After pulling the immobile Lin away, the pink figure surged forward with her sword. A bone-chilling coldness erupted from her blade. The sword edge, moving faster than the limit of human vision, struck the Sixth Herrscher, who couldn't react in time. A strange force blocked the blade from directly contacting her flesh, but still made the Sixth Herrscher stagger back a few steps.
With a cold look mixed with killing intent, she glanced at the person who saved Lin, activated the Phase Transfer device on her hand, and vanished.
"Are you alright… Lin?"
Seeing that the primary target didn't intend to fight to the finish, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to look at the person she had saved, and upon seeing that piercing single eye and feeling the familiar sharp aura and blade-like gaze, she instinctively spoke Lin's name.
But she wasn't entirely sure if this person was Lin. She had never seen Lin's true appearance, and the person in front of her was now disabled, having lost an eye and a leg. The difference from the Lin she imagined was too significant, making it unlikely to be him.
However, Lin's aura was too unique. Once you encountered it, you would never forget it.
"…" Lin didn't answer her. He merely briefly scanned the weapons and equipment on her: the power armor and the ice blade were both present, indicating she was on a mission and hadn't stumbled in by accident.
So Lin nodded, acknowledging her.
"Is it really Lin?" Sakura was somewhat flustered.
Since the last time Lin defeated and detained her in the deepest part of the headquarters, they hadn't seen each other again. Rin also said Lin hadn't visited her. So Sakura's impression of Lin was still that of the cold-hearted but internally warm young man who had given her a chance.
It was also because Lin chose to give her a chance that time, yet she still chose to kill, and even gravely wounded Lin with the blade his friend left him. This caused Sakura's guilt toward Lin to increase daily during this period.
Even though the two of them weren't particularly familiar, Sakura knew what kind of person Lin was, and she was undoubtedly the type he detested most.
However, Lin hadn't considered any of this and wasn't concerned whether the reinforcement was Sakura or someone else. After letting his body rest for a moment, he asked: "Are you alone?"
"Um… yes. I am currently the sole member of the special operations unit, Cocoon of Corruption, and I was ordered to assist in the subjugation of the Sixth Herrscher." Sakura also realized that now was not the time for sentimentality. She immediately adopted a formal, cold tone.
"Our mission is to delay the Herrscher until headquarters support arrives and to protect the remaining civilians' evacuation. From now on, we move in pairs. I am the temporary leader."
Sakura was momentarily stunned. She had always operated alone. She hadn't expected Lin to step into the role of captain so… seriously and quickly. However, her adaptability was also excellent. After hearing Lin's words, she immediately began observing the surroundings to find a safe place to discuss tactics.
"Don't stay in one place for too long." Lin led her around the cluster of zombies, varying their position in a hundred-meter radius centered on them. Otherwise, their location could easily be exposed, leading to a situation like just now.
During the transfer, Lin reported the known situation to Sakura, leaving her clicking her tongue.
A rational Herrscher who believed she was human, a group of zombies who were all special types, and a Herrscher Authority that caused cellular decay and decomposition…
In the short time since the Sixth Herrscher appeared, humanity had already figured out her abilities through various means. Their task was to use the existing intelligence to defeat the Sixth Herrscher.
It sounded simple, but in reality, even with full intelligence, a Herrscher remained the most difficult enemy because of her existence.
Because the Herrscher is the rule. All they could do was achieve the most impossible mission under the opponent's rules, using the most challenging conditions.
"So, what we need to do now is attack that cluster of zombies?" Sakura quickly got into the zone. She coldly scrutinized the distant horde of zombies. Although she hadn't truly fought a zombie yet, she didn't believe she would lose to a group of monsters that lacked normal intelligence.
"Yes, but don't kill them all at once." Lin recalled the scene of the Sixth Herrscher talking to the zombies. He said, "Killing them all at once might cause the Sixth Herrscher to suffer an emotional breakdown and prematurely realize she is a Herrscher. If she uses her Authority, the unevacuated civilians will be affected."
Lin's certainty piqued Sakura's curiosity: "Why are you so certain those zombies are so important to her?"
"Because she is someone who values her comrades."
Lin said this indifferently.
…
Another zombie.
She used all her rationality to suppress the urge to immediately tear the two zombies apart, recalling Lin's teaching: not to let emotion lead the battle, but to use the environment, advantage, and equipment to create conditions that maximize power to strike the opponent's weakness.
Just as Lin had guessed, she still believed herself to be a human, and even with her superhuman abilities, she was still constrained by her own human thinking.
Those two zombies were not simple. She had launched her attack with full preparation just now, but the other zombie had pulled the first one away, avoiding the attack in that almost instantaneous moment.
Furthermore, the other zombie was faster than her. Even she had been struck once, though thankfully, the injury wasn't serious.
The complex terrain around them provided her with good environmental conditions. With her ability to perform long-distance movement using the Phase Transfer device, she wasn't restricted by the terrain. The zombies' movements were mostly predictable, so she prepared to launch another surprise attack, intending to kill the second, faster zombie.
The first zombie was already missing half its body, making it much easier to deal with. It was just that the fact that a zombie could use a gun was somewhat… astonishing to her.
That faint sense of incongruity was washed away before it could linger for half a second. She thought of the person who had been killed, raised her hand, and resurrected him again. Seeing the identical face, she breathed a sigh of relief, intending to tell him to evacuate.
In the very next second—
"Bang!"
Her half-formed smile froze in her muscles.
The person in front of her fell straight down, dying again with a strange expression on his face as he was about to return the smile.
The dark bullet hole on his forehead was clearly the work of that zombie.
Cruel.
This word popped into her mind.
The Honkai was so cruel, killing her comrades again and again.
Therefore, it was unforgivable.
Her eyes blazed with fury. Before the next bullet could appear, she used the Phase Transfer device to leave her spot, appearing right in front of the zombie that had fired the gun.
However, before she could raise her scythe, a nearly transparent ice blade struck her from a tricky angle, forcing her to retreat and block.
"Clang!"
In the vibrant spring day, the aura of death quietly spread.