The Raven-Mouthed

Under Feng Chen's attacks, these dead soldiers fell without a doubt.

"Floor 2 is pretty easy, too."

The third floor was another matter, though. Feng Chen had already needed to use Shadow Knight: Moonblade on the second floor, so wouldn't the third floor require him to use both Moonblade and Lightning Empress's abilities together? What about the fourth and fifth floors?

He didn't have that many trump cards. His biggest trump card now was that egg, and it probably wouldn't be of any use here, either.

That meant whether Feng Chen could make it through the six-floor Tenshu-kaku had become a question.

"Even if I can't, I still have to try." That was his thought. After all, the girls were here. It would be too embarrassing to admit that he was scared.

Even a tree clung to its bark, and a man clung to his pride.

Honkai Beasts had even appeared on the third floor. In a place like Tenshu-kaku, the strangest thing was that there were Honkai Beasts.

After all, this was a human building. Honkai Beasts only destroyed things, so their coming inside was simply bizarre.

But once he thought of the Herrscher of Erosion, he could more or less guess what was happening.

"Are these Honkai Beasts being controlled by the consciousnesses split off by the Herrscher of Erosion...? A Herrscher's soul is much stronger than a human's. It probably isn't a big deal for her to spare some attention to control the Honkai Beasts." This was only his guess. He would have to wait until he could contact the system again to resolve the question.

Why didn't he ask Yae Sakura? Because although the range of Yae Sakura's Sword Qi was wide and it could target many enemies, it was ultimately just an instinctive mechanism.

Yae Sakura's instinct and controlling Honkai Beasts were two different things. However wide the Sword Qi's range was and however many targets there were, that was the number it would hit. It could only increase, never decrease.

If he asked Yae Sakura whether she could control her Sword Qi freely, she would definitely answer that she couldn't.

Her Sword Qi could only kill enemies. Even if one used it extravagantly, cutting vegetables with it would probably be difficult.

One careless move would reduce the vegetables to pieces—and very tiny pieces at that.

As for how Yae Sakura cut vegetables when she cooked, obviously she used a kitchen knife! Who cooked and chopped vegetables with a katana? Wouldn't that exhaust them?

Fortunately, the Honkai Beasts that appeared on the third floor weren't especially powerful. At most, they were Tank-class Honkai Beasts.

The trouble with Tank-class Honkai Beasts was their thick hides. Yae Sakura's attacks could only break through their defenses; they weren't yet strong enough to kill them in one blow.

Not to mention the enhanced alloy Tank-class Honkai Beasts and Honkai: Crush.

Two Honkai: Crushes stood side by side and charged toward Feng Chen and Yae Sakura. They lowered their bodies slightly, and Feng Chen felt the air around them being sucked away.

A powerful wave of air rushed toward them. Feng Chen and Yae Sakura instinctively grabbed each other's hands and ran backward. Both of them were somewhat surprised, but this wasn't the time for shock. They had to find a way past this hurdle first.

Could they run? Of course not. In the relatively cramped space of each floor of Tenshu-kaku, there was nowhere Feng Chen and Yae Sakura could hide that would let them escape unscathed.

In that case, they might as well strike back directly.

A blood-red cross slammed into the ground, and Feng Chen and Yae Sakura clung tightly to it. Each of them had one hand free so they could prepare for battle.

A short blade flew from Feng Chen's hand. It wasn't stained with Feng Chen's blood, yet its attack power was enough to threaten Honkai: Crush.

The attack didn't break through its defenses, but it left a mark on one Honkai: Crush.

It was like when something scraped against a person's body without causing an injury, leaving behind a white mark.

That level of damage was already enough to interrupt the Honkai Beast's attack.

With one less Honkai Beast releasing a powerful wave of air, Yae Sakura and Feng Chen gradually regained their footing and charged forward at the same time.

Yae Sakura was more agile, so she dealt with the Honkai Beast whose attack had been interrupted. With the Imitation Judah in hand, Feng Chen had the weight of an ordinary person and was not easily blown away, so he dealt with the Honkai Beast that was still unleashing its powerful wave of air.

"Flash Slash." "Blade Return." The two moves flowed together in one breath, and the Honkai Beast that had stopped attacking didn't even know how it had died.

The other side suffered even worse. Feng Chen tossed the Imitation Judah and sent it crashing straight into the Honkai Beast, knocking it away.

Behind the two Honkai: Crushes stood two Demon Knights, enhanced versions of Knight-class Honkai Beasts.

The Demon Knights' attacks were unusual. They could add special effects, such as freezing or setting their targets ablaze.

Freezing and burning meant exactly what they sounded like: getting frozen without taking a bath—or being burned continuously. In simple terms, anyway.

Yae Sakura had a much harder time dealing with the Demon Knight than she had earlier. The Demon Knight had a long spear that could block Flash Slash.

Well, of course, it could only block it once. For Yae Sakura, who was giving it her all, blocking one Flash Slash meant nothing. After all, Flash Slash wasn't limited to a single use, was it?

A Demon Knight had just used its long spear to block Flash Slash. Although the strike had been stopped, what it couldn't stop was Yae Sakura changing positions. Another thin cherry-colored line pierced through from behind the Demon Knight.

Then she sheathed her blade. "Blade Return."

The Honkai Beast fell to the ground and transformed into Honkai Energy, but because of Yae Sakura's current special condition, she didn't absorb it.

Feng Chen's side was even simpler. The Demon Knight didn't have an attack as troublesome as Honkai: Crush's, so he simply met it head-on.

Let's see whether your spear was harder or my cross.

There was no spectacle to this battle at all. The situation was completely one-sided.

Having Honkai Beasts around actually made things much easier. It seemed the difference between Honkai Beasts and dead soldiers was that Honkai Beasts had greater destructive power, while dead soldiers were harder to deal with.

Faced with the two different types of enemies, Feng Chen's choice was obvious.

"Sorry, but I choose the dead soldiers."

Honkai Beasts had less intelligence than dead soldiers, but the risk was too high. If he was accidentally touched by one, he would be finished.

Although he preferred dead soldiers, Honkai Beasts weren't particularly difficult to deal with either—provided he wasn't touched by them.

The strongest enemy on the third floor was the Demon Knight that had appeared earlier. The rest were just Tank-class Honkai Beasts. Stick a cross in the ground, spin around, and it was over.

"Dust-kun, do you want to rest for a while?"

After clearing three floors in a row, even Yae Sakura felt a little tired. Feng Chen couldn't possibly have felt nothing.

If they didn't rest, Yae Sakura would definitely lecture him, so it was better to avoid the trouble.

"Sure, let's rest here for a while—as long as the Herrscher of Erosion doesn't throw down more Honkai Beasts."

Perhaps he should change this habit. After all, being a jinx could get people killed...

"Roar!"

A Honkai: Crush crawled down the stairway from the fourth floor, entering Feng Chen and Yae Sakura's line of sight.

"I... I'll shut up. I'm shutting up right now."

He felt that if he kept talking, he might even jinx the Herrscher of Erosion into coming down to the third floor.

Fortunately, it was only one Honkai: Crush. It wasn't an especially difficult opponent for Yae Sakura and Feng Chen.