Boiling Blood

The Fifth Herrscher was born not long ago, so she may not have the same level of control over her powers as the Third Herrscher. She may have frozen herself in the orphanage to quickly adapt to her powers. Even though she is still unfamiliar with her abilities, she may still be able to win based on her experience fighting Herrscher many times.

However...

"Waaah—"

Lin vomited a mouthful of blood, and the blood was completely devoid of the color of human blood.

Not only is his physical condition eroded by Honkai Energy, but his mental state, which has been damaged by Neural Connection, is also at its worst.

As the Fifth Herrscher flew, he raised his hand and made a fist. An ice pillar with a radius of tens of meters rose from the ground beneath Lin and arrived at his feet in the blink of an eye, intending to freeze him inside.

Lin drove the flight device with all his might, soaring upwards, with the ice pillars relentlessly following behind, drawing a long ice corridor in the air.

As Hen and his group rushed towards the orphanage, their pupils constricted upon seeing the dazzling ice corridor. "That's... Lin is fighting the Fifth Herrscher! Everyone, go into battle mode and support Lin!"

Having said that, he raised his gun and aimed it at the Fifth Herrscher. Even though they were still quite a distance apart, Hen pulled the trigger to attract her attention.

"Bang! Bang!"

However, long before his bullets arrived, two blocks of solid ice materialized out of thin air beside the Herrscher of Ice, easily blocking his attack.

The Fifth Herrscher's icy eyes swept over the direction of the mark, and she raised her hand and pressed down, causing countless ice crystals to appear in the air, their sharp ends pointing towards the road below.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

This time, the raindrops were no longer as "gentle" as hail, but countless sharp spikes, imbued with the Herrscher Authority, shooting towards the direction of the mark.

In an instant, danger loomed overhead, and Hen immediately stopped his sprint. "Dodge!"

However, these new recruits were not very adaptable. Half of them simply drew their weapons and charged after hearing that the enemy had entered combat mode. Because they heard that there was support, they thought they were not being sent to their deaths by the Fire Moths and that the other squads would also charge with them.

When these people heard "dodge," they didn't even have time to process what was happening; they simply crouched down to dodge.

Therefore, this led to a series of tragedies.

"Aaaaaaah!!"

Amidst screams of agony, the blooming blood transformed into ice flowers. The moment those ice spikes pierced the soldiers' bodies, they emitted a terrifying chill, instantly freezing their bodies and their life force, turning them into ice sculptures.

Even the icicles that didn't pierce the human body froze the surrounding objects and the ground after they embedded themselves in it.

In a single encounter, more than half of the team were turned into ice sculptures, their expressions of terror frozen in their final moments.

Kosma watched them die right before his eyes. He stood there dumbfounded, then Hen grabbed him and pulled him away from the ice spikes.

"Kosma!"

With a roar from Hen, Kosma shuddered and came to his senses. He gritted his teeth and took one last look at his comrades with whom he had spent only a day, then picked up his gun and followed Hen's footsteps.

Lin swiftly dodged the relentlessly pursuing ice pillars in mid-air, while the Floating Cannon fired in a cross shape, cutting and shattering the ice pillars.

"Bang!"

Before he could catch his breath, a heavy impact sent him flying from behind, and blood spilled from his mouth again.

The snow-white, Charge-type Honkai Beast howled as it chased after the falling forest.

Lin used to be able to easily dodge attacks of this level, but now he can't find the part he wants from the vast amount of information. The amount of information that was originally an aid has now become a distraction.

Countless chaotic impurities flowed through Lin's black pupils as he barely managed to control the Floating Cannon to shoot Honkai Beast, but even more Honkai Beast followed.

They howled, wanting to divide the forest and devour it.

Lock, lock, lock...

Lin's brain was overloaded, and the heavy burden on his Neural Connection made his vision blurry. He could only rely on intuition to lock onto the enemy and then fire randomly.

"Bang!"

The high-output Floating Cannon transformed into beams of light that swept across the area, annihilating the last Honkai Beast.

Lin wanted to adjust the flight equipment to take off again before crashing.

But--

"Bass."

An ice spike pierced his thigh.

An endless chill spread outwards from the base of his thighs, causing his legs to become necrotic.

Lin immediately used the Floating Cannon to sever his injured thigh, completely detaching the leg from his body.

Then, the Honkai Energy within his body began to spread wildly when stimulated by the "cutting of flesh," and all the pain multiplied.

We lost.

The Fifth Herrscher...

Frozen blood turned into horrific ice crystals in the sky.

The snow-white sun emitted a pale, melancholy light.

The bird with broken wings cried out in heart-wrenching agony.

The falling man helplessly reached out his hand to the high and mighty Ice Queen.

Dirty purple lines grew rampant on the skin beneath the torn armor.

Everything faded away in winter.

The Ice Queen eventually reached out her hand to him.

Then, ice spikes fell from the sky, piercing the man's helmet and going into his right eye.

The shattered helmet fragments, along with the man's body, fell heavily to the ground.

Chapter Nine: Boiling Blood

The sky was bright and clear, and there was a pleasant aroma in the air, like the scent of flowers or tea. A spoon gently stirred the rich coffee, and pure white milk foam floated on top, looking exceptionally delicious.

The fluffy cumulus clouds above the horizon, layered like cotton candy.

"Splash..."

A day filled with vibrant colors.

The boy sat in the soft chair, picked up his coffee, looked at his face in the fragrant teacup, and after thinking for a while, took a small sip.

The rich flavor is delightful, making you want to laze around for a while on this sunny day.

Speaking of which, why did I come here...?

After searching his blank mind for a while without finding anything, he nonchalantly leaned back in his chair, lay down, and yawned.

Never mind, it's not important.

The boy closed his eyes, ceasing to think about those useless things.

"Hey, wake up, uncle."

"Um?"

Two slender, smooth fingers pinched his cheek, and the boy groggily woke up from his dream. He saw a pretty face with a reproachful expression facing him directly above him.

They look familiar, but I can't remember who they are.

"... Is there something you need?" The boy pushed her hand away and sat up from the soft chair.

The girl angrily pointed at the chair the boy was sitting on. "You still want to ask me what's wrong? You took my seat, you stupid old man!"

"Is that so?" The boy scratched the back of his head, frowning. "I guess so."

Why do I feel this way?

"What do you mean 'seems to be'? Since you've taken my spot, get up now!"

"Oh oh."

The boy stood up in a daze, while the girl unceremoniously sat in his original seat, took a big gulp of her coffee, and then spat it all out.

"Pfft—cough cough, this is too bitter. It was the same last time. Uncle, why do you like coffee so much?" The girl put down her cup and wiped her mouth.

"Do we... know each other?" The boy stared blankly at the smiling girl, something flashing through his mind, but he just couldn't remember it. "Why do you call me 'uncle'? I'm only twenty years old."

"Of course I know him."

"But I can't remember who you are... No, I don't know who I am either... What's going on?"

The boy's mind was empty, with some ambiguous things surging in the depths of his consciousness as if trying to break through a thin membrane, but he could never break through that thin membrane.

Especially the person in front of him, he always felt a vague sense of urgency to call out her name.

He looked around and realized that he was on a beach, with clear blue water and a gentle sea breeze. The sand stretched out into the distance, seemingly without end.

The sandy ground was flat and empty, and even the footprints of the girl could not be seen.

Wait a minute, how long have I been here?

The boy covered his head, feeling a dull pain in his right eye. He reached out to touch it, but couldn't feel anything.

"Uncle, what's wrong? Does your eye hurt?"

"... You say you know me, can you tell me how we met?" The boy lowered his hand and asked the girl who was fanning her face with her hand.

Seabirds circled overhead and landed on the distant beach, hopping and occasionally pecking at the sand.

"How did you meet...? Hmm... I think it was a very romantic encounter, but talking about the past seems rather boring." The girl stirred the spoon in her cup with her fingers, smiled sweetly at the boy, "How about we talk about something else, like something less important?"

"Something that's not so important..."

"I've got it, sir! Who do you think will win the tortoise and the hare race?"

The Tortoise and the Hare?

The boy knew this famous fable, but it was an artistic creation. In reality, as long as the rabbit kept running, the tortoise should not be able to beat the rabbit.

But is the question the ending of the fable or the ending in reality?

Seeing the girl's excited and expectant gaze, the boy thought for a moment and said, "A turtle, I guess."

"Hey~ But aren't rabbits much faster than tortoises?"

"... rabbits tend to be arrogant and underestimate their enemies."

"Uncle, isn't that from a fable?"

"That means the rabbit will win."

"But aren't rabbits prone to carelessness and underestimating their opponents?"

"..."

The girl laughed when she saw the boy's speechless expression, "Hahaha... Uncle, your expression is very interesting. I don't actually care what you're going to say, I just want to see you racking your brains for this answer. It's very cute."

"Just to see my expression..."

"Yes." The girl waved and smiled. "The answer isn't really important to me. In the end, if I only pursue the result, I might stray from the original path. I care more about the process."

"Once you're on the right path, whether you reach the destination or not is no longer important, is it?"

Here we go again.

The boy covered his right eye, as if something was flowing out of it.

The boy saw the weariness on his hands through his fingertips. After a moment of silence, he lowered his hands and said to the girl, "But I led you down the wrong path. If you hadn't met me and I hadn't told you about the Honkai, you would still be an ordinary person, living a normal life and walking on the right path in your life."

The happiness, life, and future of ordinary people do not require the awareness to sacrifice for anyone.

The girl smiled and said, "No, I'm very grateful to you for telling me the truth. You enabled me to make the right judgment and protect this world that I love in the end. That's wonderful."

"That should have been my destiny, not yours." The boy lowered his head, his facial muscles twitching as he forgot how to show an expression. "I am a selfish person, always dragging those around me into the vortex, always watching others leave for me. In the face of predetermined fate, I just blindly walked to the end."

Why should we see someone like him as hope, and why should we sacrifice ourselves for him?

This should have been the end he should have reached long ago.

"No, uncle, you didn't blindly walk to the end."

The boy looked up.

Sunlight fell on the girl's shoulders.

"Haven't you always been fighting against your fate? You still are now," she said with a carefree laugh.