Chapter 28 - Knight-class
Purple twintails, hair ties like meteor flails.
A jellyfish naval cap, a high collar partially concealed.
Its mount, neither horse nor donkey, a sword-like lance in hand.
Red eyes, white skin, an expressionless "three-no" face; two dashes, and your soul returns to the bridge.
This was—
Race: Knight-class
Level: 18
Abilities: Dash, Thrust
Other: Unknown
—the Knight-class Honkai Beast Lu Xing had been yearning for.
"Very cute."
This was Lu Xing's genuine feeling after seeing the Knight-class and tossing an [Appraisal] its way.
Ever since the "kuudere" (emotionless) attribute, born from the goddess Ayanami Rei in '95, was popularized by the Great Moe God Nagato Yuki in '03.
This moe point had never lost its loyal following.
If one were to say that the Knight-class Honkai Beast's main body (probably), the twintailed girl, with her white-with-purple-undertones and purple-shot-through-with-white coloration, didn't draw inspiration from anything, Lu Xing would be the first to disbelieve it. For players who chose Honkai Impact 3rd... or let's just call it Sanbengzi, to claim they didn't have some LSP (Old Pervert) tendencies would be an absolute lie.
But!
Lu Xing's feelings ended there.
Many of life's "copulation" (哔—beep) impulses relied on hormonal stimulation.
As a Honkai Beast with a body as hard as a rock, lacking even the organs to produce hormones, he could really only run his mouth a bit with what little "desire that hadn't completely vanished" remained.
At least for now.
After ruling out the desire for "copulation" (哔—beep) due to "lacking that function," Lu Xing completely subconsciously began to analyze the Knight-class from a hunter's perspective.
The conclusion was reached rather quickly.
Before the second hand could even tick twice, Lu Xing had already made the most pertinent evaluation of the Knight-class Honkai Beast:
Absolutely no threat.
————
Truly, no threat at all.
The Knight-class patrolling the road was only a pitiful level 18, not even as formidable as Little Purple.
Lu Xing couldn't sense any "strong enemy" aura from it.
If nothing unexpected happened, then nothing unexpected would happen... Just kidding. The Knight-class probably couldn't even withstand a single [Power Strike] from him.
Forget about stunning it.
If he really hit it, he might perform a Honkai Beast version of "Da Di Hong" (exploding firecrackers) on the spot.
"Hmm..."
After careful consideration for 15 seconds, Lu Xing finally made his choice.
In any case, let's test it out first!
"Swoosh!"
There were less than 50 meters between Lu Xing and the Knight-class.
This distance could be covered with a well-practiced [Dash] — the pitch-black figure flashed across the ground, and the "Great Universe" instantly appeared before the Knight-class, forcing it to halt its patrol.
1 second, 2 seconds...
Nearly 10 seconds passed by in a flash.
The Knight-class Honkai Beast, its path blocked, simply stood there, staring blankly at Lu Xing.
The Knight-class wasn't an inflexible dullard like the Ranger-class. The current situation was more likely because the "potential opponent's" strength far exceeded its own, rather than being disoriented by having its path blocked. If an ordinary Ranger-class had stood before it, it probably would have mercilessly stomped it to death with a hoof without a second thought!
"Since there's no reaction."
"Shwing!"
Lu Xing raised his wing.
A river of silver light condensed at the edge of his wingtip, its incandescent brilliance instantly illuminating the somewhat dim corner of the gutter.
"Clang!"
Silver light flashed—
"Boom!!"
Faced with the hostile attack, the Knight-class finally stopped being as dazed as before and directly raised its double-edged knight's lance, holding it horizontally in front of itself!
Then, like a kitchen knife made of 3Cr13 stainless steel slicing through butter, it was cut in two without any resistance!
This was just the beginning.
Since Lu Xing had decided to strike, he naturally wouldn't hold back. The naginata-like wing, after severing the knight's lance, continued its downward trajectory, the shining light cleaving all the way through!
"Plch!"
The Knight-class's mount, the "Honkai Beast" with a triangular head, was split in two from top to bottom by Lu Xing's [Power Strike]!
"So this is the main body, huh."
The Knight-class's true body wasn't the twintailed girl on its back—"she" was more like a manipulated puppet. The part that actually housed the Honkai Core was the area where the horse-like Honkai Beast's forelimbs met its neck, protected by thick, curved armor.
"Thunk!"
The Honkai Core shattered on the spot.
A not-so-strong surge of Honkai energy continuously overflowed from the rupture. Along with the "beautiful sight" of the Knight-class Honkai Beast dissolving into particles of light, it was all absorbed by the pitch-black halo above Lu Xing's head.
Orange-flavored, slightly sweet, not sour.
That was Lu Xing's sensation upon absorbing this Honkai energy.
Although it wasn't as voluminous and satisfying as a Honkai Fissure, nor did it have the lingering, endlessly delightful aftertaste of the Tide-class, it at least wasn't as flavorless as the Ranger-class beasts that weren't even Lv.10.
————
The "girl" was killed due to her connection with the "horse."
Therefore, this matter had nothing to do with Lu Xing—actually, since he already had the experience of smashing someone's noggin, cleaving a girl in two wasn't unacceptable.
When it came to dealing with "other races," not resorting to something like the Bone King's "embrace and kill" tactic was already quite merciful.
Although it was higher than him in terms of evolutionary level, this Knight-class Honkai Beast did not meet the mission requirements. Lu Xing had to find stronger opponents.
Just as Lu Xing was preparing to continue deeper in the direction of the Honkai Beasts.
"Neighhhh!!"
"??"
Lu Xing thought he was hallucinating—the "horse" component of the Knight-class didn't have a body structure like a "mouth"; they couldn't make horse sounds. He had initially believed this, but the next second, reality slapped him in the face.
Less than half a minute after the Knight-class disappeared.
"Companions" had already rushed out from deeper within the city... their battle-intent-filled appearance clearly indicated they were here for revenge.
Apart from the dull thuds of hooves trampling the ground, the sound Lu Xing "heard" as horse neighs was the noise produced when the fierce wind passed through the hole-like structures on the Honkai Beasts' carapaces.
"The mission can be completed..."
The first to rush into his perception were four creatures larger than the previous Knight-class.
A more significant feature on them was the red streamer of light trailing behind them as they galloped—not only were their knight lances burning with flames, but slender fire-serpents also swayed like plumes above the Knight-class's head. The meteor-hammer-shaped ornaments успішно (binding) their twintails were also a distinctive orange-red.
Species: Paladin-class (Knight-class Variant)
Level: 20
Abilities: Flying Flame Dash, Thrust
Other: Unknown
Paladin-class Honkai Beasts!
They were charging in a wedge formation, rapidly approaching Lu Xing!
And...
At the very front of the Paladin-class beasts, a creature even larger, whose flames even showed a faint azure hue, displayed a considerably powerful aura—
Species: Heavy Cavalry Leader (Knight-class Variant)
Level: 25
Other: Unknown
Apart from its name and level, all other information was invisible—a Knight-class Honkai Beast of the same level as himself:
The Heavy Cavalry Leader!