Even equipped with a spacetime rupture system, it took multiple B-Rank Valkyries working together to defeat a Temple-class enemy. The one before him was about as strong. Their senses did not rely entirely on vision, and their reactions were far too fast for their size.
Fang Jie was alone. No matter how he circled around it, the massive Chariot-class Honkai Beast kept him firmly locked on, adjusting its posture and continuously accelerating toward him.
As they rushed toward each other from opposite directions, their collision came in...
5,
4,
3, 2, 1.
In the end, Fang Jie was more agile. He suddenly accelerated again, passing along his right side—the Honkai Beast's left—as its pillar-like left forelimb swept past.
And—
The faintly glowing blade in his hand dragged out an afterimage, growing ever brighter.
At the critical instant, he triggered the Honkai energy that had been continuously infused into it. A crescent-shaped streak of light slashed at one of the colossal beast's limbs.
He would not recklessly attack that tall, thick neck. Being unable to adapt to this speed and borrow force from the ground did not mean he could simply avoid touching the ground altogether.
Otherwise, if the Honkai Beast charged, there would be no way for him to dodge. If he did not want to activate his instant-kill move, he would have to become a two-dimensional character—Fang Jie-chan.
The Composite Blade: Willow Leaf lived up to its three-star rating. Its specialized cutting power, driven by Honkai energy, sliced through the Honkai Beast's body like a laser, carving nearly ten meters deep. One slash trimmed its foot and made the hundred-meter-long beast stagger. The wound burst open, releasing large amounts of Honkai energy-rich "blood," which sprayed through the air like spilled ink, leaving behind the mark of the slash.
Technological sword aura, kid!
If he had aimed at a vital point—the core buried deep within the Honkai Beast's body—this strike would have been enough to kill it instantly.
Without stopping, Fang Jie rushed out from beneath the Honkai Beast's shadow, dodging the pillar-like impact of its crippled right forelimb as it ignored its wound and stomped down at him.
Thrilling!
But I did it!
Unable to stop himself in time, Fang Jie barreled into a building. The wall cushioned him like water—though everyone knew that diving from too high up was no different from diving onto concrete.
The Honkai Beast had not hurt him, but that wall nearly knocked him unconscious.
High attack, low defense. I desperately need armor.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Spitting out the bits of cement he had accidentally swallowed, Fang Jie jumped out the window and escaped the room whose wall he had smashed through, and whose floor below had been torn open by his hand gripping the ground. Without hesitation, he jumped off the building.
Behind him, the wall shattered just as expected. It was the giant Chariot-class beast, completely disregarding its injuries as it viciously pursued him!
Damn it, every time I used the instant-kill move, they reacted so dramatically. What was with this cold-blooded, ruthless act of a Honkai Beast that felt no pain?
Ordinary attacks really were not very effective. Amid his frantic escape, Fang Jie glanced back and noticed the wound he had carved was visibly healing.
With Chang Kong City's dense Honkai energy replenishing it, the wound would probably start healing within three hours. It would not even take a day for it to recover completely.
What ridiculous vitality!
Why were Death Troopers so easy to kill? As long as their heads were cut off, they stopped moving soon enough... Oh, right.
As he ran at high speed, the world around Fang Jie seemed incredibly slow in his vision. He could even see the slight tremble of the blade tip as it moved. Then he found the direction in which to exert force and stabilized it, keeping the blade tip and blade body at the same height and in a straight line by his side, maintaining that stability even as he scrambled forward.
His gaze locked firmly onto the giant Chariot-class beast's body, settling on its head—the part where Honkai energy was most concentrated, where its core was located.
Humanoid Death Troopers died when decapitated.
Beast-type Honkai died only when their hearts were cut apart.
"Games misled me. Why was I trimming its foot? After all that effort, I still had to attack a vital point. Since when were health bars such an inconvenient thing? It's so slow—why was I trying to wear it down..."
So instead of retreating, he charged forward.
With agile changes in direction, Fang Jie leaped toward higher parts of the buildings, cracking walls beneath his feet as he ran straight upward at a ninety-degree angle. Before the Honkai Beast could destroy each skyscraper in pursuit, he repeatedly leaped between the city's high-rises, different from but somewhat like Spider-Man, climbing ever higher.
Finally, he was level with the towering Honkai Beast!
These terrifyingly huge monsters were already a hundred meters long, but they were at least fifty meters tall as well. How could such massive weight stand firm while only damaging so little of the ground? Even Gaia would give them a thumbs-up!
Fang Jie was equally confused. It was already difficult for him to accelerate by using the little friction between his feet and the ground. He kept slipping, especially on snow.
Did Honkai Beasts know how to gather Honkai energy beneath their feet?
Such stray thoughts showed that his state of mind was lacking, but Fang Jie had no solution for that at the moment.
He had already leaped high into the air and was running across the Honkai Beast's back, ignoring the damage from the Honkai energy on its surface accelerating the corrosion of his body as he charged toward its head.
Come on. One instant to decide life, death, victory, and defeat!
At Fang Jie's current speed, six slashes per second was not his limit, but he only needed one.
"Slash!"
He exhaled and shouted, giving it everything he had.
He did not know any swordsmanship at all. If he stood on the same stage as those masters in his memories who had devoted themselves to martial arts, whether barehanded or armed, Fang Jie could only throw one punch and then kneel to beg them not to die.
Thus, electricity burst across his body. He maximized his power in one breath, and the purple-black figure streaked forward like a meteor—a baleful, ominous star.
Then the giant Chariot-class beast saw half of its own face.
A body capable of withstanding orbital cannon bombardment. A body capable of ravaging cities and trampling every artificial object in the world not born of Honkai.
In an instant, it was cleaved straight through from the back of its neck into two halves!
"Roar!!"
Its relentless roar finally carried a different note.
Pain!
Even the Honkai Beast, which seemed incapable of feeling pain, cried out in agony now, wailing as death approached.
The back of its neck, the back of its head, its core, its beastly face... all were cut in two by a single slash.
Its head was severed, and so was its heart.
As smooth as a hot knife through butter. A one-hit kill.
Amid that strange blood rain rich in Honkai energy, Fang Jie protected the state of mind he wished to cultivate. He landed on one knee, gripping his blade with both hands and refusing to let go, his full attention fixed on the path of life and death he had carved open before him.
He had always been fairly handsome, and now that he had become younger and returned to his teenage years, standing atop a monster and landing so stylishly with residual electricity curling around him made him look even more dashing.
"Wasn't this... doable?"
Fang Jie murmured to himself.
So many things beyond his understanding had happened, and he had survived until now without having the time to break down. What had just happened before him also completely proved that, even without his "cheat," he himself exceeded his own understanding.
"So there's nothing to fear."
He was already twenty-four...
At an age where retreat meant growing old, and cowardice meant death!
He slowly rose to his feet and stood silently atop the head of the giant monster as it collapsed, looking out ahead. The footing beneath him on the Honkai Beast was solid, while Chang Kong City continued to burn beneath the night sky, lending the scene even more of a battlefield atmosphere.
His blood was boiling, yet he was astonishingly calm. His thoughts had never flowed so smoothly...
It felt good. Incredibly good.
Unable to resist, acting on impulse, doing what he wanted to do, he planted his blade into the "ground" and spread his arms toward the front as though he wanted to part the mist.
Until the carcass fell to the ground.
Fang Jie emerged from the smoke and dust with his blade resting on his shoulder, not bothering to sheath it. He walked on with light, easy steps like a street punk, even detouring to kick a surviving trash can flying at the roadside.
The haze in his heart—that he had meant to protect others, only to nearly bring about the apocalypse by accident—was completely swept away.
Yeah. Why mentally exhaust myself? The road ahead was clearly wider than a sidewalk.
.
.
If Stockings Appear, They Will Be Torn Apart
Meanwhile, Theresa was having a far worse time.
On the artificial island where St. Freya Academy stood, a place once so familiar to her, she tore through the night sky along a howling trail of clouds and crashed down onto the ground.
Behind her, she could vaguely see the gloomy sky illuminated by burning Chang Kong City.
The city's neon lights no longer shone. In their place were the flames of disaster.
Those flames of calamity scorched the sky.
Would that be St. Freya Academy's tomorrow?
"No, never!"
Theresa swore it. Such unwavering resolve would suppress all enemies.
Even if I often ate Judah's Shadow, and even Judah's Zeroth Rated Power—God's Grace Barrier—could no longer be unleashed, and even if I had never excessively activated the superhuman factors in my body...
So what? What resolve was Himeko fighting with? What had those "low-ranking Valkyries," who left their wills behind and headed for Chang Kong City alongside her, been sacrificing all this time? Theresa would not forget.
It was not merely everything represented by "Kiana."
She remembered. She remembered the last messages left even by the academy's lowest-ranking D-Rank Valkyries, one after another...
"For my hometown, I will find every last enemy."
"Sorry, Mom. I can't come home."
"I will fulfill my duty like her, even if it means death."
"There isn't much time left. I hope I don't turn into some super powerful monster, hahaha..."
One after another!
Therefore, never!
She did not need Judah. She would surpass Judah.
Theresa pushed open the door to a hospital room in the hospital formerly assigned to St. Freya Academy, her face tense and her steps resolute, when she heard:
"Don't be nervous, Mei. Everything will be fine. We made a promise, after all. I want to drink Mei's milky—hehe, guhhehe~"
Theresa froze.
This was...
Wonderful.
"Eh? Mei, dumb Bronya, look! Where did this little shrimp come from? Come in, come in! Your big sisters will let you get checked first."
Kiana was incredibly enthusiastic as she called out to the expressionless little girl who had pushed open the door, probably another child they had rescued.
Her complexion looked awful. I should be even friendlier.
Kiana simply skipped over, wearing the lecherous expression of a creepy old man. "Ah! Up you go..."
She—she could not lift her?!
"That's strange?"
Kiana froze, wondering whether she had not eaten enough. No, that was not right. She had eaten so much of the candy and chocolate Fang Jie carried with him earlier, and there had not been much fighting afterward.
Could it be... I'm weakened?
It did not feel like it. She was tired, but she still had plenty of strength.
I'll lift her again!
"Hah! Up you go!"
Theresa did not move.
It was so quiet around them, too. The gentle and kind medical sisters from before had seemingly received some order and left without returning.
They were busy. That was perfectly normal.
Kiana refused to believe it. She wrapped both arms around Theresa and exerted all her strength. Did she think she could be tougher than a weeping willow?
Kiana had uprooted who knew how many of those things. Do you understand? One punch from me could leave a huge crater in the ground!
Before you continue