"Kalpas, don't act rashly."
"Hmph. I don't need your guidance. Worry about yourself first."
"..."
The pink-haired girl with long, slender beast ears walked coldly among the collapsed houses. Her calm purple pupils scanned the things that had suffered collateral damage in the battle, and a sliver of emotion distinct from indifference flickered through them.
Currently, The Moth were executing a mission in the Far East. After the Ninth Honkai, the scale of The Moths had expanded to the level of an ordinary squad. She, Kalpas, and Immer (who Kalpas had requested) were clearing an A-rank Honkai zone together.
Since the KY incident, The Moths were no longer under the jurisdiction of the upper management but were directly under Mei. Their mission targets had shifted from purely internal human matters to parts that were difficult and troublesome for other squads. For instance, this clearing mission could have been handled by an ordinary squad, but there were some targets here... distinct from the Honkai.
Immer carefully surveyed the surroundings. In this three-person squad, he was responsible for non-combat matters. Soon, he had a result and stopped before a thick pile of rubble.
"...The mission target should be underneath."
Immer had also changed significantly over the past six months. His previously short hair had grown quite long due to neglect, and he had become much colder. His already silent personality had become increasingly antisocial.
Kalpas wore a sinister demonic mask. He had many masks, and this was the one he favored most during missions. He looked at Sakura with a cold laugh: "You go, or I go?"
"...Doesn't matter."
"Hmph."
Sakura and Immer stepped back. Kalpas smashed through the rubble and ripped open the ground, revealing a passage leading underground.
He walked into the passage. Soon, screams of pain echoed from the bottomless tunnel. Sakura and Immer stood in place silently, waiting for the noise symbolizing the devouring of life to end.
"Monsters... Monsters! You MOTH monsters! Aaaah—"
"..."
It stopped abruptly.
Clear raindrops fell on the tips of Sakura's beast ears. She covered them with her hood and placed the headset on her human ears, her fingers stroking the casing. Her purple pupils were clouded.
Monsters...
"Hmph. What? Are you going to care about the wailing of insects being crushed?"
Sakura looked up and saw the blood-soaked Kalpas walking out of the passage. The blood on his mask was dripping into the rain, gradually being washed away, but the scent of blood had seeped into the mask, unable to be washed out.
He casually shook off the skin tissue and blood clots remaining on his hand, sneering: "When that man was alive, how many times did he comfort you, telling you not to care about the idle talk of these dregs? You never listened, and even less so now that he's dead. It seems he wasn't that important to you after all."
"..."
"Why don't you just go to the cemetery and visit Ato and—"
"Kalpas, that's enough."
It was Immer who spoke to stop him. His fierce gaze pierced the rain, pinning itself to Kalpas's mask. The latter snorted and stopped his taunts.
As the rain touched Kalpas's skin, faint white steam rose with the sound of evaporation. He walked past Sakura with a clenched fist, his raspy voice sounding as if he were forcing hot breath out of his chest: "Rather than boring self-doubt and mourning all day, why not enjoy the screams of the scum who caused their deaths as they die?"
...
Kevin sat at the very back of the transport plane, leaning silently against the seat, his hands tracing the patterns on his handgun.
His team members sat somberly at a distance. After all, the temperature around Kevin wasn't something people could endure for long. Some members who had joined recently looked curiously at the rusted handgun in his hand, not understanding why he carried a gun that couldn't fire.
However, the members of the First Squad who had been with Kevin for a long time were used to it. They whispered explanations to the new members. Kevin didn't care.
Frost spread across the gun's metal casing, and his pupils were reflected in it.
Human society had undergone massive changes in the past six months. After the population was reduced by one-sixth, social order collapsed completely. The darkness that had been discarded by humanity in corners broke through its shackles and returned. Religion, riots, suicide... even without the Honkai, the human loss in the past six months was no less than a large-scale eruption.
MOTH had to step in and take charge, bringing most areas under its jurisdiction and establishing a new management system with harsh measures and the military. But the area of jurisdiction was limited after all. Some regions remained in a state of stateless chaos. Many... people found themselves in their element. They might have been unremarkable in a normal world, but in a world with no morals or rules, they seemed to find their purpose.
They even felt that the Honkai was a blessing from heaven.
Under these circumstances, the appearance of the Tenth Herrscher exacerbated the chaos. They were different from all previous Herrschers. Their individual combat power was roughly equivalent to an ordinary MANTIS, but they could hide perfectly among humans, waiting for their chance. Fire-Moth even suspected the Tenth Herrschers had a special communication method; every action they took, even if separated by the entire globe, had a certain level of coordination and cover.
Now, Kevin was leading the First Squad to a non-jurisdictional area. According to intelligence, witnesses had discovered a large number of Tenth Herrschers hiding in this area.
The transport plane landed. Kevin jumped out before it had even stopped, landing on the ground. His cold eyes scanned the surroundings—the dirty streets, the suspicious pedestrians, the sour smell—each was the opposite of "normal."
Many pairs of eyes hid in the shadows. Upon seeing the Fire-Moth emblem on the plane, they cursed and hid deeper. Kevin sensed those gazes filled with fear and loathing, but he didn't care. This wasn't the First Squad's job. If Mei felt it necessary, she would send The Moths.
"CT-1, CT-2, CT-3, execute the mission as planned."
Kevin gave simple instructions. The members of the First Squad, armed with weapons, quickly split into three teams and entered this chaotic "cavern," securing various zones. Then, he led the remaining people inside.
The witness had only reported the situation briefly and hadn't provided details. Some parts were very vague and required him to confirm them personally. This made him cautious.
Bang!