Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers-Chapter 265: Nothing to Do with Honkai

"S-Sorry..." Aldemir lowered his still-smoking pistol towards the ground. It was unclear if he was apologizing to Hua or saying, "Sorry, I couldn't keep her alive."

The scene didn't devolve into chaos. Most present were battle-hardened warriors who had faced life and death countless times. They instinctively adopted combat stances—despite the lingering disbelief.

Kevin ignored the spreading pool of blood on the floor. He strode through it, the cold aura unconsciously radiating from him causing each footstep to make a crackling sound like breaking ice in the blood.

Ice shards inevitably clung to his soles, and the footprints left behind glowed with a deeper, darker light, fine cracks spreading across the frozen surface around them.

Silently, he positioned himself in front of the room's only exit. He hadn't even had time to retrieve the Might of An-Utu, but even so, he himself was an insurmountable wall.

Su, as Kevin's closest friend, naturally moved to stand beside Mei.

Elysia pursed her lips, her gaze sweeping the room. She glanced at Griseo, whose eyes had been promptly covered by Ato, held tightly in his arms, her limbs flailing slightly in confusion.

Finally, without a word, Elysia stepped over Carole's body, walked to Hua, and sat beside her, with Michael on Hua's other side. Both Elysia and Michael each took one of the distraught girl's hands.

The tension reached its peak. Everyone present had been personally invited by Kevin; betrayal should have been impossible. But wasn't Carole also considered "impossible to be a problem"?

So, Kevin wasn't distrustful, but rather unwilling, unable to gamble. After all, the stake was the life of the person he loved most. It wasn't even that he didn't dare to gamble; such a gamble was unacceptable from the outset.

"What should we do, Kevin? Should I use mental perception to check everyone's memories?" Su's voice echoed directly in Kevin's mind. This was undoubtedly the simplest, most direct method.

Kevin's jaw tightened slightly; he was tempted.

But Mei suddenly raised her hand, gently patting Su's shoulder. "Mei?"

"This incident is temporarily classified as Level SS Secret. If anyone asks about Carole's whereabouts, tell them she was dispatched on a confidential mission. Any problems?"

Everyone quickly shook their heads. Only Kevin seemed about to say something: "Mei, you..."

But Mei just shook her head slightly, rejecting his unspoken thought: "If there are no further issues, then for safety's sake, everyone except Michael, Elysia, Su, and Mobius should head back early. Remember," she emphasized, "tonight, nothing happened except a birthday party."

"Look out for each other on the way out. We won't see you off," Michael added quietly, then subtly signaled Vill-V with his eyes. He had a suspicion but couldn't be sure, merely hinting for Vill-V to pay extra attention to everyone's behavior on the way back.

Given how the birthday party had unfolded, ending abruptly like this, starting strong but finishing weakly, was the best possible outcome.

Everyone filed out with their own thoughts, only Hua remained seated, motionless, likely still reeling from the assassination attempt. After all, the assassin was her friend of many years.

Regardless of the truth behind it, Carole's actions were undeniably a betrayal of their friendship. And Hua couldn't easily accept her death...

Michael felt his left hand tighten. Hua gripped his hand back, her strength increasing unconsciously, fueled by emotions only she understood. Her grip was incredibly strong; thankfully it was Michael's hand. If it were anyone else, even another MANTIS, their metacarpals might have fractured.

Even Michael quickly broke out in a cold sweat—who would have thought that Hua, the girl who always seemed to lack presence and kept to herself, possessed such immense physical strength without even realizing it...

Or perhaps, this was the result of the original SWARA experiment? Unconsciously guiding a person's body towards Honkai adaptation, strengthening it with every breath, accumulating over time...

But only Michael had the presence of mind to think about such things at this moment. Kevin gave Hua a concerned look, but Mei waved dismissively, indicating it was fine—If she wants to stay here, let her... Given her relationship with Carole, anyone in her position couldn't remain indifferent.

"Kevin, you need to calm down too," Mei said softly. "If the others truly harbored ill intentions, they would have attacked together earlier... when she made her move." Mei thought for a moment, ultimately choosing not to say Carole's name, hoping to avoid causing Hua further pain.

"The crucial point now is the motive behind this assassination—who exactly went to such lengths to try and kill me?" Mei raised her index finger, waggling it slightly.

"Hmph!" Mobius shook her head disdainfully. "If you ask me, you were too lenient with those United Government clowns. If it were up to me, they'd all be corpses on my operating table by now... Hmm, maybe not even that. Some aren't even qualified to lie on the table; they'd probably end up as part of a serum."

Mei didn't respond immediately, lowering her head in thought for another moment before asking, "Mobius, you also think it was the United Government?"

"Who else? Is there some other faction that desperately wants you dead? Oh... wait, there is. That Liechtenstein family?"

Mei shook her head again, turning to Kevin and Su. "What about you two? Do you also think it was the United Government?"

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Kevin and Su immediately nodded, then quickly shook their heads. Su shook his head because he didn't think so, while Kevin shook his because he figured if Mei was asking like this, it probably wasn't them.

Michael, meanwhile, pressed a fist to his lips, offering no opinion. Elysia gently stroked Hua's back, repeating the meaningless, comforting gesture.

"Personally, I don't believe this was an organized operation," Mei stated, pushing up her glasses, beginning her analysis in earnest. "Didn't you notice? She chose arguably the worst possible moment—attempting an assassination in front of almost all of humanity's top combatants. It's completely irrational!"

Mobius grunted, grabbing her hair in frustration. "Who thinks about whether the timing of an assassination attempt is good or rational right after it happens?!"

"Well... it's simple," Mei replied calmly. "Because I have absolute faith in your loyalty and strength. The moment I saw that dagger, I knew she would fail. Naturally, that gave me the mental space to consider the rationality of it."

"..."

"So, continuing the previous point," Mei went on, "to attempt assassination at such an unfavorable time, historically, there's only one possibility – they couldn't find a better opportunity. After all, while a moment like that is certainly more surprising, it's ultimately ineffective. Furthermore, she, or the force behind her, wasn't lacking better opportunities. Assassinating me on my way back alone, a long-range snipe or just rushing up with a pistol and shooting me twice – wouldn't that be far better than trying to stab me with a dagger in front of a room full of MANTISes?"

"Hiss..." Whether it was a verbal tic or she bit a hangnail, Mobius narrowed her eyes and sucked in a sharp breath, then mused, "You mean, an organized assassination would definitely choose the best opportunity, mobilizing optimal resources. Precisely because there was no assistance, no access to resources like firearms, Carole resorted to a dagger... because this was the closest she could get to you..."

Although formerly a purely military organization, compared to the Divine Keys bizarrely utilized by certain individuals, weapon control within Fire Moth's lower and middle ranks, especially concerning firearms, was extremely strict. With Carole's clearance level, she absolutely couldn't have carried a handgun out of the base.

"No! That's not it!" Hua abruptly stood up, so forcefully that Michael and Elysia, each holding one of her hands, couldn't stop her. Her emotions clearly spiraling, she yelled at Mobius, "Carole joined Fire Moth right after the Third Eruption! How could she possibly be involved with people from the United Government? She's not that kind of person!"

"Tch! Naive!" Mobius shook her head dismissively. "You've only known her a month or two longer than I have. What makes you think you understand her better than me?"

"I... She and I were saved by Michael several times! She couldn't possibly do something like this!"

"In the adult world, you can know a person's face but not their heart. How can you guarantee you know her every thought? Besides, speaking of being saved by Michael, wasn't that true for those United Government people too?"

"Urgh..." Mei pressed her hand to her forehead. She had carefully avoided using Carole's name, trying not to upset Hua further, but Mobius had inevitably broken the taboo.

Since it was already out, there was no point being careful anymore; it was better to help Hua face reality.

Mei cleared her throat and said gravely, "That's enough, Hua."

"Doctor! I..."

"There's no need to say more, Hua. What happened has happened. Carole is dead. That's an irreversible fact. Faced with this fact, what Carole herself thought is completely irrelevant. What matters is that she did it, and caused these consequences."

Hua bit her lip hard, until the taste of blood spread in her mouth. She knew, of course, that pursuing Carole's motives now was meaningless. Even if it was ultimately proven her heart wasn't truly in the assassination attempt, she was still dead. And killed in retaliation for making that attempt.

But... but she just couldn't accept it. Carole was the first person who showed her warmth, who opened her closed heart. Her first true friend, even before Michael. She had always been so optimistic, so cheerful.

She would complain about others behind their backs, slack off during training, but she was undoubtedly, fundamentally, a kind person. Hua firmly believed this.

Therefore, she couldn't accept this betrayal, neither the action itself nor the implication about Carole's character.

Furthermore, because Hua had left without saying goodbye after the Third Eruption, following Michael, she had always carried a sense of guilt—If I had talked to her back then, could I have brought her with me?

Surely she could have; Carole had always admired Michael and Elysia. Then maybe their relationship wouldn't have become so distant when they met again years later.

Although there had been more time afterward to rebuild their friendship, Carole was stationed on the Mu continent, and they hadn't seen each other for over three years again. Now, with the Mu branch gone, they finally had the time, the opportunity, to rebuild their friendship from years ago...

And she died. Died in the most tragic, unacceptable way right in front of Hua. Her severed hand flew into Hua's arms; her blood pooled at Hua's feet. She was even branded a traitor.

Hua felt she had to do something, could do something. She didn't know the whole story, but she believed Carole was still that loud girl who seemed slightly annoying on the surface but actually faced the world with the kindest heart.

At the very least... at the very least, she shouldn't be a traitor!

"Hmph!" Mobius pursed her lips. She honestly felt Hua had lost her mind—like a naive girl scammed in an online relationship who desperately clings to self-deception, believing the other person truly loved her...

But... perhaps seeing a familiar stubbornness in Hua's eyes, she finally relented, offering a plausible, self-consistent explanation: "Besides, even if Carole's own intentions were as reliable as you believe, what about her family? Could her family have wanted Mei assassinated? Or maybe someone threatened her family, but those people lacked the capability to infiltrate Fire Moth on a large scale, forcing Carole to act alone? So she chose the least likely moment to succeed, essentially committing suicide by assassination? That could explain it."

Hua stood gaping. As her anger subsided slightly, she found herself unable to refute Mobius's explanation. While this theory lessened Carole's guilt (though irrelevant to a dead person, it was crucial to Hua's perception), she still instinctively felt something was wrong.

Just then, Michael, who had been silent until now, stood up and spoke: "That's absolutely impossible." He walked over to Carole's body in a few steps, his toe nudging the eyeball, sending it rolling off into the unknown. "Carole knew our capabilities. If that were the case, she would have found a way to tell us about her difficulties. Besides..."

"Then you think..." Mei prompted.

"Mei, the ones who want you dead the most aren't the United Government, or those families. It's..." Michael trailed off meaningfully.

Mei closed her eyes, sighing softly, finishing Michael's sentence: "It's the Honkai." Her eyes flickered; she quickly understood Michael's implication. After all, she had read the 'script.'

Although it didn't detail the Tenth Eruption, this method of attack... And if it truly was the Honkai, capable of controlling a single human who appeared almost normal, besides the Eighth Herrscher, the only possibility was the so-called "Herrscher of Dominance" (Herrscher of Legion).

Their quick exchange sounded like gibberish to the others. Michael immediately turned and said, "Hua... Carole... she wasn't a traitor." He felt he could understand Hua's emotions.

That... grief, anger, and unwillingness to accept witnessing someone... die right before her eyes. And the helpless remorse, the self-blame. And the anger born from refusing to accept reality. He had personally experienced it all.

As for being betrayed, he had experienced that too, but not here. In a place called the Elysian Realm, he had witnessed the grand finale of someone else also branded a "traitor."

He knelt down, reaching his hand into Carole's chest cavity. His hand met no resistance, sinking in as if into water. He quickly pinched out a small, gem-like object—

"It's obvious," Michael stated grimly, holding up the Herrscher Core, "her assassination attempt was not voluntary, nor was it coerced. Hua, Carole died before this even happened. The one who just died in front of you... was the Tenth Herrscher."

BOOM—

Hua felt her brain, overloaded by the rapid succession of events, finally short-circuit and explode. So, everything had just been her wishful thinking. A wave of even deeper sadness mixed with a strange sense of relief washed over her—Sadness because she hadn't even seen Carole one last time.

Relief because she hadn't been wrong about Carole; she was never a traitor.

But... what meaning did any of it hold now? Carole... she was already dead! When all the arguments finally ceased, Hua slowly registered the truth she had known, had been reminded of, all along. The person who first gave her warmth was dead. The person who first opened her closed heart was dead. Her first friend was dead.

"Gasp... Gasp... Gasp..." Her breathing suddenly became rapid and heavy, visible puffs of white vapor forming in the cool air. She crouched down, seemingly wanting to touch the still-flowing, still-warm blood, but her body began to tremble violently as she moved—trembling, twitching, tensing, then unable to breathe.

She stared fixedly at the ground beneath her, feeling herself sinking closer and closer to the spreading red, until she was submerged in it, like stepping into a swamp, unable to pull herself free. Then, persistent little black spots started floating in her vision, followed by dense clouds of colored dots...

"Hua? Hua!" Dimly, she thought she heard many people calling her name. But she had already succumbed to the darkness.

---||---

"Perhaps... at this moment, letting her pass out is for the best." Michael supported Hua's slumping shoulder. He had just used his Sentience power to gently induce sleep. Between conscious agony and numb slumber, Michael had temporarily made the choice for her.

Elysia watched with concern from the side. Michael handed Hua over to her care. He himself walked back to the table, scooped up a handful of salad with his fingers, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully while organizing his thoughts; he had other discoveries to share.

But before he could speak, an alarm suddenly blared.

Wooo— A single, short, loud blast.

"That's... Level Three Emergency?" Everyone raised an eyebrow but didn't pay it much mind.

Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! The alarm quickly sounded five more times. Now, everyone's expression changed drastically. That didn't signify an escalation in severity, but rather a specific classification—

"Emergency Situation: Not Honkai-Related!"