I Am Not a Hero

Himiko and Soul exchanged a glance, nodded, and prepared to leave.

"Beep beep beep—"

The monitor operator slumped back into his seat. Just then, a communication suddenly came through: "This—zzzt—is Elysia—zzzt—Herrscher—zzzt—battle."

"Elysia's squad?"

"Beep—"

The monitor operator, about to reply, suddenly widened his eyes and stared at the monitoring screen.

"Elysia Squad! Evacuate immediately!"

"All squads, report! Third Herrscher's Honkai Energy reaction is rising! Initiating high-speed movement! Predicted target location is..."

He covered his face, his voice hoarse with disbelief—

"Target location is the Emperor-class Honkai Beast's position."

Chapter 12: So I Chose to Advance

The Third Herrscher, clad in an elegant, dark purple robe, her long purple hair cascading down her shoulders, stood suspended in the thunderclouds. Her eyes, devoid of human emotion, gazed indifferently at the ruins below, scorched by lightning.

Tiny yet lethal currents danced around her. If these insignificant sparks were to strike a human, they would cause the heart to spasm and stop beating. So dangerous, yet so obediently by her side.

She seemed... no, she was that lofty deity, bringing divine punishment of death to all she beheld.

After a bolt of lightning reduced a human to charcoal, the Third Herrscher's gaze lowered slightly, looking towards her slowly recovering subordinate.

To have one Core destroyed by a human, and if she hadn't arrived in time, the other Core would have been destroyed as well.

The Third Herrscher issued a command to the recovering serpent shadow, then turned to leave.

"Bang!"

As she turned, a particle bullet compressed from Honkai Energy shot towards the back of her head.

"Sizzle."

The bullet was blocked by a circular net made of electricity. The Third Herrscher lowered her head, looking in the direction the bullet came from.

[Warning... Jetpack damage rate 78%] [Warning... Information gathering device unavailable] [Warning... Jump device damage rate 17%] [Warning...]

Lin clung to the edge of a rooftop, dozens of stories high. Burnt outer armor, stuck to his scorched skin, peeled off him. He dropped the pistol after firing its last bullet and used both hands to pull himself onto the roof.

Even though Lin had sensed the attack and thrown out a grappling hook at the last moment, he still couldn't dodge completely and was hit by the edge. Fortunately, it didn't strike a vital part of his body, but it destroyed almost all of his equipment.

However, the poison and his injuries had pushed him to the brink of death.

"Cough, cough, cough..." His coughs grew louder. Half of Lin's helmet was shattered, fragments embedded in his face. Blood dripped from his chin. He raised his head and met the gaze of the "deity" in the sky.

The divine rain that descended continued to wash over his grotesque body, half of its skin missing.

On the damaged display screen, the countdown stopped at the final second, meaning the poison's effects had receded. Lin collapsed powerlessly into a puddle.

"God..." The heavy rain mercilessly washed away the little life left in his body. Lin murmured blankly, reaching out a hand towards the magnificent and majestic purple figure.

Lightning illuminated his face, vacant and weary. He was a dying man on his last breath.

What was this man thinking in his final moments? Illusions, memories, regrets?

"..." The deity extended a hand, meeting his across the distance. Lightning gathered overhead, and she mercifully brought down the thunder, intending to end the suffering of this pathetic human.

But suddenly, her hand clenched into a fist.

"No... you are not gods..." Some unknown strength surged into the man's body. His vacant eyes were replaced by sharpness, and he firmly planted his hands on the ground, standing up.

His nostrils filled with the metallic scent of blood. Lin gasped for air, staring directly at the arrogant, awe-inspiring might of the lightning—

"You are not qualified to represent God and judge humanity."

"Boom!"

Lightning struck again. Lin's figure vanished in the light.

"..."

A long silence.

Utter darkness, the disappearance of all five senses.

"The data has been adjusted, but I still can't guarantee it will work properly..."

"Don't use it unless absolutely necessary..."

After pressing the Phase Transfer Device, Lin arrived here again.

Was this the afterlife, or had he entered a phase transfer? Lin couldn't tell.

In this world where everything was lost, and only consciousness remained, humans would go mad if they stayed for too long... no, even for a few seconds.

You can't even be sure if time is moving forward, or if the second you perceive is truly just "one second."

"..."

So, let's assume we're in the middle of a phase transfer.

Lin's mind, far from being affected by this void, became even more focused after being freed from the pain of his physical body, allowing him to consider details he hadn't had time for earlier.

How to defeat a Herrscher was a topic that the top researchers of MOTH, all with at least a doctorate, spent their days and nights studying.

As the most threatening manifestation of the Honkai, the embodiment of destruction, Herrschers were granted a "divine power" to freely manipulate certain phenomena, like the electromagnetic field of this Third Herrscher, or the space of the Second Herrscher.

The difficulty wasn't in how to kill a Herrscher. In fact, stopping their physiological functions wasn't hard. After all, they were human before becoming Herrschers. Aside from separating the Herrscher Core, if the attack was strong enough, most methods used to kill humans could be applied to them.

The real challenge was how to do it.

"..."

Humans had killed two Herrschers and obtained their Herrscher Cores.

Through studying the Cores, MOTH discovered that they were less like infinite energy batteries and more like keys that unlocked the door to using abilities. Herrschers drew power from behind that door and then used it.

The question was, could the divine power they drew be used without limit?

"..."

The answer was no.

A clue connected in Lin's mind, and he vaguely saw a glimmer of victory.

If the Third Herrscher could freely manipulate lightning for destruction, and the thunderclouds shrouding Changkong City were also under her control, then she could have lined up single lightning strikes, as powerful as the one she used on him, to level the ground, or directly unleashed indiscriminate attacks from the city's thunderclouds. In that case, humanity would have been completely wiped out within a month.

But the reality was, to kill Lin, she personally approached a distance that could be targeted by the naked eye, and then used a single, high-intensity lightning strike to attack him.

Divine power wasn't inexhaustible. Even Herrschers had to consider Honkai Energy consumption.

Having established the first theory, Lin began to consider the second question.

Was this large-scale thundercloud intentionally controlled by her?

He quickly reached a second conclusion.

No, the large-scale thundercloud was likely a byproduct of her divine power, which coincidentally indicated that she couldn't yet control her power freely.

So, the final question.

During the phase transfer, if one didn't move within this void, they would reappear in their original location after it ended. Where should he move now?

The void began to erode his thoughts, the countdown pressing down on him.

A pair of indifferent eyes lit up in the darkness.

Forward.

Lin, he had only this one choice, decided from the very beginning.

There was never any turning back, whether for humans, or for him, there was only...

"Forward."

And so, tearing through the darkness, Lin's body reformed beneath and behind the Third Herrscher.

Amidst the rolling thunder, humanity began to challenge the god of lightning.

Chapter 13: Do You Believe Me?

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Mei's fingers danced across the keyboard, files flowing like streams of light across the screen. She glanced at the text-filled documents and closed them, her information processing speed astonishing. It had only taken her about ten minutes to go from a complete outsider who didn't know what Honkai was to calculating the Honkai Energy distribution density within Changkong City. Even with the knowledge about Honkai pre-organized by Mobius, Mei's learning speed was frighteningly fast.

"So amazing, Mei..." Kevin stood by with the gun Lin had given him, having nothing else to do but marvel at Mei's computer-like abilities.

"Information processing is just a matter of collection, organization, simplification, and absorption," Mei even had the energy to explain to Kevin. "With training, reaching my level isn't difficult. Besides, this information has already been collected, organized, and simplified to a certain extent; I just need to absorb it."

"But even so..."

Kevin glanced at the amazed command staff and smiled helplessly at Mei, who was unaware of her own brilliance. "It still seems incredible to me. Perhaps only you could do it."

"No, there's one other person who can."

Mei's fingers stopped. She stared at the variables on the screen, lost in thought.

If a Herrscher's divine power wasn't infinite, then the most efficient way to consume it would be through powerful attacks. To achieve this, they would need to use the established Honkai Energy conversion particle cannon.

However, the power output of the Honkai Energy converter was only sufficient to shatter the Herrscher's barrier. For technology that could convert Honkai Energy, it gave Mei an idea, but that idea would likely take a long time to realize. The immediate priority was to defeat this Honkai outbreak.

And how to hit it was also a problem. Hitting a human-sized target inside a city from its edge was about as difficult as pricking a mosquito with a needle.

She suddenly turned to the monitor operator and asked, "Can you precisely track the combatants' coordinates?"

"Yes, yes... Although communication and monitoring equipment are being interfered with, the monitoring signals on the combatants operate on a different principle..."

"What about Lin's signal? Can you detect it?"

"Yes, it shows MSA-079 is currently engaging the Herrscher."

"..."

Mei fell silent. She already had a plan in mind at this moment, but there was one step she had to take.

That step concerning sacrifice and morality.

What she thought of at this moment was Mobius, in her white coat, giving her a meaningful smile and saying those unforgettable words: "Will you choose to be an enemy of humanity for a better future for mankind?"

Mei was reserved and shy then, but when answering this question, she said "I am willing" with the most resolute tone of her life.

"Kevin, do you trust me?"

This time, Mei lowered her head, letting her bangs cover her eyes.

She didn't want the white-haired boy to see that her eyes were resolute and determined. At least for this moment, she wished she could hesitate for even a second, or even waver.

Kevin didn't expect Mei to ask him, someone so unrelated, this question at this time. He looked at the head-lowering Mei, confused: "Mei, what are you talking about?"

"Kevin, my current decision might lead to Lin's sacrifice."

"..."

Something exploded in Kevin's ears. With a ringing in his ears, he shook his head and asked with a strained smile, "What... does that mean? Why might Mei, you cause Lin..."

"Kevin, do you trust me?"

"..."

In Kevin's memory, the girl before him was shy and timid in front of others. Only when discussing topics she liked about science and philosophy would she show an expression like an ordinary girl.

At this moment, Mei's appearance was neither shy nor that of an ordinary girl. It was a determination that Kevin found somewhat familiar.

This familiarity came from Lin.

When Lin left that day, his expression was exactly the same as Mei's now.

"Mei... should I say I trust you now?" Kevin covered his forehead, bewildered. "Is this the right thing, or what you expect?"

His mind was in chaos. Why did he have to make this decision? This feeling, as if he were pushing his friend onto the guillotine