Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

Harris had left, but Michael's fists trembled. He slammed a fist into the low concrete wall beside him, punching a small hole. Fragments of concrete sprayed out, ricocheting off the wall of a neighboring building.

Two or three seconds later, the impacted wall crumbled like it had been clawed at.

"Squad Leader!"

Sakura jumped, startled by his sudden outburst. Michael glanced at her, red gears slowly appearing in his grey eyes, the unmistakable manifestation of Herrscher power.

Sakura's heart leaped. An oppressive pressure, like an invisible giant hand, gripped her throat, momentarily paralyzing her thoughts, even her instinct to breathe.

Thankfully, the pressure lasted no more than a second. By the time she recovered, Michael was standing before her, apologetic.

"Are you alright?" Michael asked with concern.

"Y-yes, I'm fine."

Sakura swallowed discreetly.

"Th-that… just now… what was that power…? The Honkai energy in the air was so dense I could feel it without a detector… Is this why the captain is wary of the Squad Leader…?"

"Squad Leader… what just happened?" Finally, she mustered the courage to ask.

"Um… I figured some things out, but now's not the time… Let's focus on the task at hand."

"Bzzt…" Immer's voice crackled through the comms. "Squad Leader, the supplies have arrived. I'll send them over with the drone. Sakura's knife is included."

Michael looked at the motionless drone beside him. "Isn't this little thing too small to even carry a knife?"

"Come on, Squad Leader, that's a micro reconnaissance drone, smaller than your head. I just had the base prepare a medium-sized drone for transport. It'll be there soon!"

Half an hour later, a drone the size of a bed flew over slowly. It was so slow and wobbly, like it was about to crash, that Michael almost mistook it for a fat, drunken bird.

The reason he said "almost" was because of the three large packages hanging from its landing gear. Michael doubted a bird, however intelligent, would do something so foolish.

"This is your 'medium-sized drone'?"

"Sorry, Squad Leader. I'll request a large one next time…"

The drone, which Michael had deemed a "fat bird," took half a day to deliver enough food, water, and daily necessities to last a hundred people for two days.

During that time, Michael and Sakura helped carry the supplies downstairs for storage and then distributed rations to everyone.

The people who had surrounded Michael earlier were stuffing compressed biscuits into their mouths one or two at a time, washing them down with gulps of purified water.

The way they ate made Michael wonder if there would be any accidents. Fortunately, he and Harris had anticipated this and limited the amount of food per person, preventing anyone from overeating.

With ample water now available, those who could move closed their doors after eating, using new towels to wash themselves and changing into T-shirts bearing the Fire Moth insignia.

Under Harris's direction, they then soaked the biscuits in water to make a paste, feeding it to the bedridden patients, washing them, and changing their clothes and bedsheets.

In just that half hour, Michael witnessed another patient die. He had only taken one bite of the paste before his head lolled to the side, losing consciousness. The paste dribbled from his mouth, staining the pillow a deeper yellow.

Michael and Sakura found Aldemir, still in his dirty red T-shirt, by a shattered floor-to-ceiling window. He sat there in baggy jeans, heedless of the glass shards, swinging his legs in the air.

Michael hadn't actually signaled Sakura to follow him. He hadn't even known where he was going, his feet simply carrying him, his thoughts leading him to the barely twenty-year-old boy. And Sakura, perhaps out of a shared, unspoken grief, had followed.

"I'm sorry…" Michael murmured.

Aldemir looked at him in surprise. "Sorry for what?"

Michael was momentarily speechless. Could he say, "Sorry your mother couldn't have a full meal before she passed?"

Aldemir scoffed. "You don't even know why you're apologizing… But thanks. At least you've shown me that the United Government isn't entirely made up of fat-headed, arrogant old geezers."

Michael's lips twitched slightly, unsure if that was a compliment.

"You don't seem very sad," Sakura couldn't help but ask.

Michael glared at her, as if reprimanding her for asking such an insensitive question.

But Aldemir's reaction was strangely calm. "It doesn't matter. Trust me, if you know someone is going to die long beforehand, no matter how important they are to you, you're prepared… you can't be as sad as you imagine…"

Michael didn't like his words. They felt like a prophecy bestowed upon him by some higher-dimensional being.

So, he subtly changed the subject. "Let me see your condition."

"Hey, hey! Stop acting like you're my elder… Seriously, is everyone like that where you come from? You're still a wet-behind-the-ears kid, why act so mature?"

Despite his complaints, Aldemir didn't resist, pulling up his sleeve to reveal his wrist, sparsely dotted with purple veins.

"Just here?"

"Where else?"

Michael, surprised, looked Aldemir up and down again.

Aldemir shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

Michael didn't say anything directly. He just patted Aldemir's shoulder in a way that seemed "old-fashioned" and left.

"Squad Leader, Aldemir's Honkai resistance…"

Sakura trailed close behind, whispering.

Michael nodded slightly.

"Michael, Sakura, sunset is approaching. Prepare for battle."

"Right!"

Without any farewells, they quietly left the Tower – the largest tomb Michael had ever seen.

The Tower wasn't far from the sea. The sea breeze swept through the streets, scattering tumbleweeds.

Michael looked towards the horizon along the east-west avenue.

The setting sun was blood red.

But soon, as if in a single blink, like a playful hound opening its jaws to swallow the scorching Jinwu, darkness descended.

Night had fallen.

The bait was cast, the die was rolled.

"Ready?"

Himeko and Elysia, armed, stepped into the night-shrouded streets. Michael and Sakura followed suit.

They spread out, yet remained close enough to support each other quickly.

But in life, things rarely go as planned.

Michael, who hadn't slept in over 36 hours, forced himself to stay awake the entire night.

In this blend of anticipation and anxiety, Ruruye welcomed the dawn of April 18th.

Yet, even as the sun climbed high in the sky, the Yaksha never appeared.