My Trailblaze Fears No Death!

[The superstar Astra Yao! Hehehehe~]

The Dark Blood Demon's face went deathly pale. He turned to run.

But the Starfarer was far faster.

One slash. Two. Three.

Orange arcs erupted one after another, and fireballs bloomed in their wake.

The Dark Blood Demon's screams rang across the entire area:

"Spare me! Spare me! I'll give you anything! I'll be your dog! Please don't kill me!"

Chen Xing did not stop.

"Be my dog? You think you're worthy?"

The final slash fell, cutting the Dark Blood Demon's body into countless pieces.

The Starfarer stepped back half a pace and angled its sword downward.

Overclocked Particle Beam!

A beam blasted straight down.

It swallowed the Dark Blood Demon whole. Like the Dark Hummingbird, he left not even ashes behind.

Chen Xing sat in the cockpit and let out a long breath.

Two Kings down!

Next...

He raised his head and looked toward the depths of the ice fortress.

The Ghost Emperor was not there, but another Emperor was.

The Nether Emperor, Ha Luosa!

The Starfarer rose into the air and flew deeper into the ice fortress.

The farther it flew, the colder it grew. The air was thick with the scent of death.

Chen Xing knew it was Ha Luosa's domain.

Netherworld Rebirth.

The Starfarer landed before a vast hall of ice.

Its doors stood open, revealing nothing but darkness within.

Chen Xing jumped out of the cockpit.

He stood at the entrance, glanced inside, and said:

"Come out. I know you're in there."

A voice came from the darkness, calm and almost elegantly composed.

"You arrived sooner than I expected."

A figure slowly emerged from the dark.

He wore gray armor and a gray cloak.

The armor was crystalline, refracting a strange light.

He was strikingly handsome, but his face was white as snow, and a diamond-shaped gray crystal was set into his forehead.

In his right hand, he held a slender crossguard sword. Its blade was gray and translucent, shrouded in a haze of gray light.

Ha Luosa, the Nether Emperor, one of the Holy Spirit Cult's two Emperors. A level ninety-nine quasi-god.

He stopped a few meters from Chen Xing at the hall's entrance and regarded him calmly with gray eyes.

"You killed the Dark Hummingbird and the Dark Blood Demon?"

Chen Xing merely nodded.

Ha Luosa fell silent for a moment, then spoke.

"They deserved to die."

Chen Xing was a little surprised.

"You won't avenge them?"

Ha Luosa shook his head.

"Why would I? They served me while they were alive. Now they're dead. The Holy Spirit Cult has never lacked people."

As Chen Xing looked at him, he suddenly felt that this man seemed even more numb than the Dark Blood Demon or the Dark Hummingbird.

He could sense that the years had drowned the last trace of humanity Ha Luosa had left.

"But since you killed my men, you owe me an answer."

Ha Luosa raised his crossguard sword and pointed it at Chen Xing.

"Come. Let me see what someone who can kill two Kings is made of."

Without hesitation, Chen Xing leaped back into the Starfarer's cockpit.

The hatch closed, and the Starfarer's eyes lit up.

The two figures faced each other on the open ground before the ice hall as wind and snow howled around them.

Ha Luosa moved first.

His body became a gray blur, appearing before the Starfarer in an instant.

His crossguard sword swept across, gray mist coiling around its blade.

The Starfarer raised its left arm to block.

Clang!

The clash of metal rang out.

A deep sword mark appeared on the Starfarer's left arm armor.

Chen Xing's heart tightened. That attack was powerful!

Ha Luosa gave him no chance to catch his breath. A second slash followed.

The Starfarer twisted aside, but Ha Luosa was too fast.

A third slash. A fourth. A fifth.

Every strike landed precisely on the Starfarer's armor.

Chen Xing worked the controls, using the Starfarer's force field to fend off the relentless attacks.

"Pam Pam, analyze his attack pattern!"

"Analyzing, Pam... The target attacks quickly and precisely. Every strike carries an eroding nether aura. Recommend opening the distance and using ranged attacks, Pam."

At that, Chen Xing stopped hesitating. After blocking the next strike, he retreated at once.

Ha Luosa did not pursue. He stood where he was and looked up at the Starfarer.

"Your Mecha is impressive, but this is as far as it goes."

He raised his left hand, gathering a mass of gray light in his palm.

Seventh Soul Skill: Underworld King Descends!

A towering projection a thousand meters high appeared behind him.

The figure wore a dark blue crown and held a slender sword.

Terrifying pressure spread outward. Even the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

But Chen Xing did not retreat.

He pushed the control lever forward.

The Starfarer's presence surged, and golden light burst from the Mecha's surface.

Ha Luosa's gaze shifted slightly.

"Hm?"

The Starfarer gripped its great beam sword with both hands, charged, and brought it down.

Ha Luosa raised his crossguard sword to block.

Boom!

The two forces collided. The ground cracked, and ice and snow sprayed in every direction.

Ha Luosa frowned.

He could feel the power coming through his blade.

It was a power he had never encountered before.

Not Soul Power. Not mental power. It was... will!

"Interesting." The corner of Ha Luosa's mouth lifted. "Then let's see whose will is stronger."

He poured more strength into his sword, and the gray light around it flared.

The Starfarer was driven back several steps.

But Chen Xing did not stop. He charged again.

Orange rings of cutting light erupted one after another, fireballs blooming in their wake.

The projection of the Underworld King shuddered under the blows. At last, Ha Luosa's expression changed.

"What is this power?!"

Chen Xing gave him no answer. He kept working the controls inside the cockpit.

One slash followed another, each heavier than the last.

Ha Luosa was forced back again and again.

Cracks began to appear in the Underworld King Descends he took such pride in, all before that Light Sword.

"Impossible!" he roared. "Eighth Soul Skill: Death Withering!"

He gripped the Underworld King Sword in both hands and plunged it into the ground before him.

Gray-white light bloomed outward like a flower.

Wherever it passed, even space corroded into pitch-blackness.

Chen Xing saw it, but he did not dodge.

Blinding golden light surged along the Starfarer's great beam sword.

"Overclocked Particle Beam!"

The beam shot across the open ground and collided with the gray-white petals.

The two forces ate away at each other. In an instant, they blasted the ground before the ice hall beyond recognition.

A few seconds later, the beam grew brighter still, overpowering the gray-white petals.

Ha Luosa's face went deathly pale.

"That can't be..."

Chen Xing's voice rang out from inside the Starfarer.

"Your death is powerful. But my Trailblaze fears no death!"

The beam tore straight through the gray-white light!