The Fifth Eruption / The Fifth Eruption Suppression Campaign

"..."

Lin's rest was interrupted. His helmet restarted as he opened his eyes, and through the viewing window, Lin saw a blue-haired woman standing in front of him with one hand in her pocket.

Her hair was oddly messy yet neat, and she wore dark red square-framed glasses. In contrast to her short stature, she possessed a mature and intellectual air that Lin had never seen even in the oldest person he knew, Mobius.

Lin didn't see her when he boarded the transport plane.

"I'm really sorry, I'm not actually here. This is just a holographic projection. If nothing unexpected happens, Mr. Lin, you will be able to see me in person in about two hours." The blue-haired woman held a tablet in her left hand, her gaze not on Lin, and said indifferently, "Of course, 'if nothing unexpected happens'."

"Who are you."

"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself." The woman put down her tablet, pushed up her glasses, and said to Lin Danran, "Hello, Mr. Lin, my name is Einstein, I am the head of the Sixth Branch, and I am currently at the headquarters of the Fire Moth."

Einstein of the Sixth Branch...

Lin vaguely remembered that Delta seemed to have mentioned Einstein. She made great contributions to the study of the Second Herrscher, and many inventions, including the Phase Transfer Device, were developed based on her theories and achievements.

"So the small talk hasn't started yet, but I don't intend to start it either, otherwise Mr. Lin, you'll be arriving at headquarters soon."

"..."

"Mr. Lin, after arriving at headquarters, I was invited to conduct miniaturization research and development on a weapon device. After the final stage of debugging yesterday, it is ready for actual combat. Today, Doctor Mei and I placed it on the transport plane bound for the Mu Continent, and had someone place it in another aircraft after arrival."

"Its output is not as great as Titan's, but I think Mr. Lin should be able to maximize its capabilities."

Whether or not you use it is entirely up to you.

Time remaining until the Fifth Honkai War: two hours.

"Phew... finally..."

Anna tried to wipe away the sweat, but before she could even touch it, it had already solidified on her skin, making a crackling sound and causing a sharp pain.

The orphanage residents have all arrived outside Tran. According to the notice, they will be going to take refuge in an open shelter. Although it is not absolutely safe, it is much better than staying in the city.

"Anna, what happened? Are you hiding something from me? Why did you suddenly send us to the shelter, and why is Tran sealed off?" Binai, equally out of breath, walked up to Anna.

Anna shook her head. "Let's talk about it later. You guys leave here first."

"Wait a minute, what about you?"

"I need to check if anyone else has left. There must still be people at my workplace and school who haven't left." Anna grabbed a megaphone and dashed into the city, unstoppable by Binai. "Anyway, you all better get out of here quickly! I'll be right back!"

"Anna!" Binai couldn't catch Anna; she ran back like the wind, which made Binai very anxious.

Anna couldn't stand idly by. She knew the truth of everything, so she had a corresponding responsibility. The uncle told her these things not just to make her do nothing.

She didn't know what that person had gone through, but their meeting at that time, whether by fate or chance, was an opportunity for Anna to re-examine herself.

Lin longed to find answers from her, so Anna wanted to become someone who could give Lin those answers, someone who could do what she said she would do.

"Uncle, we're a match made in heaven." She walked against the fierce wind, a smile playing on her lips. "It's hard to find a girl as perfect as me. You've already sacrificed so much for humanity. Don't die before you agree to marry me."

She rushed into the cold without hesitation.

Chapter 75 The Fifth Honkai War

Time remaining until the Fifth Honkai War: 10 minutes.

"If there were no humans at the site of a large-scale Honkai, would Herrscher still be born?"

This research topic was proposed after the Fourth Honkai War, as a special study on the birth of Herrscher based on the unique circumstances of the Fourth Honkai War.

To date, all Herrscher have been born from humans, and all of them are young women.

High-level Honkai Beast are composed of pure Honkai Energy, but the Herrscher are of an even higher level, can only be born from humans. This is quite puzzling, so some people speculate whether Herrscher can also be composed of only Honkai Energy.

The discussion then shifted to whether people were needed at the site of a large-scale Honkai.

And to this day, no one has been able to answer.

"I am your temporary commander."

Hen addressed the group of people in front of him, most of whom were new recruits.

"..."

Everyone looked at each other, clearly wondering why they had been put into a temporary team without any prior coordination. This was not beneficial for the battle, but an order was an order, and Hen was now their temporary captain.

"Waaah... What am I going to do? This is my first time going to the battlefield..."

Kosma glanced at the person who was muttering to himself with his head down. The person was about the same age as him and was also a new recruit.

"Erwin, you're too nervous. Don't be afraid. We'll probably just be doing some peripheral work." Another person, who seemed to know the recruit, patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

The hushed chatter rose and fell, and the lack of order and discipline was the biggest drawback of the temporary team.

Kosma looked at Hen and shouted sternly, his face expressionless, "Silence!"

"..." Instantly, everyone shut their mouths.

As one of the most senior soldiers in the Fire Moth, Hen is top-notch in both strength and rank, so his intimidation is enough to suppress these young lads who haven't yet woken up from their daydreams.

Kosma was the calmest of them all. Besides his past experiences being different from most of them, Kevin's emphasis on teaching him also helped him transcend the category of "new recruits," so integrating into a new team was not difficult for him.

However, Kosma never imagined that the purpose of forming this team was so extraordinary. Even though he had witnessed countless darkness in that remote town, he still couldn't imagine what kind of heinous things humans would do to their own kind.

Hen spotted Kosma, who stood out from the others, in the crowd. He recognized the boy Kevin was with and nodded, saying, "Soldier Kosma, step forward."

Kosma stepped out from the ranks.

"From now on, you are my temporary deputy."

"Yes."

Kosma couldn't understand the meaning behind the pity in Hen's eyes when she looked at him, and the resolute determination that quickly replaced it.

"Waaah—"

Anna, veins bulging on her forehead, pushed the wheelchair up the slope. The old man in the wheelchair looked around helplessly and could only say to Anna uneasily, "Girl, you'd better not worry about me. I'll just find a place to hide. You should go and take refuge."

"This... how... can this be done!"

Anna growled and strained, finally pushing the wheelchair up. Her previous back-and-forth running around had exhausted her, and the fact that she could still push the old woman was purely a result of the physical exertion required for her work.

"Huff... huff... it's okay... it's not completely blocked yet..." Anna looked at the city gate not far away, breathed a sigh of relief, and mustered her last bit of strength to push the old woman away. "Grandma, look, we still have time."

"Oh, you child..."

After Anna pushed the old man out, she saw that some people were also helping to help people leave the city, so she handed the old man and his wheelchair over to them.

I can finally breathe a sigh of relief...

Anna looked around but didn't see Binai and the others, so they must have already gone to take refuge. A weight was lifted from her heart, and she lifted her foot to head towards the shelter.

"Hey! Don't go any further in!"

Suddenly, a shout caught her attention. She looked in the direction of the shout and saw a figure wearing tattered clothes walking by in the distance.

He didn't know whether he hadn't heard the shouts from outside the city, or whether he had heard them but ignored them.

"That person..."

"Leave it to me! I'll go get him out!" Anna volunteered and ran out. She rushed back into the blockade. The Fire Moths were gradually sealing off the city, and this exit was currently the only open entrance and exit in Tran, so she had to get that person out before the exit was blocked.

She tightened her beret. The hail in the city had long since stopped, replaced by a breathtaking white expanse of snow. The vast whiteness made it easy for her to spot the person in the tattered black rags. "I remember, they went this way."

Anna took off running in the direction where the figure had disappeared.

Time remaining until the Fifth Honkai War: three minutes.

"All squads, please be on high alert. The Honkai Energy concentration in Tran is rising, and small Honkai Beast have already been born."

Kevin focused his attention on this operation. Now was not the time to think about anything else. What he was about to face was a large-scale Honkai. He had never faced Herrscher directly Fourth Honkai War, so his understanding of the Herrscher's strength was still only the tip of the iceberg based on written reports and data simulations.

Even though he tried to concentrate, he was still distracted by the matter between Lin and Kosma.

"Kevin, what are you thinking about? You look uneasy."

Elysia appeared beside him at some point, having also changed into combat gear, giving her an air of menace.

However, her playful way of speaking doesn't change with her changing outfits.

"...It's nothing." Kevin shook his head and took a deep breath. "Let's focus on the upcoming battle. Although all the residents have been evacuated, the animals in the city will be Honkai Energy Honkai Beast. Without the Honkai zombie, the strength and number of Honkai Beast should be higher than before."

"Really? Actually, it's okay to say it if you're worried about Lin and Kosma. It's only human nature."

"... Then Elysia, are you able to force yourself not to think about these things?"

"How could that be? I'm worried about Lin and Kosma all the time." Elysia shook her head with a tsk, showing no sign of tension. "But worry and fighting don't conflict. Or to put it more romantically, it's precisely because of these worries that I can unleash even greater power."

"... Whatever your original intention, thank you anyway."

After Elysia's interruption, Kevin gradually calmed down.

"Drop----"

During this brief moment of relaxation, a bright red alarm suddenly sounded.

The Fifth Honkai War erupts.

Chapter 1: The Fifth Honkai War Expedition

The Third Branch was established as a temporary combat command, giving the Fire Moths a buffer period to be fully prepared to deal with the large-scale Honkai.

"The Honkai Energy's range has extended beyond Tran!"

At the moment of the Fifth Honkai War, Tran's Honkai Energy level soared to the average height of a large-scale Honkai, and the crimson range on the previously unremarkable detector spread all the way from the center of the outbreak to outside the city.

The operation commander, Sigma, immediately ordered, "Immediately detect abnormal Honkai Energy! We must determine at once whether Herrscher or a high-level Honkai Beast has been born!"

"Herrscher -level Honkai Energy confirmed! A large number of Honkai Beast have appeared in the city. The temperature on the outskirts of Transylvania has dropped to minus ten degrees Celsius, while the temperature at the center continues to fluctuate, with the lowest recorded temperature being minus ninety degrees Celsius! All the rivers in the city are frozen!"

"The Fifth Herrscher is tentatively designated as the 'Herrscher of Ice'! Squads 2 and 6, handle the leaking Honkai Energy! The rest of you, don your cold-weather gear and prepare to enter Trunks for a sweeping operation!"

"Is this... the birth of Herrscher?"

Upon receiving the combat order, Kevin's expression, which had just begun to improve, instantly darkened. The coordinates of the Herrscher displayed on the locator had already told him that there were still civilians in Transylvania who had not been evacuated and had been transformed into Herrscher.

If there were no one in Trunks, would the location of the Great Honkai change? If everyone evacuated, would more densely populated areas be affected by the Honkai? So, is leaving some people in Trunks and specifically converting them into Herrscher a way to reduce losses?

Did they not specifically check whether all residents had been evacuated when they were asked to leave?

But wouldn't doing this perfectly align with the plans of the Fire-Chasing Moths? This way, they could be prepared for the first time to deal with a large-scale Honkai.

This contradictory idea collided in Kevin's mind.

"Wait a minute, this location..." Elysia beside him suddenly exclaimed, looking at the Herrscher's coordinates, "Isn't this the orphanage Lin mentioned? Shouldn't the people there have evacuated long ago?!"

Kevin tilted his head in confusion. "What orphanage?"

The time from being eroded to being transformed into Honkai Beast depends on the concentration of Honkai Energy in the environment. The reason why the large-scale Honkai is called the large-scale Honkai is because under the spread of high concentrations of Honkai Energy, organisms are constantly eroded, transformed, and spread, causing Honkai Beast and Honkai zombie to spread like a swarm of cockroaches.

As with any previous large-scale Honkai event, the initial stage of the Honkai 3rd began with small Honkai Beast, followed by a roughly half-hour interval between the appearance of large Honkai Beast. This period can be considered a gap in the Honkai 3rd event, which can be used to gather information about the Herrscher and prepare for the subsequent subjugation operation.

"..."

A Charge-type Honkai Beast blocked the way. Its head, wrapped in black cloth, lifted slightly in the flapping wind. Upon seeing the deformed beast, the man in tattered clothes simply waved his hand as if to drive it away.

"Gah—"

However, how could Honkai Beast understand a human's meaning? Known for its speed, the Charge-type Honkai Beast swooped down like a fighter jet after turning in the air, its two sharp elytra pointing at the man's body.

"Bang!"

The wings and the pinkish-purple blood were frozen into ice sculptures by the cold wind.

The man stepped on the corpse of the Charge-type Honkai Beast, and with a gentle stomp, the frozen Honkai Beast's body shattered into pieces.

After bypassing the corpses, the man seemed to receive some signal and began to actively search for Honkai Beast in the city. Almost none of the Honkai Beast could withstand a single move from him.

His skin tissue was frozen and rotten at extremely cold temperatures, but at the same time it regenerated at an incredible speed.