Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

Fire and smoke billowed from the distant city—that was Himeko's direction.

Accompanying the flames was the round body of a Cinder-class Honkai beast. It continuously launched spheres from its abdomen.

Such heavy projectiles couldn't be thrown far, but their smooth surfaces allowed many to continue rolling after landing, crushing anything in their path—fortunately, the beast's throwing method resulted in a steep angle of impact, often causing the spheres to embed themselves in the ground, stopping their roll.

Mikael couldn't help but worry—could they really handle a Honkai beast of that level?

Although classified as a lower-level Honkai beast, its sheer size gave it destructive power approaching that of an Emperor-class.

But as the southern half of the sky burned crimson, every dark cloud in the night sky became starkly visible, seemingly flickering with flames… This sight reassured him somewhat.

He waited in place for nearly an hour.

During this time, he repeatedly glanced towards the eastern city, but it remained shrouded in black mist. Aside from the occasional flash of lightning, there was no activity.

"Who are you waiting for here?" A voice in his mind questioned him, a question that had been echoing for a long time, repeated countless times.

"How many people do you think you can save here? Did you save even a hundred on your way here? Wake up and face reality. This city is already completely destroyed. Even if you save a few hundred, that's only a fraction of a percent. What's the point?"

"Or do you think those few hundred lives weigh more than Elysia's?"

Mikael started walking towards the eastern city, his pace quickening.

"Yes, yes, what does it matter if Shanghai is destroyed? What does it matter if the world is destroyed? Wasn't your only goal from the beginning to save Elysia?"

The voice continued to taunt him, and he didn't doubt that it reflected his most selfish, true desires.

But his steps gradually slowed.

"But what if Captain Himeko arrives and can't find me… No, I'll wait five more minutes. No, ten! Ten more minutes!"

He knew he was lying to himself, which was why he ultimately returned to his original position.

After another half hour, Himeko finally arrived with a few dozen soldiers.

Mikael took in their disheveled appearance. Their drastically reduced numbers spoke volumes about the sacrifices they had made.

He felt a pang of shame and guilt. Fortunately, the darkness concealed his expression, even from Himeko.

Just in that one battle, Squad 5 had lost nearly half its members. Yet, Himeko seemed unaffected. She even offered a self-deprecating remark: "Well, looks like you had it easy. Unlike us. I almost didn't make it back to see you."

Mikael didn't reply, mainly because he didn't know what to say. He understood Himeko well. She always buried her negative emotions, presenting a positive front to her subordinates, a constantly burning torch encouraging them forward.

But there was no such thing as an eternally burning torch. She was simply burning herself out. When she was alone, late at night…

In short, Mikael felt it was best to remain silent. He wasn't sure whether anything he said would do more harm than good.

But his hesitant silence was interpreted differently by Himeko.

She gestured for the soldiers to rest, organizing shifts for breaks and guard duty. She approached Mikael and patted his shoulder gently. "Still worried about Elysia?"

Mikael exhaled. "Yeah…"

"Relax. Look, there's no activity in the eastern city. That's a good thing. Think about it. With Elysia's strength, even if she encountered the Herrscher, she wouldn't be completely helpless. There would definitely be a fierce battle. The lack of activity suggests she hasn't encountered any mortal danger, doesn't it?"

Mikael paused, his worry having blinded him to this simple logic.

Himeko, in a rare gesture, ruffled Mikael's silver hair, gazing at him tenderly without speaking.

"I understand…"

Mikael quickly composed himself, pushing his anxiety and worry aside for the moment.

After a ten-minute rest, the remaining members of Squad 5 regrouped.

"We're still too few," Mikael thought. Even with the reinforcements, they were less than two hundred. What could they accomplish with so few people? Not to mention a portion of their forces were stationed in Nagazora City with Sakura.

They could only concentrate all Squad 5 soldiers along the central line, with the support team and remaining Shanghai military and police operating a small number of heavy mechs covering the flanks, advancing northeast towards the river fork.

And with communications down, they couldn't spread out, which meant they were likely missing many survivors…

But surprisingly, their advance faced little resistance.

There were far fewer Honkai beasts in the city than he'd anticipated, mostly Raider or Wisp-class that even the support team could handle.

Even the occasional several-meter-tall Chariot, Knight, or Templar-class Honkai beast didn't require Himeko or Mikael to intervene. The specially trained Squad 5 soldiers could deal with them on their own.

"Something's not right," Mikael murmured to Himeko.

"I can't give you a precise reading like a device, but I can feel the Honkai energy concentration increasing, yet the number of Honkai beasts doesn't match."

Himeko's pupils constricted. She whispered, "The Herrscher?"

"I… I don't know."

He remembered that, according to the original story, the 3rd Herrscher had a companion Honkai beast—[-Śeṣa-].

And its location, at least where Mobius eventually retrieved it, was Shanghai.

Of course, whether events would unfold as they had in the previous timeline remained to be seen.

In any case, whether it was Śeṣa or the 3rd Herrscher nearby, they needed to be cautious!

As he thought this, Mikael suddenly felt a sticky sensation under his feet.

"What is this?"

He initially thought it was blood, but even rivers of blood wouldn't have this viscous, semi-solid texture.

Soon, shouts came from the other soldiers.

Himeko quickly switched on her flashlight, aiming it at the ground.

It was black mud covering the ground… no, was it really mud?

She stepped in, then slowly pulled her foot back. A large amount of black, sticky substance clung to her sole. She hopped back on one foot, but the mud stretched into strands, refusing to break.

A bold soldier squatted down, attempting to touch the mud with his hand.

"No—"

By the time Mikael noticed, it was too late.

The soldier's index finger barely brushed against the black mud when smoke erupted from his body, and he collapsed.

The soldier next to him rushed to help him up, but as his hand touched the first soldier, more smoke erupted, and he too fell.

A third soldier foolishly tried to help, but Mikael quickly conjured a wooden staff and swatted him back.

"Get back!"

All the soldiers retreated to clean ground. Mikael used two rubber grappling hooks to drag the two bodies out of the mud.

He put on rubber gloves and examined the bodies.

"Electrocuted," he concluded succinctly.

Thump. The soldier he'd pushed back with the staff landed on his backside, gasping for air.

Mikael recognized him as Aldemir.

He nudged him lightly with his foot. "Lucky you."

"Looks like it's definitely Śeṣa…"