I'm Not a Flame-Chaser - Chapter 612

Kiana remained silent.

Her eyes were filled with complex emotions, and so were her inner feelings.

Faced with this man who could openly and shamelessly discuss and explain that aspect of his life, she didn't know if he was too powerful or too... strange, to the point that she thought he probably wasn't lying.

In the end, all that remained in her heart was a sigh.

This guy is definitely a pervert...

So, go to sleep.

Without giving her a chance to retort, the man simply collapsed onto the bed, put on his mask, and curled up under the covers to sleep...

The Journey Begins in the Sky: Chapter Twenty-Six - Seeds

What... what... what on earth is going on?!

Kiana touched her thin lips, which were covered in saliva. The moist touch made her body tremble, and her face temperature rose to its highest level ever.

Steam rose from her forehead.

"You were getting closer and closer to him while you were sleeping, and I didn't notice, then you hugged him." Fu Hua's expression showed a rare hint of embarrassment. "I thought you were just like you were in school, sleeping with an irregular posture and liking to hug a pillow while sleeping, so I didn't pay much attention..."

As a result, Kiana's next actions completely surprised her.

Kiana wrapped her arms around Lin's neck, buried her head in his neck and collarbone, and inhaled deeply, her face flushed. She was completely out of control, as if she were drunk. What followed was even more outrageous, to the point that Fu Hua felt her Sword Heart was about to shatter when she thought about it.

In short, Fu Hua didn't want to describe the process anymore, and Kiana seemed to know what she had done. She could only barely maintain her tone and change the subject. "I called you many times but you still didn't wake up. It seems you are really tired tonight."

Kiana stared blankly at the "teeth marks" and "strawberries" she had made, which were extremely conspicuous even on the man's wounded body, almost like marking his territory.

"Kiana, don't worry about it. You just dreamt about eating while you were sleeping," Fu Hua continued to comfort her. "Just explain it to him when he wakes up. He's not an unreasonable person."

"Explanation?"

Kiana could already imagine how Lin would mock her as a madwoman when he woke up and found these things on his body.

Comments like "Didn't you say I was a pervert? How could you do this to me while I was sleeping?" are definitely not uncommon.

Also, how come this guy is sleeping so soundly? Doesn't he feel that someone is biting him?

Even now, Lin is still fast asleep. Once he enters deep sleep, he's like a device that's been turned off and is charging; he won't turn it back on until it's fully charged.

Kiana tried many methods to cover up these marks, including applying hot towels, but mechanical purpura is not something that can be eliminated in one go. No matter what method she used, she could only stare blankly at those overly "ambiguous" marks.

Even though Lin didn't notice anything amiss after waking up and quickly put on his airtight clothes, this incident didn't put Kiana at ease.

Like a seed, buried in the soil of my heart, it prickles at me as it tries to take root.

"It's gone..."

"Huh? Vice-Captain, what did you say?"

"No, it's nothing."

Rita, who had been frowning, raised her head and relaxed her brows. She said to the gray-haired girl in front of her, who had a completely optimistic smile, "This is the territory of the World Serpent. The Blade of Immortality has suffered too many losses. We should try to preserve our remaining strength and avoid contact with the patrol forces and the Shencheng Pharmaceuticals."

"Yes!"

Alvitr and the other members of the Blade of Immortality responded in unison. Their mission had resulted in more than half of their personnel being killed or wounded, and they were currently unable to contact the outside world. World Serpent were everywhere, and their only chance of survival was to follow the orders of their Vice-Captain, who had never made a mistake.

"Then let's proceed according to the plan."

With the order given, the Blade of Immortality quickly infiltrated the city's night. Their next task was to gather intelligence and determine the World Serpent's troop deployment. Rita, on the other hand, was to act with Kiana. It could be said that the situation was very unfavorable for them. Without external interference, the World Serpent would probably not give them any more opportunities to exploit.

However, the effects of the HSN-B46 serum continued, and she had to find a way. The sluggishness in her body made her feel like she was floating in a place with no gravity and no foothold. Her body couldn't keep up with her thoughts, which was disgusting. Moreover, losing her power also meant losing her greatest support. She would definitely encounter battles again in the next few days. Valkyrie without Honkai Energy were just ordinary people who could fight.

And that's why she lost the Gray Serpent's eyes.

"At that time, that beggar..." Rita recalled that the only possible reason for losing Gray Serpent's eyes was when she encountered the beggar after leaving Gray Serpent's stronghold. It must have been that beggar who stole Gray Serpent's eyes, and she failed to notice because of her decreased reaction ability.

Who is that?

Rita hadn't expected that another force might exist in Sky City. That beggar couldn't be an ordinary person; he might be someone she could exploit...

Of course, uncontrollable variables are only possibilities; she prefers controllable factors.

"Hehe... I'm sure you, Miss Kiana's friends, will accept my invitation."

After shaking off all fatigue, Lin, full of energy, headed toward his usual training destination. The Honkai Energy in his body, affected by the serum, was now able to circulate again, and it seemed that the serum's effects would last for at most five days.

He glanced at the absent-minded silver-haired girl following behind.

Kiana has been behaving strangely ever since he got up.

Under Lin's control, Kiana should have maintained a neutral attitude towards him, or perhaps disliked him slightly.

But he felt that there was something strange in Kiana's eyes when she looked at him now.

... Shy?

It's probably just his imagination.

"Today's training is the same as before. In three days, you must remove the chains from your neck and then defeat me in battle, or else..."

"Otherwise, kill me. I understand."

Kiana spoke up before Lin could. She took the cup from Lin's hand, placed it on her head and shoulders, and then stood in her proper place with a tense expression.

"..."

Lindo glanced at her, then sat down on the ground as usual and started a fire.

The vibrations from the patrolling mechs moving back and forth in Sky City caused the ground to tremble slightly, while the girl stood firmly in place, balancing three cups of water on her head.

Even in the brightly lit Sky City, the stars in the sky can be clearly seen.

Lin looked up at the starry sky and recalled the girl who used to sit in Mobius's laboratory and draw.

Fifty thousand years.

It felt so long, yet so short; everything seemed like it was just yesterday.

"Tell me about your past."

At this moment, the silver-haired girl, who had been silent all along, spoke up when all was quiet around her.

She pursed her lips, gazing at this mysterious man about whom she knew nothing.

The Journey Begins in the Sky: Chapter Twenty-Seven - A Multiple-Choice Question with No Choice

Lin sometimes wonders if his life has been anything but extraordinary.

Perhaps so. If someone were to look back on his life, from fighting the Herrscher, confronting the Honkai, betraying the Moth of Flame, becoming Herrscher, donning the Key of Blankness, and entering the Quantum Sea... they might sigh and marvel at the ups and downs Lin has experienced.

But Lin didn't think so.

He just happened to be in that position, and did what he was supposed to do at each stage. Just as he always believed that the ethereal fate could not determine his and the people around him's future, but rather that character determined fate.

There are always too many regrets; looking back on the journey, it's all stained with blood.

But if given another chance, he would make the same choice.

Achilles' heel, Icarus's tragedy—towards their predetermined end, they persevered on their journey, and each of them did just that.

That's why Lin and Kevin have gone in opposite directions.

"There's nothing to say about my past," Lin replied calmly, gazing at the crackling fire. "Even if I told you, it wouldn't change your opinion of me, and I don't need your opinion of me."

"... Didn't you say you were my kind? Then you must have experienced the situation of not being able to control yourself after becoming Herrscher, right? What were you thinking at that time? And how did you break free from the control of the Herrscher consciousness?"

The night always stirs up memories of the past, and even if you don't want to think about it, you can't stop the human brain from recalling it spontaneously.

"Call..."

Kiana suddenly sensed that Lin's aura had changed.

From the moment they met, Lin's feelings for her were hard to describe. He could be a perverted man with a twisted sense of humor, chaining her up and undressing her; he could be a cold-blooded killer who would suddenly stab her; or he could be a man who was efficient, reliable, and effective.

These qualities are like layers of masks, even more solid than the one on his face, concealing his true nature.

Now, as she inquires about Lin's past, those masks seem to be peeled away, revealing a more serene and indescribably complex feeling in Lin than ever before.

"... Once, someone asked me a question."

Lin did not answer Kiana's question directly. His breathing was even and calm. He leaned against the tree behind him, looked up at the sky, and his thoughts seemed to fly back to 50,000 years ago, or perhaps lingered here and moved the past to the present.

"I killed a woman who had turned into Honkai zombie. Her child had spent several days in the room with her, which caused him to be corrupted by Honkai Energy. When we arrived, not only had the child's mother become Honkai zombie, but he was also on the verge of collapse."

"I executed his mother, and then I killed him."

"..."

Kiana's fingers clenched tightly. The man's tone was normal, without any hint of anything unusual, as if he were simply stating a mundane matter.

"Then that person asked me if I would shoot her if she were to be Honkai by the Honkai one day."

"..."

Lin's tone was unusually cold.

"Later she became Herrscher, and I killed her."

It was the same tone again.

Kiana stared blankly at him, listening to the faint popping of the charred charcoal in the fire beside her ear, and an indescribable emotion welled up in her heart.

What kind of expression lies beneath the mask? Kiana can't see it, and she probably doesn't want to see it either.

"We all know that the child had no choice, his mother had no choice, and the person who asked me the question... had no choice either. They were forced to become monsters, and then forced to be defeated by me."

"They did not become different out of their own volition, but rather they had no chance, no right to struggle. It was as if from the moment they were born, it was decided that they would end up with a tragic fate, and the process in between, their entire lives, were meaningless."

Lin would occasionally think of that shy girl who loved life, hated death, experienced sadness, and had ideals, but from the moment she was swallowed by the Honkai, even the meaning of her existence was easily erased.

"If that child could maintain her self after being corrupted, if she could retain consciousness after becoming Herrscher, wouldn't there still be a chance for things to turn around?"

"But there are no 'what ifs.' The Honkai didn't give them a chance, and neither did I."

"My past has been a series of choices where I had no choice at all."

The silver-haired girl now understood the true nature of Lin's complex aura.

A kind of melancholy that many people placed their hopes on him.

Numbness from witnessing countless partings and deaths.

Lin turned to Kiana and asked, "Have you communicated with the Herrscher's consciousness?"

Kiana hesitated for a moment, then nodded, remembering the piercing laughter that had been echoing in her ears for months.

"Within my body, a Herrscher consciousness was born. He possesses all my memories and knows all my experiences. He is neither insane nor bloodthirsty." Lin pointed to the golden chain around Kiana's neck, his right eye's Prismatic Eyes gleaming. "Even from my perspective, he is almost no different from me."

"But he still slaughtered humans, wanting to destroy human civilization."

"He expressed his views clearly and calmly during our conversation."

"He is not me, he is just a Herrscher, and he is just doing what Herrscher does."

Kiana didn't quite understand what Lin was saying.

"He possesses my past, knows my beliefs and ideals, but he has never shown any pity for humanity. He is me, standing on the side of the Honkai, never doubting my own position. At birth, I faced a choice I had no other option but to make—to become human or to become Herrscher."

"He accepted his identity with equanimity, and then fought me. We understood each other, but we could not forgive each other. In the end, he died as Herrscher, without feeling proud of being Herrscher or ashamed of being killed by a human."

"He is the Herrscher of Binding, but he is not Lin, while I am the Herrscher, yet I am also human. That is why he lost to me. That is what he told me."

After he finished speaking, silence returned. Lin tended to the fire, adding more wood, while Kiana stood quietly without saying a word, each lost in their own thoughts.

He is both Herrscher and a human being...

Kiana kept repeating this sentence in her mind.

"Clatter."

Rita sat on the railing, gazing at the patrolling mech unit below, a slight smile playing on her lips. Then she looked up at the approaching dawn in the distance, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the railing.

"Clatter."

Footsteps approached this land bathed in the sunlight of dawn.

"Ah... It's been a long time, Mei- san."