Chapter 71: Everything Burned Down

The flames were spreading, engulfing the surroundings like a wave.

The houses were destroyed, and the ground was damaged. It seemed so beautiful here a moment before, but it became dilapidated the next moment.

The accumulated water on the ground evaporated, and the rain falling from the sky couldn't even touch the ground before being evaporated by the flames. Even the rain clouds in the sky were gradually dispersing as if the flames on the ground were driving them away.

The rain became less and less, the rain clouds dissipated, and finally, the brilliant sunshine appeared... The beautiful sunny day came, but the disaster on the earth had just begun.

The Honkai beasts were rejoicing, running, and destroying. Although there were no lives for them to hunt here, they didn't mind and destroyed everything around them to their heart's content. They just walked around casually, and with a gentle flap of their wings, the houses would collapse and turn into ruins.

"Ah, I found it... I found it! There is life here! Great!"

The Honkai Beast was attracted by the breath of life and quickly approached, swinging its body to attack.

However, the next moment, a ferocious fist attacked.

"Don't get in the way!!!"

Kalpas roared and wantonly slaughtered all the Honkai beasts around him that dared to get close. Even though he had fought with Sakura for a whole night, he showed no signs of fatigue, and his combat power didn't decrease. He even became stronger, but... he was also more manic.

"As expected... the Honkai eruption has occurred..."

In the raging fire, a touch of coldness quietly appeared, and as a flash of ice-blue, an ice-thin blade passed by, several Honkai beasts disintegrated instantly, cut into several pieces.

"This place... is indeed very dangerous."

"Dangerous? Hum...haha...dangerous?! It's dangerous here?! Can it be as dangerous as you guys?!"

Even though he was still under siege, Kalpas still had enough energy to reply to Sakura's words.

"Nothing happened here before. Nothing would have happened here before! Obviously, none of this would ever happen... but it's you! It's you!!! You turned this place into ruins!!!"

"There are too many patients with Honkai disease gathered here. With the excessive accumulation of Honkai energy... the outbreak of Honkai is inevitable. It's just a matter of time."

"Inevitable? Haha... It is indeed inevitable! Then tell me, why didn't it break out earlier or later, but happened the day after you guys arrived? Why was there nothing wrong before, but something happened right after you guys arrived?!"

Kalpas grabbed the Honkai beast that was about to attack him, smashed it to the ground, threw it aside, letting it smash the building, and then turned to look at Sakura.

"Tell me!!!"

He roared and questioned, his anger seeming to merge with the surrounding flames, filling the area.

Even with the mask blocking her view, Sakura could still imagine the distorted and angry expression underneath his mask.

"......"

Sakura didn't answer, and she didn't know how to answer... Because she didn't expect that the Honkai would happen just the day after she took action. It was really too much of a coincidence.

She thought again of Nozomi's previous dissuasion and reminder. Nozomi told her that the arrival of the Fire Moth would bring disaster to this place... She didn't believe it at first, but now she was a little shaken.

Because it's such a coincidence.

But now, she should focus on clearing out the surrounding Honkai beasts and ending this Honkai... Wait, that priest!

Sakura suddenly remembered that the key target that the Fire Moth had asked her to pay attention to was still there, and she should go and confirm it first... Okay, no need for that.

Because Sakura saw Nozomi's figure.

He walked slowly through the ruins, holding the special Bible in his hand with a cross pendant, his eyes looking straight ahead, his steps slow and firm. The flames burning around him seemed to have no effect on him, and even the Honkai beasts running around seemed to avoid him.

"The disaster has arrived... Please allow me to join you, and 'She' will give us the power to resolve this disaster."

Nozomi walked up to the two of them, bowed politely again, and then spoke softly.

"Hmph... that sounds nice... but you did a pretty good job this time, Father."

Kalpas snorted coldly and did not directly respond to Nozomi's words... Anyway, these words were not addressed to him.

"You... forget it."

Sakura originally wanted to let Nozomi leave and go to a safe place, but when she thought of the "abnormality" in him, she hesitated for a while and gave up.

However, she still subconsciously moved a few steps and protected Nozomi behind her.

'After all, he is the focus of the Fire Moth, so he should be protected more' - Sakura thought.

Soon, the burning flames around them became more fierce, and the briefly silent Honkai beasts became active again, attacking the three people... But before Sakura could make a move, accompanied by the sound of intensive attacks, the attacking Honkai beasts were killed, and then the sound of intensive footsteps was heard.

"...Hen?"

Sakura turned around, only to find that her comrade had brought a small team to support her, and the weapons they were carrying... seemed familiar.

"Hey, Sakura, we're here to provide support."

After Hen casually greeted everyone, he began to briefly introduce their situation.

"The higher-ups think that this place could be destroyed at any time, so they arranged for us to stay outside and be ready to pick you up at any time... If you complete your mission successfully, then we will have nothing to do with it, but if something special really happens, we will come to help..."

After saying that, Hen gestured at the equipment on himself and his teammates.

"These things were given to us by a little girl, who said we would need them... Now it seems that they are really a great help, but that girl shouldn't be a member of the Fire Moth, right? Why did she have this kind of equipment?"

"......"

Sakura did not respond because those were the equipment placed in advance by Vill-V. Although theoretically, they still belonged to the Fire Moth, due to the nature of Vill-V, the mission that Sakura was performing... was somewhat inconvenient to disclose, especially for a regular fighter of the Fire Moth like Hen, it was even more inconvenient for Sakura to talk about it.

What's more, several of the missions Sakura was carrying out this time needed to be kept secret. Her only mission was to "investigate Twilight Street and the 'Priest'..."

"Forget it, these are not important. Let's deal with this Honkai first. And these two... civilians? Please follow behind us and be careful not to be attacked by those [monsters]."

Fortunately, Hen did not dwell on this topic too much, or perhaps as a veteran he had already seen some clues, so he quickly shifted the topic to Nozomi and Kalpas.

But soon, Hen changed his mind... How could a civilian grab an Honkai beast and smash it on the ground?

"Hahahaha!!! Come on! Come again!!! Let's see whether your flames will be extinguished first, or my anger will be calmed first!"

"But just think about it! You will definitely be the first to be destroyed!!! Because your flames will eventually end, but my anger... is endless!!!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

"......"

Looking at Kalpas killing a lot of Honkai beasts and even having time to let out a crazy laugh, Hen and his team members were speechless for a moment.

This guy... is a "civilian"? !

How can a commoner chase down an Honkai beast?! Could this guy even fight a Fusion Warrior?

"That was a being with [Anomaly]... He and I fought from last night until early morning, and we ended up in a tie. And... I was unable to suppress him."

Sakura said truthfully after a brief pause.

"......"

Hen and the others were really shocked... It turns out that this guy can really fight against the [Fusion Warrior]? !

"Who is this?"

Hen turned his gaze towards Nozomi and asked... Could it be that this "commoner" is also some abnormal being?

And...

Hen frowned, looking at Nozomi with a bit of doubt in his eyes... He had a feeling that he would get along well with this person, maybe Griseo would like him very much... No, no, how could he think like that?! Griseo is my lovely daughter, how could I let her meet strange people casually?!

"He... well, he's the [priest] here, that is, in Twilight Street. He's the one that needs to be investigated in the mission, and... he's more or less [abnormal]."

Sakura still answered truthfully, but this answer made Hen and the others even more confused... Hey, hey, hey, we found two people with [abnormality] during an investigation mission, and they were both on Twilight Street... Is this crappy place so blessed with talented people?

"Everyone, the brief introduction is over. Please focus on the disaster before you..."

"You are right, Father."

Hearing Nozomi's words, Hen immediately spoke, and then stood in front of Nozomi and protected him behind him... and the other members also quickly formed a formation to protect Nozomi... Although Sakura said that Nozomi was a person with [abnormality], Nozomi did not show the same strong fighting ability as Kalpas, so Hen and others still regarded him as a target that needed to be protected.

Sakura disappeared from the spot in a flash and quickly rushed into the group of Honkai beasts. With flashes of ice-blue sword light, countless Honkai beasts died in an instant... Compared with Kalpas' extremely violent fighting method, Sakura's actions were very quick and decisive.

The front line began to stabilize. Although the Honkai beasts came like a tide, the battle situation became better and better with the efforts of everyone.

But... the number of Honkai beasts began to increase, the temperature around them began to rise rapidly, the fire began to boil, the red flames distorted everything around them, and the flames of destruction seemed to devour everything around them.

The flames were reflected in everyone's pupils, reminding Sakura and Hen of bad memories - the [Seventh Great Honkai Eruption] that had just passed not long ago.

Even the surrounding environment...became like the scene when the Seventh Herrscher appeared.

And in the next moment, Sakura keenly caught an extremely powerful aura... It seemed that it was the most powerful and most critical Honkai beast in this Eruption. As long as it was solved, the difficulty of this Honkai would be reduced a lot.

So, everyone... saw the shape of the Honkai beast.

It was a strange Honkai beast, shaped like a cross sword with the tip pointing downwards and the hilt pointing upwards. There was a pituitary on each side of the hilt, making it look like a balance. There were six broken wings on its back, and red flames emerged from the tip of the sword, wrapping around the sword and constantly rising. In the process, the flames seemed to be given an extremely specific "entity", intertwining and compatible with the sword.

It is a very strange feeling, making it difficult to judge whether "fire was generated on the sword" or "the sword was generated on the fire."

When it appeared, the surrounding flames intensified and continued to rise, as if they were going to turn into a real cage and trap them all to death.

However, facing it, Nozomi was stunned... It was very similar to a certain "existence" around him, but it seemed to be different in some way... and more importantly, it seemed to be conveying a meaning of scrutiny and questioning to Nozomi.

However, the others didn't care about that. The moment it appeared, Sakura drew her knife, flashed to its side, and drew her knife in an instant, and the attacks of Hen and others also arrived.

But...

"Useless?!"

Sakura was a little surprised for a moment. Not to mention the attacks of Hen and others, even her own attacks did not have much effect. Her knife was almost melted by the flames.

Immediately, Sakura retreated, dodging the flames it controlled, but Kalpas rushed towards it in the flames. After fighting with it for several rounds, he was quickly repelled, fell to the ground, and was covered in flames.

The attacks from the crowd seemed to have angered it. The temperature around it rose a lot, and the flames around it became more fierce. Therefore... the few people who were hiding could no longer hide.

"Meow!!! It's so hot, so hot, so hot!!!"

"…Pardo?!"

A familiar cry came from the flame-covered building next door, and Pardofelis' panicked shout was approaching quickly.

"Sister Nia, run! It's...it's going to collapse!"

Then, everyone saw a petite girl as nimble and quick as a cat, leading a nun, quickly escaping from the burning building and running towards them.

Perhaps it was because Pardofelis's cry was so loud that even its attention was attracted. Immediately, it adjusted its body, pointed the tip of the sword with fire at Pardofelis and Aponia, and then... moved quickly toward them.

"Boss, save us!!!!"

Pardofelis noticed it coming and immediately shouted in panic, tears almost coming out.

The first to arrive was Nozomi. Surprisingly, he rushed between the two at a very strange speed and protected Pardo and Aponia behind him. It was hard to imagine how he did it.

Immediately, Sakura's figure appeared in front of Nozomi almost the next moment, protecting him behind her as if it was a matter of course, and then drew her sword and was about to swing at it.

But at this moment, Nozomi seemed to have anticipated it. He reached out his hand and pressed Sakura's shoulders, trying to push her away gently. If he couldn't push her away, a burning sensation would appear on Sakura's body, causing her to change her posture.

In the end, it was Nozomi who moved slightly forward and protected the three of them behind him.

Time seemed to stretch at this moment...

When Sakura was pushed away by Nozomi, she looked at him with strong surprise and confusion... She was surprised that Nozomi had the ability to push her away, and she didn't understand why Nozomi did that.

At the same time, when she saw Nozomi protecting her and facing the sword and fire, her heart subconsciously tightened, her throat moved, and she was about to shout out in the next moment.

Even Pardo behind her had panic in her eyes, and Aponia subconsciously raised her hand, trying to pull Nozomi back and try to save him.

Even the other people around were filled with surprise, confusion, and... panic.

But in the end, their emotions turned into surprise.

Because it... stopped in front of Nozomi, a few centimeters away from Nozomi, and even the flames stopped there, and even... the flames were rapidly fading, revealing the real tip of the sword.

Then, Nozomi raised his hand and lightly touched the tip of the sword with his fingertips.

Then the flame was lit again, but this time the flame was bright and full of warmth, burning its body bit by bit.

And it... did not put up any resistance, but just expressed its praise to Nozomi, then fell to the ground and stopped moving, as if it was dead, leaving only its wreckage.

"......"

This scene was so shocking that no one spoke for a moment.

"…Pardo, What are you doing here?"

In the end, it was Nozomi who spoke first. He turned and asked Pardofelis.

"Ah… this… that… Sister Nia was worried about you, and I couldn't stop her, so I just came with her… I was thinking of taking Sister Nia with me to hide so as not to cause trouble for you, boss. Besides, we weren't hiding far away, so I thought if you were in trouble, we could still come out to help you. At worst, I can run fast, so I can take you guys and run away. I didn't expect it to turn out like this…"

Pardo scratched her hair, lowered her head, and said apologetically.

Nozomi withdrew his gaze and then looked at Aponia beside him.

And Aponia's response was simple. She placed her hand lightly on her chest and spoke devoutly and clearly.

"We are surely companions on this journey…under [Her] watchful eye and care."

"......"

Nozomi understood and slightly tightened the cross pendant in his hand as if he had received guidance from "Her". He then nodded and stopped asking questions.

Then he reached out his hand and pulled up Sakura, who had been pushed aside by him.

"sorry."

"...It's okay, I just didn't expect that you would have that kind of... solution."

Sakura paused for a moment, then suppressed her doubts... No matter what, it was always good to solve the most critical Honkai beast. Moreover, after its death, the surrounding flames quickly extinguished, and the originally scorching temperature quickly returned to normal. The remaining Honkai beasts around were also being quickly slaughtered by Kalpas.

'It seems... this Honkai is over.'

Sakura, Hen, and others were a little surprised, and some of them rubbed their eyes repeatedly as if to confirm whether they were dreaming.

It was finally confirmed that this was the reality. The Honkai eruption here had been largely resolved, the most threatening target had passed away, and only a small number of Honkai beasts needed to be cleaned up.

But... the original Twilight Street had been shattered by the Honkai Beasts and burned to ashes by the flames, leaving only a few broken bricks and tiles.

The place that people loved and were satisfied with, the "Garden of Eden" that outsiders believed existed... just disappeared, destroyed by fire in a sudden and [predestined] disaster.