A cold wave swept across the sea's surface.
Ice crystals bound the ships' hulls to the seawater.
The rapidly spinning propellers grew increasingly heavy.
This was a combination skill from Death Temple—a low-spec version of [Universal Stagnation] and [Fluid Creation]. By leveraging the power of the former and the range of the latter, Death Temple had spread the power of "ice" to its maximum extent.
Even with dual authorities and attribute enhancements, Death Temple's power had only reached the level of an Emperor-class. Against the massive combined fleet, the duration of this [Universal Stagnation] wouldn't be very long, and its power was far from capable of completely "freezing" all covered targets.
A super-massive area-of-effect slow.
This was Death Temple's objective.
As for the unexpected part—the combined fleet had arrived from latitudes that did not exceed the warm temperate zone or the oceanic climate zone. All the sailors were dressed in summer attire: short-sleeved shirts.
That's right.
The casualties inflicted on humans by the ultra-low temperatures were even greater than the impact on the ships themselves. A sudden drop in temperature was far more serious than just catching a cold.
However, none of this was important.
Death Temple's cold wave had already taken effect. Next…
"Woom—!"
Six [Frozen Emperors] slowly rose from the legion—Death Temple had kept two in reserve for contingencies. The four Honkai energy crystals orbiting their bodies lit up with a deep cyan halo as they slowly flew above their prominent shoulder armor and wings.
[Frozen Emperor]
These Honkai Emperors, birthed from the Great Rift and Lu Xing's Honkai energy, were vastly different from Honkai Emperors in the ordinary sense.
They had been "greatly specialized" in the power of their mid-to-long-range skills. Whether it was [Annihilation Light] or [Beam Cutting], their power was several times stronger than that of other Honkai Emperors of the same level. In contrast, the [Magma Emperors] were the complete opposite; they were specialized in close-quarters combat, with the power of their [Cleaving Ring] and [Tracking Light Blade] being so immense as to rival an Emperor-class's normal attack.
Now—
"Whoosh!!"
The human naval forces were locked down. Although the duration was short, it was enough for the [Frozen Emperors] to launch three to four rounds of attacks.
"BOOM!!!"
Six beams of light swept through the fleet.
The alloy hulls, made brittle by the cold wave, were as fragile as white silk mourning clothes before the [Annihilation Light], easily torn to shreds by the rays.
And then…
Over twelve ships, large and small, exploded violently!
The skill power of the [Frozen Emperors] wasn't exceptionally strong on its own, but this attack had virtually no cooldown for them. As high-concentration Honkai energy gathered once more—
"Whoosh!!"
"BOOM!!!"
Explosions roared continuously throughout the fleet.
And at the same time—
"BOOM!!!!"
An even more massive explosion suddenly thundered in front of the Honkai legion!
The ice path, formed beneath their feet by the entire legion collectively releasing [Aura Domain · Ice], was actually blasted apart, collapsing nearly a tenth of its area!
Over thirty [Frozen Chariot Beasts] instantly plunged into the water!
Exaggerated, spiderweb-like cracks spread densely over nearly a quarter of the remaining ice surface!
————
"This is truly…"
"An unexpected surprise."
The weapons used by humanity had indeed exceeded Death Temple's estimations.
Similar to the anti-air nuclear missiles used by the Soviet Army, the attack that had just struck the legion's "foundation" was also from the Soviet side—the Black Sea Fleet's "Poseidon" class large nuclear torpedoes. This type of nuclear torpedo was equipped with a "W-44" nuclear warhead, capable of unleashing an explosive yield equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT, far surpassing all conventional 533mm torpedoes currently in naval service.
The most crucial point was this:
Although only one "Poseidon" nuclear torpedo had struck just now, it had not been detected in advance by any Honkai Beast. This meant…
This torpedo utilized experimental technology capable of shielding it from perception.
Considering the human fleet had closed the distance to 12 nautical miles, it was evident that this new technology's effective duration (or operational time) had significant limitations—human torpedoes had a maximum range capable of hitting targets up to 40 nautical miles away. Moreover, it was important to note that 12 nautical miles was not outside the blast radius of a nuclear explosion. For nuclear weapons, where nearly 50% of their destructive effects (thermal radiation, penetrating nuclear radiation, radioactive contamination) were ineffective against Honkai Beasts, the remaining 50%—the shockwave damage—could still affect the distant combined fleet.
This was a tactic of injuring the enemy by a thousand while suffering eight hundred in losses.
However, for the combined fleet, even if it meant sacrificing every single ship, as long as they could annihilate this Honkai Beast legion, it would absolutely… be worth it.
"BOOM!!!!" xN
————
A moment worth witnessing.
From the moment the Soviet naval and ground forces began using nuclear weapons on a large scale, this ultimate deterrent of human civilization was thoroughly unleashed from Pandora's Box.
If they threw a few more… humanity wouldn't even need Honkai Beasts to destroy themselves. In just half a minute, the Soviet Navy had launched a full thirty "Poseidon" class large nuclear torpedoes.
The vanguard of the combined fleet.
Both the surface vessels responsible for launching the torpedoes, the "Kashin"-class missile destroyers, and the submerged deep-sea vessels, the "Akula"-class tactical nuclear submarines, had already been overturned by the blast's aftermath and sunk to the bottom. Other large warships had also suffered varying degrees of damage: surfaces glowing red-hot, precision instruments failing, and so on.
Direct and indirect personnel losses exceeded ten thousand—those frozen to death by the ultra-low temperatures were a minority, less than a fifth. Blindness and severe burns caused by thermal radiation on exposed and partially exposed targets, followed by viral and bacterial infections due to skin peeling, were the truly fatal elements.
Considering the ocean currents and monsoon activity off the west coast of Mu Continent…
Such remarkable results far exceeded the ocean's capacity for self-purification. Compared to the hydrogen bomb Great Britain used in the North Sea, and the doomsday weapon Shenzhou used on the east coast of Mu Continent, the fission nuclear weapons used by the Soviet Navy this time would have an impact on future generations that could no longer be described by the mere words "profound and far-reaching."
And this—
Meant nothing to humanity at this point.
To be able to live, no matter how, was something to consider only after the Honkai were completely eradicated. With the Flame-Chasers having suffered heavy losses, if Mu Continent also fell to the Honkai Beasts, humanity would lose over 90% of its high-end technology.
Simply put.
They would enter the countdown to extinction.
With this as the premise, no weapon, no matter how deranged, was excessive.
If not for the fact that the 100-megaton yield "Tsar Bomba" might wipe out a third of Mu Continent's surface, and the possibility of it being intercepted by Honkai Beasts (intercontinental ballistic missiles couldn't carry a bomb of such terrifying weight, thus it could only be delivered suicidally by heavy bombers or sky ships), the Soviet Air Force would absolutely not hesitate to use this weapon.