Believe

Shouldn't it be Anna? According to the three children, it was Binai went back to find Anna after transporting them to a safer location. Even at the fastest speed, they could only reach the edge when the Honkai erupted, while Anna was in the center of the city.

In the chaos, Lin happened to spot a beret on the icy floor of the shop.

The familiar hat lay frozen in place before a massive block of ice, as tall as three people, while its owner was nowhere to be found.

"Anna..." Lin uttered the name almost instinctively.

"Anna ..."

Meanwhile, within the ice cocoon Binai... no, the Fifth Herrscher, opened her eyes, revealing icy blue pupils, and murmured in response.

Crimson ice crystals quietly spilled out from under the ice.

"Where did they run off to...? Doesn't that person know they need to take refuge now?"

Anna followed the man for a few steps before her vision was obscured by the wind and snow, and she lost sight of him.

The world was a blanket of white, as if we were lost in a vast maze.

"Hoo..." Anna exhaled softly, the white mist she exhaled dissipating in the air. As her strength gradually ran out, heat was also slowly being stripped away from her body. She rubbed her hands together, trembling, and grew increasingly cold.

Oh no... if we don't find that person soon, he'll definitely be in danger...

With her energy completely depleted, Anna had to find a place to hide. She spotted a shop that hadn't closed yet, and her eyes lit up. She mustered her strength, ran inside, and locked the door behind her.

Even if it's not much warmer inside, keeping the cold wind out still allows the body to relax a bit.

"I don't know how much time is left. The uncle said I have to leave in at most 24 hours..." She walked to the front of the stage, threw down some money, then poured some hot water from the water dispenser. After drinking it, she felt a little warmer. Her gaze was serious. "Ten minutes left? Five minutes?"

In order to make Anna realize the seriousness of the situation, Lin specifically explained to her the outbreak of a large-scale Honkai. The high concentration of Honkai Energy accompanied by disasters such as earthquakes, gales, and even meteorites. The current extreme cold is of the same type, and most people die at the moment of the Honkai outbreak.

Therefore, the most dangerous moment is the instant when a large-scale Honkai occurs.

Lin also had Anna undergo a Honkai Energy Adaptability test, which showed that her Honkai Energy Adaptability was as expected extremely high. Therefore, if she did not die from the physical damage of the Honkai outbreak, she could still move around in areas with high concentrations of Honkai Energy.

But it's uncertain whether that person will die, just in case Anna wants to take him out.

Lin didn't expect that telling Anna the truth and the Honkai Energy Adaptability, which was originally intended to make Anna aware of the danger and its seriousness, would instead make Anna determined to step into the danger to save people.

Anna grabbed a hand warmer from the store and stuck it on her body. She then pushed open the door and ran towards the direction she remembered.

Where is it... If we don't...

"Gah—"

A strange cry chilled Anna's blood.

She watched in horror as the Charge-type Honkai Beast she had seen before flew down from the rooftop. Their ominous appearance made her nauseous, and the way Charge-type Honkai Beast were about to attack filled her with even more terror.

Anna cautiously backed away, but the white alien followed her slowly, as if if she made any bigger movements or turned to run away, it would immediately pierce her chest with its sharp beak.

Uncle... what should I do...?

At this moment, Anna thought of Lin lying on the sickbed, completely exhausted, and her fearful gaze was replaced by determination.

The uncle did everything he could to protect them. If it were him, he would tell her not to be afraid and to calmly deal with the situation.

That's right, the uncle said she's very talented. Don't close your eyes out of fear, and don't expose your back to it. Observe the Honkai Beast's movements carefully...

After Anna stopped moving, the Honkai Beast floated in the air and spun around like a top, charging up its power, ready to pounce on Anna at any moment.

"Gah—"

The eyes of the Charge-type Honkai Beast glowed red, and Anna noticed this inconspicuous detail, doing her best to dodge to the side.

"Sizzle—"

Not seeing any movement from the Honkai Beast, Anna dodged to her right. Then, she felt a sharp pain in her left arm, and a rather deep wound appeared on her arm. However, it was immediately frozen, and not much blood flowed out.

The Charge-type Honkai Beast missed its target and fell directly into the snow. Ignoring the pain in her arm, Anna grabbed a stick stuck in the snow and smashed it on the Honkai Beast's head.

"Smack!"

With a crisp sound, the wooden stick broke in two, but it didn't leave any wounds on the Honkai Beast.

Ordinary weapons have little chance of harming Honkai Beast. Their outer skin is a fibrous material enhanced with Honkai Energy, which cannot be synthesized artificially. It has multiple functions such as cushioning, defense, and stretching, and allows Honkai Energy to flow within it. Let alone a wooden stick, even with Anna's current ordinary human physique, she couldn't pierce it with a longsword.

When her first attack failed, Anna immediately threw down the broken stick and ran into the corner ahead.

"Gah!" After taking flight and readjusting its posture, the Charge-type Honkai Beast roared as it chased after Anna.

"Hey!"

It had barely flown around a bend when the chestnut-haired girl slammed a trash can over its head, kicked it, and then ducked into a room with an open window.

"Splash!" The Honkai Beast roared as it flew out of the trash can.

Anna hid under the windowsill, covering her mouth and nose, staring wide-eyed, quietly listening to the sound outside the window that resembled the flapping of birds' wings as it flew past.

Thankfully... I escaped unscathed.

Anna lowered her hand only after confirming that the Charge-type Honkai Beast had flown far away. She took a deep breath and breathed a sigh of relief, and her beret fell to her feet.

"Gah."

Anna's hair stood on end.

A Charge-type Honkai Beast hanging upside down from the ceiling stared at her, who remained motionless in terror.

He picked up the beret, jumped out the window, and fled.

"Gah!"

Where is that person?! This place is overrun with monsters now!

Anna felt like she was running the fastest she had ever run in her life. The Honkai Beast behind her, which seemed to be not fully mutated, was much slower than the first one, but it was still tightly chasing after her.

"Smack."

Then, at this crucial moment, Anna tripped.

As she fell onto the snow, she knew it was over.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!"

"Bang!"

With a loud thud, she saw the Honkai Beast fly over her head.

Anna, who had fallen to the ground, immediately got up again and looked behind her.

A jeep skidded across the snow, creating four ruts, before crashing into Honkai Beast and coming to a stop just behind her.

A familiar head popped out of the window and called out, "Anna!"

"Binai?!" Anna looked at the girl in Nun's habit in surprise.

Chapter Six Believe

"Thank goodness I made it!" Binai slumped over the steering wheel and breathed a sigh of relief. "Luckily, someone was willing to lend me their car, otherwise I really wouldn't have made it."

"Binai, what are you doing here!" Anna exclaimed anxiously as she opened the car door and sat in the Binai seat. "It's dangerous here!"

"Clatter".

Binai gave Anna a playful smack on the head.

"You know it's dangerous! What are those monsters? You know something about them, don't you!" she snapped at the stunned Anna. "You rushed in for the sake of others, but did you even think about what would happen to us if something happened to you!"

"You... you came in too..." Anna's confidence instantly waned after being reprimanded by Binai.

"I'm doing this for you! Honestly, think about yourself before you think about others!" Binai said angrily. "I know it's a good thing to help others, but I didn't teach you to risk everything to save people, did I?"

"Oh! Really! Binai, you're Nun! How could you say such a thing!"

"So what if I'm Nun! Does Nun mean you're destined to selflessly dedicate yourself to everyone?"

After finding a side road, Binai drove towards the city exit, and the two in the car remained silent, seemingly sulking.

"Anna, what has happened to you these past few days?" After a long pause, Binai finally broke the silence and asked Anna, "I know you are a kind-hearted person and a good kid, but I don't think you should have done this. In the past two weeks, especially today, you seem to me like... you've matured a lot."

Didn't you just lecture me?

"I'm lecturing you because you haven't considered yourself. If you don't love yourself, of course you need others to love you."

"..."

"Thinking about it carefully, you started to change after you brought Mr. Lin to the orphanage. Is that person related to the current situation?"

"... He told me about the disaster. He saved many people, but now he can't even stand up."

"I see."

Hearing Anna say this, Binai already had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

"I... I felt I should do something. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. After learning the truth from the old man, I felt that this was the meaning of my life." Anna's fingers dug into her palm. "The day I met the old man, I understood that this was my 'destiny'."

Their meeting must have been meaningful; it was an inevitability brought about by chance.

"... Anna, you've changed so much, I hardly recognize you anymore." After a moment of silence, Binai shook her head helplessly.

"Gala".

They had reached the city gate. Binai stopped the car and said to Anna, "Anna, get out and go to the shelter to take care of them."

"Me? Wait a minute, what about Binai?"

"Didn't you say there were still people in the city who hadn't left?" Binai glanced at Anna as she shifted gears. "I'm going to find him."

"No!" Anna retorted without hesitation.

"Anna ..."

Anna tried to grab the steering wheel. "You go, I can drive too, let me go."

"Anna!"

The snow on the eaves was shaken off.

"This is so annoying!" Anna roared at Binai. "It was Binai taught me how to change..."

"No, Anna."

"..."

"..."

After a few seconds of silence, Binai whispered to Anna, "Back then, I actually saw my past self in you."

"The past you... Binai ..." Anna realized the meaning of those words only after she came to her senses.

Back then? Do you mean when you were a child?

"I'm telling you, I did investigate your family, that's true, but not after we met, but before I even met you," Binai said softly to Anna. "Back then, I investigated their past in order to heal the children's emotional wounds."

Anna knew that Binai had lied to her on their first meeting, but she didn't expect that there was something else hidden besides the phrase "the new Nun".

Time was running out, and Binai didn't give Anna any time to think or feel sentimental; she recounted everything that had happened in one breath.

"My family is very similar to yours, but the difference is that my parents eventually kicked me out, and they didn't die."

"So during that time, I was much like you, hating them and believing that this was my fate. So I gradually began to believe in God and destiny, as an undevout believer."

"But after I met you and saw my own reflection in you, I decided to start changing myself. Because you can't be like me."

"It wasn't me who changed you, Anna, it was you who changed me."

A gentle smile vanished into the ice crystals and white mist.

Anna, whose right eye was stuck shut with blood, slowly got up from the ground, clutching her forehead, and looked around blankly.

What happens?

After Binai finished speaking, Anna heard a loud bang, which seemed to come from right next to her ear, yet also from a very far place.

And then... and then...

Anna lowered her hand, her left eye staring blankly at a figure in the distance, an ice-blue figure floating silently in the air, looking down at her expressionlessly.