March 7th charged ahead of everyone else, almost at the platform.
Behind her, Dan Heng suddenly sensed a presence and hurriedly called out, "Wait, March!"
March 7th stopped and turned to look at Dan Heng, confusion written all over her face.
Just as she wondered why Dan Heng had suddenly stopped her, a shock wave spread in from outside the platform. The Doomsday Beast, resembling a heap of corpses and bones, surged up from below!
In the next instant, the enormous beast lunged at the Astral Express Crew with terrifying speed. The remains of this ancient beast raised its right hand, the embodiment of Ravager, tore through space and Herta Space Station's protective barrier, and swatted at March 7th amid pulsing antimatter energy!
Its attack was as swift as a gale, leaving no time to react. When March 7th turned back, all she saw was an enormous mountain rapidly swelling before her eyes. Darkness swallowed her vision as the peak collapsed toward her!
"March!"
Dan Heng and Himeko both cried out, throwing Cloud-Piercer and the suitcase. Yet neither the spearhead nor the Circular Saw did much to the Doomsday Beast. They could not even briefly halt Ravager's right hand.
March 7th panicked, but there was no time left to dodge. She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
Behind them, Stelle finally caught up and saw what was happening. She gritted her teeth, a fierce glint flashing in her eyes. In the next instant, the Bat appeared in her hand, surging power coursed through her body, and she charged forward.
But it seemed she would be too late.
Fortunately, someone was faster than her!
A storm suddenly swept across the Space Bridge. A gust raced to the front at an astonishing speed-Jiang Yu, carrying the blade he had snatched from Arlan, charged ahead without hesitation!
Power surged through Jiang Yu's body. Ever since Star Rail's launch, his strength had been steadily increasing.
"March, dodge!"
Jiang Yu shouted, summoned his strength, and leaped into a downward slash. His blade collided with the Doomsday Beast's attack, sending shock waves rolling outward like ocean waves!
Power coursed through him, the storm raged without end, and the strength within his body roared. Jiang Yu was about to heave the Doomsday Beast's right hand upward, but just as he exerted himself, a sharp crack rang beside his ear.
Jiang Yu looked toward the sound, his pupils contracting!
The blade he had taken from Arlan had first accompanied Arlan through battle, then endured Jiang Yu's leaping slashes. Now, caught in his contest of strength with the Doomsday Beast, it could no longer bear the strain.
In the next instant, the blade shattered. With nothing left to block it, the Doomsday Beast's right hand continued crashing down. Fortunately, March 7th had already moved away.
Jiang Yu reacted swiftly, retreating like a gust of wind. He landed lightly, his clothes still neat, and casually discarded the broken hilt.
"March, are you all right?"
"Jiang Yu, are you all right?"
Once they had confirmed that the other was unharmed, both looked relieved.
Seeing that its strike had failed, the Doomsday Beast roared at them.
Energy churned within the Antimatter Engine, which poured it into Ravager's right hand and Dawn's left hand.
Dan Heng summoned Cloud-Piercer back into his hand, his voice calm. "The Doomsday Beast won't be easy to handle. We need to destroy the Antimatter Engine and those two claws before we can attack its main body."
"Give me some time. Once the Orbital Cannon finishes charging, it can provide interference," Himeko said.
"Leave the Antimatter Engine to me." Jiang Yu reached out and gently closed his hand, gathering the wind into a sword in his grasp.
"I'll handle the right hand." Stelle sounded resolute, energy already surging around her Bat.
"March, support us. I'll take the left hand," Dan Heng said with a nod.
In just a few words, everyone settled on their next targets and swiftly sprang into action. It had taken very little time.
The Doomsday Beast itself was only just preparing to move.
The wind surged, and in the blink of an eye, Jiang Yu reached the Antimatter Engine. He raised his sword and slashed down, leaving a savage, gaping sword mark across it.
The antimatter energy inside erupted, and Jiang Yu dodged away.
March 7th raised her hand, and Six-Phased Ice condensed into a shield around Dan Heng.
The Doomsday Beast's left hand slammed down, unleashing a violent shock wave. Dan Heng nimbly avoided the spot where it landed, and thanks to March's shield, the impact did not affect him at all.
Then Dan Heng closed in and unleashed the Cloud Knights Spear Art, carving wound after wound into Dawn's left hand.
Eyes wide, Stelle charged forward with her Bat, shouting as she went. Even against the Doomsday Beast's sweeping right hand, she pressed on fearlessly, looking more like a follower of Destruction than the beast itself.
As Ravager's right hand drew closer, Stelle suddenly dropped into a sideways slide, narrowly evading the claw. She even found time to smack the Doomsday Beast with her Bat in passing.
By the time Stelle stood and turned around, the Doomsday Beast was preparing to attack with its right hand again. But several Pom-Pom ice crystals flew over, and Six-Phased Ice burst into icy mist, instantly freezing Ravager's right hand.
Stelle could not help flashing a crooked grin as she charged forward with her Bat.
She planted one foot on Ravager's right hand. Her Bat seethed with power filled with the urge to destroy, and she swung it down on the hand again and again.
For a moment, both of the Doomsday Beast's hands and the Antimatter Engine were pinned down.
The remains of this ancient beast, haunted by vengeful souls and knowing nothing but destruction, raised its head and roared. Vast energy gathered in its mouth, but just as it prepared to break the deadlock, a crimson beam shot in from deep space and struck its head!
Himeko's fully charged Orbital Cannon silenced the Doomsday Beast outright.
The ancient beast's enormous head swayed, then finally slumped downward.
Noticing this, Jiang Yu immediately withdrew.
Boom!
The Doomsday Beast's head finally crashed onto the space station's platform. Although it unleashed a shock wave, neither Stelle nor Dan Heng was affected.
After landing, however, Jiang Yu discovered that the Antimatter Engine had enclosed him. Antimatter energy churned inside, as though intent on blasting him to smithereens.
Although the Orbital Cannon had left it dazed, the Antimatter Legion's pure soldiers of destruction-including the Doomsday Beast-were war machines with very little intelligence to speak of.
What drove them had always been the desire to destroy, filling every crevice of their bodies.
That was why the Antimatter Engine was still pursuing Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu was fast. He moved again, and in the end, the Antimatter Engine failed to imprison him within it and turn him into burning fuel.
Jiang Yu escaped, leaving numerous sword marks formed from rushing winds around the Antimatter Engine instead.
Pure as the Wind.
The sword marks formed from wind instantly went berserk, tearing at the Antimatter Engine from every direction until they shredded it into cosmic dust.
The moment the Antimatter Engine broke, the power the Doomsday Beast had poured into its hands vanished. Dan Heng and Stelle seized the opportunity. His spearhead flashed like a rainbow and immediately pierced Dawn's left hand, while her Bat struck again and again, gathering power as the blunt weapon smashed Ravager's right hand apart piece by piece!
At last, the Doomsday Beast collapsed and did not rise.
"Ha ha! We won!" March 7th cheered and ran forward.
Himeko hurried after her.
Stelle and Dan Heng, who had expended a good deal of stamina, relaxed a little too.
Jiang Yu, meanwhile, stretched luxuriously. Because he had been growing stronger all along, he actually felt as though he had only just finished warming up.
But before they could celebrate for long, a hurricane swept toward them!
The Doomsday Beast beat its wings and took flight, spreading them wide before the platform. Terrifying energy fluctuations that made their hair stand on end spread outward in rippling waves.
One Imaginary Rift after another tore through space and appeared behind the Doomsday Beast. Frightening streams of antimatter energy gushed from those rifts.
Chilling energy throbbed within the rifts. Suspended before them, the Doomsday Beast loomed like a blazing sun overhead!
In the next instant, streams of antimatter energy shot from the Imaginary Rifts like laser beams, mercilessly sweeping toward Herta Space Station as though determined to burn both the Astral Express Crew and the station into cosmic dust!
No one had expected the Doomsday Beast to unleash such a desperate final counterattack. The moment the antimatter energy streams touched Herta Space Station, they burned away its sturdy construction materials, leaving not even a molecule behind.
And now, as those chaotic streams of energy continued pouring out without end, they closed in on the Astral Express Crew!
Before you continue