Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Time seemed to move slowly.
Perception felt infinitely elongated. Einstein's relativity seemed to be validated here as long chimes echoed through the empty sanatorium.
Listen—the "drip, drip" of the clock seemed stretched as well...
No, that wasn't a clock.
Aponia clutched her bleeding forehead, looking around blankly.
The sanatorium was gone.
Or rather, the unrecognizable ruins beneath her feet, burning with flames and covered in frost, were the sanatorium.
Drip.
That wasn't a clock.
It was the sound of blood hitting the ground.
And then, she saw it.
"Lin... what... what happened..."
Lin, standing among the ruins, turned around. The ridiculous mask on his face was gone, revealing a face so beautiful it seemed unreal.
The eerie green glow in his usually cold yet gentle black eyes was particularly prominent now. The cold-bloodedness he radiated felt so alien to Aponia, like...
Like the first time they met—the Lin who held a gun like an assassin.
It was as if the past month and a half had never happened.
But upon seeing him, regardless of how "abnormal" he was, Aponia felt a sense of relief. She stumbled toward him.
Thud...
Her foot stepped on something soft.
Aponia lowered her head dazed.
An arm.
A severed arm covered in purple patterns. It belonged to a severely ill patient in the sanatorium. Now, he no longer had to suffer from the Honkai Sickness.
"I did this."
Aponia raised her head stiffly. She felt like her ears were failing her; she thought she heard something unclear.
But just as her brain was a muddle, Lin slowly turned, revealing what he held in his other hand.
A blood-stained long blade.
Drip.
Blood fell from the tip of the blade to the ground.
"Honkai Sickness—a symptom caused by Honkai energy eroding the body. But in essence, it is not a disease. Once patients reach a certain stage, they become a new source of infection, emitting Honkai energy. The only way to stop it is to kill them."
Every word from Lin mouth was cold enough to make one tremble.
"But you said... you would handle it... you would cure them..." Aponia clutched her chest, gasping for air. Something was pressing down on her chest, making it impossible to breathe. "You said..."
"You said you would help me..."
Lin coldly raised his hand, pointing the blade at her—
"I lied to you."
"..."
So, are you willing to be fooled by me once?
The image of that person in the moonlight reaching out to her like a god shattered.
"There is no God in this world. No matter how much you hope or pray, no God will come to help you."
Lin threw a pair of handcuffs at Aponia feet.
"Now, I arrest you on suspicion of 'Involvement in Fire-Moth Rebellion,' 'Possession of Honkai Infection Sources,' and 'Crimes Against Humanity.' You have no right to protest or appeal."
The bright moon above cast a cold light, mocking the world below.
...
Squelch.
Stabbing the blade into the throat of a sleeping person, covering their mouth, watching them stare wide-eyed as they died silently—the assassin pulled the blade out without a wasted sound.
There was no pity in her eyes. All excess emotions had been suppressed the moment the mission began. She was simply carrying out the orders to "arrest suspects of rebellion" and "clear Honkai infection sources."
The number of infection sources in this sanatorium was terrifyingly high. According to her instructions, the owner of this facility was linked to traitors. She had to complete the "cleanup" for Chrysalis Squad.
She tried to bring them as much peace as possible while delivering death. This wasn't a burden they chose, but a sin forced upon them by the Honkai, by others, and by her.
Most of them had probably spent their whole lives in this small Sundown Alley, doing no wrong—they were far kinder than an assassin with blood-stained hands like her.
But this was the meaning of the Chrysalis Squad created by Dr. MEI. Cleanup by the guilty, choice by the guilty, regardless of good or evil.
The two ears on Sakura head twitched. She took out a small blue flower and placed it on the deceased's chest.
Most of the cleanup was done. As for the rest...
"Why?"
A terrifying prickling sensation climbed up Sakura spine. She turned and saw "that person" in the shadows.
A twisted, angry, quiet, and terrifying "human" sat cross-legged in the shadows, that cardboard mask peeking out of the darkness.
When did he get here?
A violent sense of crisis made her place her hand on her sword hilt.
"It's you..." Sakura remembered. This man was the only one who had detected her and attacked her when she entered the sanatorium. But she remembered piercing his heart—she definitely hadn't missed. "I didn't miss just now. Why are you still alive?"
"I'm the one asking you, woman."
Sakura went silent for a moment, then spoke under the man's gaze: "They were infected with Honkai Sickness. They were the largest source of infection in this area. Only by doing this can more people live."
"In...curable?"
"Incurable."
"...I see. So this is what it feels like to be lied to?"
Kalpas looked up at the moon. Today, it was bright, white, and flawless, so close to the world as if to wash away the sins of the earth.
"...Who were they to you?"
Sakura looked down at the deceased on the bed, then at the door behind her.
She had already killed over a dozen people on her way here, including...
Kalpas didn't answer.
Yes, who were they to him? People he ate and lived with under one roof? People he knew by chance but wasn't close to?
It seemed the answer didn't matter.
"I'm here to change the towel..."
When the childish voice sounded at the door, Sakura had already raised her blade, and fire had already ignited the entire room.
...
The battle didn't last long. After a few seconds of testing at the start, the full-scale explosion turned the entire sanatorium into ruins within dozens of seconds.
Sakura stepped on Kalpas neck. Ignoring the wound on her right arm, she pinned down Kalpas—whose limbs she had already shattered—and raised her ice blade to stab down—
Clang!
Two blades collided, knocking the ice blade off course, grazing Kalpas neck.
Sakura grimly reversed her grip and threw a punch at the attacker's arm.
Bang!
The two separated, landing among the rubble.
Sakura looked warily at the man in the ridiculous mask.
But when her gaze shifted to the blade in his hand, she froze.
A Fire-Moth standard-issue blade?
"It's me."
She heard a familiar voice and was stunned.