Chapter 23 - The Reed Plain of the End

Xiū's vision was somewhat blurry.

It wasn't just because of the blood mixed with sweat trickling from her eye sockets, but also the pain and exhaustion constantly radiating from all parts of her body.

Close her eyes, and she would die.

Even so, she couldn't stop herself from wanting to release her increasingly heavy eyelids.

Not to mention, not far away, there was an enemy in perfect condition, sharpening its knives and eying them:

[Variant Great Universe]

Ranked alongside "Black Demon" and "Sky King" as the highest-tier variant of the Ranger-class, "Great Universe" was an exceptionally rare existence.

The Ranger-class had the largest population among all Honkai Beasts.

Even so, evolving a "Great Universe" was an incredibly difficult feat.

Moreover, to this day, the Biological Research Institute had not captured a live specimen of [Great Universe].

The reason wasn't complicated:

If "Black Demon" was the Ranger-class type with the strongest combat capability, and "Sky King" was the fastest among all Ranger-classes, then "Great Universe"... possessed the most flamboyant [Space-Time Rend] among Ranger-classes.

"Black Demon" and even the lower-tier "Space-Time Ripper" could also use this move, but it was far less elusive than when "Great Universe" employed it.

When this skill was used by "Great Universe," it was far more than the simple "breaking free from space-time restraints" described in its skill description.

Xiū had seen related records in the Biological Research Institute. A researcher who once participated in an experimental mission with a special squad had witnessed [Great Universe]'s [Space-Time Rend] and described it as an ability to "enter and exit the crevices of the world."

The Ranger-class Honkai Beast opposite them, which had just evolved into "Great Universe."

Although the sense of pressure it exuded was far less than that of a Floater-class in its prime, and even if either she or Captain Arno were in perfect condition, they might have a chance of defeating "Great Universe" head-on.

But Xiū hadn't forgotten, this creature...

Was a Variant.

And a Variant that had just killed its own kind.

Its thought process was unclear, but the word "cruel" was undoubtedly deeply engraved in its way of acting.

She definitely wouldn't survive.

But, she absolutely couldn't let it escape—this creature posed no less a threat to the human world than the Variant Floater-class.

So, when Arno's eyes, filled with grim determination, turned towards her with a neck movement as stiff as rusting machinery.

Xiū could only nod, forcefully yet with an extremely small movement.

"Before it has a chance to grow stronger."

This was the unspoken consensus reached between the two.

In the next instant, Arno unhesitatingly detonated his own reactor—

"BOOOOM!!!"

————

An ocean of light enveloped everything.

The devastating explosion scoured the entire city.

Everything that still dared to stand more than half a meter above the ground—including the Honkai Fissure—was blasted into smithereens, its original form no longer discernible.

Except...

"Womm!"

"Thud."

Lu Xing and "Little Purple" emerged from a space-time fissure less than two meters long, extremely similar to a "Honkai Fissure."

Compared to the almost world-destroying impact just now, the residual high temperatures in the aftershock, capable of melting steel, didn't seem so unbearable.

[Space-Time Rend]

This skill was far more exaggerated than Lu Xing had imagined.

All skills unlocked from the system, even those just mastered, could be used proficiently.

The moment Lu Xing learned this move, he had already mastered its most correct usage, and even had the spare capacity to bring the nearly-dead Little Purple with him into the crevice of the world.

Hmm... it sounded rather grand.

But to put it bluntly, this move was like Obito's Sharingan—Obito could even open an exclusive space, while Lu Xing could only hide himself in a pitch-black "little room."

And in just over a second.

Lu Xing had consumed nearly 90% of the Honkai energy in his body.

Keep in mind, Lu Xing, having just completed his evolution, had Honkai energy so abundant it was almost overflowing.

Looking at the "cleansed" land around him.

Lu Xing could only silently murmur in his heart: It's really great to be alive.

————

XB-7015 Supersonic Aircraft.

Codename "Valkyrie," its maximum cruise speed reached Mach 20, and it was organizationally assigned to the Fire Moth's Fifth Squad.

From the moment Arno detonated his reactor to the current time, not even 600 seconds had passed—in just ten short minutes, the Fire Moth had already taken action while all other organizations were still conducting reconnaissance or formulating plans.

"BOOM!!"

A fiery red meteor descended from the sky.

Even though the aircraft had decelerated, at such an altitude and speed, an ordinary person would probably be torn into a "blood zongzi" by the fierce winds and then turn into meat paste upon landing—the kind that would be mush even without boiling.

But this red-haired woman would not.

Captain of the Fire Moth's Fifth Squad, the future Seventh Herrscher, the Herrscher of Flame, Hua's captain and life mentor:

Himeko.

Himeko, clad in an orange-red form-fitting battlesuit, didn't linger. After landing, she walked quickly towards the core of the explosion—a full half-minute after she left, the other members of the Fifth Squad landed one after another from the sky.

Among them, naturally, was Hua, who had not yet become the "Shenzhou Tablet"—at this time, she wasn't yet frozen at the age of 17, in every sense of the word.

"The Honkai Fissure has been destroyed."

"No Honkai energy reaction within a 10-kilometer radius."

Himeko listened to her team member's report while bending down to pick up a pinch of lifeless sand from the ground.

"Very good."

At least the news received was good.

The objective of the Fifth Squad's visit this time was precisely to destroy the evidence—the Biological Research Institute's research on Fusion Soldiers had already attracted the covetous gazes of many organizations. If they were to find out that "That Personage" was also interested in Honkai Fissures...

The Fire Moth was not ignorant of the principle that tall trees attract the wind.

Moreover, the internal situation of this organization was far from being as calm as imagined.

"Notify the Research Institute, mission—"

"Zing!"

A greatsword, thrown from her hand, gouged open the ground.

The impact shattered the earth, which had been compacted by the explosion to be harder than steel.

Beneath it, the presence Himeko had detected due to a slight noise revealed its true form.

All five senses lost, body surface charred black.

The girl named Xiū... no, the fading life named Xiū.

Arno had controlled the power and range of the explosion. He himself could die, but some lives were worth saving—his efforts had not been in vain.

Himeko, raising her greatsword, walked towards Xiū.

The blade, surging with fiery currents, aimed straight at the girl—

"Zing!"

The longsword fell, plunging straight into the ground... beside her.

Crouching down.

"Medicine."

Himeko took the first-aid kit while deploying subsequent tasks.

"Notify the Research Institute, mission successful. There are no survivors here."

"Captain?"

"She is not a survivor."

Himeko's hands didn't pause for a moment.

"She crawled back from the Ghost Gate Pass."

————

Author's note:

PS: The "Fusion Soldiers" that have appeared so far are an earlier version before Kevin, mainly focused on Honkai Cores and mechanical modification, not the mature dual-gene fusion type. This is also why Himeko is still alive—a setting clarification for readers who haven't carefully read the previous introductions.