At this point in history, even a Judgment-class Honkai beast like Śeṣa couldn't withstand missile bombardment. Ironically, such attacks were useless against Herrschers—a kind of mutual balance, perhaps. After all, Herrschers could use their powers to block incoming missiles before they hit, whereas their accompanying Honkai beasts—able to use only a fraction of Herrscher abilities—were usually forced to take the blast head-on.
But even if Śeṣa couldn't withstand the assault, even if her body was blasted into pieces, this still wasn't enough to completely destroy her.
Stepping into the missile-swept zone, Silas surveyed the ground, where patches of strange, pulsing, ghostly-green liquid oozed across the battlefield. He fell into thought.
So… this was why Elysia hadn't wanted to come?
If he remembered correctly, even Śeṣa's remains were corrosive to humans. A quick glance at the other soldiers—good, their protective gear was in place.
Still, there weren't enough proper containers or tools here to collect this liquid…
Ato immediately contacted the logistics department, requesting corrosion-resistant containers, along with shovels and other necessary tools. He also instructed the other soldiers to avoid contact with the substance and focus on locating Śeṣa's Honkai core, the most critical part to recover.
As for the solid remains that hadn't liquefied, those could be collected according to plan.
Silas remembered—in his past life, Fire Moth had practically turned over every inch of this area and still hadn't found Śeṣa's core, so…
Hmm? Something just brushed against his foot.
He reflexively jumped back, gun at the ready—only to find… a small, ghostly-green snake?
Beside him, Sakura immediately drew her blade.
Silas motioned for her to hold her attack. The little snake didn't seem aggressive toward him—but toward Sakura… it bared strong hostility, only to falter when it noticed her weapon. It slithered quickly to Silas, coiling around his calf, and then made a show of threatening Sakura from there.
Silas: "…"
This was… Śeṣa's true body, wasn't it?
Sakura: "…"
What in the world was this Honkai beast doing?
"Silas, have you found anything on your side?" Ato's voice came through the comms.
Glancing at the trembling yet still posturing Śeṣa, Silas replied, "No. Nothing here but more of that disgusting green liquid."
"Is that so? Then there's no helping it. We'll just have to collect all the liquid later and see if the core turns up."
Once the comms cut off, Sakura finally spoke. "This is… because you're a Herrscher now, isn't it?"
Silas was silent for a moment before answering, "…Probably."
He remembered—wasn't it in the next era that a certain pufferfish's companion Honkai beast, Benares, had fought alongside Mei?
If that was the case, then… did that mean companion Honkai beasts were naturally inclined to side with other Herrschers when their own Herrscher wasn't around to command them?
Forget it. He'd just bring Śeṣa back in this form for now. As for the actual answer to that question—he could leave it to Mobius. There was no point in him overthinking it.
Bending down, Silas picked Śeṣa up and placed her into the special backpack Vill-V had made for him. Mobius had already studied Śeṣa once, but she still needed more samples for further research. Apparently, she was planning to approach the problem from a different angle this time, so she'd asked Silas to bring back a portion of the remains. When he'd gone to Vill-V with the request, she'd handed him the pack and sworn up and down that no one else would have any clue what was inside unless they opened it.
Once Śeṣa was inside the backpack, she went completely still.
For a brief moment, Silas actually considered whether he could find a place to release her and raise her in secret—then command her later to fight other Herrschers or Honkai beasts when needed.
The idea lasted all of two seconds before he dismissed it. Completely unrealistic.
First, Śeṣa's attachment was to him, a Herrscher—how would he explain being able to command her?
Second, if he could command one Herrscher's companion, wouldn't that imply he could command other Herrschers too? That would open a whole new can of worms.
So… chances were, Mobius would still end up dissecting her.
"…Um, Silas." Sakura, who had been silent the whole way, suddenly spoke.
"You and Lilith really aren't lovers, are you?"
"Huh? Didn't Elysia already say so?" Silas gave her a puzzled look. "Lilith and I really aren't lovers. At least… not before the Tragedy of Restraint, I never had any such thoughts."
Sakura quietly let out a breath of relief—though she wasn't sure why she felt the need to.
She'd been dwelling on the question this whole time, worried Silas might have been intimidated into silence by Elysia's gaze. The thought had left her chest uncomfortably tight.
After all, Lilith had even gone so far as to make him Valentine's chocolate…
But since Silas said no, then it was no.
After a moment, Sakura spoke again. "Silas, how did you meet Lilith?" There was no hidden meaning—she was simply curious.
Silas thought for a moment before answering. "Ah, how I met Lilith… it wasn't anything special. I just rescued her during a mission once. That's all."
Oh, so it was a hero-saving-the-damsel situation. Understandable. Sakura nodded in acceptance.
As for whether Silas was telling the truth—well, whatever he said was what she would believe. If he thought she didn't need to know more, then she didn't need to know more. Yes… just like that.
Silas glanced at Sakura.
In truth, he had only given her the surface-level version of the story.
As for the real truth… he didn't think there was any need to reveal it. Not yet.
The Thirteen Fallen Angels weren't called that lightly — including himself, all thirteen were ruthless, stained with sin to the core.
Take Lilith, for example. On the surface, she was someone he rescued during a Honkai incident, but when he arrived, Lilith wasn't the only survivor.
He personally saw Lilith kill her father trapped beneath the rubble, then her fiancé, and then kill others right before his eyes.
Later, Lilith explained that she was just a tool, raised for arranged marriage, but she didn't want to live like a puppet. So that catastrophe became her chance to break free from those chains.
He didn't really care either way — he was there to save people. As for those survivors killing each other, that wasn't his concern. He thought if a girl was driven to such extremes, those people probably weren't good to begin with.
"After all, this was the previous era."
Later he learned that the fiancé was actually innocent; Lilith just wanted to silence him.
Then Lilith joined the MOTH.
As for another main attacker of the Thirteen Fallen Angels, Sariel, she was a killer trained from childhood by an organization — one survivor out of a thousand children after endless screening.
Then there was Asmodeus… He still didn't know why Lilith wanted to recruit her. Though obedient in the squad, she had personality disorders. She would get excited mid-fight and indiscriminately kill friend and foe alike, sometimes even going berserk when triggered. Before joining the Fallen Angels, she was a death row inmate.
Then there was Beelzebub, a fanatical warmonger much like Kalpas but even crazier. He actively sought out fights and kills. Also a death row inmate, on his first day in the squad, he challenged him to a life-or-death duel and got beaten to near death. After a few more beatings, he finally submitted.
Others included Naamah, Rofocale, or Astaroth...
In short, except for himself, every one of the Thirteen Fallen Angels had blood of innocents on their hands before becoming MANTIS. He himself wasn't any better, with his involvement in events like the rebellion purge and the dark secrets behind the Twelfth Herrscher incident.
But… thinking about it, some of the Thirteen Heroes weren't exactly clean either.
No, most members of the Fallen Angels leaned more toward subjective malice.
Kevin asked him to form the Fallen Angels squad now. After some serious thought — before, he hadn't considered it because of concerns for Elysia and the others, but now with Kevin taking the blame — he concluded it was still better not to form the squad for the time being.
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