You know nothing about me.
This sentence was for the Herrschers, and also for Honkai. Ryan greatest advantage was never uniting people or having unwavering will, but rather, as an outsider, possessing an inherent mist of mystery.
He knew Honkai very well, but Honkai knew nothing about him, let alone the Herrschers.
'Do you think my Path is of Nihility, of Abundance, or of The Hunt?'
Ryan smiled. He had always created a misconception. Even a person with immense wisdom would think of absorption or plunder, believing that Ryan absorbed Herrscher cores, or plundered Herrscher Authorities.
But they were wrong. He never needed to be so troublesome. What he wanted was understanding, connection, and Trailblazersing. As long as the sample was sufficient, there was no need to kill the Herrscher.
Just like at this moment, Ryan was waiting for the Herrscher desperate counterattack, waiting for those invisible threads to touch his soul. This way, it would be enough for him to understand this Authority. Even if it was far from complete, he could still backfire on the Herrscher, making that fatal blow pause.
That's right, the Herrscher of Domination people completely failed to understand the current situation, only feeling that this human was even more terrifying than a Herrscher, having already calculated his final strike, just waiting for this opportunity.
But how was that possible? Could his ability be replication? If so, wouldn't he become stronger with more Herrschers?
A massive information flow disrupted his consciousness. With a slight lapse, he had already lost the best chance to break free, just stuck at the spiritual realm point, staring at the other party in bewilderment.
Now was not the worst time; something even more terrifying was yet to come!
"Why so stubborn?"
The Herrscher of Flamescion tilted her head slightly, confused, as she watched the flames in front of her freeze into ice.
This human possessed over 2000HW of Honkai energy, already reaching Herrscher level. He was strong, but far from enough for her.
So, the Herrscher went all out from the start, annihilating this person as quickly as possible, and then ganging up on Ryan with her kind. This would not only guarantee victory, but the opponent wouldn't even have a chance to escape.
But Kevin was too tenacious. He was crushed again and again, knocked down time and again. The ice never shattered, blocking her way like an unbreakable copper bean. His willpower had surpassed his body.
"Because you must die." Kevin opened his mouth. With his internal organs almost scalded, every word was torture.
This Herrscher was too strong. He even needed to use a lot of energy to protect his internal body, otherwise he could spontaneously combust at any moment.
In front of him was a large chunk of ice, but for this Flaming Giant, it was only palm-sized.
"Boring, die." The Herrscher had no intention of trash-talking. With a slight wave of her hand, four huge flaming greatswords struck from all angles.
Energy depleted, stamina at its limit, Kevin only glanced, but appeared exceptionally stubborn.
He ascended, as if to annoy the opponent like a fly, but the next moment, the flaming greatswords simultaneously disintegrated.
Thousands of fire snakes coiled from all directions. There was no space to dodge apart from space-related abilities. The figure dodged a few times, then was entangled by the fire snakes, losing even mobility, turning into a blazing ball of yarn.
The Herrscher of Fire didn't even look. She only controlled the giant to continue forward, and just as she was searching for Ryan whereabouts, she sharply turned her head back.
The burning ball of yarn was being frozen. With a 'crack', the charred youth emerged from the shattered ice, covered in burn marks. The ice greatsword was short like a dagger, but his blue eyes were still bright.
"I told you, you can't get past me!"
Every word was utterly exhausted, yet every word was hard as steel. The Herrscher gazed deeply, her killing intent palpable.
"Annoying fly, I'll grind you to dust, not even a single molecule will remain!!"
This wasn't anger, but more like a compensatory action after her plans were repeatedly disrupted. The surface of the flaming giant rapidly ignited, raising its two arms to form a hundred-meter-long flaming halberd, which swept across with the momentum to split oceans and annihilate cities.
There was no stopping this.
A hundred-meter giant swung a hundred-meter halberd. The air was filled with winding fire snakes. What an impact to behold! Even Kevin showed a hint of weariness, a hint of attachment.
Willpower and luck both had limits, and the Seventh Herrscher exceeded those limits. Besides, Kevin had another thought.
As long as that guy didn't die, Mei could live well.
He had lived quite happily so far. Humanity's survival was also propped up by Ryan, so it didn't seem so unwilling, no need to struggle desperately.
Kevin, instead, smiled, gripping his 'short sword' and meeting the halberd, bravely embracing death. But a black shadow was faster than the halberd, shooting forward, causing him to instinctively raise his sword.
Clang!
Sparks erupted on the hilt of the dual guns. Kevin looked down in suprise, seeing a silver long spear. It had cracked the pistol, also made of soul steel, and due to its immense force, finally pierced his abdomen.
This bastard... can he still steal the Herrscher kill?
Kevin had this thought just before he fainted, feeling his body fly backward and plunge into the deep sea with a 'splash'. At the same time, the Herrscher of Flamescion's eyes widened. That human was blasted away, replaced by an angelic figure.
Hmm?
The halberd paused. Absolute rationality made it impossible for her to slaughter her own kind. But it was this moment of hesitation that allowed terrifying energy to release from that body.
At close range, the overloaded MANTIS exploded with a roar.
Boom—rumble—
A blinding light overshadowed the sun in the sky. A pillar of water shot straight up, but it was evaporated by the energy before it could fall. Then, a violent shockwave unleashed a tsunami, and then the flames ignited this tsunami, turning it fiery red.
In the stadium, everyone closed their eyes due to the intense light. When they opened them again, they saw a scene like the end of the world.
The already dilapidated houses were instantly torn apart by the shockwave, even tanks were blown into the air. Then came a crimson tsunami like a curtain, incinerating everything it touched.
People opened their mouths in silence, only hearing the fierce pounding of their hearts in their chests.
What exactly happened? Who self-destructed? Is this the end of the world?
Vinal also hesitated, raising his shield and turning around. Eden sat on the ground, her amber eyes wide.
"Miss Eden, it's time to retreat."
He called out loudly, but saw the girl's eyes harden again.
"If Ryan loses, can we escape?"
"This... certainly not." As the most experienced commander, Vinal didn't even need to think about this answer.
"Then why escape? I want to see the outcome here, to see if it's destruction or hope." Eden stood up, with an undeniable aura. "His battle isn't over yet, and neither is mine!"
Given the Herrscher current strength, Ryan defeat would mean the end. Even if Elysia and the others survived, they wouldn't last much longer. Moreover, escaping would leave them vulnerable to attack by a hidden Herrscher.
"Alright, I'll wait until the end too." Vinal gritted his teeth and roared, "Second squad, set up a Honkai energy shield outside the stadium. I want this place to become an isolated island."
A shimmering blue shield unfolded, resisting the terrifying tsunami. In the center of the blazing sea of fire, it looked like a desolate blue island.
"Do you see? This is humanity. Sometimes they are scared by a mere glance from you, and sometimes they face the apocalypse without taking a single step back."
Ryan traversed the burning ocean, seeing that the flaming giant was severely damaged, with almost half of its body destroyed.
Such a thing, made purely of Honkai energy, could only be annihilated by energy. Ordinary missiles and shells would explode before even getting close. To destroy it, immense Honkai energy was required.
Ryan himself could do it, but he would be completely exhausted afterward, which would just be serving up a free kill to the Herrscher of Flamescion.
"So, I found a scapegoat, and it worked out quite well."
John self-detonation couldn't destroy the Herrscher of Flamescion, but it did create a crack in this insurmountable Wall of Sighs. While the energy wasn't yet repaired, Ryan took the opportunity to attack.
The Herrscher wasn't offline. At the moment of this inexplicable explosion, she had already prepared herself. When the sea of fire was sliced open by a bolt of lightning, the already raised great flame sword had already struck down.
This was also pure Honkai energy, but the great halberd had consumed too much energy and was shattered by the explosion without having any effect. This greatsword was only twenty meters long, appearing somewhat weaker.
It's working! If your energy was infinite, why would I even bother fighting?
Ryan was excited. His goal was nearly achieved, and this hastily launched attack couldn't stop him.
Lightning!
Ryan spread his hand, catching the lightning falling from the sky. The lightning lingered, more like a giant lightning blade held in his hand, and then he met the flaming greatsword.
Boom!!!
Two streams of energy, two Authorities, collided fiercely, bursting into waves of shockwaves, and then annihilating simultaneously.
Closer, even closer.
Ryan penetrated these energy particles, seeing the giant, and the Herrscher at its chest and abdomen. The blazing flames were not enough to repair the cracks, but why bother repairing!
"This is just energy shaping. Why be confined to any form?"
The Herrscher of Flamescion raised her hands with a cold smile, then clapped her palms together.
Burn.
The giant rapidly melted, transforming into giant arms, becoming an octopus in an instant. The flaming whips lashed back and forth, filling almost every gap.
Just a little more, just a little more.
Ryan did not retreat. He was no match for the Herrscher of Flamescion in a war of attrition. There was a ninety percent chance he would exhaust himself before Elysia and the others arrived.
"But what I want is to break this annoying offensive and defensive integrated thing, and—"
He suddenly stopped in mid-air, clapping his hands together as well.
"Playing Gundam, huh? Do you think I can't?"
The sea surface arched upwards. Just as the self-detonation occurred, he had already spread his Authority.
Rise!
A giant hand, made purely of seawater, rose up, blocking the lashing flaming whips, covering Ryan as he advanced.
In that instant, those whips seemed to come alive. Most continued to lash, some wrapped around, attacking Ryan from behind. But something bizarre happened.
As the whips approached, before they could ignite him, the energy seemed to be pulled by something, losing its aim, even helping Ryan defend. The Herrscher of Flamescion found this ability somewhat familiar.
This isn't...
Before she could adjust, Ryan was already within a hundred meters, his grey eyes locked firmly on her.
"You still don't know, I can level up in battle!!"