Powerless. Powerless. Powerless...
The moment the Pseudo-Herrscher Core was taken, he could no longer call upon the Herrscher's authority. His consciousness lingered in his frame, but the power within had been completely ripped out.
The voice that had been constantly clamoring was gone; in this moment, Lin actually felt a sense of relief.
He had lost utterly. Even with the power of the Pseudo-Core, he still couldn't defeat the Herrscher of Void.
How much time did he have before his consciousness dissipated?
Blind, deaf—it was as if the world had been this way from the very beginning.
Nothing existed. Nothing mattered.
"Lin..."
Who...?
"Kid."
Stop calling me.
"Officer Lin."
Are you calling for me?
"Scum-shroom..."
Who am I...?
In a daze, he seemed to experience a final surge of clarity. His gray vision returned to normal. The Herrscher of Void reached out her fingers toward him indifferently, the cross behind her ready to strike.
A pair of weak hands held his body. Bianca, her chest pierced, gritted her teeth and glared at the Herrscher.
The remaining Armed Puppets on the ground watched the scene in a daze.
Rita broke free from the puppets' hold and reached out toward them. Many words seemed stuck in her throat, her expression sorrowful and fragile.
Is there... any other way...?
Now, he had no Herrscher Core, no Oath of Judah, and he had only one hand left. He was on the verge of death.
It was difficult for him to even touch the Herrscher of Void.
"Sword techniques are born from the form of the blade, yet they are anchored by the soul. One who understands the Way of the Sword is not bound by form. This body is the weapon; this body is the sword."
...Why did the words of that cloaked man suddenly come to mind?
"The so-called authorities of the Herrschers are the ultimate expressions of rules, yet they lack the extension into other domains of rules."
Extension...
"Having no form, it needs no form. This sword fills space; this sword IS space. Thus, it is omnipresent and invincible."
If it was that strike, then space and consciousness would have nowhere to hide.
But right now, he couldn't squeeze out even a drop of Honkai energy. Moreover, he still didn't understand how to manipulate Honkai energy like that man, let alone use the so-called "Divine Eminence."
What exactly was missing?
The cloaked man had given him no secrets, and Lin had always felt that something was missing when he mimicked the man's moves.
How could he execute that strike...?
Did it require a human or a Herrscher? Did it need a soldier, a warrior, a hero, a traitor, a champion, or an ordinary person?
There... was no answer.
Who was he to the Armed Puppets? Who was he to Rita? Who was he to Bianca?
They wanted to protect him, and he wanted to protect them. Was this based on status? Morality? Cognition?
...None of the above.
Because he simply couldn't express it with specific words.
"Hi, hi, hi. Who are you? Who am I? Where are you from? What are you doing?" The man's playful smile was vivid in his mind. "What if I said you are me, and I am no one and nothing?"
"What matters is not defining a thing or a person. When you believe what you need is a technique, a move, or a weapon, that is all you will receive."
"Then do you think techniques, moves, and weapons can kill the Herrscher of Void? Especially now that she has absorbed a new core and is even more powerful."
Who... was he?
Who... was the man?
The man: "They cannot."
Lin: "Correct. They cannot. So what do you need?"
The man: "What do I need?"
Lin: "I need... to kill her."
"Yes. So, let's skip the boring introductions."
No Honkai energy in the body? That's fine. It's everywhere in the world bubble. The massive amount of Honkai Beasts sent by the Herrscher had filled the air with it.
No weapon in hand? That's fine. Manifest it, shape it. Just like the imaginary spears the Herrscher uses, use energy as a weapon.
Yes, everything is...
Lin couldn't tell if the one talking to himself was him, that man, or both.
His eyes were vacant, his pupils dilated. He raised his only hand—looking exactly like the cloaked man from that day—and extended two fingers, pointing them at the all-powerful Herrscher of Void.
He didn't consciously manipulate the Honkai energy. The vast amounts of residual Honkai energy nearby surged into his body spontaneously, but not a single drop remained inside him.
In an instant, an ethereal blade formed in the air. Without warning, within a span of time that had practically stopped, it thrust toward the Herrscher of Void in total silence.
...
The Herrscher of Void's pupils suddenly quivered. She abruptly ramped up her control over Honkai energy, and the golden, transparent cross roared out from the portal behind her.
At the same time, a blade suddenly appeared nearby. It was like a hallucination born from nothing, yet the Herrscher felt an unprecedented sense of danger.
She had to dodge...
Immediately use a portal to relocate, flee into imaginary space...
No...
She couldn't dodge.
She couldn't dodge.
She couldn't dodge!
The moment the majestic cross and the silent blade collided, there was no violent impact. Her full-power strike was like thin paper before that blade; it instantly dissolved into points of light and Honkai energy. The shattered energy even merged into the blade as it continued its relentless path toward her!
The Herrscher of Void poured out all her authority and Honkai energy, meeting the blade head-on!
Screech————
The falling Bianca held Lin as they descended slowly. She clutched the jagged wound on her chest, coughed up more blood, and looked up to observe the Herrscher's movements. She was shocked to see that the Herrscher—who looked like a descending deity a second ago—was now hovering in the air in a wretched state.
The light-wings on her back and the halo above her head were on the verge of shattering. The colors in her pupils flickered incessantly. Her dress was in tatters, and every exposed part of her was covered in wounds.
But now was not the time for surprise. Bianca immediately flew to her lance, gripped the weapon, and squeezed out every last drop of power in her body and her armor's propulsion wings—
BOOM!!!!
A brilliant blue meteor rose from the earth, raising a god-slaying spear toward the fragile deity!
The Herrscher of Void panted heavily. She wasn't gasping for oxygen, but trying to suppress the "Taixuan Divine Eminence" that was still raging within her consciousness. She gritted her teeth and noticed Bianca's surging charge. Squeezing out the Honkai energy from her cores, she opened a portal behind her.
If she was given time—just half an hour—she could return and destroy this world bubble!
Even at her maximum speed, Bianca couldn't stop the Herrscher from entering the portal. She roared, delivering a furious strike at the Herrscher, who had already half-entered the gateway!
Whoosh!
The purple portal collapsed.
The Herrscher's portal had suddenly vanished; she didn't even have time to realize what happened.
And after that, she didn't need to think about anything else.
Thwack!
The lance pierced the Herrscher of Void's tiny frame completely. Bianca drove her propulsion wings to their absolute limit, smashing her from the sky down into the earth!
The blue meteor shattered the ground.
KABOOM!!!