Chlorine Sodium's Arknights

Interesting, so this is what mages are like in this world.

And are all the people in this world this arrogant and conceited?

The one I encountered before was an elite monster at best, but this one before me is completely immersed in darkness. Even snowflakes that land on their black clothing instantly turn to ash and are scattered by the cold wind. They exude an aura of coldness and death, truly possessing the essence of a mage – unfathomable, untouchable, incomprehensible.

They don't even make any casting gestures; it's like they can kill people with just a creepy glare.

The malevolence of all things, like nerve endings seeping into thick air, gradually penetrates the prey's skin, which is frozen by the air. This is an ability that's practically cheating. First, they immobilize the opponent by freezing the air, and then they use this follow-up move to control them silently.

A decent tactic.

But I wonder if the mages in this world are weak in close combat.

Everything falls silent, and just as all sound sinks into deathly stillness.

The girl, however, uses the limited oxygen within her body and throws a punch with her right fist!

The Valkyrie's body, enhanced to its absolute limit, allows a simple punch to almost break the sound barrier in an instant.

The surrounding solidified magic is actually scattered by the force of the punch!

Inch Punch: Chaotic Thunder. The essence is to use inch-long force to seize and open things up with brute force.

"What!"

Golden eyes like molten iron snap open! The hem of their clothes flutters wildly in the gale.

However, there's no time to spare. The silver-haired girl is like an arrow loosed from a bow. She stomps on the snow, kicking up a snow wall behind her like a sudden clap of thunder. The girl's figure instantly disappears from sight!

So fast!

However, the Emperor's Royal Guard is not to be trifled with. If they only relied on pure magical attacks, they wouldn't be able to be the Royal Guard.

Several points of heavy pressure lock onto Chlorine Sodium, who is practically flying close to the snow surface.

It seems this kind of magic doesn't require finding a target but is a form of area suppression, capable of immobilizing several squads in place or crushing them directly.

The Emperor's Royal Guard retreats sharply, and a black barrier instantly deploys in front of them.

This is the ultimate defense, arguably the ultimate application of Originium Arts.

Ordinary mages can at most create some obstacles, like controlling the earth and rock layers to build simple walls, or creating firewalls – things that create "reality" through Originium Arts to seize victory.

However, Originium Arts themselves carry a spiritual component, the embodiment of the user's inner self.

And the strongest things are the manifestations of spiritual will in the real world.

A barrier with no thickness; it's a solid wall created by thought, an insurmountable law in itself.

They don't even know where the casting medium is, yet they can instantly release several such ultimate defenses. Only someone of the Emperor's Royal Guard's caliber can do so with ease.

After all, the Emperor's Royal Guard is capable of slaughtering several squads single-handedly in an instant.

And on either side of the barrier are other magical traps. This is the Royal Guard's tactic: use the barrier to create an insurmountable wall, then force the opponent to charge towards the trap defenses or abandon the attack.

The exchange of offense and defense can happen in the blink of an eye.

However, the girl doesn't act according to the Royal Guard's plan. She doesn't turn; she heads straight for the wall.

A foolish idea, attempting to break through an invisible wall with her physical body. How is that possible?

She's walking into her own death.

The Royal Guard prepares new spells, waiting to counter-attack once the opponent stops attacking outside the wall.

In the end, she's just a brute. The unpredictable nature of a mage is precisely what counters such mindless brutes.

However, she stomps into the accumulated snow. The girl, with her right fist loosely clenched, seems to disregard the heavy pressure and the wall entirely.

Purple patterns slowly light up across her entire body, a sign of minimal Honkai Energy consumption.

As her joints exert force, power is transmitted upwards step by step. The movement of her legs begins to crack the ground, and her bent arm, driven by the power of her waist, begins to generate high-speed friction with the air.

The rotation of her body transforms the unleashed punch into a cannonball leaving its casing!

"Inch...

The use of force even distorts the distribution of her bones in a short period. The sound of compression and slight displacement is like the triumphant drumbeat of a victory march.

The right fist that is thrown even trails a conical white cloud of mist – a sonic boom.

Heaven Splitter!"

Her right fist, having long surpassed the speed of sound and left it far behind, silently rushes towards the black barrier.

A silent collision, followed by a heavy thunderclap, and the wind howls!

The black barrier shatters in response.

But it wasn't just one layer!

The barriers, which should have been layered with certain intervals, were superimposed by the shockwaves generated by the impact of the force. It was like a giant stone being thrown into a calm lake.

The splashing waves were scattered black fragments. A single punch had shattered the entire barrier, along with the surrounding magic!

White snow walls are churned up by the shockwaves!

How is this possible!!

The force of that punch, however, still hadn't stopped.

The howling gale had slammed the punch's kinetic energy squarely into an Emperor's Royal Guard, who was aligned with the black barrier.

But before the Emperor's Royal Guard, sent flying backward, could attempt to use magic to stabilize himself in mid-air, his opponent had already closed in!

The Inch Punch itself was a close-quarters combat technique.

Empowered by Honkai Energy, Chlorine Sodium had transcended human limits, turning herself into a cannonball.

"BOOM!!!"

What was meant to be a move to break through an opponent's guard using speed and weight, by focusing all her mass onto her shoulder, was instead used by Chlorine Sodium for the killing blow here.

This was the Iron Mountain Lean!

"THUD!!!"

A dull thud echoed, accompanied by the sound of something shattering into dust, and then everything fell silent.

Because red had become the only color besides white.

It bloomed vibrantly on the snow-covered ground, like a blooming Lycoris radiata.

A spray of blood mixed with internal organs and chunks of flesh, interspersed with mechanical fragments, splattered backward, almost dyeing the ground completely red.

Red snow, a red low wall, and the smell of blood permeated the air.

However, by chance, Chlorine Sodium saw a red signal flare in the sky, which had been fired upwards at some point, slowly descending.

"Tch, so they had a backup plan."

She had initially thought there would only be one of these super elite monsters, but she hadn't expected it to have companions.

She had wanted to conserve some Honkai Energy and hadn't even activated her Herrscher form.

These guys really wouldn't leave her in peace.

They were forcing her hand.

It was fortunate Yelena had fainted; otherwise, killing them one by one would have taken a long time, even if they were just pigs.

Outside the village, three Emperor's Royal Guards, all dressed in black, appeared at the entrance.

This was a special signal, one that no one had ever truly seen in a hundred years.

But today, they had encountered it.

One of their comrades had fired this red signal flare, indicating an emergency.

It seemed he had run into trouble.

It had been too long since the Emperor's Royal Guards had encountered such an opponent.

"It's time to move. Our comrade needs our help now."

ps: Applied for a contract, and it happened surprisingly quickly. Was updating twice a day too much? [scratches head]

It's snowing, and it's so cold outside. I almost slipped while walking. I still have to go out and buy food myself tomorrow. Sob sob, I'm so miserable ahhhhhh.

Section 14: The God's Covenant

As the three entered the village, they were met with a scene that would make their jaws drop.

Their comrade who had fired the signal was now just a pile of bloody chunks on the ground.

And the killer, after a flash of lightning and light, had appeared somewhere else.

Without moving an inch, still maintaining that lofty posture, the Emperor's Royal Guard who had fired the signal flare had actually fallen!

How could this be?!

How could this happen?!

Who was she!?

To this day, no one had ever been able to kill an Emperor's Royal Guard without a numerical advantage!

How was this possible?!

Everything had happened too quickly, and the countermeasure was too simple. It seemed as if with just one punch, that person had been instantly dismembered in mid-air by that energy.

"Just what... are you?!"

"What am I? You can't even see my existence clearly, yet you dare to challenge a god?"

The Herrscher had lost interest in the insects before her. Fighting them one by one was too troublesome, so she decided to unleash her ultimate move and start clearing out the pests.

"You are fortunate enough to meet me, yet you do not recognize my majesty. You dare to attempt to gaze upon a god with your lowly eyes. You have no reason to live any longer, insignificant insects."

Amidst the opponent's disbelief, the Herrscher merely raised her hand slightly, and countless purple Gates of Reason unfolded around her.

And the girl's aura completely transformed.

She was like a newborn sun, her scorching light blindingly brilliant.

The energy fluctuation that erupted had not been perceived by anyone before. The opponent's hidden abilities clearly surpassed the level of the Emperor's Royal Guards!

This is impossible! The strong individuals from various factions are almost all known by name. If they had come to Ursus, intelligence organizations would have received even the slightest hint of their arrival.

Furthermore, the Emperor's Royal Guard has a clear understanding and recognition of those powerful individuals, but the person before them was completely unfamiliar, both in terms of energy fluctuations and aura.

Who exactly is she?!

However, the opponent's methods had already demonstrated arrogance and power to the fullest extent.

Countless weapons, shining with dazzling light, emerged from the opened great door, revealing energy fluctuations that could not be hidden!

These were clearly no ordinary weapons. Each one shone with preciousness and power, the kind of weapons that could only be held by an emperor or a legendary hero. Yet, at this moment, no words could describe the scene before their eyes.

"Retreat!"

One of the Royal Guards, after uttering a command, stepped forward, his entire being transforming into a soaring shadow!

Merely by displaying their attacking stances, they were already causing the Emperor's Royal Guard to resolutely consider retreat.

It was a life-risking attack, an attempt to use their all to stop the opponent's imminent strike. Although he had never seen these portal-like things before and had no idea what was happening here, he understood that with such energy fluctuations, their comrades could be killed. The opponent must have also expended considerable energy, and it wasn't all in their hands. But if they could find a way to interrupt it, people could escape and report this information of extremely high value.

The Ursus Empire needed to know everything that was happening here, as well as guard against it and prepare sufficient plans to investigate and deal with the "monster" before them.

However, they were not the only ones launching an attack. The second person among the three even opened a valve on his body, injected some kind of gas into his mask, and launched an even more ferocious assault than before!

The third person, however, decisively abandoned all of this and intended to make a swift escape.

It must be said, their perfect coordination, so tight that it required no dialogue, was probably the best these ants could achieve.

Precise tactics, tight cooperation, powerful combat skills – one had to admit, they were indeed quite capable.

Not only was the individual's single-target attack bizarre and unpredictable, but the cooperation between these three was also quite impressive.

But it was all meaningless.