Seeing that Kalpas no longer seemed intent on breaking his legs, Silas spoke up:
"For the time being, you should be able to rest for a while. The upcoming incidents will probably just be small-scale Honkai outbreaks. In other words, not really suitable for someone like you who specializes in overwhelming force."
To put it more bluntly—Kalpas might end up causing more damage than the Honkai itself.
"Hmph. Rest? I don't need it." Kalpas scoffed.
"Suit yourself. Either way, you won't have any missions for a while." Silas shrugged. "Oh, by the way, I brought you a little souvenir from Puglia City."
"Tch. Completely unnecessary!"
Silas glanced at Kevin, who looked too drained to stir up any mischief, then waved at the three of them.
"Anyway, I'll drop it off with you later. For now, I'm going to train."
"Training, huh? Perfect. I'd like to see for myself just how strong you are these days." Kalpas moved to follow.
"Strong enough to make you kneel and beg me not to die after one punch." Silas didn't even bother looking back. Being on good terms had its perks—like letting him get away with this kind of arrogance.
"Hah? If you die, what's that got to do with me?" Kalpas shot back, showing off why he had the second-hardest mouth in the Elysian Realm.
"Wait a second, Kalpas," Kevin interrupted.
Kalpas turned. "What? You want to spar too? Fine. Anytime."
Kevin: "..."
Does your brain really contain nothing but "fight, fight, fight"?
…Oh right. It's Kalpas. Never mind.
In a way, Kalpas's head really was filled with nothing but "fight fight fight."
Su thought for a moment, then decided Kevin probably wasn't going to start anything with Kalpas. And Kalpas wouldn't actually beat down a half-paralyzed Kevin.
"Kevin, I'm going to meet with Teacher Spaci. I'll be heading off first."
Kevin nodded. "Mm. Go ahead."
Spaci had been Su's mentor in his previous life, but was killed by his own bodyguard during the Eighth Herrscher Incident. In this life, however, Su had joined Fire Moth early and—with Mobius's help—managed to establish contact with Spaci, who was now about to join Fire Moth's Fifth Research Institute as a civilian staff member.
The past few months had just been his probationary period.
After Su left, Kalpas turned back to Kevin. "So? What is it?"
"A few days ago, when we went to Puglia City, we ran into Lilith," Kevin said bluntly.
"…Lilith? You mean Silas's little girlfriend?" Kalpas tilted his head, searching his memory. He remembered her pretty well—mainly because Beelzebub, who usually fought on equal terms with him, seemed oddly wary of her.
Once the memory clicked, Kalpas continued: "So? Did you bring her back?"
Kevin shook his head. "Lilith has memories of her past life, just like us. But… she also has a fiancé."
"…Fiancé? What's that supposed to be?" Kalpas genuinely didn't have the concept in his head. He thought it through: husband and wife are lovers who get married. So a fiancé… an unmarried husband?
And what did that have to do with Lilith being Silas's lover?
Kevin sighed. "A fiancé is Lilith's future husband. It's an arranged engagement made by her family. It isn't her choice."
"…So what?" Kalpas dismissed it immediately.
Kevin's eyes hardened. "So it means someone intends to take Lilith away."
Now that, Kalpas understood. His hands opened, then clenched into fists. "Hmph. Sounds like that bastard has a death wish! And you all? Just stood there and did nothing?"
Kevin closed his eyes. "Her family practically runs Puglia City. Charging in recklessly wouldn't be wise."
Kalpas snorted. "So that's why you came to me, huh? Hmph. I don't care about that woman personally, but she is useful. Fine. Tell me—what do you want me to do?"
Kevin's eyes lit up, his exhaustion melting away. "I've already been gathering intel in advance. Next time we head to Puglia City, we can begin the operation."
Not even total exhaustion could stop Kevin's urge to stir things up.
Meanwhile, Silas had gone to find Elysia and the others. At this point, he could probably be considered a member of Elysia's squad. Of course, Elysia had thought about quitting and just making him the captain instead, but his current track record still wasn't good enough to replace her position.
As a side note, Kevin's group had originally been assigned to Ato's squad, but Ato had gone on extended leave with his wife. On top of that, "due to insufficient combat experience," Kevin and the others were temporarily merged into Elysia's team.
Otherwise, Silas really would've been the only guy in Elysia's squad.
…Then again, that had been the case in their previous life too.
When Silas stepped into the training grounds, Elysia immediately noticed him. Seeing him approach, she greeted him with her usual enthusiasm:
"Hi~ Silas, finally done talking with Mobius? What did you two discuss?"
Silas looked at her. He wanted to tell Elysia the truth, but deep down he knew it would trouble her. After all, the subject was assassinating higher-ups and finding replacements. Definitely not the sort of thing Elysia should know.
Assassinations meant accidents. And accidents meant innocent deaths.
But Silas also wasn't good at lying—especially not to Elysia. Which meant he had to tell a half-truth.
"…We talked a little about Sariel," he said.
"Sariel, huh? Oh, I remember her. Such a pretty girl. If only she didn't always hide the left side of her face with her hair, she'd look even prettier, don't you think?" Elysia mused. Among the Thirteen Fallen Angels, besides Lilith, the one who left the deepest impression on her was probably Sariel.
After all, Sariel was practically always standing silently behind Silas.
"You don't really want to see her left eye," Silas said. "It's… not as cute as you'd imagine."
In fact, it was terrifying. That eye contained four pupils—twice as unnerving as the legendary "dual pupils" from Shenzhou's myths.
"Sariel… I remember hearing about her back when I was still an assassin," Sakura recalled. "Among assassins, she was called the Evil Eye. Rumor had it her left eye could freeze a person's blood. But that was only a legend. After all… anyone who saw that eye never lived to tell the tale."
Well… being so terrified you freeze up does count as "blood freezing," I guess. Silas thought. Still, Sariel hated people talking about her eye, so he chose to keep the details secret.
"…Something like that," he replied instead. "Her left eye is indeed very unusual compared to normal."
"Hmm. Now that I think about it, I've never actually asked you about the Thirteen Fallen Angels before." Elysia tapped her chin, then smiled. "Ah well. Let's save that for after your training today~"
Helix Workshop,
Vill-V was staring at the Seven Thunders of Retribution, lost in thought.
"If only Rofocale were here to help… Her sense of aesthetics may be a little… eccentric, but when it comes to mechanical engineering, she's far superior to anyone else."
The last time Rofocale had helped, the weapon she built for Kevin had practically scared him half to death.
Rofocale—weapon technician of the Thirteen Fallen Angels. Most battlefield repairs and weapon swaps were her responsibility. She also collected and organized the combat data Vill-V needed for her own creations.
Pure Evil spoke up: "If you're looking for Rofocale, I think she's still studying at one of the top universities in America. After the Fourth Herrscher Incident, she'll be joining Fire Moth's Third Research Institute."
Magician added, "Speaking of which… didn't Silas forget to give us our souvenirs? Sure, knowing ahead of time what the gift is would ruin the surprise—but knowing it exists and not receiving it is its own kind of torture, don't you think?"
Pure Evil chuckled. "Well, we still have to recover Kevin Killer N-001 anyway. Wonder if he enjoyed it?"
At that very moment, Kevin was still slumped on one side, explaining his plan to Kalpas—as if completely unaffected by anything else.
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