Disclaimer: 'Honkai impact 3rd' is the property of Hoyoverse, Singapore. I do not own any characters in this story except the minor OCs here and there.
A New day and Sister?
"My name is Elysia Levedeva from Vladivostok in Russian Federation, I'm in Colonel Himeko's Regiment. Nice to meet you, Major Kevin. Let's do our best together~" the girl now Kevin knew as Elysia introduced herself.
"So, what do you want from me Ms. Levedeva?"
"No, no, no call me Ellie~."
"Ms. Levedeva."
"Ellie."
"Ms. Levedeva."
"Ellie."
"Ms. Levedeva."
"Geez, at least can you call me by my first name? calling me by my surname feels like we are strangers." Elysia pouted.
"We are." Kevin commented.
"Well, we can be friends now, right?" she said to Kevin's confusion. But before he could voice them, she quickly reached for his hand and held it.
"See, we already shook hands, we are friends now."
"That is only your delusion."
"Mou, I'm just requesting you to call me by my first name. Please, pretty please." Elysia said while giving him the puppy-eyed look.
Kevin was silent for a long time before he finally relented.
"Sigh… Fine. Elysia."
"Yay~" she jumped with joy. Kevin felt that he just made his life difficult. He sensed that she was the nosy type
'Just as aneki said.' He thought to himself.
"So Ms. Elys-"
"None of that Miss either, we are nearly the same age after all. And besides friends call each other by their first name right, Kevin~?"
It had not even been five minutes into the conversation and he could feel a headache coming. Really what's up with this girl and her positive attitude? Nevertheless, he decided to accommodate her as he knew that refusing will only bring him more headaches.
"So Elysia, what do you want from me?" he repeated his question.
"Oh that. I just saw a handsome young man with sky-blue eyes leaving the main hall without anyone noticing. So, I decided to follow him due to my curiosity."
"But who would have thought that I would meet the hero of the Moths himself: THE GODSLAYER." She finished.
"Do not call me that." Kevin said harshly.
Elysia was taken aback. The tone with which he berated her was heavy and filled with a tint of sadness? That was when she noticed his eyes that carried pain, loneliness and self-hatred. The feelings she disliked the most. Sister Olga back in Vladivostok said that those feelings only kill a person from inside, and she didn't like that. If you work hard, you should be happy, right? She thought that the people with whom she talked about Kevin saying that he carried a heavy burden was them exaggerating; but now it seemed that there was truth to them after all. She didn't even notice when her hand started to go to his cheek to caress in order to soothe him.
"What are you doing?" the man in front of her asked.
That was when she noticed what she was doing. She quickly retracted her hands feeling embarrassed at her action:
"Nothing." She said with slight red tinting her cheeks "You are right, it was my fault to call you that. I'm sorry." She apologized sincerely.
At this Kevin's eyes also softened by the tiniest fraction and he said:
"No, it was my fault as well for berating you. Please forgive me." He also apologized sincerely.
At this she giggled, it seems that him being a knight was also true after all.
"What is funny?" he asked surprised by her giggle.
"No~th~ing~" she said in her usual playful tone. "You are right. Kevin is Kevin, my friend." She said warmly.
Kevin was perplexed by her attitude. He couldn't understand how she was able to smile so honestly and warmly. Did she not have a burden to carry? Then why did she join the Moths? Kevin wondered if he would have been able to smile like this if he was in her place but decided against it. What's done is done and the only thing he could do now was to move forward carrying them and keeping his oath.
Sensing that the air became heavy Elysia decided to change the topic:
"By the way, what are you doing outside here Kevin?"
"I decided to step out as the ball no longer interested me."
"Hmm? You don't want to meet new people?"
"it's tiring," Kevin answered.
At this, Elysia laughed again. To think he was that type of person. At this moment the sound of music started to come from within the ballroom. By seeing the time, it was to be the last dance for the night. Thinking it would be a waste to let this chance go away she asked Kevin:
"Hey, Kevin~ shall we dance for the last dance here?"
"Here?"
"Well, the music has already started, and we will not make it in time to the main ballroom. It's kind of a waste to not dance to this music, right?"
"I suppose so." Kevin said as he knelt again like how he did with Mobius and asked:
"Will you have this final dance with me, fair lady?" he asked while offering his hand.
Elysia was shocked by his action. It was like those of the knights in that fairy tale show that she saw back home. To think she would see him do it of all people. Her heart skipped a beat.
Taking his hand while blushing slightly she said:
"Yes of course." She giggled again.
And then they danced away to the tune below the starry night, undisturbed by anyone. Two souls, unaware of the perils that tomorrow may bring. They were not soldiers now, they were just two people. Little did Elysia know now that her fate with be entangled with this man to such a degree that he will become part of who she is.
And thus, two of humanity's strongest protectors in the future danced away in the night.
…
As they made their way back to the main hall after the music stopped, Elysia shivered a little due to the slightly cold wind that blew through the path they took. At this, Kevin took off his tuxedo and draped it over her shoulders to her surprise.
"Thank you." She mumbled quietly. To which he said nothing.
He was a kind person as they said, but why did a person as kind as him carried such a heavy burden? Elysia wanted to know, but she realized that she had to be patient. They just started as friends out after all. She has all the time to learn about him starting now. Yes, she will be patient, and someday maybe he will talk about it she hoped.
Once they reached the main building, she returned his tuxedo to him. He gave his courtesies and started to walk away. As she saw his retreating back, she made up her mind:
'We will meet again, Kevin. It's a promise.'
FIRE MOTH BASE – 2019(Previous era) (Two days later)
Kevin was making his way to Welt-san's personal laboratory. He was informed that his new sword was ready and to pick it up. Today he was being sent on a mission to clear the remnants of Honkai beasts from the second eruption in the eastern end of the newly formed Russian Federation. More exactly he was being sent to the town of Rapla in the now fallen Republic of Estonia. Russia had regained all of its previous lands from its USSR days and some more to form the Russian Federation in the aftermath of the second eruption. It was now one of the largest countries in terms of resources and geographical area in the MU continent. Kevin's mission was to clean the remaining beasts in the vicinity of the town so search and rescue could be sent underway by the Federation forces.
As he entered the lab, he saw Welt-san performing final tests on the sword that was to be given to him. It was a crimson great sword that had a handguard running down into serration-like projections. There were also serrated-like projections at the end of the handle of the great sword. At the place where the blade met the handle, there were four thrusters-like projections. The blade itself was big, being two-layered. The inner core of the blade was deep red with some sort of pattern going through it, while the outer blade looked extremely sharp and faintly glowed orangish. The weapon looked like it was from some myth with its appearance, but Kevin knew that it held greater power if the base Honkai readings in the monitors were anything to go by.
Welt then noticed Kevin staring at the sword with a hint of curiosity. He knew that even if Kevin didn't show it, he loved his swords. After some time, he asked:
"So how is it?"
"It is stronger than SOLFLAME and has greater Honkai reserves than anything I have ever seen."
"That's right. Seeing as how you fight, and your luck I believed any normal sword was not going to cut it." Welt said proudly.
"So, what is its name?"
"Made from condensed Solium nanometal along with honkai technology that we developed by studying the second Herrscher's corpse. This blade is ten times stronger than the earlier Solflame and has a greater mastery over the element of fire. I call it: GODSLAYER: SURTR."
Kevin's eyebrows ticked a little when he heard the name, sensing his discomfort Welt continued:
"I know that you don't like that name, but you now wield it whether you like it or not. The name along with its responsibilities are now yours to bear. Or do you want to run away from it, Kevin?" He said in a serious tone.
Kevin decided that if he is stuck by that name now, he might as well own it. If it helps him to protect more things and keep his oath, then the discomfort was a negligible price to pay. Making up his mind thus he replied:
"No."
"Good, then let me explain how the sword works." Welt continued feeling a little proud of Kevin's resolve. "This sword has two modes. In the standard mode, the output is under strict limitations. You are able to use only 40 percent of its full power, which is already more than Solflame."
"And the full power?"
"That is the unleashed mode: Ragnarök, it will remove all limiters and grant access to the full power of the sword. However, it requires massive Honkai energy to sustain, which will undoubtedly put a great strain on you physically. Ragnarök should be used only as a last course of action, as the heat produced can cause burns on your hands if you wield it without these."
Welt then threw a pair of black gloves in the direction of Kevin which he caught. The material felt the same as any normal one, but Kevin felt something was different about it.
"What are these Welt-san?"
"They are the new gloves to handle the extreme heat of the Ragnarök mode of Surtr. They are custom made only for you; so, if you damage them, there are no spares."
"I understand."
"Do you really? Listen well Kevin, while this sword may be extremely powerful, the power also comes with a price. So don't use the unleashing of the Surtr unnecessarily."
"…"
"Something tells me that whatever I said went over your head." Welt sighed "You and your stubbornness."
"…"
"Sigh… Any questions?"
"How do I unleash the Ragnarök mode?"
"Oh, that is voice-controlled. When you want to unleash it, just steady the sword and say the command- 'Mode: Ragnarök'."
"Hmm." Kevin nodded.
"Any more?"
Kevin shook his head sideways indicating that he had no more questions.
"Okay then. Let's finish calibrating the sword according to your preferences. Prometheus, run protocols 1 through 15 for the final calibration."
A female mechanized voice answered: "Yes Doctor, running protocols 1 through 15."
"What is this voice Welt-san?"
"Oh, this? I created an A.I using all of my knowledge and powers as the Herrscher of Reason. I named her PROMETHEUS after the hero of mankind. This A.I has cognitive abilities more advanced than anything else present. So technically, it can rival me in computational abilities."
The voice answered: "That is impossible doctor. The Prometheus has deduced that you are capable of one quadrillion googol calculations at once. The Prometheus with her learning rate will take 500 million years to reach the same level."
Kevin was amazed, so this was the true power of the Herrscher of Reason. He was feeling a bit grateful that he was on their side.
"That is only because I'm a Herrscher Prometheus." Welt objected.
"The point still stands doctor. Prometheus has estimated that the chances of winning against the Herrschers have gone up by twenty-seven percent due to your presence." Prometheus stood her ground while projecting herself into the room in the form of a young girl with two drill-shaped ponytails.
"What Prometheus said is true doctor. We all are especially grateful that you are here with us." Kevin said sincerely.
"Seriously, you both can say pretty embarrassing things with a straight face huh." Welt shook his head and chuckled.
"But I was only telling the truth." Kevin objected.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's stop it now and get the calibration done with." Welt finished the conversation.
"Yes, Welt-san." Kevin agreed and followed him along with the projection of Prometheus.
As he made his way to the transport craft, Kevin was stopped by a very familiar annoying voice:
"Hi~ did you miss me?"
"No." was his instant reply.
"Mou~."
"What do you need Elysia?"
"I and Dystopia-chan are going on a date with you now."
"?" Kevin was confused. Then they both heard a feminine voice:
"Ellie, wait for me." Kevin saw a girl with golden hair with a side ponytail running towards them. She was wearing the standard Moth uniform and had red-colored earrings. And behind them was Himeko aneki. As the girl skidded into a stop in front of them, she huffed to regain her breath and spoke:
"Huff, huff… You are huff, huff… so fast huff, huff… Ellie."
"It's only because you were taking too long to get ready Dystopia-chan." Elysia replied.
"Not everyone has a naturally gorgeous face like you, Ellie." The girl Dystopia pouted.
"Ara~ thank you for the compliment, Dystopia-chan. But don't worry, you are pretty cute yourself."
"Hmmm, don't tease me." The girl pouted.
"Giggle… But I was telling the truth."
Kevin could not make head or tails of the conversation in front of him. So, he asked the nearby person.
"What is the meaning of this aneki?"
"I have decided to let them both tag along with you on this mission to show them the ropes of their job."
"But why me?"
"Well, you are one of the best soldiers we have. And the only missions my battalion gets currently are relief supply ones."
Kevin pinched the bridge of his nose, his headaches returning tenfold. So, he had to play babysitter now?
"Furthermore, I trust that you will keep them safe. So please."
"Sigh… fine aneki."
"Thank you." Himeko said gratefully. Then turning towards them she said:
"Listen up both of you. For this mission listen to what he says to the letter. Fighting real Honkai beasts is nothing like simulations. If you do anything unnecessary, then you may be in a dangerous situation. Understood?"
"Yes, mam." Both girls acknowledged.
"Good. I leave them in your care then, Kevin."
"…" Kevin said nothing.
OUTSKIRTS OF RAPLA (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) – 2019(Previous era) (a few hours later)
"Squads 1 through 5, you will take the East portion. Squads 6 through 10 will take South. Squads 11 through 15 you guys have the West side. Finally, Squads 15 through 20, you will follow me to the Northern portion of the city." Kevin gave his orders.
"Sir." Everyone acknowledged.
"All the teams will be on the lookout for the Honkai beasts. Anything larger than Templar-class will be handled with two persons; and if you encounter any Emperors, the entire squad is to engage it together."
"Sir."
"Finally, if anyone finds any survivors, you will evacuate them by sending them back by passing them to the squad behind you. The last squad will bring them here. Squad 21, your duty is to look after them until the Federation forces arrive. Squads 22 and 23 will serve as your lookouts. Finally, squads 24 and 25 you will serve as reinforcements for any squad should they request backup."
"Sir."
"Any questions?"
"Sir, where will… they be?" a soldier said pointing to the two ladies.
"Elysia, Dystopia."
"Yes~", "Yes." They both said.
"You both will be with squads 24 and 25 to serve as backup."
"Ehhh, but I want to go with you~?" Elysia complained.
"E-Ellie." Dystopia warned.
"This is an order."
"Mou~ fine. But I will come running to save you if anything happens, okay~."
"Please don't." Kevin sweat dropped.
"Okay, let's move men." Kevin ordered as they began their mission. As Kevin with his squads disappeared into the city, Elysia said:
"I should have gone with him."
"Ellie, we are new recruits. We will just get in his way." Dystopia reasoned.
"Ne Dystopia-chan, who will hold a Hero when he needs it?" Elysia said while giving a look towards the city where he had gone just now.
"I don't know Ellie, I don't know. But what I do know, is that we are not strong enough to fight in the frontlines yet."
"…" Elysia just remained silent.
…
Kevin just shot two Templar-class Honkai beasts with APOLLO. He then unsheathed and sliced three chariots with Surtr in one fluid motion. He then saw around for more beasts and found a group of chariots surrounding a building. He charged into the group, killing one of them by swinging the Surtr with his momentum gained by running. The other beasts soon noticed him and tried to encircle him. To their shock however, Kevin unleashed the flames of Surtr and immolated them. Standing with one leg on top of one of the immolated corpses Kevin surveyed the surroundings. Finding no more beasts he ordered:
"Squad 1 and 2 move into the building and secure the survivors. Kill any Honkai creatures within the building on sight."
"Sir." The two squads acknowledged his orders and moved into the building.
"Major Kevin really looks so cool when fighting." One of the soldiers remaining outside commented.
"Yeah, that sword must be heavy as hell but he swings it with one hand without breaking a sweat." Another replied.
By this time the squads which were sent inside the building had returned and given their report.
"Sir, we found three Angel-class beasts in the building which were cleared. We have also found around 70 survivors out of which 35 are male, 25 are female and the remaining are children. Some of the rescued survivors are elderly also." The squad leader finished reporting.
"Understood. Take 3 men from Squad 3 and 4 and escort them outside the city." Kevin gave his next instructions.
"Sir." the soldier saluted and proceeded to do as ordered. After the selected men went away escorting the survivors, Kevin turned and ordered the remaining men to follow him.
They continued their sweep across the ruined town when Kevin heard some kind of soft noise.
"…lp….me…"
He started walking slowly towards the source of the sound, and that was when he could hear clearly what was being said:
"Help me. Help me" the voice was in a faint whisper. Once he reached the source of the sound, he saw who it was.
The girl had black indigo-shaded hair with indigo eyes. She was wearing a torn dress with a blue skirt with tattered ends. The girl looked to be around 12-13 years of age. As he reached near the girl her eyes met his. She flinched away initially by seeing him carry a sword until he spoke:
"You are safe."
Hearing this her eyes watered followed by tears that fell down like a waterfall. She ran up to him and hugged him tightly while crying her heart out on his chest. Kevin stood there and slowly took off one of his gloves and patted the girl's head which only prompted her to hug him tighter. Seeing this scene many soldiers' eyes softened. They had only heard about their regiment commander's kindness but now they have seen it first-hand. Seeing how he comforted the little girl who was scared made them proud that they were under his command.
Once the girl calmed down a little, Kevin asked:
"What is your name?"
"Seele's name is Seele."
"Where are your parents, Seele?"
At this the girl became quiet and fresh tears appeared in her eyes, but before she could cry again, he lightly embraced her and said while patting her head again:
"Come with your big brother then."
"Hmmm." She just nodded while her head was buried in his shoulders.
Once she calmed down again, he motioned one of the soldiers to come and ordered:
"Escort her back to the base with six men from the ones present here. Look out for any beasts and don't try to engage them."
"But sir, if we take that many you will be left with very few men."
"Don't worry about me and just take the girl back."
"Sir."
Once given his commands he turned to the girl named Seele and said:
"Seele, this big brother here will take you to safety. Go follow him."
"No. Seele wants to be with you onii-chan." Seele refused and just hugged Kevin tighter.
"Seele, this area is dangerous. And I have to fight the remaining of those scary monsters." Kevin said.
At this Seele just trembled and said in a teary voice "No. Don't fight them, they took away Mama and Papa. They will take you away too. Please don't leave me alone again." She begged.
"I'm stronger than I look, Seele. I can defeat them very easily and moreover this is my job." Kevin reasoned.
"Noooo. Seele doesn't want toooo." Seele still refused to let go of him.
"Seele, please listen to your big brother."
"No. you are lying, you will go away and never return. Mama told Seele to hide in the toy box and said she will return soon but she- but she-…" Seele started sniffing again.
"Seele, look here." Kevin said. At his request, she looked into his sky-blue eyes that held resolve and determination but also pain and loneliness. She suddenly felt that her pain is nothing compared to his and she wanted to hug him to comfort him. Kevin then took out the charm given to him by Mobius and gave it to Seele.
"This is something important to me. So, hold on to it till I come back alright." He said while placing a gentle hand on her head.
"Promise." She held out her little finger to do the pinkie promise.
"Promise." Kevin said while wrapping his little finger around hers.
She then let go of him slowly. The other soldiers then escorted her away outside of the town. As they left Kevin looked over at the remaining men. Only four remained; this reminded him of the times when he was a newbie too. He shook his head to get rid of the memories, he had more important things to do now.
"Okay, we will continue. This is the last sector of the northern portion. Eyes up everyone."
"Sir." The remaining three acknowledged as they made their way to the final sector.
…
The mission went on smoothly. Unluckily they found no more survivors in this last sector. There were destroyed houses and shops all across and Kevin could see mutilated remains of people in places. Most likely none survived here. It made Kevin's heart heavy again but he had long been accustomed to civilian casualties.
As they finished searching the sector, he decided that they searched all of the possible places in the north of the city. He then ordered the men to start heading back. However, as they turned their backs, they heard a loud roar.
ROOOAR.
The four-man team then saw something coming at them at a high speed. Kevin was quick to respond:
"Everybody get ready for combat."
The men did as ordered and got into formation. As the creature came into view, they saw its physical appearance.
Horrendous. That was the only word that could describe the creature. It had a form that was a mix of Angel, Chariot, Templar and an Emperor beast all in one. It seriously looked like a failed experiment from one of those horror movies. Looking at the beast one of them commented:
"What in blazes is this thing?"
"It's ugly as f**ck."
"Focus men." Kevin shouted.
"Yes sir."
"Rick, fire into the Angel's face. Steve, you take care of the Templar part. Will, you take care of the Chariot part. Coordinate your attacks and don't get clumped up or you will be hit by its attacks."
"Sir." They acknowledged and started engaging the beast.
Elysia was waiting for Kevin, a frown on her face. Six men escorting a girl came twenty minutes earlier. The girl was so cute and had a cute name too. The moment she saw her she couldn't help but squish her cheeks. The girl said her name was 'Seele.'.
Anyway, when she asked the men who came back with Seele-chan where Kevin was; they replied that he was sweeping the last sector of the northern town with the three remaining men. At this, she was a little concerned, even though she knew that Kevin was an unmatched fighter and he had that powerful sword on him, he was still known as a reckless individual. He was well known to fight unknown strong beasts on his own and get hurt in the process to protect others. Thinking this Elysia was reminded of the conversation she had with commander Himeko.
Flashback
"Okay, I give you and Dystopia permission to go with Major Kevin."
"Thank you commander."
"Don't thank me yet. I need a favor from you."
"Hmm?" Elysia was confused.
"Please keep an eye on that idiot for me. Don't let him do anything recklessly dangerous."
"What do you mean commander?"
"You will know soon enough."
Current time
As she was thinking back on the conversation, she heard a commotion in the front. Deciding to check what it was about she approached the group. When she reached them, what she saw made her eyes widen. One of the three soldiers was injured heavily from what she could deduce as a puncture wound. The other two were relatively unscathed but were badly shaken up.
"Oi, what the Hell happened?" one of the soldiers asked them.
"We were returning after completing the sweep of the last sector when we encountered a very strange beast." One of the two less wounded replied.
"Strange beast?" Elysia asked the soldier.
"Yes. It was a mutated beast of some kind; like it literally was a mixture of all kinds of beasts we fought until now."
"Go on." She urged.
"We three with Major Kevin engaged it. however, we underestimated its power and agility. For a body that big, it somehow had the ability to roll like a chariot. We dodged it a few times, but then it caught us off guard and launched some spike kind of things one of which pierced Will here."
The said soldiers could only groan in agreement. Elysia was now alarmed. A beast that is a mixture of all the types that they fought against in the simulator. It is like fighting all of them at once that too each of them needed a different approach. That was when she realized, that there was someone missing:
"Wait if you three are here, then where the hell is Major?" another soldier beat her to the punch.
"While Will was stabbed. I lost my concentration to help him. That was when the beast tried to slash me in two but- but-" one of the two whimpered.
Elysia had a very bad feeling about this.
"-but Major got in the way and the beast struck down deep into his shoulder."
"What?"
"And then he ordered us to retreat while saying to tell everyone back outside to not approach the northernmost portion of the city."
"You don't mean-" one soldier shakily said.
"Yes, he is fighting the beast alone."
Elysia started running towards the city before she could think. That 'idiot' was fighting an unknown beast that overpowered three elite men in the blink of an eye all ALONE while being DEEPLY WOUNDED. She started to make her way towards the city but was stopped by someone grabbing her arm
"What are you doing Ellie?" she saw Dystopia-chan holding her arm.
"Let me go Dystopia-chan, I have to save him."
"Have you gone mad; didn't you hear how much dangerous the beast is?"
"But he is fighting all alone while being wounded badly."
"What do you think you can do? We are newbies, not seasoned members yet."
"But-"
"But what Ellie?"
"I won't let him fight alone. I don't know how things were up until now, but now that I'm here I will not let him shoulder this alone." Elysia said with a hint of resoluteness.
"But why?"
"Because I made a promise. Look Dystopia-chan I will be careful, I will just get him and retreat. I will no-" but before she could finish her sentence a huge pillar of fire rose from the ruined town.
Kevin was fighting the beast to a stalemate until now but was getting a little tired due to blood loss. His left arm movements were also getting impeded because of the gash he received earlier.
'Have to finish this soon.' he thought as he dodged another laser attack from the Emperor part of the beast. He then shot the APOLLO with burst mode towards it; however, it was blocked by the chariot part. He sheathed the pistols and took out Surtr; charging it he slashed down towards the body of the beast.
"Caladbolg." He said calling the name of the attack.
Since the finish of his rehab, Kevin had been working on creating his own style of sword art. He took inspiration from various other sword martial arts like: Fencing, broadsword arts, and even eastern sword arts. He studied them thoroughly taking inspiration and developing special attacks that he can use to deal heavy damage to enemies or to damage enemies in a large area. Thus, he has developed types of special slashes with different effects by channeling the Honkai energy in a certain way. However, he to call out the name of the attack to initiate it.
The beast was deeply damaged by the attack and roared in pain. It then started to charge some sort of attack. Kevin fired APOLLO again in an attempt to stop it but was stopped by the other faces again. He then struck Surtr on the ground before him trying to block the attack.
BOOOM.
The attack came in the form of a strong beam with such force that rattled Kevin to the bone. He somehow survived the attack but the ends of his battle coat. Kevin looked back to see that the town behind him was turned to ashes. If the beast makes it past him then-
No. he had to stop and kill it here. He has to release the full power of Surtr. Fine, he wanted to try it anyway. Thus, he steadied his sword pointing it forward, and commanded:
"MODE: RAGNARÖK".
A burst of flames shot up to the sky. The temperature of the surroundings increased suddenly. The beast also instinctively backed away after seeing the structures around the human that wielded that sword melting. Kevin then swung the sword to his side and said:
"Die, foul creature."
…
Elysia along with Dystopia-chan was quickly making it to the place where the pillar of fire shot up in the sky. But when she reached there what she saw shocked her.
Standing in the middle of an inferno was Kevin. His shoulder had a deep gash and blood was oozing out of it. However, each drop that fell was evaporated by the flames produced from the sword that he held. The beast in front of him was trying to run away but was not able to do it. Its body had numerous parts missing supposedly cut by the sword, the wounds castrated by the intense heat of the flames. It tried to claw him only for Kevin to swing the sword and cut his remaining limb away.
Elysia could only gape at the scene in front of her. Had he always fought in this kind of hell all alone to protect others? Why didn't he ask anyone for help? Why did he bear such pain all alone without any single word? Has this the only thing he had known all this life? Thinking such things her heart ached for his way of life.
She was brought out of her thoughts when in a last-ditch effort the beast fired a laser towards him, which was cut down by the swing of his blade. He then moved up his sword while saying:
"This is the end Honkai beast."
"Excalibur-"
The beast gave his final roar trying to intimidate him.
"-Galatine." He called out the name of his strongest attack.
The slash carrying the full wrath of the flames struck the beast burning it away. The beast turned to ashes and then even the ashes burned away. When the attack finally ended nothing remained of the beast, not even its ashes.
Kevin spoke when the flames finally died down:
"This is what I am Elysia." He looked at her with dead eyes "I'm no hero. I'm a monster." Saying this he started to tip backward.
"KEVIN!" Elysia shouted as she ran to catch him. She hugged him from behind to stop his fall. Kevin could smell the faint scent of lilies that wafted into his nose.
"Is everyone safe?" Kevin asked looking at Dystopia. She could only nod.
"Good."
"It's not good. You are hurt so badly. What would have happened if something happened to you?" Elysia said exasperatedly putting pressure on the wound trying to stop the bleeding.
"That doesn't matter. Everyone is fine in the end, that is all that matters."
"Why do you say that?" She asked her voice quivering.
"It is my duty and my oath." Kevin said emotionlessly.
Elysia wanted to ask what he meant by that but couldn't as the reinforcements have arrived. After patching him up enough, they handed over the survivors to the Russian Federation forces that finally arrived on the scene.
After that, they started their way back to the base. Surprisingly Seele also demanded to go with him. While they initially rejected, they finally relented when Kevin said it was fine. Not wanting to waste more time not getting him proper treatment, Elysia, Dystopia, Seele and the squad leaders boarded the first transport craft back to the base. Inside the craft, Kevin closed his eyes and tilted his head back on the wall supporting it to get some rest. Elysia and Seele were initially worried but calmed down seeing the steady rise and fall of his chest.
As Elysia saw the man who tried to bear everything alone for others' sake she finally understood what commander Himeko wanted to say to her. She understood that he was too kind to be selfish for himself and decided that she had to look after him. She loved everyone but he was special, thus she decided to become his voice of reason. As she swept the bangs away that has fallen on his face away, she thought:
'From now on I will hold you, Kevin.'
The interaction when they returned to the base was as Kevin expected. General Alexei didn't say much and accepted his verbal report. Aniki just shook his head and took the Surtr for maintenance. Aneki and Mobuis-san scolded him as usual as they patched him up gently so that his injuries doesn't get worse.
The different thing he noticed was that Mobius-san was seeing Elysia with narrow eyes when she helped into the medical wing. When Elysia hugged Kevin and said goodbye to him, Mobius-san had an expression he couldn't understand. As she was doing the stitches on his shoulder she asked:
"Who's that girl?"
"She is a new recruit in aneki's regiment. I was asked to take her and her friend today with me to give them practical experience."
"I see, so what is your relationship with her?"
"Nothing. She just caught me when I was about to fall back due to exhaustion of using Surtr at full power."
"Hmm." She hummed in a displeased tone.
"Is there something wrong, Mobius-san?"
"You wouldn't understand Kevin so leave it at that." She sighed. Kevin was perplexed; did she sigh in a tone of…. resignation?
"?" Kevin was confused but decided to drop the topic.
"Your wounds will take some time to heal, so take it easy in the meantime. That is what want to say, but knowing you, you will go on missions starting tomorrow."
"…"
"Sigh… What am I going to do with you?" Mobius-san said while resting her head on his uninjured shoulder.
"You don't have to." Kevin replied neutrally.
"But I want to." she replied softly.
"…" Kevin said nothing more. As he started to get up to leave, Mobius suddenly pulled his hand.
"Let me stay like this…. just for a little while." She said while completely relaxing onto his shoulder. Kevin complied and stayed with her for some time.
…
"You say that she wants to talk to me?" Kevin asked Himeko as they made their way to the guest rooms.
"Yeah. She had been pretty docile and cooperated with us quite nicely during questioning. But she was adamant that she wanted to meet and talk to 'Kevin onii-chan'." Himeko stressed the last words.
"I see." Kevin nodded in understanding.
"Where did you find her by the way?"
"She was amongst the rubble in the northern part of the town. Her parents were apparently killed by the beasts and she was calling for help in a faint tone. Honestly, I should have missed her voice, but I don't know how I didn't."
At this Himeko could shake her head. Yet again he has shown his kindness in saving and protecting a little girl. But he himself was unaware of it. What she didn't say to him was that during questioning she repeatedly asked how he was faring. She also threatened them once to not speak further till she knew how her big brother was doing. Judging from her tone she had grown quite attached to him in just over two days.
He really had the talent to draw people to him and worry about him continuously. And he said that there was no one to miss him. She wondered how can one be so oblivious? He didn't even notice the feelings of Dr. Mobius or Elysia. She lamented on his denseness; he had two gorgeous women fawning over him and all he could think was to kill Honkai.
As they stopped outside the room, Kevin knocked and said:
"Seele, I'm coming in."
"Onii-chan?" Was heard from inside. Kevin didn't even open the door fully when something black tackled him. Gazing down he saw Seele with moist eyes:
"Are you okay? Is the wound fine? Does it hurt anymore?" she asked rapidly.
Kevin kneeled down to get on her level and said while patting her head:
"To answer your questions in order; Yes, I'm fine. Yes, the wound is also fine. No, it doesn't hurt."
"Really. Thank goodness, Seele was so so worried. When Seele saw the blood Seele-" Seele said while she started sniffing. Kevin wiped her tears away and said:
"Shhhh... it's all right now."
"Don't make Seele worry like that again." she sniffed again.
"Hmmm." he lied. He knew that he couldn't keep this promise but he didn't want to make her cry more so he went along with it. He saw aneki rolling her eyes at him and gave her a look to keep quiet. She just sighed quietly and shook her head.
"So Seele what did you want to talk about with me?"
At this Seele blushed a little and started fidgeting
"Umm….Eto…. so that is…." She was struggling to find her words. Kevin just waited patiently.
After some time, she took deep breaths and looked into his eyes. With Indigo eyes full of determination, she said:
"Onii-chan please let Seele be your little sister."
Himeko doubled back at what she heard while Kevin's mind went blank. After some time, he could just utter two letters:
"Eh?"
To be continued….
Hello everyone, welcome back to 'A Warriors Destiny'.
This chapter has become officially the longest now. But I wanted to get many things out of the way: like Kevin's new weapons. By the way, how do you like his new sword? I don't know whether Surtr was made in P.E or in the current era in canon, so I went ahead and put it as the weapon he will wield before Shamash. So, now we can begin the Nagazora and Third eruption arc in earnest starting next chapter.
As always if you like the story please leave a follow, favorite, and/or review.
Thank you for reading, until next time.