The sword sparked, and Ryan walked unhurriedly towards the mountain peak, and at the same time, he thanked 'Them' for their assistance.
Without this eternal night, the Herrschers didn't know how long they would have been hiding. This was a trade, two Herrschers for Ryan, Hua, and Mobius.
In terms of value, this was not a loss, but as a perfectionist, Ryan didn't want to go back to Earth and see the Fire Moth with only a handful of people left. Besides, what could be stronger than the power of two Herrschers to send a signal to Mei?
When Ryan stepped onto the burning mountain peak and looked ahead, he saw the two familiar figures. He immediately smiled, as if he had guessed correctly, and gripped his greatsword tightly.
'Sure enough, these illiterates came here by killing everyone in their path!'
Their energy level was far from its peak, and they were being targeted by the entire world bubble. In addition, the Sea of Quanta was too far away from the Cocoon of Finality, so their replenishment speed was not that fast.
Their eyes met. There was no killing intent like enemies meeting, only the most rational coldness remained.
"Herrschers, how does traveling in an alien world feel? If you don't come now, I'll have to leave and let you two face a certain unknown existence."
"Can you leave? Are you prepared to wander in the Sea of Quanta?" The Herrscher of Stars showed a very human-like sneer. This was the first time the two sides had a face-to-face 'chat' since the war began.
"You know nothing about the Sea of Quanta, and I've been studying it for many years. Herrscher, do you dare to bet?" Ryan spread his hands calmly, as if he was avenging the last time the Herrscher of Blood mocked him, "Lifespan has no value to us. It doesn't matter if we float in the Sea of Quanta for tens of thousands of years. Anyway, you can't touch me, and I will eventually be able to go back."
Bang!!
The mountaintop directly exploded, and the rocks turned into powder. And amidst the dazzling sparks, the violent killing intent made Ryan laugh out loud.
He's anxious. He's finally anxious!
His words just now were more than just mockery. They were meant to stab him in the heart. This was simply unacceptable for the Herrschers. It was more insulting than a slap in the face.
That's right, Ryan could completely hide until the Post-Civilization. Anyway, the mindless Cocoon of Finality would only follow the rules. But humanity had left a bug. If he really hid for tens of thousands of years, the end wouldn't be able to stop him.
So what were these Herrschers of the Pre-Civilization busy with? Were they acting as stepping stones for this human?
"Be careful, each of you. Stall the Herrscher of Blood, don't die." Ryan's words were very fast, and there was no time to wait for a response.
A stream of blood-red light cut through the pitch-black night and charged towards them in a straight line. Mobius's mouth twitched, and Hua's face was tense. She didn't know why Ryan had to provoke the Herrschers.
This was like a mad dog that had just been let out of its cage, there was only a life-and-death struggle left.
Bang—Dong—
A few pieces of crushed ice exploded in the air. The mountaintop behind them was directly enveloped in dust, and then a green helix of electricity flashed in the heavy dust.
Ryan didn't turn back. He only looked at the Herrscher of Stars, who was constantly propelling himself with gravity. This guy had already fought him three times, from Earth all the way to the Sea of Quanta. Wasn't his biggest trump card the black hole he created with his self-destruction?
'Go ahead and explode. If I feel bad, consider it my loss.'
Ryan smiled. This was why he didn't interact with the natives of the world bubble. If he really had to find a sacrifice, a world bubble that had nothing to do with him was obviously better than Earth. And a terrifying black hole was not even a bubble in the Sea of Quanta.
This was cruel and also realistic. The Herrschers also seemed to know Ryan's thoughts. If he really self-destructed, this human would leave without looking back.
The world bubble was worthless, and those two women were far from enough. So he couldn't use this kind of shameless tactic. He had to fight a normal battle. At the very least, he had to wait for the Herrscher of Blood to come and help, and then the three of them would die with the world bubble.
"Then let's gamble. Let's see if the Herrscher of Blood wins first, or if you die first." Ryan naturally knew what he was thinking and went to meet him without hesitation.
'I may not be as good as you at calculated moves, but when it comes to gambling with my life, I'm also a lucky person!'
Blade of Salvation.
The sky was ignited. The burning giant sword cut through the eternal night, and when it reached the Herrscher's head, it was visibly distorted, cutting a mountain peak in half.
Flames burned. Hundreds of lightning bolts as thick as buckets stirred up the remaining fire, covering the area where the Herrscher was as if silver snakes were dancing wildly. After a few seconds of rampage, an afterimage began to dive into the distance.
'He's playing guerrilla warfare with me.'
Ryan glanced at the smoke pillars that were exploding one after another on the ground. Besides trusting Mobius and Hua, he could do nothing else. Originally, he was not the only one betting his life on this gamble.
'Chase.'
An electromagnetic rail appeared. The area in front was drawn into a vacuum. Ryan's speed was not much slower than the gravity catapult, after all, he was even suppressing air resistance.
In the eternal night, a meteor suddenly appeared, flashing in the sky, sometimes climbing, sometimes diving, leaving a winding trail. And wherever it went, forests were set on fire and mountain peaks were shattered by lightning.
Light returned with destruction. This didn't seem to be a good thing. On this burning land, Ryan was gradually approaching the Ninth Herrscher.
Wind and lightning came together, and there was no pause. He was a little faster. He looked at the figure that was suddenly stopping in front of him, and Ryan lightly snapped his fingers.
Ice Prison.
The air quickly condensed, forming a crystal-clear hexahedron to seal off all escape routes. The Herrscher of Stars was not weak. He crashed through a gap and pointed his index finger at Ryan's back.
Gravity Point.
A huge suction force suddenly appeared in the air, sucking in ice shards and even the trees on the ground towards the center, which made Ryan's body stop in his tracks. He then raised his head.
The Herrscher of Stars was looking down from above, holding his hands together like a knife, and slashed towards him from a thousand meters away. There was no blade, but even the clouds in the air were annihilated. Ryan quickly increased his output and pulled his body out of the gravity point.
Gravity Cut.
Boom!
The ground was cut with a hundred-meter-wide and several-kilometer-long scar. No, this was not a cut. It was because the objects within a hundred meters were squeezed and crushed by the super-high gravity, like an invisible hand, forcefully squeezing out a canyon on the ground.
Ryan glanced at it from the corner of his eye. This was their third encounter, and he was not surprised. But he understood that the Ninth Herrscher was fighting to the death. He had no intention of leaving the world bubble.
As the Herrscher's hand clenched, Ryan suddenly dived, and then felt something being squeezed behind him.
'Faster, I have to be faster.'
He flew close to the ground at three times the speed of sound, leaving only a complex Z-shaped trail. And behind him, a bottomless pit would appear from time to time. Soon, this piece of land was covered with round holes.
'He's consuming my Honkai energy.' The Herrscher of Stars was not an idiot. He saw Ryan circling at a distance of ten kilometers, using the complex terrain to block his vision.
In the world bubble, his energy replenishment efficiency was greatly reduced, and a long-term battle was not good for him. So he did not hesitate to catapult his body away.
This human's biggest weakness was that he was not alone.
Even though the two battlefields were separated by several mountains, it was an instant for the Herrscher of Stars to get there. And as soon as he moved, the 'lightning bolt' began to climb. As the greatsword swung, three walls of fire unfolded in front of him.
'Hmph, still human after all.'
The Herrscher's speed was even faster. He used gravity as a barrier and forcefully smashed a hole in the wall of fire. Then, when he crossed the third wall of fire, he suddenly stopped.
He didn't care about the laws of physics. His speed of several times the speed of sound came to a halt in an instant. Then he turned around and clapped his hands.
Gravity Collapse!
There was still no light of any energy. Only the several square kilometers of the sky were instantly distorted. Two powerful gravity waves, one from the left and one from the right, converged in the middle. The thirty-five-hundred-meter-high maiden peak didn't even have time to resist and was crushed into a flat pancake.
The Scots pine, rocks, snow, and soil all disappeared, forming a kind of pitch-black super-high-density substance. And in the center, there was a raging fire.
The Herrscher's ten fingertips came together, and a vein popped on his forehead. His palms closed little by little, pushing the Honkai energy in his body to the limit.
Collapse, Solidify, Gather Earth into a Star!
Ryan was also not having a good time. A strong pressure came from all directions. The ordinary ground had become harder than a diamond. If it were before, this would be a super-large cage with a diameter of several kilometers, but now the Herrscher had to wrestle with him.
Because the fire like a Scarlet lotus was still boiling, burning everything that was tangible. Even this super-high-density substance was being burned into nothingness at the molecular level.
This was a wrestle of energy, and also a competition of authority, which made the Herrscher's face even more ferocious. He now knew why this human was so difficult to deal with.
He had too many authorities. He could always find a way to counter him. If it were anyone else, the super-high-density Star Cage would only need to trap him for half a minute, and those two women would be dead. Then, when the other party escaped, he and the Herrscher of Blood would give him a surprise.
"But you can't trap me."
Ryan naturally knew what he was thinking. Although his whole body was trembling, the corners of his mouth slowly curled up, as if he was enjoying this pressure.
The Ninth Herrscher's authority and Honkai energy were both very powerful. No wonder he dared to challenge five high-level Fusion Warriors by himself. But since Ryan dared to come, he was naturally well-prepared.
The pressure had reached the critical point. This Star Cage still couldn't close. And Ryan twisted his right hand, as if he had asked for an outside helper to break the balance during a tug-of-war.
He was the chief consultant of the Divine Keys. The overall requirement was to specialize in extreme combat power. Even the 'rated power' became a protection for the user. Especially the Seventh Divine Key in his hand, he personally supervised Vil-V to create it. It canceled all the fancy functions and focused on destructive power. It was so specialized that even the Kevin of this era couldn't control it.
Zero-Rated Power. Heavenly Fire Annihilation!
A surging flame gushed out from the blade, roaring and rolling around, forming a monstrous wave of heat, which gradually broke through the shackles of gravity and surged in all directions.
The balance was broken. The so-called 'Gather Earth into a Star', even the star that had not yet been formed was burned into nothingness. The pitch-black sky even had a scorching sun.
The eternal night had just lasted for twenty-four hours, and the light returned to this world bubble. That scorching sun made the girl watching from afar raise her head. Her face, which should have a kind smile, was expressionless.
She found out. This 'Herrscher' was more powerful than she had imagined. Putting aside his energy and authority for now, his body seemed to be made for killing, which made Vita let out a soft murmur.
"If only he could be obedient..."
'I am the scorching sun, I will burn all things!'
Ryan didn't care about that much. His will and body burned together. The flames put a layer of Scarlet lotus-like clothing on him. The full burst of the Divine Key made it impossible to see a single trace of white snow on this mountain range. And the consumed energy was quickly replenished. The compatibility was infinitely close to 100%.
The super-high-density substance was burned into nothingness. Gravity was still fully suppressing him. Ryan took half a step forward as if in slow motion and twisted the katana in his left hand.
"Very tenacious. But you forgot, I still have a Divine Key."
Zero-Rated Power. One-Moment Blade.
A dazzling pale lightning rose from the Scarlet lotus fire, like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The Ninth Herrscher's pupils shrank.
'I can't suppress it anymore. The wild horse has broken free from its reins.'
Star Quake.
He released a seemingly unsolvable barrier, but found that he was still half a beat too slow. This blade was too fast. Ryan combined the Authority of Lightning with the Third Divine Key. The speed that burst out was more than just an instant.
He subconsciously pushed a few meters to the right, only to feel a pain in his left shoulder. His arm was already detached from his body. The cut was so smooth that the Herrscher's eyes could only see an afterimage sweeping diagonally downwards.
The pain came. There was no confusion. His extreme calmness made him instinctively choose to act.
He instantly climbed up, trying to distance himself from the other party when he turned back to slash. The gravity catapult had just shot his body out, and his soles felt a coolness. The blade had cleanly shaved off a layer of flesh from the bottom of his feet.
The Herrscher was also summarizing his experience. Close-quarters combat would be completely suppressed, so he had to try his best to avoid it.
So the pale lightning bolt shot straight into the sky again. It was repelled back and forth, and soon it broke through the clouds and went to the top of the world bubble.
This was a real fight between gods. A moment ago, they were on the ground, and in an instant, they rose into the sky. As time passed, Ryan's hard-to-lock burst speed was also gradually decreasing.
The black sky was close at hand, like a maggot biting his heels. But the Herrscher of Stars suddenly stopped running.
"It's here, it's coming!" Ryan saw the Herrscher turn around and immediately became extremely alert. He still had an advantage, which was knowing what this guy's trump card was, so he could make a prediction in advance.
The moment he saw the other party raise his right palm, Ryan also put his two Divine Keys together in a cross.
Second-Rated Power. Scarlet Lotus Flower.
A flower made of flames bloomed slowly in the sky, and then it was squeezed by an invisible force towards the center.
First-Rated Power. Pale Lightning Shadow.
Just as the Scarlet lotus flower collapsed, eight swordsmen wrapped in pale lightning scattered. Because their speed was too fast, they left a string of afterimages behind them.
The Pale Lightning Shadow was used to confuse the enemy, and then the One-Moment Blade was used for beheading. This was Sakura's most得意 (most proud) tactic. It could be said that it pushed the style of an assassin to the limit.
However, in Ryan's hands, the lightning clone made of Honkai energy was faster and more agile.
Authority of Domination!
The Herrscher of Stars's eyes widened. If he looked closely, he could see the clues, but the speed was too fast. How could he have time to look closely?
Eight lightning shadows came at the same time from eight directions. Each of them was holding a several-meter-long roaring lightning blade, which blocked all escape routes.
One of the Herrschers' weaknesses was that their use of authority was too rigid and they didn't innovate. Ryan had seen the gravity catapult dozens of times, and he already knew it by heart.
'I can't dodge.'
The Herrscher of Stars made a judgment in an instant. He suddenly clapped his right hand down. The invisible gravity barrier curved light and lightning arcs, like a sphere that enveloped him in the center.
Cling, cling, cling...
Eight lightning bolts struck at the same time. The instantaneous Honkai energy released by Seven Thunders of Retribution could only last for a few seconds. The Herrscher could completely wait until the skill wore off before judging whether it was real or not.
But at this moment, a sudden burst of intense flame illuminated the Herrscher's face. This strike happened to hit one side of the evenly distributed protective shield.
With an instantaneous burst of extremely high energy, the flame-wreathed blade pierced through the barrier and burned towards his already severed left arm.
'This is a blind spot. A full-power sword strike. Without my left hand, I'll be half a beat slower.' But the Herrscher of Stars actually smiled.
'I finally got you.'
He ignored the flames. In a hundredth of a second, his open right palm clenched into a fist.
Authority, Activate, All Honkai Energy, Collapse.
There was no hesitation, and no unnecessary words. He saw the light contracting towards the center with the Herrscher as the core. The darkness, which was even deeper than the night, created a terrifying physical phenomenon:
Stars collapsed towards the core, neutrons themselves were crushed into powder, and the core's density was unimaginably high. Due to the high-mass gravity, any surrounding object would be sucked in.
This was the Crushing of the Stars. A black hole that even light could not escape!
The world bubble that had fallen into eternal night suddenly had something even darker than the night. Everything around it was distorted. The lightning was stretched, the flames were crushed, and even the Scarlet lotus flower a thousand meters away began to disintegrate.
All the light, energy, and objects became a spiral, swallowed by the Herrscher who had turned his body into a black hole. Even the Herrscher's remaining head began to twist, making the smile on the corners of his mouth even more terrifying.
"Under this power, nothing can escape. My mission, finally..."
He saw the lightning clones being torn apart instantly, and then his eyes froze.
The eight clones were torn to shreds at the same time. The terrifying flame was also extinguished. But where was he? Where did he go??
He finally saw Ryan. The collapse of the Scarlet lotus flower revealed the figure in the middle. The person had a long knife on his waist and a greatsword on his back. And looking at the shredded bracelet next to him...
'Fake. He knew what I was going to do all along!!'
Absolute rationality suppressed this fear and confusion. In an instant, he cleared up the entire clue:
'This human deliberately made me use my final trump card. All his plans revolved around this. He even prepared a fake item to imitate the Divine Key, using rapid killing to make it impossible for me to distinguish clearly, using my inability to replenish Honkai energy to make me anxious, and using the threat before the battle to force me into a decisive battle. And the so-called Divine Key was just a distraction to make me dig my own grave?'
Knowing the future, being a master of the outcome, using instinct, and meticulously planning every step!
'This plot began before we entered the Sea of Quanta. No, it took shape during our first encounter. All just to minimize the damage to Earth, to affect my combat mentality. The timing, the location, the method, the psychology, every key point had multiple meanings, used to cover up the core issue:'
'Everything was predicted!'
Absolute rationality became pain at this moment. The answer was more cruel than ignorance. Everything happened in an instant. And when Ryan saw the Herrscher's eyes, he smiled.
"It's good that you understand. Now, rest in peace."
'Checkmate.'
The Honkai energy that had already been accumulated burst out, just like the last chess piece falling. The condensed ice was like the crisp sound of a chess piece falling on the board.
Sleeper's Rest.
Time and space were frozen. This state could only be maintained for one second, but it was enough for Ryan.
He stepped into the void and slammed out his right fist that was hidden under his ribs.
Inch Strength. World Breaker.
The power burst out in an instant, giving the Herrscher in the air a hard push, making this black hole pass through the world bubble's barrier and completely fly into the Sea of Quanta.
The Herrscher had one last trace of rationality. He didn't have time to observe the dazzling Sea of Quanta. He just widened his eyes. Before his thoughts were annihilated, one last thought remained:
"He missed one thing. He actually used me to..."
Crack.
The ice shattered. The black hole expanded. The energy of a powerful Herrscher caused a resonance, as if it had stirred up a tide in the depths of the sea. This thing was indiscriminate, and it even sucked away the strange energy covering the world bubble, allowing the dazzling dawn to return to the world.
A full-powered self-destruction of an enhanced Ninth Herrscher should have caused a big enough wave. It not only gave Mei a chance to prepare but also ruined the mastermind's plan. If he wanted to descend, he would have to face more difficulties.
Haha, killing three birds with one stone.
Ryan looked at the sky that had become a spiral, resisting that terrifying suction, and held a crystal-clear red gem in his palm, basking in the 'morning light.'
That's right, your death was also part of my plan. Your life was also within my scheme!