Chapter 261: "Sea Successor"

In the "silent" environment, only his and her "song" echoes, and only his and her "melody" spread.

Almost in an instant, everyone in the world felt an inexplicable sense of oppression. Faced with this terrifying "silent" environment, people seemed somewhat confused and at a loss.

Although "Fire Moth" did teach them about Honkai, they didn't tell them that Honkai would have such a wide range...

And along with this "silent" environment came "heavy rain" and even crazier... Honkai beasts, whose numbers increased rapidly.

Those blue and white-based Honkai beasts began to split themselves continuously and quickly advanced inland under the cover of "heavy rain." If you look from a high altitude, you can find that the azure blue representing the Honkai beasts is spreading and diffusing rapidly on the Mu Continent.

Those cities that had not yet completed evacuation were quickly submerged, and those cities that had not yet started evacuation completely lost the opportunity to save civilians...

People could only watch as the Honkai beasts came in waves, opened their hideous and terrifying mouths, and swallowed their relatives and friends... But before the sadness came, even their own bodies were submerged by them.

Buildings collapsed and turned into ruins, window glass shattered, cars were trampled and became broken and undrivable, aircraft were bitten by them and could not take off, and eventually, they would just fall in the "rainstorm," without crashing or exploding... they would just be submerged by them.

There was no wailing, no screaming, no sound of any kind. There was no sound feedback at all. There was nothing in the ears except his and her "song."

When his and her "song" sounded, it was as if he and she had exerted some kind of power, and the "rainstorm" instantly enveloped the entire Mu Continent. The Honkai beasts absorbed Honkai energy from the "rainstorm" and gained strength from the rain, quickly engulfing the entire Mu Continent with an unstoppable momentum.

The defense line that was originally able to hold collapsed directly and the people who were still fighting were drowned in the tide of Honkai beasts. Only a few people were still holding on... Even these few people who were left were able to survive because they had fusion warriors fighting beside them.

For example, the team led by Hua, and the defense line where Dystopia is located... Only those defense lines with fusion warriors can have a slightly better situation.

(TF: oh f I mess up the names haha Hua is not fighting Nozomi my bad~)

And other places in Mu Continent... well.

No, we should not say "The situation is slightly better," because those are all relative. Compared with the defense lines and cities that have become silent in the "silence," they, the fusion warriors, can still barely hold on in the tide of Honkai beasts, so they can say "slightly better."

But in reality... they're not much better.

Because after his and her "song" sounded, whether it was Hua, Dystopia, or even all the other fusion warriors, they all felt that weird feeling, that oppressive, dull feeling, and a kind of... closeness to these "monsters" in front of them, these Honkai beasts.

Yes, a "sense of closeness," as if they are no different from these Honkai beasts as if they have some kind of strange connection with these Honkai beasts.

Especially Hua, facing the "monster" in the skin of Himeko, facing this "monster" that she should have hated and despised, Hua actually had an illusion that... she was the same as her.

Hua even had the urge to give up resistance, to enjoy the rain with her and the surrounding Honkai beasts, and to return to the ocean together... Hua even felt her body trembling slightly as if she was resisting the attack on her and them.

Hua seemed to be able to hear some kind of "hallucination" again and could feel that something in the rain was calling her... She could feel the slightly strange emotions transmitted by the rain as if it was wondering why Hua was facing off against her [compatriots], why she was hurting her [compatriots]...

No, that's not right. It's the "song," the only "song" that can be heard in this "silence." It is this strange "song" that affects them.

'Don't be deceived, don't give in... Absolutely not!'

'My teammates still need me, and my friends still need me.'

'I... can't be influenced.'

Hua adjusted her breathing, calmed her confused thoughts, and suppressed her affinity for the Honkai beasts around her, especially the "monster" in front of her wearing Himeko's skin, and continued to kill the Honkai beasts around her that tried to approach her or her teammates.

Although anyone with a discerning eye could see that the surrounding defenses had collapsed and that they were the only team left in the area, this was not a reason for them to stop and give up.

Keep going, no matter what... keep going.

On the other side, Himeko, who was observing Hua and others' every move under the cover of the "heavy rain," smiled with approval.

Himeko did not speak, because, in this "silent" environment, there would be no other sounds except his and her "song"... Even beings like Himeko and others, and even their Honkai beasts, were the same and could not transmit any sound.

Therefore, they will use another way to "communicate."

Himeko raised her hand slightly, and the "pheromone" carrying some message spread quietly and quickly with the help of the rain. The Honkai beasts that were still surging around began to adjust their positions according to Himeko's command after receiving this message, and at some point, revealed a relatively "weak" spot to Hua and the others.

Hua naturally seized the opportunity at this moment and led the team to break through and escape into the distance... They are not stupid. The defense line has collapsed. Even if they want to hold on, they will not continue to stay on this broken defense line... What is more important now is to conserve strength and try to contact the main force so that they will know what to do next.

However, in the current situation, they have nowhere to escape... But it doesn't matter, Himeko doesn't care about those things. She just wants to give Hua a little "reward" as a "reward" for her growth to this point... Well, of course, there is also a little bit of selfishness in it.

'After all, they were her former teammates~ I just took care of them~'

'And… even if they escaped, or even further, survived, the final result would not change.'

Himeko was well aware of this.

After all... Nozomi has already decided on the final [ending] for "this time".

…

Under the influence of the "Song," even Hua, who was so far away from Nozomi and Skadi, could be affected so deeply. Then Kevin and the others who were facing Nozomi and Skadi directly here... needless to say.

Except for Kalpas and Elysia, everyone else present lost their fighting ability almost instantly.

The body is rebelling, resisting, as if something is about to burst out of it.

Longing, longing, longing to return to him, to be close to him, because he is their [compatriot], they have the same "blood" as him, they are no different from him.

They were thirsty for water and rain. They should have been wary of the rain falling from the sky and the water puddling on the ground. But at this moment, they all felt... these things were very close to them, and they could even vaguely feel the emotions coming from the water.

There seemed to be a certain call in their ears, a call that came along with his and her "song," a call that wanted to drag them into the deep sea...

'Don't accept, don't receive... keep your heart...'

'Adjust your breathing, stabilize your thoughts, and suppress the inexplicable feeling of closeness in your heart... Don't be bewitched by him, by Honkai...'

The humid air is becoming comfortable... The cool rain is gradually becoming more palatable...

'No, no! It shouldn't be like this!'

"......"

Kevin bit the tip of his tongue, using the momentary pain to make his thoughts clear. He took a deep breath, clenched the sword in his hand, waved the flames, controlled the ice and snow, and tried to evaporate or freeze the surrounding water.

But this time, he failed to do it.

Water vapor rushed into his nasal cavity with his breathing, and the strange feeling blocked his throat for a moment, causing him to subconsciously open his mouth and cough a few times. In the midst of the movements without the sound of coughing, his actions forced him to inhale a few breaths of humid air.

When he adjusted his breath again, when he raised his head, and looked around again... he realized that the current situation was very, very bad.

Now only Kalpas and Elysia can function normally. The others seem to be affected by Nozomi and Skadi's "song," and their combat effectiveness has been reduced by half... Although he doesn't know why this happened, Kevin doesn't care now, and he has no time to think about it.

Kalpas was suppressed. Blue creatures kept jumping out from the puddles on the ground, hitting Kalpas again and again, making him run for his life... Now, he couldn't even touch the corner of Nozomi's clothes, let alone get close to him.

Nozomi was controlling the azure water, carrying the strange dark sword, and fighting with Elysia through the air... The accumulated water on the ground and the "heavy rain" in the sky allowed him to fully exert his strength. Attacks could be launched from anywhere, and there was no safe place around him.

The pink crystal flower bloomed and shattered, appeared and disappeared. The fairy-like figure kept dodging in the white rain. She seemed a little flustered by the attacks from all around her, and her face was a little troubled and entangled...

The strange thing was that Nozomi did not focus his attack on those who had suddenly lost most of their combat effectiveness, but instead focused on Kalpas and Elysia who were still able to move normally...

Even the puddles that could give rise to azure creatures at any moment seemed calm around them; the rain that fell from the sky would not suddenly turn into sharp blades or spikes to hurt them...

It's really strange, are Elysia and Kalpas different from them? Or did Nozomi judge that they had lost their fighting power and could no longer pose a threat?

Kevin didn't know.

All he knew was that his comrades needed help.

No, it's not just Kevin, everyone else knows it.

"......"

Under the rain, Irine took a deep breath, adjusted her breathing, suppressed the strange feeling, calmed her thoughts, and stabilized her shaken cognition.

Covering the wound on her side, she could still feel the touch of crystal in her hand... It was left by Elysia to stop the bleeding.

And now, relying on the recovery power of the fusion warrior, her wounds have almost healed.

Although she didn't know why the wound that was supposed to take a minute to heal completely suddenly recovered a lot after the "song" sounded and the "rainstorm" came again, as if her recovery ability had increased a lot in that instant, but... there was not so much time to think now.

Take off the "lantern," hold it in the palm of her hand, let her thoughts settle, become stable, and gradually, slowly, build a connection with the "lantern" in her hand.

Just like what Nozomi said when he designed the "lantern," this thing is actually a weakened "Divine Key" from another perspective. The core of it is the fragment of a special Honkai beast named "Uriel." After Nozomi's adjustments, the power that this "lantern" can release will not make people afraid but only make people feel at ease...

'This is something that the teacher originally designed to [protect] something... Perhaps the teacher designed this for this moment, or perhaps for a similar situation' Irine thought so.

'Just like before, in that [dream], using the power of "light" to guide people lost in the fog... Perhaps, the teacher was preparing for such a situation in the first place'

She lowered her eyes slightly and held the "lantern" in her hand high.

"Light"... it is the manifestation of consciousness, the light that blooms through the spirit...

The more determined it is, the more power it can display...

The flame flickered slightly, and then... burned more violently.

'Stick to your will, keep your cognition firm... Don't be seduced by the Honkai, don't be greedy for the damp air, and don't get close to the rain.'

Let the fire illuminate the way ahead, dispel the rain, fog, and cold, shine like the morning light, and give people peace of mind.

The "lights" shine brightly, like a little sun lighting up in the rain, and at the same time, they bring a sense of security and warmth.

Under the illumination of the "lights," the emotions coming from the water seemed to be blocked out, and the strange sense of closeness conveyed by the "song" also disappeared briefly. The temptations emanating from him and her, from the Honkai, were at this moment like rain and fog, and were briefly dispelled by the "lights."

Kevin and his companions immediately seized the opportunity and launched a counterattack against Nozomi and Skadi.

Moreover, the sky covered with rain clouds was also changing rapidly... The rain clouds seemed to be dispersing.

Ah...It's Vill-V! Vill-V is controlling the "Fourth God Key" to help them! they must seize the opportunity!

The sky became clear again, although the rain clouds had only partially dispersed, and although the rain clouds were trying to get closer and cover the sky again, but... this was enough!

Moreover, in everyone's sight, they could see a number of aircraft flying from above the clouds in the distant sky... Was it support? Yes!

'This is great! Now all that's left is... huh?'

Everyone noticed that even in such a sudden change, Nozomi's expression was still so relaxed, with a gentle smile, as if all this was nothing to him or to them.

After all... the "song" is still there.

He raised his hand slightly towards Kalpas who was still fighting hard, and suddenly clenched his relaxed five fingers!

The azure creature suddenly exploded, and together with the accumulated water on the ground, it formed a bubble that enveloped Kalpas, and then...

Bang!

Although it was silent, everyone present seemed to have heard an auditory hallucination... When the bubble burst, Kalpas's figure could no longer be seen inside.

This sudden change stunned everyone present... It was too fast, so fast that no one could react, so fast that what Nozomi had just done was just a casual attack from him.

Nozomi's actions did not end there... He turned his clenched hands, twisted his fingertips lightly, and then snapped his fingers silently.

The water vapor that filled the air all around, the invisible water around instantly condensed into water blades, attacking in all directions.

With a slight wave of his arms, he brought up the azure water flow, which then moved the strange dark sword, so that it and the numerous water flows suppressed everyone, especially Kevin and Elysia, who were Nozomi's special attention.

Hmm? As for those flying machines in the sky controlled by Vill-V?

Nozomi doesn't need to worry about it.

After all... his "blood relatives" are right beside him.

Skadi stepped lightly, slightly turned the short staff in her hand, and then gently waved it, bringing up a stream of blue water, blocking all the incoming attacks, and then...

With a slight wave of her hand, a strange, huge creature jumped out from the water on the ground. With its huge and unknown length of body, it jumped directly to the same height as the aircraft, opened its mouth, and swallowed several aircraft into its mouth.

There was no sound of an explosion, no sound of breaking... the "silence" was still there, the "song" was still there, everything happened in silence, and precisely because of this, it was even more profound.

They remembered it, they recognized it! Especially Irine! She knew it!!!

That monster that killed her teacher, broke down the defenses, dragged Captain Himeko into the sea, caused her comrades to fall into the deep sea, and left her alone in the end!!!

There is no fear, no panic, only anger and hatred.

She turned her gaze to Nozomi and Skadi... It was obvious that the monster was Skadi, and they were even controlling it.

The "lights" flickered but became brighter and hotter... That was the manifestation of her will, and the "lights" were responding to her emotions.

But... before she could act on her anger and hatred, she felt a chilling fear.

As if sensing the hostility and resentment she emanated towards Nozomi and herself, Skadi's red eyes instantly turned to look at her. The feeling of being stared at by some predator was terrifying.

Soon, she and their figures were obscured by a huge shadow.

Looking up, she found that it was a huge "fin"-like thing... Irine knew that it was part of the body of the huge monster.

The situation before her seemed to coincide with what Irine had experienced before...

Flames roared, ice and snow danced, and the pink crystal arrows and blazing artillery fire never stopped.

However, as Nozomi slightly adjusted his gestures, the azure water began to flow... the flames and ice were blocked, the crystal arrows were shattered by the dark sword, and the crystal flowers were shattered before they even had a chance to bloom. As for the aircraft's artillery fire? Ha... those things couldn't cause any damage at all.

The huge "fin" just fell down, with unstoppable momentum, and hit them heavily.

"......"

After realizing that this attack could not be stopped, Hen took action immediately. He grabbed Irine by the back of the collar with one hand and threw her out forcefully... The power just displayed by Irine's "light" seemed to be able to resist Nozomi and Skadi's "song," so she must survive!

Then Hen kicked Kosma out again... 'What is this guy doing?! Is he still thinking of taking this attack? Is he stupid after being beaten?!'

Immediately, Hen made another gesture and fled with Kevin and Elysia, trying to avoid the attack.

And Irine and Kosma obviously understood what Hen meant, so they focused their minds and ran away quickly.

Irine, who just felt like she was poured a bucket of cold water, suppressed the resentment in her mind. She must focus on the current situation... She is a warrior, a fusion warrior fighting for [humanity]. She cannot let her comrades pay the price for her out-of-control emotions.

Relying on her own [ability], Irine successfully left the area covered by the shadow at her own high speed. Should the others be able to escape as well... right?

Please, this is a battlefield. Do you really think Nozomi will show mercy?

Please don't forget, and never forget, there is still water on the ground.

With a gentle wave of his hand, the accumulated water on the ground flew out and pierced through Hen, who was unable to dodge. Kosma, who had seen this scene, subconsciously stopped and wanted to turn around to rescue Hen...

Immediately, a blue streak flashed through the air, and the dark-colored sword was driven by the water flow, piercing Kosma's chest...

Finally, under the desperate gaze of the others, the huge "fin" fell heavily and buried the bodies of the two men.

The whole process... was still silent.

In this "silent" environment, they have already lost three comrades...

They were more or less at a loss as to what to do. Faced with such a desperate gap, their will to fight was hit again and again.

Resentment and grief lingered and brewed in their hearts. Resentment that Nozomi and Skadi had killed their comrades and brought such a huge disaster to the world; grief that their comrades had passed away and disappeared in such a short time...

Obviously, the previous battle situation was extremely favorable to them...

Why... why on earth... did it turn out like this?

The huge monster swallowed up the aircraft one after another in the sky. The bombardment was endless, like silent fireworks, but it could not leave any scars on it...

In the distance, the rolling rain clouds were about to come again, covering the sky once again...

A gloomy mood enveloped the few remaining people.

Finally, a flying vehicle struggled to break through the blockade of the giant monster and the blue water, and arrived above the only three remaining people. It dropped a ladder and projected the message from Vill-V.

Retreat quickly! No matter what! Retreat first! I've launched that thing over here! ——This is the message Vill-V told them through the projected text.

The three people who knew what Vill-V was talking about could only suppress the grief and anger in their hearts, jumped onto the ladder one by one, climbed onto the aircraft, and in the meantime, they had to cooperate with each other to break up the water flow around them that wanted to block them.

"......"

Before evacuating, Elysia paused for a moment, turned her head, and looked at the huge "fin" that was slowly rising... Below, there were no bodies belonging to Kosma and Hen, not even any traces, as if they had dissolved in the water, leaving nothing behind.

"......"

Elysia pursed her lips and took a deep look at Nozomi, who was still smiling, and Skadi, who was accompanying him. Gradually, her eyes became firm, as if she had made some kind of determination.

Then, she was the last one to jump onto the ladder, while also drawing her bow and shooting arrows to break up the surrounding water that was trying to hinder their evacuation.

After picking up the remaining three people, Vill-V quickly pulled up the aircraft and controlled other aircraft to provide cover... Don't worry, these aircraft are all drones, and Vill-V is remotely controlling them. Vill-V will not do anything that would cause people to deliberately die.

Afterwards, with the joint efforts of several people, the aircraft carrying three people finally flew high into the sky, above the clouds. At this height, Nozomi and Skadi could no longer attack them... probably.

But fortunately, Nozomi and Skadi had no intention of chasing... After all, "that thing" had already come over, and Kevin and others on the aircraft could even see "that thing" flying rapidly from a distance, passing by them, and falling into the area that was covered by rain clouds again.

And then... a huge mushroom cloud slowly bloomed.

But... everything around is still "silent," everything around is still silent.

Nozomi and Skadi... didn't seem to be killed by this.

At this point, not to mention the three people in the aircraft, even the "Fire Moth" that was watching this battle fell into a long silence... Although now even if they spoke, they couldn't hear it, haha.

At this point, the disaster that was later called the "First Great Silence"... entered its final stage.

It was not until Vill-V controlled the aircraft and brought the three people back to the new base of "Fire Moth" that his and her "song" stopped, the "silent" environment gradually recovered, and the sound re-entered everyone's perception.

In the end, humanity lost control of Mu Continent, one-tenth of the world's population "disappeared," several fusion warriors were lost, a large number of "Fire Moth" warriors "died," fusion warrior Hua and her team "disappeared," and a large number of survivors were stranded in the shelter on Mu Continent, unable to get rescue and could only survive. It was a complete failure of humanity.

In the subsequent review, "Fire Moth" also learned from the narration of a surviving soldier, or more precisely, from the mouths of monsters disguised as former comrades, that those special Honkai beasts seemed to regard the [Ocean] as their "mother" and occasionally called themselves "children of the ocean."

Therefore, the "Fire Moth" called these special Honkai beasts, especially those monsters that appear in the skins of dead people, "Children of the Ocean"... Considering that this name is too troublesome, it is generally referred to as "Children of the Sea."

By the way, the surviving warrior who reported this incident... was eventually discovered and killed by Irine.

When the azure blood gushed out of that man's body, everyone realized... there were monsters mixed in with the survivors!

In the end, it was with the joint efforts of Irine, Vill-V, Mei, and Klein, who temporarily replaced Mobius, that they managed to clear out the monsters that had infiltrated the "Fire Moth."

To be honest, this process is not that difficult. All you need to do is draw blood for a test. After all, human blood is bright red, while the blood of monsters is azure blue, which is easy to distinguish... The trouble is the resistance they put up after being discovered, and the weird mental interference they emit at the same time, which can easily put ordinary soldiers into a coma.

In addition, their corpses must be specially handled to avoid the situation like Mobius before, where these monsters left special pheromones to attract Nozomi and Skadi.

Although the warrior who came up with the name "Children of the Ocean" was eventually discovered to be a monster, the name "Fire Moth" was still retained in the end... Those special Honkai beasts represented by Nozomi and Skadi are collectively called "Children of the Sea."

As a result, the struggle between humanity and Honkai entered a new stage, turning into a confrontation between humanity and the "Kaiji"...

......

'Ha... it seems like everything is developing as expected~'

'Next, after a few more moves, this [chess game] can be considered a sure win~'

'Hmm... I don't know what everyone's expressions will be when they find out the truth in the end'

'It's really exciting, isn't it?'

'Ah... even though I feel like I'm being too harsh and mean...'

'But who has made me considered a 'big devil' now?'

'Well... However, it's actually quite pleasant to be a 'villain.' After all, I can be more unrestrained~'

'Besides, this is my [duty] and [right], isn't it?'

'The ending of this story is written and decided by me. I just hope that you, the girl at the beginning, won't be too sad or surprised when the time comes.'

'Elysia~.'