Flames, Red Ice, and Tears

Memory.

Once.

Destiny.

Two people.

Everything.

Dissipate.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Flames, Red Ice, and Tears

"Bang!"

The sea of blood subsided in an instant, and then an explosion so violent it seemed to split the ocean apart erupted from its center.

Two figures, one in black and one in white, soared into the sky, their movements as swift as arrows, exchanging blows in mid-air.

Lin used his palm as a sword, recalling the Great Void Swordplay that Zero had taught him, and fought the Herrscher of Binding head-on. He had the advantage in physical combat and kicked him back into the sea of blood. A long sword flew out from his right hand and pierced the silver-haired man's chest!

But the sword vanished instantly after piercing his chest, and the wound healed in a flash. The Herrscher of Binding bounced off the sea and pounced on Lin once more.

Because Lin's consciousness was too severely damaged, the Tai Xu Sword God was unable to defeat the Herrscher of Binding. The two are now locked in a stalemate. The Herrscher of Binding, who possesses some of the Herrscher of Herrscher of Reason's traits, is like a fish in water in this ocean of consciousness. Even though Lin's attacks are all deadly, he cannot defeat her.

"Lin, let me tell you something interesting."

The Herrscher of Binding dodged the thunderbolt, and a fist wrapped in black lightning struck Lin's chin.

"Bang!"

Thick smoke billowed, and figures parted to reveal themselves.

The two separated again. Lin stood on the water, calmly watching the Herrscher of Binding slowly straighten up. He pointed at Lin and said, "You probably don't have any memories of it anymore, but do you remember the name Svatogor 51?"

Svatogor 51...

That was the place Elysia said she was born.

Why bring this up all of a sudden?

Lin calmed himself down. His memories were fragmented, with most remaining as pieces. He had almost forgotten how to use the Great Void Swordplay. Fortunately, his memories of the strange man, Zero, were particularly strong, which should allow him to fight for a while longer.

"The root cause of the Honkai is the moon. There is a wreckage on the moon containing Honkai Energy. The predecessor of the Fire Moth touched the wreckage, causing one of the 'things' to fall into Svatogor 51 on Earth."

"..."

A sea of blood surged, and above their heads, a waning moon quietly appeared.

Lin stared coldly at the Herrscher of Binding, his consciousness twitching, the memories in his mind blurring and struggling to disappear.

"You've been investigating what the 'thing' that fell into Svatogor 51 eventually became. The marks are hinting at this, and the information you found is also hinting at this."

Who is Hen...?

The black-haired man shook his head vigorously. He felt no fatigue in his conscious world, but he couldn't stop panting heavily, inhaling the faint blood mist floating on the sea.

"Even you yourself had already guessed it long ago."

"You don't remember, but I can remind you that a full year has passed since the Tenth Honkai War, and you have gathered all the intelligence in that year."

A silvery-white meteor crashed into Lin's arms, the sonic boom clearing the surrounding sea, and blood rain poured down, landing on the shoulders of the men who were gripping each other tightly.

The Prismatic Eyes of the Herrscher of Binding shone brightly, and even the waning moon in the sky could not compare to the brilliance in his eyes.

"But you chose to deceive yourself and stop seeking the truth. Why?"

The two threw punches at the same time, the force of the blows tearing through the rain. The instant their fists collided, their arms and shoulders shattered into a bloody mist!

"Is it because you're afraid 'she' will become someone else? Afraid that she's been deceiving everyone with a false facade all along?"

"The beautiful memories of her have become a false record."

Countless golden chains rose behind the Herrscher of Binding, and with a wave of his hand, these chains transformed into winding snakes and rushed toward the forest.

Lin punched away the approaching chains, his deep gaze remaining fixed on the Herrscher of Binding.

"Then I can tell you that your guess is correct."

"..."

"She was the first Herrscher."

"..."

"But she is also Elysia, and everything she shows is her true self."

The Herrscher of Binding raised one arm, his flawless face above the sea of demonic blood resembling a god judging demons, looking down at the powerless black-haired man.

Lin Weiwei raised her head, and blood slid down her cheek.

"It's true that I like this world, and it's true that I like humanity."

"She is Herrscher, but also a human."

He suddenly laughed, yet it also seemed like pity.

"But you will forget all of this, all the beauty that should have been real will disappear."

"Come, human, I have all your memories, so I know you will not be afraid."

Two identical people, two completely different people, one above, one below, standing alone in their destined place.

"I already knew."

The black-haired man's lips moved slightly, his hands hung at his sides, and he tilted his head back, breathing in large gulps of fake air.

The silver-haired man watched him silently, waiting for him.

"But what does all this matter?"

Whoever she was in the past, she is now simply Elysia.

Lin didn't expose all of this, simply because he didn't care.

So...

"So it doesn't matter who I was before or who I will be in the future."

Once, Lin had nothing; his name, life, and ideals all belonged to others.

All he has are memories—memories that have lost their color and warmth, memories of laughing with them.

He lost all his memories, stripping away the last thing he had left from his body.

This is his "end".

"Don't you regret it?"

The Herrscher of Binding before him overlapped with the figure of another person and asked indifferently.

Lin gently shook her head.

"It doesn't matter."

As long as they still remember the person named "Lin", that's enough.

The paper of memory gradually burns.

Smiling faces and names have all turned to ashes.

For humanity... for ourselves... for them...

Kevin, I've finally become just as "selfish" as you.

So, then...

Goodbye...

The man's eyes gradually dimmed, and all vitality and color dissipated from them.

His body disintegrated into fragments, which then reassembled into a sword blade.

"Bass!"

The sea of blood split in two.

The Herrscher of Binding watched silently as the blade pierced through his body, causing it to fall apart.

The two gazed at each other silently amidst the sea of blood.

They are each other's destiny.

This time, neither of them accepted.

The man with black eyes drifted aimlessly in the waves of the sea of blood until a wave splashed out and he disappeared without a trace.

The tide receded.

In the pure white world, nothing was left.

Just like in the beginning.

The Eleventh Honkai War occurred a year after the end of the Tenth Honkai War, and after it ended, it was dubbed the "Tragedy of Binding".

In this war that resulted in the deaths of 99% of the Flame-Chaser, a large number of Flame-Chaser risked everything to enter the barrier and fight against the guarding Honkai Beast in search of the Eleventh Herrscher. Then, a celestial fire descended from the sky, burning the god on the cross along with all the Flame-Chaser fighting within the Binding Barrier to ashes.

No one knows why, at the very moment of the final blow, the god's eyes lost all color. He raised his hand to defend himself, but lost consciousness at the last instant.

No one knows that in the deepest part of someone's memory when they open their eyes and wake up, there are only countless raging fires and Red Ice that freezes the earth.

A tear falls to the ground, yet it doesn't know why it fell.

(Chapter 1) Who Am I?

"This is the experience of the Eleventh Honkai War of the forest..."

Mei stood before the darkness of the curtain falling, her heart filled with complex emotions. She finally understood why Lin had said those things. These life experiences, which, compared to an ordinary person... even for Mei herself, could be described as magnificent and tortuous, were the most important part of Lin's life.

All his past, and the only precious thing he had left, vanished in that sea of blood.

Whether it was the cold, statue-like Lin, or the Lin who cherished his companions after realizing his mistakes, neither of them existed anymore.

"Wrong..."

Mei suddenly realized.

Lin lost all her memories in the end, so what is she seeing now?

According to the previous statements and hints of other Flame-Chasers, the Imaginary Tree was established after the Eleventh Honkai War, that is, after Lin lost all his memories. However, the Imaginary Tree recorded those memories that even the Flame-Chasers did not know belonged only to Lin.

Furthermore, there is another problem: Lin's personality in the later stages of these memories has been greatly influenced by others and is quite different from his initial cold self. So why is the Lin in the Imaginary Tree not much different from the original Lin?

... Is one of them fake? Are these memories fake? Or is the forest of Imaginary Tree fake?

"Oh dear, I thought Mei wouldn't notice, but it turns out you did~" The blue-purple-haired girl stood smiling beside Mei, who had a serious expression.

"What... is going on?"

Mei thought she had completely figured out Lin's past, but it turned out to be not as simple as Mei had imagined.

"Want to know what happened after that? Right?" A dangerous glint lurked in the girl's smile. "Sure~ just beg me, but judging from how wary you are of me, that's probably impossible... Or go ask Lin. If you wear stockings and stuff your feet into a hamburger for him, he'll definitely be happy to tell you~"

Mei's cold purple eyes stared at the grinning girl. This girl was off-key and it was easy for Mei to steer the conversation to something unimportant.

"Of course, there is still one option left, which is... to take down the boss in the second phase."

Mei sensed something and turned around, seeing a helmeted man wearing armor she had seen before slowly appear. She dared not be careless. Now that she knew Lin's memories, Mei knew that he possessed the Key of Blankness, and his combat power was no less than that of Herrscher of the Void.

"Then it's up to you now~"

The girl half-closed her smiling eyes and disappeared. After a short while, Mei revealed a huge Herrscher arm on her back, drew a giant blade, and the sound of thunder echoed.

The scent of summer evokes different memories for different people. Some smell like chilled watermelon with a garlicky aroma, taken from the refrigerator; others smell like soda mixed with the bittersweet sweat of playing with friends; and still others smell like the slightly salty sea breeze.

The dark-haired man stood at the bow of the ship, his gaze not on the cloudless sky and the boundless blue sea, nor on the waves and leaping fish. He kept his eyes on the screen of the terminal in his hand, silently reading information about the Fire-Chasing Moth.

Vishnu devours evolutionary abilities as the foundation of the Ark Project...

The Constant Sand Project, which uses the Second Herrscher Core to create Divine Key...

The Flame-Chaser modification surgery of Chrono and Hua that occurred during the Eleventh Honkai War, and the battle report of the Eleventh Honkai War, Kevin absorbed other Flame-Chaser along the way...

One unfamiliar name and term after another appeared on the paper. During this time, he had roughly figured out these names and systematically learned about Honkai, so it was not too difficult for him to understand.