The Deepest Shadow / A Replica of the Sun

After leaving the database, Lin planned to go to the rooftop where he had met Otto earlier, hoping to find some clues there...

"Click".

My hair stood on end.

Here we go again.

A strange feeling of being out of control quietly rose in his heart. In the Three-Day Cycle, no matter what he did, he would eventually reach the same ending. That feeling of helplessness reappeared at this moment.

No... the ending?

Lin's head throbbed with pain; he couldn't remember what had happened at the end of those two times, before the cycle began.

Was the Three-Day Cycle caused by his death?

No... he didn't die in the end, neither of those two times.

Lin covered his forehead, which was covered in cold sweat, and lowered his head to ask, "Yue, do you still remember the very beginning..."

"Bang!"

The immense penetrating force and impact sent the unsuspecting Lin flying. He first saw Yue's surprised face, then his own blood and flesh in mid-air, and finally, at the end, he saw the dark muzzle of a gun pointed at their Valkyrie.

"Smack."

Landing.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

A gunshot rang out.

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Deepest Shadow

Humans only believe what they want to believe.

Even if it's a lie, people will believe it's true.

Even if it were the truth, people would consider it an illusion.

Therefore, the truth is not important; what truly matters is how humanity perceives the truth.

"Humans!"

Lin reacted quickly the moment he stepped outside, but he still couldn't dodge the bullet. He pressed Yue's head down with one hand to prevent her brain from being pierced by the bullet, while he himself was shot through the chest and abdomen by a weapon with kinetic energy far exceeding that of conventional firearms. He was thrown into the air, and blood and shattered internal organs flowed all over the ground like a wooden barrel full of wine with the stopper pulled.

"Cough cough..."

His life force was rapidly draining away, his already dim vision darkened further, and his pupils dilated. He tried to struggle to his feet, but his hand slipped on his own blood and fell to the ground.

The connection between the upper and lower body was reduced to a few scattered pieces of flesh, and a huge bloody hole was punched in the chest and abdomen by an exaggeratedly powerful gun.

Yue never expected Lin would protect her first. In the brief moment her head was lowered and she raised it again, her pupils constricted as she saw the man, his body convulsing, fall to the ground with two streaks of blood running from the corner of his mouth.

Her brain felt like it had been hit by a sledgehammer; intense tinnitus and emotions she had never felt before surged forth.

Breathing, rapid.

The girl trembled as she reached out to the dying human on the ground, but dared not touch him, fearing that she might accidentally kill his last bit of life.

Previously, she had killed Lin in various cruel ways: cut in half at the waist, dismembered, split open, pulverized... She inflicted all sorts of pain on this man with nonchalance, without feeling anything at all.

Anyway, since they'll come back to life, they can't really be considered bugs, but rather... clay.

That's right, no matter how much she kneads and separates them, she can always knead them back into the same lump of clay.

But why is she panicking now that the clay has been broken by someone else?

My chest feels so tight, like someone is slowly piercing my heart with a thin needle, I can't breathe... The man's pale face recedes further and further away.

"Human! How are you!" Yue knelt in the pool of blood, helplessly trying to press on Lin's wound. But she was only good at killing and had no idea how to save people. Moreover, the self-healing ability she gave to her familiars could not stop Lin's death. She could only cover the still bleeding wound with her eyes vacant, her small hands wearing black gloves stained with blood.

Blood...

The blood was bright red and glaringly red.

"Ah..."

Yue, who had long been accustomed to the blood gushing out of humans whom she had crushed and treated like insects, now stared in horror at the horrifying sight of blood.

Like the color of the delicious sugar coating on a candied apple.

"Click".

Lin's unfocused black eyes strained to focus as he looked at the blurry scene behind Yue. The deadly gun barrels were already approaching her. He opened his blood-stained lips and weakly managed to utter, "Yue... go..."

It doesn't matter. Even if he dies, it's just returning to the very beginning of the cycle.

Such an outcome is nothing more than starting over again.

Was it just his imagination? He seemed to see this cold-blooded Herrscher, this monster who never showed mercy to insects, panicking because of him.

As the boiling blood drained away, some warm liquid dripped onto Lin's relaxed cheeks.

What is that...?

"Slap, slap, slap..."

"Wonderful, wonderful."

A sudden burst of applause rang out from behind the Valkyrie was holding a gun.

It was a feeling of unease that came from nowhere.

Lin Fangkong's mind unconsciously recalled the feeling of disgust he had felt when he first met the man, a feeling he hadn't known the source of until now.

It's like... magnets that are naturally repelled by each other, entirely out of a deep-seated instinct.

The moment the blond man appeared with a smile, Lin completely understood how the loathing he felt, as if he had encountered his natural enemy, had come about.

The blond man casually pointed at the Valkyrie who was trying to protect him, signaling her to step back. Then, he slowly approached the silver-haired girl kneeling beside Lin, who was sitting in a daze. His natural and elegant smile was like a curtain slowly being drawn back on a stage, mysterious and... full of the hypocrisy of a performance.

"A Herrscher without human emotions or values, a 'superior being' more cruel than an executioner, a monster who wouldn't care if the lives of an entire city were wiped out overnight, would refrain from retaliating against human attacks because of a promise to someone, control his destructive urges, and kneel here like an ordinary little girl."

"A man who can fight against an unimaginably powerful enemy to save humanity is willing to go to great lengths for two extremely dangerous vampires he has just met, and subconsciously protects the Herrscher who has killed him countless times."

"This is the miracle caused by emotions. Even Herrscher is as cold as an inorganic substance can become a wounded mortal under the influence of emotions."

Otto Apocalypse.

This is the man's name, the actual ruler of Schicksal, a hero who protected humanity from Honkai, a shrewd leader of the Schicksal, a poet, an inventor, a scientist, and a...

A monster in human skin.

His smile resembled that of a gentle scholar in people's minds, full of scholarly air and elegance. However, in this bloody and gloomy environment, the upturned corners of his mouth resembled a monster ready to devour its prey, with its gaping jaws.

The blond man looked down at Lin, whose lips were blistering with blood, and smiled, "Hello, it's nice to meet you again, Mr. Lin."

"..."

A warm smile was etched in Lin's eyes, "Do you remember what I said when we first met?"

Flamingos are not actually born pink, but gray. Flamingos kept in zoos often lose their color, just as they lose their personality and true nature.

Therefore, a flamingo living in a cage in a zoo has no self.

Otto raised his head, stroked his chin, and chuckled meaningfully.

This blood-stained painting features a blond man who seems to be the protagonist, a god descending in the sunlight, judging two sinners.

"Like Theresa, Kallen, and... the Herrscher of Erosion."

Otto's words made Lin's heart, which had almost stopped beating, pound violently again.

"You don't seem to be from this world, but that's alright. I noticed you from the very beginning. You, this special 'variable,' are the final link in completing the experiment. Now, you can go back to where you belong. Don't worry, this time..."

The blond man reached out his hand to the Herrscher on the ground.

"Smack."

He grabbed her shoulders.

"There will be no more cycles."

"Bang!"

Chapter Fifty-Six: The Imitation of the Sun

"Bang!"

A loud bang, but not from a gunshot, followed. The smoke and dust from the explosion instantly covered the entire corridor. A bright red figure rushed out of the database that caused the explosion, grabbed Lin Heyue with one hand, and ran away.

However, the Valkyrie's reaction speed was also extraordinary. Two B-rank Valkyrie quickly blocked the escape route. The Valkyrie who could participate in the capture of the Herrscher were at least B-rank Valkyrie, and they were already the backbone of Schicksal.

The red-haired figure gritted her teeth, activated her makeshift armor, and electricity flashed from her joints. She accelerated at the moment of contact, catching the B-rank Valkyrie blocking her way off guard. She shoved the two aside and rushed out of the Schicksal Branch.

A piercing alarm sounded within the branch, and everyone went on high alert. All were ordered to intercept and capture the fleeing Herrscher.

The world was crimson and blurry, interspersed with sharp, grating noises that tormented his eardrums, making Lin feel like an earthworm being baked in the asphalt, as if the whole world had gone mad and twisted.

What happens...

The pain in Lin's body was almost stripping away his remaining spirit. He barely managed to muster the last bit of consciousness, and the illusory figures in front of him reassembled into a complete human figure.

"Hime... ko".

"What are you doing! Why are you stealing data from the Schicksal branch?!" Himeko, with a bloody scratch on her cheek, heard his voice and lowered her head as she ran. "And who is this girl? A vampire? Or Herrscher?"

Hearing Lin's voice as well, Yue snapped out of her daze. She pushed away Himeko's arms and grabbed Lin's shoulders. "Human, how are you? You are my familiar, you wouldn't be injured like this..."

"Cough..."

Lin couldn't help but feel a sweet taste in his throat, and coughed up another mouthful of dark red blood. His breath almost disappeared, and even the whites of his eyes began to roll upwards.

Yue stared at the forest, which had been bleached into a blood-soaked mess, the crimson that had erased all the darkness. Her breathing became more and more rapid, and all that remained before her eyes was that terrifying crimson.

She knew the real Lin wasn't here; she could vaguely sense his special nature.

But deep down, she felt that if Lin left, something... would happen that was absolutely unacceptable.

She doesn't want to...

She didn't want to lose this family member.

The person who pulled her along, stumbling along in the shimmering light of the amusement park, through the tide of people, must have been her family.

But when he saw the imposter, he would show a tender look in his eyes that she had never seen before, and she... at that time, because he mistook her for the imposter, he was willing to hold her hand.

She is the imposter, just as the moon is a replica of the sun.

All her ferocity, cold-bloodedness, and rage—everything about her as a Herrscher —was displayed before Lin.

This is the real her; she uses her actions to show Lin that she and Theresa are not the same person.

Even if she killed him a thousand times with her own hands, he would still come to protect her, this monster.

She wasn't treated as Theresa, but rather as "the moon."

It was only after being marked with the "moon" that a "thing" that was nothing felt for the first time being treated as one of its own.

It's not about "insects" and "people," but about "people" and "people."

The coldness and cruelty melted away like snow from the girl's face, and she became like a real human girl, helpless as Lin walked step by step toward death.

"Don't just stand by and watch, quickly think of a way to save him! If you have the ability to save him, hurry up!"

Himeko realized that Lin's physical condition was not good enough for long-distance movement. She could only lean against the wall and anxiously look around, looking for any place where the enemy might break out.

Himeko's words made Yue's body tremble. She didn't give herself any time to hesitate. She wouldn't allow herself to hesitate. She placed her hands directly on the gap in Lin's chest and abdomen. The fierce eyes of the Herrscher once again filled her eyes.

Does she have that ability?

Have no idea.

Yue wasn't entirely clear about herself either; she could only use everything she could to prevent Lin from dying.

No matter what, it won't work!

"Sizzle—"

Some "things" flowed into Lin's body through Yue's arm. To Himeko's astonishment, Lin's mutilated body began to grow back at an incredible speed, and the terrifying gap was instantly filled by more than half!

Lin's condition improved considerably within a few seconds. His trembling subsided, and he weakly opened his eyes, meeting the girl's clear, red eyes.

The empty pupils that once seemed to lack something are now no longer missing.

"Hurry up." There was no time to linger. After treating Lin, Yue calmed down again, and a cruelty unique to Herrscher appeared in her eyes as she silently glanced at the Valkyrie who were chasing after her.