Chapter 154: Any Sacrifice is Acceptable

"Is that so... I'm really glad that my power can help~ Ah, and thank you very much for telling me about this, Dr. Mei."

"I'm just following the agreement, and it's thanks to you that I was able to resolve this matter."

"Unfortunately, a lot of damage was caused in the end..."

Nozomi's tone was a little low.

"This is not your problem. According to our subsequent research, the last [individual] left is obviously stronger than the other [individuals]. His way of doing things is also very concise and efficient. There are signs that he has made plans in advance in many places..."

"Adding to the subsequent research on the [Core], those [Individuals] that were suppressed by your power should have passed on their excess power and information to the last [Individual], making his plan more perfect and his power stronger than the other [Individuals], which led to the final casualties."

"And... no matter what, we also had some problems ourselves. We were not able to find all the [Individuals] in time... and the top leaders of the "Fire Moth" should also be included as suspects. This is our fault."

Dr. Mei said expressionlessly.

"Ha...Dr. Mei, thank you so much for helping me find an excuse."

"I'm just stating the facts."

"Yeah, okay, I understand... Oh, by the way, let's talk about something happy~"

Nozomi nodded, then clapped his hands lightly and changed the subject.

"The gift you gave me... I've almost finished it, you know?"

As he spoke, Nozomi held a small human figure in his arms and showed it to Mei.

"Look, I've already finished the body and stuff. I still have to deal with the clothes and stuff. Um... I plan to prepare a Gothic style white skirt with red spots, long straight hair as black as the night and eyes as blue as the sea, plus black leather boots and a small hat. Hmm, it should look good, right?"

"...I'm surprised you're so skilled in this area?"

"Thanks to the manual that Vill-V gave me, it's not that difficult to assemble it... If it wakes up, I also plan to teach it to sing, um... and teach it to play an instrument, such as a violin... Ah, although I don't have any instruments for it to practice on."

"Is that so... Congratulations! This way, you'll have someone to chat with over there, someone to keep you company."

"Thanks for your concern~ Oh, and... Eden and Sakura... how are they?"

"It's still the same. Eden is working with Vill-V to advance the Eden Project. It will take some time to complete the construction. As for Sakura... apart from going on missions, she's basically accompanying Rin."

"Is that so? I'm relieved then... But please be careful next time. The Eleventh Ruler is... very powerful and troublesome. If you find anything, tell me and I'll help you."

"I will."

"Well...goodbye, Dr. Mei."

"Goodbye."

————————

[The brief exchange is over, and you now know that the "Tenth Herrscher Incident" is over. The power you left behind is useful. This is really great, isn't it?]

[But what you don't know is that because of the "Tenth Herrscher Incident", the situation on the ground is actually getting worse.]

[First of all, of course, it was because the "last individual" who caused a lot of damage, as a "Herrscher", turned out to be a high-ranking member of the "Fire Moth"! This immediately brought the public's trust in the "Fire Moth" to the lowest point, and even the grassroots of the "Fire Moth" was strongly shaken.]

[You know, they believed what the higher-ups said before, and even concluded that you were the Herrscher, so they became suspicious of you... Besides, the things that happened to you were indeed full of doubts, so it's understandable that they identified you as the Herrscher.]

[But now... a Herrscher has appeared among the original high-ranking officials, so... could there be something wrong with what the high-ranking officials said at the beginning? Could they have... "wrongly accused" you?]

[No... No, there is indeed something wrong with you, this is irrefutable, so you will definitely be a "Herrscher", you will definitely become a "Herrscher", so they were not wrong in the beginning]

[But... now... who should they trust?]

[Who can guarantee that there won't be another Herrscher among the top leaders of "Fire Moth"?]

[In addition, because of the "Tenth Herrscher Incident", the public's trust in the "Fire Moth" has also dropped to a freezing point. They are worried that the "Fire Moth" will point those weapons at ordinary people like them... You know, several cities have been destroyed because of this! Those weapons that were supposed to protect them are now destroying them. How can this not make people worry?]

[Yes, the public knows that this was done by the Herrscher, but leaving aside this fact, don't they, the Fire Moths, have any fault at all?]

[Evidently, "Fire Moth" has already found the other 999 "Herrschers", so why didn't they find the last one? And he happened to be a high-ranking member of "Fire Moth"?]

[What? Are they, the Fire Moth, so sure that the top leaders won't become Herrschers? Are you so sure that the top leaders won't be affected by Honkai? Hahahaha... That's true. After all, the top leaders of them, the Fire Moth, are all hiding in the safe house and enjoying themselves. They can just send orders casually through the communication. They don't care about the lives of ordinary people.]

[Although the main targets of this accusation and resentment are the top brass of "Fire Moth", as the doubts and vigilance deepen, the entire "Fire Moth" is immersed in the suspicion and blame of the people and cannot crawl out.]

[At this time, they somewhat understood what Nozomi was like when he was surrounded by suspicion. Their hearts were almost filled with panic and sorrow, and despair was quietly spreading without them noticing... But this time, no one would sing to comfort them... "Hope" had been exiled and abandoned by them.]

[However, as the saying goes, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone. The most dangerous, troublesome, and difficult to deal with "Eleventh Ruler" that you mentioned... has appeared.]

————————

"Mei...are you okay?"

"It's okay, I'm fine... Thank you, Kevin. If I had stayed any longer, I would have been unable to hold on."

Mei's breath was weak, but she still managed to hold on. She spoke slowly, and with Kevin's help, she moved towards another base. At the same time, she used the terminal to try to contact other people... Oh no, the terminal was broken.

"The instrument only stayed in its [barrier] for a short while and then it stopped working? This is really... so troublesome..."

Mei smiled bitterly.

The appearance of the Eleventh Herrscher was too sudden, and just like the Ninth Herrscher, it was very "close" to the Fire Moth when it appeared. So close that the barrier it initially deployed was enough to cover the base of the Fire Moth when it appeared.

Fortunately, Kevin was right beside Mei at the time. Noticing the abnormality, he immediately took Mei away from the range of the [barrier], barely avoiding Mei's death from weakness... But even though Kevin acted so quickly, Mei's condition was not optimistic. Her breath was very weak and her spirit was very depressed. The fact that she could still speak was entirely due to Mei's forced effort.

But Mei was already lucky. At least she had Kevin to help her, and the other people in the base...

Haha...I'm afraid the ending is not so good.

After being brought to another base by Kevin and barely making contact with other people, Mei began to contact Nozomi... According to the agreement, the news of the appearance of the [Eleventh Herrscher] must be told to him... and the ability of this [Herrscher] is too dangerous, and they need help.

However...

"you can't do it, what do you mean?"

"Doctor Mei... all the signal base stations have been destroyed. We can't send any messages. And we don't know if it's because the Herrscher showed up too suddenly, causing the person supervising the satellite... um... to suddenly die. Then the body should have touched some instructions, causing the satellite to deviate from its original trajectory, and then... um... collided with each other and broke directly."

"…Is this what you discovered?"

"No, that's our inference."

"Okay...where's the backup satellite?"

"They were also broken...Except for the [Fourth Divine Key] which was not controlled due to its own special features, the other satellites were destroyed...and the [Fourth Divine Key] was also seriously damaged."

"...In other words, all our satellites are useless?"

"That's about it, Dr. Mei."

"…Damn it."

Mei rubbed her brows with a headache... She always felt that something was wrong. How could all the satellites be affected and destroyed because of a wrong operation? Was it really such a coincidence?

But if you think about it carefully, it does not seem impossible. After all, the collision of satellites caused debris to fly and then penetrate other satellites... This possibility is not impossible, but it is too coincidental. It makes people wonder if someone is deliberately controlling all this just to prevent them from contacting Nozomi.

…Damn it.

"…Hello, Dr. Mei."

"Hmm? This voice is...Aponia?"

"It's me. I heard that the communication has failed, so I took the initiative to transmit the words to your mind to connect you two. I hope you don't mind."

"No, that's a big help... Can you contact anyone else?"

"Can."

"What about Nozomi... forget it, he's too far away, you probably can't reach him."

"…Indeed, that's true."

Aponia seemed to hesitate and think for a while before responding softly.

"How are the others doing?"

"Most people are still safe. Only a few fusion warriors have passed away. According to their positions... they were probably too close to the Herrscher and were unable to leave the barrier. They died of physical weakness."

"What about the general public?"

"...It's not good. Ordinary people can't survive more than two breaths in the [Boundary], and most people will die within one breath... Fortunately, the painting of the "Utopia" can barely last for a while. We tried to save a few people, but we quickly evacuated after the situation in the "Utopia" became unstable... And the vital signs of the people inside were also very weak, and they could only barely survive in the "Utopia"."

"…It's a blessing in disguise. It's good enough to be able to save people."

Mei rubbed her brows, took the hot drink handed to her by Kevin, drank the nutrient solution with the hot drink, and after barely recovering a little, Mei continued to ask.

"What's the situation with the Herrscher?"

"We can't determine the exact location. It's difficult for us to deploy our power within the [barrier]... But the [barrier] has been slowly expanding and moving. If we continue to let it go..."

"Even if it doesn't do anything, it can destroy us just by moving... It's really a dangerous Herrscher... Aponia, keep communicating in this way, and have the others gather at the base at... (a set of coordinates). We need to get rid of the Herrscher as soon as possible."

"I see, Dr. Mei."

After that, Aponia's voice stopped ringing, as if she was contacting other people.

"…Hey, Kevin, let's go."

"Um."

...

......

"...That's roughly the situation. We must immediately deal with this Herrscher."

Facing everyone, Mei said this with a pale face.

"Vill-V, there are enough materials for this base. You must build a satellite as quickly as possible and launch it. We need to restore communications immediately and also repair the [Fourth Divine Key]. You can call on the personnel in the base as you like."

"I will."

"Then there is the subjugation of the Eleventh Herrscher... We cannot detect the situation inside the barrier, so..."

"So we need our physical bodies to find out the exact location of the Herrscher, right?"

"Yes."

"And then we have to defeat it under the [barrier], right?"

"Yes."

"...There's a high probability that we'll all die, right?"

"Yes."

Although Mei's voice sounded tired, she did not avoid the question. She just looked at the soldier who asked the question and responded to him bit by bit.

"…Dr. Mei, everything is for humanity, right?"

The soldier asked very seriously.

"...Yes."

Mei's voice was filled with exhaustion... it was the same reason again... it was the same excuse again.

"Then why are you hesitating? Dr. Mei, let's arrange the battle."

But the soldier seemed calm.

"Anyway, we're all dead on the list of the Fire Moths, so using our bodies to pave the way for victory at this time is reasonable."

"..."

So that's how it is. He is a man who came from the "deepest place".

"Oh yeah... hand it over, Dr. Mei."

"..."

"Don't you understand? I mean his song, the song that can increase our power... After you labeled him as a Herrscher, you banned it, right? You were worried that his song might have some hidden dangers... Shouldn't you take it out now?"

The soldier glanced at the other fusion warriors belonging to the "Fire Moth" around him, and a slightly sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"If we take it out, our lives might be more useful, and we can last longer in the [Boundary]... Besides, in this situation, do you still care about hidden dangers?"

"...um."

Mei nodded. She had originally planned to re-activate Nozomi's [Song]... Just like what the soldier said, they could not care less now. They had to complete the [Crusade] as soon as possible.

"I will arrange for you to form teams and enter the [Barrier] from different directions to explore the location of the [Herrschers]... Aponia, Dysdopia, Su, and other spiritual fusion warriors will rely on their own abilities to keep you connected with each other. If you find the [Herrschers], inform each other immediately."

"Besides... Vill-V, how is Kalpas's condition?"

"He's very... lively, um, very lively."

"It looks like he's in good condition, so let him go too. Arrange him in a separate direction. If he makes a move along the way, tell him the current situation and he will help... Never mind, I'll go find him later."

"Finally, Kevin... you need to lead the team as a pioneer, from this direction..."

"Okay, Dr. Mei, don't let the strongest person commit suicide."

The soldier interrupted Mei.

"We have to defeat it as quickly as possible, don't we? Then we shouldn't let the strongest person here waste his strength on exploration... Let him accumulate strength and prepare the strongest attack. Once we find the Herrscher, we can directly defeat it. Isn't that good?"

"…This will kill a lot of people."

"But this method is fast enough, and we have enough people, right?"

The soldier was still smiling, but his smile was full of mockery and... ferocity.

"Think carefully about the previous [Great Eruption]. Which one wasn't a victory built with blood, flesh, and corpses? Why? Have you forgotten it since you had his [Song] and enjoyed a period of comfort?"

"Oh, by the way, don't even think about objecting. You know, there's nothing we can do about it, right? We have to deal with the Herrscher as soon as possible."

"But... if this happens, we will most likely die..."

"Why, are you scared? Coward?"

The soldier immediately glanced over, with a mocking smile on his face.

"This is the most efficient method we can use under the current circumstances, right?"

"Don't forget, in the Fire Moth, any sacrifice is acceptable, and any price is worth paying. After all..."

The soldier's smile obviously didn't change, but it gave people a feeling of being more ferocious, more terrifying, and more... mocking.

"It's all for humanity, isn't it?"

It is obviously a very normal sentence, and it is obviously the most correct sentence, but at this moment it makes people feel particularly repulsive.

but...

"..."

Silence, only silence.

Everything is for humanity, any sacrifice and cost is acceptable to anyone.

Therefore, no one objects, no one will object, and no one dares to object.

"…This will kill a lot of people."

Dr. Mei said seriously.

"But this is the only way, isn't it?"

"...I see."

Mei pinched her brows bitterly... [The Eleventh Herrscher] was too troublesome. That [barrier] made many of humanity's technological means ineffective so that now they could only return to the most primitive means of winning - using human lives to pile up and using flesh and blood to pave the way.

Moreover, the Eleventh Herrscher did not even give the others time to think... It was moving, the barrier was expanding, and every second of hesitation could result in the death of a large number of people and the destruction of a large amount of equipment... The sharply rising casualties and damage data forced them to do this.

Everything is for humanity... But at this moment, no one is willing to say this slogan anymore.

Get ready for battle, this time, they must win.

Even if... the ground is covered with blood.

...

"Hehe... what's wrong? Why are you looking for me now?"

"We need you, Kalpas."

"Humph, you came to me when you needed me, and you abandoned me and imprisoned me when you didn't need me anymore... and now you have the nerve to come to me and say... you need me?!"

"This [Crusade] requires your participation, Kalpas... If you have any requests, you can ask for them."

"Haha... hahaha... hahahaha!!! Request? My request is to make those idiots get out of the safe house! Crawl in front of me! Then I will tear them into pieces!!!"

"..."

"Hmph, if you are satisfied, I can consider it."

"...Can."

"...Um?"

"I said... yes."

Mei's voice was steady and firm.

"I can hand over three people... at most three people to you to vent your anger, but... you must participate in the battle throughout the whole process."

"Haha... haha... interesting! Very interesting! Then how can you guarantee that those maggots will obey your orders?!"

"They will."

Mei's eyes were full of calmness and... indifference.

"Any sacrifice is acceptable, any price is payable... no one is exempt."

"It's all about humanity."

"Hahaha… hahahahahaha!!!"

Kalpas's laughter was wild and ostentatious.

"Great!!! I agree!"

...

"Kevin, are you ready?"

"Vill-V, this isn't fast enough."

"What else do you want? This is already the fastest tool within the safety line... As you know, the [Second Divine Key: One Thousand Worlds] cannot directly locate the coordinates within the [barrier]. I can only use this physical method to [drop] you over."

"Don't worry about safety, Vill-V, just be fast enough."

"…Although I believe in your strength, I cannot guarantee whether you will be injured in the process and thus affect the combat."

"No... I will take care of it."

Kevin held the sword-shaped brooch left by Nozomi tightly in his hand.

"Vill-V, you said that Nozomi left his power in the things he gave us... right?"

"Yes, this allows us to move within the [barrier] longer than others and can also indirectly increase our strength. Now it seems that this should be his backup plan to deal with the [Eleventh Herrscher]..."

"That's why we're willing to agree to that plan. You're the strongest among us. As long as we find it, you in your prime, plus the things Nozomi left behind, will be enough for you to fight for a while. Even if it has the ability to fight back, we believe you can defeat it within a limited time."

Vill-V said calmly, her tone completely different from her usual one... Obviously, Vill-V was not the [Great Magician] at this moment.

"But not fast enough, Vill-V."

Kevin said calmly.

"If... I release all the power inside and use it all to increase my power, plus the fully released 'Judgment of Shamash'... can I kill it with one strike?"

"...As of now, no Herrscher can withstand an attack of that magnitude, so... theoretically, it is possible."

"That will be enough."

"Are you sure you want to do this? That's something he left just for you."

"Any sacrifice, any price, is acceptable."

"...Kevin, you look a bit annoying, you know that?"

"It's all about humanity."

Kevin's tone was calm but firm.

...

"Kevin, the location is here."

"Vill-V, you don't have to tell me, just adjust your position and hold on."

Kevin's voice was muffled.

"I just want you to be prepared, so that you won't blame me later... Also, don't die on the way."

"No."

Kevin's tone was firm.

"We will win."

"Yeah, will win."

boom!!!

Vill-V responded casually, then pressed the launch button and watched the "rocket" carrying Kevin fly out.

Thanks to Nozomi for solving the side effects on Kevin, otherwise this method would not be useful... Use high-speed missiles to scrape the edge of the [barrier] above, bypass the long journey, and fall directly from the sky to the location of the [Herrscher]. This can avoid the weakening caused by the [barrier] in the middle to the greatest extent.

At Kevin's request, Vill-V also installed some additional "propulsion devices" to make his descent faster.

Everything is done to... complete the [Subjugation] as quickly as possible.

...

Will win.

Kevin said to himself in his heart, watching everything outside passing by through the observation window.

Will win.

Looking at the space that seemed within reach, looking at the space filled with darkness and silence, Kevin clenched the brooch in his hand.

The instrument made a sound, and you could see parts being separated. Then there was the unique feeling of weightlessness that comes with falling - he had arrived at the designated location.

Will win.

Kevin clenched the flaming sword in his hand.

Can't hesitate.

The instrument stopped making any sound and stopped functioning - it had entered the range of the [Boundary].

Can't be shaken.

The brooch in his hand glowed slightly, and a vague melody flowed quietly, bringing up faint notes that enveloped Kevin.

The flame... ignites! Burns everything around!

Any price is acceptable.

He crushed the brooch in his hand... and let the power in it flow! The floating notes instantly became real, and then in the blink of an eye, they were dyed red, turning into flames that enveloped him.

Falling... falling... falling continuously, bringing with it fire from the sky!

He saw his companions fighting hard to keep the Herrscher in place, regardless of casualties or sacrifices... In order to prevent the Herrscher from leaving and to ensure that he could hit the target accurately as planned, the soldiers risked their lives.

But in order to do this, they... will also be included in Kevin's attack range.

Everyone knew this, Kevin and them.

But no one will hesitate because of this, and no one will back down because of this.

They... have to.

It's all about humanity.

Any sacrifice is acceptable.

Kevin tightened his grip on the sword.

The flames grew stronger, dyeing the entire sky red.

Will win.

Kevin was determined.

The special clothing on his body had long been burned, and his body also had slight burns... Then, a dark, ice-blue "shell" quietly emerged.

The hand holding the flaming sword also became ferocious, like a "monster".

Humanity... we... will definitely win!

The flaming sword also quietly changed its appearance at this moment, becoming more and more bizarre, and the heat emanating from it became more and more terrifying under the amplification of the musical notes. Even if the [barrier] was weakened again and again, it could not conceal its terrifying aura.

It was fire, blazing fire, coming from the sky, like a judgment... fire!

It's getting closer… it's getting closer!!

You can even see the stunned and confused look on its face!

Raise your sword!

[Judgment of Shamash——]

Draw the sword!

[Unsheathed! ]

boom!!!

The fire that came from the sky fell to the ground and burned everything around it...