As he raised the Star of Judgment, Siegfried glanced at the slowing core, mentally calculating its recharge time. Then, he fired three short bursts at the Chariot-class Honkai Beast.
These three shots had practically no recoil. Unlike the previous attack, which required charging and had a wind-up longer than his lifespan, these were almost instantaneous.
However, their power couldn't compare to that... cannon blast. The three lasers struck the damaged area on the Honkai Beast with precision, but aside from chipping off a few already loose fragments, they accomplished nothing.
"You Honkai Beasts are tough as hell, like a damn turtle!" Siegfried cursed, holstering the Star of Judgment. As he turned to run, he quickly fiddled with the weapon.
The Chariot-class, having finally recovered from the initial Judgment blast, let out a roar powerful enough to create a sound wave. It leaped, completing the combo that had been interrupted earlier.
Siegfried looked up to see a massive shadow fly over his head.
His brain hadn't even registered what it was, but his feet had already faithfully switched tracks, propelling his body into a dive to the side.
The shockwave from the Honkai Beast's landing missed him. Covered in sand, Siegfried fired two much thicker beams at the Honkai Beast while still rolling.
One beam hit the creature's wound, the other its undamaged torso.
Another fragment broke off from the wound, but the chest, which took a direct hit, was completely unscathed.
Siegfried stopped rolling, spat out a mouthful of sand, and looked up to check the results. Seeing them, he spat again, this time a mixture of saliva and grit.
"Are you part turtle?! Not even a Titan mech has armor this thick!" Even as he cursed, Siegfried's movements were sharp. He sprang to his feet, ready to continue his retreat... to continue kiting the Honkai Beast.
The attack he'd just used was the Star of Judgment's most powerful beam attack—pure laser, not the particle-infused beam of a "Judgment" shot.
Instantaneous, high-temperature beams were effective against thin-skinned Honkai Beasts, but against a Chariot-class, these armor-piercing beams were probably less effective than crude kinetic weapons.
After all, Honkai Beasts were silicon-based. Being brittle didn't mean they weren't incredibly hard overall.
The Star of Judgment could only store a limited amount of high-energy particles. The "Judgment" shot he'd used in an attempt to one-shot the beast had already consumed a significant portion of the gun's reserves. He probably only had enough left for one more.
Without hesitation, Siegfried turned and fired a dozen more shots in rapid succession.
This time, the shots easily broke through the Honkai Beast's outer defenses. Although the wounds weren't large, it was progress.
All told, the dozen shots had nearly blown off half of the Honkai Beast's defensive plating. If concentrated on a single point, they might have created a clean hole right through it.
That was the effect of mixing high-energy particles into the beam... As for why Siegfried could use them so freely...
"Surprise, idiot! I have spare magazines!"
Siegfried flicked his wrist, launching a generic bio-magic attack, then ripped a similarly futuristic magazine from his belt and deftly reloaded the Star of Judgment, replenishing its high-energy particles.
The crisp, mechanical clicks of the reload were full of unnecessarily cool design choices.
The Honkai Beast seemed to sense it had reached a dead end. It didn't retreat, but instead launched a final, desperate charge at Siegfried.
No shockwaves, no leaps. Just a simple, straightforward charge, yet it carried an aura of do-or-die resolve that only Siegfried could see...
Having reloaded, Siegfried chose not to continue his long-range kiting strategy.
As mentioned before, the "Judgment" shot, which could kill in one hit, had a wind-up longer than his life. He had only managed to use it before by using the Honkai Beast's own impact to launch himself to an unreachable height, buying him the one second he needed to charge.
Asking him to charge for another second now? Siegfried figured he might as well just go for a melee brawl.
Though, to be fair, Siegfried was confident he could buy himself that one second. But that was usually Cecilia's job...
As for kiting the beast to death one shot at a time... were high-energy particles free? In this Honkai-infested world, where was he supposed to replenish them?
He didn't even know if he could get back to Future City. That damned bastard Joyce was definitely still alive, but whether he was even in Future City was another question, let alone him helping Siegfried restock on particles.
In other words, the particles Siegfried had on him were a finite resource. Wasting them like this was worse than just fighting the Honkai Beast in close combat...
Decision made! I'll fight it hand-to-hand!
A cold smirk, the kind one makes after finally convincing oneself, touched Siegfried's lips. He spun around, flicking the Star of Judgment in his hand.
With two superfluous CLICKS, the form of the Star of Judgment in his hand changed.
It became a sci-fi sword with only a hilt and a crossguard, but no blade.
So where was the blade?
It's sci-fi, duh...
A dazzling blade of light erupted from the spinning core at the center of the crossguard. Infused with swirling high-energy particles, it formed a massive, glowing greatsword in Siegfried's hand.
The Honkai Beast, in the middle of its death charge, never expected Siegfried to suddenly stop running. It screeched to a halt, turned, and launched a counter-charge of its own.
But it wouldn't stop for that. A fleeing prey that suddenly stops running is a good thing.
Wielding the Sword of Judgment, Siegfried wore a confident smile. His eyes remained fixed on his target, his movements flowing automatically as if pre-programmed.
In his mind, he could already picture the scene: he and the Honkai Beast would cross paths, both coming to a stop. He would be the first to fall to his knees, and half a second later, the Honkai Beast would collapse, lifeless.
Though he didn't expect to get hurt at all, he could act!
Tragic heroes were much more popular than invincible ones. The invincible only gather a crowd of fanatics, while tragic heroes get people to flock around them, asking if they're okay...
"Watch out!" A sudden, sharp cry shattered Siegfried's daydream, replacing it with an overwhelming sense of crisis.
Whose voice was that? Where is she?! Is that spot dangerous?!
Siegfried's movements slowed by a fraction of a second, just enough to give him a sliver of time to react, to see if the person who had just appeared was in any danger.