She Was Once Human / A Soldier's Recollections: The Final Color

She Was Once Human

His consciousness sank downward.

Lin could no longer escape this void. Those indescribable things were tearing at his consciousness.

The Grim Reaper chased after his weary soul, the gleaming edge of its scythe having already drawn a bloody line across his neck.

Lin had come close to death many times. Each brush with danger had left him only a hair's breadth from hell, so he understood better than most what it felt like to be on the verge of death.

But those experiences had been no more than the final half-second before hitting the ground after jumping from a building. This time, it was like the first second after falling from the rooftop, seeing the ground still far below through the howling wind.

He could feel his life draining away bit by bit, one foot already across the Yellow Springs, while helplessly watching himself lift the other and march toward death.

Lin's mind was clear, which made the torment in his spirit all the more unimaginable.

At a time like this, anyone would only pray for death to come sooner.

Was this enough?

That was what Lin thought.

As a human, had he done well enough? He had completed his mission against the Herrscher, and he had saved his friends' lives.

Ever since gaining self-awareness, Lin had believed that human civilization existed through inheritance. Parents passed life and culture on to their children, who then passed them on to the next generation.

Thus, generation after generation progressed, generation after generation inherited, until humanity became what it was today.

Fallen leaves returned to the damp earth, providing nourishment for new life. That was the form of human existence, and the ultimate purpose of a human life.

Lin had passed his life on to Mei, Kevin, and the others in the Fire Moth squads. Having reached the end of his life, it seemed he had fulfilled the mission of his existence.

He could not live only for himself.

That truth he still did not know could disappear into that night.

So, this was enough.

He closed his eyes and sealed away his consciousness.

"Live."

A beam of light suddenly pierced the darkness.

"Your friends would surely want you to live, and I want you to live too."

"If you must live for someone else, then live for me."

A familiar voice entered his ears.

Lin opened his eyes. The light was dazzling, like a distant rising sun.

He reached toward it with a murmur, trying to touch that light.

"Elysia...?"

The light was like pure white feathers. Amid the mottled sunlight, he caught sight of the girl's innocent smile.

A hand seized Lin's soul.

"Haa—"

"Got you!"

The instant Lin exited Phase Shift, a pale hand grabbed his arm and caught him in midair.

In the torrential rain, the playful smile of a pink-haired girl appeared before the stunned Lin.

"Elysia..." he weakly spoke the girl's name, a name that usually gave him endless headaches.

Why was Elysia here?

Before Lin could ask, Elysia pressed down on his head and held him tightly to shield him from the impact. They hit the ground and rolled several times, bleeding off the force.

"Cough, cough..." But Lin's body still could not endure such jolting. He spat out two more mouthfuls of greenish-red blood, as if protesting against Lin's rough treatment of it.

"Oh my, are you okay? I never thought someone as lively as you could become so weak." Elysia, still rubbing her backside, immediately sprang up at the sound of Lin's coughing and helped up Lin, who looked as though he might stop breathing the next second.

"I'm fine... cough, cough..." Lin had been about to say his signature line, only for the itch in his throat to stop him.

"Boys who try too hard to act tough aren't very lovable, you know~" Elysia gently rubbed Lin's back to help him catch his breath. Her smiling face, lovely at all times, lingered before him. "It's okay to lean on someone else's shoulder once in a while too~"

Lin did not respond. His eyes half-lidded, he let Elysia support all his weight and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Hmm... Lin, did you think you were really the only one fighting the Herrscher? Even if Fire Moth wanted to exploit its employees, it wouldn't make one office drone do all the work, would it?"

"...Fire Moth doesn't provide social insurance or a housing fund. By current employment standards, it's undeniably a sweatshop."

"That's true... Huh? Lin, was that a joke?"

"No."

Lin's expression was flat, and he truly did not look like he was joking. His entire body exuded a cool, aloof aura. Unfortunately, the flesh on his face was a bloody mess, making it impossible to see his appearance or expression clearly.

Elysia shook her head regretfully. "My squad was among the first to encounter the Third Herrscher, so we followed her trail here. I arrived just in time to catch you. Pretty timely, wasn't I?"

"..."

Lin remained silent, staring at the smiling girl of flowers.

That voice in the void... what exactly had it been?

Only then did Lin realize there was something more important. He suddenly lifted his head from his battered body. "Where is the Third Herrscher?"

Elysia hurriedly steadied the swaying Lin. His body could not afford to move around carelessly anymore.

"Oh, don't get so worked up. The Third Herrscher is right over there." Elysia was somewhat helpless at the sight of him. It was rare to see emotional fluctuations from this person, and seeing them at a time like this only made one feel sad.

He looked in the direction Elysia pointed, his gaze fixing on a purple-black-haired girl kneeling on the ground with her head lowered, completely motionless.

No deadly lightning flickered over her body anymore. Like a broken doll, she merely sat in the filthy water and let the downpour wash over her.

Elysia's squad members surrounded her with guns in hand, their muzzles aimed at her head as they waited for their captain's command.

Lin removed his hand from around Elysia's neck, breathing heavily, his gaze cold. "She's not dead?"

"Herrschers aren't that easy to kill. Although the artillery strike came at the exact moment when the Third Herrscher was weak, she still blocked the attack and survived." A complicated emotion flickered through Elysia's eyes as she looked at the Third Herrscher. "But in this state, she's practically dead anyway."

The Third Herrscher's core remained within that body. She had entered a dormant phase now and was slowly recovering in this state. Perhaps before long, she would once again become that embodiment of destruction standing beneath the dome.

Capture her alive? Impossible. With Fire Moth's current technology, it was absolutely impossible to capture a Herrscher alive. Once she recovered all... no, even half of her power, she would unleash a devastating strike upon the area holding her.

Click.

The sound of a gun being cocked rang out amid the lonely rain.

Elysia turned and saw Lin pull out a pistol, limping toward the Third Herrscher on the ground.

As though she sensed him, the Third Herrscher slightly raised her head. Her hollow eyes met Lin's gaze as he approached.

The others immediately raised their guns nervously, preparing to fire at her, but Lin and Elysia raised their hands at the same time, signaling them to stop.

It was a long process. Lin walked up to her, dragging a long trail of blood behind him that quickly vanished in the rain.

"Cough, cough..." Lin covered his mouth so that he would not cough blood onto her face, then...

He raised his gun and aimed it at her forehead.

"..."

The Third Herrscher said nothing. Her empty pupils reflected the muzzle of the gun. Then she slowly raised both hands, as though she wanted to embrace him.

The corners of her lips curled up as she tilted her head and smiled.

Bang!

"The Third Herrscher is dead! Humanity won!"

"Humanity won!"

"Humanity won!"

As the gunshot rang out, cheers carried far through the sunlight that had broken through the clouds, echoing endlessly through the empty city and across the ruins.

Elysia stepped forward and supported Lin's hand once again, smiling softly. "Lin, when you return, you'll become a hero."

But Lin pushed her away, just as he had every other time.

"I'm not a hero. I only killed another enemy."

As everyone cheered and embraced in celebration, Lin lowered his head and looked over this desolate land where a city had once stood.

There had once been laughter and joy here, but now, nothing remained.

"Humanity won... did it?"

Lin stared at the smiling face of the girl lying in the pool of blood.

A Soldier's Recollection: The Final Color

After returning to this place where every area had its own distinct style, Mei clenched the object in her hand. Her vividly colored eyes swept around until she spotted the person she was looking for.

"I see. No wonder you joined my squad..."

"It was probably because it was more convenient to leave the survivors' psychological condition to someone involved."

Mei paused when she saw the back of the gray-haired woman in combat gear.

Hua, ranked twelfth among the Thirteen Heroes, was a pioneer who had survived from the previous era. In Mei's era, she was called Fu Hua, and she was also the class president of Mei's class at St. Freya Academy.

Mei's feelings toward her were complicated. Fu Hua had remained by Mei and the others' side in order to monitor Kiana, the host body of the Second Herrscher. At a critical moment, she had betrayed them, yet Fu Hua had also sacrificed her life to protect them.

Responsibility, strength, kindness—these were all qualities Mei had seen in Fu Hua. Yet Hua, the memory entity of Fu Hua from the Previous Civilization, was still too immature in the traits that belonged to her. Therefore, Mei regarded them as the same person, yet unconsciously distinguished between them. It was deeply contradictory.

The helmeted man speaking with Hua had his arms folded, spending most of the time listening to Hua. Their manner of conversation was simple: Hua spoke, Lin listened. This was Mei's first time seeing the two of them converse, since Lin usually did not appear in this place.

However, Hua occasionally mentioned Lin as well. Among those fragmented memories of hers, memories whose completeness she could not determine, Lin occupied an unusually large portion. So Mei was not too surprised that they would speak to each other.

What surprised Mei, though, was that Hua, who was usually not very talkative and often only mentioned the important points, was telling Lin ordinary, insignificant details from her daily life. Lin was also listening patiently as she chatted sentence by sentence. Such unusual behavior was extremely rare for both of them.

"Raiden Mei, what is it?" Lin could see Mei watching them from where he stood, so he asked in his usually even voice.

That sharp gaze came from the blue part of the helmet that was probably its visor, making Mei feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Mei, we meet again." Hua turned around as well and nodded to Mei in greeting.

"Hua, I found this in Elysian Realm. It should be yours, right?"

Mei held out the item in her hand to Hua.

She often found dropped items in Elysian Realm. Since it was a space made from memories, most things within it were constructed from the memories of the Thirteen Heroes or visitors. If something could be materialized, it meant it held considerable importance in its original owner's heart.

"This is..." Hua's gaze sharpened. After seeing the item in Mei's hand clearly, she visibly froze for a moment.

In Mei's hand was a photograph showing four people together. Mei had never seen the others in Elysian Realm. Only Hua, standing at the very edge, was someone Mei knew, so it was not unreasonable for her to conclude that it belonged to Hua.

Unexpectedly, Hua shook her head. "No, it belongs to Lin."

"It belongs to Lin?" Mei looked over the people in the photograph again in surprise. She did not see Lin's distinctive helmet anywhere, but after carefully examining where everyone stood, she noticed something suspicious.

"Don't tell me this person in the middle, covered head to toe in bandages and sitting in a wheelchair, is you?"

Mei pointed at the conspicuous bandaged person in the center of the photograph. He only showed a pair of black eyes cold enough to freeze water with a glance as she asked the silent helmeted man.

But no matter how cold that gaze was, it still fell far short of the near-statue-like man before her. The only thing that made it possible to associate the two was that neither of them showed their face.

Lin Mo silently nodded.

"...I'm curious. Do you and Chrono have some setting where you'll die or go berserk if anyone sees your face?"

Why did they both have to wrap up their faces for photographs?

Lin appeared unconcerned. "I happened to be seriously injured at the time and had just come out of a Repair Pod."

In other words, he did not have such a setting. It was merely a coincidence.

"Lin, Mei, I'll be leaving first." Hua saw that they seemed to have more to discuss, so she informed them before departing.

"..."

Lin watched her leave, then withdrew his gaze and looked levelly at Mei, who was only slightly shorter than him. The pressure from his gaze made Mei quietly place her hand on the hilt of her sword.

This helmeted man was not a Flame-Chaser, yet the sense of oppression he gave off was no less than that of the other Thirteen Heroes.

It was neither Chrono's brutality and lust for battle, nor the chill that seemed to spill out simply from Kevin standing there. What made her remain on guard around Lin was not his power or his words and actions. It was simply Lin himself.