The swaying figures appearing in the sunlight were all students dressed in school uniforms. There were about a dozen of them scattered about, wielding small knives and similar blades.
And on their faces was that same smile—a monstrous, distorted grin that had previously appeared on the waiter's face.
"Elysia."
"I know."
Lin reminded Elysia not to strike too hard, but his warning was unnecessary.
MANTIS obtained the abilities of Honkai Beasts through the Project Soldier surgery. Kevin controlled the power of ice and snow; Mobius controlled electricity and a black liquid substance; Sakura abilities were not disclosed to the public due to her special position in the "Poison Pupa" unit.
And Elysia ability was somewhat... fantastical.
Rather than a specific concrete concept, Elysia power looked more like "magic" from many fantasy works.
For example, right now.
Snap.
A peculiar sound emanated from her fingertips, which were covered in thimbles. Pink crystals were produced out of thin air, and four prism-like crystals instantly appeared around her. With a flick of her finger, the crystals shot toward the prisms, reflecting like brilliant light rays. In an instant, dozens of rainbow-like beams refracted in different directions, hitting the hands and feet of the charging people.
Miraculously, those high-speed crystals caused no injury. Instead, upon contact, they spread rapidly, freezing their feet to the ground and encasing their hands completely.
It all happened in an instant. From the moment Elysia activated her ability to the moment the crystals disappeared, barely a second had passed. If someone were watching, they might have thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.
What followed was relatively simple. Lin had originally intended to interrogate these people for information, but upon seeing they had no power to fight back, they simply fell unconscious.
Lin could only notify the branch personnel to come and take them back.
Watching these students being carried away on stretchers, Lin furrowed brow did not relax.
Ever since he learned the waiter had also seen the recording, an uneasy premonition had been growing in Lin heart. Aside from the final attempt to attack them, the waiter had behaved no differently than usual. If he had been lying from the start, Lin would have easily detected clues in his facial expressions and body language.
So, in reality, how many people have watched the recording? How many people, whose consciousness likely no longer belongs to them, are hidden within society?
And the worst-case scenario was... this was actually a "contagion."
Lin had considered the possibility that those whose normal consciousness had been snatched by the video were spreading it to others. However, it was unlikely that such a method wouldn't leave a trace, so he had dismissed the idea.
But now, with these students from the same school being "infected" on such a large scale and so coincidentally, he had to reconsider if that theory was true.
Yet, Lin had another doubt—one that arose after these so-called "attackers" appeared.
"Lin."
"Hmm?"
"Let's go get a room."
"..."
Pardo was gone.
In the few seconds it took Erwin to ask for directions, Pardo had vanished from behind him, right out in the sunlight.
His pupils shrank as he ran to where Pardo had been standing. Nothing was left. He looked around anxiously, trying to see if she had walked off somewhere.
This had nothing to do with anyone else; Erwin simply didn't want to see his teammates mysteriously disappear or die anymore.
During the Fifth Eruption, amidst the near-hopeless attacks of the Fifth Herrscher, most of his teammates had been killed or wounded. People he knew and those he didn't had died grisly deaths right before his eyes.
Within the transparent ice crystals, what scattered were blood-colored snowflakes.
And during the Sixth Eruption, Erwin experienced the most brutal Herrscher suppression battle in history. Overwhelming waves of Honkai Beasts and Deadweights surged like a tide, pulling the people around him into the depths, accompanied by the nauseating sound of chewing.
Right in front of him, the lives of those people were as light as feathers. When blood splashed on his face, it still carried their body heat.
Erwin knew his strength was negligible compared to Kevin or Lin. He was just a private; the fact that he had survived so many large-scale eruptions only proved his luck was good.
But at some point, Erwin had woken up from his stupor.
He realized he should do something—at least something within his power.
The words Kosma had roared at him during the Sixth Eruption were still fresh in his memory.
He couldn't fight his way through Honkai swarms as if they were nothing like Kevin and Lin, nor could he be as resolutely firm as Kosma. But Erwin still wanted to be a soldier, even if it meant trading his life for someone else's at a critical moment.
But now, his teammate—that girl—had actually disappeared?
This couldn't be a simple matter. Erwin's intuition told him that they had come here to investigate a strange occurrence, and Pardo vanished just as they reached their destination? There had to be a connection!
Erwin forced himself to stay calm. Panicking wouldn't help; the more anxious he was, the more likely he would miss something.
He imagined how Lin usually acted, took a deep breath, and let his inner heart quiet down.
First, Pardo couldn't have gone far. Only a few seconds had passed; even if she were flying, she couldn't have gone that far.
He focused his gaze on the surroundings again, but this time, he looked for places that could be used for hiding.
A corner? Behind a tree? Impossible. Based on the distance, those places couldn't have been used to kidnap someone in just a few seconds. Even if Pardo had walked there herself, it would have taken time. If she had resisted even slightly, it would be impossible...
Thus, Erwin immediately turned his gaze to the nearby bushes. He noticed there were more fallen leaves than before, and some branches were trembling.
This height might cause someone to overlook it at first, but if...
Erwin immediately stepped forward and pushed the bushes aside, revealing clear drag marks behind them.
He followed the marks at once.
These bushes were never trimmed, so branches grew wildly. If someone moved inside, it would make a lot of noise. Erwin knew the other party couldn't have gone far; as long as they didn't want to be discovered by making noise, they could only move carefully through the brush.
As expected...
Rustle.
Erwin lunged into the shaking bushes. Ignoring his scratched face, he focused his eyes and saw exactly what he expected: the unconscious Pardo being dragged by a student in a school uniform.
"You bastard!"
He ruthlessly slammed a fist into the student's face!