It didn’t take long before the two arrived in the Sapphire City branch. It was a ce that they came across a group of batants who are about to set out.

  The two groups met when the huge Humvee was given access from the front gate.

  “This is..?”

  “I believe you are Major Himeko?”

  “You are..?”

  It was the red-haired woman’s turn to be surprised. She was the assigned ander over a pany of two hundred personnel.

  “We talked over the phone… about a periodispe and improvement of on-site ons.”

  “Doctor Ainsworth?”

  Aleph stepped out of the passenger seat as he walked towards her. He offered a handshake, to which Himeko reciprocated.

  “Pardon me for this rea. I thought your team had already evacuated the city.”

  “Oh, well… that one… let’s say this was an exception.” Aleph replied. “As to why I am here…”

  He poio the Humvee’s trunk.

  “We didn’t have the eet yet, so I brought them myself.”

  “The experimental battle suits?”

  “Yeah. I expined before that they are safe to use. What we’re looking for is their effectiveness, though I doubt it’ll be ahan the current ones.”

  Aleph proceeded to expin the funality of the ‘things’ from the Third Institute. He was extremely good at diverting attention that nobody questioned why he resent in such a dangerous pce.

  As to whether they had doubts about him, they would be forced to keep it to themselves.

  After settling that matter, Sakura asked one final thing to Aleph.

  “You want to walk around?”

  “Just a bit. Fighting that huge guy wasn’t enough.”

  To firm all the other hypotheses that he thought, Aleph o battle. Though he himself is a pacifist, things are different when it es to fighting honkai.

  “If you face corporal punishment or the likes… I will speak up for you.”

  Seeing her hesitate, Aleph dealt the decisive blow.

  “The position of the assistant director isn’t for show. There’s also Doctor Eio back me up in the worst case sario.”

  Although Aleph mentio with fidence, picturing the possible repercussions still made him feel a tinge of fear.

  Still, he was determio keep this opportunity to fight.

  “...Alright. You must keep your word.”

  “Of course. That’s a promise.” He replied as he jokingly handed his pinky finger. “Alright, alright. I respect everyone’s boundaries.”

  Aleph put it away as his expression turned solemn. Seeing the ruined city outside the window made him reevaluate honkai’s danger as well as humanity’s capabilities.

  As promised, Sakura drove him around Sapphire City.

  Boom-!

  Several explosions occurred every now and then. It was the response of Fire MOTH to the chariot-css and even tempr-css honkai beasts.

  Humanity’s sole option was tinuous led bombardment as well as mechs. Even now, casualties are tinuously rising.

  It truly showed Fire MOTH’s human wave approach.

  ‘...Tsk. The higher ups ’t do aer than this..?’

  If there is a ce, Aleph decided to help Mei restruct the entire anization… or at least repce the current ‘cilors’ with more petent ones.

  Just then, he saw a group of people in the street.

  “Stop there. I will deal with it myself.”

  “...”

  Sakura nodded silently. With his strength to defeat honkai beasts, his safety was basically guaranteed.

  The moment Aleph went out of the vehicle, he was already wielding his broadsword.

  Swoosh-!

  Psshk-!

  With his help, the undeads that surrouhe group of people were dispatched. However, another enemy showed up out of the blue.

  Click-!

  g-!

  Aleph was able to react swiftly and blobsp;the ining arrow. As soon as it struck the wide side of his bde, he was forced several steps back before it turned into purple particles.

  “What the…” He muttered before examining the ‘undead’. “A special variant..?”

  Among the database, there are cases of people with siderable ‘honkai resistance’ being undeads. In that case, they turn into ae’ that mas their own ‘honkai on’. Their drops were the main reason why humanity could develop honkai energy ons swiftly.

  Without hesitation, he went straight towards the special undead.

  Swoosh-!

  Swoosh-!

  Several arrows went past him. Aleph’s dynamic vision allowed him to ‘see’ which way the arrows could go. This coupled with his ‘spatial sense’ enabled him to fight effectively from day one.

  It made him wonder as to which war he had fought before.

  Psshk-!

  With one strike, Aleph was able to behead her. Bck blood spewed out from her neck. Her grayish skin that has several purple streaks became visibly paler as her beheaded body fell down. Her face seemed quite hideous before it was chopped down.

  “...It’s different.”

  Honkai beasts are generally separated into two: spawned and natural. The former doesn’t bleed as much as the former due to their existence as a sili-based lifeform. Meanwhile, the tter is posed of beings from Earth—be it humans or animals—who became monsters due to the indit of honkai energy.

  The fishy smell assaulted his nose.

  [Achievement Unlocked: Elite-Grade Hunter]

  [Reward: Knight Killer]

  [Elite-Grade Hunter: Kill one special undead for the first time.]

  [Achievement Unlocked: O, One Kill]

  [Reward: Juezhao]

  [O, One Kill: Defeat ae-grade enemy with orike.]

  [Achievement Unlocked: One Minute Wonder]

  [Reward: Bag of Senzu Beans]

  [One Minute Wonder: Defeat an enemy under one minute for the first time.]

  Aleph had to dismiss the alerts due to the approag people.

  “Ah..?! We’re saved..!”

  The voices of the group of people made Aleph snap back to reality.

  “Ahem. We’re from the military. Hop inside our ride and we’ll take you to the shelter.”

  After Aleph gave his not-so-formal speech, the civiliaered the vehicle without any questions. They could see the reliability behind his words despite his use of cold ons. Moreover, his vehicle was indeed marked as an official gover vehicle.

  Just then, he sehe presence of a person not far away from them.

  “An alley…”

  He immediately uood what happened.

  Wherolled into the alley, a huge dumpster bin caught his eyes. It was the pce where this block stored their garbage every Wednesday, or so the sign above it says.

  Behind it, he could hear the faint breathing of someone.

  “Is ahere? The monsters are dealt with by the military.”

  The moment he spoke, a head peaked out beside the bin. Seeing Aleph, she heaved a brief sigh before standing up.

  The gray-haired girl sed the surroundings with her blue pupils.

  “Are they gone?”

  “They are for now.” He replied. “e with me. I’ll be driving you to the base. If you don’t believe me…”

  The girl did not reatil Aleph brought out his ID. The past month and a half took a huge toll on her mental health.

  Seeing this, Aleph fshed a wry smile as he pced the ID ba his pocket. It was only then did the girl show signs of rexation.

  “I’ll escort you to the shelter. It’ll be safer there.”

  “I uand.” She replied in a formal tone.

  Whewo came bato the vehicle, they saw that everyone was already riding on it.

  “Thank you, mister…”

  “You call me Aleph.”

  “...Mister Aleph.”

  Just as they were about to ride, a group of ‘special undeads’ appeared not far away from them.

  “...Looks like I’ll have to up some things.”

  Before the girl could eve, Aleph already dashed towards the area with bow-wielding undead.