ALL NOVEL Chapter 222: The Final Battle, Part 6
The surface of the ocean, frozen solid, stretched as a vast, white expanse. A whale, caught mid-leap as the ice spread, became a macabre, frozen statue.
Waves, solidified into jagged glaciers, pointed accusingly at the sky.
This was the aftermath of Kevin's attack, a frozen wasteland that would take months to thaw. It was June, but the people of the Japan shivered, huddled against a cold more reminiscent of the Arctic.
Schicksal Valkyries, mobilized by Otto's command, oversaw the evacuation efforts.
"I'm not leaving! Look at these thick steel walls! It's safer here than anywhere else! Even if there's another earthquake, we'll be fine! We're used to earthquakes here!"
BOOM!
Before the man could finish his sentence, a massive explosion rocked the frozen ocean, a mushroom cloud of ice and snow billowing into the sky. The shockwave reached the mainland, cracking the earth, threatening to topple even the most reinforced structures.
Panic erupted. The crowds surged towards the exits, trampling each other in their desperate flight.
The man who had insisted on staying shoved aside an elderly woman, scrambling towards a Schicksal transport ship. The woman cried out, but the man didn't look back.
Until faced with true danger, people always clung to a delusion of safety.
"Get out of my way!" The man pushed past a Valkyrie guarding the entrance to the transport ship. The world spun, and he found himself lying on the ground.
"You bastards! We pay taxes for you to protect us! I'm going to report you!" He clutched his head, glaring at the Valkyrie, a stream of curses flowing from his lips. The Valkyrie's face flushed, but bound by her orders not to harm civilians, she remained silent.
Emboldened by her silence, the man stood, raising his hand to strike, but a cold, sharp scythe stopped him.
The man, his bravado evaporating, stumbled back, collapsing in terror.
The Valkyrie looked at Rita, who had emerged from the transport ship, gratitude in her eyes. Rita shook her head. "We are Schicksal, not the Japanese government. The mission takes priority. Use any means necessary, short of lethal force."
She fired her pistol into the air, silencing the chaotic crowd.
"All Valkyries, maintain order during the evacuation. This is an S-rank emergency. Use force if necessary."
Having restored order, Rita turned towards Nagazora. This city was the closest to the epicenter of the disturbance. Durandal was there, facing a powerful enemy.
Despite her confidence in Bianka's abilities, Rita couldn't shake her worry. She wasn't strong enough to participate in a battle of that scale, not even as support.
…
Ice crystals fell upon the frozen ocean. A tide of black, consuming the sky, flowed towards a single point. Mexicatl, Kevin's companion, was a powerful entity, capable of shifting its form, of devouring all in its path.
But within the swirling darkness, a deeper darkness stirred, disrupting the black tide. Mexicatl, an intangible entity, recoiled as if from a predator, its form fragmenting. The fragments, attempting to reshape into monstrous forms, were devoured by Tonatiuh, now a vessel for the Will of the Honkai.
Its quantum form, consumed by the Imaginary Tree's encroaching power, was annihilated, becoming sustenance for Tonatiuh (Star Eater).
The black tide spread across the land, consuming Nagazora, spawning grotesque, Imaginary creatures that devoured everything in their path.
"What is this…?" Kevin and Durandal, sensing the shift, ceased their battle. This was unlike any Honkai corruption they had encountered, a palpable aura of chaos radiating even from the sky.
All light was extinguished, swallowed by the darkness, as if the sun itself had been devoured.
Kevin's azure eyes narrowed, his usually impassive face creased in a frown. He tried to summon Mexicatl, but the connection was severed.
The black energy seeped into the earth, spreading across the frozen ocean, turning the white ice a dark, ominous shade.
"Is this… your doing?" Durandal, receiving a communication from Otto, momentarily set aside her hostility towards Kevin. She scanned the spreading corruption, searching for Kiana.
She spotted her at the edge of the chasm, wielding a golden greatsword, battling the emerging monsters.
"No." Kevin's voice was curt. He began gathering his power.
The fusion of Imaginary and Sea of Quanta energies seemed impossible, yet Kevin, a veteran of the Previous Era, had witnessed such phenomena before.
But what caught his attention was the message left by Prometheus 17, a warning of the Will of the Honkai's arrival.
He knew what the Will of the Honkai was, but it shouldn't be able to directly influence the material world. This was unexpected. He wasn't afraid of the Will of the Honkai itself, but its direct intervention suggested an unforeseen complication in MEI's plan.
If the plan failed, the hopes of the Previous Era would be dashed, his companions, his loved ones, everything he had fought for, erased. He had to fulfill his duty as a pioneer, to complete the Stigmata Project, before everything spiraled out of control.
"No matter the cost, humanity will defeat the Honkai."
Power surged within him, the frigid Honkai energy forcing even Durandal to retreat. The air crackled as he compressed the energy, a blinding white light engulfing the world once more.
A chilling sound, like ice cracking, filled the air. Space-time froze under Kevin's control, the turbulent spatial currents solidifying, revealing Tonatiuh (Star Eater), trapped within.