This Is Reality / The Roaring Demon

"That's right, but you also planted bombs on your own transport planes, so at first I couldn't tell who the killer was by which transport plane didn't have one. Only after the detonation signal was sent could I know which transport plane didn't detonate the bomb."

"Hehehe..." The Speaker clapped lightly and smiled, "No wonder you are Doctor Einstein."

"No, this is Doctor Mei's achievement; I merely borrowed her deductions," Einstein said coldly. "Lin, accept your trial as a demon."

The speaker licked his dry lips and chuckled eerily, "Hmm... As I said before, what sets me apart from typical villains is that I only boast about my plans after they're complete, which isn't entirely accurate..."

Einstein's expression changed. "Himiko, Dessidobia, grab him quickly!"

Without her saying anything, Himiko strode forward. Unable to wield her greatsword in the Xiao Kong, she used the hilt of the sword to strike the soul blocking her path.

In terms of strength, she was still the better one!

"Bass!"

However, an astonishing scene unfolded.

The soul, which was half a head shorter than Himiko, easily blocked Himiko's attack. A terrifying power emanated from the greatsword, forcing Himiko back.

"I will also have two backup plans." He took out a fox mask from his pocket, put it on his face, and the eerie pattern emitted a cold light. "And, I will never act alone."

At that moment, alarms blared at the headquarters where Einstein was located. After listening to the reports from others, her eyes widened.

"People wearing fox masks... attacked the transport plane? And they were all members of the Flame Chaser?!"

"The reason you didn't find anything wrong with the physical examinations of the headquarters personnel is because I have people among the testing personnel; the reason you haven't found any useful intelligence in the investigation is because I have people among the investigators; and the reason you cut off the communication between headquarters and the transport plane is also because I have people among the liaison personnel."

"They were not my confidants or my subordinates before this; they simply shared the same ideals and aspirations as me."

"No... I should say that we are the same person, we are the 'murderer'."

Soul took a step back, took out the fox mask, and put it on his face. The scythe in his hand, which was also unable to be extended, made a piercing metallic clanging sound before being torn in two.

Then, Soul gripped the two halves of the scythe, pressed the button on them, and under the solemn gazes of the others, they transformed into a pair of giant claws, with compressed metal material filling the tips of the claws.

"Come on, the great purge begins."

The speaker drew his pistol, the cocking sound crisp and decisive.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: This is Reality

"Bang!"

Kevin dodged a bullet aimed at his head and, in the shaky cabin, protected the High Council personnel being escorted by the Squad One, directing his men in a counterattack.

"This is Kevin, suppressing the rebels. Headquarters, please respond."

"..."

Amidst the hail of bullets, Kevin's expression was grim. Headquarters communications were cut off, and then Doctor Einstein informed him through Armed Puppet that the transport plane was loaded with bombs and that the Speaker was the mastermind. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, the transport plane was struck by another, faster transport plane, and a group of well-trained men wearing fox masks infiltrated their plane.

Kevin quickly deduced that the weapons they were using were standard equipment of the Fire Moths, meaning that this group of people were also members of the Fire Moths.

After recovering from the initial chaos of the attack, Kevin quickly fought back and should be able to completely suppress the attack soon.

However, Einstein's communications were also cut off, and headquarters must have been attacked as well. Kevin was worried about May at headquarters and was burning with anxiety, wanting to return to headquarters immediately.

"Damn it...why did it turn out like this..." Kevin gritted his teeth, looking at all this, something shattered in his heart, then pieced itself back together into something else, "What was Lin doing all this for...what were we doing all this for..."

Why would those who protect humanity turn their weapons against each other?

He flipped to his feet, leaped out of cover, and calmly took in the positions of everyone. In mid-air, he pulled the trigger repeatedly, each bullet hitting the enemy precisely. In the blink of an eye, a group of rebels fell.

Kevin caught a glimpse of a gun pointed at him out of the corner of his eye. Before it could fire, he swung his dagger in a perfect arc, slicing open the gun barrel.

He rolled into cover, but there was limited space to hide in this space. Even Kevin couldn't guarantee he wouldn't get hurt. In order to maintain his condition and support headquarters, he could only be cautious.

The Armed Puppet also joined the battle; her agility was beyond imagination, and she was reducing the number of enemies at a speed no less than Kevin's.

"Captain, what should we do next?"

One of the team members, also behind cover, asked Kevin.

"Follow my orders, do not leave the cover without permission, and avoid the vulnerable positions of the machine."

"Good."

The team member raised his gun and quietly aimed it at Kevin, who had his back to him. His expression and tone remained unchanged, making it impossible to tell that anything was amiss.

"Bang!" A chaotic barrage of gunfire erupted.

Kevin's pupils dilated as he stared blankly at the smoking gun barrel amidst the gunshot.

Another teammate, his fingers trembling, raised his gun and pointed it behind Kevin. Kevin saw tears, terror, despair, and a blank expression on his own face in his eyes.

He shot himself in the back.

He turned his head with difficulty and saw his teammate lying in a pool of blood.

The fox mask fell out of the team member's clothes.

His blood-soaked face was filled with determination.

This was also the last expression he ever showed before he died.

"Kosma, watch out behind you!"

Kosma suddenly turned around and delivered a side kick that shattered the fox mask into pieces, along with the traitor's nose. The force of the kick sent the man flying backward, crashing into the cabin and losing consciousness.

Erwin, who had reminded Kosma, couldn't bear to look at the blood-soaked cabin. Unlike the Honkai, the people killing each other here were living, breathing humans, their own kind just like them.

"Thank you, you are..." Kosma wiped the sweat from his forehead and thanked Erwin after finishing off the last person. He didn't have a deep impression of Erwin.

"It's nothing." Erwin shook his head, not giving his name. "I felt like you were quite skilled..."

"Just past experience."

Kosma didn't want to bring up the past. He was already very good at dealing with humans before he came to the Firemoth, especially since these people reminded him of those he had dealt with by violence.

Kosma asked Hen, who was inspecting the personnel one by one, "Hen, are we going back to headquarters next?"

"No..." Hen instructed his team to treat the wounded rebels' wounds and tie them up. His brow furrowed as he looked at the tattered transport plane, which was no longer capable of long-distance flight. "We'll land along the original route and then support the other squads."

"Yes."

"A rebel..."

Einstein paced back and forth in the locked refuge room. Her communications had just been forcibly cut off, most likely by the Speaker's men at headquarters.

This gave her a signal that almost all the combat personnel were currently deployed to guard the undefended headquarters, which was very likely to be attacked.

After the evacuation alarm was issued, Einstein entered the shelter to try and use its command system to contact May.

"Zzz—This is Mei."

Upon hearing May's calm voice, Einstein immediately said to her, "Doctor Mei, please go to the nearest shelter immediately. Headquarters will be attacked by the rebels, and you are their primary target. After everyone is in the shelter, I will Armed Puppet suppress the rebels."

May's position in the power structure is delicate. In theory, she shouldn't be on the Speaker's purge list, but her Flame-Chaser project is the trigger for the division, so the chances of her being targeted are not small.

Einstein was even more worried that while the Speaker himself no longer intended to purge May, some of his associates did not share that view.

The Speaker has said that these rebels are not his subordinates, but people with the same ideals and ambitions. Therefore, they may not completely obey his orders and may see May as one of those who need to be eliminated.

"Rebels? I've already seen them."

"What?"

"But don't worry, someone is protecting me."

Mei calmly gazed ahead. The two gunmen who had attacked her were lying unconscious on the ground, with no visible external injuries. They had been knocked unconscious using a very clever technique.

Hua exhaled, pulled off his coat, and asked the long-haired girl behind him, "Doctor Mei, are you alright?"

"Your name is Hua, right? One of Lin's team members." Mei quickly found the information about the person in front of her in her mind. She had seen her at the party. She was a very introverted girl who didn't talk to many people except for Immer, Himiko, Soul and Lin.

I remember her profile said she was good at physical combat, so it seems that wasn't wrong... Mei glanced at the rebels on the ground.

"Yes, Doctor Mei, I'm staying at headquarters because I'm unable to carry out the mission," Hua said to Mei. "I will protect your personal safety."

"Hua, I'm going to the Research and Development Department next. Please protect me."

Mei said without hesitation.

"Research and Development Department? Okay, I understand." Although Hua was a little confused as to why Mei wanted to go to the Research and Development Department, he did as she was told.

Obeying orders was the first step Lin taught her.

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Roaring Demon

"Bass!"

The giant claws sliced through hair, leaving a red line on the skin. Beneath the mask, crimson eyes revealed the gaze of a predator, and the entire demeanor of the person changed drastically. All attacks were aimed at Himiko.

"Bang!"

With a seemingly precognitive crouch, he dodged Dessidobia's gunshot, Himiko with an elbow strike, and took two steps back to block the Speaker's path once more.

There was a brief pause.

Himiko hadn't expected Soul to be so strong. Even considering the environment, Soul's current strength was almost on par with hers.

A new doubt crept into her mind. Soul was indeed a battle-hardened warrior, but Himiko's power, enhanced by her Powered Armor, was virtually unmatched among the Firemoths. Just now, Soul had directly overpowered her in terms of strength, something that experience alone couldn't compensate for.

"Is it not ready yet?" Some sweat trickled down Hun's forehead, some cold and some hot. She had underestimated her captain's abilities. After several rounds of fighting, she hadn't gained the upper hand and had almost been caught out and had her defenses breached. Sure enough, those who could become captains were not to be underestimated. Her accumulated combat experience was something she couldn't match.

"That Armed Puppet has been jamming the signal; there's no way to detonate the bomb inside this transport plane." The Speaker flipped over the table and hid behind it. He didn't participate in the fighting, but simply observed the situation with his gun raised. "We need to find a way out."

The manual detonation device is on his body; he can program a different signal to detonate the bomb, something he can only do with peace of mind by doing it himself.

"Is Phase Transfer Device needed?"

"That thing... ha, I'm afraid I won't be able to get out of it after using it just once more, let alone detonate the bomb."

To confuse the public and reduce the possibility of information being exposed, the Speaker and Soul used Phase Transfer Device to move the body and leave false information. In the incident where they were ambushed by Kevin, the Speaker deduced that someone would be lurking among the High Council- ups to catch the murderer, so he turned the tables and sent Soul to assassinate the killer, while he himself gave Kevin and his team the illusion that the assassin was male.

However, the side effects of Phase Shift meant that among the many people around the Speaker, only he and Soul could use it. Even after using it twice, his consciousness could no longer hold on, and the increased Honkai Energy erosion rate also ravaged his body. He could barely manage to exchange a couple of blows with Kevin.

"However... it's worth a try." The Speaker made a gesture, and Soul immediately understood his meaning, taking out the Phase Transfer Device from his body.

"Bang!"

At this moment, Dessidobia, who was closely watching their movements, keenly sensed Soul's intention, aimed at her hand and fired, forcefully preventing her from handing the device to the Speaker.

"Soul!" Himiko, slamming her shoulder into Soul's arms. Soul, caught off guard, had his device knocked off his hand and landed on the ground.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Armed Puppet picked up the Phase Transfer Device and retreated, its assault rifle aimed at the speaker's hiding place. Bullets poured out, shattering the table. However, the speaker had already taken cover behind the thicker cabin seat.

"Tch..." The speaker clicked his tongue, forced to retreat again and wait for an opportunity to strike.

"Soul, why did you do this! Do you agree with his beliefs?! In your opinion, are there really people who deserve to die and those who don't?!" Himiko down, clenched her fist, and blocked the forearm of the howling giant claw with one hand. With a lunge, she slammed her fully charged fist hard into Soul's cheek. "Aren't you the one who loves life the most...?"

Soul was knocked back several steps by the punch, her mask shattering in two and covering half her face. She spat out blood from her split mouth and calmly said to Himiko, "Yes... I hate death, I hate Honkai. They take everything away from me without reason and crush the happiness of others..."

"Therefore, we must win... Humanity must defeat the Honkai, isn't this our shared desire?"

"Lin gave everything to fulfill this wish, and I cannot let humanity destroy it on its own, even if it means helping the people I hate the most, even if it means betraying the people I love the most..."

Soul straightened up, blood trickling from her lips, and coldly stared at the motionless Himiko and Dessidobia, knowing full well what their gazes meant.

All the regret, sadness, and pain—they saw their past selves and their present selves reflected in their eyes.

It's like walking along a riverbank at sunset, brushing past the version of yourself from the past who could smile from the bottom of your heart.

"So whoever comes to take away Lin's wish, I will defeat him, even if that person is Lin himself!"

That's right, it was she herself who chose to sever ties with the past, right now, and she would never look back at that smile again.

Soul turned and tore open the cabin with one claw. The change in air pressure instantly created a terrifying suction force from the opening. She then widened it with another claw to a passable opening and leaped out without hesitation amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd.

Before Himiko react, a cutting sound like metal being torn apart rang out. She was horrified and instinctively leaned back as a sharp metal blade grazed her nose as it passed over her head.

The soul attaches itself to the outside of the transport ship and attacks from the inside!

Having failed in its attack, Himiko withdrew its claws, while Himiko, panting heavily, stared in disbelief at the empty hole above her head.

How could an ordinary person possibly cling to the exterior of an aircraft at such high speeds and accurately launch an attack inwards...?

"Bass!"

Here we go again!