"?"
There was no sensation of a direct hit.
Finality hadn't teleported. To be precise, God Fist Pulverizer had solidified the surrounding space to such a degree that teleportation was fundamentally impossible.
However…
Aside from the first few blows, which felt like mashing pulp, the subsequent impacts were more akin to striking the surface of a drum.
Dong!!
The afterimages of the fists had yet to fade.
Chains of intertwined crimson and platinum-gold burst forth from Finality's position, instantly binding all twelve of Lu Xing's arms!
This was a method of use completely different from the Monarch's.
The Authority of Rock unleashed by Finality further compressed a manufactured gravitational field, forming a shield of ultra-high-density gravity. This type of defense, deployed purely through an advantage in energy, was extremely effective against both energy and matter. Breaking through it would be impossible without launching an attack with an exceptionally high magnitude of Honkai energy.
Simply put, it was a pure display of overwhelming power.
And just as Finality rapidly reformed her body from the Monarch's sneak attack, the Authority of Binding took the opportunity to launch its own surprise assault. The effective range of these binding chains was smaller than that of the Divine Grace Barrier, but their effect far surpassed that of the Herrscher of Binding… they even affected the flow of Imaginary energy.
The moment the chains bound the Monarch's arms, Lu Xing could clearly feel the circulation of his Imaginary energy stagnate.
The direct result was that the speed and power of his punches dropped by more than thirty percent!
Not only that, but as the binding chains coiled around his arms, Finality dispersed the gravity field before her. Crimson lightning, existing only within the mental world, surged madly toward the Monarch, using the chains as a conduit!
This was a combination of the Authority of Domination and the Authority of Erosion!
In that brief instant, Lu Xing immediately understood Finality's intent.
Setting aside her level of comprehension, the "grade" of the Authorities wielded by the Herrscher of Finality was undoubtedly of the highest caliber. The two Authorities, manifested as lightning, possessed the effects of "seizing authority" and "eroding the mind," respectively!
That's right.
Taking advantage of the opportunity for "physical contact," Finality intended to directly plunder Lu Xing's Authorities and even planned to subject the Monarch to "mental control"!
Or perhaps… both were merely bait, designed to lure Lu Xing into mobilizing his own Authorities!
The threat of the two Authorities could not be ignored. The power flowing continuously along the binding chains forced Lu Xing to concentrate his efforts on resisting their influence.
Seizing this chance…
Tzzzzla!!
A violent magnetic field coalesced around the God Fist Pulverizer.
The arms the Monarch had proactively discarded (constructs of his Authority)—while Lu Xing was redirecting his power to defend his main body from the erosion—were directly commandeered by Finality and turned into a weapon!
The God Fist Pulverizer, now hyper-accelerated by the magnetic field, reversed its direction and shot toward the frozen Lu Xing—
BANG!!!
---o---
In the nick of time, a magnificent golden domain flashed into existence and vanished just as quickly.
The Monarch had deployed the Divine Grace Barrier, forcibly dispersing all of Finality's attacks.
The Authority of Binding, originating from Odin, had helped Lu Xing withstand the Herrscher of Finality's killing blow unscathed.
This unique "energy-stripping" attribute was a power that did not exist in this civilization, a concept of Authority that was beyond Finality's comprehension.
If not for that, the wave of Honkai energy Finality had just expended would have been more than enough to instantly overwhelm the Divine Grace Barrier.
Indeed.
The previous attack had seemed simple, yet it had consumed a full thirty percent of Finality's current energy reserves. In other words, Finality's remaining Honkai energy level… was now only double that of the Monarch.
At the same time, Finality had also revealed her own limit.
Binding, Domination, Erosion, Thunder—the fact that she had to proactively dissipate the gravity field protecting her showed that the maximum number of Authorities Finality could mobilize simultaneously was four.
The entire "probing" process had gone extremely smoothly.
The Monarch's energy consumption, thanks to the stripping effect of the Divine Grace Barrier, had returned to its peak. The initial 10-to-1 disparity had been forcefully narrowed down to 2-to-1.
The only price Lu Xing paid was the temporary inability to use the Authority of Binding—converting the energy stripped by the Divine Grace Barrier into usable Imaginary energy required a certain amount of time and effort to maintain.
However, a situation like this could only be considered a minor victory.
The Monarch had also revealed a considerable number of his own trump cards. In the battle to come, the only power he possessed that Finality did not was the Authority of Origin.
Meanwhile, the power Finality possessed that he could not touch was—
Voom!!
The situation did not permit excessive contemplation.
The fires of war had paused for but a moment. The battle, which had lasted less than five seconds since it began, was only just getting started.
An even more ferocious electrical light gathered on Finality's outstretched arm.
The Authority of Flame and the Authority of Death.
Two forces of destruction, pure in their own right yet operating on different levels, were condensed by the Authority of Reason into a solid, coin-shaped object just before the tip of Finality's bent thumb.
And then—
A torrent of brilliant light exploded across the interstellar space!
Simultaneously, the golden flames burning fiercely upon the Monarch's Divine Ring also erupted into a dazzling pillar of light!
Thunderclap Cannon vs. Divine Flame Cannon!
A radiance surpassing that of a star burst forth around the planet!
"———"
BOOM!!!!!!
---o---
"Huu."
The stellar wind scattered the last vestiges of Aries.
Kevin had reverted from his Karma-Demon Chimera Collapsed State, returning to his human form. Before Xiao Zi could reconstruct his clothes with the Authority of Reason, the dense, crystalline structures covering his body, along with his faintly visible, semi-transparent internal organs, made it clear that the current Kevin… was perhaps closer to the word "monster" than he was to a Honkai Beast.
Swoosh!
The thick tome in Xiao Zi's hand dissipated, and the Authority of Reason returned to the Monarch's possession.
Before Aries could even display its full strength, it was incinerated into ash by a single slash of Kevin's "Endless Annihilation," leaving not even a Honkai Core behind. Xiao Zi, too, had expended more than half of her strength—Kevin's attack was overwhelmingly powerful, but her job had been to ensure the attack remained completely locked onto Aries and to forcibly break its remaining seals the instant the blow landed.
"Well done, Mr. Kevin."
Xiao Zi was about to step forward to support the swaying Kevin, but he raised a hand to refuse her… even though his pupils, which were fading to a pure white, could barely see a thing.
"Alright."
"Return to Earth. Dr. Mei should be waiting for you."
She cast one last glance at the energy impact on the far side of the planet.
"There's nothing we can do to help here."
"I'm afraid the only thing left for us to do… is pray."