NOVEL WEB Chapter 235: The Choice
Jell had never expected reinforcements.
Everything happened so fast… Despite Lin Wei's warning, there was simply too little time to prepare. She barely managed to assemble her team and gather some equipment before the disaster struck.
She hadn't even been able to recall Anna from her off-site assignment! She had no idea where the rookie was, or if she was even alive. Communications were completely down…
"I shouldn't have left Anna at that damned hospital!" The thought barely registered before the world turned upside down. The familiar city instantly became a living hell, and Jell, as captain, had to lead her team through this nightmare. She knew their efforts were futile against such a powerful force, but they had no choice.
They were trapped, with nowhere to run. But more importantly, they were Valkyries, their duty was to fight the Honkai, to protect humanity. They couldn't abandon the city.
So, amidst the chaos, Jell forced herself to remain calm. She observed that the Honkai Beasts were carried inland by the tsunami, the impact lessening further from the coast.
Using her knowledge of the city, she made a difficult decision: abandon the outer districts and consolidate their forces inland, establishing a defensive perimeter and gathering survivors.
The Honkai Beasts needed time to reach them, and the Honkai energy needed time to dissipate. This was the only preparation time Jell could secure for her team. She couldn't even spare a thought for Anna's fate, focusing entirely on survival…
There was some good news. No Herrscher-level threats had been detected. Jell had also managed to assemble her team (minus Anna) and retrieve some equipment before the earthquake and tsunami destroyed their base.
This gave Team Snow Lotus a fighting chance. The ambient Honkai energy also enhanced their weapons' power and recharge rate…
But beyond that, it was all bad news.
Had she known the Honkai Eruption would occur so suddenly, Jell would never have left Anna at the hospital, not only exposing her to danger but also depriving the team of a crucial fighter.
Without Anna, Jell was the only A-rank Valkyrie left, severely limiting their combat effectiveness.
Jell had done everything she could, but it wasn't enough. Team Snow Lotus, like a lotus sculpted from snow, was melting away under the sudden, scorching heat. They could only hold out for minutes…
Reinforcements from HQ or neighboring cities would take too long. Team Snow Lotus wouldn't last that long. Jell was as despairing as her subordinates, perhaps even more so.
She had to maintain a strong facade, offering her team hope, but who could offer her the same? As her Valkyries fell one by one, Jell's own resolve began to crumble…
Then, Lin Wei and Rita arrived.
While the other Valkyries cheered at their arrival, Jell felt her strength leave her, nearly collapsing. She used her last reserves of willpower to stay upright, but tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"Thank goodness… they came…" she sobbed, a single thought repeating in her mind, "My team… they might live…"
When Lin Wei approached, Jell was still overwhelmed with emotion.
"Sigh…" Lin Wei looked at the usually strong Valkyrie captain, now so vulnerable, and sighed. Returning to this familiar city, seeing familiar faces, only two days later, yet everything had changed. The horrific sights along the way weighed heavily on his heart.
Unlike Nagazora, he had actual memories of this city, of its people, their joys and sorrows. They were like his neighbors back in Singapore, and the food here was just as delicious. He had wanted to save this city, believed he could save it, but he had failed…
Seeing Manila transformed into a hellish landscape, filled with monsters and corpses, the air thick with the stench of blood and the roars of Honkai Beasts, the cheerful sounds of life replaced by explosions and screams… and seeing the weeping Valkyrie captain before him…
Memories, images, sounds, the wind tugging at his clothes and hair… it all swirled within him, a bitter cocktail of emotions he swallowed whole. The taste: a profound sense of loss.
"I was so close… I could have stopped this!" He berated himself for not connecting Manila to Eye in Deep City. Anti-Entropy, those incompetent fools, how could they have control over such a valuable ruin, one that even World Serpent hadn't possessed?
It was only possible if someone had handed them the answer, hoping they would solve the puzzle! How had he missed something so obvious?
"But even if I had realized, what could I have done? I didn't know the location of Eye in Deep City…" Lin Wei thought, calming himself, a bitter smile on his face. Unless he captured Gray Serpent and extracted the information, his realization would have been meaningless.
But what would the consequences be? Gray Serpent's death would throw World Serpent into chaos. Halting the excavation of Eye in Deep City would sever the connection to the Quantum Sea.
Could Kevin return then? Without Kevin, without the Prometheus, all of the Previous Era's efforts would be for naught. The power of Finality would remain intact, and the true Herrscher of Finality would awaken. Who could stop it then? Him?
Lin Wei chuckled bitterly. He couldn't even save a single city, how could he confront Finality and save humanity?
So even if he had known the truth, what could he have truly done? Sacrifice eight billion lives to save a few million in this city? But these millions were also part of those eight billion.
It was a paradox.
"Unless Gray Serpent surrendered willingly, there was no other way…" But Gray Serpent would never surrender.
"Heh, this feeling of watching things unfold, powerless to intervene… it's truly frustrating."
To vent his frustration, he snapped his fingers, increasing the cannons' output. The storm of steel and fire intensified.
Rita, momentarily relieved from the pressure, smiled faintly as she unleashed a whirlwind of death with her scythe.
Team Snow Lotus, exhausted but elated by the arrival of reinforcements, collapsed to the ground, their brief moment of joy fading as they struggled to check each other's injuries.
"Captain! Seni's dying!" a Valkyrie cried hoarsely.
The desperate plea snapped Jell out of her emotional breakdown. She quickly composed herself, wiping the tears and grime from her face, and rushed towards the voice. Then, she stopped abruptly, turning to Lin Wei with a pleading look.
She remembered him healing the unconscious Anna at the hospital, wielding a power similar to Abyss Flower.
"Please, save her…" she begged. "For Anna's sake…" She didn't know if he could, or if he would, but he was her only hope. She couldn't bear to lose another Valkyrie.
"..." Lin Wei looked into her pleading eyes, hesitated for a second, then gently took her cold hand. "Leave it to me," he said softly, a gentle smile on his face.
If he ignored a plea for help, refused to save an innocent life, then his own lamentations about being "powerless" would be nothing but hypocritical self-justification. He could help, and he would.
The answer was clear. He didn't regret his choice, but he felt a pang of regret nonetheless.
"Sakura, our peaceful days… they're truly over now," he said to Yae Sakura in his heart. "I'm sorry…"
"No need to apologize, Lin Wei," Yae Sakura's voice replied, calm and soothing as always. "You told me a year ago, when we first met, that this world isn't a kind place. So if something can't be avoided, then face it, overcome it, and move on. Isn't that what you taught me?"
"Heh, is that so? I'd almost forgotten…" Lin Wei smiled, walking towards the injured Valkyrie. "Keeping things simple… it's not so bad."
It was just Otto… a fight to the death… well, without his Valkyries, who knew who would win?
Lin Wei chuckled coldly, then took a deep breath and shouted towards Rita, "Hey! Rita! Don't push forward anymore! Fall back! I won't be able to provide cover fire for a while!"
Rita, hearing his command, obediently retreated. Lin Wei nodded in approval.
Then he reached the dying Valkyrie, Seni, and with a grasping motion, summoned a black lance, as Jell watched with hopeful eyes.
The cannon fire ceased.
"What's he doing?" Rita, curious, glanced back, then froze, recognizing the weapon. "That's… Abyss Flower? How does he have that?!" Having partnered with Durandal for so long, she would recognize that Divine Key anywhere!