"We'll deal with Sa the next time we encounter her. We've already fought her once and understand what she's capable of. With that meager level of strength, she won't be able to pose any threat to us."
"Yes. Ai has recorded Sa's energy signature in Hyperion's data repository. Should she appear near Hyperion in the future, the battleship's radar will automatically detect her."
"Excellent. Then let's keep moving."
Elias nodded. He had originally held some expectations for this major villain who appeared after the conclusion of Honkai Impact 3rd, but after fighting her, he had been left thinking, That's it? There had been no pressure whatsoever!
After taking a maximum-output blast from Hyperion's planet-destroying Moonlight Throne main cannon, followed by Elias' full-power Shamash Assault, Sa could now be said to have suffered a catastrophic loss of vitality.
Billions of years of accumulation had vanished in an instant. Elias almost felt sorry for her when he thought about it. However, after considering all the bubble worlds Sa had unreasonably destroyed while rooted within the Sea of Quanta over those hundreds of billions of years, he decided he should hit her even harder next time.
"Hmph! I remember you saying in the story that you were a Venusian whose homeland had been destroyed by the Honkai, right? Excellent. Next time, I'll show you the true terror of the Honkai all over again."
"That's right. I'll use the Authority of Corruption against you when the time comes. After all... it seems the civilization of Venus was ultimately destroyed by the Herrscher of Corruption."
As Elias recalled the deeds of a certain wicked woman named Vita, his fists immediately hardened.
Although those events had only happened in a game, she had placed Seele, Misteln, Prometheus, Shigure Kira, Senti, Fu Hua, Griseo, and the others in tremendous danger!
Don't think you'll be forgiven for everything just because you're beautiful and dress so provocatively!
Once Elias found the bubble world known as the Salt Snow Holy City in the future, he would not mind capturing her, locking her in a dark room, and thoroughly disciplining her until she learned how to behave!
"Let's go, Ai. Continue navigating. We're already close to the coordinates of the next bubble world on the verge of collapse. I need to absorb it into my body as soon as possible. Otherwise..."
Before Elias could finish speaking, Hyperion suddenly shook violently, and crimson alarms immediately began blaring.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! Hyperion is under attack by an unknown entity! An unidentified energy signature has appeared behind us, and the hull is being crushed by an unknown force!"
Ai's expression turned grave as numerous damaged sections appeared on the main screen's model of Hyperion.
"Tch! The Sea of Quanta really never gets boring. We encountered Sa only yesterday, and now we've run into something else today. Project the rear camera feed onto the main screen immediately!"
"Yes, Captain!"
The moment the image appeared, Elias and Ai both widened their eyes in astonishment. The external cameras revealed that Hyperion's hull had been wrapped in a blue tentacle.
The tentacle belonged to an incomparably enormous Quantum Shadow. Like Sa, its body seemed to stretch beyond the limits of sight, and its size rivaled Jyahnar's true form as a Planet-class Honkai Beast!
Or rather, this was itself a Planet-class Quantum Shadow!
And it was an enormous octopus-shaped monster! The kind that made one's sanity plummet merely from looking at it.
"Hyperion's engines to maximum output! Break free from its tentacles! All close-range weaponry and railguns, open fire immediately! Activate the electromagnetic shield and ideal-fluid shield at the same time!"
"Understood, Captain!"
Streams of data flashed through Ai's eyes. The next instant, Hyperion roared as its rear thrusters erupted with scorching flames, forcibly tearing apart the Planet-class octopus Quantum Shadow's tentacle.
At the same time, every weapon system opened fire. Since all the ammunition had been constructed through the Authority of Reason, there was no need to conserve any of it. Full firepower, saturation bombardment.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!!!
"Wooooooo—!"
The Planet-class octopus Quantum Shadow cried out in pain. The attack had not inflicted any serious damage, but as an apex predator that had dominated this region of the Sea of Quanta for an unknown number of years...
Pain was something it had almost never experienced since the moment of its birth. Thus, despite the missile bombardment being no more severe than having small stones thrown at it, the creature immediately fell into a state of panic.
"Captain, we've broken free from the target's restraints. Should we accelerate and withdraw from this region of the Sea of Quanta?"
"Withdraw? Withdraw from what? Turn around!"
"Huh?"
"We don't provoke trouble, but that doesn't mean we're afraid of it. This thing actually dared to attack my ship! You expect me to tolerate that? Follow my orders. Prepare the colossal ship-cleaving blade! Charge straight at it!"
A huge throbbing vein appeared on Elias' forehead because he had spotted large amounts of unidentified slime covering the sections of Hyperion that the tentacle had wrapped around... This was his brand-new ship, and he had only received it recently!!
"U-Understood!!"
Ai immediately manipulated the controls, and Hyperion swiftly turned around as the deck at the battleship's bow began transforming.
The deck was a full thousand meters long and had originally been designed for docking various mechs and fighter aircraft.
Suddenly, a sound resembling a sharp blade being drawn from its sheath rang out from within it.
The next instant, an enormous blade measuring a thousand meters long and two hundred meters wide emerged from Hyperion's bow. This massive sword gleaming with cold light was Hyperion's close-combat weapon.
In Vill-V's original design, this weapon was intended for Elias to use while traveling through space. Should he encounter an alien vessel and fail to communicate with its occupants, forcing the two sides into battle...
He could simply pilot Hyperion straight into them! Once this thousand-meter ship-cleaving blade was unsheathed, it would deliver an enormous surprise, piercing through any enemy vessel from end to end!
However, the original Hyperion had also possessed a ship-cleaving blade, though it had been a mere 133 meters long.
At most, it could only cut through large Honkai Beasts.
Shnk!!
"Wooooooo—!!"
Propelled by Hyperion at full speed, the thousand-meter ship-cleaving blade successfully plunged into the head of the Planet-class octopus Quantum Shadow, causing it to release a thunderous wail.
Had Elias' body not been sufficiently powerful, an ordinary captain commanding Hyperion would already have been killed by the recoil generated when the ship-cleaving blade stabbed into the Quantum Shadow.
The octopus Quantum Shadow's wail was itself a sonic attack powerful enough to shatter a human brain.
Elias' assessment of it was...
Elias: "Tch! It doesn't sound nearly as good as my Kira's singing! Prepare Hyperion's main cannon! Fire!!"
Ai: "Main cannon fully charged. Fire!"
Directly beneath the thousand-meter ship-cleaving blade was Hyperion's Moonlight Throne main cannon. Its fully charged muzzle unleashed a colossal blue-white beam powerful enough to destroy a planet.
BOOM—!!!!
With the Planet-class octopus Quantum Shadow already wounded by the ship-cleaving blade, the Moonlight Throne's planet-destroying main cannon pierced through its head at point-blank range. No matter how tenacious or powerful it was, it could not possibly survive!
Under normal circumstances, a battleship's main cannon would never be fired casually. Its immense power meant every shot consumed a tremendous amount of the battleship's energy and caused significant wear to the cannon barrel.
However, Elias' orders to Ai were simple.
Whenever Hyperion entered battle, she was to begin charging the main cannon immediately. The moment it finished charging, she was to fire without hesitation. She was never to conserve energy or hold back their true strength.
First, as long as Elias was aboard, Hyperion could never run out of energy. As a Pseudo God, Elias himself was essentially a limitless rechargeable battery and perpetual-motion machine.
Second, as a composite Divine Key equipped with the functions of the Herrscher of Reason, Hyperion could automatically repair any damage. Something as minor as reduced cannon-barrel durability was no problem at all.
"Wooo... Woooo... Woo..."
The Planet-class octopus Quantum Shadow, now sporting a gigantic hole through its head, rapidly lost all signs of life.
Before long, its life readings fell completely to zero, and the creature went still.
Elias raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He had already been preparing to order Ai to activate Hyperion's transformation system, intending to turn the battleship into a giant robot and continue brawling with the octopus. He had even planned to summon his own Planet-class chimera Honkai Beast, Heaven Devourer, as reinforcement.
Unexpectedly, they had already won.
"That's it? This octopus is ridiculously weak. They're all Planet-class, yet it's vastly inferior to my Jyahnar and Heaven Devourer. One planet-destroying blast to the head was enough to finish it."
"Captain, I believe its head was the core of this Planet-class Quantum Shadow. Moreover... had it used the quantum state ability possessed by all quantum creatures, it might have been able to become immune to our main cannon."
Ai gazed at the gradually sinking Quantum Shadow with some lamentation. Its combat awareness had been atrocious. It clearly possessed the ability to enter a quantum state and become immune to all damage, yet it had forgotten to use it.
In fact, the reason Hyperion's radar had failed to detect it at first was because the Planet-class octopus had approached stealthily while in a quantum state. It only returned to physical form once it entered the range where its tentacles could reach Hyperion.
One could only say that this assassin had performed terribly.
However, at that moment...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"What the hell? What's happening? It's still alive?!"
Elias, who had only just lowered his guard, was startled once more.
The Planet-class octopus' tentacles suddenly lunged forward simultaneously, shattering both the electromagnetic shield and the ideal-fluid shield. They wrapped around the unprepared Hyperion from every direction, as though intending to twist it into a pretzel.
"No. This Quantum Shadow's life signs have completely vanished. It's just that... every octopus tentacle appears to possess an independent nervous system, allowing it to move freely."
Ai spoke with an ugly expression.
Although that was an ability possessed by ordinary Earth octopuses, it apparently applied to this Quantum Shadow octopus as well. That meant its tentacles could continue attacking even after its head had been destroyed.
Hyperion was already creaking under the pressure, and the reports of damage across the hull made Elias' heart ache terribly.
"Let go of my damn ship! Tch, there's no other choice. I'll go outside and cut off every tentacle myself."
"Detecting an extremely concentrated energy reaction! C-Captain, this creature appears to be preparing to self-destruct!"
"What? Ai, divert all available energy into the shields immediately! I'll go outside and try to stop the explosion!"
Without hesitation, Elias activated Deliverance Mode, opened a spatial portal, and appeared outside the battleship. He unleashed a Shamash Assault that severed the octopus' tentacles and roasted them on the spot.
Sprinkle a little cumin on top, and they could probably be eaten immediately.
However, Elias had no time to sample the flavor of quantum octopus. He immediately activated Elysion Pedion to suppress the creature's energy, attempting to erase it before the explosion occurred.
But it was already too late.
Three seconds after Elysion Pedion was activated, the Planet-class octopus' enormous body lit up with a radiance resembling the sun.
The next instant, terrifying energy erupted. Accompanied by a heaven-shaking detonation, both Elias and Hyperion were swallowed by the light.
"A-Ai! Initiate an emergency jump!"
"A jump? But the coordinates..."
"Anywhere!"