The young man stood at the edge of the building.
The raging gale had already ravaged the already deteriorating city, leaving it utterly ruined.
What was this? The end of the world?
His greenish-brown hair was messy from the wind. His amber eyes reflected the terrifying, approaching body in the wind and rain. His fingers slowly tightened around the prepared explosives.
Was all this caused by this monster?
"Hoooooow—"
A deafening roar. The young man half-crouched on the ground to resist the wind pressure. He gritted his teeth, staring intently at the monster.
For his hometown? Such a reason seemed too noble; he didn't possess such profound ideals.
Yet, he didn't think much and stood right here, perhaps driven by the ideal of becoming a hero.
Maybe after he died, someone would come here to mourn him and lay a bouquet of flowers on his grave.
Here it comes.
Upon closing to a sufficient distance, the young man's eyes were steady as he leaped from the edge of the rooftop. He intended to jump into the monster's mouth and use the explosives to blow up what he perceived to be the weakest part.
"Swoosh..."
The sound of the wind was so loud.
He couldn't open his eyes and could only move forward based on instinct.
Could he succeed in this level of airflow?
Regardless, there was no turning back.
"Snap!"
A strong hand suddenly grabbed his wrist, yanking him back from outside the rooftop.
"Civilian? Why are you still here? Didn't you evacuate earlier?"
The young man was stunned, thrown onto the ground. He blinked and realized he wasn't in the air.
A white-haired man in a science-fiction-style armor stood before him. His figure, standing firm in the wind with a firearm in his hand, was like a spear.
Who was this?
The young man asked after a brief moment of shock: "Who are you?"
"If you don't want to die, leave immediately, run in the opposite direction, and get away from those monsters! They are not something you can fight!"
Kevin hadn't expected a child to be still here at this time. And judging by his actions, he actually wanted to fight the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
"The Fourth Herrscher's attack is intensifying. You must move towards the city's inner edge, not the very outskirts, or you'll be torn apart by the storm!"
"The Fourth Herrscher?" The young man pointed at the giant manta ray. "Is that monster her?"
"That's just her subordinate! These wind fields, wind masses, and tornados are all created at will by the Fourth Herrscher!"
"Subordinate?!"
The young man repeated the word in shock.
This monster, covering the sky and defying common sense, this abomination that could blow him away with a mere flap of its wing, was actually just a minion of another monster?
And the wind field that had enveloped the city for a month, and the storms raging within the city, were actually created casually by the Fourth Herrscher?
Despair and fear surged into his heart.
"Hurry and leave. We will stop her." Kevin's gaze swept over the young man's name tag. "Your name is Kosma, isn't it? I'm Kevin. You're very brave, so for your own life, live on."
This young man was just like he was in Nagazora, but braver.
Kosma was silent for a moment, then yelled with all his might: "Please let me stay! Let me be your assistant!"
His eyes changed.
Just a second ago, they were filled with panic mixed with fear, but now they were resolute, embracing a willingness to die.
He was very much like Lin.
"Kevin, what are you doing?"
Lin's communication cut into their conversation at that moment.
"I found a civilian, and he's a child," Kevin replied.
"The Emperor-class Honkai Beast is about to destroy your location. Evacuate immediately."
Kevin nodded and looked at the determined Kosma: "Alright, follow me now."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Counterattack with my comrades."
"Boom!"
Before the words were finished, an explosion occurred on the lower right side of the manta ray.
The combat personnel on the ground holding missile launchers began reloading after hitting the target, and others, after clearing the surrounding Honkai Beasts, also started attacking the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
In pain, the manta ray opened the respiratory holes on its underside, and a large number of Honkai Beasts emerged from them. Then, it swung its caudal fin. The long, whip-like fin struck towards the ground with terrifying momentum.
But before it reached the ground, a pitch-black figure flashed out of the void. Two blue long blades mercilessly stabbed into it. Ice crystals and lightning spread from the caudal fin, easily snapping it in half.
"Hooowl!"
In that instant, the others also activated their Time Fracture systems, dodging the wind blades raining down from the sky, and launched their attack on the manta ray.
This time, Lin was not fighting alone. This Emperor-class Honkai Beast was also far less troublesome than the Judgment-class Sesa, neither in cunning intellect nor in power.
"Take this." Kevin handed the rifle to Kosma, making a shooting gesture. "Have you played the shooting games at the arcade? Just pull the trigger."
Kosma skillfully gripped the rifle in a standard shooting stance: "I haven't played, but I know how to use it."
"Good. Now, provide me with appropriate cover. Shoot those monsters." Kevin pulled out a pistol, staring at the manta ray.
Honkai Beasts emerged from the manta ray's body. Upon seeing these two closest targets on the rooftop, they revealed their sharp fangs and lunged, howling and snapping.
"Tap, tap, tap..." Kosma fired without hesitation. The rounds from the Honkai-resistant weapon made short work of these low-tier Honkai Beasts, shattering their bodily tissues, which then scattered in the wind.
"Bullets... huh?" Kosma was about to ask Kevin for more ammunition when he realized the rifle didn't seem to need reloading, and upon closer inspection, he didn't see any shell casings being ejected.
This time, it was Kevin who leaped from the edge of the rooftop. He used the body of a Honkai Beast as a springboard, stepping on it as he leaped towards the manta ray's eyes.
"Lin!"
A grappling hook accurately pierced the wind. Kevin reached out and grabbed it. The immense pulling force allowed him to ignore the hurricane and fall straight towards the manta ray's critical target area.
Kosma also stood at the edge, calmly aiming and shooting down the Honkai Beasts approaching Kevin's side.
"Swoosh—"
A pair of giant, crimson eyes flashed past Kevin. He immediately activated the Time Fracture system. In the slowed time, he aimed at the manta ray's eyes and frantically pulled the trigger.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Bullets drilled into the thin eye membrane of the Honkai Beast, and a massive amount of purplish-pink blood sprayed out!
"Howl!"
However, this injury was no more than a mosquito bite to the manta ray's terrifying size. Instantaneously, invisible wind blades shot out from its forehead. At that moment, the grappling rope Kevin held was abruptly pulled, yanking him out of the attack range and preventing him from being dismembered by the wind blades.
Bullets poured onto the manta ray's body. Even though most attacks were no more than an itchy scratch to it, the accumulation was too much for the giant, living target to handle.
With the help of the Time Fracture system, the originally fatal wind pressure attacks were no more than a nuisance.
And the two long blades drawn by the pitch-black figure that flew against the current were two bright blue grim reaper's scythes in the vast wind and rain.
Lin used the wall as a springboard, his grappling hook snagging the manta ray's respiratory hole. He hung inverted beneath its belly, holding the Raikiri and Plasma Kagehide in a reverse grip, one in each hand.
His visor was as bright as a lamp in the rain.
"Clang!"