That counterattack had no effect. Shu's ferocious assault continued. But this time, with the obstruction of the seawater, the Herrscher could sense that Shu's attack frequency had slowed considerably.
At least... I can regain control of my body...
His thoughts slowly began to return. The Herrscher struggled to initiate a transfer.
Shu's hand suddenly paused. He sensed that the target under his hand had changed.
In an instant, his gaze locked onto an existence that had no basis in reality, as if it existed in the Sea of Quanta.
It was a transferring imaginary consciousness, a Herrscher-exclusive imaginary link built upon its power.
With a backhand punch, he completely shattered the body beneath him. Shu's figure disappeared from the seabed, chasing after that imaginary consciousness and instantly arriving at a height above the clouds.
A brand-new puppet body had just begun to take shape in the clouds. The moment the consciousness returned, the Herrscher turned his head and saw Shu's fist.
The newly formed features were instantly crushed by a single punch. And just as his figure was about to be sent flying, Shu's other hand had already grabbed the Herrscher's shoulder.
An attack with only one hand was slower than when he was hindered by the seawater at the bottom of the sea. But this time, with the other hand holding him in place, the force of Shu's attack had more than doubled.
Almost every punch could leave a significant wound on the Herrscher's body, which not even the Judgment of Shamash could shatter. The Herrscher wanted to counterattack, but Shu tore off the part that was launching the counterattack with a backhand. In less than half a minute, this body had been dismantled by Shu.
But after shattering the body, Shu opened his hand and looked at the debris in his palm. It was not the core.
The imaginary consciousness detached again. Shu's gaze immediately followed it. The remaining half of the shoulder in his hand was crushed. Shu turned into a streak of light, tightly biting onto the Herrscher's imaginary consciousness.
The Herrscher didn't have many puppets, but he had prepared a considerable number of puppet bodies for himself.
Those bodies had no independent consciousness; they were semi-finished products he had made. At this moment, they had become the strongholds for his desperate, continuous transfers.
Shu's explosive state wouldn't last long, and he had enough spare bodies. As long as he kept making long-distance transfers to stall for time, he might really be able to drag it out until Shu's reason returned, forcing him to conserve his own strength.
Thinking this, the rapidly fleeing imaginary consciousness slowed its pace slightly.
And the next moment, the Herrscher, attached to the imaginary space, suddenly sensed an extremely dangerous aura.
In the moment of accelerated burst, he hastily looked back and saw a terrifying rift appear in the imaginary space and the real world, which were originally completely separate!
And at the irregular edge of the rift, the residual force from Shu made the Herrscher tremble.
He tore open the imaginary space?!!
I just slowed down for a moment, and he unhesitatingly tore open the imaginary space to attack me?!
The imaginary consciousness was the final basis of his existence. It was a state that could only appear by using the Herrscher core as an anchor in the real world, transferring the consciousness to the imaginary world where its power resided, and relying on the power's envelopment.
This state could not last for too long. If the consciousness lingered in the imaginary world for too long, it might form a small, separate bubble in the Sea of Quanta, and then be completely disconnected from the world, exiled to the Sea of Quanta.
This should be the best way to deal with him in this state. To follow his consciousness, destroy his bodies, and prevent him from re-descending into the real world... that should be the right way...
What does it mean to tear open the imaginary space and attack me directly?!
The consumption of this action and sensing his own presence in the imaginary space were on completely different levels!!
He had no doubt that the monster who could tear open the imaginary space without a shred of hesitation could also tear his consciousness and power to pieces!
The Herrscher gritted his teeth and rushed into a prepared body. The moment a bright light appeared on the body, a large hole was punched in its chest by Shu.
Before he could even begin to resist, this body was already on the verge of being crushed into scrap by Shu.
His consciousness was forced to flee again. Shu also chased after it immediately, not even forgetting to completely pulverize the largest piece of debris.
The Herrscher didn't dare to slow down. The madness of Shu tearing open the imaginary space just to smack him was still vivid in his mind. He could only quickly rush to the next body and try to seize control of it before Shu destroyed it.
Unfortunately, he didn't succeed.
Just as his consciousness entered the body, the next moment, the arriving Shu twisted off the Herrscher's head and then used that wooden head to smash the Herrscher's body into a gruesome scene that would make anyone cringe.
He could only run, non-stop.
Now, another problem had appeared...
This almost-unreplenished consumption of power, even in the imaginary space, which was the home ground of his power, was slowly wearing down its output.
It probably wouldn't be long before his power was exhausted, and his consciousness would be lost in the Sea of Quanta...
No, compared to being lost in the Sea of Quanta, the Herrscher felt it was more likely that he would be pulled out of the imaginary rift he had torn open and ground into coffee powder by Shu before he got lost.
Didn't he just slow down for a moment due to power consumption, and two more imaginary rifts appeared behind him?
At this moment, the Herrscher no longer wanted to think about Shu's previous appearance. At this moment, the bloodstains on Shu's body were not a symbol of weakness, but the frenzied bloodlust of a madman.
His power was on the verge of exhaustion... and the fusion speed of those semi-finished bodies was really too slow, especially since the distance between Shu and him was still closing.
If he continued this escape rhythm, the Herrscher estimated that after a few more times, Shu would be able to intercept his consciousness halfway.
To have a zero-delay body fusion... he could only use a body he was familiar with...
And that was his original body with the Herrscher core.
The Herrscher core was the real-world anchor, reflecting the power and feedback in the imaginary world.
The two were like the relationship between an object and its shadow. The essence of his power was to change the object itself by changing the shadow. And naturally, a blow to the real-world anchor was equally devastating to the imaginary anchor.
The core falling into Shu's hands was equivalent to a death sentence for him.
But the current situation was just a suspended death sentence...
In his flight, the Herrscher's consciousness hesitated for only a brief moment, and then, amidst several attacking imaginary rifts that instantly opened, he struggled and rushed toward his original body.
At the same time, all the semi-finished bodies began to move, all rushing toward the location of the original body.
Since both choices were death, then why not go all in!
Wasn't this the lesson he had learned?
Don't believe in a predetermined fate, don't believe in the great hand that pulls all the strings...
Then let me use my life to verify it!
God is dead!