Chapter 94 - Tablet
"A missile?"
The projectile was entirely pitch-black, without a hint of reflection. No matter how he looked at it, this thing was no ordinary ordnance.
Lu Xing prepared to meet the attack head-on—yes, precisely because its true power was unknown, he felt an even greater necessity to return it to sender.
Considering the coordinated efforts of the four opponents, if he were to dodge as they anticipated, he would undoubtedly fall into a relentless series of pincer attacks.
In that case, it was better to do the opposite.
Directly withstand what appeared to be their ultimate move!
Even if the explosion's power exceeded his estimations, Lu Xing had ample Honkai energy to unleash [Space-Time Rend] to deal with it—a trump card meant for survival, when used unexpectedly, it could very well become the turning point for a counterattack.
"Swoosh!"
The black object, showing no trace of flames from its tail, redefined Lu Xing's understanding of a "missile"—the entire pitch-black, flower-bud-shaped section was comprised of the warhead… this thing was essentially an enormous artillery shell!
"Zzssst!!"
The shell struck Lu Xing directly. The crossed blades of his lance and sword, held in a [Hold Shield] stance, collided head-on with the projectile!
"Swoosh!!"
A bizarre energy and the hemispherical shield ground against each other, mutually annihilating. Lu Xing's Constitution was already as high as 94 points; the shell's power clearly didn't exceed twice this value. [Hold Shield] successfully blocked the attack, just as he'd hoped.
But…
The immense impact force was difficult to negate completely—Lu Xing's [Hold Shield] could only block a single strike, and the attack from the Hunter, Belladonna, was also infused with immense lightning and fire power!
That hammer strike from Yang wasn't just to launch the projectile; it also imbued the shell with an explosive elemental buff!
As the two energies wore each other down, Lu Xing's body was rapidly flung backward.
"This isn't good…"
His situation was perilous. [Hold Shield] offered no protection from rear attacks, and given the speed demonstrated by the Armed Dolls, they were perfectly capable of reaching his back even faster to launch an assault!
"Voom!"
A decisive action! Lu Xing couldn't predict its trajectory precisely, but he could see from the projectile itself that over half of it had already been consumed within the 0.4 seconds of energy collision.
"Zzssst!!"
Sword edge, lance tip.
Along with an increasingly shrill hum, the radiance of both weapons converged into a cross, instantly sweeping towards the projectile just inches away—
[Shield Bash]
"BOOOOM!!!"
————
A mushroom cloud bloomed on the ground.
It wasn't a nuclear weapon, and the scale of the explosion wasn't enormous, but the power at its epicenter… Lu Xing, blown away by the shockwave, was certain that at his current level, taking a direct hit unprepared would very likely result in instant annihilation.
The kind where not even dust remained.
But now—
"Whoosh!"
The next instant Lu Xing burst out from the smoke and flames, the elf-like white figure had already closed in on him.
The silver-gray rapier's edge was subdued, yet the intense premonition he felt when it was pointed at his heart heralded a deadly crisis.
"Bang!"
"Clink!"
[Willowleaf White Aster]
A fusion of a thrusting rapier and a long-barreled revolver. Loaded with bullets of different attributes, it could produce various effects—the bullet Lu Xing had just deflected with Frost's Lament was precisely the trap set by his opponent!
[Gravity Bullet]
A field of super-strong binding force unfurled in mid-air!
Lu Xing's counter-attacking motion was instantly distorted—Radiant Star, already incredibly heavy, nearly slipped from his grasp.
The opportunity was fleeting. Such a sneak attack wouldn't succeed twice.
The Piercer (Schnee) was clearly aware of this. The moment the first attribute-imbued bullet was fired, the hammer of her weapon was already striking down on another round in the rapier's chamber!
"Bang!"
[Acceleration Bullet]
Immense energy surged from the bullet casing. This round wasn't meant to harm the enemy but to apply a buff to herself—its duration was extremely short, and the strain on her body was significant, but…
Her speed was truly too fast!
"Whoosh!"
The silver-gray phantom flashed past. The next instant she reappeared, the rapier had already pierced Lu Xing's shell… his afterimage!
"Crack!"
"Screeech!!!"
Knight-class Honkai Beasts lacked the ability to fly. However, Lu Xing's three-dimensional maneuverability was in no way inferior to any flying unit!
Three successive [Crystal Walls] shattered beneath his feet. Forcibly braking in mid-air, Lu Xing perfectly evaded the Piercer's predictive strike!
The rapier shot past his side. The length of his straight sword and knight lance weren't quite suited for this range, so…
Twist waist, swing leg, a whip-kick in mid-air!
A roundhouse kick—
"Pow!"
"THWACK!!"
————
"Screeech!"
Lu Xing had never forgotten that he wasn't facing a single opponent.
The instant he kicked the Piercer away, his longsword and knight lance were already crossed defensively before him—
Behind the flames and smoke, the "coffin planks," bound by chains, shot straight towards him!
That's right. The weapon the Hunter, Belladonna, was using now were the very coffin planks that had been shattered by Yang's punch earlier!
As weapons, these two "planks" with incredibly sharp edges were more aptly described as "broadblades"—the pitch-black broadblades were clearly unsuited for use as concealed weapons, but… they were perfect for drawing attention!
"HOLA!"
The meaning was unclear, but the absolutely vigorous shout overpowered the sound of explosions!
Between the two chains, a basketball-sized golden energy sphere tore through the air!
An attack from the Smasher, Yang… her thoughts had perfectly aligned with Lu Xing's!
The moment he sent the Piercer flying, a vortex of Honkai energy had already begun to coalesce behind Lu Xing; and by the time the broadblades were knocked aside, four crystalline lances were already poised to strike—
"Whoosh—" x2!
"BOOOOM!!!"
One mushroom cloud was still rising in the near distance. A new explosion was already blossoming in the sky.
The shockwave swept over everything on the ground and in the air—the FT-70 "Phantom" tank the four were supposedly "protecting" was directly overturned by the gale, scraping upside down along the ground into the distance.
The surrounding Ruìchī drones, which had been eagerly waiting, plummeted in droves like birds with broken wings.
"Clang!"
Metal clashed against metal, sparks of electricity erupted.
Ruby, bursting from the explosion, predictably launched an attack at Lu Xing. She wasn't using her scythe; instead, she had draped her cloak over her entire body, and under the effect of [Swift Dash], she had transformed into a giant black-red drill!
What appeared to be mere clothing decoration was, in fact, an integral part of the Armed Doll!
"Screeech!!"
The high-speed rotating drill ground furiously against Radiant Star! The intense, dense shockwaves even caused a numbing sensation in Lu Xing's hands gripping the lance.
However… that was all.
All four Armed Dolls had made their move. Once Ruby's power was neutralized, the advantage would return to Lu Xing's hands.
The Armed Dolls were strong. But Lu Xing had already grasped their individual capabilities—their baseline power was high, but their upper limit was far from enough to suppress him… even with all four of them combined.
The instant the stalemate between them reached a critical point!
Lu Xing instantly unleashed his maximum output!
The pitch-black body of his lance was dyed a color identical to his Honkai Energy Halo!
But just as [Thrust] was about to leave his hand!
"Inch Force—"
A young yet composed, androgynous yet pleasant voice suddenly sounded from behind Lu Xing.
"—Sky-Cleaving."
"Bang!"