"Hah..." The frigid winds of Antarctica seemed as if they would never cease. The Monarch's gaze shifted from the starry sky above, slowly lo
"Hah..."
The frigid winds of Antarctica seemed as if they would never cease.
The Monarch's gaze shifted from the starry sky above, slowly lowering to the giant, nine-tailed fox before him. Pure white fur covered its entire body, with cherry blossom-pink accents on the tips of its tails and claws, complementing the magatama on its forehead. A particularly deep, crimson "eyeshadow" made its pale blue eyes seem exceptionally clear.
CLAP, CLAP!
That was the sound of hands clapping.
The Monarch's form was simply too massive; even if he wanted to produce a crisp sound, it would only become a thunderous drumming capable of triggering an avalanche.
"Very good."
"Your potential is even greater than I imagined."
[Name: Primordial Species · Higokumaru]
[Level: 67]
[Other: Omitted]
She had skipped the lower rank of [Newborn Species] and entered the ranks of the [Primordial Species] directly, her level even higher than the Loli Demon God's. As expected of what was, in a true sense, the last Herrscher of this era. Even without considering her potential, her current combat strength and the smoothness of her transformation process were enough to show just how outstanding she was.
[Root Assimilation].
The experiential conclusions drawn from the thirty-plus previous cases—that it required a considerable amount of time (relative to the population base) of modification just to create a single peak lower-tier combatant—had been completely shattered by Rin.
The entire assimilation process had lasted a mere two minutes... and a minute and a half of that was just Rin rapidly familiarizing herself with her own changes.
After all, a fox is still a canine. Walking on two legs and sitting with her rear on the ground were, with some effort, not too difficult to achieve.
"What is it?"
"Want to test your current level?"
The Monarch looked at Higokumaru.
Intelligence and spirit had not vanished from her vertical pupils, but compared to when she was human, she now possessed a certain aggressive wildness. This was not Rin's subjective will, but rather the "destructive" impulse inherent to the very origin of a Honkai Beast at play.
However, this impulse, which she could not yet control properly, was probably a good thing.
The Honkai Emperors that had previously succeeded through [Root Assimilation] were so overwhelmed by the suppression of a superior existence, their fear and obedience so ingrained in their genes, that they lacked the courage to even look the Monarch in the eye.
But the newborn Higokumaru—
"Very well."
BANG!
The Monarch's finger tapped forward lightly.
Higokumaru's enormous body was nearly sent flying out of the throne hall by the "air cannon." This palace, after all, had been prepared by Xiao Zi for the Monarch, and its space was designed according to the Monarch's own size. It also, incidentally, had to be able to accommodate all the [Retainers]... and because of Cheche's body, which far surpassed his colleagues, the actual floor space was many times larger than originally planned.
Therefore, this "compressed air" attack, which couldn't even be considered one of the Monarch's proper techniques, was enough to illustrate the terrifying gap between the two.
"Although her level is a respectable Lv.67," the Monarch mused, "it seems those who become [Newborn Species] are not very skilled at using the innate abilities of Honkai Beasts. So, as the first [Primordial Species] to be created through [Root Assimilation]..."
"Higokumaru."
"Let Chenling test just how much of your strength you can bring to bear."
"?"
The Loli Demon God, whose name had suddenly been called, looked towards the throne with a completely bewildered expression.
"The Authority of Domination is not of much use in this kind of battle," the Monarch explained. "I won't give Higokumaru a separate Authority. Her level is two ranks higher than yours, so there is no one more suitable to test her limits."
For some reason, Chenling felt that the Monarch was setting her up... and her premonition was quickly proven right:
"Besides," the Monarch added. "This contest is also a good opportunity to re-evaluate your rank, isn't it?"
Five minutes later.
BOOM!
"Huff, huff."
Higokumaru lay collapsed in the center of the throne hall. Though still conscious, she had clearly lost the ability to continue fighting. Chenling, who had defeated her, was not in much better shape. She couldn't even be bothered to maintain her floating state... she was sitting on the ground, gulping down mouthfuls of Honkai energy.
"Hmm..."
"It seems I may have been too hard on you both."
Imaginary Energy surged from the divine ring at the peak of the throne, and as it showered down into the hall, it gradually turned into a dense, purple mist. This was the highest-grade Honkai energy, adaptable to all Honkai-aligned lifeforms, capable of restoring superior Honkai Beasts with extreme efficiency.
Soon, as the dense fog thinned, both Chenling and Higokumaru had rapidly recovered their strength.
Two conclusions were drawn.
First, Chenling was indeed not skilled in direct combat. The members of her squad, each with different abilities, were inherently part of her "skillset." Excluding them greatly diminished her combat effectiveness. Even so, Chenling's endless stream of clever tricks still provided Lu Xing with quite a few pleasant surprises.
The same Authority, even if it originated from him, could produce vastly different effects in the hands of different creatures. At the very least, the ability Chenling displayed—"using mental power as threads to slow or even control a target's movements"—was something even Lu Xing could not perform.
All of this, in turn, became more data for the Monarch's own research into Authorities.
As for Higokumaru's side...
The great fox was not a warrior. If one had to classify her, Higokumaru would be a fire mage in frontal combat. However, she was still in the process of exploring and familiarizing herself with her abilities, so most of the time she could only rely on her powerful physical constitution to brute-force her way through Chenling's techniques.
Even so, Higokumaru had nearly depleted all of Chenling's Honkai energy... a long-standing and major weakness of the Loli Demon God.
Unfortunately, while ordinary MANTISes could potentially be strengthened by the Monarch using [Root Assimilation], and lower-tier [Newborn Species] could advance further through Authorities (and Honkai energy), Chenling, who was already a [Primordial Species], could only rely on herself to overcome her shortcomings.
As it was said before: The Monarch was their guardian, not a nanny who had to tend to every little detail.
"Hmm?"
While Lu Xing was still contemplating Higokumaru's development path, the latter was already transforming back into her human form amidst a shower of cherry-white petals.
"She was originally human," he thought. "Is that why she can accomplish this step so quickly...?"
The radiance of the Authority of Reason lit up the area around the throne hall. A faint, pure white stream of light quickly enveloped Rin's body.
The biting frost was nothing to her now, but she looked...
...decidedly cold.
That's right. Although she had relied on the unforgettable impression within her genes to change herself back into "Rin," things like clothes were not etched into one's DNA.
Therefore—
Lu Xing didn't have any clothes in his memory that particularly suited Rin's image.
This current outfit...
A shrine maiden's uniform that revealed just a hint of a certain hemisphere... it actually looked quite good.