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.
Fire at the Imperial Hall
FIRE MOTH BASE – 2021(Previous era) (Around the same time as Kevin's fight)
He was pushed roughly into a room, his eyes still blindfolded. As he entered the room, a very familiar voice sounded:
"Make him sit, and chain his limbs."
"Yes Sir." then he was made to sit on a metal chair, while his arms and legs were bonded by heavy chains. The chains were also Honkai inhibiting ones, which meant he couldn't use the small weapon he had on him to escape this place; not that he was expecting to. He knew from the moment he made his choice that he will be caught sooner or later and no amount of pleading will get him out of here once that happens. But that was fine with him, as long as these bastards get what they deserve. He never expected to leave here alive, but damm him if he didn't bring this corrupted self-centred organization to its knees.
As he was thinking such, the voice spoke up again:
"Junior researcher Dougie Miller, graduated from Cambridge University, U.K; Postgraduation from the same university and then PhD from the Oxford University for the topic of Effect of Quark Interaction with fundamental forces. After getting your PhD, you worked as an assistant technician at the University of Liverpool." the voice stated his academic achievements one by one in an even tone bereft of any emotion. Then the voice started to speak about the things that hit too close to home:
"You had a sister named Margret, married. You were living with her family in their house when the Second eruption struck. Everyone except you was killed in the Honkai beast rampage, including your sister who was by that time six months-"
"ENOUGH!" the man shouted, silencing the voice which was speaking until now.
"Don't you dare talk about her, you don't have the right. You bastards let her die just because it was not profitable for you. You people only protected the places which can give you guys the most manpower and money." the man spat with hatred.
"You fucking cunts." he finished and heaved heavily, shouting loudly while speaking his heart out tired him.
In response to this outburst the voice simply reponed:
"Are you done?"
"What!?" the man asked in indignation. At this, the sack over his head was pulled off roughly by the person who was speaking to him. His eyes were blinded for a little while due to the sudden exposure to the light. Once he grew accustomed to the lighting and his vision stabilized, he saw the person who had captured him: the man who was the second highest ranking person in this entire organization.
"Let's continue the questioning; although, there is not much to ask." the person said.
"Like I'm going to tell you anything." the man said defiantly.
"You don't have to tell anything that you did. You see, everything that you have done: ranging from stealing the documents by hacking into the mainframe to handing over the said documents to your liaison to take them to your organization, and the in-betweens, everything is recorded and investigated already."
"…" the man kept silent as there was no use in saying anything now, that everything is known already.
"And by the way, if you are counting on your comrades to help, they are not going to come. As you would be expecting, we have caught every last one of them."
"Tch." the man clicked his tongue. He was expecting many to get caught, however all of them getting caught was even outside of his calculations. This was a top organization indeed, to hunt down the infiltrators so quickly. But that was also fine with him, as they have successfully smuggled what they wanted outside the facility to their organization. Thinking this, the man smiled again and said:
"Whatever. Our job is done here; don't expect us to say a single word. Not a single one of us is going to spit out anything."
"…" at this, the man standing in front of him stayed silent. Seeing that, the earlier man laughed and said:
"How does it feel like to be powerless? To know that all you have worked for has gone up in smoke. To be unable to protect something important." The man then looked straight into his captor's face and said:
"Dr. Welt Yang."
"…" the man's captor, now identified as Welt Yang, remained silent. His glasses reflected light from the single bulb hanging over them. The reflection made it impossible for the man to judge Welt's expression. Thinking that the man before him was shocked beyond words, the captive man began to spit out all the hatred that he had within him; a hatred that he had buried for nearly three years:
"You bastards knew that the second eruption was going to happen. You knew which cities are going to be struck. Yet, you people chose to not send the Soldiers to take care of the Honkai beasts. You bastards waited until the majority of them were dead and only then send the troops to finish off the beasts." the man stopped and breathed heavily to get air into his lungs. He then continued:
"This is what you all get for not doing what you were supposed to do. Imagine my shock when I joined the Moths and came to know that you guys always had the means to predict an eruption, but hesitated to take action. My Brother-in-law died because of you. My sister died because of you. My unborn nephew or niece died because of you. And to think that the one who leads these research divisions is a filthy Herrscher itself."
"And the biggest sinner of you all is the God-fucking-slayer. He had the power to stop it all. He knew he could do it. Yet he still didn't protect anybody. He keeps ranting about Oath this, Duty that. But in the end, he is just a hypocrite who just tries to get pity from the ones present around him."
Suddenly many restraints materialized from thin air and bound him. He then saw many needle-looking projections pointing at all the major organs in his body. Welt started to walk towards him with slow steps. Each step that he took, somehow echoed louder into the ears of the man. Once he reached near the man; Welt took off his glasses, allowing the bounded man to see his expression clearly.
"!" the man was alerted at once. He had never seen such blank eyes that Welt was looking at him with. It almost seemed like he was not looking at a human being, but rather a robot. Welt then started to speak in such a neutral voice that shook the man deeply:
"You are under some misconceptions here, Junior researcher Dougie Miller. While it may be true that you were able to successfully hack into the mainframe, you have no idea that the moment you did, we already knew. You seriously didn't expect us to be that ill-prepared to internal traitors, right?"
"Hmph."
"And before you can think that You were the one that took the files, remember that the Moth Administrative system is being overseen by Prometheus. As such, there is no way you can safely hack into the core Datafiles and steal the data without my permission."
Hearing Welt speaking in such a nonchalant voice made the man uneasy. If what he said was true, then he was able to steal the files only because the person in front of him allowed it. But that was incomprehensible. He was sure that his malware was perfect, as it had allowed access to live data gathered from the various experiments. That's right, this man had to be bluffing. There is no way he allowed him to take the files willingly.
The man had another proof to put on his claim. The files he has stolen contained the detailed roadmaps and theories of the two most top secret projects of the entire Fire Moth research division. To access the data, he had to have a Level-X clearance that only currently three people had: The General, this man in front of him and Dr. Mobius.
"Hahaha." the man laughed and said:
"You have gone mad because you lost the details of your two most secret projects. Don't think I don't know about the Level-X clearance."
"I'm getting to that part." Welt said, silencing the man:
"You see, three weeks ago, Prometheus detected multiple infiltration attempts into the mainframe. The hacker was smart to remove any traces of an intrusion attempt after it failed. However, he forgot that Prometheus always logs all the active terminals that the researchers work on. From there it was simple to just see the video feeds and simple backtracking the terminal from where the query had been injected." Welt said while looking at the man in usual indifference. He then hammered the final nail in the coffin:
"The casing that you smuggled your supposed stolen files had a nano tracker on it. So, once it reaches your organization's base we can launch a full assault on it, destroying it completely."
"!" the man was too stunned to speak. So, everything that he had done was because he was being played on the palm of these bastards. As if he will believe such nonsense. All the hard work, all the planning, all the sacrifices for this moment should have not been for nothing. He refused to accept it.
"Don't screw with me." the man snapped at welt "You mean to say that you already knew everything that was going to happen? Don't act as if you are a god Welt Yang. You are a human… no you are even lower than that. WE ARE GOING to win in the end. We will raze this Pathetic and vile organization to the ground. The beautiful butterfly that comes out of the Cocoon will write the future, not you ugly and hideous Moths."
"Is that so?" Welt just asked casually with an even tone that made the man more furious. But before he could voice his opinion, a raised hand effectively shut him up. He looked at Welt looking at him with those same blank eyes that unnerved him. Welt then said:
"All right, my interrogation is over. You said the things I expected you to say and behave the same way I expected. What a boring man." he then looked towards the door at the end of the room and said:
"You can take him now."
"Ara~ it's over already. I thought I would never get my chance to play with him." a very familiar voice sounded from the other side of the door, and following that voice, the person stepped in. that person was none other than the head of the First institute Dr. Mobius Grantz. Seeing her made the man's heartbeat rise a little. This woman was extremely voluptuous, there was no denying that. Even though she was a mysterious woman who kept many secrets, she had many admirers (himself included), he admitted to himself. He didn't know whether it was her eyes, her aura, her seductive voice or her demeanour that drove people crazy about her. As he was thinking such things, Welt interrupted his train of thoughts by speaking to her:
"I don't care what you do with him. I just want whatever memories you can dig from his brain."
At this Mobius giggled lightly and said in her usual tone:
"I never thought the day would come that you would willingly give me permission to do my experiments."
"Do you not want to do it?" Welt asked her in a neutral tone.
"Oh no, no. Please allow me the honours. You will get the detailed report and the memories that you want."
"Hmm." Welt nodded at her signalling the guards to take the man to Mobius' lab. Then he undid the restraints and the needles materialized from his powers, leaving the man bound by only handcuffs and chains. But even that was enough to bind the man. as stated earlier, the man was a researcher, not a soldier. Thus, breaking out from these constraints was nearly impossible for him.
The guards made him stand up and pushed him to tell him to start moving. The man completely helpless started moving towards Dr. Mobius' labs where he would probably be tortured and then die. However, as he had said earlier to DR. Welt, he was not afraid to die. He had already lost everything in the second eruption already. There was nothing to strive for anymore other than to cause this organization's downfall. And even though they screwed up a little, he believed in the Cocoon Agents enough that they would take care of the rest. His part was done, and the only thing that remained was to reunite with his family in heaven.
Once they were near the labs, Mobius went to the front and called out:
"Klein, Nuwa, Fuxi, we have the final one here. Are the preparations complete?"
At her call, the three persons came hurriedly to the front of the lab and greeted Mobius,
"Welcome back doctor. Yes, the preparations are complete."
"Good." At this Mobius gave her unique predatory smile that caused everyone present there to have shivers running through their spine. All of them knew about her extreme approach to her research and experiments. They knew that she was the type of woman who will not let a normal sense of morality stop her from doing what is necessary. She was the type of woman who would use everything and everyone to get the results that she wants, no matter the price.
However, there were exceptions to everything. There was one and only one person in this whole world whom she will never hurt, no matter how dire the situation was. She refused to use them for her own purposes and gains. Furthermore, everything she did, all her research, all her experiments, all her work was to help that person. That person was her only weak point and she would give up everything in exchange for that person's safety. Unfortunately, except for Klein and a select few others, nobody knew the identity of that person. Thus, there was no stopping her now at this moment.
"Bring him inside." Mobius said as she made her way to the other part of the lab to prepare for the upcoming happening.
The man was shoved roughly inside the lab and then into the dissection room under the eyes of the assistants. Klein, Nuwa and Fuxi internally sympathized with the man, knowing his inevitable fate. The guards and the man himself may not know it, but Dr. Mobius was in a very foul mood when she came back to the lab leading them. It was very difficult for those who didn't work with her closely to see it as the doctor was extremely skilful in hiding her true intentions and emotions. However, with the sisters working under her for almost four years by now and Klein even longer, they understood at once the moment they heard her voice and saw her expression. She was extremely furious and woe be to the one who angered her.
After the final subject had been transferred into the room, Klein made her way into the preparation room where she found Dr. Mobius wearing her surgical gown and preparing herself for the experiments that she was going to perform. Once she got close enough, she spoke:
"The final subject has been sent to the lab. After giving him the anesthetics and pain inhibitors, you can start your surgery doctor."
At this Mobius turned her head towards her and said:
"No."
"Huh?" Klein was confused.
"Just give him a paralyzing agent and nothing else."
"B-But that's-" Klein was utterly shocked. She knew that Dr. Mobius did not care for the methods or the consequences, but she had never behaved like this before. It almost seemed as if she wanted to torture this man. But why? Why did she want this particular person to suffer that much?
As she was thinking this, she heard the doctor ask:
"What happened Klein? Do you want to ask something more?"
"…" Klein was silent. Even if she did want to ask why was the doctor going to such extremes, she was just her assistant and furthermore, she didn't have enough courage to ask.
"Klein, I don't have much time nor do I have patience now. As you can see, I'm currently in a very bad mood. So, if you want to ask something, ask fast or go do what you were told."
At this, Klein mustered whatever courage she could and asked while stuttering:
"T-that is doctor, I-I just w-wanted to a-ask w-why do you d-don't want t-to give t-the subject anesthetics?"
At her question, Dr. Mobius was silent for a little while. Klein cowered a little and closed her eyes, expecting the doctor to tell her off. Instead, she heard her laugh and say:
"Hehehehe. Was that the only thing you wanted to ask?"
"Y-yes."
"Hmm." Dr. Mobius hummed and then looked at her. Klein was rooted at her spot when she saw the doctor's expression. This was perhaps the first time since she started working as Dr Mobius' assistant for her to show an expression of such pure and raw anger on her face. Her face was set into a deep scowl and her eyes dangerously narrowed. She then spoke to answer Klein's question:
"It's very simple, Klein. That thing dared to insult him."
"Ah!" Klein exclaimed in realization. She just shook her head internally at the stupidity of the man. Out of all the possible things that he could do, why did he have to badmouth Mr. Kaslana of all people? It was a very well-known fact to the people who knew of the doctor's feelings for the man that she was extremely possessive and protective of him. If anyone dared to even joke about him, the consequences would be terrible for them. This was the reason that nobody around her talked about him or even mentioned him in a joking manner.
Klein really felt bad for the man now. He had struck the doctor's nerves deeply and now he was going to suffer the terrible consequences. Klein might have tried to plead for the man if his actions were more controlled. However, insulting Dr. Mobius' beloved in front of her made things very personal, and if she tries to say anything about it, she will be suffering as well. Thus, there was nothing that she could do now. Thinking this she said:
"I understood doctor. I will go and administer the paralyzing agent now."
"Hmm." Mobius nodded and went back to prepare herself for the surgical experiments she was going to conduct on the man. She was going to make him regret his existence.
…
He had been tied here for some time now, and his anxiety was increasing with each passing second. Even though he had made peace with his death and had mentally prepared himself for torture, his self-preservation instincts were screaming at him to get far away from this place as possible.
However, as he was chained to the bed he was laying down upon, he was not even able to squirm, less move. He could only continuously watch the white operating light over his head and wait for Dr. Mobius to come and do whatever she has planned for him. he fully knew that his last few hours of life were going to be spent in total physical pain, but a small part of him hoped that she would at least numb him when she would be doing her experiments.
The man saw the woman whom he saw a glimpse of when being shoved into the lab. If his memory served him correct, then this woman was Dr. Mobius' personal assistant Klein Lexis, who had been working with the said doctor before she even came to the Moths. He saw assistant Klein fill up a syringe with a pink colour fluid and prep it. Once she came near him to inject the liquid into his arm, the man spoke:
"Such bad luck to slave for an organization that doesn't appreciate people like you and Dr. Mobius. She really deserves better. She deserves to lead the scientific world instead of working for these people."
The man rattled on, not expecting the assistant to say anything in response. However, to his surprise the assistant spoke up once she injected the liquid:
"You shouldn't have insulted him."
"What." the man asked confused. He wanted to ask more about what she was telling, but was unable to as he saw the main person stepping into the room, wearing her surgical clothes and carrying a clipboard in her hands. She glanced at him once when she entered and went back to checking things on` her clipboard. Once she was satisfied with the recording documents, she asked to her assistant:
"Has the subject been given the NPS-a30?"
"Yes doctor."
"Lock the door to the room when you step outside and no one is to enter the room until I'm done. Is it clear?"
"Yes doctor."
"Good, now off you go." she waved Klein off outside the dissection lab. Once Klein shut the door behind her, Mobius finally turned her head to see her latest experimental rat. Internally she felt disgusted just by seeing his face, as he was the one who had insulted her beloved but her professional nature prevented her. She then looked at him and said in a neutral voice:
"Experiment log begin. Experiment no. MAF-5867. Subject- 4581, Subject description: average build with brown hair, physically normal with no previous history of chronic diseases or any other mutations to the body. Beginning the first experiment. The subject will be injected with HGR-154 in small quantities. Time of the experiment: 1350 hours."
She then paused the recording device and took out a big syringe with pale green liquid in it. As she came near him to inject the liquid into his arm, he spoke up:
"Doctor, I know that we are on opposing sides. But please listen to my words. Leave this place and go somewhere, anywhere else. This place doesn't deserve you. The Moths don't deserve you. You have done so much for them and the only thing you receive from them is contempt and fear." the man paused a little to catch his breath and continued:
"This place is done for. After the Agents are done with that fucking Godslayer, they are going to come here and raze this place to the ground. So, please leave this place before that happens. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I respect you and-"
SMACK.
The man suddenly felt Mobius smacking on his cheek, hard. Even though Mobius was not a physically fit individual like the soldiers, the slap was powerful enough to make the man's head spin and for him to feel extremely nauseous.
He gulped heavily trying to suppress the bile that was rising in his throat and closed his eyes to lessen the wave of dizziness he was feeling from the smack. Once he recovered enough, he looked at Mobius and instinctively shrieked.
"Eeek."
Mobius was looking at him with an extremely dead look. It was as if she was looking at an insect, not a human. Mobius then started speaking:
"You speak as if you know everything. You didn't even know about the Honkai and lived the majority of your life in blissful ignorance. While you were doing your PhD and chasing girls' skirts in your younger days, he was protecting us all. He, a boy barely in his teens had seen the horrors that defied your understanding. He has seen much more blood and death than you ever could, and yet you still whine like a dog."
"What?" the man asked indignantly being called a dog.
"Shut up." the commanding voice of Mobius made him shut up at once. Mobius then continued: "you say that you lost your sister in the second eruption. However, you seem to have forgotten the fact that there is not a single person here who hasn't lost something to the Honkai. And him, he has lost more than you can possibly comprehend with your tiny brain."
She then came extremely close to the man and said in a threatening voice:
"How dare you disrespect him after all that he has done. After all that he has given up. You say that the members of the organization where your true loyalties lie are more powerful than him. Then where were they for the last two eruptions?"
"…" the man was unable to argue back because what she said was the bitter truth. Seeing him silent she said:
"Your so-called organization didn't even exist before the second eruption, you yourself didn't even have a wink of an idea about Honkai and to top it off, you were unable to protect your sister from death even when you were present there. However, you have the nerve to insult him who had saved the human race from extinction?" Mobius asked in an accusing voice.
"…" the man was still silent. He just grated his teeth silently after being slapped in the face by the facts thrown at him by her.
"I don't care what you call me. I have too many important things to do with my time rather than caring what others say about me. I also know that my methods are unacceptable to many of you. However, if anyone dares insult a hero and a kind-hearted warrior like him then…" Mobius left the sentence unfinished. However, the message was clearly given across.
Hearing this made the man scared to his core. He never thought that the leader of the First Institute of the Moths could be this terrifying. But he still stood his ground and said:
"No matter how much you threaten me, my opinion of him will never change. I know deep down that I'm a hypocrite, but don't we all? We, humans, hide behind the wall of self-pity and blame others to protect our own image. We push responsibilities and run away from consequences because we are weak. This is true for everybody, whether it be me, you or him."
At this Mobius simply laughed again and said:
"You are majorly correct. However, if you believe that it is true for him as well, then you really don't know anything about the projects whose files you stole."
"Wha-"
"But you don't need to worry your pretty brain over it anymore. Your contributions here will be more than enough."
The man was pondering over her words when he felt something wrong with his body. He suddenly felt very hot and his body boiling from the inside out. And the pain started.
"MMMPFH." He tried to scream but found that he was unable to do so. His whole body had stopped moving. It was as if he was seeing a first-person view of someone else. However, the pain and the burning he felt were his own and that made him remember that this is his own body. He tried to wriggle, to do anything to lessen the pain, but nothing worked. As his eyes were darting, Mobius just looked at him and giggled a little:
"Can't move much, can you? The paralyzing agents seem to be working as intended. And if you think this is the end, you don't have the faintest clue as to what more is going to happen to you."
"…" the man seemed to look at her with a look in his eyes that meant: Why?
To this Mobius said:
" 'Why' you ask? It's very simple. You dared to insult him in front of me. If you would have stayed your mouth shut, then I would have been a little merciful and given you the anesthetics. But after what you did, don't expect any of it." she then looked at him with an expression of murder and said:
"You are going to regret even being born."
At this, the man finally shattered with the combination of extreme physical, mental and psychological pain. He tried to mouth out something, but couldn't as he had now been completely paralyzed. He then saw Mobius taking up a scalpel. She then clicked the voice recorder and said:
"Beginning the first dissection of Subject's hands to see the effects of serum on the basic bone structure." and started to cut open his flesh before his very eyes.
"MMMPPPPFFFGGGGHHHHH." the man's voice came out of his closed mouth. The pain was unbearable, of your flesh being open without any numbing agent. Tears cascaded from his eyes due to the unimaginable agony he was going through, but there was no end to it. He then realized what he was experiencing now, he brought it upon himself and this was his so-called price to pay.
After this realization, his cries lessened a little; however, the pain was going to be with him even after he dies. His last moments were going to be a fate worse than death.
The man could only cry in horror and silence as his body was dissected before his very eyes.
IMPERIAL HALL (CENTRAL SQUARE- PIAŢA CONSTITUŢIEI) (BUCHAREST- ROMANIAN EMPIRE) – 2021(Previous era) (Around the same time as the Dusk Street incident)
Kevin was standing in front of Elysia, shielding her from the goons and the agent in front of her. Homura was raised in an offensive position to indicate that he will cut down anyone attacking both of them. The goons thus, were a little bit nervous, as they all have heard about what happened to agent Coscoe. Further, if he was here then it meant that agent Ralph was also unable to stop him, which translated to that he was dead.
Kevin on the other hand looked around, observing the actions of the goons and the agent standing in front of him. He would leap into action the moment the agent tried something. A few moments passed like that, with both sides in a deadlock. Then the agent started the confrontation by saying:
"Take care of him."
The goon leapt into action at once, trying to encircle Kevin and defeat him. however, Kevin was faster. He quickly whipped out the APOLLO and fired it on the oncoming goons with the melee weapons. The goons fell one after the other, but the others started to use the dead bodies as shields to block the incoming bullets from his pistols. They suffered deep burns all over their body trying to advance forward. As Kevin was shooting the incoming goons, the agent started to sneak from the back to catch him in a pincer attack. Elysia seeing him about to face the same situation as her, shouted out to warn him:
"Kevin, watch out."
WHOOOOSH.
But what happened shocked her to her core. In a single combination of movements, Kevin holstered the APOLLO in his right hand and unsheathed Homura with the same movement. Then he swung the blade in an arc towards the agent catching the agent off guard instead of him as the agent had planned. The agent had to deflect the blade of the sword and retreat back to avoid being wounded deeply by the sharp blade. The others were not so fortunate however, as Kevin continued to swing his body in a full circle and keep on cutting everyone who came into the range of the arc created by the blade.
To Elysia's horror, the goons were sliced off in the middle, their blood, fat and internal flying all around. After spinning once, Kevin stabbed the blade of Homura into the ground and Commanded:
"Ignite. Homura".
Flames spread out from the blade incinerating all the goons present around him. they were burning down into nothingness, with their screams and wails of pain reverberating in Elysia's ears. She shut her eyes tightly not wanting to see the carnage that was currently happening in front of her. the air soon turned saturated with the smell of burning flesh. Elysia gagged a little as the nauseating smell of blood and burnt flesh filled the corridor. The feeling of despair was not also helped by the wails of the goons who were burned to death by Kevin.
"AAAAAAAAA. I'm on fire. I'm on fire."
"SOMEBODY HELP ME."
"It burns. IT BURNNNNSSSS."
"AAAAAAAA. Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot."
"Please spare me gugghhh…"
Elysia tried her hardest to cover her ears so as to not hear those screams of pain and lamentation. She couldn't believe that Kevin was burning them alive, killing them slowly and as agonizingly as possible. She was shocked because even though she knew that Kevin had killed before, she had never seen him showing so much ruthlessness toward his enemies before. She knew that he was a warrior with a strong sense of chivalry and would never torture his enemies unnecessarily and let them be in pain. Then why was he doing this, why was he giving them such a painful death? As she still kept her eyes closed, she could hear the agent laughing like a crazed person and saying:
"HAHAHAHAHA. You finally show your true face, you monster. The expression on your face is so good right now. Ooh, I'm getting shivers just by seeing it."
Kevin didn't reply to this and just kept increasing the temperature of the flames. The surroundings soon started to catch fire as the flames went out of control, burning everything away to nothingness. Soon the entire top floor of the Imperial Hall was up in flames, and as it spread the people soon started to run here and there trying to protect themselves.
Kevin however, paying it no mind leapt on the last remaining person against them, the agent himself. The agent seeing the Godslayer coming towards himself undid the spikes and said while smiling:
"Fine. Let's play."
CLANGGG.
The clashing of metals rang out in the corridor as both of them met head-on. The agent named Roque swung his chains around creating a wall of chains to mangle Kevin's body and make him fall down. To his credit however, Kevin swung Homura swatting the chain away and then fired the APOLLO he held in his other hand towards the agent. The flaming bullets bounced off the chains that the agent swung in front of him rapidly in a circle to create a shield-like projection, but the flames still licked his skin. The agent however, didn't react much and said in his slithery voice:
"Oh my. It seems that I cannot defeat you alone. So let me call a little backup." And then pressed a button on the radio that he held in his hand:
"Release it."
ROOOOOAR.
A bestial roar stopped Kevin in his tracks. He then felt the sudden spike of energy in the air and understood that this person in front of him had released Honkai beasts in this Hall, most probably to distract him and to run away. Thus, Kevin put no mind to it and continued to attack the agent as he tried to retreat. He charged forwards, slashing with Homura at the man. Even though the blade couldn't find the man's flesh, the flames found their mark and singed the man's skin lightly.
"Kh. What a monstrous power." the man commented before disappearing through one of the windows. Kevin tried to follow him but was stopped by Elysia as she held his arm.
"Kevin."
"…" Kevin didn't reply and just continued to look towards the front.
"Kevin, we have to save them."
"…"
"Is it not our duty and oath as Moth soldiers? To protect the weak and innocent from the Honkai." she said softly.
Kevin's hand twitched a little the moment he heard Elysia say the words: "Duty" and "Oath". He took a deep breath and released it, calming himself down a little from the bloodlust he was feeling now. He was sure that the agent will show himself again. At that time, he can take care of him. He then turned around and saw Elysia looking at him with a mixture of fear and concern. Kevin realized that she had seen him killing those persons in front of her. So, was she afraid of him now? Of what he truly is?
'Good.' Kevin thought. She should be afraid of a monster like him. Now she would be able to see clearly just how much time she is wasting on an irredeemable person like him. He then noticed the blood trickling off her right hand from the puncture wound that she received from those chains earlier.
"K-Kevin?" Elysia blushed a little when he picked up her injured arm very gently. His touch felt so gentle and made her heart beat quicker. He then tore a part of his sleeve and wrapped it gently around her arm. Once he was done wrapping the makeshift bandages, he said:
"We will both evacuate the people present in the Hall outside the building. After all of them are at safe distance away from the building, lead them to further safety along with Pardofelis."
"What about you, Kevin?" Elysia asked in trepidation.
"…" Kevin remained silent. Elysia wanted to know what he was going to do, but was unable to as both of them heard another roar coming from the downside of the Hall.
"Let's go." Kevin commanded to which Elysia nodded and followed him to the ground floor.
Eden in her nineteen years of life had seen many things, but this was something that defied common sense. Creatures that she had only read in comic books this entire time had suddenly come to life, attacking everyone present there. They were running here and there ramming and destroying anything that came into their path. They have also claimed many innocents in their rampage, crushing them beneath their behemoth bodies or impaling them with strange projections coming out of their bodies.
Eden not used to such violence, gagged hard when she saw a person being stabbed in front of her. She felt extremely dizzy and felt nauseous seeing that much amount of blood and knelt down, not being able to keep her lunch in her stomach anymore.
"Blergh…" she vomited, emptying the contents of her stomach on the floor. After a few moments, when her stomach emptied, she wiped her mouth with the napkin she was holding. She then got up and with whatever strength she had left started to make her way to the main doors of the Hall. But along with the fact that her body had been weakened by the intense retching earlier, she was mentally weakened by the chaos around her. thus, she didn't notice someone coming in her direction. She suddenly felt someone pushing her, and she fell down not being able to maintain her balance in her weakened body. The one who pushed her continued to run away ignoring her, perhaps another guest of this party. she then heard suddenly something from behind her that made her blood run cold.
It was an animalistic growl, and looking back she saw one of the creatures facing her. she was not able to see its eyes, but she was sure that it was looking at her. The creature had a shield-looking appendage in front of itself and in the place of two hands, there were two sharp protrusions like a spear. The whole beast had strange pinkish lines running over its entire body, making it look like veins. Those makings throbbed rhythmically making it seem that it glowed brighter with a supposed heartbeat of the creature if it had one.
Eden could only gape at the monstrosity in front of her with open jaws. She could not wrap her head around the idea that something like this could exist in reality. However, this creature in front of her was very real and was about to kill her. The monster snorted (if the sound coming from it could be called one) and started to charge toward her like a raging animal. Eden's instincts screamed at her to get out of its way, to roll to the side or to simply start running, anything to get as far from the beast as possible, but her mind was too much in a trance to actively do such a thing.
As the beast charged toward her, helplessness and despair washed over her like heavy rain. She saw her entire life flash through before her eyes, her first piano lesson, her first public performance in the local church, the friends and family who had always supported her, the fans she felt grateful for, the big stage. She then suddenly got the vision of her newest best friend that she had made today and then finally her vision was filled with strands of silver-white hair and clear sky-blue eyes. Eden then closed her eyes shut tightly as she felt the beast near her. the last thoughts on her mind before the beast impaled were:
'Please save me, Kevin.'
BANG. SHINGGGG.
However, instead of the beast impaling and assuredly killing her, she heard a loud gunshot sound and the sound of something sliding out. Then she heard something being sliced off, and a burning smell assaulted her nose. That was followed by a loud roar from the creature as if it was in pain and a very familiar voice:
"Phew. Thank goodness we made it in time."
Eden creaked her eyes open just a little to see the familiar face of her friend looking at her in relief and happiness. Elysia seeing Eden opening her eyes a little said:
"Are you hurt anywhere Eden? It simply wouldn't do if a beautiful girl such as yourself got hurt."
"E-Ellie?"
"Yes. You are safe now." She then checked over Eden to see for any wounds. Finding none she said while sighing in relief:
"No marks on your beautiful skin. Okay~."
"Thank you for being concerned for me." Eden said gratefully.
"Oh, what nonsense are you talking about? Of course, I will worry about my best friend."
"Ellie." Eden said touched.
"Ehehehe." Elysia just giggled and hugged Eden. She returned the gesture by returning the hug and that was when she noticed the wound on Elysia's hands.
"Ellie, those wounds."
"Oh these." Elysia said while looking at the wounds herself "It's nothing. They will heal in no time."
"But-" Eden tried to protest.
"Elysia, take that woman and leave." a new voice interrupted her. Eden stopped deathly still when she heard the voice. It was a very familiar voice, a voice that she couldn't forget despite only hearing it for one night for a few hours, a voice she prayed day and night since that night she might hear again. It was the voice of her saviour.
And true enough, when she looked past Ellie, she saw him; the very familiar back standing there protecting her like it did that night in the alleyway. The very familiar silver-white hair that she thought about every day. And even though he was turned away from them, she knew from her heart that in front of the head were those hypnotizing sky-blue eyes.
"Ah-" Eden wanted to say something, anything. But her voice wouldn't come out. She was overwhelmed with intense emotions of happiness and longing that made her speech an impossible feat. Thus, only a single syllable could escape her lips. The person then turned around slowly after making sure that the monster is dead, and that was when she couldn't control herself any longer.
Kevin didn't have much time to react as he saw a red blur tackling him. The said person barrelled into him, embracing him tightly. He could smell the faint scent of lavender on the person, and a familiar bow on the back of her head that he couldn't quite place well. The person hugged him tightly and said while hiccupping:
"It's you. It's you. I never thought that I would see you again. And this time also you protected me. Thank you. Thank you so much."
Kevin was puzzled. Why did this woman say that she never thought she would see him again? Did they meet somewhere else before? He jogged his memory to remember his meeting this woman but came out empty-handed. Thus, he just stood there like a statute not knowing how to respond.
He saw Elysia having the same mischievous smile on her face that she did whenever she did something troublesome. So, before the said woman could cause any misunderstanding, he decided to act. He separated the woman from him and asked her:
"Did we meet before?"
At this, the woman's face fell a little before regaining her composed and mature look. She then said in a soft velvety voice that he seemed to remember from somewhere:
"Well, it's not that unusual that you forgot about me, since it was for a very short time that we were together. We met in the back alleyways of Nagazora a year before where you saved me from the thugs."
At this, something clicked in Kevin's mind as he suddenly remembered where he had seen the woman before. Those amber eyes that he remembered vividly. If he was correct then this woman's name was:
"Eden?"
Hearing the name come out of his mouth made Eden very happy and sentimental. So, he really remembered her, as she had remembered him. She then took his hand and said while smiling in a soft voice:
"Yes. That is my name. Thank you for remembering me, Kevin."
"You know my name?"
"Of course, I do. As if I would forget the name of my saviour."
"…"
The conversation was cut short however when a different voice spoke up suddenly:
"Oh my goodness. Thank goodness you are unharmed, my dear Eden. I was so worried for you."
The trio saw a man supposedly in his early thirties approaching them with large strides being followed by the royal guards. The trio at once knew who this person was:
"Thank you for being concerned over me, your highness." Eden bowed formally to the crown prince.
"Yes, Yes." the crown prince said running his eyes over her body which made her uncomfortable "of course I would be worried about one of the guests of Honour of this party." He then saw Elysia and Kevin standing near Eden. On seeing Elysia he smiled his sly smile finding another woman easy on the eyes. However, his smile turned into a slight scowl when he saw Kevin.
"Who is this person?" the man said pointing out to Kevin in a displeased tone.
"He is the one who saved my life now, your highness." Eden said.
"Is that so." the man said in disdain "You have my thanks then." He then stretched his hand towards Eden and Elysia and said:
"We must leave this building quickly. Please let me escort you, Lady Eden, beautiful miss."
At this Eden shifted uncomfortably where she stood. She knew exactly his intentions in offering this supposed help, but couldn't outright refuse due to her status and political position as an icon. As she was contemplating how to refuse him politely, Elysia came to her rescue:
"Ara~, thank you for your generous help. However, as you can see, we are good here. Our friend here can take care of any beast trying to attack us, and I'm having the backup too." she said while showing the umbrella looking like weapon in her hand. The crown prince instead of getting the clue started to become pushy:
"No, no, my fair lady. A beautiful and exquisite woman such as yourself should not be on the front lines. My good conscience would not allow it. So please, I beg you, allow me to be your protector."
"Ahahah." Elysia laughed usually, but you could feel the uneasiness in her voice. The prince then pointed toward Kevin and said:
"While it may be true that this person here can kill those beasts, he can hardly compare to my guards' fencing skills, let alone be near to my strength. Thus, I'm more qualified to escort you ladies compared to him."
Eden felt something within her snap the moment this person insulted her Kevin. She then with an expression of coldness that nobody had seen on her face said:
"Thank you for your concern, your highness. However, as my friend had said before, we will be fine on our own. So please leave us and focus on your safety."
The crown prince being rebuked harshly in front of everyone replied in a wave of anger fuelled by his ego:
"What did you say, you little woman? I offered you the protection of me, the crown prince of the Romanian empire and you dare to reject it?" he then extended his hand forward to hold her hand to drag her but was stopped when a strong grip stopped it in mid-air. The prince looked over at the source of the hand in anger and sad:
"Who dares to stop me? Don't you know who I-" whatever he wanted to say died in his mouth as he was met with cold sky-blue eyes that bored down to his soul.
"Don't touch her."
The crown prince was stunned silent by the expression on the man's face. It seemed as if the man didn't even consider him a human. His eyes were cold, like a frozen glacier in the north and his face was devoid of any expression. However, his voice carried such authority in it that made the crown prince shut up in an instant. He could only look at him with a tint of fear in his eyes.
Eden and Elysia looked at him with admiration and respect. For Eden, he was like a guardian angel that came to protect her whenever she was in danger and protected not only her physically but also from mental wounds. She also started to feel something else for him, but couldn't name it just yet.
The two parties stood in a stalemate of kinds until a new voice spoke up:
"Ah, how romantic. A knight trying to save his princesses from the vile nobles' hands."
Kevin turned his head at once at the figure of the agent standing at the end of the main banquet Hall. He unsheathed Homura at once and stood on guard. Seeing himself being interrupted yet again, the crown prince screamed in anger at the unfamiliar man:
"You all lots interrupting me. Learn your place before me, the first Crown Prince of the great Romanian Empire. I will have both of you thrown into the deepest prison cells for daring to offend me."
At the crown prince's words, the agent simply smiled and said:
"Oh my, I didn't think I would offend the crown prince so much. Please forgive me for my rudeness, your majesty." He then motioned his hand in a snapping position:
"Allow me to give you a present in hopes of reconciliation. I hope you enjoy it." and then snapped his finger.
ROOAARRRR.
A loud bestial roar sounded across the now empty hall which made both Kevin and Elysia be on guard. They could feel the raw Honkai energy radiating from the creature that the agent has just released now. The creature tore off the walls of the building to gain access to the place where humans were present. When the creature stepped into the main hall, everyone except Kevin and Elysia was stunned into silence.
It was a monster. There were no other words to explain its appearance. Its whole body towered over all of them, at least 15 m in height. Its head touched the ceiling, scraping it off and causing the various chandeliers to break and fall. His whole body was wreathed in flames, making it difficult to see his actual body structure. And his claw-like appendages that were wreathed in flames threatened to burn everything in its path into nothingness.
"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w…" the crown prince stuttered like a parrot, with his guards doing not much better either.
"Ah!" Eden was completely shocked thinking that she was in a bad nightmare. She never thought that something like this could exist in her most absurd dream.
Elysia just looked at the creature in worry. From its size and the amount of Honkai energy that it released; it was a Judgement class beast. But how did Cocoon get one, less alone the ability to control it? It was going to be very difficult to fight it in this confined place, less alone with the others present. They had to evacuate everyone from the vicinity of the Central Plaza and then engage it. Even then it was difficult to beat it without their specialized battle gear. They also would need to request at least one whole Moth battalion to minimise casualties.
As if sensing her thoughts, Kevin said in his static voice:
"Elysia, take them and get out of here. Once outside try to evacuate as much as possible and contact the General to send one battalion."
"Eh, but what about you?"
"I will buy you time."
Of course, he would fight it alone. What was she expecting? However, he had one more thing coming to him as well:
"Then I can do the same, you can escort them better than me. You are much stronger and can protect more people. Moreover, I'm more agile and can keep it busy for longer."
Kevin didn't reply to her however, as his eyes were still on the Honkai beast and the agent. After not getting a response for some time, Elysia asked again:
"Kev-" she couldn't finish her sentence as Kevin charged into the beast with his sword drawn and ignited. The beast in response swung its arm downwards, intending to crush the human who was coming to fight with it. The two met head-on, his flaming sword against the blazing arm of the beast.
BOOOOOOM.
The entire surrounding shook violently at the huge explosion of their clash. A strong gust of hot air blew away from their clashing point and assaulted the ones standing nearby.
"Kyaaaa." Eden screamed feeling herself keep standing difficult in the extreme gust of Hot air.
"Ghh." The crown prince also grunted in discomfort at the blast of hot air as it singled his skin.
Elysia also felt discomfort standing near the place of the fight. Her wounds started to burn a little by the hot winds and started to ache. She looked over at the other people and knew that she had to get them out of this place. However, her heart didn't listen to rational judgment as it refused to leave Kevin behind.
As she was locked in place unable to decide anything, a third unfamiliar voice sounded out near her.
"Waaaaa. W-w-w-w-what is happening here?"
Elysia looked at the person who had said this and saw the familiar figure of Felis-chan making her way to them. Once she reached Elysia, she said in a voice full of uncertainty and fear:
"What happened here, Ellie nee-chan? What is that monster and why is Kevin-boss fighting it like that?"
"Felis-chan?" Elysia asked in a trance-like state.
"Hmm? What's wrong Ellie nee-chan."
However, this conversation was cut short as the building started to collapse at the main entrance. If they didn't make it outside, all of them would be trapped inside. Seeing this Pardofelis shouted:
"Ellie nee-chan, everyone else, we have to get out of here or we are trapped in here."
The others understood at once and started to make their way out of the building. Everyone except the two women. Seeing them not moving, Pardofelis shouted nervously:
"Ellie nee-chan, the other lady, we have to leave now."
At this Elysia replied:
"Take the others. I'm going to remain here. I'm not going to leave him alone, never again."
"What are you even saying, Ellie nee-chan? If we remain here, we are all going to die."
"Ellie is right, miss." Eden said addressing Pardofelis "Please leave without us. We just cannot leave him alone to fight such a beast."
Pardofelis hearing their statements was now having a huge internal conflict. She knew that there was no way she could leave Ellie nee-chan alone in such a dangerous place. She had seen the wounds on her arms and knew that she was going to die here if left alone. The same goes for the other woman whom she could clearly see was no fighter. However, their dedication to Kevin-boss made it impossible to make them move against their will. As she was thinking this, a shout sounded from the place where the battle was taking place.
Kevin saw Pardofelis standing as he parried another blow from the beast, causing the surroundings to shake again from the resulting shockwave. He then fired APOLLO at the beast's face trying to distract it. However, due to the intense heat, the bullets got melted as they came close enough to the beast's body. However, they served their purpose as the beast tried to swat the areas where the remnants of bullets struck in an attempt to mitigate the stinging it felt. Kevin saw the created opening and slashed with his standard attack.
"Caladbolg."
A wave of intense flames struck the beast square in its torso. Even though the beast was able to block some of it, still it was hurt by the flames not of its own creation and being powered by Honkai energy which was very unfamiliar to it.
HOOOOWWWWL.
The Judgement class Honkai beast howled in pain as it was burned by the flames that it was meant to be immune against. Seeing the beast getting damaged, Roque commented:
"Such destructive power. To think you would be able to burn a Honkai beast which has control over the element of fire itself. You truly are a monster beyond human comprehension, Godslayer."
Kevin didn't hear any of it as he quickly made his way to the still-standing Elysia and Eden. Once he reached them, he said:
"Pardofelis. Take Elysia and Miss. Eden out of here."
Hearing this, both the women came out of their trance and objected vehemently:
"No."
"I'm not leaving you alone no matter what, Kevin."
At this Kevin just released a small breath and said:
"Forgive me."
"Eh-" Eden wasn't able to process what he meant as she suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from her stomach. Looking up, she saw Kevin's hand balled into a fist and striking her. But before she could say anything, her world blackened and she was knocked out cold.
Elysia was on guard immediately. This guy was trying to knock them unconscious, and then have Felis-chan take them outside to safety. As if she was going to let him do this again. She dodged a sudden fist to the stomach and said to Kevin in a determined voice:
"I'm not letting you fight alone and get hurt, Kevin." and she counter-attacked in hopes to fend off Kevin to prove to him that she could still fight. However, she forgot the fact that she was weaker than Kevin in terms of physical strength and reflexes. Moreover, she was injured from the earlier encounters that had reduced her reaction speed by a noticeable margin. Thus, she wasn't able to keep defending for long and slipped up. Kevin took that chance and struck her left shoulder making her lose her balance, and then struck her stomach, hard. The resulting impact made Elysia barf and she felt the air rushing out of her lungs making her breathing difficult. She then felt extremely tired and felt her consciousness fading. As she was falling, a pair of hands caught her and she felt herself being pressed against a toned chest. As her consciousness fade away, she just said two words as a lone tear rolled down from her right eye:
"Please no." and then her body went limp.
Pardofelis just watched the entire happening with her jaw wide open. She knew that Kevin-boss was strong but never had she expected him to be this strong. Ellie nee-chan was crazy strong, she knew that by observing her fight against the goons earlier and would have beaten that villain man if not for her earlier wound. thus, beating her within a minute despite her wounds just put into perspective how strong this man in front of her was. She made a mental note to herself to never cross Kevin-boss no matter what.
As she was thinking this, Kevin picked up both the woman and handed them over to Pardofelis. He then said:
"Go."
She didn't need to hear anything else and bolted out of the building while carrying Ellie nee-chan and the other woman on her shoulders. As she started to leave the main Hall, the beast having recovered enough tried to ram her only to get stopped by Kevin-boss blocking him with his blade. Pardofelis' respect for the man increased, to fight such a monster all alone and not show a hint of fear on his face.
The moment she neared the door, the portion of the building between her and Kevin-boss collapsed, finally unable to stand any longer. He was now trapped in the burning building with the beast that had such crazy power and that villainous man. Pardofelis' heart thumped loudly as she realized that what happened with Coscoe was going to repeat itself. Thus, she waved her hand to him and shouted:
"You have to beat that monster and come back. You have to definitely come back to us, Kevin-boss."
She hoped that he had heard her through the raging flames. Realizing that the entrance will collapse soon, she left the building completely carrying the women. As she glanced back for the last time, she saw Kevin-boss facing the burning beast with his sword that was itself in flames.
'Please be safe, Kevin-boss.' Pardofelis thought as her view got completely cut off by the falling debris.
…
Kevin redirected his focus once again to the Honkai beast in front of him after he saw Pardofelis getting out of the building. He steadied Homura in front of him and started to pump more Honkai energy into it, making the flames burn Hotter and more destructive. He then heard the agent speak:
"Well, they got away. What a shame. But I've got my primary target so it doesn't matter."
He then took out the spikes from his back again and said:
"Well then, let's get this show on the road. Oh but before that let me introduce myself." He then did a formal bow and continued:
"My name is Roque Adalbert. I'm the second-ranked Agent of Cocoon and the one who wrote those assignment letters. I hope you enjoyed them by the way."
Hearing that he was the one who wrote those letters made Kevin's anger grow. So he was the reason that Ralph was there to ambush him, the person because of whom Dominique had to die.
The flames responded to his anger by becoming wilder and more destructive. They were practically now burning the flames of the Honkai beast itself, an impossible feat. Seeing this phenomenon, the agent's mask finally shattered and he spoke with an expression of rage on his face and venom in his voice:
"Don't worry. The hatred is mutual, Godslayer. You took away the most important person in my life and for that, even death is not enough. Your death is going to be very slow and excruciatingly painful."
He then extended the chained spikes forward and joined them back-to-back while saying the words that were now familiar to Kevin:
"Ignis: 0th Drive."
The spike got transformed into a spear-like weapon that had both its edges pointed and sharp. He then said while swinging the weapon to its side:
"You think you control fire. Let me show you the true taste of the flames of wrath that I carry with me. Your judgement is nigh, GODSLAYER."
He then charged into Kevin suddenly while rotating the weapon to make it seem like a sawblade. The beast also coordinated its attack to crush Kevin along with the agent. Kevin was not given time to ponder on how the agent was able to control a Judgement class Honkai beast of all things, as the agent was soon in melee range.
CLANGGG.
The two weapons clashed creating a torrent of flames that caused the already burning fire to become more pronounced. The clash was soon followed by a punch by the beast which was defended by Kevin by putting Homura in front of him like a shield. Seeing his attack blocked, the agent laughed deranged laughter:
"hehehehehe. Don't think this is the end. Things are just getting started."
He then threw the spear-like weapon which was deflected by the bullets fired by the APOLLO. As the weapon was falling, the agent made a calling back motion which made the weapon spin back to him.
"Release the real you if you want to survive here, Godslayer." the agent said, his face now showing an expression of madness and insanity.
"Otherwise, it wouldn't be as exciting."
To this, Kevin's eyes narrowed dangerously as he gripped Homura tighter, causing the flames to grow hotter still.
He was going to kill this guy here. He will burn this man into nothingness, Kevin thought darkly.
To be continued…
Hello everyone, welcome back to 'A Warriors Destiny'.
Holy damm. This chapter took way longer than I thought it would. Thinking about connecting the various things from the earlier chapter was harder than I initially thought. I stumbled across the worst writer's block that I've faced until now and having various other work that left me intellectually drained was not helping me at all.
Anyway, enough ranting. As you can see, we finally now know the reason why the Cocoon members knew about Kevin and co. already. All that is left now is to take care of the remaining members and take down the Cocoon. So it's only fights from now on. And finally, the part that I've been dying to write: Kevin going full berserk. It's going to be as badass and epic as possible. And the best part is, it's going to happen at the start of the next chapter. No more info dumps and dialogues, just pure fight and action.
So I hope you guys are looking forward to the next chapter as I'm looking forward to writing it.
As always if you like the story please leave a follow, favourite, and/or review.
Thank you for reading, until next time.