Chapter 249: The First Strike

"Please come to your senses, Irine."

Under the soft indoor light, and with Aponia's gentle exhortation, Irine seemed to finally come back to her senses from her trance. Her silver-gray eyes, which had been wandering due to confusion and sorrow, suddenly solidified a little, and her thoughts, which seemed to be about to drift away at any time, were pulled back into her body.

She raised her eyes and looked around... She was inside the "Fire Moth." Yes, that's right, Irine remembered this place. This was a treatment room in the base of the "Fire Moth."

Standing next to them seemed to be... Dr. Mei, Elysia, and some others.

Finally, Irine was able to turn her attention back to the person in front of her, that is, the special fusion warrior - Aponia.

"Please be at ease, brave and lucky warrior... Please, once again, tell us a little about what happened at that time."

Aponia spoke softly, the tenderness in her eyes seemed to overflow... Irine even suspected that if the situation was not inappropriate, she would even hold her in her arms and comfort her.

As for what she asked, Irine also knew, but...

"......"

She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but her throat seemed to be blocked by something and she couldn't speak.

Because... if she lowers her head slightly, she can see a [lantern] placed on the table in front of her.

She remembered that her teacher, Nozomi, had just handed her this lantern as a gift and also his expectation for her.

he hope she can perform her duties well and let the light shine upon those around her.

But... it all ended before it even began.

"...Irine, I hope you understand that if you can't get over this and tell us what you saw... we will have to use some special measures."

Mei on the side was silent for a while, then took the initiative to speak... Someone has to start this, so why not let her be the "bad guy."

"......"

"...Aponia, use 'Discipline.'"

"Not yet, Dr. Mei."

Aponia shook her head slightly and did not follow the instructions to use the "Discipline" on Irine. Instead, she gently pushed the [Lantern] on the table towards Irine and spoke softly.

"You can do that, can't you?"

Aponia whispered encouragingly.

"......"

Irine remained silent. After hesitating for a long time, she slowly stretched out her hands and gently hugged both sides of the lantern.

fowosh--

It was the sound of a flame starting.

The red flame burned quietly inside the [lantern], flickering like a candle flame, and the light it emitted was very faint.

But... that faint sense of security still quietly spreads, and that warm feeling still quietly permeates.

Even though it was very faint and weak, it was not extinguished.

No... it even became brighter.

It was as if the [light] before her eyes gave Irine some kind of power, or as if the [light] before her eyes reminded Irine of something. Her originally confused pupils gradually became brighter, and the flame in the [lantern] also grew from a small dot to a cluster.

"...We encountered that [monster] in the sea."

Irine spoke slowly.

"It's the [Monster] that attacked from the sea when [Heavy Rain] first appeared in the records."

"The environment at that time was also [heavy rain]... and it was an extremely abnormal [heavy rain]."

"The rain clouds in the sky were as black as ink as if night had arrived early."

"The rain formed a white curtain, covering up the little light that was left."

"Based on my senses at the time, I couldn't even see things 20 meters away, and my hearing was blocked by the noisy rain. The only way I could contact other people was the communication equipment."

Irine's eyelids drooped slightly, and the flame in the lantern swayed gently. It was unstable for a moment, but soon returned to calm and burned quietly.

"But on the communication, I could only hear other people's nervous shouts and the teacher's slightly anxious instructions... Later, even the communication became unstable. I could only see the rain, hear the sound of rain, and... the scenery of the sea spreading and the sound of the waves surging."

"Then, what I saw was that huge shadow..."

"It seemed to just flap its fins and slap a small part of its body on the shore, and then... the ground cracked and shattered, and was swept to the bottom of the sea by the surging sea."

"I tried to fight back with the teacher, but it had little effect... No, it was still effective. It caused a lot of damage to it. The wound was deep enough that I could even see its blue blood flowing out, which was no different from the seawater. I could even hear its wailing."

"But... its body is so huge that the damage we inflicted seems insignificant. What's more important is... its recovery ability is too strong."

"Can you imagine it?"

Irine's voice was filled with bitterness, and the light of the lamp flickered again.

"It's just like when our finger is scratched by a piece of paper. Although there is a wound and blood seeps out, it is very small and delicate. After a while, the wound will scab over on its own."

"Our situation was similar to this... or even milder than this."

"In addition, that [rainstorm] was also very unusual... The rain seemed to come alive, revealing certain emotions all the time..."

"I don't know how to describe it. Like happy? Or nervous? Or something else? I almost doubted whether I was corroded by Honkai..."

Having said that, Irine paused slightly, pursed her lips, and then continued.

"More importantly, this abnormal rain has seriously affected our combat capabilities, and as time goes by, this impact has become more and more serious..."

"For it, that huge [monster], this rain is like some kind of booster, or it is like it is in a kind of [home court]. Its body is becoming more and more flexible, its recovery speed is getting faster and faster, and even its skin is getting harder and harder... In the end, the teacher and I were unable to cause any harm to it."

"Most importantly..."

Irine closed her eyes in pain as if she had thought of some very bad memories. The flame in the lantern kept swaying as if it would go out at any time, but it was still burning strongly and tenaciously.

"It...came ashore."

"In other words, most of its body has reached the shore."

"In front of that huge body, all our defenses, everything we have built, including lighthouses, fortresses, defense lines, and even the places we rest... seem so small."

"It even just moved its body a little bit and everything we had collapsed. Just by flapping its fins, the ground broke and it fell into the sea, submerged by the water, and disappeared without a trace."

"I... the last thing I remember was that the teacher threw me out... no, should it be kicked me out?"

Irine slowly opened her eyes, her eyes filled with sadness.

"I only remember that my body was in so much pain. I only remember that I flew very far, even out of the range of the [Rainstorm]... and finally fell to the ground. When I woke up again, I was back here."

"And my sword, my gun, my teacher, my comrades... they are all gone. None of them have returned."

"Left for me..."

Her eyelids drooped slightly as she looked at the lantern in front of her with a flickering flame.

"There is only this [lantern] that the teacher gave me at the end."

"…That's all I remember."

Irine finished.

"Thank you very much, Irine."

Aponia spoke softly, stretched out her pale and weak hand, gently placed it on the back of Irine's hand, and passed her own warmth to her.

"You are a strong and brave child, thank you very much."

Then, Aponia turned around and looked at Dr. Mei who had been recording key information, and spoke softly.

"That should be enough, right, Dr. Mei?"

"...Well, most of them are similar to what we speculated."

Mei nodded, put away the recording terminal in her hand, then raised her head and looked at Irine.

"According to our observations and replays, from the time you encountered it to the time your entire defense line collapsed, the entire process took only five minutes and forty-three seconds. Such a short period of time... was terrifying, so much so that other places were unable to provide support, and your side completely collapsed."

"sorry..."

"No, this is not your problem. According to our observations, you were most likely facing two Herrschers at the time."

"Two... Herrschers?"

Irine raised her head, her pupils filled with surprise.

"Yes, we have observed two energy wavelengths similar to those of the Herrscher. One wavelength is the one we observed, belonging to the one in the sea, and the other wavelength seems to be the newly born Herrschers..."

"And later we also found a somewhat abnormal Honkai beast on the other side. We can basically infer that it is the companion of the new Herrscher."

"It's just that the energy wavelength of this new Herrschers only appeared for a moment and disappeared very quickly. We don't quite know what happened."

Mei pushed her glasses slightly, her calm tone filled with a hint of helplessness and sadness.

"In other words, what you faced at that time was most likely a coordinated attack by two Herrschers. Combined with our subsequent observations of the site and your description... when that huge Honkai creature came ashore, it destroyed the land, causing the sea to spread, and further destroyed the place where you could stand, while the area where it was active was further expanded."

"As one side gained strength while the other lost, it's understandable that you fought so hard and collapsed so quickly... The land was destroyed, the rainstorm was raging, and everything was covered by seawater. It was indeed difficult to continue fighting under such circumstances..."

"No, it's basically impossible, because as long as the land disappears and the sea covers it, it will be its home turf. There will even be other Honkai beasts waiting for you in the sea... After all, it took us half a day to repel the tide of Honkai beasts that surged up."

"In other words... it's really rare that you were able to survive that situation. That's why we are so eager to learn more details from you. We have resorted to some unnecessary means to do this. Please forgive us."

Mei's tone was sincere.

"No... Thank you for your common sense, and this is what we should do as soldiers."

Irine shook her head, holding the still bright [lantern], and gently pulled her hands back, breaking free from Aponia's palms.

"I want to know if there are any other people..."

"I'm sorry, you're the only survivor... The coast you were originally defending has completely collapsed and is covered by seawater... We've temporarily transformed that area into a cliff, which can at least hinder the Honkai beasts in the sea. The reconstruction of the defense line is also in full swing."

Dr. Mei shook her head and spoke slowly.

"The teacher..."

"…There is no news from him."

"This is impossible, the teacher is so strong!"

"I know, we don't believe it either, so we are doing our best to search and rescue... but at the moment, we don't have any good news."

"......"

Irine stopped talking, only the flame in the lantern continued to flicker.

"Can I go back and rest first?"

After a long silence, Irine asked this.

"Please go ahead, and... thank you again for your help, Irine."

"Um."

Irine didn't say much; she just picked up the lantern and walked away slowly with erratic steps.

"...sigh."

Mei pinched her eyebrows with a headache, her frown had not relaxed in recent days.

"Elysia... did you get any news from Dr. Mobius?"

"No..."

Elysia's tone was somewhat depressed.

"Mobius won't see anyone... I heard from Klein that Mobius has locked herself in her room for the past few days and hasn't come out. She doesn't eat or do experiments. Many projects in the laboratory have come to a standstill."

"What about Vill-V? Doesn't she have a remote control over the 'Box'? How is the data recovery going? Can we further infer Nozomi's situation?"

"The news from Vill-V is not very good... After her data was restored, the only command she could see was... 'Self-destruction.'"

Elysia's tone became even gloomier.

"And... Vill-V seems to have been quiet recently. I heard from the people in the engineering department that Vill-V has been quiet for a long time. Even when her parents knocked on the door, she didn't make any noise."

"sigh..."

Mei sighed again, and everyone else was in a bad mood as well... No, it could even be said that the atmosphere of the entire "Fire Moth" was not very good.

After all... no one would be in a good mood if they were suddenly hit by such a severe blow when everything was thriving and going well. It could even be said that a major contributor to the "Fire Moth" and a major fighting force was wiped out... No one would be in a good mood after being hit by this level of impact.

Not to mention, the lost 'unit' can even be said to be a key figure of 'Fire Moth'... even a 'hub' in a sense.

Not to mention Mobius, a veteran of 'Fire Moth', Vill-V, the current 'head' of the engineering department, and even the current leadership of 'Fire Moth', and Eden, a major sponsor of 'Fire Moth', are all related to him, and even he himself has made a lot of contributions to 'Fire Moth'.

But just so suddenly, under such abrupt circumstances... he disappeared, maybe even... died.

This cast a shadow over the 'Fire Moth' which was originally full of confidence.

More importantly, the information that the Fire Moth observed during that battle... that was the energy wavelength of two Herrschers! Two!

This is too horrible!

But... even so, it is not a reason for them or the 'Fire Moth' to remain silent.

They must... fight, just as they have always done, against the Honkai.

We must move forward, and we can only move forward.

If you take one step back, even half a step, or even just a little bit... you will be swallowed up by the Honkai.

"Elysia, I have a mission for you... Lead the team, investigate that area, collect all the information you can, and see if there is anything else we can prepare."

Mei thought about it for a moment and then said so.

"As for Dr. Mobius and Vill-V... I'll take care of it."

"Ask the Operations Department to increase vigilance and patrols... Just mention it to them, they know what to do."

"Please ask the higher-ups to increase the power of the 'Fourth Divine Key.' We can't let that abnormal 'rainstorm' appear... Even if it does appear, we can't allow it to spread inland."

"And... let's move up the surgery for the next batch of fusion warriors. We need to move fast."

"Understood."

Everyone nodded, agreeing to Mei's order, and then dispersed to do their own things.

"I hope it's not too late..."

Mei murmured softly as she walked quickly.

"......"

On the other side, Elysia, who was about to lead the team to investigate, pursed her lips and subconsciously quickened her pace.

Nozomi... you really...

No, that's not right. You and I are the same. If that's the case, then you won't disappear so easily...

But... what if it's really the case?

He fought against another Herrscher, and finally... died.

Or maybe he would die in battle like humans do, in the human way.

Will you do this, Nozomi?

"......"

Elysia didn't know, she could only quicken her pace, head towards her destination, and try to discover something.