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.


Assault on Cocoon

ABANDONED FORT (NEAR ABERCASTLE VILLAGE) (SOUTHWESTERN WHALES – UNITED KINGDOM)– 2021(Previous era) (An hour ago)

The smell of salt hung in the air even as the winds blew away much of it. Fu Hua looked up to see the clouds rolling in, meaning it would rain soon. And having studied the stormy weather that can happen at any instance on the western coastline of the United Kingdom, she knew that flying into the fort was going to be more challenging now.

She looked around to see other soldiers preparing and checking their equipment for the last time before they fly their way above the fort. This was because the fort was a natural stronghold which had only one way of entering- through the main drawbridge. However, as they had expected, the bridge was fully drawn when they arrived here. To make matters worse, the reconnaissance team had spotted many state-of-the-art AA guns which were installed on the top perimeter of the fort. The ones in the fort knew that the only way to get in now was through the sky, and they were fully prepared for that.

What those people weren't expecting was for the Moth soldiers to take the same decision despite the risks. However, they had a plan of their own, as reckless as it sounds.

'Are we really going to follow through with it?' Hua thought to herself as she put on her battle gloves. They were the latest from the Second Institute, Honkai-powered melee weapon series: WARHAMMER. They boasted an overall performance increase of 75% from their predecessors as well as being more flexible and lightweight. However, since very few people used battle gloves like her, the data collection was quite difficult for tuning and improving it. The only other person she knew who used battle gloves was Sergeant Kalpas. Speaking of him, she found him talking with Lt. Emile about something. She saw the Lieutenant laughing and slapping the Sergeant's back, to which the Sergeant simply grumbled something and swatted his hand away.

Sensing that she didn't have any place between them, Hua opted to sit on a raised stone and close her eyes for a quick session of meditation. She often did this whenever she was facing a troubling situation or just wanted to calm down her nerves. It was something her father had drilled into her even before he started giving her martial arts instructions. He had always said that if the heart is like a well where the Ki is stored and summoned from, then the mind is the faucet that controls the flow and dictates its power. He always said that the potential of any martial art only comes from the temperament of the mind. Discipline, awareness, control, they were the things that made the attacks more destructive and effective.

This lesson had always stayed Hua even to this day. Even if now her father was gone, as was his dojo, the lessons he imparted to her will always stay by her side. She will forever honour his teachings and strive to protect those around her, as her commander did.

Hua then stopped thinking and turned the focus within herself. Soon she found herself in a dark place where there was a blinding white flame floating in mid-air in this seemingly dark place. The flame felt familiar and warm and filled her with a sense of peace and tranquillity. This was the life flame, also called Shēngmìng zhī huǒ in her native tongue. It was the source of all the Ki in this world and was the truest essence of the human soul. That was what she believed until now. but learning about the Honkai made her question if that really was the case.

There were subtle differences between humans and Honkai beasts, however; the first being their composition. Humans and other living beings were carbon-based, the Honkai beasts on the other hand were silicon-based. Furthermore, Hua could sense that the Honkai beasts didn't have the life flame within them, but were drawing power from somewhere else. That power was dark in nature and extremely malevolent.

When she asked Dr. Einstein about it, the doctor told her that what she was feeling was Honkai energy in its purest form. She was then explained that whatever weapon they were using diluted the Honkai energy to safe levels before use. This is to make sure that there would be no accidental zombification using the weapons. Hua didn't need further explanation as she could understand how catastrophic would be such an accident would be.

She also learnt that the only weapons that didn't have such restraints were those of Major Kevin's. when she asked, she was told that her commander's natural Honkai resistance was extremely high, approaching borderline immunity. Further, the mark on his left forearm did a better job of Honkai energy manipulation than any of the filters that the Second Institute had created. This made Hua realise how special her commander was. Still, he was always humble and tried to carry more responsibilities than he should have, which often led to drastic consequences. What happened in Bucharest was a prime example.

She didn't want to see him like that again, in despair and going insane. Thus, she decided that this time, she will help carry his responsibilities and allow him to rest which he badly needed. Thinking this she sat down on the virtual surface of that black space and started meditating while keeping her focus on the flame that was burning in front of her.

She was meditating for a while before she heard someone calling her from the outside.

"…a….ua….Hua…HUA!"

She slowly opened her eyes to see Colonel Ato standing there and looking at her with a questioning look. She then got up from the stone and bowed her head down while apologizing:

"Please forgive me, Colonel. I was meditating and didn't hear you the first time."

"O-Oh!" Ato exclaimed "Sorry for disturbing you then."

"No, it's all right, Colonel. Do you need something from me?" Hua said respectfully.

"No. I was just making my rounds to see the final preparations before we start the assault. And I found you here sitting still with your eyes closed, so I wanted to check up on you."

"Thank you for your concern, Colonel. But as you can see, I'm fine and prepared."

"Hmm. I see." Ato hummed. Then he said:

"Hua, care to take a walk with me?"

"Me Sir?" Hua asked not understanding why was he asking her.

"Is there another soldier named Hua here?" Ato joked lightly. However, this caused Hua to stutter in embarrassment:

"N-No. I'm sorry for offending you."

"Haha… no need to be so stiff. I'm just joking with you. So, shall we?" Ato said while starting to walk.

"Yes." Hua said following him.

They made their way towards the cliffside overlooking the fortress at which they were about to launch the assault in a few more minutes. When they were near the cliff, Ato took out a cigarette and lighted it. He then inhaled deeply and let out a stream of cigarette smoke through his nose. Seeing this Hua said:

"It's not good for your health, colonel."

At this Ato rubbed the back of his head and said:

"Spare me just this once. I don't do this often; just when I'm stressed. And this situation is pretty stressful as it is."

"Colonel is stressed?" Hua asked.

"How can I not be? We are basically diving head first into the enemy territory which we don't know anything about. Moreover, we don't have Kevin to bail us out if the situation goes to shit."

"…" at this Hua remained quiet.

"But" Ato continued as he inhaled again "This is more the reason for us to not back down now. you see Hua, every single one of here is fighting for something we believe in."

He then pointed towards the soldiers and said:

"Emile is fighting for his chance to give his sister a good life. Kalpas there is fighting to keep the children that Aponia brought with her safe. Roberts, your battalion's vice commander is fighting to provide money and treatment for his wife who was inflicted with Honkai illness. Others are fighting for many several different reasons like to gain glory, for money, for treatment that only Moths can provide, and so on."

"Then for what do you fight for, Colonel?" Hua asked curiously.

"Me?" Ato said pointing towards himself "For me, the reason is very simple: I fight to protect my little world. And Honkai be dammed if it tries to take them away from me."

At this Hua was silent. She pondered over Colonel's words. Everyone here was fighting for their own personal reason, yet they banded together under the banner of Moths to fight the Honkai. Then what about her? why was she fighting? The Honkai had already taken everything away from her: her father, her only friend, her normal life, her future; everything was burned to ashes. She had nothing, she was nothing.

Hua suddenly felt a void form in her chest. It was like a chasm that threatened to devour her whole. She wondered why it was present only now. no, it was always present there, she just chose to ignore it. But having told the things that Colonel said today to her face made her painfully aware of the emptiness in her heart. she then turned to Colonel and asked:

"Then what about me Colonel? What should I fight for? Honkai had already taken away everything from me. You say everyone here fights to protect something. Then what should I protect when I have nothing left?"

At this Ato looked at her in an understanding gaze and said:

"That is something you have to find for yourself, Hua."

"But I don't understand. That day Colonel Himeko said that if I have the truth, then my life will change forever. That I would have to shoulder a great responsibility. But nothing has changed. I am still a lost girl trying to find something to hold on to, but could never find anything."

Ato then took a deep breath of cigarette smoke again and said:

"As I said, I cannot give you a purpose, but perhaps I can help. Imagine this, Honkai had won and is going to destroy everything. What is the first thing that comes to mind that you don't want to see destroyed?"

Hua closed her eyes thinking about what the Colonel had said. At first, her mind was blank. Then in that blank mind, a scene began to form. The scene where her entire life turned upside down.

"Come with me, and after all this is over, I will teach you how to fight them."

Those words changed the direction of her life. The words that changed a mere schoolgirl looking to complete her graduation to a soldier of the Moths. As she thought about it, more and more images continued to appear one after the other: her time as a new recruit, her meeting Elysia-san at the Induction ball, her colleagues in the 7th battalion, her other comrades from different regiments. All of these different memories swirled in Hua's mind. All the memories she has shared with them, all the missions, all the conversations, Elysia-san helping her fit in with the rest of the members, her interactions with Junior Researchers Nuwa and Fuxi who fastly gained a soft spot in her heart, and so many more.

Finally, her mind settled on an image of a young man in his late teens with silver-white hair. He was her senior, her mentor, her commander and someone she looked up to the most in the entire Moths. She then thought what would he have replied in this situation? Suddenly the answer came to Hua's mind even without any effort. She will try to do what she has always done from the moment she joined under his wing: she will follow in his footsteps. She will fight for her comrades in the Moths, her friends and the new family she had made here. She will follow his trail, and maybe she will finally a personal goal as well.

Also, she wanted to prevent a repeat of what happened that night if possible. Her commander shouldn't bear everything alone. thus, this time when he isn't present, she will try her best to do what he has always done, protect others.

Hua's determination grew as her mind became clear. She finally understood what Colonel Ato had wanted to say.

Hua opened her eyes to see Colonel Ato looking at her with an understanding gaze:

"It seems you have found what you were searching for."

"Yes." Hua said with conviction.

He then nodded and said in a teasing voice:

"But you know, looking at your face, there is something else as well."

"Huh?"

"Your face is red you know."

"That's-" Hua stammered, not being able to respond properly.

"HAHA…" Ato laughed his signature laugh "It seems that there is another fish in the pond."

"I-it's n-not l-like t-that…" Hua stuttered.

"Sure it isn't."

"Colonel." Hua whined. Seeing this Ato was satisfied. She was finally reacting like a girl her age. He then looked at her in a serious tone and asked:

"Then Hua, are you prepared now?"

"Give the order Colonel."

At this Ato dropped the remaining cigarette to the ground crushing it under his combat boot. Then he said:

"Then let's begin."

"Yes Colonel."


A few minutes later

The guard yawned as he looked down the withdrawn drawbridge, the only thing connecting this fortress to the mainland. The remaining members of the organization along with the Grandmaster, Fifth-ranked The Doctor and the leader of the agents Miguel-san were also present. Also, that girl who called herself 'The Great Magician', the developer of the weapons that the agents use was present here. All in all, every single remaining high-ranking member of Cocoon was present here.

After the fall of second, third and fourth-ranked agents along with the betrayal of the sixth-ranked, tensions were running high among the remaining members. There were many attempts at desertion all of which ended up being get caught and then sent to the Doctor's lab. To make the message clear to the already scared members, not only the branded traitors but also their families were sent to the lab. This caused the final sparks of a possible rebellion and thoughts of betrayal to die out. The remaining members had already accepted their fates, either they will live today or die in the final defence of the fortress.

The guard was one of the few who were exempted from this. However, it was not because of any kind of special treatment, but rather that he had no one to care for. He was one of the so-called Orphans of the Cocoon, members that had no family or close ones. They were generally thugs and riffraff taken from the streets, and contrary to popular belief, they were given the most menial jobs in the organization.

However, this exactly specific situation of them allowed this man to take it easy even in this situation. The organization had no effective leverage over him; in essence, he was free to do anything. Yet, he chose to do as was ordered. Even someone like him was afraid of the pain and torture of that crazy doctor. Hence the reason he was on guard duty was to look for anything suspicious around the fortress walls.

"Tis so stupid. Should 've just sat inside the guard tower." The man commented as he felt the first drops of rain hitting his exposed wrists. The rain soon started to fall harder and the winds picked up to make the rain fall even harder. Soon the weather worsened to turn into a full-blown storm as was predicted by the weather forecast. The man wiped his face to get water out of it and to get a better vision but to no avail. The storm grew fierce with now thunderbolts striking at places farther away. The man shivered as he felt himself soaking to the bones despite him wearing a raincoat. He then looked at the drawbridge and as usual, found nothing out of ordinary. He then said to no one in particular:

"Screw it. I'm not staying here any longer. Not like anybody's stupid enough to come through that way at this time."

He then left the wall top he was standing on earlier and made his way to the guardhouse to get himself out of this storm and then dry himself and probably have a couple of glasses of bourbon he had swiped from one of his acquaintances earlier. He then quickly made his way to the guard tower and shut the door behind him. then he went to the radio and pressed the talk button.

"Guard 14 speaking here, no abnormal activity in the vicinity of the drawbridge during the patrols, over."

There was a sound of static before a voice came out:

"Copy that. go on another patrol again ten minutes later and update, over."

"Are you serious, commander? Nobody is going to come through that way in this storm, over."

At this the voice from the other sound of the line replied in a cross voice:

"Do as you are told. Otherwise, I will report to Agent Miguel that you were shirking off your duties."

At this, the guard got nervous. If his commander really complained to Agent Miguel, then it will not end well for him. he had to play it smart until this whole fiasco with those damm Moths blew over and he was relegated to his usual mundane duties.

"Y-Yes Sir, I will update you in ten minutes, over!" the guard replied stiffly.

"The answer I expected. Then update me in ten minutes, over and out." The voice from the other side of the communication link said before the speaker went silent and only static could be heard from it. The man angrily slammed the mouthpiece into the holder while saying:

"Fuck him. he is staying all warm and cosy in that office of his while I'm getting soaked to my bones here. He gets to boss me around all because he is just one rank above me." He then slammed his fist on a nearby table hard, causing the table to creak loudly. He then angrily shouted:

"What kind of idiot does he take me for? There's no way anybody would-"

Whatever the man wanted to say was cut off in the middle as a rocket hit the guard tower blowing it up and killing him in the process. The loud sound could be heard from all the way down below the lower levels of the fortress.

"What the fu-" another guard exclaimed only for him to get blown up as well by another rocket.

A third guard was alarmed by these sudden explosion sounds that came from outside. Thus, he ran as fast as he could and pressed the alarm switch.

The entire base went up in blaring sounds of sirens as the guard who pressed the alarm switch saw many flying objects approaching the fortress despite these horrific conditions.

"Those bastards really did do it as grandmaster predicted." The guard thought as the place he was standing upon was blown away by another rocket, killing him in the process.


Five minutes earlier

The smell of machine oil hung in the air as he stepped into this place that was allocated to that person. As he looked around, he found various pieces of machinery lying around. Some were oddly shaped as if they were created just to scare kids at their bedtime. The entire place, 'The Great Magician's Workshop' as the person whom the entire hall was allocated to like to call It, was full of machines like that. He even saw scrapped humanoid figures, which seemed to oddly resemble automatons from a movie he had seen long back. The man then looked around trying to find the owner of the said workshop, finally finding them working on what appeared to be the chest of a huge mechanical giant which resembled like a tank, the only exception being that it had various mounted Gatling guns and more than one barrel. Also, the lower part of the creation looked more like a spider with six legs if he counted correctly. Furthermore, the man spotted fan blades mounted on what appeared to be mounted on either side of the creation indicating that it was capable of flight as well. Truly a monstrosity, if he had to be bluntly honest. Yet, if the sacred keys were anything to go by, this creation also was powerful.

The man stood a few feet apart, watching the person work on the tank-cum-spider robot if he could call it one. From the back, it could be seen that the person was a woman in her mid-teens. She had blonde hair which went up to her shoulder, with half of it being a darker shade compared to the other. She wore what could only be described as Victorian clothing with gothic accents. She was further wearing a dark brown hat. As the man stood there waiting for her to finish her work, he took notice of the various armaments lying around. This girl was resourceful and innovative if nothing else, he noted.

Finally, after the woman was done, she turned around to find the leader of Agents looking at her with the same usual bland look that he gives everyone. Surprised for not noticing her, she stumbled and started to fall from the ladder stool she was standing on. As she fell, she let out a girly scream:

"Kyaa."

THUMP.

The girl fell with a thud on the ground on her posterior. She then groaned at the apparent pain she was feeling after the fall.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow. My back. It hurts. Please can you wait for a moment Miguel-san?"

The first-ranked agent said nothing in response and simply looked as the girl got up and rubbed her rear. She then dusted herself off from the apparent virtual dust she had on her from the fall. She then straightened out her clothes and finally faced him properly.

Now that she was facing him head-on, he could see her other features that were hidden while she was working. On her hands, she wore gloves out of which one was held by strings like those on a puppet. There were cog wheels at many places on her outfit, with the hat she wore having them too. She had a braid on the left side of her head and four pigtails, out of which the front two were held by black bows embroidered with golden patterns. She also had an attachment on her left shoulder which she claimed acted as a light source for her when she was working in a dark environment. She also wore a dark brown headband with a cog design attached to it like at many places in her outfit. The woman wore dark brown shorts and a dark brown garter belt on her left thigh. Attached to her shorts was an extension like the end of a lab coat with pockets for storing various things. She wore brown striped thigh-high socks which were covered by brown thigh-high boots.

The first-ranked agent looked straight at her grey eyes with fuchsia pupils and said:

"Are your preparations ready, Inventor?"

At this, the woman looked behind and said:

"Well, mostly. But it would require some more fine-tuning before it can be operated safely."

"We are out of time. They will be coming today."

"Ehh? Isn't it too soon? I haven't even finished my project."

"It's already been more than one week since Roque fell in Bucharest. That is more than enough time for them to prepare and launch a counter-attack against us."

"Then that means he is coming too as well?" the woman sounded excited.

"No. From the intel we have, Godslayer was mortally wounded by that last attack from Roque. Even if he survives, there is no chance of him appearing here today."

"Aww." The woman whined and pouted "I really, really wanted to first-hand see the power of the one who managed to best not one, not two but three Sacred keys."

"They were useless. You said that they would definitely annihilate the Godslayer. But the only result we got was the death of three of our agents and the desertion of one. Know well that the Grandmaster is not pleased with the results and so am I." the agent finished looking at her disappointedly.

The woman at this simply started laughing. It started as giggles before it turned to full-blown laughter. The agent simply looked at the woman who had seemingly lost her mind. After her laughs had subsided, the man spoke:

"Are you done?"

At this, the woman replied:

"Yes, it's just pfft… you guys are seriously trying to shift the blame on me after you guys screwed up."

"What!?" the agent asked indignantly.

"Hey" the woman's demeanour changed completely. She looked at him like a predator that would devour her prey at any moment. The man then noticed something poking his back, and when he turned, he found one of those cast-away humanoid automatons pointing a blade at his back. He then turned his head forward to see the woman looking at him with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"I already said the moment that I created those weapons. They are not artifacts that would give magical powers. I had already warned that the Honkai conversion module on them was not perfect and the drive system was not calibrated fully. However, even though knowing the risks, you ordered them to be given to your subordinates. Even last time, I had warned about the possible side effects the release state of those weapons could do on their wielders. However, you guys chose to ignore that also."

She then came closer to the agent and looked straight into his eyes. he could see the anger and hatred swimming in those grey eyes. the air around the woman had changed as well. It almost seemed that the one whom he was now talking with was a different person although the body of the person remained the same. It felt like she had more than one personality in her body. The woman then continued in a low voice:

"And furthermore, you guys didn't even give me enough data about the combat capabilities of that Godslayer or whatever you guys call him; and you expect me to make weapons to fully counter him?"

"…" the agent remained silent as he couldn't refute what the woman had said just now.

"Moreover, you guys wasted three weapons made of the special alloy whose preparation and crafting data you stole from the Moths. But you know what? The person from whom you stole this data was aware of this. That is the reason that the data you guys gave me was always incomplete. You only took what he allowed you to take; what you took was not enough for me to reproduce it. Still. I tried my best to develop weapons that could match those of Moths, and yet you have the nerve to belittle me like this."

She then looked at him threateningly and said:

"Don't you dare try to shift the blame for the shits that your underlings had done. Otherwise, you will find that there are worse enemies that you can make than the Moths. Always remember this Miguel Reinhard, I'm not your subordinate or a member here. My presence here is purely based on my agreement with your so-called Grandmaster, and I can always walk out of here. And when I do, there will be nobody for you people to develop weapons."

"Kh."

"So don't cross me again like that again. I have a lot of patience, but even it can run out eventually." the woman finished. And as soon as she did the tension in the air suddenly dissipated. Her demeanour changed as well as she became a bit more cheerful. The automaton also withdrew. She then said:

"Are we now clear on that now Miguel-san?"

"Fine." Then he continued "But be sure to complete your preparations before the supposed Moths invasion. As it is in your agreement to help us to defend this fortress."

"Geez, what did I say earlier? I will do everything on my part as agreed." She then looked at the creation she was working on earlier as a sadistic smile set up on her face. She then said in a similar sadistic voice:

"They are going to love the present I have been developing for them. Too bad, the supposed Godslayer is not here though. Whatever" she shrugged "Guess I will have to do with the normal soldiers instead."

"The rogue agent will be here as well."

"Really. Guess she came here looking for her sister. Do you guys have covered that end?"

"Doctor will take care of the girl, but you will have to delay her as much as possible."

"How much work do you want me to do? Well, whatever. In for a penny, in for a pound, I guess. Fine I will delay her as much as possible, but do not expect me for her to delay her more than 15 minutes. She is fast if you know what I mean."

"15 is more than enough."

"Hai, Hai. Now go back if you have nothing more to tell me. I have to finish the calibrations on this thing, then run computations on its theorized performance and then-"

BOOM.

Whatever she wanted to say was cut off as they heard a loud explosion coming from the top followed by the entire fortress shaking from whatever the source of those explosions was.

"They're here." the agent said before his features hardened and he made his way out of the said workshop. Probably to the Grandmaster if his loyalty was anything to go by. She still didn't understand why anyone would want to follow that person. To her, he was even more dangerous than the supposed 'Doctor' that everyone feared.

You could reason with a curious person but there was no reasoning with an obsessed person.

She should know best. She had her own obsessions.

"Well then let's get to work shall we." she said to no one in particular as she pressed a button on the control panel in front of her. the machine in front of her whirred to life. She smiled wide as her creation seemingly came alive.

"This is going to be one of my best performances till now." she said to herself and then looked towards the ceiling, where undoubtedly the Moth soldiers had started their assault.

"Welcome to the finest performance of The Great Magician Vill-V."


"Go. Go. Go."

"Take out their mounted guns first."

"Look out for the anti-personnel mines."

"There! A bastard's over there."

"No, wait. That's a tra-"

BOOOM.

"Squad 26 is down! I repeat Squad 26 is down. We need more reinforcements. Over."

"Arrgh! My arm. My arm."

"Kill those Moth bastards. Squad Delta, take care of the ones at the southwest of the complex."

"Sir!"

"Don't even think that you're going to the lower levels. You guys are going to die here-"

BOOM.

"Aaaaaaaa. Commander."

"W-what happened?"

"Something came in through the wall?"

"How is that possible, that wall was reinforced with titanium-tungsten special alloy?"

"Eeeek!"

"What happened?"

"Th-there. A demon."

"Demon. What do you- w-who are you!?"

"…"

"Don't come near! Everybody open fire!"

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

"aaaaaaaa."

BOOOOM.

The sound of explosions and people fighting could be heard everywhere. Fu Hua looked to her side to see Colonel Ato commanding the troops for the next move even as he hand-fisted a guy coming at him and shooting another on his head making the man fall dead before he even managed to reach his target. He really deserved to hold the position of a colonel, Hua thought. While Major Kevin was in no way inferior in commanding the troops, there was just something in the way the Colonel acted that made the soldiers' movements more synchronized and fluid than she had ever seen. Perhaps this was the impact of having a greater experience under your belt.

"Hua, on your eight!" a soldier near her warned her. She leapt into action at once. She with her peripheral vision saw two Cocoon soldiers reaching her. one of them was holding a standard assault rifle, while the other was holding a broadsword made of Solium. Hua narrowed her eyes as she realised that the reports of documents related to Solium technology had been stolen by the infiltrators seemed to be true. However, another piece of intel they had been given was that the infiltrators had been able to fully steal crucial documents regarding the processing and bond structure of the alloy. This meant that even though they had the knowledge of how to create Solium, they were not able to activate its Honkai-insulating properties and its self-repair tendencies.

In short, the weapons these people had now were not much better than standard. Thus, she didn't have to worry about much. Calming herself down, Hua started to concentrate and chant the verse that her father taught her when he started teaching her the family martial arts:

'The Origin of soul. The encompassing void. The flame of existence.'

As she chanted the verse in her head, she could feel the power of life flame flowing from her inner world and strengthening her mind and body. She then got into stance to use one of the secret moves of her family's martial arts that can only be used when one had fully mastered drawing power from their life flame.

Hua then opened her eyes suddenly and shot forward towards the cocoon soldiers while calling out the name of her attack.

"Secret art: White Tiger's Fang."

What happened afterwards was too fast for the Cocoon soldiers to follow. They just saw a woman getting into a stance, and the next thing they knew they were lying on the ground, curled up and experiencing a pain that seemed to penetrate into their very soul.

"Haa." Hua released a breath as she closed her eyes again to dissipate the excessive Ki energy generated. She then opened them and saw that the two soldiers had fallen down while writhing in pain. She had severed their connection to their internal energy by severing their key meridians. It was cruel, but she was a soldier and she had an obligation to fulfil her duty. This was a war, and in war, you don't have time for unnecessary kindness. It only backfires for you and your comrades. This was the first lesson her commander had taught the new battalion members on their joining day, and this was a lesson that she will always remember.

She was a soldier of the Moths before she was an individual. The Honkai had taken away her freedom of choice for her and thus she will follow what the people of the Moths and her commander decide for her. And in that process, she will try to protect as many innocents as she can; as her commander did.

She then looked around her to gauge the situation of the battle and to look where the others were present. Her eyes first landed on the figure of Sakura, the self-claimed Ex-Agent cocoon. She was taking on quite a number of Cocoon soldiers who had her surrounded.

"This is the end of the line for you traitor."

"Hmph. To think that an agent could betray our organization like that."

"Do you have any idea how much we have suffered because of your betrayal?"

"We will kill you here and offer your body to the grandmaster."

"Hehe… Maybe you can be more useful now along with your sister as the Doctor's experimental materials. Serves you right for becoming a traitorous rat."

SHIIIING.

There was just the sound of a blade being drawn and then complete silence. All the soldiers standing there had their faces frozen at an expression of shock and confusion. One of them finally muttered:

"Wha-" and that was when all of their upper haves started to fall from their lower halves along the severing line. Those soldiers didn't even get the chance to understand and comprehend that they were severed in half, as they died in total confusion. The pressurised blood in their remaining stumps poured out like a fountain. The blood mixed with the rain to create a mist of red that spread to several metres. Many who saw this were shocked to their core at the display of power from the Ex-agent. Even Hua was mortified when she saw what the woman was capable of. She was extremely dangerous, and Hua hoped that General and Dr. Welt had a good plan on how to include her in Moths.

She then looked over to another side to see Sergeant Kalpas coming out of a hole in the wall of what appeared as a command post. He was covered in bruises and the edges of his battle uniform were torn. He was holding what appeared to be an unconscious man by their collar. As he walked however, she could see the droplets of blood dropping off his free hand. At first, Hua thought that it was his and he was hurt, but on closer inspection, it was completely different. His hand was totally fine, without any scratches on his skin. That could mean only one thing, and Hua didn't know what to think of it. This battle was getting more brutal by the moment, with each side completely intending to annihilate the other.

She saw Sergeant approaching the Colonel and throwing the man on his feet like a doll. The man coughed out spit and blood on impacting the ground as he groaned, indicating that perhaps several of his ribs were broken.

Colonel Ato raised the man by his throat and asked in an extremely cold voice that sent shivers amongst the newer members of the Moths participating in the battle today.

"Where is the way to the lower floors?"

"…" the captured man glared at the Colonel defiantly.

"Look, you get to live by just answering my one question. Isn't it a good bargain for you?"

"Jdi po prdele!"

"As you wish." the colonel said in an emotionless voice as he nodded towards Sergeant Kalpas. She saw the sergeant approaching the man and lifting him. The left-hand glove he was wearing then ignited in flames as he formed a fist. The moment he started the punch, Hua spun around and closed her eyes.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA."

The sound of the man screaming penetrated the air but was eventually drowned out by the hard falling rain. Hua kept her eyes closed until the smell of burnt flesh was completely drowned out by the smell of sea and salt in the air. This battle was too brutal, Hua thought. She knew that there was to be no mercy in this assault for the Cocoon members after what they have done, but it didn't mean she personally approved it. However, as a soldier, her personal opinions were not important compared to tactical decisions. Thus, the only thing she could do was to swallow this hard reality and fulfil her mission.

Hua heard someone approaching him. She then felt the presence of Sergeant Kalpas behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know that he was looking at her in a displeased way.

"You turned around to spare yourself from seeing him getting killed." Kalpas said it as a statement, not even as a question.

"Understanding doesn't mean acceptance, Sergeant Kalpas."

"Hmph. You talk like a hypocrite."

"Maybe I am. I'm a soldier, so I will follow my orders. But Sergeant-" she then turned around and locked her eyes with her. Grey met blue ones as she resolutely said:

"I will never accept such a cruel method."

Saying this she walked away. Kalpas stood there as he watched her go and engage some other soldiers. He watched her take enemies down and cripple them, perhaps forever. But in all of those downed enemies, she had never taken a life. She always attacked joints and other parts which restricted movements and knocked them out cold. Yet, she never hit any vital organ or any part of the head that could kill instantly.

He scoffed at this. This girl was still too naïve if she thought that making her enemies unconscious could end a battle. But it seemed better that way. She didn't deserve to belong in a world of blood and death. It was something that only he and that hero-boy could bear. Thus, he decided to look out for her discretely. This way, he could make that hero-boy owe him also.

"Tch. Be grateful that I'm looking out for your lackey, hero-boy." Kalpas said as he punched another cocoon soldier that was attempting to sneak up on him.

He then turned his head to see around three dozen soldiers circling and trapping him. as they completely encircled him, they said:

"You will pay for what you did to our commander, Demon."

"Demon? Hehe… he Hehe…" at this Kalpas started giggling before it turned to full-blown maniacal laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA… Demon. You guys are absolutely right." Saying this he ignited his gloves. The raindrops clinging to his arm started to vaporize due to the intense heat and cause steam to rise from his body. As the steam covered his surroundings, the Cocoon soldiers could see two grey eyes looking at them with a crazed look. This caused them to shudder involuntarily.

"Now then. Entertain me before you die." the bloodthirsty voice echoed making the soldiers' hearts leap in their throats. Then they saw the demon in the form of a man in front of them punch the air with his flaming gloves which caused the flames to engulf his surroundings and then themselves.

"AAAAAAAAAA." some shouted finding themselves catching fire and burning to death.

"Try to survive as long as you can AND ENTERTAIN ME YOU BASTARDSSSSS!" Kalpas shouted as he swung his fist around, taking down a couple of soldiers.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA." he laughed like a man possessed as he continued his purge.


Emile blasted off another soldier as he checked his surroundings. All the troops were moving according to the Colonel's orders. Good. At this rate, they should be able to overpower the soldiers stationed above before going to the lower levels of the fortress and taking on the supposed last two remaining agents and their top members. It was a shame that they had to do so many people in, but they had explicit orders to not show any kind of mercy to non-surrendering forces.

Personally, Emile found it a bit hard to digest as he thought that the people on the other side may have their circumstances as well. If the words of that Ex-agent are anything to go by, Cocoon had effectively held its members' families and close ones as tactical hostages for full obedience. A crude yet perfectly effective tactic. He wondered what choice he would have made if he was put in a similar situation as them. The more he thought about it, the more he could empathize with these Cocoon soldiers. They were just trying to protect their loved ones, just like them. However, by a cruel twist of fate, they ended up being enemies and the only option to resolve their difference lay in eradicating the other one.

If this was how it is, then there was nothing to think about further. Emile closed his eyes to get his mind in the zone again and spoke up:

"Squad 35, Status report."

"Sir." A young man barely in his adulthood replied. Seeing his face put a sour taste in Emile's mouth, but he had a job to do as a Moth soldier and he will do it well. The success of this mission depended upon him as well.

"We have neutralized hostile forces in the western reaches of the upper level. There were some surrenders, to which we have restrained them as ordered. We have also taken down an enemy commander and disrupted one of their communication posts, so they wouldn't be able to effectively communicate now."

At this Emile nodded silently. Things were going according to plan. If they keep up this pressure, then in another half an hour they could take care of all the preliminary forces and make their way to deeper levels. However, this winning tide had not come without its own set of consequences. Tens of Moths soldiers have lost their lives here today. And as their forces were comparatively smaller than the Cocoon's, each soldier's death had hit them harder compared to the other party. each soldier lost meant fewer forces to face against their top members. But this was the gamble that the Colonel had decided to play for gaining the advantage of surprise and mobility.

Emile thinking this started to give out his orders:

"Alright. Squad 35, your next assignment is to find the control centre for the AA guns. If you find it, destroy it. It will help in lessening the pressure on our reinforcement and supplies crafts."

"Sir." the soldiers saluted him and left for their next assignment. Emile then looked over to the soldiers that he was personally commanding and said:

"The rest of you all, Follow me. We will continue to engage the hostile forces while finding the weak points in the fortress' structure to breach into lower levels."

"Sir Yes Sir!" the remaining soldiers replied as they followed Emile to take care of the Cocoon members who had started to use heavy machinery against them. Emile dodged another Honkai-powered RPG that was fired against him. he then ordered his men:

"Steve, Marco, distract the ones with RPGs. The rest fire at them with everything you have when they are distracted."

"Roger." The two men said as they sprinted forward leaving the cover they had hidden behind until now. The two men open fire at the ones who held the RPGs. As expected, those two were showered with bullets by the soldiers protecting the RPG holders. However, as ordered before, the Moths soldiers return fire on them allowing the two to reach their target with relative safety. The two then fired their assault rifles with Honkai-powered bullets. Since the weaponry that the Cocoon soldiers had were not as advanced as those of the Moths, they were not able to put up much resistance. Seeing that their diversion has worked, the two soldiers shouted:

"LIEUTENANT, NOWWWW!"

"Wha-" the Cocoon soldiers couldn't finish their words as they found a grenade rolling towards their feet. They responded quickly, trying to scurry away from that place only to be picked off by the flaming rounds of Emile's Honkai-powered shotgun. Even though the round had a short range of reach, their explosive power made up for it. That was the reason that he had to get as close as possible to make this work.

Looking at them with the same cold look that his Colonel had, he said to the soldiers:

"Repent." and shot the shotgun. The result was quick and explosive. The flaming shillings hit the ones holding those RPGs, burning them. However, it didn't stop there. Those flaming shillings penetrated and ignited the still-loaded rockets in the tube of those launchers, causing them to explode.

BOOOM.

Emile covered his ears as an ear-splitting bang sounded with the explosion of the Honkai-powered Rockets. All the soldiers surrounding those two who were holding those RPGs were incinerated in an instant due to the Honkai energy burst. Those standing a few metres apart were spared from burning alive; however, they were skewered by the shrapnel coming out of the blast. All in all, none of that group survived. Emile let out a breath as he looked around to see the aftermath of that manoeuvre. Broken pieces of stones and tiles were lying around everywhere. The place where the cocoon group was standing was torn up like paper. Splatters of blood and body parts were strewn everywhere and the smell of blood, fats and burnt flesh permeated the surroundings. The newer members of his troops gagged at the horrid mixture of smells and even the more experienced members' faces stiffened at the sight around them.

Emile had never seen such destruction that was caused by humans. In his entire military life of four years, all the death and destruction that he had seen were caused by the Honkai. Whether it be the usual Honkai outbreaks, the second eruption or the third eruption, it was always the Honkai. But things were different now. the ones whom they were fighting against were not Honkai beasts, they were Humans just like them. They were persons that had feelings, dreams and expectations just like them. Yet, they had to kill them just like the Honkai beasts. The more he thought about this, the more he wondered whether he could truly accept this assault.

His musings came to an end when he heard one of his subordinates shouting in alarm:

"Lieutenant, watch out!"

He turned to see a projectile hurtling towards him. He tried to get saway but was not fast enough.

"Shit!"

BOOOM.

"Ugh." Emile groaned as he opened his eyes. His entire body was wracked with pain. His eyes then roamed around to find himself pinned below a large slab of stone. Fortunately, he could still feel his limbs and move them, which meant that he had relatively come out unscathed from that sudden blast. He could however not dally on for long as another question came up in his mind.

'What was that projectile before the blast?'

He didn't have to think about it much as he finally saw what had fired that projectile and his mind went blank when he saw it.

Huge. That was the only word that could come to his mind when he saw it. The monstrous thing had the body of a tank and was supported by what seemed to be spider-like legs. There were six of them supporting this humongous thing. While on the top, where should be some kind of face, there was an open cockpit-like structure and surrounding that structure were all kinds of weapons that one could ever imagine. There were four tank-like barrels. Along with six AA guns and dozens of other armaments. And to top it off, the thing had four hands-like projections strutting out of its tank body, each holding what appeared to be a blade with electricity running through its entire length. All in all, that thing looked like those war machines that he had seen in those Mecha cartoons in his younger days; except it was definitely real and a lot more dangerous.

He then saw the silhouette of the one who was piloting this mechanical beast. It was a… a… woman?

"Wha-" he exclaimed not able to understand. At this, the woman seemingly stood up in the cockpit and saw her surroundings.

"Ara~, it seems that everyone is shocked by my appearance. Good, very good. The introduction is as important as the performance itself."

She then took off her hat and bowed down like a performer as she introduced herself.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to the Great Magician's Vill-V's magic show. Please be prepared as the show is about to begin." She then snapped her finger and the monstrous mechanical monster whirred to life. Emile then saw her leaving the monster on top of a floating disk-shaped platform. Once at a safe distance she then took out a megaphone seemingly out of nowhere and spoke into it:

"The star of Today's show is GODSLAYER DESTROYER Mk. I. It was originally meant to take care of your hero, the Godslayer. But alas since he is not here, you guys will have to make do. So, play nice, okay?" she smiled an innocent smile, but Emile knew better. This woman was extremely dangerous. The woman now identified as Vill-V then pushed a red button on a remote as she said:

"Go GODSLAYER DESTROYER Mk. I, show them what you are capable of."

The machine as if obeying her command started to move and carry out its orders. The various mounted guns on it started to fire simultaneously as well the barrels started to shell out the mortar shells on the Moths soldiers. The tide of the battle changed in an instant. The Moth soldiers who were having the upper hand with superior weapons and tactics were now being plucked off one by one by that behemoth. The remaining soldiers quickly formed a defensive formation around their Colonel as the second-in-command asked his superior what to do.

"Sir, orders!"

"Shit!" Ato cursed. He knew that something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. This battle was not going to end lightly for either of them. Even though, he was their commander and thus he had the duty to come out on top in this confrontation. He thus ordered:

"Squads 14 through 23, confront and destroy that mechanical bastard at all costs."

The selected soldiers were shocked initially as they knew that what their commander had said was technically a suicide mission. Yet, they refused to back down. They had their pride as soldiers, and they will fulfil their duty like how their hero did. They will fight till the bitter end.

Thus, one soldier turned to face Ato and saluted him while saying:

"It's been an honour to serve under your command, Colonel Ato. Please make the future that we have always wanted. Godspeed."

"Kh." Ato just grunted. What could he say to that? it was now his responsibility to see that their wishes come true.

The soldier then turned back and shouted:

"Let's go men. Show that hunk of metal what we are."

"YEAHHHH!" the others shouted as they charged into what was clearly a death charge.

"…" Vill-V just looked on clearly not understanding what they were trying to do. Did they really think they will make it? If so, then they had another thing coming to them. She then pressed another button on the remote. The effect was instantaneous as a large EMP burst spread out, killing all those who were charging at once.

"…" Ato could only gape at the scene before him. Tens of his men had died uselessly. He just gritted his teeth as he found himself at the rope's end.

"The show is still not finished, my dear spectators." Vill-V said in the megaphone she was holding. She then pushed another button and the mechanical monster made a sound as it started to glow. Ato was alarmed as the purplish aura surrounding the machine could be only one thing.

"Honkai Energy!?" he exclaimed as he was speechless. This woman had just created a gigantic mechanical robot that could harness Honkai energy. This meant that this thing had technically an endless supply of energy until it broke down due to Honkai corruption. This was bad, really bad.

Emile who was closest to the machine, felt his body burn due to the increasing concentration of Honkai energy. Then he saw the chest area opening like a slot and came out a barrel unlike the others mounted on it. He then saw it charging as the light began to build up in the barrel.

'Bad.' Emile thought as he understood that whatever this attack was, it was going to annihilate everything in front of it. Thus, he tried to remove the debris on top of him so as to stop that attack. However, he found his strength inadequate to lift the heavy piece of debris on top of him. He could just watch as the monster finished up charging up its attack.

"Well, that geezer said to take care of these people by any means possible. So, he wouldn't mind a little bit of this fortress missing. Probably. Maybe." Vill-V said to herself as she then spoke in the megaphone she was holding:

"As now for the final act of this show, let me show you the secret weapon of GODSLAYER DESTROYER Mk. I: The Honkai Energy Augmented Photonic Ray."

She then smiled like a maniac and said in a low voice:

"Hope you enjoy it. GODSLAYER DESTROYER Mk. I, fire."

SHINGGGG.

The ray made from condensed Honkai energy fired at Emile and those standing a few metres behind. He closed his eyes thinking this was the end. Until he heard another voice saying:

"Caladbolg."

Red-orange flames with black streaks shot out from the sky and met head-on with the ray. Both attacks collided as they battled for dominance. Finally, after some time, both of them died down due to not having any more power left in them. As the remaining Honkai energy dissipated into the air, Emile saw a sword falling from the sky from what appeared to be a transport craft. The sword seemed to be thrown with force as it smashed through the armour of the mechanical monster and damaged it. The machine made a screeching sound as the smell of Motor oil filled his nose. He saw the machine retreating back while it threw the sword away which struck the ground, impaling it.

Emile then saw somebody jumping from the hovering flying craft and landing beside the sword. The person was a male in his late teens with silver-white hair and wore a long coat with blue accents in it. He then grabbed the sword and pulled it off the ground. The sword ignited in Orange-red flames with black streaks. Even though the person was facing his back towards him and wore a different attire, Emile could recognize him in an instant. But how could it be? Wasn't he still unconscious when they left? Even the doctors had said that it will take at least two to three weeks before he will wake up. Then why was he here now?

"Ma… jor Kevin?" he could only whisper out.

The others present in the field were shocked as well. Ato was simply gaping with his mouth open wide at this seemingly impossible event before him. This boy had really woken up and made it here to save their asses again. Even Kalpas, Sakura and Hua who were fighting in other places stopped for a moment to see what had happened.

But none other was as excited as Vill-V. she was told that the Godslayer was unconscious and wouldn't be able to make it into this confrontation. This caused her to become bummed out a little. She had created so many gadgets to tackle him after all, and now they were going to go to waste.

However, as if hearing her wishes, the one in the heavens had sent him to this place. Now she could test all her inventions on this man, and see what it takes to down the strongest member of the Moths. Thinking this, she bowed down again and introduced herself to the man:

"Welcome, welcome, an unexpected yet desired audience. You are the guest of Honour of this show and you had come at the most opportune time. With you now, the show can finally reach its Grand Finale."

"…" Kevin remained silent as he studied her and the mechanical monster beside her. then he saw the surroundings to see the damage caused by the said monster. He saw tens of Moths soldiers lying dead, strewn across the courtyard of the fortress. It seems that he was not fast enough as always.

He gritted his teeth. The time for lamentation could be afterwards, now he had a mechanical behemoth to take care of. And he had to do it quickly if seeing the condition of the remaining soldiers was anything to go by. Thus, he ignited Surtr and unleashed it to full power. It was not the time to hold back.

"MODE: RAGNARÖK"

Crimson flames burst into the sky. The heat was so intense that the ground he was standing on started to melt. The outpour of energy broke the debris on top of Emile into small pieces, allowing him to finally move them away and get up and leave that place. He knew that if he stayed, he was just going to be collateral.

After the initial burst, the flames condensed on the blade of Surtr. The crimson great sword was wreathed in similar crimson flames with black streaks. This was when Kevin noticed that the flames of Surtr seemed to be different. Before it was orangish, but now it was completely crimson as well it had black streaks. It was as if the flame was a combination of crimson and black. He also felt that it was stronger than before by a huge margin. He wondered how this came to be. A voice in his head told the answer.

"It is because of the power of your Diagmata."

Well, it answered many things, yet also brought up many other questions. Kevin pushed questions to the back of his mind. He had other important things to do now; such as taking care of this monstrosity. He thus readied Surtr to finish it in one strike. He then saw the woman trembling before she burst out laughing like a maniac and saying:

"Finally! Finally, I can witness your true power. Show me what you can do, Godslayer-san."

She then pressed another button. The monster whirred again and started glowing everywhere. Kevin could feel that the machine was gathering Honkai energy on a large scale and storing it in its body. However, the flow of Honkai energy was chaotic and seemed ready to burst out from its body. So, that was how is going to be, Kevin released a short breath as he realized what was happening. This machine was put on overdrive mode which gave it a boost in strength but destroyed it afterwards due to Honkai energy overload. Such a simple yet effective tactic. If he was a normal human, that is.

"Let's see you surviving this, Godslayer-san." the woman teased as the machine overloaded and a big light formed in its main barrel. The machine then drove its spider-like legs into the ground for support and fired the beam towards Kevin.

Kevin just stood there, watching the beam of light coming towards him. He then held Surtr tightly as the flames roared more and more. Then he finally swung it in a diagonal slash while calling out the name of his strongest attack.

"Excalibur Galatine."

A wave of intense hot crimson mixed with black flames shot out from the sword. The two attacks met head-on and battled against each other. However, it became certain soon enough which power was dominant. The flames fired from the Surtr grew and grew with each passing moment and started to devour the whitish ray by the mechanical monster. It looked like darkness was devouring the light, which any normal person would find the reverse of what should happen. It was as if evil was prevailing over good.

Vill-V seeing the attack not only being countered but being consumed by the crimson black flames of the Godslayer whimpered:

"I-It's impossible. That Honkai-powered ray fires Honkai energy at a concentration of more than 200 Relts. How is he alone able to produce so much power?"

As she saw with her widened eyes, the flames of Surtr finally consumed the attack of the mechanical monster, completely overpowering it. After that, it barrelled towards Vill-V and the Mecha. It was only by the stroke of fate that she was able to move her body and scuttle back as far as possible before the attack hit her. even then she was blown away by the resulting aftershock of the resulting explosion.

BOOOOOOOOOOM.

The entire surrounding was bathed in crimson mixed with black light. The fortress shook and portions of it got blasted to oblivion for not being able to take on such a powerful attack. The mechanical monster was vaporized in an instant and the ground on which it was standing collapsed in on itself, leading to a significant hole in its place. Many other holes also popped up in other places due to the structural collapse of the fortress's upper floor. There were sounds of screams and shouts coming from the hole, so it was safe to say that the collapsing of the upper level of the fortress has created the required opening for the Moths forces to breach into the deeper levels.

Ato finally seeing the chance didn't waste any more time to give his next set of instructions:

"All units, infiltrate the lower levels of the fortress through the holes that Major Kevin had created."

"Yes Sir!" the remaining soldiers shouted as they made their way to the hole and dropped down from there to the lower floors. They had to remain careful when navigating through the collapsed floor as some portions that took the brunt of Kevin's attack were red hot with intense Honkai radiation coming off from it. Thus, the soldiers made their way to the hole that was as far away from the main hole as possible. Once they entered the lower levels, they were attacked by more Cocoon soldiers. However, due to Kevin wiping most of them with his attack earlier and their morale further dropped due to this appearance, they had an easier time dealing with them when compared to earlier.

Ato looked at his forces now practically tearing through the enemy forces. To think just five minutes ago they were getting annihilated to nothing. He then looked over to the person who had single-handedly changed the tide of battle in their favour. He sighed thinking that no matter what they do, he was still leagues above them. Perhaps he could really take care of everything alone, but still, this didn't sit right with him like the others in the Moths. However, his being here meant that he was given the go-ahead by old man Alexei himself to join this battle. Thus, there could be only one thing done here.

'Really. What am I gonna do with him?' he sighed as he looked over to the others who had started to make their way to him. the first one to call out to him was his unfortunately unruly subordinate.

"Heh, looks like he couldn't sit back on this after all." Kalpas said as he stood near him. to this Ato simply shrugged and said:

"You know him. but still, never thought that he will wake up this soon. Think the girls will be making a fuss over at H.Q?"

"Hehehehe… you even need to ask, commander?"

"Haha… sorry, my bad. I should've guessed it already."

The duo then saw another pair of familiar faces making their way towards them. Once they reached them, the younger of the two spoke up:

"Colonel, how is commander Kevin doing?"

At this Ato laughed lightly and said:

"You can look for yourself, Hua."

At this, the girl looked toward the direction in which he pointed. And true to his words, she saw him talking to who appeared to be the person responsible for this destruction. He saw her commander point his sword at the woman's neck. She could see the fear clearly strewn across the woman's face. She then bowed her head down like she was accepting something. Hua then saw her commander bring the sword down on the woman. She started to stop her commander from doing something self-destructive but was stopped by a firm grip on her shoulder. She looked behind to see Sergeant Kalpas holding her shoulder, stopping her from moving.

"Sergeant! What are you-" she exclaimed.

"Look." was the only reply she got.

She then saw the sword stopping inches away from the woman's neck. The woman then slowly opened her eyes and was shocked to see the sword only inches away from her neck. Then to her shock instead of looking scared, the woman started… laughing? Did her mind snap due to the near-death experience she faced?

As she was contemplating whether the woman had lost mental stability due to extreme trauma, she heard the laughing turn into cries. The cries sounded less saddened, and more frustrated. It looked as if the woman was crying due to frustration of things not going according to plan.

As she saw her commander making his way towards them, she heard the woman scream in a crying and frustrated voice:

"I accept your challenge, Godslayer-san. Just you wait. I will make an invention that will surely not even you will able to best. I will develop the perfect killing machine for you. That is my promise KEVIN KASLANAAAAAA!"

She then held her breath as her commander finally approached them. He first saluted Colonel and said:

"Major Kevin Kaslana of the 7th battalion of the 7th regiment hereby reporting for active duty for this assault mission."

"Hmm." Colonel Ato nodded "Reporting acknowledged. Welcome back, Kevin."

At this, her commander just nodded. He then turned towards Hua and the final member of this group:

"Hua, round up the men from the battalion. We will be making our way towards the lower levels to face the last remaining agents and the supposed grandmaster. Sakura, I will need your help as well."

"Sir!" Hua saluted as she went to round up the men of the 7th battalion as Kevin had requested. After she left, Kevin turned around to face Sakura and said:

"Your sister is probably in the place called The Doctor's laboratory." Kevin said looking her right in her eyes. Hearing that name made Sakura's anxiety levels rise up. If this was truly the case then there is probably a chance that-

"It is safe to assume that what you are thinking hadn't happened yet."

At this Sakura looked furiously at Kevin and raised her voice:

"How can you be so sure Kevin-dono? Do you have any idea what The Doctor's Laboratory is? Do you know what he does to people? I was late and now because of that Rin is… Rin is…" she hid her face in her hands as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She plopped on the ground as the thoughts ran through her head. Why, why did it have to be her? she was the one who was supposed to be punished for doing evil. Then why was it Rin who had done nothing but be herself and tried to be kind towards those close to her? Why were it always people close to her? First her grandparents, then her parents and now Rin too?

Sakura lamented in her head as her thoughts started to become dark. She decided that if anything happened to Rin, she will bathe the entire place in blood tonight, no matter what happens. As her thoughts spiralled downwards, she heard a voice cut through those dark thoughts:

"Do you want to give up now, Sakura?"

"Wha-" she raised her head to see Kevin looking at her with a neutral expression. He then spoke:

"Yes, there is a chance that you may only find her remains, there is also a chance that you may not even find anything at all."

"No." Sakura whimpered. Why was he telling things like this?

"However, there is also a chance that she is waiting for you to come and save her. however, with the way you are behaving now, it is nothing more than a pipe dream."

"How dare you-" Sakura tried to draw her sword but was stopped by a firm grip on her hand. She then saw the man to whom that hand belonged looking at her with a cold, hard look:

"If all that you want to do is mope around here, then feel free to do so. But remember that nobody here is entitled here to save your sister specifically. We will search for her like the others, but she won't be getting a special priority."

"Kh." Sakura grunted as she twisted her hand which had started to pain from the grip it was held in. Seeing it, the man let it go. Sakura drew her hand back, rubbing it to soothe the pain. However, it still hurt despite her being trained in martial arts and fighting in extreme conditions. She wondered how much stronger this man was in front of her. yet he knew how she felt exactly and her thoughts almost as if he had lived through such a situation himself. To think that a person as strong as him knows the feeling of being helpless and of loss.

Kevin spoke:

"If you truly want to save your sister from this place, then do it with your own hands. Take your life into your own hands and write your own future, a future that you want. Only you can break the chains of your and her past, not the Moths, not the ones present here and not even me. Only you can do it." he then offered his hand to Sakura sitting on the ground and asked:

"So what's it going to be?"

At this Sakura held it as Kevin helped her stand up. She then made a determined face and said:

"There can only be one answer. Please allow me to fight to save my sister, Kevin-dono."

Kevin just nodded and motioned her to follow him as they both made their way to the now assembled men of the 7th battalion. Seeing them leaving Kalpas scoffed and said:

"Tch… show-off."

"Now, now Kalpas. He indeed had a point there. Don't you think so?"

"Whatever. I will be going off to my next target." Kalpas said as he walked away to meet the members of his squad and take care of the enemy soldiers on the lower levels.

The rain had eased for a while now, and even though it was pouring now, it was nowhere as the storm it had been earlier. Ato then looked at his surroundings to see mangled pieces of debris, metals and human parts. What a wild night this was shaping up to be he thought.

However, he had one question that he was curious about.

"Were Kevin's flames always that dark?"

To be continued…


Hello everyone, welcome back to 'A Warriors Destiny'.

Hoo boy. Even though I said that I would wrap up the Cocoon arc in this chapter, the word count is saying otherwise. Thus, I have decided to split the chapter into two parts. However, the next part is truly the finale as we get into the final fights of this arc as well. The next chapter will wrap up this arc for good and we can finally move the plot ahead. So, look forward to the second part of this chapter, which I will try to post earlier than usual.

As always if you like the story please leave a follow, favourite, and/or review.

Thank you for reading, until next time.