Elegy of the Dark Night / Hero ...

If the Herrscher were to fully form, and the Honkai Energy reaction of the Sixth Herrscher were to occur, it would be a sudden peak, not this upward climb.

"... Headquarters support will arrive in about an hour," Spasi said.

"..."

Do we have to face the simultaneous attacks of Herrscher and Emperor-class Honkai Beast within an hour?

Chapter Eighty-Six: Elegy for the Night

It was incredibly fortunate that three-quarters of the city's population could be evacuated unharmed after the birth of the Herrscher. Apart from the fact that the Fourth Herrscher's purpose was to pursue the fire moth from the beginning, the influence of the Fifth Herrscher's Honkai Energy spread beyond the city. Even though everyone in the city had evacuated, one-fifth of the population still died from Honkai Energy and mutated Honkai zombie and Honkai Beast.

The Second and Third Herrscher caused the deaths of nearly ten million people in a city at the moment of their birth. The aftermath of the Third Herrscher in the Far East even reached Canghai City in Shenzhou, where only about a hundred people survived, including Hua.

In the eyes of the Moth Chaser, and even in the command room of the Fifth Branch, Lin and his team had exceeded their mission expectations. Three-quarters of the population ranked among the top survivors in history, a rare number.

Upper-class Honkai Beast and Herrscher rarely cooperate in combat, so no one knows what kind of destructive power these two monsters, who stand at the pinnacle of Honkai creature, would have if they truly joined forces. However, the members of the Fifth Branch know that the remaining combat force, Lin and Sakura, is strategically superior to the remaining quarter.

Without much deliberation, the optimal solution is to preserve combat strength and wait for reinforcements when it is known that continuing to fight will result in certain death.

"Lin, you all retreat to the Fifth Branch immediately," Spasi coldly ordered.

"Retreat? What about the rest of you?" This was the first order Sakura heard after joining the communication channel, an order that sounded somewhat absurd to her.

"The rest of you are also evacuating. You need to preserve your fighting strength now. After the appearance of the Upper-class Honkai Beast, the Honkai Energy content in the city is rising rapidly. The Fifth Branch may also be attacked. If you sacrifice yourselves, it will only result in no one protecting the Fifth Branch and preventing unexpected situations before reinforcements arrive."

"Don't worry, based on data observation of Herrscher, almost all Herrscher have an adaptation period within 24 hours after their birth. They will stay in one place to adapt to their powers."

The "ecological research" that the Fire Moth conducted on the Herrscher was based on multiple data collections, so the information that Spasi mentioned is accurate.

But just as Sakura was about to consult Rin, he calmly said into the communicator, "But Upper-class Honkai Beast don't have this habit, and the range of activity of Herrscher in the first twenty-four hours is not entirely certain."

"...Lin." Spasi switched to a private channel, his voice so cold it sent chills down your spine. "To paraphrase Doctor Mei, the right choice is to let the more valuable people live. If you live, more than a quarter of the people can be saved. Besides, even if you stay there, you can't stop the Upper-class Honkai Beast and Herrscher."

"Do you really believe it yourself? That a cripple and a novice can defeat Herrscher and Upper-class Honkai Beast? Have you forgotten how you ended up like this?"

"We didn't alert the Sixth Herrscher to release that Black Mist, isn't that enough?"

As the sun dipped below the horizon, Lin stood in the fading light of the setting sun. In his eyes, the city was being enveloped by darkness, and even if the tiny glimmer of green in his eyes could illuminate the darkness, it was nothing more than an insignificant firefly's glow.

Protecting the Fifth Branch and preparing for the upcoming subjugation campaign is indeed a wiser choice. If the subjugation campaign succeeds, more people will be spared the threat of Honkai.

For that quarter of people, or for the many more people outside the city?

In the blink of an eye, Lin made his choice.

He faces choices every time, and he always gives the same answer.

This time was no exception.

"Sakura, retreat back to protect the Fifth Branch."

"..."

Lin casually broke the crutch, tied the lower half to his broken leg for support, and said to Sakura, whose face was gloomy and whose emotions were unreadable.

"Forest."

"Let those who are more valuable live on. I have no value anymore, I have nothing left." Lin Fangruo muttered to herself as she looked up and gazed at the setting sun disappearing into the horizon, darkness descending upon the land. "I have no status or connections in ordinary human society. As a soldier in the Fire Moth, I have also lost my ability to fight. This body will also die completely in a few hours. So my value in this world has disappeared."

Lin looked down at the expressionless Spasi on the screen, turned his face to the side, and reached out to pull up the eyelid of his right eye, revealing the empty hole inside. "Do you understand now, Doctor Spacy? This eye can't see anything anymore."

Pitch black, deep and empty.

He can no longer see either his past or his future.

In other words, he no longer possessed the value that Spasi described—the value of sacrificing others for his survival.

Sacrificing a quarter of humanity's lives is merely a loss figure in a report for the Firemoth. Compared to the survival of all humanity, they are insignificant, even less valuable than any researcher at headquarters.

But for them, their lives are everything.

"I am withdrawing from Moth Chaser here, and all my actions thereafter will be of my own free will."

Lin joined the Fire Moth to protect humanity, and now he will leave the Fire Moth to protect humanity as well.

"Doctor Spacy ..." Some people in the command room couldn't help but call out to the expressionless Spasi, but he raised his hand to signal them to continue with their own business.

He didn't say anything more, but cut off Lin's communication and said to Ying, "Special Operations Unit 'Poisoned Cocoon', return to the Fifth Branch immediately to carry out the escort mission."

"..."

Sakura opened her mouth as if to say something to Rin, but in the end it turned into a heavy sigh.

"Thanks..."

"What?"

"Thank you for agreeing to let Doctor Mei do business with me."

Lin stood there with difficulty, watching the back of the cherry-haired girl walking quickly away, and took out all the remaining potions.

Gazing at the shimmering green liquid churning in the syringe, he felt as if he had returned to Changkong City, to that stormy night.

Nothing has changed. I was alone then, and I am still alone now.

If defined by value, then at this moment he is indeed worthless, like a small, dim firefly in the dark night, which no one can illuminate, much less light up this pitch-black night.

But just now is fine, so that this useless body can complete its final mission and fulfill the original promise.

Even a firefly, which may be extinguished at any moment, can light up the path for someone, who continues along the way to reach the other side that he could not reach.

He questioned his own heart and discovered that he had never wavered.

It's not because of any so-called transformation, but because of a heartfelt belief.

Perhaps that's enough.

"Sizzle—"

The man ripped off the bandages from his face, plunged all the syringes into his neck, tilted his head back, and opened his only remaining left eye wide, the faint fluorescent green light emitting an inconspicuous glow in the pupil.

In the city as night falls, a man performs his final act.

Chapter Eighty-Seven Heroes

"Roar--"

The jet-black porcupine, after the daylight had been completely swallowed up, raised its massive mouth full of jagged tusks on the mountainside and let out its first roar since its birth.

In her eyes, she saw "Lin" dressed in his usual gear, standing in front of her fully armed. The familiar azure blue viewing window was lit up in the darkness, like a beacon of hope illuminating her heart.

For a time, all she ever saw was his back.

Always battered and bruised, but never discouraged, like a hero in people's eyes, getting up again and again.

Even though he always said he wasn't a hero and that he couldn't be one, in her eyes, he was her hero, guiding her in the right direction.

So Lin weakened again and again, until in the end she had almost nothing left in her body, and her spirit was fading away along with him.

It doesn't matter if nothing has changed in the past; just start changing things from now on.

Lin isolated himself behind that helmet, so that one day he would be able to remove that veil and return to his true self.

"I'm off."

"Lin" nodded to her. To her, "Lin's" tone was no longer as cold and emotionless as usual. Instead, there was a subtle emotion in his voice that she noticed.

Then she smiled gently and said, "Yes, as always, I will protect our comrades. Team Member Lin, please fight with peace of mind."

"... I will."

The ferocious porcupine trembled, each of its quills as thick as a telephone pole, the clanging of which sent chills down one's spine. Even in the darkness of the same color, those quills gleamed with a cold light that could pierce through anything.

It first set its sights on the west, where it could sense a considerable number of humans. As a servant of the Herrscher of Death, it possessed a certain degree of life perception and was exceptionally sensitive to the aura of humans. In the current lull before its master had fully mastered its powers, it was tasked with eliminating the humans in the city.

As this behemoth awakened, Honkai zombie and Honkai Beast began to appear out of thin air in the city. Unlike before, they did not appear from humans and animals Honkai Energy and infected by Honkai energy, but truly emerged from empty places. The only thing they had in common was the cruelty and bloodlust in their beastly eyes.

The porcupine takes a step, and every step it takes causes the entire mountain to shake. The phrase "earthquake" is most appropriate to describe it. Its seemingly fat muscles are full of explosive power. Even if it just casually touches a tree, it will directly knock it down by the roots.

After descending the mountain, each stomp of its foot caused the amusement park's facilities to collapse. The enormous Ferris Wheel was scraped by its spikes as it passed by, collapsing directly from the bottom and falling to the ground.

Perhaps influenced by the Herrscher of Death's subjective influence, the porcupine possesses a high level of intelligence among the Upper-class Honkai Beast. It knows that the Herrscher of Death has wiped out the entire reconnaissance squad, and the city's forces are no longer able to withstand Honkai zombie. The two harassing insects are also insignificant, and one of them has such a weak life force that it can barely sense his presence.

Some impurities were mixed in the man's body. Even though the Honkai zombie and Honkai Beast were just a combination of living beings and Honkai Energy, he also had some kind of substance that living beings feared. It was probably because he used drugs that could damage biological cells.

The porcupine didn't rush to leave. The Sixth Herrscher needed it to eliminate those two people. It could sense that one of them had left, but because the other's aura was weak, it had to search for him carefully.

In her eyes, "Lin" was using his information-gathering device to search the entire amusement park. She had full confidence in "Lin" because this was "Lin's" forte, and no information could escape his eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you until reinforcements arrive," she said happily to the others, feeling a strange excitement at seeing Lin active on the battlefield again.

Wait, did I want to see Lin fight...? No, that can't be right...

The blank look in her eyes didn't last long before it was shattered by a loud bang.

The porcupine searched every possible hiding place for people. It wasn't a difficult task for it; it only needed to use its quills, giant hooves, and tail to sweep through buildings that seemed tiny to its size, and look for human remains among the rubble.

Just as it found the haunted house, it didn't notice that the high-voltage power lines above its head had somehow fallen to its feet.

A figure secretly flipped the power switch, and high voltage instantly traveled along the wires to the porcupine's body. However, this level of voltage only made it shudder, as if it were being tickled, and it looked at the person in the shadows.

A single, emerald-green vertical pupil, like a snake hunting its prey, silently watched it.

"Howl!"

The moment the target was confirmed, the porcupine's quills stood upright and tilted downwards, aiming at the vulnerable human figure. With another roar, all the quills capable of piercing through the mountain burst forth in an instant.

Lin didn't dodge directly. He stood far away, staring intently at the enormous needles and sharp points that cut through the air. Even a slight brush against his body could turn him into a pile of minced meat.

No, even the wind pressure it generates can cause him to lose his balance.

Therefore, you shouldn't run away with your head in your hands; that will only hasten your death.

Lin used the leg with the crutch for support, and then used the other leg to exert explosive force. Under the continuous effect of the medication, his muscle condition returned to normal, and he had no problem pushing his body to perform some extreme movements.

He shot out like a ghost, transforming into a strange shadow, with countless needles flying over his head, none of which hit him.

"Roar--"

Unexpectedly, Lin did not flee but charged towards it, causing the porcupine, which had anticipated Lin's escape route, to roar again, raise its front hooves, and stomp on the oncoming Lin.

Its weight surpassed that of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast of the Fifth Honkai War, and the death power within its body was spreading throughout its body, attaching itself to its skin.

It will kill you if you touch it.

"Don't lose, Lin!"

In the distance, she shouted to the man facing the monster.

"You're my hero! So don't lose!"

"Forest!"

That ugly monster is no match for Lin. He has faced countless invincible opponents and achieved countless miraculous victories.

Lin raised his arm, his fist drawn into a bow, as majestic as a crescent moon.

Lin lowered her head, her breath weak and fragile as she faced him.

Am I your 'hero'...?

Lin raised his head.

That's right, heroes never lose... therefore, I will win...

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Sneak Attack

"The Honkai Energy reaction of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast is moving at high speed! MSA-079 and its signal are very close to the reaction of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast!"

"Numerous small-scale Honkai Energy reactions have occurred in the city!"

"Large numbers of plants and animals are dying in cities! Global cases of Honkai Sickness deaths are surging!"

One bad news after another slammed into the faces of everyone in the command room. Spasi frowned as he watched Sakura's signal, which was defending the branch, and another signal that was rampaging through the city.

This time, the Honkai zombie, which were not taken seriously in the original large-scale Honkai, have become the most difficult obstacle to overcome. The number of Honkai zombie that appeared out of nowhere is several times or even dozens of times that of previous Honkai. Just around a corner, a large number of pale-skinned humanoids can swarm out like cockroaches, especially in areas with high Honkai Energy content.

Moreover, the Honkai zombie seemed to be able to locate the humans, and a steady stream of Honkai zombie were attacking the building. If all the entrances and exits hadn't been closed, those moving dead might have already stormed into the command room and devoured them alive.

However, the Fifth Branch's defenses are also limited. The current attack methods are too simplistic. The Vulcan cannon alone is almost unable to clear out the surrounding Honkai zombie. This is even without the Honkai Beast participating in the attack. If large Chariot-class Honkai Beast appear, the Honkai Beast may collapse instantly.