The bear-shaped Honkai Beast tossed the cross with its right paw, striking Feng Chen squarely in the chest. Feng Chen's physical constitution had never been good, and the impact fractured several of his ribs. That was only because he had reacted in time and retreated. If he had gotten hotheaded and charged in to press his advantage, he would probably have died inside this box.
The Honkai Beast had yet to recover from the pain of losing its paw. Clutching the severed limb, it howled miserably. The sound truly showed Feng Chen the kind of attack Lion's Roar Skill was. He felt as though his head were about to explode.
At that moment, Feng Chen lay in the bushes, barely managing to prop himself up as he threw the short blade with the last of his strength.
If he could only injure it by targeting its legs, that was absolutely inadvisable. He would be far too vulnerable to attack. Feng Chen had originally planned to use Judas' Embrace of Blood to strike it again and enlarge the wound, but who could have expected the Honkai Beast to pick up the cross of its own accord? For a tall creature like a bear, losing a paw would cause its combat strength to plummet. It probably only had the strength of a Knight-class Honkai Beast now. Still, Feng Chen couldn't afford to underestimate it. After all, underestimating one's enemy was the greatest taboo in warfare.
Everyone had their chuunibyou phase, but Feng Chen's was different from other people's. He had read every text written by the various philosophical schools, and he had certainly read no shortage of military treatises. Other people's chuunibyou came from overheated brains; his involved discussing principles through literature. Put simply, he was showing off—and it felt far better than merely getting hotheaded.
The short blade plunged into the bear-shaped Honkai Beast's severed paw, instantly turning it into a one-armed giant bear.
"Is this no good..." Feng Chen didn't despair, because he could sense that the girl was almost there.
"Roar!"
An egg covered in red spots emerged from Feng Chen's body. Clearly, that tremendous boom just now had come from it.
Its aura was countless times greater than the bear-shaped Honkai Beast's. Feng Chen could sense that the thing inside the egg was at least an Emperor-class Honkai Beast!
The bear-shaped Honkai Beast had been worrying about where to vent its anger, and the red-spotted egg became its target.
An Emperor-class Honkai Beast? What was that? In the bear-shaped Honkai Beast's eyes, there was now only an enemy.
Even though that enemy carried the same aura as itself—an aura tens of thousands of times stronger.
"Disappear!"
The sound of a blade leaving its sheath, followed by the sound of something being chopped into pieces, was the last thing Feng Chen heard.
"System, am I still alive?"
"Of course."
"Then why can't I wake up?" His body seemed to have become disconnected from his consciousness. He wanted to wake up, but couldn't even sense that his body existed.
"The host's consciousness has awakened, but the host's body load has exceeded ninety percent, causing it to enter a state of suspended animation."
"Then how can I wake up?"
"When the body load drops below sixty percent. At Yae Sakura's current speed, it should decrease by about one percent per day. A little over a month should be just right."
"Now that I've ended up like this, will the Herrscher of Erosion attack Sakura?"
"No. The Herrscher of Erosion has already begun working on her next plan and has no time to concern herself with the changes in Sakura Cycle."
"That's good... Then, let's talk about what I should do now?"
"Do what? Hmph. What you need to do next is listen to me lecture you for a month!" Xiao Yun's voice cut in directly. Dressed in a white gown, Xiao Yun appeared within Feng Chen's consciousness, her face filled with unconcealed anger.
"Big Sister Xiao Yun... Let me explain. Let me explain..."
"Explain! Explain what?! You wagered your life to do something only an idiot would do. You're simply worse than an idiot!"
If Feng Chen hadn't only had a pair of eyes with which to look at the Stigmata Space, Xiao Yun probably would have fought him to the death.
"I... I was wrong..." This world wasn't devoid of people who cared about him. Yae Sakura, Xiao Yun, and even the system, which was itself a part of the Honkai, cared about him deeply.
Besides, he had exaggerated this time. A single-handed challenge against a Temple-class... It really was something that didn't exist for him, after all.
"Don't think admitting you're wrong means you're off the hook. This is the Stigmata Space, formed from Honkai Energy. By the same logic, the Honkai can create a clone of you. As long as it links to your senses, there's no problem with you taking a beating here."
Wait... taking a beating?
"What the hell do you mean, taking a beating?!"
"Stop talking nonsense. Make your move."
"Host, I'm sorry... I don't want to do this either, but it's for your own good. Don't worry, once you've recovered, I'll get you an Intermediate Herrscher..." Feng Chen had already guessed what she wanted to say. Once he recovered, she would get him an Intermediate Herrscher? That meant she would chop him into an Intermediate Herrscher here in the Stigmata Space, didn't it...
"Host, I've copied your Valkyrie—er, your Honkai armor and brought it over. Using it here doesn't count as cheating or going beyond the rules." She had originally wanted to say Valkyrie armor, but then remembered that Feng Chen had neither been castrated nor cross-dressed, so she changed it to Honkai armor.
"You copied a set of armor too? It's useless. Although I'm not the absolute master here, you can't defeat me at your current level." That was absolutely true. Feng Chen had witnessed Xiao Yun's strength. Although he had only experienced it through his own body, the power and precision of her techniques couldn't be honed in a month or two.
Facing Xiao Yun, Feng Chen would never hold back. He directly equipped the data of Shadow Knight: Moonblade. Although it wasn't the genuine article, it shouldn't be far inferior to the original... probably.
In Eclipse Mode, neither Death Force Breaks the Sea nor Inch Punch: Instant Dust could injure Xiao Yun. Every punch was pushed aside by Xiao Yun, who infused her palm with the power of Shield of Serenity, while every palm strike was simply sliced off by a sword. Although their senses were linked, he couldn't feel any pain from his body. It could indeed be considered a special way to temper the body.
The severed palms quickly grew back. That was the strength of the purest Honkai Energy.
Whether it was Sword of Serenity or Wind of Serenity, Xiao Yun far surpassed Feng Chen. The only thing they had in common was that Shield of Serenity had no such thing as proficiency. What use was proficiency for defense? If it could block an attack, it was good defense.
The first two strikes of Inch Punch: Heaven Splitter were both blocked by Xiao Yun using Shield of Serenity. The final strike emphasized the word "ruthless," so naturally she showed no mercy.
"Hum!" A sword rang out. With a light tremor of the three-foot blade in her hand, Xiao Yun actually deflected the final strike of Inch Punch: Heaven Splitter!
"Not enough!" Xiao Yun's sword swept across Feng Chen's chest, neither shallow nor deep. She had clearly held back.
"Again!"
"Not enough!"
"Again!"
It was obvious that Feng Chen had gotten carried away. He had forgotten every military treatise he had read and was now nothing more than a reckless brute with courage but no strategy.
Still, even a reckless brute could create a few miracles, right?
Before you continue