‘Father…’

  ting the time sihe lockdown, Hua should’ve already goo her hometoeeks ago. All of her pns were disrupted by the appearance of these huge white beasts.

  Now, her sole mission was to survive through everything with her only friend. Unfortunately, just as she was buying some amenities, hell broke loose. After the earthquake geed by the honkai eruption, hundreds of honkai beasts appeared out of thin air. The number of people who colpsed in several districts were too many to t. When these people got exposed to the epiter of the honkai eruption, their only fate was to turn into undead.

  It wasn’t long before Sapphire City, with its ten million or so residents, faced a camity. Undeads rose up in high numbers as explosions were set off oer ahe city turned into a battleground. Nearly half of the residents turned into undead.

  On the way, Hua fought dozens of sudeads. She was even able to strike the seraph-css honkai beasts with makeshift ons such as crowbars aal pipes.

  However, when the chariot-css honkai beasts came, it was a disaster. She saw them killing dozens of humans in one go. It was even worse with the bigger Tempr-css honkai beast that sliced through aire apartment. The screams of hundreds as the building fell was a memory Hua would never fet.

  All of these things made her doubt herself—of her being able to save someone.

  In the midst of this mental breakdown, she entered a strong person. Three strikes was all it took to deal with the honkai beasts she feared. That meeting was more than enough to verify something in her mind.

  ‘ we fight them?’

  The strong man gave her an answer.

  “If you’re pnning to fight them with just that, you will die.”

  The man, Aleph, tinued lecturing her.

  “First of all, did you pn on a route?”

  “...Yes.”

  “What about a sed ohe third one?”

  “...”

  Hua could no longer respond.

  “The point is, you should have sidered the other ways. For example, asking for others’ assistance. Pnning some ways to force them to actually e with you. Something like that.”

  “But that’s…”

  “Troublesome? Yes.” He replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “As the weak ones, we have to e up with a lot of tricks. If you are strong enough, couldn’t you just bulldoze through those honkai beasts?”

  Hearing these words were enough to make her heart skip a beat.

  Strength.

  At first, Hua took up their martial arts heritage for her father. She inteo take up the mantle for their dojo. Her martial arts were simply due to this goal.

  There wasn’t anything wrong with it… in a normal world, that is.

  Now that the honkai began to run rampant, power is now a means of proteg oneself. That was evident when she defeated dozens of undeads and saved numerous lives.

  “Anyways, this discussion should be tier on. Every sed ts.” Aleph decred. “Give me the address of your friend. I will go there myself.”

  For a moment, Fu Ha bnked out. She could not think of any reasons h would help her.

  Even so, she did not shy away from this opportunity.

  Upon seeing that Aleph offered his tablet with a notepad present, she swiftly typed the address of their shared dormitory. Aleph then proceeded to copy and paste it on Fire MOTH’s local GPS database.

  “Is this the pce?”

  He asked as he poi the pinned area on the map.

  “Yes.”

  “Alright. I ask for some stuff that only you and your friend would know?”

  “Things that we only know…”

  After a while, Hua reted several things to Aleph.

  “Wait for the er.”

  Just as he was about to leave, she let out a question.

  “Mister Aleph… When will we meet again?”

  Aleph vaguely felt that the ime wouldn’t be that long.

  “Soon.”

  *****

  Simir to the previous times, Sakura served as Aleph’s driver once more. The former was already aced to the overwhelming strength he demonstrated. The ability to wield a 15-kilreatsword, more than seven times heavier than the heaviest recorded zweihander in history, was enough to prove it. Moreover, he was handling it with a single hand.

  What she didn’t know was the actual ption on his side.

  ‘Around five cursed energy units per minute…’

  From the moment Aleph unlocked the [Power System] of the [Sorcerers], he learned many ways on how to utilize it. The dormant and unused cursed energy on his body has a passive strengthening. If he wills it, he could use these unused cursed energy to actively enhahe said strengthening.

  To carry the fifteen kilogram load in his right arm, Aleph had to spend five cursed energy units every minute.

  ‘...But it’s now two units per minute.’

  Aleph explored the ges on his body.

  ‘When the maximum capacity increases, my body bees stronger.’

  pared to himself prior this night, he had half as much cursed energy. Even when he awakened with 120 cursed energy during his first chariot-css kill, he could only deliver three strikes with [Ratio] before his reserves were fully exhausted.

  Now that his capacity increased and the specs of his on became better, this ption became lower.

  Moreover, he seems to have found a special characteristi him.

  When his capacity increased, the rate of energy regeion became faster. That became evident when he only o rest for ten mio restore his ption during the chariot-css kill this night as well as the undead massacre he did.

  It was just that the exhaustion of his body could not be dealt the same way as it.

  Aleph could vaguely feel that it was reted to the [Ratio] teique he awakened. Perhaps, what he gained was not only this teique, but something else.

  ‘e to think of it… I felt more angry towards the honkai pared to before…’

  He vaguely grasped yet another rule of [Sorcery] once more.

  Seeing Aleph entering his deep ption mode, Sakura chose not to disturb him. His current serious side was in sharp trast to the cheerful one he showed her before.

  This tinued until several chariot-css honkai beasts blocked their way.

  ‘I see.’

  It was just in time to verify the new jectures Aleph made.