The sky, scorched by fire, was like an ocean turned crimson tide. The high temperature and thin oxygen stripped away human vitality and everything one could see.
Even the smell of scorched earth was absent. Only the residues of carbonization and vaporization gave the numb nasal passages some sensation.
Soon, footsteps sounded. A person helped Eden up. After briefly checking her pupils, breathing, and pulse, she finally regained some consciousness.
In front of her was an unfamiliar man. Perhaps in normal times, she would be astonished to see such an extraordinarily handsome person, but now, her heart held only the void that followed the sudden descent of disaster.
"Are you injured?"
The man's familiar, level voice brought Eden back to her senses.
"Mr. Lin…" Her voice, once a celestial song, was now only a dry, low murmur.
His single arm, along with his voice, made Eden realize he was Lin.
After carefully lifting Eden, Lin turned and surveyed everything around them.
After the great fire, all that remained was the clash of destruction and endless smoke.
Of the concert venue, only he and Eden survived. And of this city, perhaps only the two of them remained.
In just a few minutes, the consuming flames had reduced the entire city to ash.
And the culprit of all this, the Seventh Herrscher, was...
"…"
Lin gazed at the bleak ruins. Something seemed to have extinguished within his heart.
The Seventh Herrscher was Himeko, who had been joking with him just a short while ago.
...
"Captain..."
Lin, who was usually quick to react, now sat in the ruins, where only the sound of burning flames remained. He stared, his breathing suspended, at the red-haired woman floating in the air and smiling.
The red-haired woman lowered her head slightly, saw the only person remaining, and smiled faintly.
"Lin."
The call, no different from usual, made Lin tremble for an instant. Then he scrambled up and lunged toward the red-haired woman in mid-air...
No, the Seventh Herrscher.
"Hmm?" She smiled, casually sidestepping and ascending a few meters, causing Lin to miss his attack.
The flames that wrapped around her body transformed into a complex, pitch-black evening gown. At this moment, she, as the Seventh Herrscher, had fully descended upon this world.
She should have killed Lin right here, but she flew outwards without even sparing him a glance.
"Bang!"
The bullets Lin fired melted from the heat before reaching the Seventh Herrscher's vicinity.
And he could only stand there, watching the Seventh Herrscher move away, watching that incredibly familiar back disappear.
Then, the high temperature flared up again—
...
He was spared by the Herrscher.
Why?
The Seventh Herrscher's smile was identical to Himeko, and she could even call out his name. But all of this had happened with the Fifth and Sixth Herrschers; it was merely a Herrscher's disguise.
Lin thought of the girl, but the Seventh Herrscher had killed everyone present except him.
Only him was spared.
"Mr. Lin... are you... alright?"
Eden had recovered from her near-comatose state. She looked at Lin, who stood before the sea of fire, and asked him softly.
"…"
"Now, is this what you referred to as the Honkai?"
Eden had witnessed, close-up, her manager being engulfed by a pillar of flame, burned to charcoal before she could even scream.
She looked at the desolate surroundings, her heart filled only with sorrow.
Only by witnessing true disaster did she feel more grief than she ever imagined.
"...Yes, the Seventh Herrscher has been born."
"Although it was only a glance, she is..."
"Mhm."
Lin interrupted her words, confirming her realization.
He had rationally contacted the 19th Branch and Headquarters, rationally reported all the details, including Himeko becoming the Seventh Herrscher, rationally described the Seventh Herrscher's destructive power and estimated casualties, rationally...
Rationally allowed himself to appear perfectly normal, just as before.
"Do you want to go see her?" Eden leaned against the ruins. She seemed no longer concerned if the high temperature would damage her skin. She, who usually shone like a star, was now like a stone fallen into the dirt, yet she spoke calmly to Lin. "Do people who become Herrschers still have their sanity?"
Lin said nothing. He turned his head, showing the sea of fire before him to Eden.
Yet, it was as if he said everything.
But Lin did not deny it.
"I have some things I want to ask her."
Why did she spare him?
Beneath that smiling, destructive exterior, what was left?
He looked down at his feet. A group photo, amid the spreading fire, curled, distorted, and turned to ash.
The smiling faces vanished.
"Thud."
He heard the sound of his head hitting the ground.
The earth fell upon his body.
...
"Drip-drop…"
"Drip-drop…"
"Are you awake?"
A highly recognizable voice, which he had heard not long ago, appeared close to his ear. This time, it seemed tinged with fatigue, revealing her exhaustion.
The ceiling of the lab, which he hadn't seen in a long time, and an IV drip attached to his arm came into view.
Beneath the dark green bangs was a pair of dark circles he seemed to have seen somewhere before. She watched the waking Lin coldly.
It was as if she had just happened to be there, yet also as if she had been waiting for a long time.
"Congratulations. You've added a thick stroke to your sleep history." Mobius turned away coldly, picked up a syringe, and inserted it into Lin neck. "Don't move."
A slight stinging accompanied the cold liquid flowing into his body. His rigid body seemed to be activated. He rolled sideways off the bed in one fluid movement.
It was then he realized he wasn't on the operating table, but in Mobius's private room.
"Because of your special nature, you weren't placed in the medical department. Instead, I monitored you directly after performing the limb replacement." Mobius crossed her arms, staring indifferently at Lin. "You can go back to lying down. The Seventh Herrscher is already being dealt with. You are not needed."
"...How is the battle going?"
"It's fine. At least we've decided on a code name for the Seventh Herrscher: Herrscher of Flame."
"I mean... the situation of the battle."
"Can you stop fussing?" Mobius turned away impatiently. "Didn't I already say? We are dealing with the Seventh Herrscher now."
"...To what extent has her destruction reached in Australia?"
"…"
In just a few words, the atmosphere between them became tense.
And Lin seemed to understand something from Mobius's silence. He sat back on the bed.
That overwhelming destructive power, along with the physical pain, continuously replayed in his mind...