I Am Not a Hero

Elysia quickly got to the point. "Mei, didn't you say you couldn't remember what the first Herrscher you defeated looked like?"

She smiled casually.

"But Lin remembers."

"..."

"Whether it's a Mortal or a Herrscher, Lin remembers every life that once lived vibrantly in this world that he has killed."

Elysia dropped this statement grandly and retreated to the side of the door. Unlike her usual playful gestures like "please," this time she stood solemnly and gravely by the door, like...

an officiant at a grand funeral.

Mei, gazing at her, took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

"Drip."

As she passed through the door, a raindrop landed on her cheek.

"It's always raining here."

"This is where his comrades, his enemies, and everything about him are buried."

"This is his heart."

Desolate.

Mei strained her eyes, seeing only a dense cemetery stretching to the horizon, seemingly endless.

It was filled with tombstones, large and small, each bearing a name or a photograph. As Elysia had said, there were tombstones for humans and for Mortals.

There was only one exception.

While Mei was stunned by this world of tombstones, Elysia stopped before a small, inconspicuous tombstone in a forgotten corner, her eyes filled with sorrow.

Upon seeing the tombstone, Mei's expression turned confused. "That tombstone is..."

At first glance, the tombstone looked no different from the others. In fact, it was the smallest and most dilapidated one Mei had seen. One might overlook it if not looking closely, but when Mei saw the spot where the name was inscribed, she froze.

There was no name, nor a photograph.

After her sorrow, Elysia looked at the tombstone again, as if recalling something, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

"This is Lin's tombstone."

She said.

The ground trembled, accompanied by terrifying roars. A mountain chased an ant. Each strike of its deformed arms collapsed a building, sending bricks, tiles, and dust flying. Yet, the ant managed to dodge every fatal blow, nimbly evading while searching for an opening to counterattack.

A Chariot-class Honkai Beast leaped high into the air. Its single scarlet eye replaced the bright moon, becoming a bloody, crimson moon. Lin stepped on a wall, pushed off it, and made a slight directional change, dodging the landing that was no less than a meteor strike. He was blown away by the air current.

Lin rolled several times on the ground before stopping. The sunglasses and mask he wore were gone, and crimson blood flowed from the scratches on his face. His emotionless black eyes stared at the re-standing Honkai Beast, his legs feeling numb.

Despite the brave words, Lin's poor condition was an undeniable fact. The after-effects of his leg replacement were still hindering his movements, and his injured head affected his thought process. His dagger couldn't pierce the Honkai Beast's shell, so he could only lure it away from Soul and Hua.

What was most critical was that Lin didn't know how much longer he could last in this concentration of Honkai energy.

The equipment he usually wore not only enhanced his combat abilities but also protected him from Honkai energy corrosion. Otherwise, given Lin's ridiculously low tolerance for Honkai energy, he would have long ago become a "cyberpunk psychotic" who needed a dozen injections of inhibitors on his shoulder daily.

This time, Lin wore no protective gear. If he stayed in this environment for too long, he would soon be corroded by Honkai energy. Therefore, he couldn't afford to drag this out.

It could be said that his equipment, time, and physical condition were all severely lacking – a perfect example of heaven, earth, and man all being out of sync.

Was there a chance to win?

Lin constantly assessed the gap between them. A giant beast and a human. How could a human win?

To kill a Honkai Beast, its Honkai energy core, similar to a heart, had to be destroyed from within its body. He knew where the Chariot-class Honkai Beast's core was located, but with the weapon in his hand, he simply couldn't reach it.

While he was thinking, the Chariot-class Honkai Beast swung its right arm again. Lin dodged it with a simple sidestep. Taking advantage of the opening, he gripped his dagger with both hands and thrust it fiercely into a part of the Honkai Beast's skin not covered by its armor.

Pale pink blood splattered, but the Honkai Beast, as if feeling no pain, raised its arm again and swung it towards his position.

"Bang!"

Just as Lin was about to dodge, his body's lack of coordination, a sense of "wrongness," struck him, causing his movement to falter for a split second.

This brief hesitation, less than half a second, nearly cost him his life.

With a crisp sound of bone shattering, Lin's left shoulder was grazed by the Honkai Beast. He was sent spinning through the air, his entire left shoulder contorted into a grotesque shape.

He only stopped when he crashed into a wall. Lin slumped by the wall, blood seeping from his nose and mouth.

He glanced coldly at his immobile left hand, forced himself to stand up, and stared at the Chariot-class Honkai Beast, which roared as it had hit its target.

Don't stop thinking. Humans can defeat stronger animals precisely because humans think.

Once you stop thinking, humans will also walk towards death.

The smell of gasoline, amidst the familiar scent of blood, entered his nostrils.

Lin turned his head sharply and saw a gas station not far away. The smell of gasoline was coming from a poorly covered fuel tank of a car.

He glanced at the Honkai Beast and then stepped forward, heading towards the gas station.

It was dangerous, but worth a try.

Chapter 2: Humanity's Pyrrhic Victory

Lin leaped high, bracing himself with one hand on the car roof. With a flourish worthy of a stunt actor, he spun in mid-air, drawing his dagger and decapitating a Mortal lurking by the car.

Man and head landed simultaneously.

Lin nimbly yanked open the car door and slid inside, jamming the knife into the passenger seat. He then pressed the engine start button, shifted gears with one hand, and gripped the steering wheel. The car, roaring to life, shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Sensing its prey's intent to escape, the Chariot-class Honkai Beast roared in fury and slammed the ground. The shockwave, akin to a localized earthquake, traveled through the earth to Lin's hands. It arched its back like a drawn bow, a prelude to its pounce.

Many people misunderstand the speed of Honkai Beasts, believing their massive bodies, thick carapaces, and distorted forms hinder rapid movement. In reality, apart from certain specialized Honkai Beasts, most can move at speeds ranging from sixty to one hundred kilometers per hour. Some Knight-class Honkai Beasts can even reach a terrifying three hundred kilometers per hour during a charge.

The most misunderstood are the Temple-class and Chariot-class Honkai Beasts. Temple-class Honkai Beasts move by levitation, their heavy armor not impeding their speed. Chariot-class Honkai Beasts utilize their immense strength for explosive leaps and charges. Combined with the momentum of their weight, their headlong charges make escape virtually impossible once they've engaged on flat ground.

The Chariot-class Honkai Beast converted its Honkai Beast and muscle power into thrust, its mountain-like mass pressing deep furrows into the ground before it launched itself into the air, lunging toward Lin's vehicle.

Just as its muscle-bound, crushing hammer was about to flatten the car into a metal disc, Lin accelerated again, using a feint to make the attack miss.

The resulting wind pressure caused the car's front wheels to drift, even lifting it off the ground for a moment, but Lin maintained steady control, unfazed.

He'd piloted a Titan before; a mere car was nothing!

Lin glanced in the rearview mirror, timing his move as the Chariot-class Honkai Beast prepared its crushing attack once more. He calmly eyed the bulge in the road ahead, created by the beast's earlier impact, and floored the accelerator!

"Screech!"

The friction between the tires and asphalt ignited a foul odor, but Lin, his senses dulled, focused solely on the road ahead, making the entire car "fly." At a height level with the Honkai Beast's head, the car's internal structure groaned in protest, nearing its limit.

"ROAR—"

The Honkai Beast, again accompanied by a blast of wind pressure, attacked. It targeted the car, now defenseless in mid-air, and lunged eagerly the moment its front wheels lifted, determined to crush it into fragments.

"CRUNCH!"

"Screech—"

With a double-fisted slam, it flattened the driver's and passenger's seats into a metal disc, spraying fluids.

"ROAR—"

It cheered in mid-air, reveling in killing another human.

But it didn't see that the splashing fluids contained no human "blood."

Nor did it see the gas station ahead of its landing point.

Lin, also airborne, felt time slow to a crawl.

He'd escaped the attack an instant before impact, and this brush with death had pushed his mind to its limits.

His senses, temporarily overloaded by the impact, left him in darkness. He couldn't see, hear, smell, or touch, as if trapped in a silent void, much like...

...the time he used the Phase Transfer Device.

Even pain had become a luxury.

He closed his eyes.

"..."

Was this the limit of humanity? Without external aid, even a severe impact could disrupt one's senses.

"—"

No!

"Click."

Lin, suspended in mid-air with vacant eyes, instantly drew his cocked pistol.

He couldn't see, hear, or feel, but relying solely on memory and calculation, he executed the planned maneuver.

Without aiming, yet without a hint of hesitation, he pointed at the remaining half of the car clutched in the Honkai Beast's hand and pulled the trigger.

A seamless shot hit the fuel tank.

"BOOM—"

Explosive flames engulfed the Honkai Beast, triggering a chain reaction of explosions at the gas station. The towering inferno lit up the night sky, shattering windows in nearby buildings. The terrifying roar shook the entire city.

Even Soul, who was pulling Hua upwards inside a building, flinched from the astonishing blast.

"What was that explosion...?" Hua, clearly shaken, thought of Lin and looked worriedly out the window.

"..." Soul gritted his teeth, watching the Mortals stirred by the explosion's sound. He crouched low and shouted, "Stay hidden. Don't worry about that now."

Hua looked at the grotesque, shambling figures and hesitated. "I can help you..."

"No!"

Hua was a civilian. Soul had to protect her. Hua could barely stand; if anything happened to her, how could he face Lin?

That's right. Lin would be fine. He was the one who defeated an Emperor-class Honkai Beast in their first major battle. An evolved Chariot-class Honkai Beast? Lin could handle it even without equipment.

She tried to convince herself, but couldn't stop thinking about Lin's uncoordinated body and the head injury he sustained protecting her. She thought of that mother and child, her dagger trembling.

Fear.

She didn't know if she feared Lin wouldn't return, or if she feared the ever-increasing number of Mortals.

But—

The Soul's other hand gripped the trembling arm.

Lin's voice, ever calm, reached her ears.

"We carry their lives…"

At this moment, her gaze turned aggressive, her body no longer trembling.

Because of fear, therefore… battle.

She shielded Hua behind her, gun in her right hand, blade in her left, calmly staring down each Mortal.

Kill them.

Save them.

Her heart commanded.

Lin was thrown by the shockwave into the second-floor wall of a building, then crashed heavily to the ground.

"Gack—"

His senses returned.

Lin immediately vomited a mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments onto the ground, staining it red.

He collapsed weakly, his peripheral vision catching sight of a metal shard lodged in his thigh, a result of the explosion's impact. Blood was escaping his body like there was no tomorrow.

After a cursory glance at his injuries, Lin shifted his gaze to the raging inferno.

Did we win?

No, based on experien