Chapter 221

However, the intense palpitations did not disappear; instead, they transformed into an even more terrifying premonition hovering in her mind, as if announcing that death was imminent.

Vill-V looked down at the device that had been set up in front of her. The Honkai Energy concentration monitoring equipment attached to it was still working diligently, but the color was gradually fading—from the dark red of dried blood, to the bright red of fresh blood, and finally to the light red within a safe range... The whole process didn't even take more than ten seconds.

But how could such an abnormal situation possibly be truly safe?

Sakura stopped in her tracks at that moment. She looked up at her prey, which she had locked onto, with a somewhat blank expression.

Perhaps because she was quite far away, she didn't feel the same way as Kevin and the others. However, the fact that her chosen prey died without warning before she even made her move clearly wasn't because her strike had transcended time.

No, this situation is not unique to her prey.

Cosmo stood up straight, with half Honkai Beast's remains still in his mouth.

From his perspective, he could see everything around him more clearly— the Honkai Beast around him were falling down without warning, as if death was spreading in all directions at an unbelievable speed.

Mobius also transformed back into human form and appeared beside Eden: "Eden, can you hear me?"

After becoming Fused Warrior, Eden's "perception" underwent a change. Everything in her heart became various melodies, and from these melodies, Eden could discover many details that others could not know.

And relying on this perception, she is able to discover things more keenly than others.

At this moment, Eden was looking up at the cloud-covered sky, her eyes unfocused, and blood was flowing from her ears.

"I can't hear anything..."

Eden murmured, whether in response to Mobius or simply to himself, "There is something... grander, more beautiful... melody that overshadows everything."

Mobius also looked in the same direction—as a being who was a fusion of body and spirit, her senses were equally acute.

Where the two were gazing, was the convergence point of all Honkai Energy. The dense energy materialized, and a door slowly opened before everyone's eyes.

The doorway led to a bottomless darkness; simply gazing into it was enough to render one powerless to resist.

Even Dr. Mei, who could only see this scene through a screen, couldn't help but forget to breathe. She stared at the door, with only one thought in her mind.

Is the truth of Honkai hidden on the other side of this door?

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Deus Ex machina is meant to be used in situations like this.

In the dead silence, Kevin was the first to react.

As the person closest to that door, Kevin was most severely affected. As he gazed into the deep darkness within that door, a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time, called "fear," quietly took hold of his heart.

But it was precisely this emotion that allowed him to quickly regain his senses.

Fear may subdue ordinary people, but it is merely the fuel that emboldens the brave.

Kevin struggled to support his body, then let out a thunderous roar. The overload energy that had been accumulating within him for a long time boiled over, and along with his forward-pushing hands, it transformed into a torrent of light that shot straight into the doorway.

Such a terrifying torrent of energy had such a recoil that Kevin was forced to kneel on the ground again, and the earth itself was cracked like a spider web under the impact. Yet, this attack did not cause the slightest ripple when it entered the door.

The darkness was as vast as the universe, so decisively absorbing all of this power until Kevin exhausted all his energy and returned to his human form, without changing in the slightest.

"Are you kidding me?"

Having witnessed the entire process, Pardofelis huddled behind Hua, trembling. "Even such an attack had no effect?"

Hua adopted a wary stance, yet a sense of powerlessness arose within her—the gap between the two was so vast that she felt no fear, only a calm despair.

This door, even in its mere existence, has become an insurmountable barrier.

But everyone knows that what they are really facing is not this door, but some kind of existence hidden inside the door—and the other party has not even revealed its true appearance yet, but has already shown such an exaggerated sense of oppression. What kind of scene will it be when it really appears?

"Pardo, you should go back quickly."

Hua said softly to Pardofelis, "Tell Doctor Ai Yue that if he is not absolutely certain, he should not come out... We will buy him some time."

Hua didn't really know what he could do in the face of such an existence.

But we can't just do nothing, right?

To her surprise, although Pardofelis's hand gripping her sleeve was trembling uncontrollably, she still didn't let go. "I, I'm not leaving! I'm very lucky!"

Pardofelis didn't even know what she was saying anymore, but she knew very well that she wouldn't be of any use no matter which side she stayed on at this point.

Even if it's just being a mascot, I'll share some of my luck with everyone.

"Stop arguing."

Kalpas, who was standing not far away, turned around and looked at the two girls. "You both have to leave."

His tone was very calm, but there was a burning heat in his words: "Don't waste your life here at such a young age."

Of course, someone has to stay behind to buy time, even if it means risking their life for just a few seconds—but those who have a future shouldn't do such a thing.

Sakura appeared in everyone's sight at some point, her aura extremely restrained. If it weren't for the weapon hanging at her waist, one might even mistake her for an ordinary person.

However, those who possessed "qi" could sense that within this seemingly calm body, a surging power was gathering and compressing—waiting for the moment when it would bloom to its fullest potential.

Meanwhile, Mobius found Kevin, who had fallen into the pit Cosmo and Desdrobia had arrived earlier and were sharing their accumulated power with each other.

Thanks to the fusion of energy and body, Kevin can quickly recover his condition as long as he receives an energy supply.

"Is it still possible?"

Looking at the pale-faced soldiers, Mobius asked, "If things aren't going well, let's retreat."

Where else can we retreat to?

Kevin opened his tightly closed eyes at that moment, revealing a firm fighting spirit. "We must stop it here, otherwise countless innocent people will die because of it."

Australia is a continent that has not yet recovered from its devastation. That is why, even if this continent were to sink, the number of dead would only exceed the number of people present. However, if the beings within the gate were allowed to spread their influence over other continents, even if it were just the destruction of a Fortress City, it would mean the sacrifice of millions or even tens of millions of people.

"Don't be too pessimistic. The current situation might actually make it easier to delay things."

At that moment, Vill-V walked over and pointed to Eden standing at the edge of the pit, "I temporarily unleashed the full power of the Ninth Divine Key. At the cost of self-destruction of the core, I can release Simulated Black Hole envelops that door. In this way..."

The flow of time inside Simulated Black Hole is significantly slower than outside due to the influence of gravity, which is why Vill-V said it is actually easier to delay time.

After all, before this door appeared, they had to rack their brains trying to reduce the concentration of Honkai Energy, but after this door appeared, they only needed to find a way to delay the things inside from coming out.

As Vill-V spoke, Eden completed all his actions and hurled the Ninth Divine Key, which had initially been overflowing with Honkai Energy, toward the door.

After doing all this, she collapsed softly and was silently supported by Mobius.

With the help of Desdrobia's telekinesis, the Ninth Divine Key landed precisely on the door, then exploded with a deafening roar, transforming into an incredibly exaggerated Simulated Black Hole that completely enveloped it.

However, after only a moment, or even less, the Simulated Black Hole vanished without a trace. If it weren't for the fact that the powerful gravitational pull hadn't completely dissipated, people might have even had the illusion that the Simulated Black Hole had never existed.

"Okay, that makes sense."

Looking at the unchanged door, Vill-V shrugged and smiled with relief. "After all, it's their authority, right?"

The expressions on everyone's faces didn't change much; rather than saying they had expected it, it was more like they were numb to it.

Although we knew from countless angles how difficult this mission would be, when it actually happened, it still felt like a dream.

How should we solve this kind of problem?

Just then, a voice suddenly entered everyone's minds.

"Hey everyone, why do you all look so gloomy?"

Everyone paused for a moment, then looked in the same direction without prior agreement.

Elysia's figure silently crossed a golden rift and appeared before everyone.

She still wore the same smile as always, seemingly oblivious to the somber atmosphere.

As she appeared, a faint emerald green halo spread outwards from beneath her feet. Wherever the halo reached, the barren land began to sprout greenery, and surging life force flowed into everyone's bodies, repairing the damage and exhaustion from the battle.

In just a moment, the wilderness was transformed into a sea of flowers. Surrounded by countless blossoms, the girl smiled contentedly, her eyes radiating a warm and sincere fervor as she looked at the crowd.

She gazed at everything before her, as if trying to imprint this scene into her mind forever.

However, some things are quite clueless about romance.

The moment Elysia appeared, the previously silent doorway suddenly stirred, accompanied by an indescribable, strange sound. From the deep darkness, something was finally born—

It was an enormous hand, yet as slender as a woman's limb.

It emerged very slowly from the doorway, yet with an unstoppable force, and slowly reached towards Elysia, clearly intending to take her away.

Then everyone finally understood why the door had remained silent for so long—because the object it was waiting for had finally appeared.

"Elysia!"

Kevin rekindled his power, attempting to grow larger to resist the giant hand. "Get out of here!"

The others also sprang into action, trying to protect Elysia from being captured by the giant hand.

But Elysia remained motionless, only shaking her head. "I'm sorry, everyone."

Everything around them froze, and space seemed to take on a tangible form, becoming a confinement that bound everyone to their spot.

In this situation, the person in the most danger voluntarily gave up the struggle.

Facing the complex emotions in everyone's eyes, Elysia simply bowed slightly and gave her loved ones one last smile, "Let me pave the way to the future for everyone."

Then she closed her eyes, and her body, drawn by an invisible force, landed on the outstretched giant hand.

Having seemingly obtained what it desired, the giant hand paused for a moment before slowly closing in, concealing Elysia within, and then retracting into the doorway.

But at that very moment, another voice, filled with anger, shattered the eerie silence. "Stop it!"

Ai Yue, piloting his armored vehicle, sped from afar without slowing down at all, and crashed straight into that palm.

Unfortunately, this force couldn't even deflect the giant hand by the slightest bit; instead, it bounced him off and sent him crashing to the ground.

"Ai Yue ..."

Elysia couldn't help but open her eyes and look at the other person. "No."

This is the best way, and the only way—the way to make everyone happy.

"Shut up, you idiot woman!"

Ai Yue, unusually agitated, slammed his fist on the counterfeit Superpower Instrument on his wrist. As the golden light representing the Herrscher of Void shone, he slammed his fist heavily on the ground. "Everyone, help me hold her off—just one opening is enough!"

An invisible wave spread out; that was also the power of the Herrscher of Void.

With the clash of equal powers, the restraints imposed on everyone were finally lifted. Kevin silently transformed into a giant, and an equally enormous greatsword took shape in his hand, which he then slashed at the giant hand with a whooshing sound.

Elysia sighed, then raised her hand to block it.

But at that very moment, another voice entered her mind. "Elysia, 'please' stay."

The words, though a request, carried an undeniable authority, piercing Elysia's soul like a brand, attempting to bind her.

Elysia's body trembled and involuntarily stiffened—even with the power of consciousness, she still needed to exert all her strength to barely resist the "commandments" of the strongest mental ability user among humans.

However, Elysia's inability to act did not mean that everyone's actions would go smoothly. Just as Kevin's blade was about to hit the giant hand, the darkness inside the door surged again, and then another hand reached out and firmly grasped Kevin's weapon.

But it has to face more than one person.

Cosmo and Desdrobia merged into one again, transforming into a ferocious behemoth that pounced on the palm. On its back, Kalpas clung to the towering dorsal fin with one hand, while the other was clenched into a fist, igniting blazing crimson flames.

Mobius also swallowed the deadly Simulated Herrscher Potion, and the third Herrscher authority was born. She raised her hands and locked onto Elysia from afar, trying to snatch her back from the giant hand.

Vill-V controlled her combat robots to transform and combine, and then activated all their self-destruct programs, intending to give this unromantic guy a big firework display.

Behind her, Hua and Pardofelis mobilized all their power to catalyze a massive fiery nova, and under Eden's spiritual guidance, locked onto the giant hand in the distance.

However, before anyone else could react, a bolt of lightning illuminated the sky—the power that the young swordswoman had suppressed for so long finally found an outlet the moment Ai Yue gave the order. She rose up, transforming into an unstoppable sword light, precisely slicing through the giant hand's wrist.

Before this strike, even the darkness within the door seemed to be illuminated for a moment by lightning. As Sakura sheathed her sword, a long wound instantly appeared on the giant hand's wrist!

A massive amount of Honkai Energy erupted from it, its pale purple light resembling the blood of a god, sprinkling across the sea of flowers.

Compared to the enormous size of the hand, the wound was nothing, yet it silently revealed to everyone that even a god could be injured and bleed.

If something can be hurt, it can be killed—and if it can be killed, then what is invincible?

As if enraged by the attack, even more hands emerged from the doorway. They no longer focused solely on defense but instead reached out towards the attackers.

But this time, no one felt fear—not only because Sakura's slash proved that gods bleed, but also because their pillar of support was with them at this moment.

Cosmo's lunge was blocked by a hand, but its sharp fangs easily pierced it, and the spiked hammer at the tip of its tail swung out and smashed into another hand, hindering its movement.

Taking advantage of this opening, Kalpas leaped up, channeling all his anger and power into a single punch, which he slammed fiercely into the giant hand.

Although he collapsed to the ground after throwing that punch, this all-out attack successfully struck the hand binding Elysia.

The next second, accompanied by a deafening explosion, a giant finger snapped off and fell, revealing a glimpse of Elysia's figure.

This attack caused the other hands to abandon their pursuit and instead envelop Elysia tightly, attempting to transform her into a giant cage.