Watching the massive Chariot-type Honkai Beast hurtling through the air, Ethan Lane's body stiffened. He then bit his lip, the slight sting of pain clearing his mind under the immense pressure from the Honkai Beast. He quickly picked up Kakarov and started to move.
Fortunately, this Honkai Beast was quite far away, giving him a little time to retreat. Just as Ethan Lane carried Kakarov behind a tree, a piercing whistle like a falling bomb was heard, followed by a deafening roar from the ground. Flying snow mixed with ice and broken stones scattered in all directions. *Crack*, the tree they were hiding behind was directly overturned by the immense blast, and debris and ice chunks flew towards them.
Gritting his teeth, Ethan Lane hid Kakarov behind him and drew out the last bit of his Spiritual Qi to construct an ice wall. *Crack crack*, the ice wall quickly fractured, but it held. Ethan Lane let out a small sigh of relief.
He placed Kakarov in a ditch, then turned and ran. He had to lure this Honkai Beast away, or no one left alive here would survive. "*Thud! Whoosh...*" The sound of a heavy landing came from behind, followed by a whistling sound. Ethan Lane was instantly enveloped by a massive shadow.
He hurriedly threw himself to the side. *Boom*, the newly landed Ethan Lane was sent flying. "*Cough cough...*" Ethan Lane clutched his chest, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. He wanted to get up, but he was already injured, and being hit by debris without any protection had only worsened his wounds. He had lost the ability to move.
Watching the Honkai Beast slowly moving towards him, Ethan Lane smiled and said, "Such a fast pounce, it's either a Skybreaker-type or a Crusher-type. Reality is completely different from the game; it even has splash damage." The Chariot-type Honkai Beast slowly moved beside him. It did not strike immediately.
Another trickle of blood escaped from the corner of Ethan Lane's mouth. He looked at the Honkai Beast and said, "What, you want to check if I'm handsome before you kill me?" The Honkai Beast continued to stare at Ethan Lane, its red eyes seeming to hold a trace of confusion. But then, a fierce light flashed in its eyes, and it raised one of its huge arms.
"Is this the end? Fine by me, it's just an ugly way to die." Ethan Lane closed his eyes, listening to the whistling sound rapidly approaching as he completely gave up resisting. Was this the end? As if!
Golden rays of light shot out from within Ethan Lane's body, shining on the Chariot-type Honkai Beast. The beast froze as if time had stopped. Then, wisps of purple energy began to seep out of its body, followed by a massive flood of purple energy that was rapidly absorbed by Ethan Lane.
The Honkai Beast let out a mournful cry, wanting to resist but completely unable to. The golden light bound it tightly like chains. Ethan Lane was confused. Why wasn't he dead yet? Instead, a large amount of purple energy, from who-knows-where, poured into his body.
"This?! So much Honkai Energy, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die! I can't take it, it's overflowing!" Ethan Lane wanted to speak out in terror but found he couldn't speak or move, only able to scream wildly in his mind.
The moment the Honkai Energy entered his body, just as it was about to wreak havoc, it was directly decomposed into purple qi and Spiritual Qi by the arriving golden light, which then began to surge towards his dantian along his meridians. The existing purple-and-white spiritual energy in his dantian began to spin rapidly, quickly absorbing the incoming Spiritual Qi.
Gradually, more and more white and purple Spiritual Qi gathered in his dantian. They no longer intertwined and rotated but began to change their rotational pattern. But at that moment, the influx of Spiritual Qi suddenly stopped. It turned out that the Honkai Beast's Honkai Energy had been completely drained, and it was now just an empty shell.
The white and purple Spiritual Qi that was about to change its form stopped moving. Ethan Lane, caught in this suspended state, fainted directly. But the golden light emanating from him did not stop. It shone upon the bodies of the dead Honkai Beasts, rapidly extracting their Honkai Energy. And so, the white and purple Spiritual Qi began to change again.
Soon, the Honkai Energy from these Honkai Beasts was also drained, but the influx of Honkai Energy into Ethan Lane's body did not cease. It seemed to appear out of thin air, and its appearance quickly changed the weather, gathering the surrounding Honkai Energy towards Ethan Lane's location. The sky suddenly became overcast with dark clouds, and snowflakes began to fall. The large-scale gathering of Honkai Energy immediately triggered the alarms of the Honkai Energy monitoring devices in St. Fountain, hundreds of kilometers away. This information was then sent to distant Europe.
"Beep! Abnormal Honkai Energy gathering alert. Location: 400 kilometers northeast of St. Fountain, Siberia. Suspected Herrscher appearance. Provisional designation X-1." Otto, who was leisurely sipping tea in a manor, received this message. He frowned and put down his teacup.
"Four hundred kilometers northeast of St. Fountain... that's so close to the Tower of Babylon. Could it be... Amber, contact the Snow Wolf Squad in St. Fountain. Have them send someone to investigate," Otto said to the girl with golden goggles standing beside him.
"Yes, Lord Bishop. A message has been sent to the Snow Wolf Squad. Cecilia has replied that she will dispatch Shigure Kira and Patricia Highsmith, who are currently in St. Fountain, to investigate. Estimated arrival in two hours," Amber replied.
"Hmm, how is the experiment progressing? I don't want this Honkai incident to interfere with my plans," Otto asked. "Lord Bishop, the experiment is proceeding smoothly. We should see results in two months at most," Amber replied.
"Is that so? As long as this experiment succeeds, Kallen..." Otto murmured to himself. The scene shifts to St. Fountain, where Shigure Kira and Patricia Highsmith, having received the message, boarded a helicopter.
Shigure Kira spoke up, "Ah, we have to go deal with another Honkai incident. It's cutting into my singing practice time." Patricia's mouth twitched. "Kira, why are you so averse to handling Honkai incidents?"
"Averse? No, no, my original dream was to become an idol. Becoming a Valkyrie doesn't interfere with my idol plans," Shigure Kira said, wagging her finger.
Patricia shrugged and said no more. The helicopter flew quickly towards the location of the incident caused by Ethan Lane. At this time, Ethan Lane was completely enveloped in dense Honkai Energy, so thick it was almost crystallizing.
Ethan Lane's body was undergoing a world-shaking transformation. His meridians and dantian were being greatly expanded, and the spiritual energy vortex in his dantian had completely transformed into a Taiji symbol, albeit a white and purple one. It rotated slowly, occasionally emitting wisps of Spiritual Qi, but hidden within was a hint of world-destroying power.
And Ethan Lane's body also began to undergo some strange changes. Enveloped by the dense Honkai Energy, as his injuries healed, his features began to soften, his fingers grew longer and more slender, and his skin became fairer and more delicate. Most notably, a certain indescribable part changed completely. (For the sake of the plot, you'll just have to make a little sacrifice for now. You'll change back later. Ethan Lane: FML)
With the formation of the white-purple Taiji, the absorption speed of Honkai Energy suddenly accelerated. The volume of the Taiji also grew larger and larger, gradually forming a Stigmata on his chest. Soon, the surrounding Honkai Energy was completely absorbed, and the weather phenomena caused by the energy gathering vanished.
Ethan Lane was still unconscious. His strength had not increased much after absorbing so much Honkai Energy, as most of the converted Spiritual Qi was sealed within the Taiji, which now acted more like a power bank.
Not long after the Honkai Energy disappeared, the faint sound of a helicopter could be heard in the distance. Ethan Lane's eyelids twitched, and he finally woke up.