Ato entered the room with his head bowed. A person sat in a chair with their back to him, as if they had been waiting for a long time.
"Dr. Einstein." A lingering gloom hung over Ato's face. He spoke softly to the figure in the chair, "About the leadership's announcement..."
"Erwin is dead."
"..."
Ato froze.
In that single second, his brain processed those words, yet he couldn't grasp their meaning. It was only when Einstein turned around to look at him with cold eyes—revealing that no one else was in the room—that the significance finally hit him.
His lips trembled violently, and his facial expression collapsed into a mess, like a stone thrown into a pond. "Why..."
"I thought about many things. Maybe it was because of Lin, maybe because of me, or maybe because of you." Einstein looked at the data and intelligence Erwin had compiled; it was hard to imagine that a Private who had remained at the lowest rank for years could find such information. "But in the end, I feel this tragedy wasn't caused by any one specific person."
Was it because of ugly human nature?
Einstein didn't think the reason was something so profound or pretentious.
When everyone's beliefs and perspectives differ, the paths they take naturally diverge. And they... simply chose their own endings.
Character is fate.
"Which side will you stand on?" Einstein stood up. "Ato."
"..."
Ato was lost.
Who exactly was he?
A soldier, a senior, a traitor, a father...
Ahead, the rain poured in torrents, as if the sky had collapsed. Sheet-like rain slammed against the car. Completely disregarding the hydroplaning ground and the loss of traction, he slammed the accelerator to the floor. The needle on the speedometer soared.
Faster... faster...
Bang!
Lin jerked his head up, released the steering wheel, and drew the long blade from his back!
Clang!
Two sharp blades easily sliced open the car roof and collided with the weapon in Lin hand. Lin slammed on the brakes while his free hand yanked the emergency brake. The car's speed grim, but the figure atop the roof remained perfectly steady, as if a spider were clinging to the chassis.
A sense of crisis struck. A massive influx of data entered his vision through the helmet. Lin tilted his body; a terrifying air-blade sliced the half of the sedan beside him in two. The smooth cross-section looked like a cake cut by a knife!
Violent wind pressure and rain instantly engulfed Lin. He ripped off his seatbelt, released the long blade that was locked in a stalemate with the twin blades, and leaped out of the car—
Clang!
Another air-blade followed, and the remaining half of the sedan disintegrated.
Lin rolled several times on the ground, coming to a halt in a half-kneeling position. His helmet's visual system activated, staring at the person pulling their blade out of the sheet metal.
A person with strangely twisted long horns and a bloated, deformed right leg. The only golden vertical pupil in his two eyes shifted nimbly toward Lin direction. Surrounding him were four other aberrations barely distinguishable from his own strangeness.
MANTIS soldiers.
These MANTIS soldiers knew his return route in advance and ambushed him here...
...Gray Serpent.
Lin silently drew a weapon from his case. He stared coldly at the figures before him. The rain, growing heavier, flowed from his helmet onto his weapon, then from the tip to the ground.
"Don't be careless. The opponent is a warrior who has slain multiple Herrschers." The man with the twin blades was the captain of this MANTIS squad. Seeing Lin posture, he calmly commanded the others. "Avoid fighting him alone as much as possible. Use coordination."
"..."
The current limit for MANTIS soldiers was Kevin. His physical constitution and abilities reached the level of a Herrscher. However, that didn't mean subsequent MANTIS soldiers would reach his heights. In truth, many MANTIS born after that only barely surpassed the human limit.
Though before Kevin, that limit had belonged to only one person.
"The opponent excels at information processing and has extremely fast reflexes. He knows multiple combat techniques and utilizes the environment. Watch his position and hand movements. Don't be misled, and don't let him lure you into complex terrain."
I see...
The environment they were currently in was a vast flatland. Here, Lin lost the terrain-based combat he excelled at and was forced to fight them on level ground.
This MANTIS is different from the others.
The MANTIS soldiers gradually surrounded Lin, forming an airtight net. He watched their positioning and attack stances, which were forcing him toward the center. Every face bore an unprecedented level of solemnity.
...No, it's this squad that is different.
"Apologies, Captain Lin."
As soon as the MANTIS captain spoke, Lin charged out like a bolt of lightning. He had to break through before their formation completely enclosed him.
Lin sprinted directly toward the captain with the golden vertical pupil. He drew a greatsword and leaped, but the captain's pupil shone like burnished gold in the rain, piercing the mist. He raised his twin blades, not intending to parry, but to pierce Lin chest and neck directly.
The MANTIS soldier closest to the captain, seemingly unfazed by the momentum of Lin about to cleave the captain in two, raised a hand. An air-blade swirled and condensed in his palm, ready to fire.
That air-blade, which had sliced the car into pieces, was his attack.
Lin pupils shrank. He instantly understood their plan and adjusted his posture, bringing the greatsword to his side to block.
Boom!
The air-blade struck the flat of the greatsword. Lin was sent flying dozens of meters like he'd been hit by a truck, landing in the mud. He stabbed his sword into the ground to help himself up, coughing out two mouthfuls of blood coldly as he watched the five figures approach again.
Do these people not fear death?
The MANTIS captain was clearly prepared to trade injuries. Even if Lin had cleaved him in two with the greatsword, the captain's blade would have pierced Lin chest.
"Please stop resisting, Captain Lin. Unnecessary sacrifice is not worth it."
The MANTIS captain gripped his twin blades and walked slowly to Lin right. As far as he knew, Lin had lost his right eye for a long time. Even if the impact was minimal, Lin defense on the right might not be as tight as on the left.
But Lin reacted to his words.
"...Sacrifice." Lin looked up at the expressionless man. "Then do you agree with what those people are doing?"
"If sacrificing two-thirds of the population can bring about a better survival for the other one-third, then it is worth it."
"..."
Lin shook his head. He took a deep breath and drew the greatsword.
"That's only because you aren't part of that two-thirds."