"Thud!"
After piercing Lin and Prometheus I together, the bloodthirsty light in the Sixth Herrscher's eyes flared, and she couldn't help but let out a sinister laugh.
She had succeeded.
Although delaying the time was the safest approach, there were too many variables; Lin couldn't be allowed to live.
This method of causing internal and external fragmentation to a human, a method that revealed cruelty and abnormality beneath the calmness, was what she ought to do.
It didn't matter if she didn't know why she was laughing.
Because her smile and her words were all performances intended to achieve a goal. Doing this made it easier for her to crush humanity, no different from the purpose of creating that giant tree.
This is the end…
"Thud!"
The Sixth Herrscher looked at her own chest in confusion.
A short dagger was gripped by a blood-stained hand, and the sharp end had fully sunk into her body, touching the Herrscher Core.
It was as if it had been prepared to stop there all along, ready to…
Stab the target precisely at this moment.
The hand released the dagger and immediately tore the Phase Transfer device from the Sixth Herrscher's wrist. Before she could activate the black mist to engulf the cockpit, Lin and Prometheus I had vanished from the cockpit.
She was ambushed? And by the same trick, twice?
There were only two ways to bypass the Herrscher shield and hit the Herrscher's core body. One was to use an armor-piercing round with a similar principle to neutralize the hindering Honkai Energy shield. The other was for the Herrscher to intentionally drop the shield herself.
The latter, besides self-weakening caused by excessive use of Authority, only occurred when the Herrscher herself made the dangerous move of trying to touch something outside the shield.
He had anticipated that she would not use the black mist because she wanted to be fast enough?
That loophole was deliberately created by him…
The Sixth Herrscher's smile faded. Her human-like expression vanished from her face. An expressionless, doll-like sense of cold silence emerged.
A face devoid of humanity, identical to all other Herrschers.
Lin and Prometheus I appeared above Kevin. Kevin quickly caught both of them, but upon contact, he couldn't feel any signs of consciousness in either of them.
"Lin…?"
Kevin's pupil widened. His previously placid expression cracked.
Prometheus I's body was that of a synthetic android, so a lack of human vital signs was normal.
But he couldn't feel a heartbeat or breathing from Lin either.
The man who had always concealed his face, whose full appearance his best friend only saw today, lay there with a calm expression, looking as if he were asleep. The only eye with an eyeball was closed.
His body was exceptionally light. His incomplete limbs hung limply like a broken puppet. Whatever had been supporting this scarred body seemed to have disappeared.
He was a corpse.
He had passed away in that space where nothing existed, without even having a chance to speak his last words or take a final look at the world.
Just as he arrived: with nothing.
In his departure, he also left with nothing.
…
He had walked for so long in the darkness.
Lin stepped forward tirelessly. In this place where the sky was unseen and the earth was invisible, he had forgotten the passage of time.
Perhaps it wasn't that important. The unchanging environment, whether a second or a hundred years passed, was meaningless to him.
But occasionally, when he stopped to rest, he would remember the reason he kept going. Although he didn't know where the road led, he firmly believed he had never taken a wrong path.
There was no light, and no guidance, but it didn't matter. He didn't need them.
Lin always wanted to leave something behind on this road to guide those who followed, but he couldn't even clearly see the path himself, much less know what he, possessing nothing, could leave. So he could only walk forward with his head down.
Had anyone else walked this road? Were others walking this road now? Were others on a different path not far away?
He actually thought about these questions, which is why he often looked around.
Finally, there seemed to be a faint light ahead. He thought this must be his destination and walked toward it.
"Don't come over, Lin."
But someone blocked the light. The backlit face was unreadable. Lin looked at him, then quietly nodded and walked past him.
The person stared at Lin's retreating back, reaching out as if to speak, but finally let his hand fall.
The end wasn't here?
One of Lin's legs felt sore. He thought it was muscle fatigue from walking too long, so he reached out to rub it, but all he felt was empty air when his hand reached the spot.
"…"
"Thump."
Missing a leg, he fell blankly to the ground.
Saying nothing, Lin clawed at the ground, crawling forward. He had already walked a great distance anyway. A missing leg was nothing to him.
Soon, another cluster of warm light appeared. This was probably his destination.
But as he got closer, and could clearly see the light, Lin realized his vision was compromised; half of it seemed missing. He reached up and felt around his right eye socket, finding nothing there either.
"…"
Casting aside distractions, Lin desperately wanted to move closer to the light. This was his end…
"Uncle, don't stop here."
Lin froze, his fingers held still in front of the light after hearing that voice.
So he nodded, clawed at the ground, walked around the light, and returned to his path.
Gradually, this silent space was no longer silent. Many voices were added, some familiar, some strange.
They were all not far away, urging Lin on.
To keep moving forward.
To bear their burden and keep moving forward.
"Pat."
Lin's head hit the ground. He looked bewilderedly as his brain and blood flowed out of his cracked skull, disappearing into the darkness.
His brain was also empty.
His memories had also vanished, but Lin remembered he still had to walk forward.
He walked for a long time again, so long that Lin almost forgot who he was, when that dim light reappeared.
"This is your path, finish it, Little Lin."
Sure enough, this was not the final resting place either.
Lin still wanted to complete the road whose end was unknown, but he found his body could no longer support him going any further.
Some strange lines covered his body. His last bit of strength was stripped away.
Lin fell to the ground, slowly wriggling, moving forward.
It was truly too exhausting.
Lin thought of the hardships the future generations would also have to endure, wandering on this lightless, dark path. So, he paused, a rare occurrence, and looked back.
Then, he was surprised to find that some bright liquid was running along the path he had traveled, extending all the way to his body.
It was his blood.
Lin's lips stretched into a long, lasting smile.
This is wonderful. Even if he couldn't emit light to illuminate the path, these bloodstains would surely guide those who came after him.
"This is the end."
He said to himself.
He said to the people behind him.
The dazzling sun hung high above. Lin's feet stepped onto soft sand. His unobstructed nose inhaled the fresh air fully.
The man in the white coat, unromantic and looking sleepy, and the cheerful chestnut-haired girl with a cold drink, and the shy, short-haired girl with streaked hair were discussing something. A man smoking and reading a novel sat on a beach chair not far away, enjoying the sea breeze and the sun, reveling in the hard-won peace.
A person walked up behind them. The man in the white coat yawned, then turned and smiled:
"Long time no see, Lin. Do you have a lot to talk about?"
"Ah… I think so. I can take my time telling you everything this time."
Lin stretched lazily, facing the warm sea breeze, and sat down beside them.