Chapter 15
The stink of sweat, blood, and ozone from discharged weapons hung heavy over Sapphire City's shattered streets. A dozen soldiers fought in a battered formation, their bullets chipping at the unending tide of zombie corpses—some buckling, others screaming as they fell. The ground trembled with each undead footstep.
From the flank, a soldier's voice cracked over the cacophony:
"Templar at eleven o'clock!"
Himeko spun, blade slicing through flesh with a ringing report, as a Chariot with its massive body charging like a battering ram trying to break the line.
She opened her mouth, ready to shout a coordinate or warning—but a voice cut through the chaos:
"Let me."
From the swirl of bodies, Adam emerged. His movements were controlled yet fluid—like water. He vaulted onto a wrecked sedan, pushing forward onto a crumbling rooftop, chanting in a low, steady murmur.
His gesture unleashed a crackling rope of electric yellow energy, latching tightly around the Templar's weapons and hulking form. Sparks danced along its length as the monster tried to wrench free.
Silence hung.
Then Adam dropped from the roof, his form coiling like a spring. He landed with a crashing thud at the Templar's side, stepping onto its shield. With one swift and precise stab, he drove his blade through the Templar's chest and shattered its core.
A collective gasp rose. The towering titan buckled and lost all sign of life as the purple glow around its body dimmed signifying its death.
Some soldiers cheered before their leader shouted at them angrily.
"Focus! Now!"
---
From Hua's Perspective
Hua's rifle felt like it was made of lead, her palms slick inside her gloves. She forced air into her lungs, tasting dust and copper, forcing her finger to squeeze the trigger in steady bursts. Seven days ago, she'd been a civilian—now she was crouched behind a barricade of rotting corpses, covering the line while Adam tore through enemies like a force of nature.
Her jaw tightened. He was already somewhere far ahead of her. Could she ever catch up?
Her fists twitched against the rifle's grip. Every instinct screamed to throw the gun aside and meet the enemy bare-handed. But she wasn't stupid—zombies, maybe. Dead Soldiers or Honkai Beasts? Their hides were like stone; her knuckles would shatter before they did.
Normally, she didn't care to measure herself against others in anything but martial arts. That was her thing—her one point of pride.
She remembered the first day she joined Himeko's squad, when she'd ended up beside Adam in the mess tent. They were strangers in a room full of strangers, but he had already helped her and Carole more than once. That, and he was the only other new recruit.
They'd talked between bites. Hua's curiosity got the better of her when she asked about his swordsmanship. Adam, almost off-handedly, mentioned he'd dabbled in a few martial arts as well. It ended with her dragging him into a sparring match after dinner.
That first night, she'd dismantled him easily—his footwork clumsy, his timing a beat too slow. He clearly belonged with a blade in hand, not fists. Still, he agreed to make it a nightly thing, saying he needed a sparring partner to polish his skills.
The second night she still won. The third, too. But something was… different.
By the fifth night, he beat her in twenty moves.
By the sixth, she couldn't even follow his footwork.
By the seventh—last night—she was striking at shadows, unable to tell which of his afterimages was real.
And that was when the cracks formed. Her one field of mastery, the thing she was most proud of, had been stripped away by someone who didn't even specialize in it. To Adam, hand-to-hand was a side project. Swordsmanship was his true focus.
The rifle kicked in her hands again, brass clinking on the asphalt. Somewhere in the smoke and screams, Adam cut down another beast, and the question returned, sharper than before.
If she couldn't be the better fighter… then what was she?
The frustration boiling inside her is gnawing at her mind and heart. Almost to the point of forming Heart Demon.
After all, she had trained her whole life from a very young age for almost a decade. Yet she was surpassed by someone who only trained for less than a week.
Hua can't imagine if Adam was given another week. With his meteoric growth rate, she feared that she wouldn't even be able to glimpse at his shadow anymore.
She secretly glanced at Adam who is still fiercely fighting against hordes of enemies like the incarnation of a god, surrounded from all sides yet remains untouchable as he kills powerful Honkai Beasts with a single thrust of his blade.
She vowed in her heart that she will chase after him and repay the life debt she owes him for saving her and Carole.
———
After the battle, the 5th Squad trudged back to their temporary camp outside Sapphire City.
In one of the larger mess tents, Adam sat with eyes closed, posture deceptively relaxed. Behind his eyelids, a faint blue script floated in the darkness — the quiet hum of the System filling his mind.
The air smelled faintly of sweat, steel, and thin ration stew. Outside, the cold wind rattled the tent walls like restless fingers.
===
Name: Adam White
Spiritual Age: 34
Race: Hybrid Human (Shinigami)
Rank: Unseated Officer Level
Strength: 37
Agility: 18
Endurance: 25
Reiryoku: 5763
Reiatsu: 132
[Zanjutsu – Expert (2%)]
[Hakuda – Novice (100%)]
[Hoho – Adept (12%)]
[Kido – Novice (67%)]
[Reiatsu Manipulation]
> Active
[Spiritual Vision]
[Spiritual Sense]
[Soul Purification]
[Konso]
[Jigokuchō]
===
His gaze lingered on the Zanjutsu entry — finally at Expert level. Only two percent into the rank, but even that sliver opened techniques and instincts unavailable before.
The Zankensoki knowledge the System had first granted him had been nothing more than the Shino Academy's basic curriculum: ordinary, predictable drills every rookie could execute. Anything beyond that required a purchase from the System Shop, and those techniques came at a premium.
His breakthrough had cost him everything — nearly all points he saved were spent on the Omnitsukidō Swordsmanship Manual. The style specialized in reading an opponent, slipping into the gaps of their defense, and striking precisely at their weakness like an assassin. Perfect for Honkai Beasts, whose only true vulnerability was the core in their chest.
Now his point balance sat at just a few hundreds. Ahead lay the grinding: more proactive deployments, deadlier missions, and no safety net. But if it meant changing the fates of those around him — especially Hua and Himeko — it was worth the cost.
The panel faded at his mental command, leaving only the dim lamplight of the tent. Most of the squad lay scattered across bedrolls, their breathing slow with exhaustion. A few kept watch at the entrance, eyes scanning the night beyond the flap.
One of them noticed Adam's eyes scanning the surroundings and mistaken him for being impatient.
"Hungry?"
Adam turned. The soldier beside him held out an energy bar, its wrapper crinkling softly in her glove.
"Sure. Thanks," he said, accepting it.
"You're our ace," she said, a quick smirk tugging at her lips. "But you should eat more — any leaner and I'll start mistaking you for one of us, with that sword of yours or not."
Adam removed his helmet and began eating with an acknowledging hum.
The low murmur of conversation in the tent dipped. Somewhere, a spoon scraped a tin bowl. He didn't need to glance up to know eyes had shifted toward him — the same as every time he sat in a crowd. The only man in sight always drew attention.
It hadn't always been like this. In this era, men still fought in the war against the Honkai, but the balance tilted heavily toward women. Too many men had been claimed in the early disasters. However, it shouldn't be that bad that the whole squad is wholly female.
His knowledge from his previous world didn't cover this part either because Himeko is a side character in Hua's story which was only mentioned briefly.
Curious, Adam turned to the soldier beside him who had just offered him the energy bar.
"Hmn? You are curious why all of us are female?" The soldier repeated the question before she fell into a daze trying to recall some memories and information.
After a while, she answered.
"Well, you know about the situation where females are more likely to have Honkai Resistance than men?"
Adam nodded along and listened attentively. But in his mind he recalled the reason why females of the Previous Era still have higher Honkai Resistance. Especially the beautiful ones thanks to a certain pink haired lesbian.
"Well, due to that. The number of male survivors is low and those who choose to join Fire Moth are even fewer."
"Captain Himeko's squad recruited mostly women — orphans, the displaced — though it wasn't a strict rule. Most surviving men sought the main headquarters, lured by better resources, faster promotions… and the safety of numbers."
"Branch squads like us had no such luxury. When outbreaks hit, reinforcements could take hours or days to arrive. Often, help arrived only after everyone had died." She finished explaining, her voice already turned slightly hoarse and depressed from unpleasant memories.
Adam knew what those losses could do to a person. This thought tugged at a memory. Memories from his previous world. Memories about the Previous Era Himeko. He remembered too clearly how the weight of it all had driven her to despair… and into becoming the 7th Herrscher. A tragic heroine turns traitor because of the corruption that festered in Fire Moth.
That was why he stayed here. No, he must stay here and change the future. Because if history tried to repeat itself, he intended to break it. A selfish and genuine wish he intended to do regardless of cost.
—————
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