"You are... Lin?"
The person blocking Sakura's path was the strange cosplayer who had helped look after Ling and visited her home half a month ago. The azure glow of his cosplay helmet's visor now shone, obscuring the clear moonlight, standing before her like a judge.
Sakura's hand on the sword hilt loosened. Her mind raced. A previously puzzling matter became clear.
Lin being here meant he was a member of the Moth of the Flame. In that case...
"That email, did you send it?"
"..."
Lin did not answer her question. Or rather, he no longer wished to respond to Sakura.
Right now, she was the assassin, and he was here to fulfill his promise. It was that simple.
All words became meaningless in the face of trust that had been crushed to dust.
Lin, in front of Sakura, drew a pistol from his holster, opened the safety, and chambered a round.
"Click."
Sakura looked at his swiftly moving body and the battlesuit covering him: "Your paralysis..."
"Bang!"
"Shing!"
Sakura reflexively drew her blade and swung, fast enough that the ice crystals hadn't even fully formed on the long blade before it sliced the bullet aimed at her abdomen in half.
The alarm blared, instantly putting Sakura into a combat state.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Three shots flew toward her face. She swiftly dodged backward, her pupils constricting with an instinctive reaction.
After firing three shots, Lin did not pursue. Instead, he watched her crouch low, holding the blade level with her eyebrows, the tip aimed at him.
It wasn't that he didn't want to pursue; he couldn't.
After a brief pause, Lin moved.
He turned into a black bolt of lightning, the pistol in his right hand and a dagger drawn in his left, charging toward Sakura.
"Shing!"
The blades clashed, dispelling the blackness of the night.
...
"What's going on? Why is Lin here?"
Kevin, on the boat, was prepared for the assassin's attack, but he was puzzled when he saw Lin emerge from the woods.
Mei, however, was composed, hands in her pockets, watching the fight in the distance: "Lin arrived a few hours ago. He sent me an encrypted message, asking me to leave the assassin for him to handle."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Lin said he needed a few hours to prepare, and if he couldn't make it in time, he'd let you handle the fight."
Hearing Mei's explanation, Kevin understood their plan, but another question arose.
"Does Lin know that assassin?"
...
The opponent's close-quarters combat was inferior to hers.
Sakura drew this conclusion after a round of exchange.
Even if Lin could keep up with her movements, her speed and technique were clearly superior.
Lin's close-quarters combat skills had been systematically trained and should be better than most, but compared to Sakura, who had been practicing swordsmanship since childhood, he was still lacking. Swordsmanship mastery couldn't be achieved in just a few years.
Moreover, Sakura was faster than Lin, not to mention her battlesuit was speed-specialized. Lin's movements were analyzed after a simple melee exchange, forcing him to shift from offense to defense.
"Sizzle—"
The dagger was struck by the thin, ice-like blade and instantly split in half. Lin let go and retreated, firing his gun to increase the distance.
"Bang! Bang!"
Sakura easily sliced the two bullets while sprinting. This couldn't slow her down at all.
The gun was empty. The opponent's sharp blade was close to his face. He could only use the gun to block in front of him.
"Shing!"
The moment he let go, the pistol was also sliced in two. Lin seized the opportunity to press the Phase Shift button, vanishing in front of Sakura.
"Gone?" When Sakura saw Lin disappear, she held her blade defensively, vigilantly scanning the surroundings, guarding against Lin's sudden attack.
Lin dropped out of Phase Shift and fell into the bushes in the woods. The blockage and pain in his chest made him gasp for air. He could only regulate his breathing through rapid, deep breaths.
[Lin, don't overexert yourself. Your organs cannot take any more pressure] Prometheus's warning flashed in the upper right corner.
The inside of his helmet was a mess, with blood stains obscuring most of the information. His ability to fight Sakura just now had been extremely forced.
After the aerial neural link, Lin had successfully regained control of his body, but the load from the link had severely damaged his body, which had been inactive for so long. It couldn't be seen through the battlesuit, but he was essentially broken inside.
This was why Lin had said he needed a few hours to prepare. Initially, he didn't even have the strength to stand up. His timely return to Headquarters was achieved by stealing the transport plane of the people who were monitoring him a few hours later. They were likely still laughing at the fake footage and audio Prometheus had created.
Lin shook his head, clearing his dizzy mind. He leaned on a tree trunk and stood up. After taking a few deep breaths, he said softly, "I'm fine."
This was his fault.
Lin jumped onto a tree branch, looking at the still-alert Sakura, and then drew the pistol he always carried with him.
So he had to deal with this himself.
"Prometheus, Burst Mode."
[...]
"I know my body. Don't worry."
This injury was nothing compared to the injuries he had sustained in the past.
Only after receiving Lin's assurance did Prometheus respond: [Understood. Activating authorization. Burst Mode time limit is three minutes.]
Under the moonlight, the azure visor was instantly dyed scarlet.
...
Still not showing herself.
Sakura couldn't wait any longer. Continuing to stall would be troublesome if reinforcements arrived. She gritted her teeth, holding the long blade reversed. After a brief charge, she swung the blade toward the lake in front of her. Snow-white ice crystals condensed on the blade, instantly freezing a path across the water.
She took a step toward the boat in the center of the lake.
"Bang!"
The sound of something exploding came from behind.
Blood spilled from Sakura's mouth. Thrown into the air, she looked back in disbelief.
The impact happened first, then the sound reached her ears.
A scarlet block of color spread across the helmeted man's body like blood as he drew back his fist. The originally calm azure visor turned a deep crimson, a color more profound than blood. This dangerous color enveloped his entire body like a warning.
Sakura, flying backward in the air, focused her gaze, twisted her body, and swung her blade, freezing the lake water beneath her. The ice pillars blocked her trajectory, giving her a foothold.
Kevin drew his gun, intending to support Lin, but Mei shook her head at him.
"Sizzle!"
A grappling hook plunged into the ice pillar. Lin's figure broke the sound barrier, leaping from the shore toward Sakura.
Seeing this, Sakura gripped the blade with both hands. After a brief moment of charging, she split the air in the direction of Lin's leap!
The bone-chilling coldness moved from the blade onto the lake, then transformed into massive spikes that shot straight toward Lin's face!
"Bang!"
With a punch that broke the ice, Lin showed no intention of dodging. He continued to charge at Sakura through the ice shards. His speed was comparable to Sakura's... No, it was even faster!
Sakura returned her blade to its sheath, crouched low, and took the posture for a quick-draw attack. The battlesuit's Time Fracture system automatically activated.
The hesitation in her eyes vanished, replaced only by a focused killing intent.
Then, the two collided.
"Sizzle!"
"Bang!"
Kevin could only see a blurry shadow as Sakura's blade slashed across Lin's upper body. The speed was far beyond the speed of sound. The thin ice blade sliced the full moon in half.
"Boom! Clatter!"
Lin hit the ice pillar and instantly collapsed onto the ice without any struggle.
"Splash."
A large amount of fresh blood gushed out from beneath him, staining the lake red, and also staining the tip of the blade.
Sakura maintained her drawing posture. After Lin fell, she looked down weakly at the gun muzzle on her chest. Then, her rosy face rapidly turned pale, and she fell toward the water.
"Snap."
Another hand grabbed her clothes and dragged her backward, making her collapse onto the ice so she wouldn't fall into the water.
After pulling her to safety, Lin looked up at Kevin and Mei and said:
"Medical."
Then, his head slumped onto the ice, and he fell unconscious.