The moment his hand touched the sword, Lin realized the material was unusual. Its weight didn't match its length or thickness; he immediately understood it was forged from Soul Steel.
Ignoring the wound at his waist, Lin gritted his teeth, gripped the hilt with both hands, and drove the blade into the gap of the monster's carapace.
Skree!
Because there was no handguard, Lin hands slid down the hilt. The edge sliced his palms, and warm, crimson blood dripped from the blade into the monster's wound.
"Hooooh—"
It might have been pain, but it was more likely a meaningless howl. The crab monster raised its giant claw, but compared to the mantis, its speed was much slower. Lin scooped up Vil-V with one arm, grabbed the sword stuck in the shell with his other hand, and used it like a vaulting pole. Putting his weight on the blade, he leaped up to dodge the pincer, then yanked the sword free.
The whistling of wind sounded from behind. Lin, having already analyzed the environmental data, anticipated the move and held the blade horizontally behind him.
Clang!
Sparks flew. In the freezing winter day, the sharp clash rang out. Lin absorbed the monstrous force, held Vil-V tight, and slammed into the ground, rolling several times to dissipate the momentum.
Blood surged from the wound at his waist again. Lin didn't feel much pain, but his internal organs were injured; blood began to leak uncontrollably from his mouth and nostrils. He let go of Vil-V and said as steadily as possible, "Run toward the outskirts. Try to evacuate and guide the people. Avoid narrow areas."
"Alright."
Vil-V knew that worrying now was pointless. She had no combat role once the weapon was delivered, and staying would only hinder Lin. Though she couldn't take her eyes off the wound that had nearly bisected him, she bit her lip and ran back without a word.
The mantis monster responded to moving organisms. Seeing Vil-V flee, it leaped again, striking at her back.
Vil-V felt the foul wind behind her, but she didn't look back. She knew Lin would never let her get hurt.
And indeed, while Lin speed wasn't equal to the monster's, he could predict its actions through a wealth of complex data. The moment the monster lunged at Vil-V, he was already blocking its path.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Lin never expected a day would come when a fight with a monster could be described as an exchange of sword light and shadows. Each of his strikes parried the force of the monster's claws rather than meeting them head-on. The dizzying reflections of the blade on the snow looked like a series of lighting lamps.
As expected, even a Soul Steel weapon dealt limited damage to these creatures.
Lin ducked to avoid a thrusting pincer, then stepped onto the pincer itself, using it as a springboard to jump again. A pair of claws, like a bloodthirsty embrace, swept beneath his feet with a cold gleam.
He jumped onto the second-floor balcony of a nearby house. The two monsters didn't seem to realize what had happened, giving him a moment to check his injury.
But strangely, the horrific wound at his waist was no longer bleeding as heavily as before, and the edges of the cut had begun to knit and bond together on their own.
Just like the wound on his throat back then...
At that moment, the swift mantis monster spotted Lin again. Its four powerful legs slammed into the ground, propelling it toward him with a dull thud. Lin gaze darkened. Information flooded the HUD inside his helmet like a tide, making everything around him as clear as a 3D grid.
Limited damage doesn't mean no damage.
Lin stepped onto the railing. A phantom smashed through the balcony, but by then he had already leaped to another. He moved with incredible agility across the complex structures, searching for footing and... an opening to strike.
"Sss—Hooooh—"
The monster shredded Lin landing point. Beneath his helmet, he expressionlessly watched the claws getting closer. At the moment its forelimb reached full extension, he spun the blade in his left hand and drove it into the limb's joint. He then sidestepped the left claw and pressed his pistol against the monster's compound eye.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
He fired four times in rapid succession. The first bullet hit the invisible energy and stalled for a fraction of a second, but the second bullet struck the center of the first, and the third hit the same point with precision! After the fourth bullet transferred its kinetic energy to the ones in front, the first bullet finally broke through the energy barrier and pierced the monster's eye.
"Gah..."
Before the monster could scream, Lin let go of the sword embedded in its limb, grabbed a ridge on its other compound eye, pressed the gun directly against it, and cold-bloodedly pulled the trigger.
Deprived of vision, the monster—falling through the air with Lin—could only smash its thick tail at Lin head, which he easily dodged. He then yanked out the sword and drove it into the junction between the soft abdomen and the tail!
Thud!
Man and monster slammed into the ground. With the meat cushion beneath him, Lin was mostly unharmed, but the monster wasn't so lucky. After being skewered by Lin, it convulsed a few times and then went still.
Following its death, its body color shifted from dark purple to a purple-white similar to a Honkai Beast.
This is...
Before Lin could get a clear look, the monster's remains dissolved into dark purple light particles and vanished. He frowned. No corpse left behind meant it would be impossible to perform an autopsy or conduct research later.
But there was no time to dwell on that. Lin immediately lunged at the much slower crab monster. The city was currently experiencing something no less severe than a medium-scale Honkai Eruption. Various monsters were rampaging through the streets. The only upside seemed to be that the monsters lacked the trait of Honkai Beasts—they didn't emit Honkai energy that infected humans and animals into Zombies or Honkai Beasts.
He had to do his best to save people before the 13th Squad arrived.
"Roar—"
The rising and falling cries of monsters echoed in the city, alongside crying, screaming, and shouting... After a year, chaos had returned to the human world.
...
When he heard the roar of transport engines and saw the blue particle trails in the sky, Lin pulled his sword from the mouthparts of a snail-like monster. He thrust the blade into the ground, panting heavily. To the person nearby who was paralyzed with fear, he said in a low voice: "Stay here. Don't move. Rescue will be here soon. Follow them."
He finished, pulled out the sword, and took two steps forward.
"Ugh—"
Lin clutched his helmet. The whispers were louder than ever, feeling as if they were about to burst his brain... as if they were trying to evict his consciousness.
His body convulsed under the terrified gazes of several civilians, and then he collapsed heavily to the ground.