They had arrived within the encirclement. The ground here was covered with the corpses of zombies and Honkai Beasts.
There were also quite a few humans who had died outright without being infected by the Honkai.
Fortunately, after that experience years ago, Chang Yuan no longer felt sick at the sight of dead people. Still, he could not help feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
At that very instant, a flash of white light streaked past.
That white light skimmed directly over Chang Yuan's head.
Rumble—!
The next moment, even the massive buildings collapsed in unison. None were spared.
"Hey, A-Yuan, is this the Herrscher of Void's power? That's way too terrifying."
It was Airi's first time witnessing the Herrscher of Void display her power, and even she spoke with some shock.
If that attack had hit her, wouldn't she have become Airi/Miyabi?
"Well, at least we can still react to it. Let's go. The white light came from over there. Airi, when we fight later, don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."
After years of training, Chang Yuan had raised his Inch Punch Fist Style from complete beginner to a respectable level.
Thanks to the Honkai, his physical abilities had also received a slight boost. Taking on a few small Charge-class Honkai Beasts was no problem, but anything stronger would be troublesome.
"Tch, sometimes I envy ancestor Kevin. He can beat a Chariot-class Honkai Beast with nothing but a baseball bat. He's much stronger than me."
Complaints aside, the two soon arrived at the place where the white light had appeared.
The carnage there was far worse than anywhere else.
Bodies sliced apart as if by blades littered the ground, along with scattered organs and eyes that had died wide open.
"..."
At the sight, Airi did not feel disgusted. All she felt was sorrow and compassion.
She mourned these people's deaths, yet at the same time, she admired their courage to sacrifice themselves for humanity.
"Yuan! Watch out!"
In an instant, Airi sensed the threat of death. After shouting a warning, she threw herself in another direction.
Whoosh—!
A sound like tearing air rang out. A spear now stood where they had been moments ago. It was an Imaginary construct: a subspace lance.
If not for Airi's advance warning of danger, neither of them would have been able to evade that attack from space itself.
After rolling across the ground, Airi immediately sprang to her feet, drew her bow, and fired in one fluid motion.
Yet in the face of such an attack, the lofty figure merely waved her hand, and a pure golden opening appeared before her.
After Airi's arrow entered that void, another spatial gate opened at Airi's side.
Seeing it, Airi immediately performed a backflip.
She easily dodged the arrow she herself had fired.
"Yuan, be careful. This Herrscher is really difficult to deal with."
By now, Airi had long lost her initial ease.
All that remained was a tense expression that never relaxed.
Against an enemy with spatial powers, such unpredictable abilities made it incredibly difficult for her to find an opening to attack.
"Got it."
As he spoke, Chang Yuan punched down a zombie that had approached him.
At the same time, his gaze remained fixed on the Herrscher of Void.
He noticed that every one of the Herrscher of Void's attacks had an obvious windup.
That meant avoiding her attacks was actually quite simple.
He believed Airi had definitely noticed it as well.
However, the two tacitly chose not to mention it. After all, neither could be sure whether Herrschers possessed their own consciousness.
If she did, pointing it out would only make things unpleasant for themselves.
If the Herrscher of Void stopped having a windup before attacking, they would be the ones suffering.
Airi then began circling continuously around the Herrscher of Void.
At the same time, she occasionally fired a few arrows.
Faced with such an irritating pest, the Herrscher of Void could not be bothered to tolerate her any longer. She immediately opened a spatial gate and instantly ambushed Airi from in front of her.
Seeing such an obvious windup, Airi immediately leaped up, twisted sharply backward, drew her bowstring, and fired an arrow behind herself.
The Herrscher of Void appeared at precisely that spot the next second.
Splat—!
The arrow struck the Herrscher of Void viciously.
However, it ultimately left only a shallow wound, about the size of an ordinary scratch.
Airi was using a compound bow. At such close range, it could easily pierce even a car door.
Yet when it struck the Herrscher of Void, it produced only a wound no larger than a minor scrape.
Still, this was the first time the Herrscher of Void had been injured by these people, and for an instant, she was dazed.
Seizing the opportunity, Airi hurriedly fired a second arrow.
This time, she aimed for the eye. For 99.99% of living creatures, the eyes were their most vulnerable point.
But this time, the Herrscher of Void had learned her lesson. After recovering her senses, she immediately summoned a spatial gate before herself and redirected the arrow.
Sensing danger, Airi made a slight sidestep.
The next instant, an arrow brushed directly past Airi's shoulder.
The Herrscher of Void then realized she could not continue fighting Airi at close range, so she used another spatial gate to teleport herself back into the sky.
Seeing this, Airi could not help but feel a headache coming on.
At that distance, even if the Herrscher of Void did not dodge, an arrow might not even leave a wound on her.
Seeing how difficult Airi's situation was, Chang Yuan fell into thought as well.
The original plot had never mentioned what happened here. Could this battle have actually been so perilous?
Yet in only an instant, Chang Yuan came up with a risky plan that had a high chance of success.
Cupping his hands around his mouth, Chang Yuan shouted toward the sky. "You fluttering moth up there, get your ass down here! Watch me take your little life!"
Chang Yuan did this because he wanted to test whether these Herrschers possessed sufficient self-awareness.
If they did, the rest of his plan would be simple.
If they did not, then his plan could not be carried out.
And it seemed that heaven had chosen to stand on Chang Yuan's side this time.
Upon hearing Chang Yuan's shout, the Herrscher of Void immediately manifested a ribbon and swung it toward him.
Chang Yuan instantly dropped flat onto the ground.
Just like the earlier flash of white light, the surrounding buildings collapsed as though they had been cleanly cut apart.
After dodging the first attack came the second and third attacks.
However, as a trained fighter, Chang Yuan used the windups to evade the spatial cuts in advance.
Seeing her killing moves dodged time and again, the Herrscher of Void immediately decided to use the same method she had used against Airi on Chang Yuan.
Before you continue