Gu Chu grabbed Shu's fist. This was a perfect opportunity for a counterattack, as Shu had indeed paused briefly due to this unexpected turn of events.
But Gu Chu didn't seize this opportunity. Instead, he laughed wildly at Shu, muttering something under his breath.
"The space around me is limited, and the directions and methods of your attacks are also limited. Your reaction is indeed very fast, but I can predict it in advance, and even predict the changes after your reaction. As long as I iterate thirty-six thousand eight hundred and ninety-two layers, I can—"
Shu's powerful punch once again shattered Gu Chu's words. This punch undoubtedly broke through the defensive line that Gu Chu had just been so proud of.
He had indeed blocked it, raising his hand in front of Shu's fist, but he couldn't stop it, because the power of this punch had exceeded his ability's upper limit.
His instantly fractured arm was pushed by Shu and smashed into Gu Chu's face, sending Gu Chu crashing into the ground again.
But looking at the rising dust, Shu didn't choose to pursue this time. Instead, he hovered in mid-air, looking at Gu Chu who was getting up from the sand with a grave expression.
Shu had actually heard what Gu Chu had just said and understood his meaning, but this answer made him a little incredulous.
It wasn't unheard of to develop a targeted fighting style by mastering an opponent's attack habits, but Gu Chu was clearly not... his method of mastering his own actions was to exhaust all of his own attack routes, and then find the inevitable result from his own subtle precursors...
Shu could actually do this as well, but...
Shu could only do this when imitating those quantum cluster computers.
The computing power required for this kind of behavior was already terrifying to the extreme, but Gu Chu had done it. This was the point that Shu couldn't understand the most.
How did he do it? The only explanation Shu could think of was—his power.
A power that could support his high-speed calculations and realize them.
In other words, the legendary—
"If the theory exists, the practice is inevitable." Gu Chu, who had gotten up again, took a starting stance in front of Shu that was somewhat familiar to her. "You should have realized it by now... my specific power?"
"By collecting information and data to complete the analysis of me, and then replicating it..." Shu said, and a Judgment of Shamash condensed in his hand again. "But your data collection needs time, needs your knowledge..."
He seemed to have remembered something, and his face turned a little dark as he looked at Gu Chu. "This is why you were willing to run errands for the Fire Moths, because you needed the Fire Moths' information and transportation means, so that you could collect the information you wanted all over the world..."
"That's right... perhaps I can do more," Gu Chu generously admitted his thoughts. "After all, my opponent is you. I must do everything I can to make myself stronger! At least I have to be qualified to stand opposite you!"
As he spoke, the injuries on his body had basically recovered. This time, Shu carefully watched the whole process of Gu Chu's self-healing, and finally saw some familiar meaning from it.
"The Champion..." Shu took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
There were indeed remains of the Champion in the Fire Moths' base for Otto to study. With Gu Chu's status, it wasn't difficult to get those remains.
"In this month, I have collected a lot of data. I have analyzed the body of Evolution, studied the Honkai energy that Memory left in my mind, and also defeated many Honkai Emperors, and even Emperor-class Honkai beasts.
"But the more data I collect, the more I feel my own weakness and insignificance... because I can't find any theory to defeat you! I can't even stand in front of you!"
"And you came back before I was ready, and at such a suitable opportunity..." Gu Chu's language gradually became anxious. "I must seize this opportunity... because only now will you attack me with the determination to kill me..."
He suddenly took a deep breath, and his impetuous appearance was instantly suppressed.
"I have no other needs..." he raised his hand, and a golden light condensed from his hand, turning into a cross that was exactly the same as the golden cross behind Shu.
A long spear shot out from it and landed in Gu Chu's hand. Gu Chu pointed it at Shu.
"Here, kill me," he said calmly, but his eyes were filled with an irrepressible madness. "I will do my best to let me witness the true peak."
The two stood opposite each other, killing intent overflowing.
The result of this match... the two of them had already known it in their hearts, and it was exceptionally consistent.
...
And in the canopy, with the fall of another high-ranking official, a smile finally appeared on the Herrscher's lips.
Those high-ranking officials had occupied her power for a full five minutes and twelve seconds... each high-ranking official could delay her for at least ten seconds, and some even delayed her for a full twenty-odd seconds due to their accumulated sins.
And Tafira was still the one who delayed her for the longest time, controlling her for a full thirty-odd seconds.
And in these delayed five minutes and twelve seconds, the damage caused by Kiana and Bianka's joint attack was very great.
She didn't have that kind of extraordinary recovery method. She could only use Honkai energy to repair her wounds bit by bit and reshape her missing parts.
And what was more seriously injured than her was Xiezhi.
The single horn on its head had been broken, and its whole body was covered with shocking wounds. In some places, the pale white tissue was exposed, and the broken bone armor hung on its body like shattered glass.
And even though it had difficulty even hovering, it still charged at Bianka and Kiana again and again, trying to rescue the Herrscher from their hands.
However, its stubborn and monotonous barbaric charge had been figured out by Theresa and the others. Each charge would cause it more damage.
Both sides were racing against time to see who could create an opening first.
With the frontal suppression of Bianka and Kiana, as long as Xiezhi fell, the reassembled crowd could completely tip the scales of victory in their favor before the Herrscher's power recovered.
That was the plan.
The violent yellow sand raged in the air, but with a hint of sorrow.
From the Honkai Emperor, the dream-like chaotic thinking of Honkai beasts had begun to become clear. The Lava Emperor back then already had emotions of fear and avoidance.
After being promoted to Emperor-class, its thinking level had further increased. Pavanti had begun to have thoughts of doubt and hesitation.
And Xiezhi was a mutated Honkai Emperor comparable to an Emperor-class, with no flaws other than its disposition.
With power, status, and a hazy consciousness, in the thoughts filled with killing intent and malice, Xiezhi had given birth to the concept of "I."
And along with the self-awareness, there was also the confusion of an imperfect mind.
Who am I?
It thought so. It longed for an answer, so it violated the underlying logic of Honkai beasts and began to wander aimlessly.
In this deserted, lifeless yellow sand.
The only things accompanying it were the yellow sand around it that could tear everything apart, and the humans who would trigger its crazy killing desire as soon as they appeared.
But that was ultimately the only other thing it could find, so it began to pursue. It would not suppress its killing desire, nor could it understand that it would only bring disaster to those people.
It did not understand pain, hatred, panic, or fear. Its incomplete and budding mind had only one thought.
"Who am I?"
It could not get the answer itself.
Until in that encounter, it met Siegfried and Bianka.
The desire to kill was triggered by Siegfried, but was successfully suppressed by the aura of the superior Honkai beast on Bianka.
It did not attack, but quietly hovered above the two, looking for their figures. It wanted to know what the difference was between it and humans.
This was the closest it had ever been to the answer.
And at this juncture, Stan appeared. It was its own kind, the kind it had been dreaming of...
It wanted to go forward and communicate, but it was driven away by Stan.
After a moment of "hesitation," it still chose to leave, and so its world was once again left with only one Honkai beast.
It still did not understand its longing, its confusion, its pursuit.
It still did not know who it was, so it continued to wander.
It was the Herrscher who raised her hand and completed its incomplete wisdom, making it a true Emperor-class Honkai beast.
It also solved the problem that had plagued it since its birth.
It asked: Who am I?
The Herrscher replied: You are Xiezhi, the Honkai beast I have chosen to judge justice.
It did not know what judgment was, nor did it know what justice was.
But it knew one thing.
A scholar dies for his bosom friend.
The wind rose, circling around Xiezhi's body, rolling up the falling sand.
Everyone had long been accustomed to this scene. Nicholas and the others raised their hands with a bit of numbness, because they knew that the next scene would be exactly the same.
Xiezhi would charge towards the Herrscher with the wind and sand, and they just needed to attack Xiezhi.
But everyone still cheered up.
Xiezhi's injuries were already very serious. It was estimated that this time it would be defeated by them. At that time, they could free up their hands to deal with the Herrscher with Bianka and Kiana.
And at this time... the Herrscher only had one high-ranking official left to deal with... a very small person.
This round of attacks would probably only take a few seconds, and according to the past, the Herrscher still had a gap of more than ten seconds.
"Wait, something is wrong," just as they were about to attack according to their previous actions, Rita suddenly noticed something was wrong.
Rita's words made the people who were about to attack brake suddenly. They all paid full attention to Xiezhi in an instant.
This time, Xiezhi was indeed a little different from before.
Along with the wind, what was circling around it was not only the sand grains that had been polished for countless years, but also the fragments of armor that had fallen off its own body.
Honkai beasts are silicon-based creatures, and their bodies are like a very hard glass. And what would the fragments of such a glass be like after it shattered?
They were sharp blades rotating at high speed!
And now, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of such small fragments were circling around Xiezhi at an unreasonable speed.
The broken armor on its body fell off, and the intact armor was also torn to pieces by the circling fragments.
Xiezhi's figure was getting smaller and smaller in the strong wind, and its consciousness was also being torn to pieces by the storm it had created.
When the wind reached a certain level, it no longer needed to be maintained by external forces.
The already formed storm began to spread to the surroundings, carrying the self-dismembering Xiezhi towards the entire canopy.
That sharp storm was definitely not something they could withstand! Besides heavy all-round protection like a Titan, they couldn't think of any other way to avoid such an attack!
"Retreat!" Salome forgot that they were connected to the Noah's Ark at this moment and subconsciously shouted.
Gravity erupted from the Star of Eden in her hand, pulling their figures to the distance.
The Herrscher, who was under the pressure of the two's joint attack, suddenly turned to look in that direction the moment Xiezhi self-destructed.
The Honkai beast had dedicated its first thought to her.
"Kiana! Retreat!!" Bronya's voice sounded urgently. Kiana turned around and was about to leave without hesitation.
But Bianka had no intention of retreating. Seeing that she was about to rush forward, Kiana could only helplessly reach out and grab Bianka's hand, trying to take her with her.
But the moment the two touched, Kiana and Bianka were both stunned.
Their thoughts seemed to be pulled into a common space, a vast, boundless snowfield...
Bronya noticed their daze at the first moment. Helplessly, she could only mobilize Salome and let her extend a part of her power to pull the two out of the storm's range.
One by one, they retreated from the edge of the canopy. Only the Noah's Ark was left suspended directly above, a place that the storm could not reach.
The illusory canopy suddenly solidified when the last person retreated. The Noah's Ark in the sky trembled fiercely, trapping the storm and the Herrscher inside.
"The canopy can hold until the storm ends," Bronya's voice came with a series of roars. "But the Noah's Ark's Honkai energy reserve will also be exhausted by then. The remaining Honkai energy plus the recovery efficiency can only maintain this communication channel for you."
"We understand," Theresa nodded, and then looked at Kiana and Bianka, who were holding hands tightly and were like wooden sculptures, with a worried expression. "Bronya, they..."
"The Noah's Ark has detected a fluctuation of power on them..." Bronya's answer came quickly. "Don't worry, it's the power of the Key of Genesis."
"That's good..." Theresa breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to the two being affected by the Herrscher, the Key of Genesis was more reassuring.