lin didn't want to argue about such meaningless things at this time. Red numbers flashed on his visual display, which was also suffering from electromagnetic interference. While adjusting the system to adapt to the environment, he continuously tried to connect to the combat department's monitoring system. Everything was black right now. An Upper-class Honkai Beast was nearby and could attack at any moment.

"The operation against the Emperor-class Honkai Beast is temporarily suspended. We will escort the survivors..." After Himiko explained the situation clearly to Mei, she considered that they couldn't possibly fight Honkai Beasts with Mei and the others at this moment, so she wanted to retreat temporarily.

But Lin's desperate cry brutally interrupted her: "No!"

Lin corrected the errors on his visual display one by one. His damaged internal organs and thigh began to ache again. He coughed twice, almost imperceptibly, and looked at Himiko. "Captain, our squad is currently the closest to the Upper-class Honkai Beast. If we retreat, it might escape the encirclement formed by the various squads."

The implication was that if their squad, which had the precise coordinates of the Honkai Beast and held the initiative, retreated, it would continue to attack the remaining squads who couldn't contact each other, leading to a sharp increase in casualties.

Himiko pointed at the two of them. "But we have to escort them."

"..."

A choice... was it?

Lin silently looked at his two friends, the screen still flickering with static.

The heavy rain pattered against his helmet, making a crisp sound.

If they chose to escort, the Emperor-class Honkai Beast's renewed attack would cause immeasurable damage to the remaining squads. If they chose to fight, they would have to abandon Mei and Kevin.

Himiko stared at him solemnly. She didn't give Lin an order, knowing he would obey any command. But she wanted to know what Lin would choose.

Soul nervously held her scythe in front of her. She thought of the soldiers screaming in the communication channel, then looked at these two who had forced the severely injured Lin to the front line, her expression bewildered.

This was a question without an answer. No matter which side they chose, the other would be put in danger.

"I have a proposal."

Mei, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly looked up and spoke.

Her gaze shifted to Lin.

Their eyes met through the screen.

The endless thunderstorm struck the bell of destruction.

Mei couldn't die. Neither the higher-ups of MOTH nor the entirety of Squad Five would abandon the two survivors. Her life or death was not up to her.

But there was one person who could decide their own fate.

Without words, the two of them understood each other's intentions with perfect tacit understanding.

Lin turned and handed the rifle in his hand to a bewildered Kevin. "Kevin, can you use this? Just like in the games we skipped class to play, just pull the trigger."

"Lin..." Hearing this, Kevin understood that it was indeed Lin.

He didn't know what Lin meant by this, why he was giving him the gun?

Upon seeing Lin's action, Himiko's expression changed. "Lin! You are not allowed to leave the team! That's an order!"

"..." Lin, with his back to her, didn't reply. He calmly instructed Kevin, "We'll talk about this when we get back. Protect yourself and Mei."

"What are you going to do?"

"...I'm going to save more people."

Even Soul, who was a beat slower, now knew what Lin was going to do. She reacted even more intensely than Himiko, reaching out to grab Lin's arm. "No! If someone has to go alone, then I..."

"Soul!" Himiko's roar made Soul's hand freeze in mid-air.

Himiko took a deep breath, wiped her face, and walked to Lin's side. She looked up at the person who was taller than her, trying to see his expression under the helmet.

But she saw nothing. Beneath the helmet, perhaps, there was only emptiness.

She slowed her tone, speaking not as a superior officer, but as an elder. "Lin, going alone is meaningless. Furthermore, the higher-ups' primary mission for us was to rescue Mei. Now that the mission is complete, you don't need to continue fighting in your current condition. I will go and stall the Emperor-class Honkai Beast. You escort the survivors and then try to contact the other squads."

"Your armors aren't speed-oriented. My mobility is faster than yours, making me the best choice. Escorting requires one person for protection and one to clear the path, while stalling only needs one person." Lin patted Kevin's shoulder. He wanted to say something to Kevin, but in the end, he just quietly lowered his hand and said to Himiko, "Captain, the mission is complete. What follows is the optimal combat plan based on my rational judgment."

Himiko gritted her teeth, but couldn't say anything more.

Lin was right.

He was right, just like those scumbag higher-ups' judgments, making her want to punch him in the face.

There was no more time. If they delayed any longer, the Emperor-class Honkai Beast would start its attack again. A decision had to be made immediately.

"Lin."

Kevin glanced at Soul and Himiko, who had started walking forward. He hesitated and stopped, looking at Lin, who had his back to him and was drawing his High-frequency Cutting Blade.

Lin stopped his movement but didn't turn around.

The azure blade cut through the raindrops.

The heavy rain poured down on the two reunited youths.

One of them was still the same as before, while the other was confined within heavy armor.

It had been over half a year since Lin dropped out of school. Upon meeting again, Kevin felt something colder from Lin than before.

"So, this is what you've been doing all along?"

"...If you have nothing else to say, then hurry up and go."

"Why would you make a choice like this? No one would blame you even if you left."

Kevin didn't have such noble ideals. He just wanted to protect the people around him, not just Mei, but also Lin, and Su. They were all irreplaceable to Kevin.

Why was Lin fighting these monsters? Was it just for the sake of "humanity's fate"?

That kind of reason...

"You can think whatever you want," Lin pressed the button next to his helmet. The world before his eyes was covered in information. He turned his head indifferently, looking at his friend, and his heavy voice rang out from under the helmet, "But if you just wanted to know the answer to this question, I've already told you."

Fighting only for the important people, I can't do that.

When I saw the tears of others fall, I realized I was no longer a bystander.

When I saw the blood of others flow, I realized I could no longer hesitate.

When I witnessed the passing of others' lives, I realized I had to bear it.

Flapping my wings with all my might towards the light, even if it shatters my whole body, even if it ignites this form, I want to move towards the fragile and tiny light with all my strength.

He was destined not to be a hero, nor a beacon.

But he hoped to be the most foolish moth flying towards the light.

Everything about the young Lin was buried on that night. Now, the soldier Lin was setting off.

"Roar——————"

The roar of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast approached.

Lin turned and ran, towards the lightning.

Chapter 8: An Eye for an Eye

Emperor-class Honkai Beasts were not the peak of lower-class Honkai Beasts, the Honkai Emperors, but rather the Upper-class Honkai Beasts above them.

There were two reasons why these six words completely distinguished them from lower-class Honkai Beasts. First, unlike lower-class Honkai Beasts, which were still silicon-based life forms, Upper-class Honkai Beasts were entirely composed of pure Honkai Energy. Their physical strength and control over Honkai Energy were far beyond what lower-class Honkai Beasts could match.

Second, the uniqueness of Upper-class Honkai Beasts. They did not belong to any specific Honkai Beast species; they were unique species, with only one of each. Even if a Honkai Emperor or Honkai: Overlord continued to evolve, they could not evolve into an Emperor-class Honkai Beast.

This was also what made Upper-class Honkai Beasts so troublesome. Lin had only encountered an Emperor-class Honkai Beast once before. It was a Honkai Beast that was a companion to a Second Herrscher with extremely special abilities, but that couldn't be used as a reference, because this new Upper-class Honkai Beast was definitely a monster with completely different abilities and combat methods.

"Clang."

Lin swung his grappling hook and swung to the rooftop, crouching at the edge, observing the direction of the Honkai Beast's coordinates, which was also the direction of the roar.

Silence.

With Lin's position as the dividing line, the area within nearly five kilometers ahead seemed to have been peeled away from Changkong City.

Other than the sound of rain, nothing could be heard.

There were no low growls of Honkai Beasts and Mortals, nor the crashing sounds of collapsing buildings. There were only greedy and strange gazes in the blind spots of vision, watching everyone who entered this area.

If Changkong City after the Honkai outbreak was a beast cage full of hidden dangers, with Mortals and Honkai Beasts lurking in the dense shadows, then the area before Lin was the territory where a truly dangerous beast king resided.

[Connecting to comms... Failed]

Completely cut off from everyone else, it seemed that only he and the Emperor-class Honkai Beast, whose location in the darkness was unknown, remained in this area.

It seemed his judgment was correct. The Emperor-class Honkai Beast was using this place as a hunting ground. Squad Five had already entered the danger zone. Besides attacking other squads, if they had been a few minutes slower, or if the Emperor-class Honkai Beast had set them as its next target, the final result would have been Squad Five escorting survivors and fighting the Honkai Beast.

Now, should he advance proactively or continue observing...

"Cough, cough..."

A few drops of conspicuous blood stained the screen.

[Detecting blood pressure drop, heart rate increase. Initiating internal organ scan...]

Lin canceled the detection system that was about to scan his internal body. He hadn't had this system the last time he wore the armor; it seemed to be a new function added by the head of the research and development department.

In an environment with a high concentration of Honkai Energy, Lin's damaged body worsened with every passing second. Strong endurance didn't mean these pains wouldn't affect his actions.

"..."

Lin knelt on the ground, adjusting his breathing. He took out all the pale green reagents he had obtained from Mobius and placed them in the armor's active units, so he could directly control the active units with his helmet to inject the reagents.

"Hiss!"

An entire syringe of reagent was injected into Lin's body, and the abnormally colored liquid spread through his blood vessels.

"Hoo..."

The pain disappeared, and at the same time, a ten-minute countdown appeared in the upper left corner of the screen. This was the duration of the drug written on the syringe. If this time was exceeded, Lin would have to bear the side effects.

There were five bottles left.

Lin had no retreat. He had to hold off or defeat the Honkai Beast within this total of one hour.

Or trust that Himiko and the others could complete the escort within an hour and contact other squads to come here and defeat the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.

Either way, he had to go.

Lin opened his eyes, which had turned pale green inside the helmet.

A black dot bounced and weaved between the buildings. The jetpack assisted him in moving flexibly even on the flat surfaces of walls. In the steel jungle, he transformed into a tiny spider.

The last confirmed signal from an Emperor-class Honkai Beast was at the location where Squad Seven lost contact. Lin quickly found the exact spot on a 3D map he had constructed. He leaped from the sky, landing heavily amidst a pile of scrap metal.

Blood trickled through the armor's seams at his feet.

Organs pulled from bodies, crushed eyeballs, and brain matter oozing from gaping wounds mixed with the rainwater, creating a bizarre and horrifying scene among the sparking power armor.

Even without opening his helmet to ask about the smell, Lin knew the air was thick with the scent of blood that even the downpour couldn't wash away.

This was where Squad Seven had disappeared. Their fate was obvious.

But Lin wasn't here to mourn them. He first took a rough scan of the battle's affected area and the distances between the bodies, then crouched down to examine the wounds on Squad Seven's soldiers.

Burns from lightning strikes, crushing injuries, penetrating wounds...

After spending a minute looking over all the corpses, Lin had a general idea of the Honkai Beast's attack methods and range.

It was larger than a typical Temple-class Honkai Beast, capable of lightning attacks similar to the Third Herrscher. Judging by the way several team members were impaled from below, it also possessed an attack similar to ground spikes. Several bodies were spaced ten to fifty meters apart, with traces of the Honkai Beast pursuing them, meaning its attack range was also roughly that distance...

The battle had ended quickly, likely in under fifty seconds, much faster than he had estimated.

Some black, mud-like liquid remained on its path of movement. That was...

"Sss."

A faint, sharp sound suddenly cut through the continuous rain near Lin's ear, like scales scraping against a sharp edge.

He instinctively turned and drew his sword. The azure blade sliced through the air, stopping mid-swing.

There was nothing behind him. On the street not far away, a viscous, transparent fluid, some kind of secretion, dissolved into the rain and disappeared.

"Splash..."

Only the sound of rain.

The feeling of being watched intensified.

Lin abruptly shifted his stance, pointing his blade towards the shadows beneath a nearby broken wall. His internal alarm bells blared, and he turned again to face the corner beneath a tall building not far away.