"Boom!"
Above!
A sharp glint flashed in Mei's purple eyes. She lightly pushed off the ground, and her entire body flew upwards, leaving a faint smell of scorching in the air.
Seeing Lin's sniping figure before he could retreat, Mei controlled her giant arm to slash her blade, cleaving the skyscraper directly in the middle. Then, she accelerated a second time, drawing her sword and cutting towards Lin.
No...
Mei paused just before reaching Lin. She frowned, looking at the "Lin" in front of her, and understood when she saw that he was only maintaining the sniping posture.
Is this a projected decoy?
Mei already had a good idea of what was going to happen next.
"Da, da, da, da, da, da..."
Mei expanded the shield around her. The bullets were disintegrated without even making a ripple on the shield.
But before she could counterattack, a miniature missile accurately struck her shield. Mei realized that this tiny missile instantly disintegrated her shield.
This is technology specifically targeting a Herrscher's shield!
Mei immediately retracted her shield and retreated, but it was too late. The missile exploded directly in front of her, and the blooming flames burned in the city air.
...
Elysia swung her legs and laughed, watching the brilliant flames. "Wow, Lin is different when he's properly equipped."
"So those are Brother Lin's equipment." Pardo suddenly realized. "But why haven't I seen them before?"
"Because those pieces of equipment were already phased out as obsolete before Pardo joined," Elysia counted on her fingers. "The light projection technology developed from the 4th Herrscher's power, the neutralizing missiles targeting the Honkai Energy shields common to Herrschers, and Lin's consistently used main weapons..."
"Then why were they phased out?"
"Why... Because they all became unnecessary later on. The focus of Fire Moth's development shifted to the MANTISes."
Lin was not a MANTIS candidate. What he could achieve with equipment, the MANTISes could also do, so naturally, no more resources were allocated to him for developing new equipment.
After the 4th Eruption, Lin's standing in Fire Moth had been on a downward trend. In a way, it was his own choice.
The so-called correct path is to be absolutely certain of oneself.
Lin, who adheres to this belief, probably doesn't care about those past events either.
...
One missile couldn't possibly harm a Herrscher, but it made Mei realize that it would be best not to passively meet the attack. If Lin, this opportunist in combat, gained the upper hand, defeat would only be a matter of time.
With her mind made up, Mei held nothing back. She fully drove her authority, and a dragon shadow roared out with thunder from behind her!
"Kurikara!"
The black and red giant dragon firmly received Mei. Then, at her command, destructive Honkai energy condensed in its mouth—
"Howl—"
A destructive crimson light swept across the city. Everywhere it passed turned to scorched earth. The steel skyscrapers fell like straw.
In just a few seconds, she had destroyed nearly half of the buildings. The energy fluctuation consecutively destroyed other tall buildings through a chain reaction. The armored giant dragon skimmed the ground at low altitude, sweeping away every gap where Lin might be.
Since he deliberately lured her in, she would simply comply!
Seeing the area shrink rapidly and the Herrscher causing such havoc still heading towards them, Pardo nervously hid behind Elysia. "S-S-Sister Ellie, maybe we should leave first?"
"Don't worry, Lin is watching."
"Sizzle—"
No sooner had she spoken than six particle beams struck Kurikara's wing from behind Mei. The power wasn't particularly strong, but it still made Kurikara howl, trembling and nearly crashing.
"So you finally came out?" Mei gently patted Kurikara's back to soothe it, then turned to look at the figure standing in the ruins.
At this moment, Lin wasn't holding a gun. He had returned to his stance of holding a dual-blade in each hand.
But that wasn't the main point.
"Those are..."
What Mei focused on were the six turret-like objects floating beside Lin. They had no propulsion components but floated steadily in the air, as if defying gravity.
Funnel weapons?
Mei had seen weapons with similar designs. Or rather, thanks to the technological achievements of the Previous Era, her time had many weapons derived from Previous Era technology, including anti-gravity suspension devices and funnels.
But Mei could sense that these funnels were completely different from the ones she had seen. Just as the Previous Era's Titans and Anti-Entropy's Titans belonged to two entirely different technological paths.
This person, when did he...
However, Lin didn't give her much time to think. Without needing to use his hands, under the control of his neural consciousness, the six funnels immediately unfolded, aimed at Kurikara beneath her, and began bombardment.
And when Mei and Kurikara tried to counterattack the funnels, the mobility displayed by those turrets caught Mei off guard.
Lightning and Honkai Energy blasts were easily dodged. Lin seemed to have the ability to foresee the future, accurately predicting her every attack, dodging with the smallest yet most precise movements, and rushing straight towards her.
Should she dodge? Or should she meet the attack?
Mei finally understood what Elysia meant by "Lin's ability" before she came.
"It's just a small hint, but I hope Mei can remember it."
"What?"
"Lin's MANTIS surgery failed, and it didn't grant him extra abilities like Kevin's cryokinesis or Mobius's molting. But that doesn't mean Lin himself is a mediocre person without any extra abilities."
"I don't think he's mediocre. At least, the fact that he's acknowledged by Kalpas in terms of combat power suggests he's not as simple as he looks."
"Not in that aspect. I'm talking about where Lin is different from 'us'."
"..."
"You might encounter situations where you feel Lin can predict the future."
"...You're not going to tell me his real ability is precognition, are you?"
Judging by Lin's Signet symbol, there was indeed a slight possibility, but precognition was too unscientific. Naturally, Mei couldn't take it seriously.
"In any case, Mei, you had better not show all your abilities at the beginning, or you won't be able to beat Lin."
Thoughts raced through her mind. Mei looked at the rapidly approaching Lin. After some deliberation, she decisively instructed Kurikara to retreat.
At the same time, bolts of lightning fell from the sky, engulfing Lin's figure.
It didn't hit!
Mei didn't need to look to know the result. The information between the two was already unequal.
If her guess was correct, Lin was deducing her abilities based on the Herrscher of Thunder from the previous era, while she knew nothing about Lin. The information exchange was unequal from the start.
To win, she had to win with something other than her Herrscher Authority—that's what Lin was trying to tell her.
Then let's do it!
Mei drew her sword, meeting Lin as he flashed out of thin air.