The slightest hesitation, and he would be trapped beyond escape.
Why had it come to this?
He could not help asking himself that question.
His silver-white fringe drifted across his face, seeming to cover his eyes and conceal that helplessness as well.
Because of her authority, the Ninth Herrscher had been formally named the Herrscher of Rock.
She could manipulate gravity, and was incredibly powerful.
Dr. Mei and the others' battle plan required them to break the gravitational field around her.
For that, someone had to serve as bait and create an opportunity for Kevin.
After all, only when the Ninth Herrscher used a large amount of Honkai Energy would the gravitational field around her weaken.
Only then would she be unable to escape and could be killed.
Naturally, that bait would not be any single person.
One squad after another threw themselves into the fight.
Among them was Little Griseo's father—Kevin's friend, senior, and guide—Him.
Even with the speed of the strongest MANTIS, he could only barely escape the grasp of the pseudo-black hole.
Thinking about it, Him was probably already dead.
Even if he was still alive, communications were down, so there was no way to contact him.
And even if they could contact him, what difference would it make?
He was far away from Him and simply would not have time to provide assistance.
As bait, Him was positioned at the very center of where the pseudo-black hole had formed.
Perhaps, in little more than the blink of an eye, he would be swallowed up completely.
Maybe that would be a good thing for him, too.
His life would end quickly, without having to struggle too much.
He had already finished passing on his last words...
Kevin had memorized them as well.
He would take good care of Little Griseo and Bianca.
Kosma would, too.
The struggle against the Honkai in the future would only become more difficult.
The deaths of the original eight MANTISes, like Him, would not be entirely without meaning.
Perhaps...
It might even make one a little envious...
Kevin lowered his eyelids slightly and sighed.
He continued squeezing every last bit from his already-exhausted body as he fled forward.
This was a race.
The pseudo-black hole was called "pseudo" precisely because it could not continue forever like a true black hole.
It would always reach a certain critical point, at which its expansion would stop.
After that, it would gradually disappear and slowly come to an end...
Everything depended on the will of heaven now.
Who could have expected this?
At the very end, the Ninth Herrscher had taken a direct hit from the Continent Splitting Sword and still managed to launch a dying counterattack, unleashing something so terrifying in what was practically an act of self-detonation.
Was this her final radiance?
Her final distortion?
Or her final revenge?
Kevin admitted that she had indeed won.
At this rate,
the Mu Continent was beyond saving.
Countless civilians, countless scientists, countless military-industrial facilities, and countless scholars...
They would all be swallowed by the pseudo-black hole along with the Mu Continent.
This would undoubtedly be another horrifying disaster that shocked the entire world, following the Seventh Herrscher's incineration of Australia.
It might even surpass that disaster.
There was no need to ask; one could already guess.
How terrified and panicked the leaders of the Moth of the Fire would be!
If they were so afraid, then they should stop tripping us up, damn it!
When all was said and done, this could still have been avoided.
All they did was make a damn mess of things!
Kevin wished he could carry Tianhuo and hack from east to west, from south to north.
But... that still wouldn't be possible, would it?
After all, Mei had said that humanity could not descend into further chaos.
Give her some time to consolidate power, and this would not happen again.
All he could say was:
Hopefully, that would be true...
Before you continue