Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Chapter 562: Romance

Kathy Sedlia.

Her superpower is called "Eternal Moment".

Simply put, it's about creating a different dimension and sealing a specific object inside.

During this period, Casey herself will fall into a state of suspended animation.

This alone doesn't seem like a remarkable ability; in fact, it might even be a case of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own.

But the key lies in--

One minute in the outside world is roughly equivalent to ten years in another dimension.

At most ten minutes later, the people in the alternate dimension will age and die.

That's why Fisher called it a cheat-like ability that "if it hits, it can take down at least one enemy."

Yu Xun and Valentina, who had witnessed the whole thing, looked at each other in bewilderment.

The terrifying enemy, now completely free of his shackles, was defeated by Cheng Yaojin in just a few seconds, despite being affected by side effects.

"What should we do..." Valentina asked Yu Xun timidly.

"..."

Countless thoughts raced through Yu Xun's mind. She took a deep breath and exhaled.

"... Let's play along. Since things have developed this way, let's force our way back to the original plan. One minute outside is ten years in Casey's alternate dimension. We can only hold out for ten minutes at most before Tartaglia is doomed!"

You mean...?

"Protect Casey first, then—you still have that energy-boosting Spiritual Medicine Fisher gave you, right? Drink it, then compress the entire racetrack into your spatial storage!"

Just then--

A chilling buzzing sound suddenly came from the sky. The two looked up and saw a huge object appearing in the sky about several kilometers away.

It was a sphere with a diameter of over 100 meters, resembling both a cocoon and a flattened tornado, completely enveloped in dazzling flames. The flames seemed to have gathered all the red hues in the world together, absurd yet real, bizarre yet beautiful.

Then, it exploded.

Like something condensed to its limit finally bursting forth, the hurricane, carrying flames, dyed the sky red, and the surging air currents could be felt even from this distance.

What is that?

Although Yu Xun and Valentina's attention was drawn to the flames, they immediately turned their minds back to the main matter. Judging from the flames, it was most likely that Ye, whose strength had greatly increased, was fighting someone, and given the scale of the chaos, her opponent was probably Julia, that mechanical madwoman. This was none of their business.

Valentina strode over to Casey, who was lying on the ground feigning death. Despite the excruciating pain from her wounds, she placed one hand near his body, compressed the space, and instantly engulfed Casey entirely.

This is a protective measure, and it's why Casey was originally slated to partner with Valentina.

If the goal is to protect and hide Casey, who is in a state of suspended animation and at the mercy of others, Valentina is the best choice.

"That's fine, then--"

My injuries can't be healed by drinking Spiritual Medicine; I need Yu Xun's special ability. However, the "initial state" that Yu Xun set up, which "includes my uninjured self," only includes "last night's racetrack," and that was set when she came to scout the location yesterday.

Yu Xun's ability only works in spaces with clear boundaries. With the racetrack's walls half-destroyed, if she wants her ability to take effect and rewind to "last night's racetrack," she can only "create boundaries herself."

Using supernatural abilities beyond their limits, the entire racetrack was transformed into a compressed space, so that the inner wall of the 'marble' became the boundary of the racetrack.

A few seconds ago, several kilometers away--

A huge red sphere appeared hundreds of meters in the air.

It was a cocoon formed by countless hurricanes, its color stained by the Blood Flame dancing within it.

The sphere remained in this state for one second... two seconds... and then it exploded.

Blood Flame, carried by a hurricane, dyed the sky bright as day, illuminating the entire underwater city. Within that light, two figures, seemingly locked in combat, flew back and forth.

"You're so tough! If this were a game, with your chest pierced and your head melted, you should have been yelling 'Damn it, how could I lose?!' and then self-destructing!"

"Hahahaha, your words are grammatically incorrect, you idiot, you idiot, you idiot! Your head has melted off, how can you still talk!"

"Aren't you still speaking out?"

"Who says a voice-generating device has to be on your face? Who says a processor has to be crammed into your head? Who says a power source has to be located in your heart? Putting those critical components in places that look like fatal weaknesses? Only a fool would do that!"

"Ah, that's true."

Actually, I've always wanted to complain about this: why do they always put the critical devices of robots in the same positions as the critical organs of the human body, regardless of whether it's Gundam or Iron Man, or what era or country they're from? It's like saying, "This is a weak point, come and attack it!" It's so stupid.

"Right? Right? Great minds think alike! Maybe we're actually quite compatible!"

"What you mean by 'compatible' is that you take out each other's organs and squeeze them for fun?"

"That's right! We really click!!!!"

Boom! The Blood Flame and the Laser Cutter collided and separated, and the shockwave from the explosion pushed us both hundreds of meters away. Although I had greatly enhanced my strength by Thermal Drive of the burning Blood Flame, and the blade also had Jet Nozzle of Blood Flame to help stabilize me when I slashed, I was still shaken so badly that my hand was lacerated and my greatsword almost flew out of my hand.

I gripped the Void Greatsword, its veins coiled and burning with Blood Flame, in my right hand, while she carried a cumbersome contraption that resembled a multi-shot rocket launcher fitted with Ship Slicing Blade. The wind-powered thing that resembled a gun, spear, and trident had already been destroyed in the explosion; was that the one she had just used to confront me head-on? Lady's rocket launcher was nothing special.

Incidentally, I was holding what looked like a power source but wasn't actually a furnace, which I had broken off from her chest, in my left hand, while she had my fresh liver in her mouth, though I had made another one myself.

I died badly once when I collided with her "Hurricane Cavalry," and was killed a second time by a huge explosion right after I respawned. So frustrating.

As for her--

"... I'm telling you, are you sure there's nothing wrong with your behavior?"

After this being named Julia collided violently with me, she became something that was no longer funny.

To put it simply, she looks like a complete mess right now.

She took a bunch of sophisticated civilian, police, and military machines, removed their outer shells, haphazardly reassembled all the internal components, forcibly shaped them into a primate form, and then covered them with a layer of seemingly powerful but tattered armor. That's pretty much what she looks like now.

The only thing that's certain is that she really doesn't care much about her appearance.

"Huh? Tsk tsk, I thought someone like you, who seems like the protagonist, would have a broad mind."

"A broad chest? If you mean chest size, then it is indeed very large."

"No, no, I'm not pretending to be stupid. I'm talking about seeing through appearances to the essence! Judging from your expression, you definitely think I look terrible right now, right? Terrible, right? Absolutely hideous!"

"If you know that, then you'd better pay attention to your appearance!"

I tossed aside the mechanical entrails in my hand, flapped my Flame Wings, and immediately accelerated towards the pile of things Julia! The crystalline light emanating from the Void Greatsword tore through the air, but numerous AT field-like shields immediately blocked her path! I simply sheathed the greatsword and used my free hand—

"Bloody Drill!"

The ultra-high-temperature blood vessels, flowing with concentrated blood, coiled into a spiral shape and Blood Crystal Reinforcement into a giant drill, easily pierced through the AT Field.

"What the heck is this 'Pui Pui Pui Bloody Drill'? Your naming taste is absolutely terrible!"

"You have no right to talk to me like that!"

"Look at my -- the Dismemberment Set Meal Plasma Cannon '!"

"What a terrible name!"

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Countless massive components formed a large-caliber cannon barrel in front of her, the muzzle of which jammed my drill bit! The tip of the barrel clashed violently with the drill bit, rapidly wearing it down under the powerful penetrating force and hellish heat, but Julia's head, now reduced to just a mouth, laughed even more gleefully.

"I must admit, your drill is really romantic, but..."

Click, click, click, card number swiping, click, click, click!!!!!

"The romance of Multi-turret surpasses even this! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!"

Behind her, countless parts, countless cannon barrels, countless weapons, like hundreds of tank turrets disassembled and haphazardly piled together, forming a massive barrier! Hundreds of huge cannon barrels were aimed at me at the same time, the dark cannon holes like the eyes of some indescribable creature, radiating an inorganic deterrent force.

"..." Oops.

How romantic.

Rugged machinery, massive numbers, sturdy cannons, harmony hidden beneath the chaos, pure violent aesthetics.

"There are no confusing distinctions, my ballistics will show no mercy!!!" (Author's note: Guess where this line is referenced?)

As hundreds of cannon barrels rattled and clattered, I immediately abandoned the drill and released countless blood vessels that formed a giant net large enough to cover all the gun emplacements. The net was filled with flexible, high-heat blood vessels; as soon as a shell came, it would surely—

Rumble rumble rumble rumble!!!

--stop--

"--What the hell!!!!"

It looks exactly like a tank turret that fires live ammunition; what it fires is...

"Speaking of romance that can even surpass Multi-turret, there's only Laser Barrage Rain!!!!"

Fall.

This is the only word I can think of to describe this breathtaking scene.

The overwhelming laser barrage was entirely in cool tones, primarily blue, green, and purple, resembling an inverted waterfall hanging from the sky, or a reversed River Styx. How could a product of technology achieve such a level of spectacle?

Since that's the case--

"Blood Beast Creation... Yog-Sothoth!!!"

Just tough it out.

A massive pool of blood unfolded beneath me, and the writhing creatures of the Thousand-Throated Beast burst forth from it, roaring as they blocked the laser barrage. But this couldn't last long; at this rate, the Blood Beast I created would eventually be worn down!

As if I wasn't causing enough trouble, I heard a voice.

The sound came directly into my ears.

"... Ye... Are you there... Ye..."

It was then that I remembered that before we officially set off, Sin Annihilation had given each of us a small piece of meat, no bigger than half a little finger, which we put in our ears so that we could use Sin Annihilation as a relay station to make calls.

"Sin Annihilation? Your hibernation is over?"

"Never mind... Haoyue..."

"... Bright Moon?"

"Haoyue... has been attacked... this is very bad!"

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My heart aches for Yue-chan, this is the second mysterious plot twist!

I haven't received many Monthly Votes these past couple of days, so sad... /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~