The pig-shaped Honkai Beast, covered in black armor, leaped into the air with a jump power that defied its massive size. The destructive force it would unleash if it slammed onto the ground was horrifying to imagine.
The area around Kevin was entirely composed of crushed wreckage. He could no longer find a place to dodge the impact and could only retreat as far as possible to brace for the crash.
"Bang!"
Kevin bent his knees and held his arms in front of him. Broken bricks and tiles rained down on him like cannonballs.
He couldn't stall any longer. The subjugation of the Fifth Herrscher required their support. He had to finish this quickly.
"Captain, the analysis is complete. The Emperor-class Honkai Beast's weak point is on the lower abdomen near the tail! The skin there is relatively soft and is used to store Honkai energy, but it still requires a considerable amount of external force to pierce the surface."
The abdomen?
The descending Emperor-class Honkai Beast arched its thick, stout midsection. Its two long tusks were poised to strike. Kevin clearly saw the wrinkled skin on its abdomen.
It did look relatively softer than its other parts, but the Emperor-class Honkai Beast hadn't exposed its lower abdomen until now, at most raising its upper jaw to smash. Directly attacking that position would require getting up close.
However, this Emperor-class Honkai Beast was clearly different from those Honkai Beasts specializing in abilities. Every movement was earth-shattering. If he got too close, even a brush against one of its four feet would result in a severe injury.
Kevin stared at the charging Emperor-class Honkai Beast, lowering his gun and drawing his dagger, "I'll do it."
He was the one in the squad responsible for head-on engagement, and based on skill, only he could engage in close combat with an Emperor-class Honkai Beast without getting injured.
No one in Squad One objected. Kevin required their obedience, so he had established a firm team ethos early on to prevent accidents caused by insubordination during critical moments.
The only exception was Kosma. Most of the time, Kosma would obey Kevin's orders like everyone else. He could even be described as Kevin's devoted follower, absolutely obedient. But Kosma occasionally had different views than Kevin, and he was particularly stubborn about those differences.
Other than that, Kevin was quite satisfied with the squad's discipline.
The Emperor-class Honkai Beast was not fast, but its sheer presence felt like a moving mountain rolling toward Kevin.
"Rumble!"
In an instant, it was upon him. The two massive tusks, used as weapons, slammed down towards Kevin. He used this moment to run quickly, then slid to avoid the attack, getting beneath the Emperor-class Honkai Beast. With a dagger in hand, he was ready to cut the skin.
But the intelligence of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast was far superior to that of ordinary Honkai Beasts.
"Howl!"
The black pig immediately jumped up from its spot. Kevin watched in astonishment as his target soared into the air, then spread its four legs, attacking Kevin in the most simple and brutal way possible.
It was evident that if Kevin failed to dodge this attack, he would be instantly crushed into a pulp.
"Boom!"
The violent impact blew away the remnants of the wreckage. The black pig, lying on the ground, shook its head, then slowly stood up.
Kevin was nowhere to be seen beneath it.
"Captain…" The closest team member was speechless, unable to form a complete sentence after witnessing this scene.
Had Kevin been crushed to death?
"Everyone, simultaneous fire in three seconds."
However, a familiar, calm voice emerged from the communicator. The three seconds vanished in a flash, and at the moment they were up, everyone saw a burst of bright light explode from beneath the black pig.
A dagger alone could never kill a thick-skinned Honkai Beast, but making an incision and stuffing a few grenades inside was easy work for Kevin.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The moment the Emperor-class Honkai Beast landed, Kevin planted three compressed bombs inside its body. The recoil and explosive force were enough to flip it over, ripping open its entire abdomen.
And at the moment the Emperor-class Honkai Beast shrieked, lost its balance, and flipped over, the others, commanded by Kevin, fired simultaneously, unleashing all their firepower on the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
The person who finished off the dying beast descended from the sky, plunging his dagger into the now-exposed core.
Kevin, his face smeared with blood, stood up from the Emperor-class Honkai Beast's corpse and reported over the communication channel, "This is Squad One, Emperor-class Honkai Beast confirmed dead."
…
"This is Elysia, I have met with Ato's squad."
Elysia was still communicating with Ato in a seemingly serious manner over the communicator even as she walked toward him. However, this wasn't unusual for her, and her playful attitude somewhat alleviated the tense atmosphere.
Elysia was not covered in dirt and dust like the others, as if she had a passive ability that prevented her from getting soiled.
Ato shook his head at Elysia, "The situation is not optimistic."
"Hmm… I can see that." Elysia knew what had happened when she saw Ato's team members looking utterly defeated and their numbers drastically reduced.
"The Fifth Herrscher's coordinates haven't moved again, but we can't approach that location. We can only be airdropped there by transport plane," Ato pointed to the Herrscher's coordinates on the locator, "But judging by the Honkai energy signature, the Herrscher seems to be recovering after overusing her authority…"
The transport plane was fast, but it was extremely dangerous to transport all the squads to the Herrscher's location, hindered by the weather and Honkai Beasts.
And during the time they waited, the Herrscher would continue to recover. The longer they waited, the stronger the Herrscher they would face.
"Also, Lin was shot down," Ato informed Elysia, believing she should know this.
"…" Elysia was stunned for a moment.
"If it weren't for his support, I might have been killed already." Ato thought of the moment Lin was shot down from the air by the Fifth Herrscher and couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.
Had he not directly charged into the orphanage, Ato would have been "sacrificed" for the mission by now.
"But if it weren't for him, we wouldn't have lost so many people, would we?"
A voice rose from among the surviving new recruits.
"If he hadn't said he was coming to support us, we wouldn't have foolishly gone to our deaths. Now it's fine; so many people have died. He deserves to die too."
"…"
Ato's stern gaze swept over everyone, and silence immediately fell.
He knew who said it, but he couldn't pull that person out right now.
Moreover, judging by their eyes, many people agreed with this statement.
If Lin hadn't come, they would have been, at worst, smart deserters, and only Ato would have died.
Now what? Should they run away again after losing so many people and seeing the number and level of Honkai Beasts increase drastically?
So many people had already died. Everyone knew that. Who knew if they would be next?