On the edge of Nagazora City, at an emergency fortification.
"Wh-who are you? ...Forget it, knowing now is useless. Thank you for helping us. If it weren't for you, this last line of defense would have been breached hours ago, and surely more people would have died. Really, really, thank you very much."
A woman in her twenties, in the prime of her life, now slumped weakly against the wall. She looked at the ravaged land below the fortification. If the Honkai Beasts didn't disappear after being killed, there would be a mountain of corpses composed of hundreds, even thousands, of Honkai Beasts of varying sizes, a sea of blood.
The woman offered her sincere thanks to the boy standing silently beside her, holding his sword.
If he hadn't appeared hours ago, countless Honkai Beasts would have poured into the city from the suburbs. At that time, Nagazora City's evacuation hadn't been completed, and many people would certainly have died.
The Nagazora City garrison had no ability to hold this place; he alone had propped up the defense line.
"Don't relax. Hang in there for me."
Seeing the woman's gradually changing complexion, Evan frowned tightly. He reached out and forcibly absorbed the Honkai energy eroding her body from the outside to stop her zombification.
Evan, possessing seven Stigmata, could do this. He had already consumed a great deal of energy in the previous battles with Honkai Beasts. Absorbing Honkai energy from the outside was like replenishing energy, but it was also like drinking poison to quench thirst.
Unlike the stable Honkai energy provided by Stigmata, the external energy was too violent. Evan felt pain all over his body.
"S-stop... stop it. You must be tired too, right? Kill me before I turn into a zombie, and the area around this fortification will be safe for now. You can rest a bit. You must survive."
The woman's voice was intermittent. She wanted to push Evan away, but she couldn't exert any strength. In the previous battle, she had also given everything. There were originally dozens of people on the fortification. Now, her comrades were all dead. Some were killed by Honkai Beasts, and some committed suicide before being eroded into zombies by Honkai energy. She was the one who persisted until the end, but as the battle ended and her tight nerves relaxed, she finally couldn't hold on anymore.
"I said, hang in there for me!"
Evan endured the increasingly intense pain that almost pierced his marrow and soul, increasing the speed of absorbing the violent Honkai energy.
"You... you don't know me, and I don't know you. Why go to such lengths?"
The woman's voice began to carry a sobbing tone.
"Does saving someone need a reason? I want to do it, I can do it, so I do it... Sorry, there were too many Honkai Beasts before, I couldn't look after the others."
"Don't apologize. You are a hero... a hero fighting against the Honkai. You are the last person who should apologize."
Evan didn't answer, continuing his efforts while enduring the pain.
Just then, his phone rang. Seeing the caller, Evan took a deep breath and pressed the answer button while continuing to maintain the absorption of Honkai energy.
"Hello?"
"Evan, where the hell did you run off to? Anyway, it's good that you're still alive. Where are you now? Mei and I will come find you."
"...I'll come find you. Tell me your location. I'll find you there before the sun sets completely."
Evan tried hard to keep his voice steady, but inevitably, his volume was much lower and his speed much slower than usual. Fortunately, Kiana, who was happy just knowing Evan was alive, didn't notice.
Kiana gave a location. Evan told them to be careful and quickly hung up.
His forcibly suppressed breathing became rapid again.
He was too tired. Although he had the assistance of other members of the Nagazora City garrison before, their not-so-exaggerated conventional weapons were actually insufficient to kill giant Honkai Beasts over ten meters tall. Evan had always been the one doing the most work.
There were simply too many Honkai Beasts. Although most were of ordinary rank and Evan could easily kill a single one with his [Nitro Crystal] sword, similarly, if those Honkai Beasts hit Evan, they could injure him and reduce his combat power. This high-intensity endurance battle without any relaxation was a torment to both body and mind.
And now, he had to endure the severe pain brought by absorbing Honkai energy. To be honest, Evan could feel his body screaming, screaming much more exaggeratedly than when he trained frantically before.
He felt a little lucky now. Fortunately, he had trained so frantically back then; otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have been able to hold on and would have fainted.
"I feel much better. Since your friends are still in Nagazora City, hurry up and find them."
Thanks to Evan's efforts, the woman's zombification was successfully reversed. This was a miracle shocking enough for the whole world, happening right here on this apocalyptic fortification.
The woman had returned to normal now, only her stamina was still depleted, but she already had the strength to push away Evan's hand that was pressing on her shoulder to absorb Honkai energy.
"Do you think I'd leave you here alone?"
Evan laughed angrily. How could he just abandon the person he spent so much effort saving, the sole survivor of the Nagazora City garrison?
"Then leave her to Bronya."
Another girl's figure arrived on the fortification. Seeming to have heard what Evan said earlier, a huge mecha suspended in mid-air appeared behind her. The mecha's giant arm picked up the survivor.
"Bronya will do her best to take her to a safe place. Project Bunny 19C can absorb the Honkai energy in the surrounding air and create a relatively safe environment. No need to worry about her becoming a zombie."
At this moment, Evan, appearing at the edge of Nagazora City with the [Nitro Crystal] sword, had many suspicious points worth asking about. And Bronya, appearing here as well with a giant mecha behind her, was the same.
But neither of them asked.
"Okay, I'm counting on you."
Evan didn't leave first. He watched Bronya and the survivor disappear from his field of vision.
Thud.
The [Nitro Crystal] sword, originally held in Evan's hand, fell heavily to the ground with a muffled sound. Evan leaned on the greatsword and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"If the Honkai energy of artificial Stigmata is as violent as this, I can understand why Valkyries' lifespans are so short. Do they silently endure this level of pain too? I hope the Honkai energy of artificial Stigmata is gentler than that in the air. It's really torturous."
Evan left, returning to Nagazora City. He left behind a mouthful of blood, a temporary fortification miraculously preserved under a large-scale Honkai eruption, and a victory that might be remembered or might be buried right here.
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