Rebellion / Invasion

But the chaos quickly disappeared from her sight. She resisted the urge to crush everyone in the entire Schicksal Branch into mincemeat, and let Himeko take Lin while she swept away all obstacles and rushed out of the Schicksal Branch.

"Bishop..."

"Don't worry." Otto took a step first, shook his finger, and smiled calmly. "First of all... seal off Canghai City. Let's create a paradise where our lovely little princess can play."

The three of them wandered aimlessly through the night in Canghai City like headless flies until Lin directed them to the starting point of the cycle, at which point they finally found their way.

Lin clutched his abdomen, leaned against the wall, and slowly sat down on the ground. The warm touch on his hand made him realize that his life force was still flowing away.

Fortunately, after Yue had restored most of his body, the remaining parts were able to heal on their own, and he was no longer in danger of death.

"Human, are you alright?" The silver-haired girl, though expressionless, gripped his sleeve tightly.

"I'm fine." Lin shook his head weakly.

"Don't die."

Lin was stunned for a moment. He looked at the blood-red moon in the girl's eyes, and she silently clenched his clothes.

"You are my kin; you cannot die without my permission."

"..." Lin closed his eyes, which seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and gently nodded.

"Hey, can you explain to me what's going on?"

At this moment, Himeko, having completely shaken off her pursuers, looked at the two suspiciously, especially at the girl's intimate gesture of clutching the man's clothes; her gaze seemed to freeze on the girl's small hand.

"Why has this been a continuous loop for the past three days, at least thousands of times, with the intervals getting shorter and shorter? And, you're a vampire, aren't you? You were the vampire who tried to harm your twin sisters, weren't you?"

"What exactly happened, Lin... or rather, dear Captain Hyperion, can you explain to me? Why are you still acting with her? With a... vampire who killed you?"

Chapter Fifty-Seven Rebellion

Glug.

Falling into boiling seawater, skin and muscles detach from bones.

Is this... hell?

In this sea of blood where flesh and blood have boiled, the souls are as if evaporated and detached from the body, leaving only a skeleton with drafts on all sides, still looking towards the deepest part of the body as it falls.

"... Gurgle."

They've arrived.

Those Prismatic Eyes.

The white-haired man, like a hunter who had been waiting for a long time, licked the congealed blood from the corner of his mouth and silently extended his deformed claws toward Lin's back.

"Howl--"

Suddenly, the sea of blood surged, and before the white-haired man's fingers could even touch Lin, the entire depths of the sea were blasted apart by a sudden, strange force!

A shadow loomed over the seabed that parted the water, and a gigantic maw with jagged, inlaid teeth descended from above, swallowing the unconscious Lin whole.

"... Why are you helping this human? I am your master."

At the end of his white hair, a drop of undried blood condensed. He raised his head and stared directly at the mythical behemoth that had swallowed the sun.

"Howl--------"

There was no answer. Instead, a frantic roar erupted, the stench and intense heat of the exhaled breath instantly evaporating the blood from the white-haired man's body.

"Hmph..."

With a breath exhaled through its teeth, the enormous monster knocked the white-haired man to the ground, and then strolled away in the miraculous Dividing Sea.

Lin opened his eyes groggily. His blood vessels felt as if they were filled with molten lead, so heavy that he couldn't even lift his hands. It was as if someone had nailed his body to the floor.

"You're finally awake. If you had died like this, I reckon she would have dragged the entire Canghai City down with her."

Himeko's slightly sarcastic words reached his ears in the narrow passageway. He turned his head with difficulty, only to find that there was someone pressing down on him.

The silver-haired girl nestled against his chest like a kitten that had just finished eating, her blood -Amber eyes quietly watching him.

"... I'm fine." Lin's voice was so hoarse that it was squeezed out of his throat. This kind of voice was obviously not very effective in comforting people. The most obvious evidence of this was that Yue's cold and piercing eyes did not show a ripple at all.

"I have a general idea of what happened. It's really troublesome to get involved in something like this. It's just like something out of a movie." Himeko waved her hand with a wry smile. "And what was I doing... betraying Schicksal without even thinking about it? I'm really unlucky."

"Feel sorry..."

"What are you apologizing for? I chose this myself." The red-haired girl sighed. "I never expected that person to do something like this..."

Otto has already stated that the vampires, the Honkai, and the loop so far are all his doing. Even if we don't know how he did it, he is indeed the mastermind behind it all.

Do you possess a weapon of Schicksal? Or do you know the characteristics of such a weapon?

"You ask this as soon as you wake up?" Himeko scratched her hair in frustration.

She should have stood on the side of Schicksal and defeated the dangerous Herrscher before her, but now she is helping the Herrscher and his retinue escape Schicksal's pursuit, and is even being questioned about Schicksal's weaponry.

"You've already betrayed them anyway," Yue said coldly. "You don't think those people will let you go after you go back, do you?"

"..."

Although it was hurtful, the Herrscher was right. This wasn't child's play. Her blatant help to the Herrscher was already a betrayal of Schicksal... or to put it more seriously, a betrayal of humanity.

However, being bossed around by this Herrscher had previously caused multiple major Honkai in Canghai City made Himeko quite uncomfortable. After gaining access to her previous memories, she, like Hayashi, harbored suspicions towards Yue.

However... his expression at that time was probably genuine.

It is also true that she did not harm the Valkyrie of Schicksal.

After thinking it over, Himeko sighed and said helplessly with her eyelids drooping, "Those warheads are special warheads specifically designed to target Honkai Energy shields. They don't have strong penetrating power and can't penetrate the shells of large Honkai Beast, but they can easily penetrate shields made of Honkai Energy. Moreover, with the support of the Schicksal Weapon, it's still easy to shatter a human body."

"Then there's this simple armor I'm wearing. Every official Valkyrie is equipped with the most basic armor. B-rank Valkyrie can use the standard Valkyrie Armor, while Rank A Valkyries have Valkyrie Armor designed specifically for their individual abilities. And all of them are equipped with Honkai Energy conversion devices, which allow them to use Honkai Energy to perform special abilities."

So that's how it is. No wonder Lin thought the opponent's explosive power was amazing; it was the Valkyrie Armor that enhanced the Valkyrie's already superhuman personal abilities.

"As for the other weapons... just know that they are equipment that conventional weapons cannot compare to."

Yue turned her head and said, "I'm going to kill them all."

"... If you want to treat what you said as nothing, then I have no objection." How could Lin possibly let Yue continue killing?

But now, he can't understand Yue either. What was she thinking? What was the reason for her urgency back then...?

But she ultimately didn't take action. Does this mean that she has changed her mind?

"What do we do now?" Himeko asked Lin after her heated thoughts had cooled down. "Don't blame me for not reminding you, it's very easy for Schicksal to find three specific people in a city."

"..."

Lin's fundamental task is still the root cause of the distortion in this World Bubble. At first, he thought it was Theresa, then he thought it was Yue as Herrscher, but now, the most likely one is Otto Apocalypse.

So now we need to find a way to eliminate the source of this distortion. Ultimately, the so-called distortion is using the Aether Anchor of the World Bubble to do things that will cause the World Bubble to perish faster.

It's still unknown what Otto did with the Aether Anchor, but it's estimated to be related to Kallen and Theresa.

So, is the moon also his creation?

Lin suddenly thought of this question. Kallen told him that Theresa was created using Kallen's genes and the genes of Honkai Beast. So, Yue, who looks just like Theresa, should also be an artificial creation.

So... Yue has no parents.

"...Moon." His throat produced a hoarse sound.

"What?" The silver-haired girl looked at him, her clear eyes, different from before, made Lin's Adam's apple bob, and some words got stuck in his throat.

Even if she knew she had no parents, she probably wouldn't care too much, after all, she's a Herrscher...

Is it really okay to convince yourself by the fact that she is Herrscher?

"No, it's nothing." Lin's eyes quickly turned cold. He forced himself to stand up and said to the two of them, "Don't stay in one place for too long. Let's talk on the way."

Chapter Fifty-Eight Invasion

Lin had one question he didn't ask Himeko.

How is she able to maintain her memories in the loop, just like Lin?

Lin recalled the similarities between himself and Himeko, and easily thought of someone.

Theresa.

Theresa drank the blood of both of them, and both times she was close to losing her mind, so it is highly likely that she injected bacterial type Honkai Beast into their bodies.

The white-haired man and Otto's words both point to an experiment involving Loop, Theresa, Kallen, and Luna. But what is the purpose of this experiment? And what is the connection between the three of them?

"Since that time, it has been repeated thousands of times. I have to get out of bed every few hours, which is driving me crazy."

In some ways, Himeko's adaptability is extraordinary. She blended in with Rin and Tsuki almost without any obstacles, and complained to Tsuki, who had a gloomy face. "You said you killed Rin a thousand times, is that true? You two can still walk together as if nothing happened, and you were so worried about him before. Does this kid just like you?"

She was only nineteen, yet she directly referred to Lin as "this kid"...

"..."

Yue's expression remained unchanged, but her eyebrows twitched slightly, revealing a hint of pleasure in her eyes.

... Himeko couldn't figure out which word in which sentence made her happy. Had she killed Lin thousands of times?

"Luckily, I got used to it after a few cycles. Every time I got up, I would rush out to buy alcohol and drink until I was full. Since I would have to cycle again later, I might as well drink as much as I wanted." Himeko proudly told them how she found fun in the cycle. It was a miracle that her strong heart could allow her to maintain a good mindset for thousands of repetitions in a day.

"..."

"..."

"Are you two some kind of silent duo?! At least give me some kind of reaction!"

"...Impressive, I would have thrown up long ago." Lin said calmly.

"Is this a compliment or an insult...?"

Tsuki still looked at her as if she were a noisy insect, which made Himeko feel sad and doubt whether her decision was right or wrong.

"Thank you for helping us back then." The sudden, soft thank you startled Himeko. She rubbed her ears to make sure she hadn't misheard. The thank you came from the silver-haired girl beside her, who looked like a sculpture in the moonlight.

She actually thanked me? Even Lin was slightly surprised and glanced at her sideways.

"Even if I don't help you, you can still take him away, right? You are... Herrscher." Himeko paused briefly on the word Herrscher.

When I first joined Schicksal, the first lesson I learned was about how terrifying the Honkai and the Herrscher were. The Herrscher, who have human appearances but take it upon themselves to destroy civilizations, are chilling just from the descriptions in the materials.

But now, with such a living Herrscher right beside her, she looked no different from an ordinary girl. Even though Himeko had witnessed her methods of destroying cities and killing humans, she still didn't find Yue that scary. The silver-haired girl would even talk to her and thank her.

Yue gently shook her head, her blood-red eyes filled with a complex light. "It's different. If it weren't for you, he might already be..."

Moreover, at that time, Yue could sense that the man definitely had a way to deal with her.

She viewed humans as insects, while the man treated her as a lifeless tool, an easily controlled instrument.

"Why would you think of helping us? It doesn't make sense from any perspective."

The black-haired man glanced coldly at the two of them. His injuries had improved considerably, and he could move around without much difficulty. As he walked, he asked the red-haired girl in a cold tone.

"If you ask me that, I can't answer it either."

Himeko looked up at the starry sky, which was still dazzling under the colorful night lights, and chuckled, "My mind went blank, and my body acted first."

Because Lin saved her? Because the situation at the time looked like top human elites were bullying a little girl?

No, it's just a gut feeling.

Yue tilted her head, stared at Himeko in thought for a moment, and then spoke:

"Because you're an idiot too?"

"...Huh?" Himeko paused for a moment. She looked at the petite Yue, then at Lin who hadn't made a move, and smiled helplessly. "I really am an idiot. Only an idiot would do something like this."

Lin didn't speak; his dark eyes were obscured by his falling bangs.

Yue neither praised nor mocked this; she simply nodded as if she had heard something perfectly normal.

The silhouettes of the three people were veiled by a thin layer of night, adding a unique touch to the darkness.

"This is Mugentou Himeko, here for the audition. How's it going on your end?"

Wearing only an inner lining and simple armor, a dashing red-haired girl with a high ponytail lay prone on the roof of a tall building, surveying the situation within a few hundred meters. She picked up a... children's talk watch and strangely pressed the call button.

Lin suspected that Himeko's communicator had a Schicksal location system, so he made her throw the communicator into the garbage truck. Her armor should also have a location system, but according to Himeko herself, the armor cannot be located as long as the amplification function is not activated.

In order to have a means of communication when they split up, Lin bought two pairs of children's smartwatches.