"Just as I thought."
"It wouldn't be that simple."
A massive amount of Honkai energy instantly permeated the entirety of the base's wreckage.
This undiluted, golden Honkai energy, with the exception of the four War Temples Lu Xing had personally imbued and Cheche and Sheshe who had evolved/returned to the Emperor-class because of him, was impossible for any other Honkai Beast to absorb. Prolonged exposure would even risk their cores disintegrating.
However...
The Honkai energy, which should have instantly overwhelmed an ordinary person, did not "disintegrate" Dr. Mei as it enveloped her. Instead, it was continuously and steadily absorbed into her body!
As a scientist at the forefront of Honkai energy research, it was impossible for Dr. Mei to be without any defenses against it. Otherwise, a minor, "accidental" Honkai energy leak would have been enough to take away the current era's greatest scientist.
Lu Xing had anticipated this situation.
But he hadn't expected that, while she might have a way to absorb ordinary Honkai energy, she could even absorb his...
He had to hand it to the star of this civilization.
Lu Xing couldn't be bothered to figure out what method Dr. Mei was using.
He hadn't wanted to be this violent, but since the soft approach didn't work, he had no choice but to act directly. From the moment Lu Xing had appeared until now, less than ten seconds had passed.
There was still plenty of time.
But before that...
Crackle!
A crisp clap of thunder rang out in front of Dr. Mei.
Lu Xing had used 0.7 seconds to observe the result of the Honkai energy's assault on Dr. Mei. Sakura used that same amount of time... to charge her iaido slash.
For an assassin or a guardian, aside from keen perception, the most crucial things were the speed and power to kill the enemy in a single blow. Sakura's talent as a Fusion Warrior was not necessarily stronger than others, but in the domain of "human" skill, she had honed her craft to the absolute pinnacle.
This iaido slash, unleashed with the power of the Third Key of God, the [Dizui Qilei], was the key to her being able to fight Qianjie to a standstill, and to her future bearing of the signet of "Setsuna"!
Ziiiiing—
The back of the blade scraped against the inside of the scabbard, producing a piercing sound.
"Lightning · Iaido Slash!!!"
A sudden clap of thunder!
A blinding light exploded amidst the ruins! A flickering purple stream of light, in a single instant, severed everything before the blade's edge!
CRACK!!!
It had no effect.
The iaido slash,凝聚ing Sakura's strongest power and unleashed with the Third Key of God...
...achieved no results.
As the greatest threat to Lu Xing in the entire base, how could he possibly be unprepared for Sakura's move? [Aegis], a skill with an extremely long cooldown but which was unquestionably Lu Xing's strongest defensive ability, was already poised and ready.
In the instant the lightning swept past, twenty-four Space-Time Crystals instantly traversed to Lu Xing's front, combining in a flash to form a massive shield!
It was known that Cheche, with a Constitution of 340, had the durability to withstand several blows from the Sword of Heavenly Fire; so what did a defense based on a Constitution of 371, fortified by 300%, even mean?
At least for now, in this era, it was "invincible."
BOOM!!!
Vast swathes of the building's wreckage were reduced to elementary particles by the surging lightning. To the sides of the colossal black figure, nothing was left standing.
But the Emperor was completely unscathed.
And in front of the slowly rotating Space-Time Crystals, the lightning had already gathered like a tsunami!
To return the favor in kind—
CRACKLE!!
BOOM!!!
"Sakura!"
Clang!
The reflected lightning flattened everything in its path.
Two tachi fell amongst the ruins like scrap metal.
Sakura's body was thrown to the ground like a discarded ragdoll. Her combat suit, which could withstand the assault of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast without damage, disintegrated into ash, and her entire body was charred black... even her beautiful fox ears drooped limply.
Her life hung in the balance.
Her teammates were right behind her.
Facing an unforeseen counterattack, Sakura had made her decision in less than half a second: push herself to her absolute limit and unleash a second iaido slash!
Using the [Hanyubingtian], she unleashed [Frost · Iaido Slash], creating an ice barrier of extreme density that deflected the lightning column's trajectory by a 15-degree angle.
It didn't seem like much, but in reality, it was the difference between life and death.
The others behind Sakura were spared from the attack, but she herself... facing the impact and the thunderstorm head-on, coupled with the excessive drain of her Honkai energy, was instantly pushed into a near-death state.
In less than three short seconds, the Flame-Chasers' strongest combatant on site... had fallen.
Sakura was down.
But her two slashes were not without effect. After all, it was a weapon forged from a Herrscher Core; the destructive power of the [Dizui Qilei] was undeniable. The twenty-four Space-Time Crystals were completely drained of energy after withstanding that blow and would likely be difficult to recover in a short time... at least, they couldn't be counted on for the rest of this battle.
But regardless, Lu Xing's attack would not stop.
Or rather, until Mei was truly dead, the assault would never end—
Shhh!!
Flame, frost, lightning.
Powers of distinctly different attributes bloomed simultaneously upon the Emperor's arms.
[Molecular Manipulation]
[Electromagnetic Mastery]
At the ends of the crystal-like arms, the clenched hands became indomitable iron fists, aimed toward all targets directly in front—
BOOM!!!
Crash!
Crystals shattered and scattered across the ground, their particles dispersing with the wind.
These three punches... were blocked by an unexpected target.
"Oh?"
Support from Mobius.
The barrier that had been shattered by the three-punch combo was a very peculiar "Emperor-class" Honkai Beast: [Hybrid Angel · Michael].
That's right.
This thing was none other than the artificial Honkai Beast "Remiel" (the Thunder Angel) that Lu Xing had briefly encountered when acquiring Shesha, a product of Mobius's research and development, now fused with "Raziel" (the Fire Angel) and "Aniel" (the Ice Angel).
A special "Emperor-class" Honkai Beast possessing three Honkai cores.
The experiment was a success; an Emperor-class beast capable of blocking one of Lu Xing's attacks was exceedingly rare. However, starting today, this experiment could also be declared a failure. This Emperor-class beast, created with an unknown amount of resources, had only bought the others a little over a second of time.
This opportunity—
Swoosh.
While everyone's attention was drawn to the front, Lu Xing's fourth arm had already appeared silently behind them.
Like the Space-Time Crystals, the Emperor's four arms possessed the ability to traverse space. When augmented with psychic power and the space attribute, it could make people completely ignore its existence on both a perceptive and physical level.
The fist unfurled into a palm, the palm sharpened into a blade.
The moment the black, pointed limb appeared, it plunged downward like a steel spike toward Dr. Mei's back—
PFFT!!!
In a flash of frozen light, blood splattered across the ground!