Lin unbuttoned his sleeves. With his back to the archaeological team leader, he asked with startling calm, "Can you still run?"
"Ah... I-I can run..." The leader had many years of experience and had encountered various dangers during excavations. His psychological state wasn't the best, but he had the courage to flee.
"Leave this place and evacuate everyone."
Lin watched the figure emerging from the dust without blinking. He was currently empty-handed and would find it difficult to defend himself, but fortunately, the total Honkai energy of the Herrscher of Reason was far less than that of other Herrscher types. Moreover, there were no weapons for her to reconstruct yet; her destructive power was extremely limited.
Swish!
Sharp blades and beams of light fell like rain. Lin did not retreat; instead, he stayed low and charged out.
Seeing this scene that looked like the end of the world, the leader finally realized he had likely committed a grave error. He scrambled away from the disaster zone, picked up his communicator to evacuate others, and then frantically dialed the emergency services.
"There's a monster! A monster that looks just like a human! She can fly in the sky and shoot lasers from her hands, and she can manifest knives! It's real! My teammates are still inside!"
BOOM!
The roar made him flinch. Clutching the phone, he finally remembered the man in the suit.
Who was that person?
Zzap!
Lin grabbed the hilt of a blade flying toward his face and parried a weapon aimed at his vitals.
The Herrscher of Reason's attacks were monotonous. She hadn't adapted to her new body yet, and her authority was in a state where she could barely use it. In this barren place, she couldn't even produce a wider variety of attack methods.
In that case—
A brilliant rainbow hue drove away the darkness, like a rising sun.
...
Elysia closed the photo album. Her face showed no loss or sadness; she looked just like her usual self, the girl who smiled at the person in the mirror every day.
She tore open the envelope and took out the paper inside.
What words would Lin leave for her? A needless "I'm sorry"? Sincere words he didn't dare say normally? A straightforward reason like a dunderhead?
At the thought of the contents, she actually felt expectant. Her fingers brushed over the page as she unfolded the letter and read.
"—"
The smile she had forced stayed frozen on her face.
There were only two scribbled words on the letter:
"Wait for me."
...
A high-concentration Honkai energy beam shot straight at him. The noise reached its peak at that moment. Lin pupils dilated as his palm met the beam head-on!
Sizzle—
In the sea of blood, the golden chains let out a crackling sound as they reached their limit. The Rainbow Eyes struggled violently, reaching out toward Lin.
Lin did not stop. The next beam grazed his face, turning his right ear to ash and charring half his face black with high heat. Then, the missing arm and ear grew back in an instant. Before the Herrscher of Reason could react, he leaped up and kicked her square in the face.
Thud!
The Herrscher of Reason was sent flying like a bullet into the collapsed ruins. The light beams melted the rubble crushing her body. Just before she was about to collide head-on with the falling Lin, the light of Lin Rainbow Eyes bloomed to its fiercest!
BOOM!
Lin stood unscathed in the wreckage. A field emitting faint golden particles surrounded his body like a self-breathing protective layer, separating him from "everything else."
The Herrscher of Reason crawled out of the debris. Her emotionless grey eyes met Lin rainbow ones. Alien characteristics were fully displayed in both pairs of eyes.
Whoosh—
Two figures moved at high speed through the ruins, like invisible ghosts. The suppressed Honkai energy in the air was granted invisible life, stretching out ugly palms toward the surroundings.
However, with every collision of the figures, the shockwaves caused the spreading Honkai energy to dissipate. The range of their fierce struggle grew smaller and smaller.
This was because one side's energy was being gradually suppressed. The Herrscher of Reason's movements were much slower than at the start. She couldn't understand why her draw on Honkai energy felt as if it had been plugged; even the most basic act of aggregating Honkai energy for a blast was heavily weakened.
In contrast, Lin movements grew faster and faster. His breathing leveled out, and his expression became colder. However, within those eerie rainbow eyes, the part belonging to "human" was gradually decreasing with every attack.
Thud!
Finally, Lin grabbed the Herrscher of Reason by the head. His glowing eyes were so dazzling that even the sun hanging high in the sky could not compare.
He raised his arm, his five fingers twitching irregularly, as if some "thing" inside his body was about to burst out.
This caused Lin to fall into a brief pause.
The Herrscher of Reason's grey eyes flared with color once more. In the very next second, just as she was about to counterattack—
Squelch!
An arm pierced through her chest. Blood and bits of flesh slid slowly down his fingers.
"..."
"Lin" calmly grabbed the shoulder of the First Herrscher, whose eyes had lost their light. He pulled his hand out of her body with a heavy, forceful tug and discarded her on the ground like a piece of useless trash.
He opened his palm. A grey Herrscher Core hovered quietly in the center of his hand.
It became quiet.
In his ears.
In the surroundings.
In the world.
In his heart.
Everything, everything, everything, everything, everything—
Was completely quiet.
He finally stuck his head out of the red sea, taking large gulps of fresh air.
What should he do next?
Right, there were humans nearby. Then...
Suddenly, he clutched his chest and began to pant heavily. The Rainbow Eyes in his sockets flickered unstably.
Lin tiredly raised his head again. He surveyed the surrounding wreckage and limped outward, dragging his body.
He wanted to go back.
Someone was waiting for him. He had to go back.
He wouldn't break his word. He would give the pure white girl a complete wedding.
She...
I...
We will definitely be safe and sound.
"Cough, cough..."
The man knelt on the ground. His hollow eyes fell into darkness, and even the world before him began to flicker unstably.
Just one step. Just take one more step...
Tap.
The sound of footsteps, from someone unknown, thudded heavily on the ground.
Vibrating his soul.
"Lin..."
Lin heard a familiar voice. He raised his face, which was incapable of moving its muscles, and his lips trembled stiffly: "Elysia?"
Splatter.
Rain always accompanied this person's arrival.
Another ghost had come before him.
The phantom of Elysia was washed away by the black rain. The person who merged with the darkness, wrapped head-to-toe in hideous bandages, looked down at the pathetic man.
Clang.
A golden cross stood tall behind her.
As if to judge a sinner beyond forgiveness.