The entire plan was built on mutually dependent premises, link after link.
The descent of the 'Cocoon' into reality to birth End was the prerequisite for the tsunami, and unleashing the tsunami was the prerequisite for defeating End.
The logic was sound and served their interest well. If there was one thing done beautifully—
"It's that you both achieved the plan and didn't sacrifice those humans."
End turned around, seeing a figure transition from illusory to real in the hazy, azure seawater. The blue helix in the sky was gone, but the energy of the Sea of Quanta still swirled all around.
This fundamentally opposite energy could not exist long in the Imaginary side, but to completely clear it would require decomposition at a scale measured in 'tens of thousands of years' by the Imaginary Tree's roots.
"I told you I was very greedy." Ryan solidified from the void. The groundwork for this step was laid during the time of the Herrscher of Constraint.
Using Quantum energy merely for stealth and evasion would be an insult to the effort spent. Only in this environment could he thrive, and the core of the plan was to create this environment.
End had figured out all the problems. The sensation was extremely strange, because looking back, the entire plan was very simple, but upon scrutinizing the details, it was profoundly intricate.
"I focused too much on the breach hidden in the deep sea, thinking the problem should start there. I also adhered too much to past experience, believing those humans were extremely important to you—no, they were important, but that was also a form of misdirection. When using the Authority of Sentience, I searched their memories, yet not a single one knew the tsunami was to be unleashed using you as the coordinate."
End was summarizing. It was indeed terrifying when thought through. The card of the Sea of Quanta was plainly on the table, but how it was played was unknown to It. Or rather, the people who knew about it did not participate in this battle.
The feedback was all about trust and affection, especially the Herrscher of the Human. That absolute trust misled It, making It believe that even if there were a tsunami, it would occur when that group was almost wiped out, commensurate with that affection.
It instantly searched the memories of hundreds of people, especially Elysia and the others. The countless heartwarming scenes were real. Since It had inherited sensibility from Calis, It knew the weight of this emotion in human hearts.
This transcends logic. This is beyond logic.
"You anticipated my anticipation, using a wealth of information to interfere. No, you deliberately allowed me to 'understand' these things, and then to be misdirected."
"Mhm. The core of the plan was to make you overextend yourself. It was difficult, but the effect was decent." Ryan showed no arrogance. He didn't believe in luck.
"It was essentially impossible. Even with your containment, they wouldn't have gotten close to the Cocoon. Without approaching the Cocoon, I would have no need to be distracted."
"Yes, and that's the value of a miracle—a miracle we created together."
A miracle?
End was clearly startled, then shook its head. "This cannot be calculated, nor can it be understood."
"I never hoped for your understanding. In fact, the entire operation is very simple. Do you know where your biggest flaw is?" Ryan looked directly at It, with clear contempt.
Power? Calculation ability? Or the experience gained from countless restarts?
End shook its head again. It was genuinely curious.
"Even with the partial personality of Calis and the ability to communicate, you are essentially just a rigid program. You have a clear grasp of all destiny within your program, but—"
Ryan rose onto the ball of his foot, condensing his presence to the extreme.
"For the unknown, you have no control. And conveniently, in the domain of pursuing the 'unknown,' my Path is perfectly aligned!"
One was the mastery of the past, and the other was the Trailblazer of the future. Like ice and fire, this was the true counter.
Phase Two, distraction, was complete. Phase Three, ebb and flow, was unfolding.
Ryan had played all his cards. The Cocoon's connection to the Imaginary Tree was severed. End could no longer access infinite energy, and It was hit with a Debuff, its overall strength rapidly decreasing.
Why should I be as strong as you? How could I be as strong as you in just four years?
Instead, I'll drag you down from the clouds, to a strength I can reach. I'll continue to strive on that basis, eventually becoming the stepping stone on my Path of Trailblazer!
"Link after link. The next phase is here. All of this was done merely to fight me 'fairly', wasn't it?"
End was fundamentally not human. It wasn't intimidated by Ryan's presence, nor was It enraged by his calculations.
Yes, this program was completely vulnerable to the future and the unknown, but It had a clear and accurate grasp of the past and the present.
'Ebb,' he weakened my power, correct. 'Flow,' is more about this environment.
A spear thrust. End vanished in the void. This time, there was a noticeable delay, but Its speed was still very fast. It had moved to the lunar surface just as the spear tip neared, then raised its head, seeing a figure flash into place.
Speed assessment, power calculation, tactical analysis.
The conclusion was quickly reached: the fundamental strength disparity had not changed. It was merely that Ryan was finally willing to attack with all his might and utilize the power of the sea more effectively. But—
"After revealing your hand, you've also transitioned from the unknown to the known."
Boom!!
A 'ripple' exploded on the lunar surface. A new crater formed beneath Ryan's feet. He squinted, scanning the surroundings, having already guessed End's intention.
"Tsk. Enemies who don't fall for bluster are truly troublesome."
Ryan pursed his lips. He knew the ebb and flow had its limits. Its purpose was to turn a formerly unbeatable opponent into a potentially beatable one.
Besides, while you are fighting the Sea of Quanta, Phase Four has already begun!
He pushed off his toe, shooting out like an arrow, raging like a mad tiger, the opposite of his previous calm calculation.
Calm when necessary, but when it was time to fight for his life, he didn't mind becoming a gambler who'd lost everything, staking his dignity, emotion, and even his life, erupting with a frenzy hotter than Kalpas's Annihilation.
Head-on conflict, until death!
Several thousand meters away, End returned to reality. Wrapped in the overflowing seawater, It saw the figure 'breaking through the waves' ahead. That relentless presence actually put It at ease.
After becoming known, can he only stake everything on a desperate fight?
But the strength gap is still obvious. How can mere willpower bridge the difference between us? If he were calmer, a war of attrition would favor him.
Authority of the Chimera.
The slender tail split apart, transforming into hundreds of scales that met the charging Ryan. They were as agile as floating cannons, firing dazzling red lasers.
The Lower Limit's Extreme Temperature.
The red energy ring tightened, confining Ryan. Hundreds of floating cannons concentrated their fire, but the Constraint Field deployed, rendering all the attacks useless.
It might not have been able to constrain them before, but with End's power diminished, the rogue effect became prominent. However, End had already raised Its hand.
Authority: Severance.
Swish—
As the arm swung down, even the 'seawater' was sliced open. The Constraint Field was split in two, and End didn't pause. Or rather, Ryan had used Quantum Entanglement several times, which was already in Its database.
It raised Its left arm, closing it with the sweeping right hand.
Authority: Star Shattering.
Slash slash slash...
Hundreds of severance cuts extended from It in all directions. There was no visible pattern, but everything within dozens of kilometers was uniformly segmented, leaving no space to hide.
It watched a phantom figure flicker in the seawater. Ryan's speed while 'diving' was astonishing. With no Authority to defend against the attack, he simply utilized the cover of the Sea of Quanta.
'My attack speed is reduced by thirty-five percent. The Authority's severance has a delay against the Sea of Quanta. He relies on that time lag to flicker between reality and the illusory.'
End slowly realized the situation. Pure Honkai energy could hardly penetrate the 'seawater.' Even an Authority, like shooting into water, would have its 'bullet' speed reduced.
This was a territorial advantage.
It wanted to break free, but Ryan had injected too much seawater, virtually enveloping the Earth and Moon. Furthermore, being soaked in this Sea of Quanta, End couldn't instantly teleport tens of thousands of kilometers away.
Forced to fight here, I cannot be as nimble as him.
"Then I will use more power to annihilate you along with the surrounding sea."
Authority: Space Collapse.
End waved its hand again. The powerful Authority of Space gave the cosmos a shattered-glass texture. Like countless water pumps, it sucked the seawater from that area into the Imaginary Space.
This exposed Ryan's main body, and a storm of attacks had just begun.
Numerous spiral-shaped discs appeared around its body. First, a black hole appeared overhead, then, along with the flying, returning scales, it scattered dazzling lasers.
Authority: Gravitational Black Hole.
The Annihilation of a New Realm.
Tens of thousands of canyons were sliced into the top of the Moon. Countless rocks were sucked up. The auto-targeting discs spun back and forth. Ryan was dodging the barrage.
His stealth speed was rapid. When he absolutely couldn't avoid an attack, he melted into the Sea of Quanta, using the dimension as distance to evade the sweep. Then, when the utterly devastating Authority of Severance approached, he returned to reality, using the Authority of Stars to accelerate.
But the surrounding seawater had been partially drained, slowing his evasion speed. End seized this opportunity, increasing the intensity of its attack severalfold.
Gradually, his space for evasion was squeezed. He understood End was ready to overcome skill with brute force, so—
Fallen Star!
An immense meteor, condensed while Ryan was dodging, was thrown down. The light beams and space severance continued to press him, and the Authority of Space continued to suck away the seawater. This time, It didn't believe the opponent could dodge.
Thud—
The meteor slammed heavily onto the upraised spear. Ryan was slammed back toward the lunar surface by the momentum. He gritted his teeth, resisting and constraining the downward kinetic energy, but did not use stealth to approach.
The attacks are endless. This back-and-forth movement only consumes my own energy.
In just a few seconds, he covered hundreds of kilometers. Before he could react, the hard sensation of the ground was beneath his feet.
Ryan's feet made contact with the lunar surface. The remaining kinetic energy pressed him down. His knees bent, and his bones trembled.
From a different perspective, one could clearly see the Moon collapsing, with a crater of unprecedented scale forming at its apex.
Buzz buzz buzz...
The Moon resonated with space, making the cosmos appear curved and warped. The kinetic energy was too great. The Constraint Authority was also diminished in the sea. It would take some time to completely confine this strike.
Ten minutes. At least ten minutes. And I'd have to let It stir the tide.
Ryan lifted his knee inch by inch. Those ten minutes, of course, had nothing to do with the current situation. He knew this Phase Three was not enough, and Phase Four required End to personally initiate it. As an Imaginary-side creature, possessing so many Authorities, It would be both empowered and constrained by the sea.
Understanding takes time. It needs a stepping stone, and right now, there was a powerful Imaginary creature right in the sea.
"I finally have you."
The faceless being gently nodded. Even if the opponent used the power of the Sea of Quanta, the strength gap remained obvious. It was, in a way, grateful for Its decisiveness.
It had effectively recycled all the Honkai Beast failures and hadn't given him time to grow. The Outsider had also risen too late; he hadn't had the chance to gather all the Authorities.
I am incomplete, and you are even more incomplete.
The incomplete Authorities and the gap in Honkai energy meant that, even with the Sea of Quanta, it only served as a debuff. At least, besides dodging faster, Ryan could neither control it, and his own Imaginary-side abilities were weakened.
The Debuff was mutual, though End was more affected. But a one-hundred-point behemoth, even reduced by half, still remained at fifty points.
"It's not enough. Far from enough."
Authority: Space-Time Stripping.
All the scales and spirals flew out, completely enveloping half of the Moon. This time, there was no red light with its powerful penetration, nor did It focus fire on Ryan.
White lines formed a matrix, looking like a white Rubik's Cube. This area was covered with spatial rifts. The seawater was churned into countless ripples. Imaginary and Quantum energy were intertwined.
It stripped Ryan out of the 'sea,' using powerful energy to churn the tide, because Its calculation had revealed a hidden danger:
Under the scouring of the Sea of Quanta, every attack consumed several times the energy. If Ryan was allowed to dodge like a fly, there was a very small possibility that It would be exhausted before eliminating the opponent.
"The small amount of seawater you brought is merely a drop in the ocean."
Close.
End brought Its palms together completely, with a perfectly identical white matrix in the center of Its palms. As the palms closed, the one enveloping the Moon also began to shrink.
The Moon was like wearing a hat. As the 'hat' compressed, a quarter of the Moon, along with the cosmic space, collapsed. The color shifted from white to blue, as if transitioning from an energy state to a liquid state.
"To find a countermeasure so quickly—worthy of End. In terms of summarization and calculation power, humanity is dimensions away from you."
Ryan floated in the center, feeling as if he had drawn a circle to confine himself. Hiding and moving using the Sea of Quanta as before was now impossible.
He raised his spear, then slowly lowered it. He could still focus the Authority of Constraint to punch a hole and jump out.
But what then? Jumping out would only lead to another matrix. End, having found a countermeasure, had many methods and Authorities. He could think of at least twenty.
There was a power gap, and the calculation power was simply unmatched. By conventional means, he could not win.
"Then I'll use unconventional tactics." Ryan closed his eyes, carefully sensing the extremely dense Quantum energy.
Due to End's compression, the concentration was now many times greater than even the true Sea of Quanta. After all, the one acting was End, a End far exceeding the half-power output of the previous civilization.
Being in the sea, you are bound to stir the tide. The method may differ, but the result is already determined.
His Honkai energy dissipated. His Imaginary body became hazy, and even his life signature began to drop sharply.
"You are giving up just like that?" End was utterly perplexed. Ryan's response baffled It.
It had indeed found a countermeasure, but Ryan's main body was undamaged. He should have been able to struggle for a long time. In just a few seconds, It had devised dozens of ways to deal with him.
But he simply didn't struggle. He could have broken out with a focused, full-power attack. Once he was out, It would immediately execute the backup plan.
"You once said that after I reveal my trump card, I become known?" The man closed his eyes, his spear lowered, seemingly melting into the sea. But before that, he would be compressed into an azure particle by End.
"Yes." End was still honest. The entire Earth-Moon system was under observation. "Of course, you could ask that life form from the sea for help. That might pose some threat."
Vita has a psychological fear of you. Besides, her power can't decide the outcome.
Ryan's answer flashed in his mind. In just half a minute, the matrix had shrunk to a meter in size. It was too late to poke a hole with the Authority of Constraint now.
The moment he left the Sea of Quanta and returned to the real space, he would instantly become a less-than-one-meter-tall stump.
"Wrong. The Path of Trailblazer is always unknown, because even I don't know what the result will be when I take the next step."
Feeling the almost tangible Quantum energy, Ryan felt his life form begin to change again, rushing towards an area he hadn't even conceived of.
Path? Trailblazer?
End didn't quite understand. These two words didn't exist in its database. It only extracted terms from human linguistics, subconsciously analyzing a few characteristics:
Trailblazer has a broad scope, from a small research project to a long segment of destiny.
Trailblazer possesses continuity. Unlike enlightenment, it cannot be an instant leap. It requires steady, step-by-step progress.
Analysis aside, End had no intention of stopping.
Authority: Particle Collapse.
Clap.
The palms completely closed, leaving not the slightest gap. The particle-sized matrix in the distance also disappeared, no longer existing in this cosmos.
It's over?
End froze like a statue, carefully sensing every inch of the surrounding space. It could no longer detect the presence of the Outsider.
It's over.
Reality provided this feedback. According to the program, It should now spend time clearing the seawater, reconnecting the Cocoon with the Tree, and restarting this battered planet.
The ruins of civilization had already been washed away, which saved It some effort. But End remained motionless, lacking the satisfaction of victory. It felt that something was wrong.
"He could have struggled for a long time. If he gave up due to despair, he shouldn't have struck in the first place, nor should he have fought so relentlessly."
A clear paradox. The contrast was almost blatant, but as billions of pieces of information surged, no matter how End thought, It could not reach a conclusion.
Something is definitely wrong. What is wrong?
Only the contemplating End remained in the solitary cosmos. Time seemed to have lost meaning. It could spend a thousand years calculating this problem.
But just then, It suddenly turned its head, seeing the waves surge. A massive human-made vessel breached the waves, and beneath its hull, the life form of the sea raised its hands, seemingly supporting the ship.
???
It was sudden, but not shocking. The life form of the sea's action and the human vessel were within the calculation. If Ryan sacrificed his life just to buy this opportunity, that would be—
Too crude and foolish.
With its foundation intact, let alone this battleship, even if the escaped people launched a counterattack, it wouldn't matter. End would even be pleased to see them return, saving the trouble of dealing with them after the restart.
It pointed Its right finger. A spatial matrix immediately enveloped that area. Even if the life form of the sea dared to come into the real world, it wouldn't be a match for It.
But simultaneously, the previously stable 'seawater' was stirred up by a gigantic force, instantly giving rise to a raging tsunami.
Like a wave, like a sword, like a spear, it pierced through the newly formed matrix, then roared down, making it vanish in a blink of an eye.
!?
End was startled, showing clear astonishment. This was not in the calculation. After the Sea of Quanta was injected, it was merely supposed to provide a battlefield advantageous to humanity, not favor any side.
But this was completely different. It gathered the vast, fundamentally opposite energy and transformed into a fist, actively confronting End.
"Is it her?"
End locked onto Vita, who was supporting the ship, in the first instant, then negated the thought a moment later. She was highly compatible with the sea, but she couldn't achieve this level of control.
End raised its head. It still couldn't detect any presence, but the attached personality, a thing called 'intuition,' provided the answer.
"It's him. But how could he..."
"God knows how he did it. His control over the sea is far beyond mine."
Vita pursed her lips. This 'seawater' was no longer pure. It was filled with Honkai energy.
This stemmed from End. It was like a pollutant that made her effort immense. Just supporting the battleship out of the sea was difficult. So when the matrix appeared, she almost let go and retreated into the sea.
But just then, the pressure in her hands rapidly diminished, and the matrix was torn apart. It was as if a turbulent sea raged far away, but her side was completely calm.
Vita still couldn't sense Ryan's presence, but this deliberate manipulation required no thought.
It's him!
The tsunami intensified, crashing down upon End, forming a visible 'bubble' above the lunar surface, confining the monster that was preparing to teleport away. It looked like it had fallen into a swamp, its movements becoming extremely sluggish.
She still couldn't see the man's shadow. He seemed to have merged with this sea, evolving in an unknown direction.
Vita watched the ship's bow crack open overhead, revealing a strange device. She watched End unleash terrifying attacks, only to have them all blocked by the condensed waves.
She stared ahead, her lips moving slightly, as if reading the language transmitted by the tide:
"His footsteps have not stopped; he steps onto the stair to the stars. Where his heart yearns, the Frontier is Eternal!"