Sunset and Moonlight (Continued)

Has the memory returned? Lin couldn't be sure whether this counted as memory recovery.

But Lin did know the person Chrono asked about.

"Didn't I tell you before?" In the year following the end of the Tenth Honkai War, Lin hadn't mentioned Immer to Chrono?

"After the Tenth Honkai War ended, I attacked the facility storing the Tenth Divine Key multiple times. I was imprisoned by that woman in the Deepest Place for a year until the Eleventh Honkai War occurred." Chrono put his hands behind his back, letting out a cold growl from his throat like a wild beast. "Tell me, what did he say or what kind of expression did he show before he died?"

"...No."

"No?"

The black-haired man looked toward the other side, where no one was, as if someone was still standing there.

But there was no one there, nor should there be. Souls do not exist in this world, and it would not allow a dissipated consciousness to remain in the world.

"Like all the dead, he said nothing, and didn't even have time to show an expression." Lin's tone was chillingly cold. "Now that he's become Herrscher, what do you expect him to say to you?"

At that time, Immer, who had transformed into the Tenth Herrscher, appeared on the battlefield. According to records, he had already fought against Chrono at headquarters, but in the end, Immer left headquarters unharmed, indicating that Chrono had failed to kill him or did not intend to kill him, while Chrono himself was seriously injured as a result.

"Chrono, Herrscher is Herrscher. Just because you have a deep past with them or said something to them doesn't make you human again. All we can do is kill them. That's the only way to save them."

Lin's eyes were icy, devoid of any warmth.

"Ha ha ha ha..."

Under the light of the full moon hanging in the sky, the white-haired man wearing a mask laughed in extreme anger.

"Didn't you almost become Herrscher yourself? Now that things have come to this, are you trying to act all high and mighty like someone who's been there all along?"

"That's right, I've met many Herrscher."

"What if you become Herrscher too? Would that mean I could tear you apart without any qualms?"

"If you can do it," Lin said casually, spreading his hands. "Then please feel free to do so."

"... Hmph, interesting, Lin. How come I never realized you were so interesting before?"

Chrono turned around, her gaze passing through the mask and landing on the man standing alone under the Moon Underneath.

"I will destroy that Divine Key. You're right, he deserved to die, and he can only die by my hand."

"As for you... I'll just wait and see if that day ever comes."

Lin turned his back, placed his hand on the railing, and gently exhaled a puff of white mist.

"Remember your words, Chrono."

Moonlight, cruel and indifferent, yet so intimately clinging to the skin.

Special Feature: Beer, Cherries, and Alternatives (Part 1)

"The fact is, there is no God in this world."

"If God loves mankind, then He is not omnipotent; if God is omnipotent, then He is heartless."

"Human beings' ability to create spiritual sustenance is the result of hundreds of thousands of years of accumulated experience. Perhaps when the heavenly palace awakens from the darkness with the light of fire, a vague divine form has already been established in their minds."

"When suffering hardships, one can comfort oneself that they are tests sent by God; when those around one pass away, one can comfort oneself that they will meet again in the next life."

"There's nothing wrong with seeking solace in this kind of behavior, but I think it's better to place one's inner support on something that doesn't even exist, allowing some people with ulterior motives to use it as a pretext to commit crimes under the guise of God's will, such as offering up virgins or expelling demons from little boys."

"For example... me. They no longer have a god, but they still have me. I can perfectly assume the role of a god's incarnation. From now on, those tasteless guys who like to use holy water to exorcise little boys can disappear, and I can take in those beautiful virgins..."

"Bang!"

After a loud bang, the room fell silent for a few seconds.

The man struggled to pull his head out of the table, expressionlessly removing the splinter from his head. His face covered in blood, he turned to the calm pink-haired girl and asked, "What are you doing?"

Her long pink hair with blue highlights was tied into a ponytail with a headband and hung down her back. The black and red and blue horn-like decorations on both sides of her head were like decorations. She wore clothes in contrasting colors: a vest with white on the left and black on the right, an off-shoulder jacket with black on the left and white on the right, and knee-high stockings and shoes with blue on the left and red on the right. Even the decoration on her chest that looked like a start symbol was red on the left and blue on the right. The wide hem and cuffs were transparent, revealing her fair skin just right.

This unusual girl, who looked like she had just returned from outside, had a cold expression. Her gloved hands were each placed on her other arm, and she was looking at the man with her arms crossed.

A tail with a mechanical claw at the end meandered behind the girl, seemingly possessing its own consciousness, and extended out from behind her to "watch" the scene before her.

"Sorry, your words were disgusting, I couldn't help it." The expressionless girl's tone held a hint of disdain. "But speaking of which, what new hope? You just want to commit crimes, don't you?"

"Don't slander me."

The man pulled out the last blood-stained splinter and declared righteously, "I merely accepted the beautiful maidens on behalf of God; they will be grateful."

"... Go to hell, you pervert."

"Bang!"

Okay, okay, I know. It's too much trouble to reintroduce the male protagonist every time. So, let's get away from those boring details and get straight to the point.

The man, Lin, appeared in the hall looking like a mummy with his head covered in bandages after someone had carefully bandaged him up. He plopped down next to the pink-haired girl, Delta, who was playing a handheld game.

"Concussion," Lin briefly reported her injury.

"What a pity." Delta's pupils reflected the game screen, moving rapidly as her slender fingers, which didn't seem capable of holding the greatsword she usually wielded, tapped the buttons. Her pretty face was expressionless. "She's not dead."

"Game?"

"You."

"That really disappoints you."

"...snort."

After the conversation that often occurs in their daily lives, they went about their own business. Delta took off her shoes, lay down on the sofa, and played games, while Lin took a book she hadn't read before from the bookshelf next to her and leaned against the wall to read it silently.

After finishing a book that was as thick as a fist, two hours had passed. Lin put the book back in its place, went into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out two bottles of soda, and returned to the living room to walk towards the bookshelf.

Halfway there, he casually tossed a bottle of soda toward Delta. The girl caught it without looking up, using one hand to control the game and the other to open the soda and take a sip.

Seemingly disliking the flavor of the soda, the girl pursed her thin lips, but still took two more sips before putting it on the table.

Lin found the next book he hadn't read yet... "On God and the Soul." Hmm, with a title that sounds like it's full of mystical ideas, the content must be filled with the author's arrogance, ignorance, and self-righteous fantasies. He'll definitely enjoy reading it to the fullest.

Some people like to watch bad movies, while he likes to read bad books.

Two more hours passed, and he closed the book, withdrawing from the ocean of words that seemed to be written in a minor language that was very similar to one he knew. He couldn't help but sigh that he had wasted two precious hours of his life, appreciating the redundant impurities in the crystallization of human wisdom.

At this moment, Delta finally put down the handheld console that had run out of power, sat up from the sofa, drank the last sip of soda, and licked the remaining sweetness on his lips.

She raised her eyebrows and said to Lin, who had put down his book, "Hey, want a drink?"

"... Are you sure? Now?"

Lin looked at Delta, who had put on her shoes, lifted the heel of her shoe with her fingers and stepped on it. The expression on her pretty face softened a little as she shrugged at Lin and said, "I didn't get enough fun today."

"All right."

As soon as she said that, Lin knew what the problem was. He sighed, turned around, and led the way.

Delta suffers from a unique post-traumatic stress disorder that causes pseudorejection and emotional hypersensitivity. The main symptoms are persistent low-grade fever, vomiting, and rashes and anaphylactic shock in dreams. The allergen is "dreams".

She can release something called "Emotion Factor" through battle in a rather difficult-to-understand way. Therefore, her rejection and allergies will be relieved after the battle, which also makes her a battle maniac.

If she doesn't get enough of playing, it will be difficult for her to release the emotions she's accumulated.

So, I'll release my emotions in another way... but actually, that way is just an accident.

Their destination was Lin's bedroom; since it was impossible to drink in the hall during the day, they could only drink in their own room.

Entering the room, Delta threw herself onto Lin's bed without even taking off her shoes, yawned lazily like a cat, and waved her hand. "Please, hurry up and get the bar."

Lin glanced at her, went to the refrigerator in the room, opened it, took out more than a dozen bottles of beer, and put them on the small table.

This wasn't the first time I'd drunk with Delta, but the first time... as I just said, was an accident.

That day, both of them seemed to be preoccupied with something, and jokingly suggested having a drink, to which they both agreed.

Then, something else happened, something that happened after I got drunk.

"Laugh--"

She opened the tab, and the foam of the ice-cold beer gushed out. Delta, wearing gloves, raised her beer and clinked it against Lin's glass. She said curtly, "Cheers."

"Cheers."

The two drank it all in one gulp.

Silence.

They didn't enjoy drinking to their heart's content. Both of them were the type to have few expressions and say even less. Unlike others who were already drunk before they even started drinking, for them, drinking seemed to be just drinking, using alcohol to numb their brains and soothe their trauma.

"Clatter."

Bottle after bottle, more than a dozen bottles of beer were quickly finished. Lin got up and took out more than a dozen more bottles. They still didn't say anything. The girl and the man silently opened the tabs, clinked glasses, and then drank them down in one gulp.

Empty beer bottles littered the table and floor, making it look like dozens of alcoholics had held a drinking party.

Before I knew it, I was no longer holding a beer bottle. In addition to the smell of alcohol, there was also a cherry scent in my nostrils. The girl was very light and I could easily pick her up and press her down on the bed.

With a gentle tug at Delta's collar, her eyes glazed over, the oversized coat slipped off her shoulders, revealing her fair collarbone and... a shocking scar.

She suddenly regained her senses and tried to cover her exposed skin with her hand, but Lin grabbed her hand. She tensed up and watched as Lin lowered his head and gently stuck out his tongue to lick the scar on her left shoulder.

"Um..."

The girl's hands gradually lost strength, and she lazily turned her head to the side, letting the man lean over to savor the fragrance of her lips.

I've lost count of how many times this has happened.

They vent their remaining emotions in this way, whether due to the numbing effect of alcohol that could never get them drunk, or for some other reason.

Soon, the heat enveloped her, and the intense emotions that usually only appeared during battle gradually surfaced. She no longer suppressed her voice, which echoed in the bedroom along with the sounds of collisions.

Special Feature: Beer, Cherries, and Alternatives (Part 2)

"..."

Suddenly opening his eyes, Delta's blue pupils shrank to the extreme in their sockets, his heart pounded as fast as his breathing, and the images from his "dream" and reality flickered and overlapped before his eyes.

She covered her eyes with her hands, and her heartbeat gradually slowed down.

Sometimes she couldn't tell whether she was seeing the world herself, or whether her sister inside her was using her eyes.

The girl with disheveled hair slowly sat up, her clothes already off, but someone had covered her with a blanket. Her indifferent gaze shifted from herself to the man sitting at the tidy table.

"Awake? Do you want some water?" Lin looked up at Shen Han's pretty face. He got up to pour a glass of hot water, but Delta refused.

"No need." Delta picked up the underwear from the bedside table and put it on while saying indifferently, "Don't act like we're close. You're only gentle at times like this. The only good thing about you is your face, and I just use you as a tool to vent my frustrations."

"..." Lin Ning stared at the girl who was dressed neatly and quickly, then looked down at her shoes next to the bed. He sighed, "You're the same, only your appearance is worth praising."

"It's so good that you think that way... Where are my shoes?"

Lin picked up the shoes that had been neatly arranged and placed aside. Yesterday, Delta had even forgotten to take off her shoes, and afterwards, her clothes and shoes were scattered everywhere. Most of the time, she was calm and meticulous, but when doing this kind of thing, she didn't think about anything. As she said, it was just a way to vent.

He squatted down beside the bed, lifted the girl's feet, which were clad in stockings like works of art, and helped her put on her shoes. After doing this, he stepped aside.

Delta landed, adjusted her shoes—they fit perfectly and needed no adjustment—and coldly said to Lin, "Thank you. If you have any requests, just let me know, and I'll try my best to accommodate them."

"Need not."

Delta didn't say much about it. She walked straight out of the room without looking at Lin again, as if they had just done something very normal and there was nothing worth mentioning.

"Clatter."

The tail grabbed the doorknob and closed the door as she walked out of the room, leaving only the black-haired man inside.

Lin casually looked away, sat down at the table, and continued reading.

They are usually as cold as enemies, but when they drink together they are as close as lovers. This is their way of getting along. For them, this is just a common way to "relax" by using each other to remove excess emotional impurities. They don't need to take it to heart.

"What's it this time? Freshly squeezed squid flavor?"

Delta picked up the unpackaged beverage with suspicion and asked Lin, who had just closed the refrigerator.

"Cherry juice, I made it myself." Lin handed over a straw.

The girl took the straw in a daze, took a sip, and it really was cherry juice. The cherries used were quite fresh, and a little milk was added. It tasted delicious and not too sweet.

She looked at the man who was also drinking a beverage, puzzled. "Why are you..."

"You can finish a cherry-flavored drink in one go, but you'll take a little longer with the other flavors. I especially hate bitter melon flavor." Lin's expression was calm and open as he fiddled with the drink bottle in his hand. "Of course, I don't really like it either."

Delta was quite surprised that this man had noticed such a detail; she had thought he only read useless, rubbish books and indulged in daydreams.

Lin suddenly asked, "By the way, do you want to buy some games? You're almost done playing your game, aren't you?"