In this world where sight was impossible, [Shu] panted slightly, preparing for Shu's defense to collapse so he could stop at the moment of his opponent's greatest weakness and deliver the final blow.
However—
He saw light.
Not the grotesque, fleeting light that shifted madly within the domain.
But a steady, persistent, multi-colored human figure moving with difficulty through the chaotic storm like a lighthouse piercing through a tempest.
It was Shu.
He... hadn't fallen?
[Shu]'s pupils shrank instantly, cold calculation immediately drowned by a wave of disbelief.
This is impossible!
How could he move in this environment?
And even... walking towards me?
[Shu] looked at him incredulously, as if confirming whether the figure was just a hallucination.
It wasn't a hallucination.
[Shu] locked onto that staggering figure.
Then, he saw it.
On the surface of Shu's body, there was no complete multi-colored shield covering him.
Instead, there were countless micro-spots of light flickering at high frequency, vanishing in an instant.
Those tiny spots of light were like colorful bubbles constantly blooming and annihilating around his body.
The appearance of every spot of light precisely met a rule attack striking at Shu.
It might be a suddenly materialized air hammer, a ray with a twisted direction, a local burst of abnormal gravity, or a corrosive field generated out of thin air...
And the properties of the light spots varied.
Some were solid as rock, specifically blocking physical impact.
Some acted like ripples, deflecting energy trajectories.
Some emitted repulsive force to counter abnormal gravity.
Some acted like purification fields, neutralizing corrosive effects...
[Shu]'s brain almost crashed for a second, and then, an answer that made him tremble emerged.
He is calculating.
He is using unbelievable information processing speed to capture, analyze, and even predict the "information signature" of every attack generated by disordered rule transformation that might affect him in this chaotic domain in real-time.
Then, based on this information, he instantly invokes the Authority of [Hope] to "custom-make" a "specific defense" just for that single attack, maintained for only a split second, consuming the absolute minimum energy!
How does he dare?!
The amount of information needed to process this is astronomical!
In this domain, the rule transformations and derivative attacks occurring every nanosecond in every cubic centimeter of space are massive!
Although not all attacks land on him, the magnitude is still enough to instantly overload and burn out any supercomputer!
And Shu... is brute-forcing the calculation with his brain, his soul, and his Herrscher Core!
[Shu] saw blood beginning to seep rapidly from Shu's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth—signs of overusing the Herrscher Core and cerebral overload.
He could see Shu's movements becoming stiff and uncoordinated, even twitching occasionally, due to the distraction of processing massive amounts of information.
But he didn't stop. Those eyes, engraved with divine patterns, stared fixedly at [Shu] through the blood and grime.
Though his steps were staggering, one step after another, slowly but firmly, he shortened the distance between them.
He actually did it... even he himself found it incredible...
He was actually tanking this domain!
Using this method of a madman—"real-time full analysis, instantaneous specific defense"—which was theoretically possible but practically impossible for anyone to achieve!
...Wait...
Theory?!
[Shu] finally realized why the other dared to attempt such a crazy act where the survival probability curve approached zero!
Theoretically—
His probability of success wasn't truly zero!
No... it was more than just theory.
There was also...
Desire?
[Shu] suddenly realized his own predicament—
All his power and spirit were poured into maintaining this Pseudo-White Cell domain.
Once this domain was activated, it was like a derailed, crazy train. It required him to continuously inject energy and commands to "guide" it, or rather, barely maintain it so it wouldn't instantly collapse and backlash on him.
He couldn't actively stop now, nor could he move significantly.
If he forcibly interrupted it, the accumulated chaotic rule energy within the domain would first tear him, the "creator," to shreds.
And attempting to withdraw the domain would also require time and energy for a "safe unload."
Before that could happen, Shu, who had already closed in right before his eyes, would absolutely use his last bit of strength to deal a fatal blow at his most vulnerable moment.
At wit's end.
This cruel phrase surfaced in [Shu]'s mind.
He had calculated almost everything, constructing a theoretically unbreakable killing trap.
But the one thing he hadn't calculated was that another "self" could use this method of burning everything at any cost to forcibly "walk" a path out.
Using desire to generate a seemingly feasible script.
Using theory to fully realize this script—
[Shu] could only watch helplessly.
Watching as blood streamed from Shu's seven orifices, his face twisted by agony and overloaded computation, yet still like a demon crawling out of hell, staggering, finally crossing the last few meters of deathly distance to stand before him.
Shu raised a hand, his movements incredibly stiff from the distraction of calculation.
SHLICK!
The instant Shu raised his hand, at least thirty million rule attacks of different natures simultaneously generated and struck the outside of his arm. Although the vast majority were blocked by those micro-shields, some slipped through the net.
He was distracted by raising his hand!
Shu's raised right hand, from the middle of the forearm down, along with the palm, was instantly annihilated as if wiped away by an invisible eraser, turning into a cloud of void-like colorful dust.
[Shu]'s heart skipped a beat, yet there was no relief in his heart.
Because he saw Shu's face.
On that blood-stained face, there was no shock or pain from losing an arm, only a resolve to burn himself to the absolute limit.
Then—
"Urgh... AAAAAHHHHHH—!!!!!"
A roar, hoarse to the extreme, exploded from Shu's throat. It wasn't a cry of pain, but a final roar twisting all remaining strength, all unwillingness, all obsession into one last force!
From the stump of his shoulder, multi-colored light surged out like an erupting volcano!
Within the light, bone, flesh, nerves, skin... condensed at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Almost in the blink of an eye, a brand-new right hand, burning with blazing flames, clenched into a fist, compressing all of Shu's last remaining power onto the knuckles.
The Authority of [Hope].
The embers of Honkai energy.
Even the sparks of burning life itself.
Then, aiming at [Shu]'s face which was inches away, he used every ounce of his strength.
SMASHED DOWN!