"Alright, alright, I know about your abilities now." Himeko shook her head as she looked at the smug Irene, then walked up to the altar to examine the Xuanyuan Sword inserted in its center.
"Is this the Xuanyuan Sword?"
"It should be..." As Fu Hua stepped forward, she recognized the weapon before her, which emitted a faint golden glimmer even in the dark environment.
One of the... 10th Divine Keys. She vaguely remembered that she used to have many of these Divine Keys, which were constructed overall from Soulium using the Core of the Herrscher of the Legion.
As for its abilities, how should she put it? Not the best, but certainly better than the worst. It was just stuck somewhere in the middle. After all, the Herrscher of the Legion itself wasn't exactly overwhelmingly powerful.
However, the advantage was that these items were produced in large quantities and were indeed easier to use than conventional weapons. At the same time, due to the unique nature of the Herrscher of the Legion itself, these weapons could change their shape through resonance, making them more suitable for the wielder's use.
If her fragmented remaining memory wasn't mistaken, the Taixuan Sword Qi was also very compatible with using this 10th Divine Key as a weapon. She likely gave this type of weapon to many people in the past.
Thinking about it, this Xuanyuan Sword must have been a weapon she distributed back then to protect human civilization.
Thinking of this, Fu Hua turned her head to look at Irene. previously, she had been thinking about getting Irene a weapon suitable for displaying the Taixuan Sword Qi, and they just happened to run into this Chiyou mission.
Now, the timing seemed perfect. She could use this opportunity to find a weapon for Irene.
With this in mind, Fu Hua looked at Irene: "Irene, see if you can pull the weapon out. Remember to be careful; if there's a formation laid around it, there are definitely stronger defensive measures on the sword itself."
With Fu Hua's ability, she had long since seen that there were no other defensive forces around that sword. Even if there were, they had likely been damaged over the long passage of time.
She just needed a reason for Irene to pull that sword out, precisely to see how the compatibility between Irene and this Xuanyuan Sword was.
Hearing this, Irene didn't think much of it. Carrying the Starry Judah, she walked forward, wrapped Judah's light chains around her hand, and then pulled the Xuanyuan Sword up.
"Mn, doesn't feel like anything." Irene raised the Xuanyuan Sword, gradually retracting Judah's light chains. She lifted the Xuanyuan Sword and gave it a shake. If she remembered correctly, the soul of Ji Lin should be inside the Xuanyuan Sword.
But why did she feel absolutely nothing right now?
[This seems to be the same as my Ruoshui Sword, a 10th Divine Key. It should also be something passed down from Master's side.] Lixue's voice echoed in Irene's mind.
[Perhaps you can try infusing a little Taixuan Sword Qi into it.]
[Mn, there's no other way.] Irene nodded and immediately channeled her Taixuan Sword Qi, inputting some Honkai energy. The Xuanyuan Sword, which originally only emitted a dim glow, instantly burst forth with radiant golden light.
Irene turned her head. The surroundings were filled with the golden light emitted by the Xuanyuan Sword. Within the range covered by the golden light, everyone else had vanished.
"Greetings, warrior of the future." From within the Xuanyuan Sword in Irene's hand, a young girl clad in luxurious attire emerged within the light. "My name is Ji Lin."
"Hello." Irene released the sword, and the Xuanyuan Sword floated in the air without anyone holding it. "I am Irene. I apologize for disturbing your rest."
"Mn... It matters not..." Ji Lin did not rush to reply to Irene. Instead, she looked up at the empty space behind Irene, a trace of nostalgia and longing appearing in her eyes.
"I did not expect the Celestial to be here as well. It seems that this time, I can finally end this long battle."
"The battle with Chiyou?" When Irene turned back to look, that spot was also a void illuminated by golden light. Although she couldn't see it, she could guess who Ji Lin was actually looking at.
"Yes, I do not know how much time has passed." Ji Lin recovered her senses, looked at Irene, and nodded, her eyes holding a hint of worry. "This ferocious beast must absolutely not be allowed to make landfall in Shenzhou. I am sorry; back then, I failed to resolve it."
"At that time, if not for the rampant demon beasts, even the Celestials would not have been unable to clear them out in a short time. Back then, only I and two other Celestials joined forces to resist the enemy."
Ji Lin's eyes were full of regret. At that time, even with the assistance of two Celestials, she, with her insufficient strength, could only repel Chiyou. Those two Celestials even voluntarily transformed into a seal inside Chiyou's body to weaken it.
But she was also powerless to slay Chiyou. She could only seal it, praying for peace, waiting until future generations could slay it.
"I understand." Irene nodded. "If it is something Senior could not accomplish, we will do it on your behalf. We are here to solve this problem."
"Thank you." Ji Lin nodded. "Chiyou will unseal very soon. When that time comes, I can only rely on you, warrior of the future. My soul does not have much left; I fear I cannot provide more assistance."
"Only this sword remains." Ji Lin looked down at the radiating Xuanyuan Sword. "This sword was once my weapon, and a divine weapon bestowed by the ancestors. May it slay that ferocious beast in my stead."
"It is our duty." Irene nodded. Then, after a moment of silence, Irene spoke up to ask, "Do you want to temporarily borrow my body?"
"You have someone you want to see, right?"
Hearing this, Ji Lin fell silent for a moment. "Is it really okay? Exchanging control of the body requires absolute trust. Are you really willing to trust me?"
As Irene nodded, the surrounding light gradually faded, and the voices of the others rang out immediately after.
"Who on earth is Sister Irene talking to?" Kiana felt a bit creeped out watching Irene, whose mouth kept moving without making any sound, talking to who-knows-what.
"She might be speaking with a consciousness inside that sword." Fu Hua pushed up her glasses. With the aid of Fenghuang Down, she could easily sense that a consciousness within that Xuanyuan Sword was speaking with Irene.
Moreover, she felt that aura was somewhat familiar. But the ashes of her broken memories could give her nothing more than a sense of familiarity.
She wanted to eavesdrop on what they were saying, but in her passive state without actively using Fenghuang Down, she could only sense that someone was speaking, while the content remained unknown.
The radiance in Irene's hands gradually dissipated. Irene came back to her senses and looked around, only to see the surrounding rocks beginning to tense up. After losing the maintenance of the Xuanyuan Sword, the original seal had shattered and was powerless to continue sealing Chiyou.
At the same time, the entire cave began to vibrate violently. From deeper within the [Cave], a violent sound of inhalation and a low rumble could be heard.
"What's happening?!" Kiana looked at the surrounding stones that were constantly cracking, revealing the veins flashing with purple light beneath them.
Simultaneously, the Valkyrie armor on their bodies erupted with a blinding red light in an instant, and sharp alarms resounded throughout the altar.
[WARNING, WARNING. SUPER HIGH CONCENTRATION HONKAI ENERGY DETECTED. JUDGING SOURCE: SURROUNDINGS. INTENSITY EXCEEDS MEASUREMENT LIMIT! WARNING, WARNING.]
"What exactly is going on?!" Kiana held her dual pistols vigilantly, guarding the surroundings, while shouting to everyone, "Everyone run, this place is going to collapse!"
"No, Kiana, you are wrong." Irene held the floating sword in her hand. She turned her head, her heterochromatic eyes flashing with hints of golden light, and looked at Kiana. "This place isn't collapsing; it's moving."
As Irene's words fell, a violent inhalation sound suddenly came from the depths of the cave. The others, caught off guard, were sucked in by its powerful suction force.
Fu Hua, however, was grabbed by Irene, who was holding the sword, and stayed by the edge of the altar. Left alone with her, Fu Hua noticed that Irene's originally heterochromatic pupils had now turned completely golden.
The Xuanyuan Sword held in her hand also ceaselessly radiated golden light, and the aura emanating from her body no longer felt like Irene's.
"...You are?"
*
External Sea Area
Meanwhile, in a Titan cockpit, Sin quietly leaned against the seat and slowly woke up. Upon waking, she found herself inside a Titan's cockpit.
"Damn it, did that traitor hack my permissions?" Sin's brain worked fast. Looking at where she was, she immediately judged that her permissions had likely been seized by Bronya.
"Damn Bronya, you traitor!" She couldn't understand why Bronya didn't help her just now. Weren't the things they wanted to do the same?
Didn't that guy want to save Seele anymore? In the cramped space, Sin turned around with some difficulty, intending to pull the emergency manual lever hidden behind the seat back.
This thing was an emergency lever placed behind the seat by the Doctor during the initial design. Basically, it could only be reached in emergency situations. Pulling it up would forcibly open the hatch.
Provided there was no physical damage.
"When Lord Sin gets out, Lord Sin will definitely complain to Cocolia Mama." Just as Sin was about to pull it down, the voice of that damn Bronya suddenly came from behind her.
[If Bronya wanted you dead, Bronya wouldn't have touched the emergency lever.]
As a former Anti-Entropy member, Bronya had also commanded Titans. She knew about the existence of the emergency lever inside the Titan cockpit.
And the reason she hadn't mentioned it when Irene raised the issue was simply because...
The moment she heard the voice, Sin kicked out directly: "You still dare to show yourself! Do you know what you are doing? Mama won't let you off."
[Bronya believes you should be very angry right now, but regrettably, Bronya cannot hear you.] Bronya's voice remained calm. This was just a message she left behind; the voice was merely a synthesized sound created by Project Bunny.
[Additionally, Bronya needs to remind you that the situation outside right now is not suitable for opening the hatch.]
The Titan's monitor turned on at this moment, displaying the scenery outside. Looking at the pitch-black sea area outside, Sin put back the hand preparing to pull the lever, and even carefully covered the lever again.
Although she was confident in her physical fitness, her confidence wouldn't bring any additional buffs to her body, nor would it lower the water pressure outside by a single fraction.
"What do you want? Do you not plan to save Seele anymore?" Sin stared viciously at the communicator. Although she knew this was just a recording, perhaps that traitor could hear her.
And from the communicator, Bronya's voice continued: [Teacher Irene will not listen to Mama. Bronya will use her own way to get Elder Sister Irene to help save Seele. So, sorry.]
Listening to the words from the speaker, Sin's brow twitched a few times. She held back the urge to punch the speaker. And at this moment, suddenly, the entire cockpit began to vibrate.
"Hm?" Sensing the vibration, Sin looked outside through the screen with a puzzled face. It wasn't just the Titan vibrating; the entire seabed was vibrating.
Through the sensors located above the Titan, she could see the massive rock wall behind the Titan cracking layer by layer, revealing the flowing purple brilliance beneath the rock face.
"No way, a Honkai energy outbreak?!" Sin looked at those streamers of purple light, but then realized something was wrong. If it were a Honkai energy outbreak, it shouldn't look like this.
Where would a Honkai energy outbreak manifest only like this? This looked clearly like a volcano erupting, or something trying to break free from the rock wall.
While Sin was still confused, the clothes on her back were quietly soaked with cold sweat. Biological instinct tried to tell her one thing: that was not rock, but a man-eating beast.
The terrifying vibration continued. The cracking range of the mountain peak grew larger and larger. Layers of rolling stones plummeted down, and a massive black shadow, too large to fit on the entire screen, drilled out from the splitting cliff.
And those purple streamers that had initially leaked from the rock wall, outlining a form, allowed Sin to see the appearance of that giant beast clearly.
"I fk!" Sin looked at that screen and cursed directly. "Are you kidding me! Lord Sin was inside that guy's mouth just now!"
That massive shadow and the stone wall she had originally thought was a cliff were clearly a super-giant Honkai Beast. As for the place they had just entered, it was undoubtedly that guy's mouth!
And she had even taken that group of Titans inside to clear out the Honkai Beasts within. At that time, she had wondered why there was such a thick concentration of Honkai energy in such a place.
Now she understood. Because that place was the inside of a Honkai Beast. That Honkai Beast was the source of the Honkai energy.
"Run, run, run, run, run fast!" Sin couldn't care less that the operation rights of this Titan weren't in her hands anymore. She manipulated the control stick with all her might. She even somewhat wanted to thank that group of Valkyries for throwing her out now.
That kind of thing wasn't something a group of Titans could deal with, let alone the fact that they were inside that thing's mouth just moments ago.
As for Bronya...
With her current capabilities, she had no ability to go back and save Bronya. She could only swim to the shallows first to contact Cocolia Mama and have Cocolia Mama bring the fleet over.
Only a massive fleet would have the ability to contend with such a colossus. How could there be such a huge Honkai Beast in this world?
"Don't get digested so quickly! Bronya! I still have to drag you in front of Mama to apologize for your crimes!"
________________________________________
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