Eerie Traces / Shadows in a Dream

Since the Tenth Herrscher do not need to communicate through conventional means, it is difficult to find the other Herrscher through one of them. However, Moth of Flame still found some clues, such as the fact that the Tenth Herrscher commit suicide before being captured, and the means of suicide is these deadly poisons.

Herrscher have a special constitution, and ordinary poisons will not kill them. Therefore, the range of specific poisons that can be identified can be narrowed down. The method of finding the Tenth Herrscher by transporting poison is the method of Moth Chaser.

Hua was very careful during the examination, as the Tenth Herrscher had already concealed explosives inside his body, which detonated after his death, causing casualties.

An ordinary face was distorted under the influence of the poison. Hua looked at him silently. This should have been an ordinary person, but he had become Herrscher who had lost his humanity.

Herrscher...

Hua carried the corpse on his return journey. This was Shenzhou, where social order had not completely collapsed like in other regions. However, the atmosphere of fear and impending doom was similar to that of other places.

"Leave it to us."

Hua placed the body on the gurney. After the newcomer confirmed Hua's identity and the body, the handover was completed. Hua silently turned and left. As she walked to the end of the gurney, she heard a faint voice talking.

"Hua... it was her."

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"Didn't you know? She was originally a member of the Squad Seven and had a good relationship with the members of the Squad Five."

"That's really tragic..."

"..."

Perhaps noticing that Hua hadn't gone far and that the conversation could no longer be heard, Hua silently closed his eyes and, after a while, returned to his room along the same route.

"That's really tragic..."

This sentence echoed in my mind.

Hua leaned against the door, her head down. The room was dark, with no lights on. She could only hear her own faint, almost faint breathing.

After a long while, she finally raised her head and looked into the dimly lit room. On a table not far away, there was a group photo.

Of those people, only two remain now.

The meaning behind that phrase, "It's really tragic," might be genuine sympathy for her. Of the original Squad Five, only Dessidobia remained, and now she was in the same squad as Kosma as Flame-Chaser. Meanwhile, of the original Squad Seven, Immer had also fallen into a vortex of hatred that she couldn't understand and joined the Poisoned Cocoon.

The first captain died in the Ninth Honkai War, the second captain became the Seventh Herrscher, and anyone who knows Hua knows that Lin saved her in the Third Honkai War, while Himiko gave her direction in life, but both of them... died.

She didn't even get to say a single word to those two men before they died.

The terminal beeped, and Hua looked up absentmindedly, only then realizing that he had been standing at the door in a daze for several hours.

"A mission? I understand."

"We need to make adjustments regarding the actions of the Tenth Herrscher."

Mei got straight to the point, stating the theme of the meeting to the members of the command and special operations team. She pressed the button on the motion table, and a three-dimensional miniature map appeared in front of everyone.

Her eyes flickered, and many red dots automatically appeared on the map.

"From the discovery of L10-1 to L10-193, all the Tenth Herrscher have obvious differences, so it is impossible to identify the characteristics of the Herrscher by their commonalities. Similarly, before exhibiting the behavior of Herrscher, the Tenth Herrscher are no different from ordinary people except for the Honkai Energy activity in their bodies."

"They are scattered around the world, causing damage to major cities and Moth of Fire facilities. The extent of the damage is now comparable to a large-scale Honkai 3rd. However, our investigation and statistics show that they are focusing their destruction on certain facilities..."

The red dots are magnified and displayed one by one.

Mei rested her hands on the table, her vision obscured by the reflection of her glasses.

"They are all research facilities related to the Divine Key."

"Or in other words, it's related to the 'Herrscher Core' of other Herrscher."

She calmly stated, "It is currently unknown what changes will occur to the Tenth Herrscher after obtaining the Herrscher Core, but all research on the Divine Key will be transferred to facility P-21, including all Herrscher Core. Dr. Vill-V and I will personally conduct the development project for the Tenth Herrscher's Divine Key, with the Squad One leading the team to be stationed there."

"That concludes the notification."

Chapter Three: Strange Traces

"A riot sparked by nearly fifty Tenth Herrscher..."

Upon receiving this news, Kosma and Dessidobia felt a heavy weight in their hearts. To this day, the exact number of individuals of the Tenth Herrscher remains unknown. All the squads and Flame-Chaser, including themselves, have been doing their utmost to defeat the Tenth Herrscher, but they are still stretched thin.

"Twenty-seven Herrscher have been defeated, and the remaining Herrscher are still being pursued."

Dessidobia asked, "What about the casualties?"

"... Thirty-nine Flame-Chaser died, seven hundred and sixty-one soldiers were injured or killed, and five thousand six hundred civilians were injured or killed."

The heavy weight of the numbers weighed on their minds.

The individual combat strength of the Tenth Herrscher is not strong; some individuals are even far weaker than ordinary Flame-Chaser and similar to equipped Firemoth soldiers. However, their destructive power when they cooperate is comparable to that of Upper-class Honkai Beast.

Their organization and planning have given the Fire Moths, who have only ever dealt with individual Herrscher, a major headache. They have been forced to constantly send members on missions, and the extent of their losses is steadily increasing.

Kosma and Dessidobia are reinforcements. Their first task is to assist and protect the other members in investigating the scene, and then they will join the mission to hunt down the fleeing Herrscher.

This is their seventh mission this month. The injuries from the last mission haven't fully healed yet, and the sudden increase in pressure is making it hard for them to breathe.

Upon arriving at the mission location, the professional team quickly searched for any traces at the scene. Dessidobia, a psychic Flame-Chaser, was responsible for guarding the surroundings, while Kosma accompanied the search team to ensure they were not harmed by any remaining "things" at the scene.

L10-87, the 87th discovered Tenth Herrscher, possessed a very small portion of the abilities of the Herrscher of Death. After being defeated, she left behind a black liquid of unknown composition. Some members who accidentally came into contact with it were corroded, their entire bodies liquefied, and they died.

Kosma is trying to prevent something like this from happening.

"Um?"

Hearing the questioning look on the face of the lead investigator, Kosma promptly asked, "What's wrong?"

"No... something seems a little strange."

"Is there any suspicious residue? Don't touch it, leave it to me."

Kosma stepped forward, but the search team member shook his head. "No, I just think the traces left this time are a bit strange."

Strangeness?

Kosma couldn't see anything strange; it was just a mess of ruins left by the chaotic bombardment of various abilities, with bloodstains, short limbs, and remains... If he had to say something, it would be that this time the scale was larger than any before.

It's strange, though. The Tenth Herrscher usually acts quietly and inconspicuously. Even when they cooperate, the number of her members is never as high as fifty. Is she trying to cause an even bigger disturbance this time?

"First of all, this location is thirty kilometers away from the Firemoth's facility, which isn't far, but it's different from previous attacks on the Firemoth's facilities." The investigator looked at one of the broken support pillars and murmured, "Then, it seems like they are... at war."

"Combat? You mean the subsequent operations of the Firemoth Squad?"

He shook his head in denial, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I can see which marks were left from the battle with the Firemoth. I'd like to ask, were they fighting a civil war before the troops arrived to suppress them?"

This question made Kosma frown. Civil war? How could that be? Herrscher aren't humans with conflicting interests. They can commit suicide without hesitation before being arrested. How could they possibly attack each other?

Moreover, the situation at the time was uncertain, and ordinary people could not possibly know the specifics. The nearby civilians were already motionless corpses, and none of the remaining members of the Firemoth who arrived reported the so-called "civil war."

"That's strange. Are they hunting someone down?"

"Pursuit?"

The investigator walked step by step to one of the more conspicuous charred marks. He explained seriously, "Simple destruction could not leave such marks. Look at this large open space. Why would you attack it?"

"..."

"During our previous investigation of the facilities, we could see that the Tenth Herrscher was quite intelligent. They would destroy and dismantle the facilities as quickly as possible, without attacking useless parts. However, this time the traces left behind were concentrated on the edges of the buildings, rather than the core parts."

He was like a detective, contemplating the possible scenarios at that time.

"Kosma, if you were attacked by multiple Tenth Herrscher, and you were in this situation, how would you evade them?"

Kosma crossed his arms and observed his surroundings. His combat experience was now quite shrewd. He imagined that there were more than a dozen Tenth Herrscher attacking him from behind, and how he should react.

... As expected, a direct counterattack is not advisable; the risk is too great.

Then you need to avoid it.

Kosma immediately looked at the location of one of the obstacles that had obvious scorch marks.

The search team didn't hesitate either. He stepped forward, trying to hide behind to avoid the attack, and then changed positions step by step based on his deductions.

Surprisingly, all the places that Kosma thought could be used as cover showed signs of destruction.

Even Kosma now realizes that someone was dodging the Tenth Herrscher's attack at the time.

So the largest attack by the Tenth Herrscher to date was actually a fight against one person?

"Were there any Flame-Chaser fighting the Tenth Herrscher at that time?" Kosma checked the mission information again, but it clearly stated that the Tenth Herrscher attacked the area, without mentioning at all whether there were any Flame-Chaser fighting the Tenth Herrscher at that time.

Just then, Dessidobia's voice rang in Kos's mind.

"Kosma, at six o'clock, there's a reaction that looks like Herrscher approaching."

"Good."

Kosma immediately rushed to the direction Dessidobia had indicated, grabbed the ruins and leaped up to a high place.

He didn't see the Herrscher's shadow. Dessidobia reminded him again, Kosma, focused intently, noticed a dark figure hiding in the shadows.

The other members took refuge as the alarm sounded, Kosma, like a cheetah in motion, pounced on the dark figure in the blink of an eye, warily watching the person in front of him.

This "person" with Herrscher reactions was completely shrouded in a black robe that obscured his weight and gender. He showed no surprise or wariness at the arrival of Kosma.

Generally, the Tenth Herrscher would launch an attack immediately after being discovered, but this person was very calm and indifferent to the arrival of Kosma.

"..."

Just as Kosma was still pondering why the Tenth Herrscher hadn't attacked yet, the shadowy figure suddenly raised his hand and aimed it at Dessidobia, who was not far away.

"——"

Before he could even be surprised or think it through, Kosma stepped forward and punched the shadowy figure in the face!

"Bang!"

Rest, the funeral is tomorrow.

A relative has passed away, and we need to get up early tomorrow morning to hold the funeral and go up the mountain, so I'll rest today.

The main storyline that follows will be rather depressing, but there will be a considerable period of daily life between the end of the Tenth Honkai War and the beginning of the Eleventh Honkai War, which can be considered the last glimmer of the Previous Civilization.

Of course, the story won't stop at the Previous Civilization and the Firemoth; there are still many plot holes to be filled.

Chapter Four: Shadows in Dreams

Kosma ninja, panting heavily, helped up Dessidobia, who had fallen to the ground. His vision was blurry, and he hadn't recovered from the fight. Dessidobia seemed to be in a similar condition, clutching her forehead with a splitting headache.

"Are you alright?"

"Um..."

Kosma was still shaken; if he had reacted even a fraction slower, Dessidobia would have...

The Tenth Herrscher suddenly attacked Dessidobia; if Kosma hadn't reacted in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Unable to succeed, the Tenth Herrscher did not hesitate and immediately turned and fled. Even if Kosma wanted to chase after him, he would have to consider Dessidobia and the others. If there were other Tenth Herrscher lurking nearby, he would definitely launch a second attack after chasing after them.

"That Tenth Herrscher ..." Kosma adjusted his breathing, his heart rate gradually returning to normal, "Did you feel it?"

Dessidobia calmed down a bit; her mental strength was much greater than Kosma's, so she wasn't feeling too bad. "What do you feel?"

"That is..."

Kosma tongue-tied and finds it hard to describe the feeling of that instant.

If I had to describe it, it felt like being choked, with a suffocating feeling slowly creeping up on me.

Furthermore, why would the Tenth Herrscher want to attack Dessidobia?

Mobius worked until midnight, and only after explaining the precautions to Kevin did she return to her office. Even with the special physique of Flame-Chaser, she felt sleepy.

Instead of sitting on his mode of transportation, Mobius, holding onto the base that looked like it had several tentacles growing from it, yawned and pushed open the door, numbly glancing at the messy scene inside.

I'm used to it now.

Mobius took off her coat, threw herself onto the sofa, her back aching from the hard sofa, but she didn't care. She casually pulled the blanket over herself and closed her eyes to sleep.

She was so tired today that she couldn't even control her wandering thoughts and started thinking about things that were simply impossible.

Let's try to shift our focus.

Speaking of which, Griseo was left in Klein's care today. I wonder if she took good care of her. I hope Danzhu and Cangxuan weren't being looked after by Griseo.

Bianca's condition is getting worse; perhaps she should see a therapist...

Research on consciousness transfer is progressing slowly; it seems that Spasi came to talk to her about it before...

Thanks to Mobius's tireless efforts, she finally entered a light sleep. For the past six months, her sleep schedule had been completely disrupted, and most of the time she would only close her eyes slightly while sleeping, rarely getting a good night's sleep.