But to think they could take him down with just two "Space-Time Rippers (Guardians)" was looking down on Honkai itself a little too much!
The attacking Ranger-class beasts were fast.
But the [Dash] they used was utterly devoid of aesthetic appeal, inferior even to Little Purple's. A charge with such a wide arc trying to hit him was a complete fantasy.
Lu Xing had already been tricked once.
To prevent any follow-up ambushes from the enemy, Lu Xing wasn't planning on playing hide-and-seek with these Ranger-class beasts; he was going to eliminate these two right here!
"Boom!"
Wings spread!
The sudden expansion of his aerodynamic surfaces caused Lu Xing's speed to plummet. The two Ranger-class beasts, which had been aiming for Lu Xing's gliding trajectory, now rushed towards each other from opposite converging paths!
"Crrackle!"
Purple electric light flashed through the air.
The Ranger-class beasts were remarkably agile in the air. In the final moment before they were about to collide, their nearly overlapping bodies abruptly veered apart at a distance of less than 20 centimeters!
The intense air currents triggered a crackling burst of static electricity.
Lu Xing wouldn't give them a chance to "escape." From the rear of his reversed wings, surging Honkai energy jetted out, a full-moon-like radiance scattering into myriad lights—
[Spinning Slash]!
"Zzzhwingg!"
Iron trees bloomed with silver flowers, overflowing with radiant light!
"Boom!!"
The difference in their levels wasn't significant.
But Lu Xing's physical strength far surpassed that of the two Ranger-class beasts.
In just an instant, the "Space-Time Ripper" and "Space-Time Guardian" were directly torn to shreds by the circular saw that was [Spinning Slash].
Just as the energy from their disintegrated Honkai Cores began to surge towards Lu Xing—
"Swoooosh!!"
It was a trap!
The Ranger-class beasts were merely bait to lure Lu Xing into stopping!
A screech far exceeding any previous one, exceptionally piercing, sounded from the distance. In the blink of an eye, it had already closed to less than 50 meters from Lu Xing!
Ice flowers filled the sky, a silver moon cleansed the air.
"[Honkai Lance Projection]!?"
Facing the rapidly approaching thrown lance.
Lu Xing's first reaction was that he had encountered a Floater-class Honkai Beast.
But that wasn't the case—the lance, which in an instant caused the entire area's temperature to plummet by over ten degrees, freezing the air and dust along its path into fine snow, was a completely solid weapon!
Lu Xing's body was still unable to move.
The "jet propulsion" he had just used in conjunction with [Spinning Slash] had caused the tips of his wings to "melt" slightly. A move that could instantly eliminate two enemies couldn't possibly come without a cost. His wings had suffered a degree of twisting and deformation, rendering Lu Xing temporarily unable to use such high-output "jet propulsion" again.
At the same time.
The cold wave brought by the ultra-low temperature, though not enough to completely freeze Lu Xing, greatly slowed his movements.
Even the circulation of his Honkai energy was somewhat affected.
Under such circumstances, he was almost bound to take this hit—
"Boom!!"
————
"Thwump!"
Lu Xing crashed to the ground, spinning like a top.
Both the pain he endured and the manner of his crash felt vaguely familiar—which meant, this level of attack was far from enough to defeat him.
The lance hadn't killed him.
At the last moment, Lu Xing had mobilized all his Honkai energy to unleash the skill [Space-Time Rend].
Because his energy circulation was affected, and his current Honkai energy reserves weren't abundant, Lu Xing's [Space-Time Rend] this time didn't completely avoid the attack; instead, only half of his body had managed to slip into the World Crevice.
This state...
"Phasing" would be a more appropriate description.
Although it wasn't like the complete version of [Space-Time Rend], which had a near-invincible instantaneous effect, it greatly mitigated the damage he received.
Thanks to this.
Lu Xing successfully survived.
And incidentally, he also had the chance to see just what kind of creature had launched that previous attack—
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
In the middle of the abandoned highway.
A dark silver Honkai Beast advanced with slow, deliberate steps.
Black and white armor interlocked across its body like jagged teeth. Condensed ice crystals and swirling snowflakes revolved slowly around the newcomer like sprites.
"This thing..."
It hadn't deviated from the Knight-class category.
But just looking at its size, it was already several times larger than an ordinary Knight-class.
Race: Leader Absolute Zero Knight Captain (Knight-class Variant)
Level: 35
Other: Unknown
Beyond that.
Lu Xing didn't know which System function was at play, but below the information obtained from [Appraisal], he saw another line of text—
Annotation: [Leader] is a special Honkai Beast individual similar to [Variant]. This type of Honkai Beast possesses the special ability to "command any type of unaligned Honkai Beast whose level is lower than its own."
"I see."
This simple annotation directly told Lu Xing the reason why the previous series of Honkai Beasts could be commanded by it.
And also...
The reality that he absolutely couldn't defeat this opponent at his current stage.
————
Even if the opponent's name didn't have the "affix" [Leader].
Just "Absolute Zero Knight Captain" alone was not something Lu Xing could handle—this type of Knight-class stood at the apex of all Knight-class Honkai Beasts.
The attribute bonuses it received were definitely no less than those of a "Great Universe."
As things stood.
He could only resort to the strongest tactic among the Thirty-Six Stratagems!
The opponent was still some distance from Lu Xing. Before that "domain," capable of freezing the city solid, enveloped him, he had to quickly find a way to escape.
However.
The words "escape" were easy to say, but actually doing it was quite troublesome.
The sky was already blockaded by Rotor-class beasts, countless suicidal Ranger-class beasts lurked in the shadows, and the ground was completely the opponent's domain—
Though not entirely without options, he was close to it.
Most importantly, Lu Xing wasn't in good condition.
His Honkai energy reserves were about one-third remaining—barely enough—but while the wound from the Knight Captain's piercing blow hadn't caused physical damage, the chilling cold that had penetrated his body was continuously eroding and freezing him.
The cold further slowed Lu Xing's speed, making escape even more difficult.
If he wanted to make his getaway smoother...
"Swoooosh!!"
Humans were still reliable!
The series of events had exceeded Lu Xing's expectations.
But, since the BOSS, the "Absolute Zero Knight Captain," had already appeared, it was unlikely the humans hadn't received any intelligence.
On a battlefield of life and death.
No one would easily pass up any opportunity to decapitate the enemy's "commander"!
There was no time to count.
A sky full of missiles descended diagonally from the other end of the sky. Countless black dots, trailing flames, rapidly enlarged, set to land on his current position in less than 4 seconds.
Lu Xing was no ally.
The saturation attack launched by the human side clearly encompassed all Honkai Beasts present.
The next moment, unending explosions rocketed skyward!
"BOOOOM!!!"