According to the draw, Kevin's proposal—boys versus girls—was chosen first. Since his reasoning was that "boys are physically stronger than girls," the girls' team didn't get their health points halved; they stayed the same.
Before the mock battle started, both sides huddled to discuss their strategies.
"Our close-combat specialist is Kosma," Silas said. "So you'll hold the line against Hua. Kevin, like me, you can handle both close and ranged, so you take on Sakura. I'll handle Elysia. As for Pardofelis, she's more of a skirmisher, and after this period of training, she's not to be underestimated either. But our numbers are really tight here, so when the battle begins, the three of us should keep our distance close enough for mutual support."
"If it comes to choosing opponents, I think I'm better suited to deal with Elysia," Kevin interjected.
Silas squinted at him. Did this guy even know what he was saying? He was trying to protect him here. If Kevin had already undergone the MANTIS surgery, sure, no problem. But right now, wasn't he just another rising star in Fire Moth, about the same level as Silas himself? What was he going to fight Elysia with? And was he certain she wouldn't just outright kill him?
Still… Kevin wasn't wrong. Silas had little actual combat experience against Elysia himself, though he'd certainly watched her fight.
And speaking of opponents—Silas had crossed blades with Kevin plenty of times. In fact, in his past life, he'd fought Kevin more than anyone else. Kevin's growth rate, however, far outstripped everyone else's. Before long, Kevin, wielding Judgment of Shamash, was soloing the entire cadre of Flame-Chasers.
It wasn't until Silas gained the right to wield Black Abyss White Flower and teamed up with Lilith that they finally managed to defeat Kevin for the first time.
Elysia had fought Kevin a few times too, but every time she conceded voluntarily. Her side note, Kevin was far too rough on girls—nothing gentlemanly about him at all.
Of course, anyone with eyes could tell Elysia hadn't been fighting seriously. But Kevin's dazzling record eventually led everyone to classify him as stronger than Elysia.
As for who was actually stronger between Kevin and Elysia, Silas didn't know. Their last duel had been during the so-called [Last Banquet]. Kevin's account was that she'd beaten him up. Maybe Elysia had been serious that time—but Kevin hadn't.
Still, since Kevin was determined to do this, so be it. Getting smacked around might not be a bad thing; maybe it would quiet down this would-be "ship captain."
But one thing Silas still couldn't figure out was why Kevin seemed so invested in his relationship with Lilith.
"Suit yourself then," Silas muttered, already shifting his mind to how he'd handle Sakura. As for that other matter, he'd ask Kevin later.
Fire Moth had facilities specifically for squad battle simulations, capable of projecting all kinds of environments in full holographic detail. You needed to book in advance to use them.
They got lucky today—the request was approved immediately. In other words, not many people had signed up for squad training.
Just how big was the main Fire Moth base? In essence, it was a massive military complex, with a permanent population of over 300,000. This included soldiers, researchers, administrators, as well as their families. It was basically a small city in its own right.
Later, as the threat of the Honkai worsened, the Fire Moth HQ would receive more and more funding, but also see increasingly vicious infighting at the upper levels.
Silas mentally counted the timeline. Around the time of the Fourth Herrscher incident, he needed to find a way to bring Lilith into Fire Moth, then destroy "Arc Moon" and retrieve Sariel for the next stage of his plan.
The simulated squad battle began. The chosen scenario was a city at dusk.
"Why not daytime?" Kosma asked, looking up at the artificial night sky projected onto the ceiling.
"You should be glad Elysia didn't choose a rainy night city," Silas replied. "Looks like she plans to maximize her team's strengths. Meanwhile, for us…"
"A rainy night city? I've heard of that sim but never tried it," Kosma admitted.
"As the Fallen Angel squad, we've had to fight Honkai beasts in all sorts of environments around the world. Of course we trained under every condition imaginable," Silas said, glancing at Kevin with a hint of puzzlement. "Don't tell me you guys haven't?"
Kevin paused for a moment before answering:
"The Fallen Angels are practically Fire Moth's most elite squad. We're a unit that combines reconnaissance, analysis, and heavy assault all in one. The training you've gone through isn't the same as ours. At the very least, some of those simulation environments were configured specifically for your team. You didn't know that?"
Silas: "..."
He really didn't know. No wonder whenever he led training, Lilith always picked things like burning infernos or frozen wastelands.
So she'd been planning this sort of specialized training from the start?
The "dusk city" battlefield wasn't actually that large—maybe about two and a half football fields in size. Too big, and with so few participants, they'd just end up wandering around unable to find each other.
Both sides entered from opposite gates. The tricky part about the dusk city was the play of light and shadow. And of course, Elysia's side had both an assassin and a skirmisher.
Meanwhile, Silas's team of three had mostly served as main attackers in past missions and drills.
Which meant…
"Go for a direct assault. Take down Hua first," Silas said. On Elysia's side, Elysia, Pardofelis, and Sakura were all mobile fighters. That left Hua as the only true frontliner. Sakura could fight head-on too, but if she did, she wouldn't be able to play to her strengths. For Silas's team, everything depended on whether they could break through with sheer force against Elysia's tactics.
Though come to think of it, if he had been sent to Elysia's side, and Hua to Kevin's, wouldn't things have ended up the same anyway?
If only Dystopia were here… she was a mobile type too, and would've evened the balance.
Meanwhile.
After walking Dystopia through the treatment process, Mobius remarked, "From what I hear, you came to me just to spite Kosma, didn't you?"
"I… I just can't accept it. I can't accept achieving success at the cost of sacrificing others," Dystopia replied.
Mobius gave her a brief glance, then lowered her head to organize the collected data, speaking as she worked:
"And what good does not accepting it do? With conventional means, treating Honkai erosion is completely ineffective. If we use my method, the success rate is still unknown—but it's absolutely higher than any current approach."
"And… what exactly is that method?" Dystopia asked.
A faint smile curved Mobius's lips.
"The principle is very simple—evolution. Humanity must evolve. But evolution always comes hand in hand with elimination. Do you understand what I mean?"
"…Isn't there any other way?"
"In this world? When has there ever been a perfect solution? You joined Fire Moth—then you must learn to cast aside that naïve thinking of yours. On the path of fighting the Honkai, there's no room for the kind of innocence you're clinging to."
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