My Confidence

Constantine, newly born, was filled with excitement and tension at his first real battle. He tried to bury his unease deep within his heart, but the feeling swelled against his will. His thoughts began to churn, and his subconscious dragged his attention elsewhere, sketching out a figure in his mind. The blurred face was refined again and again until it became that of his creator.

The face of "Father" appeared in his mind. His farsighted, exceptional gaze seemed to see through Constantine's frayed nerves as he smiled at him—calm, his words carrying absolute authority. He fired off question after question at tremendous speed, and Constantine answered each one just as quickly.

"Your objective."

"Complete your test."

"Friendly intelligence."

"My body has not yet finished growing; the Law-Ruler Core grants rapid physical regeneration, with no other special abilities; no weapons equipped, no reliable armor."

"Enemy intelligence."

"T-X, an Emperor-class Honkai Beast Terminator, composed of Soul Steel and the core of the Tenth Law-Ruler. T-X is the first Terminator capable of using Honkai energy. Its combat effectiveness exceeds the standard A-rank Valkyrie by 28.93%. Revised projections indicate that no fewer than twenty-eight T-X units, working alongside strategic-level forces, would be needed to eliminate an Emperor-class Honkai Beast."

"Appropriate strategy."

"The enemy's offensive power is lethal, its defenses exceptional, and it excels at disguise. The type of the Tenth Law-Ruler Core is unknown, so its abilities are also unknown. A direct confrontation offers no chance of victory. A tactical approach must be used to seize the Law-Ruler Core in a single strike and exhaust its emergency power supply."

In just a few seconds, Constantine organized every piece of information he knew. Yet those same details made him keenly realize that the turmoil in his heart was not merely tension. Beneath its outer shell lay fear.

"Father" spoke again and asked Constantine, "Then why are you timid?"

A deep shame flooded Constantine's mind. He hesitated before saying, "Because of your wisdom."

"With the knowledge I possess, I cannot find a reasonable strategy—because it was you who gave me that knowledge."

"Father" did not blame him. Instead, he said once more, "Use your knowledge."

Constantine opened his eyes. Only then did he understand. Father had created him and given him precious wisdom. Believe in Father—and in Father's creation.

The model city began to grow intricate and complex. Pedestrians and vehicles simulated by simple machinery, along with every object placed throughout the city, came to life as color spread from a central point like a multicolored tide, dyeing the entire city. The once-rigid robots and vehicles now seemed vividly alive. Finally came the dark clouds in the sky and the rain falling from them—real rain, not simulated rain.

This was the effect of the Tenth Law-Ruler Core within the simulation equipment. It meant T-X's disguise had been enhanced. Constantine, meanwhile, had no ability to disguise himself. His height of 2.4 meters and his powerful physique, almost perfectly aligned with human aesthetics, made him stand out sharply from his surroundings.

He stood in the middle of an intersection. Passing vehicles and pedestrians waited for the traffic lights, while towering skyscrapers and office buildings surrounded him.

This was now the intelligence warfare phase. T-X could easily know where he was and what he was doing. But Constantine knew nothing about T-X.

So Constantine chose to stop hiding. He would openly display his thoughts and intentions to the outside world. T-X would certainly follow him. This was a straightforward open scheme.

And as long as T-X moved, it would expose an opening. As a Law-Ruler, Constantine could vaguely sense the presence of Law-Ruler Cores. The Honkai energy pulses emitted by the cores of his two brothers were pure and clear, like the sun in the sky. The pulse emitted by T-X flickered in and out of existence, like a weak flame dancing in the mist. There was no possibility of confusing the two.

Constantine leaped lightly, leaving a spiderweb crack in the ground. He soared to the height of the third floor and smashed through the floor-to-ceiling window at the edge of the building with one punch, sending glass shards flying. At a speed unimaginable to ordinary people, he bounded upward along the edges of the skyscraper's windows toward the rooftop.

When he finally reached the top of the building, Constantine made no move. He merely waited quietly for something. He closed his eyes again and used a Law-Ruler's special senses to catch T-X's faint Honkai energy fluctuations. The sensation was even more indistinct than before. That meant T-X was nearby.

Standing on the rooftop, Constantine looked down. The behavior patterns of the pedestrians and vehicles had not been affected in the slightest by his actions, and the workers on the suspended platform continued washing the windows.

The suspended platform slowly rose, and Constantine could feel T-X's Honkai energy fluctuations becoming clearer and clearer. When the platform finally reached the rooftop, the window washers picked up their tools and prepared to step down. Constantine gave those pitiful simulated robots no chance to explain themselves, coldly punching through the cleaners' chests.

Constantine tore the robots apart, yet sensed nothing unusual. T-X had not taken the opportunity to attack either. A fierce warning blared in his mind. He swiftly turned to look behind him, at the empty space.

"Error."

A sudden word surfaced in Constantine's mind. He instinctively rolled aside. When he looked back at the suspended platform, he saw a sharp silver spike growing from the handle of the long mop held by one of the dead workers. A fraction of a second later, it would have pierced straight through his head.

Constantine hurriedly rose to his feet. The anger of falling into the trap did not cloud his judgment. He charged toward T-X with a deafening bang. He smashed through the securing mechanism and the parapet. Deprived of support, the suspended platform, along with Constantine and T-X, began free-falling toward the ground.

The blond giant could clearly sense the location of T-X's Law-Ruler Core. He punched toward the Terminator's torso, but T-X, having shifted back into human form, kicked him toward the suspended platform's railing. Red flames erupted around it in an instant, and an impenetrable wall of fire concealed T-X's body.

"The Flame Law-Ruler's ability," Constantine muttered.

A blue blade of light tore through the wall of fire and came straight at him. He dodged left and right, but every time he evaded one, another followed immediately after. There was no room to breathe. He snapped off part of the railing, broke off an iron pipe, and during a gap in T-X's assault, hurled it like a spear toward the source of the light blades.

Sure enough, T-X collided with the broken iron pipe with a tremendous crash. Constantine immediately lunged toward the sound, but struck nothing. Instead, he broke through the railing on the other side and fell from the plummeting suspended platform.

That made him realize T-X had deliberately made the sound to lure him into charging out. Then, using the Flame Law-Ruler's power to obstruct his vision, it had vanished from Constantine's sight and regained the intelligence advantage.

Constantine had long memorized every detail about T-X. How could a T-X made of liquid Soul Steel make a sound like that unless it had done so deliberately? That was why, when he broke through the wall of fire, he had been gripping another iron pipe.

Constantine swiftly turned in midair and violently threw the iron pipe at T-X. It instantly pinned T-X to the outer wall of an office building. Under normal conditions, T-X would never have been breached by a mere iron pipe. But it was currently changing form, and its dense, hardened structure had become soft and loose in that state, allowing it to be nailed down by the pipe.

T-X instantly pulled the pipe from its chest and threw it back at Constantine. It kicked off the exterior wall and jumped toward a tool store across from the office building. Constantine had no intention of giving up his only chance to catch T-X. He abandoned his chance to dodge and let the pipe pierce through his thigh.

With a wet pop, the sharp broken end of the pipe pierced his femoral artery, and blood surged out like a geyser. Constantine endured the agonizing pain and chased after T-X toward the tool store. T-X ripped open the store's metal rolling shutter. Sensing Constantine behind it, a silver spike instantly grew from its elbow and stabbed straight back at him. Constantine lightly dodged aside and rammed T-X through the gap in the shutter and into the tool store from beneath the spike.

Constantine grabbed a chainsaw from a shelf in the tool store and pulled the cord. The loud, buzzing roar sounded incomparably beautiful to him. He drove a powerful fist into T-X as it struggled to rise, knocking it down again, then plunged the screaming chainsaw into T-X's liquid-flowing chest.

The high-speed rotating chain continuously tore at the liquid Soul Steel trying to restore its shape, keeping T-X's chest in a soft liquid state. Constantine locked onto the position of T-X's Law-Ruler Core and ripped it out in one motion. At the same time, he declared his victory.

"Finally..." Constantine panted heavily.

"The test is over. Congratulations, Constantine." Qin Su's figure instantly appeared before him. He extended a hand to the giant. Constantine grasped it, used his own strength to stand, and revealed a victorious smile.

His two brothers appeared behind Constantine as well. Smiling, they said, "Congratulations, Waldo."

"Thank you, Doom, Mercer."

"Father." Constantine looked at Qin Su and made a request. "I want to keep this Law-Ruler Core."

Qin Su readily agreed. "Of course. You have proven yourself. Besides, I think you will like weapons similar to chainsaws."