"What, you don't believe it? Your adorable junior is actually still alive inside this body. I just only let her see what I want her to see and remember what I want her to remember."
"Clang!"
The Sixth Herrscher caught a stabbing dagger with her claw without turning her head and said with a playful smile: "Fragmented memories, and a personality I intentionally maintain. How about it? Does that make you recall anything?"
"That's right. This is what that man did to you, and now I've done the same thing to myself."
Lin released the dagger, raising his gun. At such a close distance, even the black mist wouldn't be fast enough, but before he could pull the trigger, the sound of air breaking above him forced him to retreat quickly.
"Bang!"
A quill pierced the ground between him and the Sixth Herrscher. The porcupine watched Lin's every move with a calmness that belied its monstrous exterior. The Sixth Herrscher stepped out from behind the quill, smiling gently at Lin.
"I know you want to ask, why am I doing this? Why do I, a Herrscher, look different from the others before me?"
Lin wiped the blood from his face. He felt something abnormal about his body. Although it had been in an abnormal state for a year, this time the abnormality wasn't referring to his missing limbs, but rather… his condition was improving.
Yes, he clearly felt that his speed was somewhat faster than before. His previously atrophied muscles were subtly able to support extensive movement. His exhausted mind was infused with new vitality, and his reaction time was moving closer to normal.
This couldn't be a miracle, nor could it be the effect of the drug. He stared intently at the smiling Sixth Herrscher, recalling the "Herrscher of Life and Death" she had mentioned earlier and the abnormally large number of zombies around her. He had a strong suspicion.
"This is love, Squad Member Lin. This is my love for you."
"…"
Below the ravaged hillside, the Sixth Herrscher's long hair danced in the night wind. Her expression was excited and pathological, a flush of unnatural color on her face. She extended her hands outward toward Lin, making a gesture that was extremely familiar to him.
A gesture, as if to embrace him.
Love?
This baffling word, spoken by a Herrscher, was so absurd it made one want to laugh.
"She and I are the same person. I am her, and she is me. I am not a complete Herrscher, and she is not a complete human." The Sixth Herrscher licked the corner of her mouth, the red light in her eyes growing brighter: "So we have the same personality and love the same person. Look, she wanted her comrades to live again, so I helped her realize that wish."
Her finger pointed toward the zombies standing still in the cold wind.
"She wanted you to survive, so I am helping to heal your body. You can already feel that you aren't as tired or in as much pain as before, right?"
As expected…
Even though he was mentally prepared, Lin's heart still sank involuntarily when the Sixth Herrscher excitedly spoke this sentence.
"I am not trying to hurt you now. I am answering your questions. All of this is because I, just like her, love you."
"Can you understand, my Squad Member Lin?"
By the end, she could no longer suppress her desire to see Lin's expression change. This was Lin's true appearance, which even Seele had never seen. She wanted to observe it carefully.
"You are lying."
However, Lin's resolute words caused her to tilt her head, asking in confusion: "Why do you think I am lying?"
"She wouldn't do this."
Lin's finger pointed toward the city, a sea of corpses and blood.
This was the world where ordinary people lived. They experienced their own love and hatred here. They had their own families and friends, their own hobbies. They didn't have to risk their lives for an order, fighting in a monster-ridden city, covered in mud.
But now, all that could be seen in this city, besides lonely ghosts, were monsters birthed by the Honkai.
Even though Lin had delayed the Herrscher and the Emperor-class Honkai Beast, some of the unevacuated people would still die in this catastrophe.
They didn't even know what was happening.
"Oh… I see. Do you think this act of annihilation isn't something she would do?" The Sixth Herrscher's smile was half-sinister, half-mocking. She folded her arms and said slowly, "Then that's a pity. This is exactly what she wants. Humans are a bunch of incorrigible pests. Their only value is to be ground into pulp by me."
"In the years you fought for humanity in Fire Moth, you lost your past, your friends, your emotions, and you are about to sacrifice your life for humanity. But what you got in return was humanity's betrayal. Everything you fought for amounted to nothing. Fire Moth is still the 'savior organization' that looks glamorous but devours people whole, and humans are all traitors who sacrifice others for their own gain."
"So, what is so good about humanity? Does she truly want a happy world where her friends live? No, she only wants the world in her dreams, the world defined by her. That world cannot tolerate foolish humans."
"Do you understand? In her eyes, these zombies are her friends, and humans are the disgusting zombies."
Did Lin waver because of these words?
No. He stared at the Sixth Herrscher with abnormal calmness, calculating the time he had bought.
The fact that the Sixth Herrscher was not rushing to kill him was not a bad thing. The longer he delayed, the more time there would be for support to arrive.
He regulated his rapid breathing, slowing his heart rate: "What exactly do you want?"
"You still don't understand? Or are you running away? Don't you find humanity disgusting? Everything you fought for has been destroyed, you know."
"What does that have to do with me?" Lin replied coldly. "I just did what I wanted to do."
"Hmm… It seems words of that caliber still can't move you. Then let me make a deal with you."
The Sixth Herrscher suddenly adopted a mysterious and inscrutable expression. She watched Lin with interest, observing his reaction: "I can give her back to you, cure your body, and make the zombies and Honkai Beasts stop attacking humans…"
"All you have to do is acknowledge that I am the same person as her."
"…"
Acknowledge that they were the same person?
To Lin, this was not a difficult request. If she could truly stop the zombies and Honkai Beasts from attacking humans as she claimed, then acknowledging this was not a problem at all.
But, that was impossible.
"What is your goal?"
"My goal? It's simple. Is it not a normal thing to want to be acknowledged by the person you love?"
She acted truly like the girl she once was, lowering her head and chuckling shyly.