"One time."
Dr. Mei, borrowing the power of the [Blank Key], activated the Fourth Key of God once. Its power to "create ideal fluid" helped her successfully withstand the Emperor's attack.
But...
The power of a Herrscher was not so easily borrowed.
In the original story, Dr. Mei had only activated the [Blank Key] three times before suffering irreversible damage from Honkai energy erosion, her remaining lifespan so shortened that she didn't even have time to continue her research on the "Project Stigma."
Now, Dr. Mei had already used the [Blank Key] once.
BOOM!!
As the Honkai energy halo around Lu Xing flashed madly, a terrifying gravitational field instantly pressed down upon everyone. Su, who was barely standing, and Mobius, not yet fully recovered, were slammed violently into the ground!
Vmm—
A cyan wind swirled around her body.
The power of the ideal fluid slowly pushed back against the heavy pressure.
"Two times."
The intense gravitational field crushed everything before the Emperor. This was merely the prelude to [Atomic Breath], yet it had already forced Dr. Mei to activate the [Blank Key] for a second time. She was a genius in the field of scientific research; it was she and Kevin, one a scholar and one a warrior, who together shouldered the weight of their entire civilization.
In other words, Dr. Mei did not know how to fight.
As the original inventor of the Keys of God, she knew how to use them, but she had never once participated in battle.
Therefore—
Dr. Mei had just wasted one chance to activate the [Blank Key].
DENG!!!
The Honkai energy halo gradually lit up.
The pitch-black wings spread wide, silhouetted against a golden tide of energy that continuously poured into the "divinity" behind him.
[Atomic Breath]
This was a skill meant for annihilating continents. With the Imaginary Emperor's current power, no living being could withstand this blow head-on.
Now, once the energy was finished gathering, whether Dr. Mei activated the Key of God a third time or not...
"Urgh— —AH!!!"
Lu Xing's gaze swept toward the ground.
Su's psychic power was running rampant, and uncontrolled Honkai energy was surging out frantically!
"[Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng]!"
Summon the Second Key of God!
This was the only solution Su could think of to escape this predicament. While Dr. Mei was using the Fourth Key of God to resist the gravitational field, he would get everyone out of here...
No!
They couldn't escape like this!
This Honkai Beast was also proficient in spatial attributes. The fact that it could teleport precisely to the Flame-Chaser base meant it surely possessed the ability to anchor spatial coordinates!
Even if he used [Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng], the enemy would immediately catch up!
Therefore—
The distorted ripples in space became more and more pronounced, the violent fluctuations threatening to shatter space itself!
Su was going to borrow the power of [Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng] to...
Vmm!
The wind and waves calmed.
In front of the nascent space-time gate, four slowly rotating Space-Time Crystals smoothed out all the ripples. To assist Cheche and Sheshe, Lu Xing had dispatched a total of thirty-two crystals; earlier, another twenty-four had temporarily lost their power to block Sakura's iaido slash.
That left eight.
Not many, but more than enough to prevent the Second Key of God from traversing space. The biggest variable in this plan had always been [Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng]. Its ultra-long-range teleportation ability could instantly pull back any Fusion Warrior deployed anywhere in the world to the base.
This was not an easy feat.
To make [Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng] appear at a target location and then bring the Fusion Warriors there back, Su, at his current level, could use it at most once.
And now, with just four Space-Time Crystals, Lu Xing had effortlessly and unilaterally reinforced the spatial barrier, thwarting the plan to break through space with [Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng]...
"CAW!!!"
A familiar, piercing bird cry echoed through the ruins.
Where Su stood... a massive, green-gold peacock appeared out of thin air, its form identical to the Emperor-class Honkai Beast "Mayuri."
"Artificial Honkai Eruption."
Su, the person who should have been least likely to have this happen, had become the first among all the Flame-Chasers to enter a state of Artificial Honkai Eruption!
"CAW!!!"
Crack—!
The shrill sonic wave rang out again.
Following the peacock's cry, another spatial ripple began to oscillate wildly!
Having fallen into an Artificial Honkai Eruption, Su had undoubtedly lost his human logic, but the will to fulfill his promise—he had promised Kevin he would protect Mei—drove him, even after going berserk, to frantically call upon [Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng]!
But!
The last four crystals shot towards the new ripple!
The Artificial Honkai Eruption had caused Su's power to grow wildly, but his Honkai energy consumption had also begun to multiply. His newfound strength allowed him to open two spatial rifts simultaneously, but it was doubtful he could sustain it for long!
Once this obsession was suppressed by the instincts of the Honkai...
Shatter!!
A crack appeared once more in the ripple that had just been suppressed!
"So, you've come..."
The power of Su and [Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng] had indeed been suppressed, but on the other side, the other side of the spatial rift, someone was trying to force an opening... No Fusion Warrior possessed spatial abilities of this intensity. This person was attempting to follow the trail left by [Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng] and shatter the spatial barrier with pure force!
A Fusion Warrior possessing such violent power...
CRACK!!!
Space shattered like a mirror!
At the center of the phantasmal [Chien-Chieh I-ch'eng]—silver hair, black clothes, the Sword of Heavenly Fire.
"As expected of..."
"Ancestor Kevin."
Terrifyingly high temperatures spread out frantically.
The attack that had just shattered the spatial barrier was the strongest move of the [Judgement of Shamash · Greatsword Form]: [Zeroth Power Rating · Heavenly Fire Unsheathed]. It was also the most powerful skill Kevin could currently use.
Evidently, not only could Kevin use this move, but he probably had enough strength left to do it again.
"Mobius!"
"Alright, alright."
The moment Kevin appeared, he took in the entire situation on the field.
He didn't look at Mei behind him. His eyes, burning like flames, were locked tightly onto the Imaginary Emperor.
Mobius's reply was somewhat perfunctory, but her actions were anything but slow.
A small injector plug immediately appeared in her hand. Ever since she had vaguely sensed the existence of "Artificial Honkai Eruption," Mobius had poured a great deal of effort into this research. Now, Su's "transformation" under special circumstances had proven the viability of the serum in her hand.
Stopping Su, who was clearly on the brink of a complete frenzy, was something only she could do.
The only thing to be concerned about was...
Mobius's gaze swept over the Imaginary Emperor. After a brief moment of hesitation—
Shh!
With the injection of the serum, amidst her vertical pupils, which were shifting from green to pink, specks of lightning began to flash wildly—
Crackle!
Hiss.
Twisting shadows, eerie lightning... Mobius voluntarily entered "Artificial Honkai Eruption."
Swoosh!
A great white serpent, adorned with emeralds, charged swiftly toward the peacock.
The central battlefield was thus left to—
The Emperor and the Leader.