To be honest, Sakura didn't feel much burden in her heart about the outcome of surrender.
If anything, she actually felt relieved.
Even before carrying out the mission, Sakura had felt some turmoil in her heart. Killing a hero like Acheron—forget whether she even had the ability—even if she succeeded, would it truly be good for humanity?
A hero who fought against the Honkai, not dying on the battlefield but instead falling at the hands of her own comrades… What kind of tragedy was that?
But Sakura couldn't hesitate. She still had her little sister. She had to move forward.
When she was defeated by Acheron, she had already felt somewhat resigned.
Perhaps her sins were about to end right here.
However, when Acheron showed no intention of killing her, Sakura still felt a flicker of relief in her heart.
She wasn't afraid of death, but she was terrified that if she died, her little sister would be left alone in this world with no one to care for her.
So, she quickly chose to surrender.
"Kalpas, join Fire Moth. You have nowhere else to go, right? Mei will arrange a position for you."
After subduing Sakura, Acheron turned her gaze to Kalpas, who stood to the side.
"Tch..."
Kalpas watched the scene unfold, unable to avoid a moment of hesitation.
"That person who gave Sakura the order to silence everyone today—you'll be the one to personally apprehend him."
"Deal."
Faced with Acheron's offer, Kalpas agreed without the slightest hesitation.
In truth, since even Aponia had decided to join Fire Moth, and the children from the sanatorium would be taken in by Fire Moth to receive proper treatment, he really had nowhere else to go by himself.
It was just that, before this, he had been hesitating about where he should go.
But since Acheron had laid out such terms, Kalpas would be a fool to refuse.
He just had a bad temper—it didn't mean he lacked brains.
In fact, Kalpas was plenty clever. It was just that thinking too much was exhausting; he preferred to let his fists do the talking.
Everything had happened far too quickly. While Acheron was making decisions, Elysia hadn't offered any opinions, merely watching quietly from the side.
Truth be told, even if Acheron had chosen to kill Sakura, Elysia might have found it a pity, but she wouldn't have intervened. She was kind, but she wasn't a saint.
Mercy toward an enemy is cruelty to your own.
Still, in the end, everyone was happy, which put Elysia in a rather good mood.
To seize the moment and deal with the enemy before they could react, Acheron didn't linger. She immediately took Sakura and Kalpas back to Fire Moth.
She needed to find Mei. The tasks that lay ahead couldn't be accomplished by her alone. But Mei was different—she held a high position within Fire Moth and commanded significant resources.
In fact, one reason the enemy had acted so quickly was precisely because Mei's prestige within Fire Moth had been growing steadily, thanks to a series of events like the campaign against the Herrscher and the MANTIS surgery.
"I won't be involved in this matter. I'll take my leave now."
Once they returned to Fire Moth, Elysia waved her hand at Acheron. "Remember to come back for dinner tonight! I specially bought you a white peach cake."
As she spoke, she lifted the bag in her hand and said with a bright smile.
"Mm, I will."
Acheron nodded, then led Kalpas and Sakura toward Dr. Mei's office.
Acheron had already contacted Dr. Mei on the way back, so by now, Dr. Mei had cleared her other tasks and was waiting in her office.
"Has this day finally come?"
Dr. Mei looked at Sakura, her expression complex, tinged with a trace of anger.
Complex, because she disliked internal strife. No matter what, under the shadow of the Honkai, infighting only weakened them. And anger—because she was furious that the enemy would dare target Acheron.
After all, Acheron was now a hero of Fire Moth and humanity's strongest combatant. If Acheron fell, who would stand against the Herrschers?
Aside from Acheron, even Kevin, currently the second strongest in Fire Moth, couldn't solo a Herrscher at this stage...
"I'm already aware of your situation, Sakura. I've dispatched Kevin to secure and protect your sister. You needn't worry."
After a brief exchange and formulating a plan, Dr. Mei nodded toward Sakura, giving her assurance.
"I understand..."
Her sister was her weakness, and Dr. Mei's words essentially meant... Don't try any tricks—your sister is in my hands.
Although Dr. Mei would never harm an innocent girl, using this to keep Sakura, the "surrendered general," in line was quite effective.
"As for Mr. Kalpas..."
Dr. Mei looked at Kalpas, somewhat troubled. To be honest, she didn't know much about him. Her trust in him was solely because of Acheron.
"Kalpas will join the newly formed squad, 'Viper,' together with Sakura. Of course, if Kalpas prefers, he can also join an existing team within Fire Moth. With his abilities, he'd likely become a squad leader in no time."
With a few words, Acheron settled Kalpas's future arrangements.
"Tch... So troublesome. Whatever, just arrange it as you see fit."
Kalpas sighed and replied indifferently.
"Oh? It seems this Mr. Kalpas is no ordinary person."
Dr. Mei regarded him with curiosity.
"He's the one who killed the Fifth Herrscher."
Acheron explained calmly.
Kalpas abruptly turned to look at Acheron. How did she know about that?
But, well, it wasn't like she had any ill intentions toward him. So what if she knew?
The most shocked by this revelation, however, was actually Dr. Mei.
After all, back when the Fifth Herrscher was killed by an unknown hero, it had caused quite a stir within Fire Moth.
At the time, everyone in Fire Moth was speculating about who could single-handedly eliminate a Herrscher.
But in the end, the truth was never uncovered, and as time passed, the matter was set aside.
Dr. Mei never expected that Acheron, just by stepping out for a bit, would bring back such a huge surprise.
"We can discuss Kalpas's matters later. You should set off now, before the enemy grows suspicious."
As she spoke, a firm glint flashed in Dr. Mei's eyes.
She disliked using such methods, but when the enemy resorted to them, she had no choice but to retaliate.
This time, Dr. Mei was determined to temporarily consolidate Fire Moth under her sole authority.
In this apocalyptic environment, if they couldn't unite but instead chose to split apart, Fire Moth would inevitably collapse from within.
In fact, internal discord usually had a significant impact on any team.
There was no turning back once the first move was made. Having started this, Dr. Mei's next step was to crush the opposition completely, leaving no room for error.
But with three beings of Herrscher-level strength on their side, how could they possibly fail?
Moreover, Acheron was in a league of her own.
--+--
Meanwhile, Elijah had already uncorked a bottle of champagne. He poured the wine into a glass, completely unaware of the approaching danger.
Until the moment his room door was kicked open with a loud BAM! The tremendous force shattered the lock, startling Elijah.
"Who's there?!"
Elijah, frightened, stared nervously at the doorway.
This place was supposed to be very secure, and few people knew his location.
"It's your granddad!"
Before Elijah could speak or explain, Kalpas snorted angrily, rushed forward, grabbed him by the collar, and shook him so hard it nearly blended his brains.
"Wait! Do you have any idea who I am? How dare you treat me like this!"
After venting his rage, Kalpas finally released him. Only then did Elijah regain his senses and take a proper look at the people who had barged in.
"Sakura! You betrayed me!"
When his eyes fell on Sakura, his face contorted with fury. He could only point a trembling finger at her and snarl, "Have you forgotten your sister? If you dare lay a finger on me, your sister is finished!"
"No need to trouble yourself with that. Sakura's sister will be perfectly fine."
Acheron, seeing the smug look on Elijah's face, knew exactly what he was thinking—undoubtedly that the people around Rin weren't just the ones they knew.
After all, she was the weakness of a MANTIS; Elijah would naturally want to control her tightly.
As for Elijah, Acheron didn't choose to kill him outright. Surprisingly, neither did Kalpas. Honestly, the fact that Kalpas had spared his life came as a slight surprise to Acheron.
In fact, before they set out, Dr. Mei had explicitly stated that it wouldn't matter even if they killed Elijah.
Although Dr. Mei disliked these power struggles, now that they had begun, she had to be ruthless.
In this regard, she saw things more clearly and rationally than Kevin.
In a way, Kevin was also under Dr. Mei's protection. It was precisely because of her that Kevin didn't have to deal with all these messy affairs and could focus solely on fighting the Honkai.
In a sense, the two complemented each other.
In the end, Acheron and the others took Elijah away and brought him to the "Bing Grand Hotel"—well, actually, he was arrested and charged with crimes against humanity.
Since they weren't going the route of assassination, the next best thing was to convict him outright.
After all, it was a fact that he had sent Sakura to eliminate everyone at the sanatorium.
He also possessed a lot of intelligence. Since they weren't going to kill him immediately, they might as well make use of the waste.
At first, when Elijah realized his life wasn't in immediate danger, he gradually grew more arrogant.
However, Acheron and Sakura were quite skilled at... cleaning.
By the time they finished "cleaning," Elijah was left with only half a life.
"He's confessed everything. What a worthless piece of trash. I nearly sent him to the afterlife with just one light punch."
Kalpas snorted coldly and spoke dismissively.
Accustomed to a life of luxury, his physical condition was appallingly poor. During the... cleaning session, Kalpas had held back significantly, afraid he might accidentally kill him outright.
And Dr. Mei, true to her reputation, used the intelligence extracted from Elijah to rapidly consolidate her control over Fire Moth.
Since the struggle had already begun and all pretenses were dropped, there was no need to hold back.
However, both sides initially showed some restraint. The ordinary soldiers remained unaware of what had transpired over those two days.
"Welcome back~ You've worked hard."
Upon returning home, Elysia immediately brought out a plate of white peach pudding and set it in front of Acheron, then looked at her with an expectant gaze.
"It's delicious."
Although she had nearly lost her sense of taste, Acheron could still detect a faint sweetness.
In truth, given Acheron's current status, she could easily have her own place. But neither Acheron nor Elysia had ever brought it up. It seemed they had grown accustomed to living together.
Whether Acheron moved out or Elysia did, both would likely feel a sense of loss.
The room would feel like it was missing something.
In fact, when Elysia lived alone before, she never noticed this aspect.
It was only after Acheron appeared, becoming part of the everyday fabric of her life, that she suddenly realized she had grown used to her presence.
--+--
Two months had passed since Dr. Mei decided to make her move. In that time, she had basically secured command authority over Fire Moth.
During this period, Honkai disasters around the world still occurred occasionally, but both their frequency and intensity were low. At most, an Emperor-class Honkai beast would appear.
But against the current Fire Moth, that level wasn't too threatening.
Kevin could handle them alone, and the other MANTIS, working together against such monsters, could avoid casualties.
It had to be said—the MANTIS were simply too powerful.
During this time, both Mobius and Dr. Mei had been diligently performing MANTIS surgeries.
Although the number of MANTIS was still small, as long as no Herrscher-level enemies appeared, these MANTIS could handle things!
For a time, an optimistic mood spread within Fire Moth.
Humanity would surely overcome the Honkai!
However, the peaceful days didn't last long. One week later, at noon, a sharp, piercing alarm reverberated throughout Fire Moth.
"Mu Continent! Mu Continent is detecting an intense Honkai energy reaction! At this concentration... a Herrscher is going to be born!"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.