Why was it the Abyss Flower.
Bianka had a faint premonition, but hearing the name from his lips still caused her surprise to grow uncontrollably. She had thought the Holy Sword was bound to her by fate because it was once the weapon of Cecilia Schariac, but she never imagined she would meet its true first wielder.
A certain destiny drew them together; even the once-insurmountable barrier of time had become a catalyst. In the rain, Lin silhouette suddenly became artistic, like white wine spilled over an ink painting.
Just as Bianka understanding of Cecilia was limited to her achievements and stories, she could still feel Cecilia's unique gentleness through the Abyss Flower. The ink spread, carrying a rich aroma of wine; the hurried raindrops were all his sorrow, his persistence, and his ideals.
It was like sitting on a runaway train, waiting for the disintegrating giant beneath to crash into the end of the world along with oneself—like seeing flesh and civilization rise and fall in the noise of a field of dandelions.
One person's feeling toward another can change completely in an instant, like a specific beat in a musical composition.
"Scumbag-Mushroom, you..."
"It's coming."
The latter half of the sentence was brutally cut off. The entire scene seemed to have the "play" button pressed; the heavy rain shattered as the man, dragging the lance with the girl bound to it with one hand, surged forward two or three hundred meters in a flash.
"CRACK—"
The ground split like broken building blocks under the impact. Rain hit their faces like knives. Lin pulled a spear from the Oath of Judah, staring at the thing that had just dived from the rift.
If he wasn't mistaken, it was a very familiar "acquaintance."
Click.
The crisp sound of mechanical joints engaging drowned out the rain. Alloy blades pulled out from the shattered ground. In the crimson monitors, there was only the ruthlessness of a mechanical creation.
During his time delaying Project KY, Lin had dealt with them frequently. A faint film covered the metal corroded by Honkai energy, as unsettling as insect mucus.
"Mech units?" It was Bianka who spoke. She recognized the fallen enemies at a glance. She often had unpleasant conflicts with organizations possessing mechs; most of the time, she would smash the scrap metal to pieces, but next time, even more advanced mechs would appear before her.
Her own organization, Schicksal, also possessed mechs, and in her eyes, these mechanical monsters were clearly more similar to Schicksal's units.
Mechanical creations controlled by Honkai energy weren't new. The core parts of many machines are more fragile than their shells, so they are the first to be corrupted, eventually becoming Honkai Beasts with mechanical bodies.
Bianka struggled violently; she had to fight. "There are enemies, let me go!"
"What are you better at fighting?" Lin exhaled a breath of cold air to adjust his combat state. His injuries weren't fully healed... in fact, his condition was extremely poor, but he couldn't afford to care about that now.
"What are you talking about?"
A second mech, then a third, fell from the rift one after another. These were units swallowed by the Pseudo-Black Hole during the Ninth Honkai. Now, they were faithfully executing the programming they were created with—slaughtering humans.
As more dull thuds echoed, crimson monoculars lined up densely in the dark, launching a bloody charge toward the two!
"Mechs or Honkai Beasts—which are you better at fighting?"
After a brief pause, Bianka curled her lips. "Is there a difference between smashing them into meat paste or scrap metal?"
Lin grabbed the chains of the Oath of Judah and lunged forward with chilling intent.
"Then I'll leave the mechs to you."
Behind them, bizarre Quantum Honkai Beasts fell one by one like raindrops, letting out screeches as they surrounded the two along with the mechs.
Twelve spears lit up from the deployed cross, turning into streaks of light that pierced the sky, accompanied by the sound of wind being broken and the flesh of Honkai Beasts being torn apart!
The chains binding Bianka loosened the moment Lin turned to face the beasts. She landed on one knee, her golden high ponytail dancing wildly in the fierce wind and storm!
A mech lunged forward, raising its blade to slice through the curtain of rain!
"BOOM!"
What met it was a fist that looked soft and pink. The ponytail trembled violently with its owner's movement. The hardness gap between flesh and metal should have been like an egg against a stone, yet the mech disintegrated under this lightning-fast uppercut. The core of the mech was struck directly, bursting like an iron watermelon with parts flying everywhere like seeds!
Bianka took a lunge stance, inhaled, and slammed her fist into the ground before the surging army of mechs!
"BOOM————"
Incomparable brute force smashed the solid ground into fragments! The incoming mechs stalled, blown over by the wind pressure and shockwave, sinking into the cracks in the ground!
Her simple armor, slick with rain, lit up like stars in the night. A giant armored phantom appeared behind her, raising a knightly broadsword and hacking down at the mechs!
"Bang!"
Lin dodged a rock flying at his back with a flash. He manipulated the cross, spinning at high speed in the air like a gymnast, smashing the heavy weapon onto the head of a Honkai Beast.
He had been mentally prepared for enemies from the rift, and these mechs and beasts were likely only a tiny fraction of what was inside.
A quantum distortion phenomenon, as Bianka called it. Lin took note of those words. He had a premonition that the "thing" in the rift was the cause, and "It" likely had nothing to do with him.
It had drawn Bianka here; Its target was actually the warrior from fifty thousand years in the future beside him. Why? Lin didn't know, but he had thought of a way to force that "thing" to act.
If Its target was Bianka, It couldn't ignore a Bianka who was unable to move and had no power in her body.
As expected, after Lin had kept Bianka bound for just over a day, It could no longer restrain Itself. However, It was cautious; what came through the rift were only low-level Honkai Beasts and mechs.
The number of enemies was vast, but Lin and Bianka handled them with ease. They focused on preventing any mechs or beasts from escaping their notice and hiding in the World Bubble. After about five minutes of combat, the ground was left with nothing but a mix of mechanical parts and meat.
Bianka flung a mech impaled on her lance to the ground and crushed its core with her foot. Lin, carrying the Oath of Judah, walked silently to her side and glanced at the messy battlefield. Every enemy Bianka hit looked as if it had been stepped on by Godzilla.
He had seen it before, but he still had to marvel at her incredible destructive power. Lin rubbed his chin and casually reached his hand toward Bianka smooth shoulder. "Well done, Goosey..."
"Slap!"
Bianka turned, caught the chain hidden behind his arm, and kicked the Oath of Judah with her long, stockinged leg. Lin watched silently as his weapon flew hundreds of meters like a shooting star.
Then, the golden-haired girl grabbed both of his wrists with one hand, lifted him up, and stared at him with a beaming smile.
"What were you trying to say, Scumbag-Mushroom?"