On the back of the Heldrake, Luna's breath hitched.
She instinctively gripped her staff tightly, her face, hidden beneath the hood, drained of all color.
Two Chaos Knight mechs.
She spent a full six months personally casting Chaos Sorcery on the basis of the knight mechs hidden in her family's collection.
It took the sacrifice of the souls of thousands of fanatics to forcibly corrupt these nine war machines.
Each one is priceless; they are one of her most valuable trump cards.
But now, they're just being cut down one by one with a sword, like slicing tofu?
From drawing the sword to breaking through the armor, the entire process took less than two seconds.
Luna's palms were sweating.
She had always thought that Guyu was only Psychic Power, and that his melee combat skills were at best comparable to those of an ordinary bishop.
By relying on close-quarters combat with knight mechs and supplementing it with ranged attacks using witchcraft, you can wear down your opponent until they are defeated.
But now she realized that it wasn't that her opponent was weak in close combat; it was that they hadn't been fighting seriously at all.
This power, this speed, this sharpness that cuts through space...
If the other party really wanted to kill her, they probably wouldn't even have time to finish reciting a single line of the incantation.
"Impossible, the barrier clearly severed her connection with the main nest..."
Luna murmured softly, her voice trembling slightly beneath the mask.
The core purpose of the Nine-Sided Spirit-Sealing Barrier she set up was to isolate the Hive Mind, turning the Guyu into water without a source and a tree without roots.
Psychic Power is dwindling with every use; it will eventually be depleted.
But the surge of Psychic Power before us—it certainly doesn't seem like water without a source.
This clearly condenses the power of the entire insect swarm into that one sword.
Luna took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear in her heart.
Don't panic.
She reminded herself.
The more intense the opponent's burst of power, the shorter the duration.
This level of power cannot be sustained for long. As long as she can weather this storm, victory will still be hers.
She outwardly maintained the arrogance of the Tzeentch, looking down at Guyu below.
The sound, amplified by magic, echoed coldly throughout the entire barrier:
"A mere trick, a fleeting power gained at the cost of three bishops, and you dare to be so presumptuous before me?"
"I'd like to see how many times you can unleash that desperate sword strike."
As she spoke, her wide robe sleeves hung down at her sides, while her fingers, hidden in the shadow of her cloak, rapidly formed hand seals.
The dark blue sorcery runes on her fingertips were faintly visible, but she deliberately suppressed her aura, not letting any of them leak out.
This is Tzeentch's " Everchanging Escape Technique," her trump card for escaping danger.
Once activated, it can instantly teleport itself to any location within the barrier, leaving behind a phantom so realistic that even Psychic Power detection cannot distinguish it.
She had escaped unscathed countless times in the past using this technique.
Today, she also has no intention of risking her life to see how fast the opponent's sword is.
Below the platform, Guyu stood quietly between the wreckage of two mechs, gripping the spine-bound greatsword.
The purple Psychic Power flames continued to surge around her, exuding an overwhelming aura, like an invincible war god.
But only she knew that she had reached her limit.
Ultimately, the capacity of this chosen body is limited.
The power of a body-level being was too domineering; even a single strike felt like molten lava, rampaging through her meridians.
She could feel the muscle fibers in her arm breaking apart inch by inch, her bones groaning under the strain, and her veins feeling like they were crawling with ants.
The Psychic Power stored in the spine greatsword had been more than half depleted after that horizontal slash.
Even with all her remaining strength, she can only swing her sword one more time at most.
Only one sword.
Either kill Luna, or... Her gaze fell upon the dark blue barrier.
Guyu raised the sword, supporting herself with one hand on the ground and gripping the hilt with the other, placing the heavy spine-bound greatsword on her right shoulder.
The joints of the sword undulate in a wave-like pattern, as if it is breathing or gathering strength.
She slightly bent her knees, her leg muscles tensed, and the ground beneath her feet could not withstand the terrifying spiritual pressure, and fine cracks began to appear.
Cracks spread outwards like a spider web, and wherever they passed, even the scattered fragments of the mecha were slightly crushed.
Her purple eyes lifted, her gaze piercing through dozens of meters to lock onto Luna on the high platform.
His gaze was calm, without anger, contempt, or even the slightest emotional fluctuation.
Like a carnivore eyeing its prey, calm, focused, and with an undeniable predatory intent.
It wasn't a desperate struggle; it was the hunter closing in the net.
"Open fire! Open fire! Kill her!"
Luna felt a chill run down her spine from that look and couldn't help but give a stern order.
The remaining seven Chaos Knight immediately adjusted their cannons, Volcano Cannon, the Melta Cannon, and the Ion Cannon roared in unison.
The remaining Pink Horror, Flamer, and mutated believers around the barrier also swarmed out.
Spellballs, Chaos flames, and corrosive rays rained down on Guyu.
The multicolored attacks wove together in the air into a deadly web, powerful enough to blast a heavy main battle tank to pieces.
But Guyu stood still, without moving an inch.
The Psychic Power flames surrounding her automatically expanded outward, forming a semi-circular barrier.
All attacks that touched the barrier were either shredded by Psychic Power or deflected to the sides, not even managing to touch the hem of her clothes.
Amidst the Skyfire, her figure remained motionless, her gaze fixed on Luna.
That gaze sent chills down Luna's spine.
no.
We can't wait any longer.
Alarm bells were ringing wildly in Luna's mind.
She knew this feeling well; it was a harbinger of impending death.
The opponent is gathering strength, waiting for the best moment to strike.
She lacked the confidence to withstand that full-force sword strike.
Is maintaining the barrier important? Of course it is.
But no matter how important something is, it can't compare to one's own life.
After all, the entire St. Garus Family is waiting for her to lead them to glory!
Without further hesitation, Luna swiftly retracted her fingers hidden in her sleeve, completing the final hand seal.
Almost at the same instant, Guyu moved.
The ground beneath her feet suddenly collapsed, and she vanished instantly.
"Now!"
Luna gave a low shout in her heart, and the Psychic Power within her body poured out through the magic seal.
A faint blue light flashed across her body, and the next second, her body became ethereal and transparent.
Her true form, however, had already used the Everchanging Escape Technique to instantly teleport to the shadows on the other side of the barrier.
Luna slowly emerged from behind a Pink Horror, a cold smile playing on her lips.
Want to kill me?
Still too inexperienced.
She was about to make a sarcastic remark and, at the same time, reactivate the barrier's power to trap the other party in the center.
But when she looked around, she couldn't see Guyu anywhere.
There was none below the stage, none above the Heldrake, and none even in the gaps between the knight mechs.
Where are they?
Luna's heart skipped a beat, and a strong sense of unease instantly gripped her.
She instinctively looked up.
Above the dome, beneath the dark blue barrier, a slender figure had somehow already leaped to the very top of the barrier.
With her back to the artillery fire below, Guyu raised the greatsword high above her spine with her four arms, the blade vertical and the tip pointing downwards.
Purple Psychic Power surged wildly along the sword's blade, finally condensing at a single point on the tip, so bright it was blinding.
From beginning to end, her goal was never to gamble on whether Luna's escape technique could be broken with a single sword strike.
Her target was the Nine-Sided Spirit-Sealing Barrier itself that trapped the main consciousness.
In order to use her escape technique, Luna had already withdrawn most of her attention from maintaining the stability of the barrier.
The barrier is at its weakest point right now.
"Cut."
A clear, cold sound fell from the dome, as light as a snowflake.
But what followed was a sword strike powerful enough to tear the heavens and the earth apart.
The greatsword, imbued with all its accumulated power, slammed fiercely into the dark blue barrier.
There was no deafening roar, no earth-shattering explosion.
Only a deep purple sword mark stretched straight down from the point of contact at the top.
Like a sharp knife, it sliced through a piece of fragile glass.
"Snap!"
A crisp cracking sound rang out.
A massive crack instantly pierced through the entire barrier.
The surrounding dark blue runes began to flicker and shatter wildly, instantly throwing the energy circuits that maintained the barrier into chaos.
Without Luna's full support, the already crumbling Nine-Sided Spirit-Sealing Barrier finally began to collapse completely under the full force of the Dragon of Frost's sword strike.
The cracks spread outwards like a spider web, becoming denser and deeper.
Luna stood in the shadows, looking up at the sword-wielding figure above the dome, watching the constantly crumbling barrier, her face beneath the hood turning deathly pale.