"Could it be that its injuries from last night haven't healed yet?"
Sakura immediately shook her head, dismissing the idea. "When it escaped the night before last, aside from the wound on its shoulder from my rib dagger, it didn't have any other injuries."
On the rooftops of the buildings near the abandoned blocks, the rest of the Fifth Squad had been deployed into the blocks. Their mission was to clear a path, escort the survivors from the Tower, and eliminate any Honkai beasts along the way.
The critically injured survivors would be housed at the Ruruye branch base, while those who could still move would be transported by helicopter to Fire Moth headquarters for treatment.
"Captain! I think I know what's happening!"
Besides Himeko, Sakura, Elysia, and Michael, the only one who hadn't entered the blocks was Immer. Hearing him yell, Elysia glared at him, and Himeko made a silencing gesture.
"Quiet down. Let Michael rest."
Immer glanced at Michael, snoring softly in the nearby tent, and scratched his head sheepishly.
He gestured, and Himeko, Elysia, and Sakura followed him to the large Honkai energy detector.
After some quick operational, the screen began to replay the fluctuations in Honkai energy within the blocks from the previous night.
Just as Michael had surmised, there were initially four points with high Honkai energy readings. As the team followed Immer's directions, probing closer to these points, there were no issues at first.
But shortly after Michael approached and then left point 03, the energy reading there suddenly weakened, and a new anomaly, designated 05, appeared.
Immer rewound and slowed the playback by 30x. They finally saw it – an entity, containing almost all of the Honkai energy from point 03, had rapidly relocated.
"It moved too fast. At normal speed, it looked like it appeared instantaneously... I'm sorry, I misjudged the situation last night."
"This happened three times throughout the night. Coincidentally, each relocation occurred after Squad Leader Michael approached and then left an anomaly point."
"...I'm guessing the Yaksha is wary of Squad Leader Michael, which is why it hasn't shown itself."
"So... what did Michael do to it the night before last?"
Elysia and Himeko exchanged glances, understanding dawning in their eyes.
Sakura, recalling the glimpse of power she had witnessed on the rooftop yesterday afternoon, shivered.
"Uh... why do I feel like you all know what's going on...?" Immer said sadly.
"...Well, if that's the case, then the three of us will go tonight. Let Michael rest here." Himeko made the decision.
Elysia asked, "Isn't that a bit risky?"
Himeko's furrowed brow smoothed slightly, but she still flicked Elysia on the forehead. Then, she pulled out the crimson greatsword that had been wrapped in black cloth and slammed it into the ground.
"Didn't Michael already make a plan? And besides, Ellie, don't underestimate your captain!"
Elysia pouted, rubbing her forehead, then suddenly asked, "Captain, you look a bit pale. Did Michael tell you something privately?"
Himeko sighed, forcing a smile. Michael had told her all his deductions and the evidence. Faced with the horrific possibility of a man-made Honkai eruption that had caused tens of thousands of deaths, how could she look well?
"Captain Himeko, can I ask you not to tell Elysia about this yet?" The boy's voice echoed in her mind, his worried and angry expression vivid in her memory.
"Because... it's better for her to learn about this kind of darkness when she's a bit older..."
Looking at Elysia's slightly strained smile, a question that Michael had also raised surfaced in Himeko's mind:
"Does Elysia... really not know anything?"
Immer's phone suddenly rang. "Hello...? Oh, okay, okay. Sorry!"
"Um, Captain... your sword went through the ceiling downstairs..."
By the time Michael woke up, it was already dark.
The Ruruye sky was dotted with stars, their light weaving together, momentarily disorienting him.
He quickly came to his senses, grabbing the water bottle beside him and pouring it over his head. The cool breeze lifted the tent flap, instantly waking him.
Emerging from the tent, Michael found only Immer.
He was wearing headphones, humming a tune, and tapping his foot to the beat.
Michael snatched the headphones off.
"Weren't you supposed to wake me up before the operation? Where are they? What's going on?"
Immer quickly shushed Michael, then pointed at the headphones.
"What is it? Is Michael awake?"
"Immer will fill you in. Don't worry, you should learn to trust your teammates sometimes!"
Himeko temporarily muted the comms.
She walked down the deserted street, her crimson greatsword slung over her shoulder.
There were no streetlights, no lights at all. Even the moonlight only offered a faint glimmer, preventing the scene before her from being pure darkness.
She made no attempt to conceal her presence. Since she was the bait, how could she lure the enemy without revealing her location?
Besides, she had a feeling.
"If I were the Yaksha, who would I attack first?"
Although their encounters were brief, both Elysia and Sakura had dealt heavy blows to the Yaksha the night before last.
The Yaksha should be well aware of their strength. Putting herself in its place, Himeko felt that if she were the Yaksha, her primary target would be this woman who it hadn't fought yet, who was openly revealing her position, practically screaming "rookie."
"According to what Michael told Elysia to relay to me, the Yaksha's ability seems to be freezing space? Interesting, a Honkai beast with Herrscher-like powers... But too bad..."
She tightened her grip on her greatsword.
Suddenly, Immer's voice came through the comms, "The Yaksha is moving... It's targeting the captain!"
"Just as I thought..."
Himeko's lips curled into a slight smile. The Yaksha's actions were entirely predictable.
"Due north!" Immer warned.
Himeko had already heard the sound of something tearing through the air. She relaxed her shoulder, letting the greatsword drop. The pommel struck the asphalt with a loud crack, the blade sinking almost entirely into the road surface.
Then, gripping the hilt with both hands, she stepped forward with her left foot and shifted her weight!
The greatsword carved an arc in the road, then leaped up, emitting a dark red glow.
At the same time, a large hole was punched through the building to Himeko's left. A dark cloud obscured the moon at that very moment, leaving her only able to see dark debris flying as a larger figure lunged towards her greatsword.
The next instant, Himeko felt a piercing chill, like ice needles stabbing into her skin, her bones, her very heart, as if trying to freeze everything solid.
The dust in the air, the flying chunks of concrete, all froze mid-air.
Only the oncoming Yaksha, its form growing larger in her amber eyes.
The distant spaces, unaffected by the Yaksha, and the thin clouds couldn't completely block the moonlight.
As the light returned, Himeko finally saw the Yaksha clearly. Its long, pink ears were swept back by inertia, its purple eyes covered by a mesh-like structure, like a fly's. Its extended claws shimmered with a cold light, a delicate rib dagger embedded in its shoulder.
Two pairs of bony wings extended from its back, the thin membranes a translucent purple. Its lower body resembled a round pupa, encased in white exoskeleton.
A smile still lingered on Himeko's face as the Yaksha's claws neared her cheek.
Her pupils contracted as they met the cold glint of the claws.
"It's over... Surtr!"
"Flames... Scorch All!"
When the first flicker of flame ignited, even Himeko couldn't say for sure.
The Honkai-forged greatsword, Surtr, blazed with intense heat, melting the frozen space in less than an instant.
Surtr carved an arc through the air, the ensuing flames painting the arc into a blazing fan!
As the flames dissipated, Himeko saw the Yaksha screeching and fleeing towards the sea.
At her feet lay the Yaksha's severed claws, blackened and charred by the flames.
Even the chunks of concrete that had flown from the damaged building had vanished under Surtr's intense heat.
Himeko excitedly flicked Surtr's still-warm blade with her finger. Flickering flames danced on the hilt, yet her hand remained unharmed.