Chapter 18: There are only a few heroes left that you admire

[The battle to subjugate the Fourth Herrscher is over. The companion Honkai Beast and the 'Gabriel' that appeared with it have also been subjugated. The Honkai Beast tide has also been gradually cleared. At this point, the people of the Fire Moth Chaser can take a breather.]

[You held a celebration party as usual, and while celebrating the victory, everyone also expressed their blessings and expectations for Kevin to officially serve as the 'Captain of the First Squad'—although everyone knows that the reason why Kevin took on this position is not something worth celebrating, everyone now needs a carnival to make themselves forget the tension and fear on the battlefield.]

[It is worth mentioning that everyone was able to appreciate you again this time because Sakura and Elysia invited you to dance at the same time, which made people smile knowingly—many people think that this scene will become a regular item in future dances.]

[Of course, after a day of revelry, you naturally need to return to your duties and make some summaries of the battle that just ended. You get information from all sides and gradually understand the true situation of the crusade against the Fourth Herrscher.]

[Due to the large storm, countless teams were unable to approach the area where the Fourth Herrscher was located, and many people even lost contact in the storm. Then the top leaders decided to use weapons from low-Earth orbit to bypass the storm and directly attack the Fourth Herrscher.]

[This method was effective. Although it failed to hurt the enemy and even angered them, the Fourth Herrscher did stop expanding the storm and walked out of it, intending to directly cause trouble for the Fire Moth troops. This was the third day that you, Sakura, and the others were trapped on the island.]

[After all the surrounding troops were killed by the Fourth Herrscher, she began to maintain a small storm and walked on land, destroying several cities one after another. Kevin's first team and several other teams were responsible for restraining her and trying to create opportunities for Elysia to kill her. Kevin also saved a boy named Kosma on the way, and he has now become a new recruit of the Fire Moth and is receiving training.]

[After that, the Fourth Herrscher targeted and sniped the team one by one, forcing all the teams to resist and fight back. In the end, 'Kevin rushed in alone to annihilate the Fourth Herrscher and the rest of the soldiers were forced to sacrifice themselves in order to contain the Fourth Herrscher.']

[And where is Elysia, who was supposed to appear at this time? She was ordered to assist and protect the residents of several cities and evacuate.]

[Obviously, Elysia is not responsible for this kind of thing, and the order specifically mentions 'protection,' but it is hard to say whether the people who need to be 'protected' in this order are the residents and not someone else.]

[Obviously, some guys are worried about their own lives, so they let Elysia, who is the most capable of fighting the Herrscher, to protect them as they retreat, without caring whether the soldiers still on the battlefield will lose the chance to kill the Herrscher due to the lack of Elysia's support. Anyway, there will always be soldiers—you who are familiar with the thinking of those guys will quickly understand the reason.]

[It can be said that the first team and several other teams were considered to have 'given up' at the time, but they did not expect that there was a guy like Kevin in it, who braved the storm and conquered the Fourth Herrscher and survived.]

[And now, they are making a big fuss about Kevin's strength and 'generously' giving Kevin the role of 'Captain of the First Squad,' as if Kevin is some great hero.]

[Ah... yes, a hero who needs to receive psychological treatment every once in a while.]

[After understanding the whole situation, you silently stopped writing, and then tore off the paper along with the next page as usual, then set it on fire and burned it to ashes, and then ate it with sugar.]

['Today I took 36 pills. I've reduced my dosage, which is good' you think.]

[After that, life seemed to have calmed down again, but the pace became faster.]

[First of all, of course, is the internal action of the Fire Moth. The performance of the Honkai energy weapons in the 'Gabriel Crusade' made the Fire Moth decide to speed up the research progress, and the research department received a large amount of research funds as a result.]

[But there is also a problem with Honkai weapons—when releasing energy, the Honkai energy will become active, and then erode the frame of the weapon itself, and finally cause the weapon to lose control and leak the Honkai energy. There is no way to deal with such a thing, and a breakthrough in materials is required.]

[This requires the appearance of a new character, that is, the 'genius' who was 'caught' by Elysia and troubled the Fire Moth all day long, but the Fire Moth still couldn't hold her back—Vill-V.]

[Under Elysia's guidance, you also got to know her. I have to say that she is indeed a very eccentric and willful person, giving people a feeling that she is difficult to get along with... but you don't care about it.]

[More importantly, Vill-V is a specially hired engineer of the Fire Moth. Many things in the Fire Moth were designed and built by her. Although she is very willful, she is still very sensible when it comes to major issues.]

[Soon, with the efforts of Vill-V and many scientific researchers, the Fire Moth has made breakthroughs in weapon materials, structure, and diversification—it would be better if Vill-V didn't put so many strange designs into the draft.]

[I'd like to mention here that those soldiers who died on the battlefield due to unstable experimental weapons did not receive corresponding compensation in the end. They only received the standard (lowest) pension for death in action. This made Hen depressed for a long time, and most of the surviving veterans were also depressed—I can only say that they are worthy of being that group of people.]

[Thanks to the efforts of countless people, the weapons of the warriors were quickly updated and upgraded, and they became more adept at fighting against the collapse—although people around them still came and went, the overall number of casualties was indeed much less.]

[But... it's not all good news. Some problems left over from before will erupt without you noticing.]

[For example, before Gabriel died, he blew the 6th trumpet, so why did nothing happen in the end?—' Maybe he ran out of power,' someone said optimistically.]

[However, the truth is not like this. The call of 'Gabriel' actually worked, but the dangers that followed were all hidden in the deep sea. Until a certain moment, groups of terrifying Honkai beasts would walk ashore from the sea, bringing the horror of the 'Honkai Beast Tide to humans again.]

[And now, the Fire Moth has to face the tip of this dangerous iceberg.]

"[After the equipment and team members were updated and supplemented, the Fire Moth discovered that the concentration of Honkai energy in the offshore area was a bit abnormal, and Honkai energy began to frequently break out in coastal areas, which made many people alert]

　　[As expected, within a very short period of time, several extremely powerful Honkai beasts appeared in the coastal areas, causing the warriors who had updated their equipment to once again feel the difficulty of fighting Honkai by relying on stacking lives.]

　　[The entire ocean and even the coastal areas of the continent are beginning to become dangerous. In order to prevent the true information of the collapse from being exposed to the public, the Fire Moths are also working hard to block the news, and the soldiers are running around in various battlefields.]

　　[What's worse is that among these terrifying Honkai beasts, there even appeared a "monster" that refreshed everyone's cognition, so much so that the Fire Moth had to add a separate "level" to highlight its power… No, that's not right, it's to highlight its "incomprehensible" and indescribable ability, a power that once made people doubt the common sense of the world]

　　[Although the appearance and characteristics of "Honkai" itself can refresh people's three views, at least there are traces to follow, and its power will only make people feel at a loss, and even made many scholars who study Honkai overturn their previous theories.]

　　[If it weren't for the desperate fight of all the Fire Moth teams at the end, I'm afraid the world would be destroyed by it]

　　[That is the first Honkai beast that was identified as the "End of Dharma Level" - "Mahayana"]

　　[Because these powerful Honkai beasts all came from the sea, or appeared in coastal areas, some people in the Fire Moths speculated whether this was related to the last horn sound of "Gabriel". Unfortunately, there is no actual evidence, but the Fire Moths still raised the danger level of "Gabriel" to second only to "Mahayana"]

　　[After a period of time, almost all coastal areas were listed as dangerous areas, the near sea was highly dangerous, and the far sea was a restricted area. The whole world suffered varying degrees of impact as a result.]

　　[But all this stopped after you killed a Honkai beast codenamed "Varuna"]

　　[No one knows why, after killing the whale-like Honkai Beast that was so huge that it could even fly in the sky, no Honkai Beasts appeared in coastal and offshore areas, and the concentration of Honkai energy dropped sharply and returned to a safe area.]

　　[No one knows why the other party did not resist when you attacked "Varuna" and let you kill it.]

　　[These things are very strange, but generally speaking they are good things. Although the open sea is still a restricted area and even more dangerous than before, people on the sea will not be attacked by Honkai beasts as long as they are at a distance where they can "clearly see the land"... Although it is very strange, this is the result observed by the Fire Moth.]

　　[This incident also sounded a wake-up call to the top management of the Fire Moth. Many plans that were previously abandoned or terminated because they were too dangerous were put back on the agenda, and Dr. Mei, who had proposed many plans, also gained a lot of say.]

　　[Days passed, time flowed by, the warriors of the Fire Moths ran across the ruined battlefield, countless people died, and countless more joined, and just like that... you welcomed the "Fifth Herrscher"]

　　——————————

　　"Pah—"

　　A crisp and familiar sound; that was the sound of Xi Wang opening the candy box. Obviously, he was eating candy again.

　　"It's rare that you didn't act with Sakura this time."

　　Hen said with a smile on his face.

　　"She's been assigned other duties, you know."

　　"Yeah... the Honkai is becoming more and more frequent..."

　　Hen sighed, and then said half-jokingly.

　　"And I guess you don't want her to take part in this mission, right?"

　　He seemed to want to lighten the mood, but he was looking for the wrong person.

　　"…With Sakura and I's skills, we can both survive."

　　In other words, he actually didn't object to Sakura's participation in this mission, but Sakura didn't come because she was really assigned other tasks.

　　"...Ha, I really don't understand you guys."

　　Hen was also left speechless by Xiwang's words. In the end, he could only sigh and attribute everything to "the two of them are very confident in their own abilities."

　　"Ah... But don't think I'm nagging. Although I feel like I've been talking a lot since I got married, you know..."

　　Hen shrugged.

　　"I have no one else to talk to here."

　　"You can tell him."

　　Xi Wang glanced at the young man following behind Hen. With his thin figure, he didn't look like a soldier, but he could feel his strong and positive will...but this will was being tested at the moment.

　　"Kosma? What? You're not leaving? Or are you frightened?"

　　Hen patted the boy's shoulder and spoke in a relaxed tone.

　　"You are unlucky. You have just joined the team for a few days and you have encountered such a mission... I will definitely report it to the people above me when I get back."

　　"...Captain, are you telling the truth? The role of this team... is to die?"

 　 The young man named Kosma seemed a little bit unbelievable.

 "You can say that. After all, there are always people who think that when necessary, [dying] is meaningful."

 "I know, but you're going to die alone..."

 "Snap!"

 A clear and loud sound was heard; it was the sound of Xi Wang closing the candy box with force.

 "Although I think I have some experience in hiding my aura, isn't it a bit too much for you to ignore me so directly?"

 Xi Wang spoke softly, interrupting the young man's somewhat sad mood.

 "Hahahaha... That's right, Kosma, you see, I'm not alone."

 Hen laughed loudly and patted the boy's shoulder hard again.

 "But... these are what you call your [duties]?"

 Listening to Hen's signature laugh 'he used to make a similar laugh when he teased others in the past' Kosma wondered.

 "That depends on how you understand it."

 Hen shrugged, and quietly reached out his hand, trying to get a candy from Xiwang, but Xiwang dodged it nimbly. Hen couldn't help but sigh, showing an annoyed expression, and Xiwang also raised his eyebrows with a somewhat smug expression - Hen had tried many times in the past, but had never been able to get the candy box from Xiwang's hand.

 Well... although it feels a bit childish, it can be regarded as a little game between the two of them. After all... this is how it is between boys.

 "But if you do this... you will destroy yourself and the mission you were supposed to carry out."

 Kosma said so.

 "Ah, yes, yes, you are right. But I don't like lying. No one should be responsible for the world without knowing the truth, so I showed them a way out."

 Hen said this indifferently... However, when he told the truth, the result was that all members of the team he led ran away, leaving only Xiwang, Kosma, and himself.

 "What else? Kosma, can you find any other way for us?"

 "......"

 After knowing the true information of the mission, Kosma naturally couldn't think of any good solution.

 "Besides, even if I get unlucky, he still has the hope of staying with me. You know, this guy went much further than me and didn't even bring anyone from the team."

 "No, it's just that the people in my team didn't catch up with me. After all, I should be the third batch."

 "Oh, please don't ruin my show. Be careful or I'll let Griseo draw on your face. Griseo loves drawing. Let me think... how about drawing a turtle?"

 "…It doesn't matter. And if it's just a turtle, you underestimate Griseo's painting skills."

 "...Why don't you buy into this?"

 "You can try this tactic on Dr. Mobius."

 "Tsk... Never mind. I don't want to wake up suddenly one day and find myself lying on an operating table. Even Blanca won't be able to save me then."

 Hen curled his lips, looking helpless.

 "......"

 Looking at the two people who were still joking in front of him, Kosma pursed his lips.

 They were clearly on the road to death, but they still seemed relaxed, even laughing and joking, as if they were playing around, and treated the serious, tragic, and heroic sacrifice as nothing...

 Everyone has left... Obviously, with so few people, they will definitely not be able to complete the mission, and will only end up in failure. The Herrscher will wreak havoc and kill others. Even if I survive by chance, I will only be judged by the Fire Moth...

Why are they still so relaxed?

　　"Wrong."

　　The boy said so.

　　"The mission will not fail like this, and those who leave will survive."

　　His voice was firm and full of determination.

　　"…That's right."

　　Hen paused for a moment, looked at the boy with admiration, and then spoke again.

　　"You may be able to do it, but there will always be a day when you can't. If this is what you insist on, please don't forget him... But I still suggest that you look at other people's choices today. There's nothing wrong with being a shrink. At least they can see the smiling faces of their families again, right?"

　　"What about him?"

　　The young man pointed at Xiwang, who had been silent the whole time.

　　"...This guy is different. He is much more powerful than us, and if something really happens, he can run faster than us."

　　"Really."

　　"Oi! You have to save me at least? At least say a few words!"

　　"...Okay, I promise you."

　　Xiwang tilted his head, then nodded and agreed.

　　"Okay, let's go, it's time for us to leave... And don't tell Kevin what I just said. Although that guy was forced to be the captain, he is still a young man like you and cannot accept the decision of 'sacrifice'. The Fire Moth has enough troubles now, don't cause trouble for those people above~"

　　Having said that, Hen pulled Xiwang away.

　　"…You are wrong, Hen."

　　But the boy spoke again as if he had noticed something.

　　"Those people... they are not shrinking people, they are heroes."

　　"It's just that the moment that determines who they are is only coming now."

　　"......"

　　Xiwang raised his eyes slightly, glanced casually, and then stopped paying attention. However, Hen looked back with some surprise.

　　At this time, the footsteps around gradually became clearer. The people who had just scattered and the soldiers who had just escaped gathered again. Familiar faces appeared again, without a single person absent.

　　The young man stood among them, smiling a rare smile. Anyone who was not blind could see the pride in his smile - during this time spent with the captain and Hen, this was the first time he had the upper hand.

　　The boy tried to see surprise on Hen's face, or to see some astonishment on Xiwang's face which was always as calm as a lake... but he failed.

　　Hen was only slightly surprised for a moment before he regained his composure. He was not happy about the return of his companions. Xiwang's expression did not even change at all, as if he had foreseen it.

　　Then, a message came over the team's communication that froze the boy's expression.

　　"…This is Kevin."

　　Kevin, who was from the first team, or led the first batch of "suicide teams", said so in the communication.

　　"We have arrived at the location of the Fifth Herrscher and...found her body."

　　After that, Kevin gave a brief report and speculation on the scene, but Kosma was already a little dazed. He had guessed why those people came back again... and that answer had a big impact on him, a young man with a sense of justice and a clear distinction between good and evil...

　　"So, do you understand?"

　　Xiwang, who had been silent until now, spoke at this moment.

　　"At this moment, you are so precious, you are so passionate, you are not afraid of sacrifice, and you are so young."

　　That's why Hen hopes that you can leave and 'escape' together like everyone else. At least children like you can survive, and at least there will be people like you in the future.

　　Or maybe you can really learn from those who retreat, learn to retreat and 'escape' from certain things, so that you can at least live a little longer... There is nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to despise, it is human nature.

　　"If you still want to persist, then go ahead."

　　Xiwang opened the candy box again, stuffed candy into himself, and spoke casually.

　　"There are only a few brave people left who are willing to sacrifice."

　　The rests are just cowards or those who are 'not ready yet'.

　　Therefore, Xiwang and Hen were not surprised at the beginning when they saw their companions fleeing. Rather, they thought that it was natural. On the contrary, those who stayed behind, like Kosma, were the outliers.

　　After all…

　　"The kind of [hero] you're looking for and yearning for has already died on an earlier battlefield."

　　Xiwang stated a fact calmly.