Blood of Rain / Melee

Hen walked into the room with his head down. A person sat in a chair with their back to him, seemingly having waited for a long time.

"Doctor Einstein." A lingering gloom settled on Hen's face as he spoke softly to the man seated in the chair, "Regarding the announcement from High Council ..."

"Erwin is dead."

"..."

Hen was stunned.

In that instant, his brain went through those words, but he still couldn't grasp their meaning. It wasn't until he looked up and saw that there was no one there except Einstein, who was looking back at him with a cold gaze, that he finally understood their significance.

His lips trembled violently, and his expression froze instantly, as if a stone had been thrown into a pool of water. "Why..."

"I thought about it a lot. It could be because of Lin, it could be because of me, or it could be because of you." Einstein looked at the data and intelligence compiled by Erwin in his hand and found it hard to believe that a private who had been in the lowest rank for several years could find such intelligence. "But in the end, I felt that this tragedy was not caused by any particular person."

Is it because of the ugliness of human nature?

Einstein did not find it so profound or pretentious.

When everyone has different beliefs and viewpoints, the paths they take will naturally differ, and they... choose their own endings.

Character is destiny.

"Which side are you on?" Einstein stood up. "Trace."

"..."

The traces are lost.

Who exactly is he?

Warrior, predecessor, traitor, father...

Ahead, the rain was pouring down, as if the sky had collapsed. The intermittent rain pounded on the car, and he completely ignored the slippery road and loss of speed caused by the rain. He floored the accelerator, and the speedometer needle soared.

Faster... faster...

"Bang!"

Lin suddenly looked up, released the steering wheel, and drew a long knife from behind his back!

"Bass!"

After easily slicing through the carriage, the two sharp blades collided with the weapon in Lin's hand. Lin stepped on the brake and pulled the handbrake with his free hand, causing the car to slow down sharply. However, the people in the carriage remained steady without even swaying, as if they were spiders clinging to the carriage.

A sense of crisis washed over him, and a flood of data from the helmet rushed into his eyes. Lin sidestepped, and a terrifying blade of air sliced half of the car beside him in two, the smooth cross-section resembling a cake sliced in half!

The intense wind pressure and rain instantly engulfed Lin. He yanked off his seatbelt, then released the long sword he was locked in a stalemate with the double-edged blade, and leaped out of the car.

"Bass!"

Another blade of air struck, and the remaining half of the car disintegrated.

Lin rolled a few times on the ground, then got up and knelt down. The helmet's vision system activated, and he watched the person who pulled the knife out of the metal.

A man with bizarre, twisted horns and a bloated, deformed right leg, his single golden vertical pupil nimbly turned toward Lin. Around him were four other aliens whose anomalies were almost identical to his.

Flame-Chaser.

These Flame-Chaser knew his return route in advance and attacked him here...

... Gray Serpent.

Lin silently pulled his weapon from its case. He coldly stared at the men in front of him. The rain, growing heavier, flowed from his helmet onto his weapon, and then from the tip to the ground.

"Don't be careless. The opponent is a warrior who has defeated many Herrscher." The man wielding dual blades was the captain of these Flame-Chaser. Seeing Lin's posture, he calmly directed the other Flame-Chaser, "Try to avoid fighting him alone and coordinate with him."

"..."

Kevin is currently the ultimate Flame-Chaser, whose physical attributes and abilities have reached the level of Herrscher. However, this does not mean that all future Flame-Chaser will reach his level. In fact, many Flame-Chaser born after him have only barely surpassed the human limit.

Although, before Kevin, there was only one person who had reached that limit.

"The opponent is skilled in information processing, has extremely fast reaction time, and knows a variety of combat techniques and how to utilize the environment. Pay attention to his location and hand movements, don't be confused, and don't be lured into complex terrain."

I see...

They were now in a large flat area, where Lin lost his advantage in terrain warfare and could only fight the enemy on flat ground.

This Flame-Chaser is different from the others.

The Flame-Chaser gradually surrounded Lin, forming an impenetrable encirclement. He watched as their positions and attack postures forced him to move closer to the center, and everyone's face showed an unprecedented level of caution.

... No, it should be this squad, it's different.

"I'm sorry, Captain Lin."

As soon as the Flame-Chaser captain finished speaking, Lin rushed out like lightning. He had to break through before their formation completely surrounded him.

Lin charged straight at the captain with a single golden vertical pupil. He drew his greatsword and leaped into the air, but the captain's vertical pupil shone like gold in the rain, piercing through the rain curtain. He raised his twin swords not to parry the attack, but to pierce Lin's chest and neck directly.

The Flame-Chaser closest to the captain was completely oblivious to Lin's imminent cleavage of the captain in two. He raised his hand, a blade of energy swirling in his palm, ready to strike.

The air blade that sliced the car into pieces was his attack.

Lin's pupils contracted, and he immediately understood what these people were thinking. He quickly changed his posture and held the greatsword to his side.

"Bang!"

The air blade struck the greatsword, sending Lin flying dozens of meters as if hit by a truck. He landed on the muddy ground, stuck the sword in the ground, and helped himself up. He coughed up two mouthfuls of blood and looked at the five people approaching again.

Aren't these people afraid of dying?

The captain of that Flame-Chaser was clearly trying to trade blows. Even though Lin really intended to split him in two with his greatsword, his blade still pierced Lin's chest solidly.

"Please give up resistance, Captain Lin. Unnecessary sacrifices are not worthwhile."

The Flame-Chaser captain, gripping his twin swords, slowly walked to Lin's right side. As far as he knew, Lin had lost his right eye for a long time, so even if it was only a minor impact, Lin might not be as meticulous in his defenses on the right side as he was on the left.

But Lin reacted to his explanation.

"...Sacrifice." Lin raised his head, looking at the expressionless man. "Then do you agree with what those people did?"

"If it can save one-third of the population by sacrificing two-thirds of them, then it's worth it."

"..."

Lin shook his head, took a deep breath, and then drew his greatsword.

"It's simply because you're not one of the two-thirds."

Chapter 225 Blood of Rain

Lin pulled the armor attached to his wrist, and the armor plates immediately expanded to cover his entire arm. Upon seeing this, the captain immediately pushed off with all his might, appearing in front of Lin as if he had pressed the fast forward button. His golden vertical pupils, looking down at Lin, emitted a viscous sound as they rotated.

Lin raised his armored arm to shield his face. The Flame-Chaser's knee strike was no different from a jack hitting his chest. It took the Powered Armor and Lin's full strength to barely block it.

"You are the first person to undergo the Hypervariable Surgery, so I respect you greatly. It is your existence that gives me hope." The captain landed on one foot, transferring all his strength from that foot to his waist, and then back to the other foot—

"Bang!"

Lin flew backwards, spun in the air, and crashed to the ground. He braced himself with his hands, creating a chasm.

"Many people say that Kevin, the first person to successfully undergo Hypervariable Surgery, is humanity's hope, while you are just a failure. But I believe that the first person to undergo surgery, whether successful or not, has already taken the most crucial step." The captain made a silent gesture, and the other team members moved around Lin, maintaining a safe distance from him. "You accepted reality back then, so why can't you accept it now?"

"..."

Accepting reality requires that reality is reasonable.

Imposing an unreasonable reality on everyone based on one's own subjective views...

Lin stared at the bloodstains on the screen, the figures in the hazy bloodstains appearing ghostly and eerie, like fanatical believers standing on a platform proclaiming their faith in God.

He understood what the Gray Serpent meant; the so-called blind and foolish faith was unfolding before his eyes.

For believers, no matter what scientific perspective is used to explain the non-existence of God, they can always justify their own explanations and convince themselves. Therefore, Lin simply couldn't continue communicating with the person in front of him.

From the very beginning, what they saw was different.

"Sacrificing two-thirds of our people is a cruel thing, and I don't think we should do it unless absolutely necessary. But how many people have we sacrificed in previous Honkai? The Seventh Honkai Eruption even burned down the entire Australia. Only the Eighth Honkai War, with the appearance of the Flame-Chaser, gave us a full two years to breathe." The captain's face, half covered in scales, was devoid of any smile. His eyes were filled with resentment towards the Honkai. "All of humanity has a chance to strengthen itself, which is a good thing for our future battles."

"Throat!"

Lin gripped the greatsword with both hands and silently pointed it at the captain.

Lin believed in one thing.

No matter how much humanity endures in the torrential rains, there will eventually be a rainbow. That time may be long, and their civilization may not even last until that day arrives, but they will always draw their weapons and fight for laughter and rainbows under the blue sky.

Even if the weapon is aimed at a "person".

"Bang!"

The captain was prepared for Lin's sudden attack with his sword, but to his surprise, Lin threw the greatsword directly, drawing a chilling line of light in the air. He hurriedly dodged, but Lin had already rushed to the other side.

Ahead is Flame-Chaser capable of using air blades. He is the only member of the Flame-Chaser squad Lin has encountered who can launch ranged attacks, and he must defeat him first.

As soon as Lin Yidong moved, two more Flame-Chaser immediately appeared on either side to support him. They wielded blunt weapons and spears, and attacked him simultaneously with perfect coordination, striking his chest, abdomen, and lower limbs with cunning, venomous strikes.

The coordination was noticeably different from the three-man Flame-Chaser team Lin had encountered before; their angles were much more tricky, and Lin didn't even have time to bend over and dodge.

Lin has fought against humanoid monsters many times, from Honkai zombie to Herrscher, and many of them possess intelligence. However, monsters are monsters after all, and their skills cannot compare with those of humans. Moreover, humans... know better how to deal with other humans.

The multiple crosshairs in the helmet flashed rapidly, and Lin's speed suddenly increased, catching the two attackers off guard. Then he flew around and delivered a solid whip kick to the face of one of the Flame-Chaser. He then grabbed the spear in the warrior's hand and twirled it like a spear twirling act, the butt of the spear slapping the back of the other Flame-Chaser's weapon-wielding hand!

"Whoosh—"

The exceptional hearing and the fleeting information made Lin abandon his plan to deliver another blow. He leaned back to dodge the transparent air blade, and with one hand, he drew a pistol from his waist and fired at the leg of the Flame-Chaser had launched the air blade without even aiming.

"Bang!"

"Bite!"

The remaining Flame-Chaser blocked the bullet in time. He positioned himself in front of the Flame-Chaser who could fire air blades, watching Lin warily as he slowly rose to his feet.

The Flame-Chaser who had been knocked to the ground got up, regained their footing, and Lin was once again surrounded.

These Flame-Chaser, with their inhuman features, approached step by step, their slow footsteps leaving marks in the mud and water, their flapping tails splashing up rainwater from the pool, preparing to add a touch of bloodiness to the scene as the heavy rain washed over them.

"Splash."

Lin looked up as large raindrops relentlessly pounded on the helmet's visor, scattering the azure light. He could almost feel the rain falling on his face.

This rain will probably never stop.

He pressed the switch on the Phase Transfer Device.

"Bass."

The captain's hair stood on end, and his narrowed vertical pupils focused on the direction ahead where Lin had already disappeared.

The captain had a thorough understanding of Lin's equipment and style, including the model of every weapon and armor Lin had ever used and piloted on a Titan. Therefore, he immediately recognized that Lin was using Phase Transfer Device that the Firemoth had explicitly prohibited from manufacturing.

Watch out behind you!

He turned around almost instinctively, flashing his twin swords in a crisscross motion. He knew Lin would be near one of them at that moment, a person whose identity could never be judged by conventional thinking—

"Sizzle!"

The captain stared blankly at the empty space behind him; his sword had missed its mark.

So, where does this blood, steaming in the transparent rainwater, come from?

The tearing pain in his shoulder reminded him, and he turned his head blankly, only to see the helmet shell, colder than the rain.

It turned out to be from above...

Lin stepped on the captain's right shoulder, pulled out the long knife that had pierced through his shoulder and armpit, then blocked the captain's feeble struggle with a backhand strike, plunged the knife into his left shoulder, and finally returned to the ground, grabbed the sword hilt, and coldly kicked the captain in the waist, sending him flying more than ten meters away, leaving a long trail of blood in the rain.

"Call..."

In the silence, Lin turned his head, his emotionless eyes fixed on the tense Flame-Chaser after their captain fell.

Chapter 226 Melee

Lin stood calmly amidst the pool of blood, surrounded by five Flame-Chaser and parts of their bodies.

They are all still alive, but they are all missing some "parts".

"Splash..."

Blood mingled with the rain, and he couldn't distinguish between the blood and water beneath his feet.

Perhaps it's not necessary to distinguish them.

Lin walked up to the captain, who was kneeling on the ground with his arms hanging limply at his sides. The captain lifted his face, which was covered in blood and rain, pale and fragile. He saw Lin looking down at his helmet, shaking his head and chuckling.