Several small rocket launchers shot out from the ports in the Titan's arms, trailing white flames as they drew beautiful arcs through the air toward Yu Luo.
"Hey, hey, isn't a rocket launcher a bit much for a weapon of mass destruction?" A silver card suddenly appeared in Yu Luo's right hand. He swiped it through the air. "Henshin!" His long blue ponytail and pale purple kimono vanished, replaced by a pitch-black cowboy outfit and a black cowboy hat.
The moment he switched from Sasaki Kojiro to Billy the Kid, Yu Luo activated Billy the Kid's Mind's Eye (False) C. Its warning of danger allowed him to successfully pinpoint the rockets' subsequent flight paths.
"Bang bang bang bang!" Relying on Billy the Kid's superb marksmanship, Yu Luo fired four consecutive shots. Every bullet struck the warhead of a flying rocket with perfect accuracy. Blocked by the bullets, the rockets exploded directly in midair, and the violent flames and shockwave sent Yu Luo flying.
"Henshin!" Yu Luo transformed into Sasaki Kojiro again. With A+-rank Agility, he adjusted his posture in midair and landed steadily. With a stomp, he kicked up a light breeze and turned into a purple afterimage as he charged toward the Titan.
The Titan had just fired a rocket, and its barrels were still cooling. Faced with Yu Luo, who had already dashed beneath it, it raised both hands and smashed them down at him with all its strength.
"Boom!" Cracks spread across the ground as dust billowed everywhere. Kiana shouted worriedly, "Teacher, are you alright?"
Yu Luo's response was to burst out of the dust. His agile figure ran up the Titan's arm and climbed onto its head. The red electronic eye on its head flashed repeatedly as it extended its massive steel hand and viciously slapped down at Yu Luo.
A gorgeous flash of sword light streaked past, accompanied by a teeth-grating "creak." The Titan's raised hand slid to the ground without resistance. "It's over!" Yu Luo declared as if passing judgment. The Katana in his hand mercilessly slashed through the Titan's head. A crescent-shaped flash of sword light vanished in an instant, leaving a perfectly clean cut across the Titan's head. Electricity and sparks flickered from the wound.
Yu Luo elegantly flipped down from the Titan's shoulder and released his transformation, standing motionless with his back to the Titan. Mei Raiden had been watching the battle with her heart in her throat. Seeing Yu Luo remain still after the fight ended, she asked even more worriedly, "Teacher Yu Luo, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"Uh..." Yu Luo was momentarily speechless at Mei Raiden's concerned question. Seeing his expression, Kiana instantly understood. She looked at him disdainfully and said, "Don't tell me you were waiting for the Titan to explode so you could pull off that whole 'real men never look back at explosions' thing?"
"Ahahaha..." Yu Luo laughed awkwardly twice, trying to hide the embarrassment of having his thoughts exposed by Kiana. "How could I possibly do something that dumb? I'm just a little tired, resting for a bit. Yeah, resting."
Mei Raiden did not know whether to laugh or cry, but she did not expose Yu Luo's lie. Kiana, meanwhile, smacked him hard on the back with an annoyed expression. "Let's go! Stop wasting time!"
The three continued along the light rail tracks. Before long, they encountered a small squad of robots. They were not as large as the Titan, standing about the height of ordinary people. Their bodies were entirely milky white, while the place where their eyes should have been was covered by a streamlined piece of black transparent glass. A red electronic eye blinked within it, and the same sideways S-shaped emblem as the Titan's was displayed on their chests.
The instant they saw the trio, the robots' electronic eyes moved up and down as if scanning them. "Take them out first!" Kiana charged forward with her dual guns, taking the lead. Mei Raiden followed behind her with Soshu Muramasa in hand. "Don't run so fast, Kiana! It's dangerous!"
"Warning. Incoming targets possess high threat levels. Executing Directive Three. Eliminate on sight!" The leading robot's electronic eye suddenly glowed bright red. It raised its machine gun and aimed at Kiana and Mei Raiden, but before it could fire, Kiana leaped sideways and kicked it to the ground.
"Checkmate!" She aimed the USP in her hand at its electronic eye and fired, blasting a hole through it. Sparks erupted from the delicate components inside, black smoke rose, and the robot immediately stopped functioning.
Mei was even more straightforward on the other side. With the sharpness of Soshu Muramasa and her family's Hokushin Itto-ryu, she cleanly severed the robots' limbs through the gaps in their joints, instantly stripping them of their combat capability. All that remained were their bodies lying helplessly on the ground, their electronic eyes flashing red.
"Keep it up, you two! I'm supporting you spiritually!" Yu Luo sat lazily where he was, calling out to Kiana and Mei Raiden as they slaughtered the robots like tigers among sheep.
"Then give us some physical support too!" Kiana rapidly changed positions to dodge a burst of machine-gun fire, then turned and shot through the electronic eye of the robot that had fired at her.
"Fine." Yu Luo casually picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at a robot. It was like scratching an itch, not even scraping off a bit of paint. In the end, Mei Raiden rushed over and cut off the robot's head with one swing of her sword, leaving its body sprawled helplessly on the ground.
Of course, this was just the usual banter between Yu Luo and Kiana. The main reason Yu Luo was not fighting was that he needed to conserve the cards' Transformation Energy. Kojiro's Transformation Energy was down to 90%, while Billy the Kid's was at 68%. Most of it had been used during their breakout from the waiting hall.
Although he now had three Heroic Spirit Cards for transforming, he had no idea what might be waiting ahead. Even Gundams had appeared. Yu Luo felt that even if the Spear of Aethelred showed up later... no, that would still be surprising. Therefore, unless Kiana and Mei Raiden encountered an enemy they absolutely could not handle, Yu Luo had no intention of stepping in.
Kiana and Mei Raiden were both quite formidable themselves. Kiana had probably put all her intelligence stat points into stamina and strength, while the Third Herrscher's personality still lurked inside Mei Raiden. Yu Luo had not forgotten the oppressive feeling she had given him beneath that thundercloud.
In just a few minutes, the entire squad of robots had been almost completely cleared out by the two of them. The tracks were littered with white robot bodies strewn in every direction, and electronic components covered the ground. Looking at the sideways S emblems printed on the robots' bodies, Mei Raiden asked Kiana worriedly,
"These robots bear the same emblem as that Titan from before. They must belong to the same organization. Should we keep going?"
Kiana spread her hands helplessly. "We've already come this far. There's no turning back now."
"Detected Honkai Source. Distance: 1000, 800, 600, 400." The strange phone hanging from Kiana's waist suddenly rang. Kiana picked it up and said with disgust, "This crappy phone is malfunctioning again. What Honkai Source could move that fast? It's not Senior Mei."
"What's that?!" Yu Luo, who had been sitting on the ground watching the scenery, suddenly asked.
"What?"
"Rumble!" A white afterimage flew over the trio's heads. The violent airflow whipped their hair and clothes around, making it difficult to even keep their eyes open.
"It looked like a white robot, and there seemed to be someone on it." Mei Raiden narrowed her eyes, sounding uncertain. Kiana grabbed Mei Raiden's hand and ran forward, shouting, "Don't worry about that! That thing is coming back, and it definitely isn't here to have afternoon tea with us. Let's get out of here first!"
Yu Luo hurriedly got up and followed Kiana and Mei Raiden in a tactical retreat. However, they had not gone far before they were intercepted. The white robot flying through the sky landed before them, blocking their escape route.
A young girl sat atop the white robot. She looked only fourteen years old, dressed in a brown skirt. Her long silver-gray hair was divided into two drill-shaped twin tails, tied on either side of her head with two bows. Her expression was cold as she spoke in an emotionless voice, "Biological reactions detected. Number: three. Honkai symptom scan commencing."
Before you continue