The Female Lord Pinned the Beast with One Spear, and Herta's Puppets Fell Apart!

The Doomsday Beast's dark blue hand, frozen in midair, suddenly twitched.

The monster felt the pressure of a god.

Instinctive fear turned to savage bloodlust.

It opened its enormous, fang-filled maw. A blinding violet-black light flared deep in its throat.

Destruction energy compressed at a frantic pace.

The energy drained the air around it, setting off muffled booms.

Boom.

A beam of Destruction energy as thick as a barrel blasted down the corridor and slammed point-blank into the golden Jade Shield.

The heat instantly evaporated the moisture in the corridor.

The air warped like a sheet of boiling water.

The beam struck the shield with a teeth-grating screech, but failed to leave even a hairline crack.

Su Chen stood at the center of the golden light.

He glanced down at his fair-skinned hand, then at the amber hair hanging over his chest.

His heeled boot came down on the dented metal floor, and his ankle nearly rolled beneath him.

Su Chen bit down hard on the tip of his tongue.

The taste of iron spread through his mouth.

The power was overwhelming, and this new body's center of gravity was nothing like his old homebody build. He had almost lost his footing.

But he had no time to get used to these damned heels.

A second beam was gathering in the Doomsday Beast's throat, and its gaping mouth was less than two meters from him.

Su Chen raised his head.

The warrior god's cold, proud awareness instantly overrode his instincts.

The Female Lord gave a cool, soft snort.

It was barely louder than a breath, yet it cut through the beam's roar and rang against the space station's surviving metal walls.

She slowly raised her right hand.

Her fingers closed around empty air.

The Imaginary Energy drifting through the corridor was forcibly redirected, transforming into pure Geo.

Golden motes converged wildly in her palm.

A heavy grinding of stone sounded through the air, and the entire corridor began to tremble.

A dark-gold spear took shape within the light.

The Star-Piercing Spear.

Its tip angled toward the floor, its edge carrying a sharpness that seemed capable of slicing through space.

Clang.

The butt of the spear struck the alloy floor.

Weblike cracks raced outward from the point of impact, sending metal fragments flying.

Su Chen gripped the cool shaft.

The sensation of power enough to tear stars apart shot from his palm straight through his skull.

The Doomsday Beast let out a deafening roar.

Its massive body arched backward, as though it meant to smash through the area with sheer force.

Su Chen gave it no chance.

The monster's hideous form was reflected in the Female Lord's golden eyes.

She set her feet slightly apart, twisted at the waist, and hurled the spear.

"Order."

Her cool voice pronounced divine judgment.

The spear became a golden meteor, punching straight through the space station's ruined ceiling and streaking into Outer Space.

An eerie silence fell over the corridor.

Only the red warning lights continued to flash soundlessly.

Then, a heartbeat later.

A dazzling point of gold appeared in the depths of space outside the station.

The light swelled at once.

A colossal square meteor formed from pure Geo forced its way through the barrier of space.

Trailing a long golden tail, it tore across the void with a world-shaking roar.

The Doomsday Beast jerked its head up.

For the first time, something like human fear appeared in its huge slit-pupiled eye.

It thrashed desperately, trying to flee.

But dense Geo had locked the surrounding space in place. Crushing gravity kept it from even beating its wings.

Crash.

The meteor's edge clipped the station's dome, blasting its reinforced glass into a cloud of dust.

Weightlessness and vacuum swept through the area.

Scattered data pads and metal wreckage were sucked from the corridor, tumbling into space.

But within the protection of the Jade Shield, not even a strand of Su Chen's hair stirred.

The enormous Falling Star slammed into the Doomsday Beast's spine.

The sharp crack of bones shattering echoed through space.

The dark-gold Star-Piercing Spear followed close behind.

It turned into a bolt of golden lightning, pierced straight through the meteor's center, and drove into the back of the Doomsday Beast's neck with savage force.

Squelch.

Dark blue blood sprayed out in a mist and vanished instantly into the vacuum.

The Doomsday Beast's vast body went rigid. Its limbs spasmed a few times.

Then, like a torn sack, it was pinned to the armor plating outside the station by the meteor and spear.

Not a trace of life remained.

The Destruction energy around the monster rapidly dissipated.

The danger had passed.

Su Chen slowly breathed out. His palms were slick with cold sweat.

He lowered his arm and loosely curled his fingers at his side.

The huge Falling Star dissolved into golden motes and faded into the vacuum.

The Star-Piercing Spear also returned to Geo and dispersed.

But he did not dare dismiss the golden Jade Shield.

What if something else suddenly jumped out of this space station?

The corridor was frighteningly quiet.

Cold air from outer space poured through the hole in the dome.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from the metal door behind him.

Tap, tap, tap.

Three little girl puppets in purple-and-white dresses squeezed through the doorway on short legs.

Their joints made faint clicking sounds as their gears engaged.

Each carried a scanner blinking red.

The puppet in front raised its chin, its voice openly arrogant.

"Hey, you. Don't move."

"Let this genius see what that body of yours is made of."

The puppet in the middle raised its scanner and muttered to itself.

"To make a rock that big with your bare hands, without even drawing on a Stellaron... That makes no sense."

"Oh, don't be so stingy. Let me scrape off a little powder to study."

The three Herta puppets hurried toward Su Chen in a loose semicircle.

Green beams extended from their scanners, probing the golden shield in an attempt to read Su Chen's attributes.

Su Chen turned his head slightly.

He looked at the three little dolls that seemed to have no sense of danger, and his brow furrowed.

"Stand back."

The Female Lord's two words came out cold.

But the Herta puppets ignored her. They quickened their steps and pressed their scanners directly against the Jade Shield.

The instant the green light touched the shield.

A golden ripple spread across the Jade Shield's surface.

Its passive counterforce erupted.

Bang, bang, bang.

Three sharp cracks rang out.

A powerful Geo shockwave tore straight through the puppets' mechanical bodies.

The puppet in front did not even have time to scream. The energy core in its chest exploded on the spot.

A gash split its metal shell, and its head rolled to a stop beside Su Chen's heeled boot.

The other two puppets were thrown backward and slammed into the metal wall.

Sparks flew.

Parts scattered across the floor.

Springs and gears spun across the ground, clinking together.

The puppets on the floor twitched twice, then fell completely still.

Su Chen looked down at the puppet head beside his foot, its eyes rolled back.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

He really hadn't meant to do that.

How were these fragile puppets supposed to survive the Jade Shield's backlash?

A backup loudspeaker in the corner of the corridor suddenly crackled to life.

Static hissed through it.

Bzzzt.

"You..."

Herta's voice came over the speaker, an octave higher with frustration.

"You broke three of my most expensive puppets!"

The voice on the speaker paused for several seconds.

After a burst of rapid keyboard tapping, the arrogance in her voice gave way entirely to caution.

"Who exactly are you?"

"That level of energy projection doesn't even register on my instruments... Are you an Emanator of some Aeon? Or some unknown Stellaron that came to life?"

The cold wind whipped Su Chen's long robe.

He took a deep breath and forced down his embarrassment.

The Female Lord straightened her back and slowly turned, presenting her back to the still-smoking security camera.

She showed half her face in profile, her golden eyes filled with aloof disdain for all living things.

Her cool, languid voice carried the unmistakable authority of someone born to rule as it sounded through the shattered corridor.

"I am the Fourth Seat of the Imaginary Divine Court."