Boom!
Lin parried a fist aimed at his face with a powerful palm strike. The surrounding electrical sparks slowed his movement for a microsecond, but only for an instant. He countered with a punch to a Tenth Herrscher's chest, and before she could fly back, he delivered a mid-air kick to her neck!
Crack!
The neck twisted at a grotesque angle; she died instantly.
A powerful wind rushed at his back. Lin nimbly evaded the sweeping attacks and ducked behind cover, calmly observing the situation. At least forty Tenth Herrschers were currently hunting him. They seemed to have sensed the Cores in his body, pursuing him with suicidal fervor.
The Herrschers' desire for the Cores was clearly abnormal. Lin had also begun to understand the problem with the Tenth Herrscher.
Simply put, the Tenth Herrscher couldn't be considered a complete Herrscher. Or rather, their situation was very similar to Lin. Their original consciousness still existed; they didn't even know they had become Herrschers. Their consciousnesses were merely tools used for disguise and infiltration. Once the Core was activated, their consciousness would be stripped away—unlike Lin, who maintained a delicate balance.
They didn't even know they had unknowingly committed atrocities against humanity. The Tenth Herrschers inside Fire Moth constantly fed intelligence to those outside, yet they themselves fought the Honkai like ordinary members, even actively hunting other Tenth Herrschers.
This was the Tenth Herrscher's plan. Who was the Herrscher and who was the human? Perhaps... they were both. Only when the perpetrator doesn't know they are the culprit is the disguise perfect.
Mobius was completely dizzy from the conflicting stories. She didn't know who the Herrscher was or who was telling the truth. Their expressions and words were flawless. She even began to wonder if she was going mad.
"Stop it..." Mobius spoke with total exhaustion. She clutched her forehead, intending to take them for an inspection. "You two..."
Swoosh!
Blood-red stained her gradient snake-pupils.
"..."
All strength left her. A coldness, like water flooding her body, gradually took over. But Mobius only felt... powerless.
The Tenth Herrscher had moved.
She had guessed they would target her, and that they would strike when her guard was lowest, but she hadn't anticipated this scene.
Her chest was pierced by two hands. Her small body was lifted bodily off her mobility device, swaying like a tattered piece of paper in the wind.
One hand belonged to her best friend; the other, to her most trusted assistant. The two had stopped arguing. Simultaneously, human emotion vanished from their eyes.
Mobius suddenly wanted to laugh. She really wanted to laugh out loud, but opening her mouth only resulted in coughing up large amounts of blood.
Finally, she had nothing left. Finally, she was alone again. Just like decades ago when she left that "home" that made her nauseous, leaving all childhood innocence and humanity in that house smelling of medicine.
Now, it was the same. So be it.
She lowered her head, her eyelids weighed down by blood. So be it...
Bang!
A figure burst through the closing door and charged into the room. Before the two expressionless Tenth Herrschers could react, he sprinted forward, knocked Blanca aside, snatched Mobius from their grasp, and retreated rapidly.
However, they wouldn't let Mobius go. She was one of humanity's most vital figures; killing her was a high priority in the Tenth Herrscher's plan. One shrouded in the aura of death and the other wreathed in gale-force winds charged at the figure, their faces twisted with an inhuman, cold-blooded void.
But the newcomer clenched his right fist, swirling with air currents, and slammed it into the floor before him!
Boom!
A powerful shockwave radiated from his fist, blowing the two away!
Inch Force: Rock Breach!
"Cough, cough..."
Mobius coughed up more clotted blood. She wouldn't die; even if she died physiologically, she would revive. Thus, the wounds were merely wounds.
She weakly lifted her chin to look at the cloaked man holding her. She saw the face beneath the dark hood. She wasn't surprised at all. Perhaps this was "resonance." When she saw the room cleaned so thoroughly this morning, she probably already knew.
"Cough... don't... kill them... I can... save them..."
Mobius vomited more blood onto his clothes, her trembling fingers clutching his collar. Her cold, indifferent snake-pupils now held emotions Lin didn't quite understand. Fear, fragility, and wandering. Her small, beast-like body shivered.
"...It's okay. It will be over soon. Leave it to me."
Lin looked up coldly at the inhuman expressions of the two familiar women. He pressed Mobius head down and lowered his gaze. His hands stopped trembling.
Let him do this. This was better. He would never get used to it, but he was more familiar with it than anyone. It was just... shooting monsters that looked exactly like people he knew.
Lin stepped forward, sidestepping a wind blade that sliced a corner of his black robe. He circulated the Honkai energy in his body. The moment the energy erupted, his cloak flew back, revealing a head of brilliant silver hair.
A punch was thrown. It was as if a thousand bolts of lightning flowed from the gaps in his fist, converging into a searing orange-yellow orb!
Inch Force: Turbulent Thunder!
The high-energy destructive sphere struck Blanca the moment she paused, enveloping her. Hair and fabric were instantly turned to ash, and the room's temperature skyrocketed! The mangled humanoid figure smashed through the wall and collapsed in the corridor outside.
Meanwhile, the Tenth Herrscher looking like Klein lunged at him on all fours like a beast, her hands wreathed in black mist!
Lin stared at the face of the girl who had once smiled and called him Mr. Lin while listening to his bad jokes. He slowly exhaled.
Yes. These things... should be left to him.
With his pupils coldly reflecting the approaching Tenth Herrscher, the man leaped up, raising his right fist with immense force, Honkai energy gathering at its tip.
Inch Force: Sky Cleaver!
BOOM————
A violent sonic boom swept through everything. The dust settled.
The girl lay flat on her back, her short green hair spread helplessly across the cold floor. A peaceful smile was frozen on her face—her final image.
The man knelt by her side, holding the other green-haired girl. His head was bowed; his face and body were covered in vivid, piercing red blood.
There seemed to be something the girl still wanted to say as she stared straight at the unconscious Doctor in the man's arms. But in the end, she could say nothing.
There was no time to say anything at all.