As dawn approached, two elongated, streaking meteorites flew rapidly one after the other over the city, chasing each other towards the sinister tree that blocked the sunrise.
The Sixth Herrscher felt Kevin's vigorous life force clinging tightly behind her. Just an hour ago, she had been the one relentlessly pursuing Kevin, yet the situation had reversed so quickly.
She could use her power of Creation to heal her wounds now, which would only take a few dozen seconds. But the moment she placed her hand on the wound, a penetrator round would interrupt her intention.
Kevin's difficult reaction speed and observation skills made it impossible for her to spare a hand to heal the wound. Furthermore, a whole squadron of Titans followed behind him. Even if he ran out of penetrator rounds, the Titans' reserves could bombard her for two hours with plenty to spare.
And frustratingly, she couldn't shake them off.
The wound on her neck was the most severe. If Kevin's shot had been slightly more precise, it would have directly blown apart her neck or head. But even without killing her instantly, this wound continued to incessantly drain her vitality.
Fortunately, Lin had left her body. Opportunities to recover were abundant, as long as she could return to the tree she had created…
The Sixth Herrscher's authority was divided into two parts: Decay and Creation. However, when using the power of Creation, she could not command it as easily as the power of Decay. Instead, when Lin was inside the Herrscher Core, his versatility in using the power of Creation was higher than hers. Therefore, she had thought of a method from the very beginning that could be useful even if she couldn't use it skillfully.
Using the crudest method to create a plant with the power of Creation, and then injecting a massive amount of Honkai Energy into it.
In other words, that tree was less of a subordinate she had created and more a manifestation of her power of Creation. Its strength was completely incomparable to other Honkai creatures.
The tree's protection could buy her time to recover. It wouldn't take long, just a few dozen seconds. As long as the tree held them off for a few dozen seconds, she would be able to restore her body to its peak state, and then wipe out these already exhausted and wearied soldiers of the Fire Moth in one go.
"Boom!"
She was tired of hearing the sound of missile launches, but this time it came from the front. After an emergency evasion, another Titan appeared in her path.
It was Ato, who had been waiting there for a long time.
Kevin stopped behind the Sixth Herrscher. The Titans lined up, cutting off her last escape route.
"…"
"Kevin, do you remember the last time we gathered in the Seventh Squad's meeting room?"
The Sixth Herrscher turned around, covering the wound on her neck, and smiled at Kevin.
"…" Kevin had no intention of talking to her at all. This Herrscher was very good at psychologically attacking her enemies with words. With the complete memories of Seele , it would be easy for her to find some details from a hidden corner, let alone something like a gathering.
He planned to fire a volley of penetrator rounds. Without a Phase Shift Device and unable to precisely control the black mist, the Sixth Herrscher was already cornered.
"Open fire."
He gave the attack command to Prometheus II in an almost imperceptible voice. All the Titans simultaneously opened their missile bays, and penetrator rounds shot out like rain, firing towards the Sixth Herrscher, who was smiling serenely.
"Boom!"
All rounds hit!
Flames and smoke obscured the Sixth Herrscher's figure.
But Kevin's expression grew even gloomier.
After the smoke cleared, a massive, charred tree root was broken in two, and the Sixth Herrscher's unharmed figure appeared behind it.
The tree's roots had, at some point, reached their feet, or perhaps the Sixth Herrscher had deliberately led them into the range covered by the tree.
In just these few seconds, the wound on the Sixth Herrscher's neck was completely healed, and most of her other injuries were gone. Her sinister smiling face was etched into the hearts of the Fire Moth soldiers, along with the shimmering green Honkai energy.
"What I wanted to say is, you looked a little cuter back then. At least not like now, starting to dedicate everything for some illusory ideals, just like that fool," the Sixth Herrscher scrutinized their forces. Dark mist of Decay began to spread around her like a shadow, swallowing the light. "But to me… all humans are the same."
"Boom!"
The speed and range of the black mist far exceeded Kevin's imagination. He only managed to retreat the instant he saw the black mist, and as he withdrew from the range, nine other Titans were engulfed by it. The screams of the soldiers inside lasted for less than half a second before disappearing.
"Come on, come on, come on! Let me kill you with my own hands! Will that human still be able to utter such confident, empty words then!"
The Sixth Herrscher pounced towards Kevin in the air, her scythe transforming into a giant, bloodthirsty claw, tearing through the black mist as if to shred life itself into pieces.
"Bang!"
A penetrator round exploded behind her.
The Sixth Herrscher's body momentarily froze in the air, flung away by the explosion. Kevin seized the opportunity, drew the long blade from his armor, and plunged it into the junction of the Sixth Herrscher's neck. Before he could pull it out and strike a second blow, a thick branch wrapped around him and pulled him far away.
The Sixth Herrscher wordlessly glanced at the blade in her neck. The wound caused by the explosion on her back was bleeding profusely, raw flesh exposed. She gritted her teeth and looked towards the Titan that had attacked her from the ground just now.
This Titan had no cockpit hatch because it had been ripped apart by the Sixth Herrscher earlier. While all the other Titans were flying in the air using their anti-gravity flight devices, this one had found an unexpected route from the ground—an easily overlooked angle—to launch the penetrator round, causing her to completely miss the treacherous missile.
This Titan was the only self-piloted model, and its pilot could always find some tricky angles and methods to narrow the gap between the two sides, achieving the optimal attack distance through detailed analysis of information.
Lin, in the cockpit, paid no more attention to the Sixth Herrscher in the air after launching the penetrator round. His Titan had lost its display screen, so all shooting was done by him adjusting via his helmet and firing by feel. But for Lin, this was not a particularly difficult task.
He used his flamethrower to ignite the branches on the ground. No matter how tough the roots of the sinister tree were, their resilience would decrease the farther they were from the main body. A few small flames might be useless, but the flamethrower was the natural enemy of these insufficiently tough roots. After blasting the roots apart with bullets and then igniting them, they would quickly be reduced to ashes.
And Kevin naturally wouldn't let slip the opportunity Lin had created for him. After being pulled away, he turned and sliced through the root, once again charging towards the Sixth Herrscher, who was attempting to heal her wounds.
"You guys—"
The ferocity in the Sixth Herrscher's eyes was fully exposed. At this moment, as Kevin charged towards her with no regard for his own safety, she finally unleashed the long-suppressed power of Decay on a massive scale, completely disregarding the risk of losing control and the total amount of Honkai energy needed to maintain a normal state. In a radius of a hundred meters and a length of ten kilometers targeting the area in front of her, the power fully erupted the moment Kevin reached her.
However, in the next second, Kevin's calm face, enveloped by the black mist, showed a flicker of movement.
He succeeded.
Half a second later, Kevin, the black mist, and the Sixth Herrscher all vanished from their original positions.