Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

Boom!

Mikael plummeted from a height of several dozen meters, yet remained unharmed.

The impact kicked up a cloud of dust, which was quickly dispersed by the fine drizzle.

Soldiers without orders gathered in small groups, checking their equipment. Most of their faces still held the relief of having survived. After all, they were mostly new recruits. When they saw the Honkai beast, nearly as tall as a skyscraper, lunging towards them, many had closed their eyes, bracing for the end…

"Squad Leader Mikael is so strong!"

"Is that the power of Void Archives? When I reach his level, I'm going to apply for one exactly like it!"

Mikael simply nodded coolly in response to the soldiers' praise. There was nothing to be smug about. He had completely exposed his abilities, which likely meant that once this Honkai eruption ended…

He glanced at Himeko. As expected, she was also looking at him with a melancholic and helpless expression.

"Have you decided?" she asked softly.

"Yes... Judging by the situation in Shanghai alone, there's no chance they'll hold back this time."

Wasn't this exactly what Phamas wanted? To use him as a disposable weapon of humanity…

"Relax. With your combat strength, Phamas surely won't be willing to just throw you away after using you."

Mikael shook his head. He knew Himeko understood Phamas well, but it wouldn't make a difference. "It also depends on the United Government's attitude. For now, it seems unlikely they'll accept me. The best-case scenario is being locked away in some dark place until the next Honkai eruption, when they'll let me out again—like a hunting dog."

Himeko sighed, closing her eyes without speaking. She knew Mikael wasn't telling the whole truth. At least, regarding exposing himself, there was another reason he hadn't mentioned… After all, Himeko had also heard about Elysia being investigated.

Mikael looked around. The number of people wearing Fire Moth uniforms was increasing. Large numbers of support team members emerged from the basement, but Squad 5 was indeed missing many of the faces he had just become familiar with. "Seems like we suffered quite a few casualties?"

"Yes... We lost more than ten soldiers and support team members the moment the building was hit. It's fortunate you were on the roof, otherwise..."

Mikael waved his hand, cutting off Himeko's lament. "Captain, let's save the non-mission-related talk for later!"

Himeko was taken aback, but when she saw the suppressed pain in Mikael's eyes, she instantly understood his worry.

"Our current objective is to stabilize the western part of the city and gather all survivors."

Mikael seamlessly took over command once again. "The biggest threat in the western city are those two giant Honkai beasts. I'll handle the Knight-class Honkai beast near the airport alone. Captain, you take care of the other one. As for the lower-level Honkai beasts along the way, even the twenty or thirty-meter ones, avoid them if possible."

Himeko nodded in agreement.

Mikael continued, "There's another issue. What's the current situation in other cities across China and the Japan? Is the Honkai eruption limited to Shanghai, or…? And most importantly: where is the Herrscher?"

Himeko spread her hands. "That's the problem we're facing now. The electromagnetic waves in Shanghai are completely chaotic. Even individual comms are unusable. We can't contact headquarters, let alone confirm the details of this eruption, the Honkai energy concentration, or whether a Herrscher has emerged. We can't contact the United Government's military or police either… We can only fight on our own."

Mikael hummed softly. "So it's the Herrscher of Thunder… That lightning storm earlier, could the Herrscher be in the eastern city?"

This thought made him tense again. It took considerable effort to suppress the urge to teleport to the eastern city immediately.

"By the way, where's Mobius?"

"She's working with Elvin and Klein, adjusting the electromagnetic wavelengths and frequencies to see if we can re-establish contact with headquarters."

"She can do that?" Mikael was surprised. In his impression, Mobius had always excelled in biology. He wondered if this was a case of someone being forced into a role they weren't prepared for… No, more Like a fish jump out of water.

Never mind! Never mind!

He really couldn't worry about so much right now!

With a wave of his hand, a virtual map projected before him, its azure glow particularly striking in the darkness.

He first tapped his finger on Squad 5's current location, then swiped upwards to the riverbank.

"I'll take this route. The most important area along the way is the airport. The support team should maintain a distance of five hundred to one thousand meters behind me, integrating any military or police we encounter along the way, and gathering survivors."

His index finger returned to their starting point and swiped right, straight to the river separating the eastern and western districts. "Captain, you lead the team along this route, then…"

He drew a line connecting the endpoints of the two teams' routes, then circled a point roughly in the middle of the line.

"This is the Shanghai Logistics Center. We'll rendezvous here. After regrouping, we'll advance northeast towards the river fork. Hopefully, by then, we'll have re-established contact with headquarters, and also…"

"Elysia."

"..."

...

Hua's body trembled.

She leaned against the cold wall, shaking along with the entire building.

Just minutes ago, this place had been a bustling airport, fluorescent lights illuminating everything, cool air blowing from the air conditioners. People chatted and laughed, carrying luggage, phones pressed to their ears, excitedly talking to their families about reuniting in a few hours.

Now, the power was cut, plunging the airport into darkness and oppressive heat. It had become a hell.

Hua looked at Carole, who had burrowed her head into her chest. She was so terrified that her limbs were ice-cold, but Hua kept her hand firmly over her mouth, preventing her from making a sound.

They were hiding in a bathroom stall. At first, screams had echoed from outside, but now they were few and far between, replaced by occasional wails and cries from the distance.

"Should we go out?" Hua wasn't sure. She was also unsure whether this phenomenon was limited to the airport, or if it had engulfed the entire city of Shanghai, or even the whole country, the entire world?

Staying in the bathroom wasn't safe. Hua had encountered zombies before. Compared to the zombies of legend, these had fully functioning senses, and some were even physically stronger than they had been in life!

If they stayed here, they would eventually be found!

But what about going outside?

The wall suddenly shook, causing Hua to groan, nearly crying out.

If she were alone, she was confident she could handle one or two zombies, even three or four wouldn't be impossible…

But was it really just three or four zombies out there?

"If… if I had that kind of power… I wonder what they're doing now?"

A flicker of hope sparked within her. She knew there were people in this city who could fight these zombies and monsters—at least two of them!

If the disaster was limited to the airport, she believed they would arrive soon and resolve everything, and she would be saved.

But despair quickly returned. More than ten minutes had passed. It was still daytime. If the disaster was confined to the airport, wouldn't there be… at least some military or police, even if not those two?

And if it wasn't just the entire world, but even just a city as large as Shanghai, those two would be like a drop in the ocean.

"What… what has happened to the world?"

Hua bit her lip, unable to stop herself from considering the worst possibility—just like in the movies, the end of the world.

"Dad…"

"Hmph…"

She gritted her teeth, the pressure between her jaws increasing until they made a crackling sound.

"We can't just sit here and wait to die! We have to find a way to leave this place!"

She whispered into Carole's ear.

Carole's eyebrows furrowed, while her eyes widened as much as possible, giving her a comical expression.

She whimpered twice, and Hua slowly released her hand.

"Hua! Are we really leaving? Can't we wait here for rescue? Look, look! This is the flyer they handed out at school!"

She pulled out a repeatedly folded flyer from somewhere. The large-font title was immediately visible: Emergency Evacuation Guide.

Hua scanned the contents, quickly finding a particular line:

[Wait for rescue personnel in a sturdy shelter. Typically, we will arrive within 10 minutes and escort you to a safe area.]

She shook her head, putting the flyer away. "It's useless. First, this place isn't sturdy. Second… ten minutes have already passed."

"And we're not completely without a chance – the night will also provide us with cover."