Click—
Stepping out of the store, Kevin's foot landed on the ice shards covering the ground, producing a crisp sound. It wasn't just the ground; starting from the doorway in a fan-shaped area, almost the entire street was now covered in a layer of azure-blue frost.
Clearly, even a fool should be able to understand now that no matter how many Rift creatures of that level were stacked together, in Kevin's hands, they would only take a single swing of a baseball bat to deal with.
As the twilight of the previous era's civilization from his original world and the final product of the Chimera Project—Kevin's body perfectly contained the genes of nearly a hundred Emperor-class Honkai Beasts. Sometimes, even he himself might not remember all the abilities he possesses.
His most proficient combat methods remain the ice authority brought by the original Parvati and the Divine Key Judgment of Shamash, created from the core of the Herrscher of Fire.
But this doesn't mean the genes of the remaining Honkai Beasts are useless. Under Dr. Mobius's meticulous adjustments, even though Kevin has never consciously manipulated them, they are constantly exerting their effects.
For example, even in this world devoid of Honkai Energy, his body still slowly converts some other form of energy to replenish itself. However, before understanding its nature and to prevent any accidents, Kevin has never actively controlled this process.
Yet one thing is beyond doubt—even though he has lost the authority of Finality, during his body's continuous adaptation to that new energy, he can clearly feel himself still growing stronger.
Yes, in this passive state, bit by bit, constantly growing stronger.
And when he began to seriously unleash his power, this process not only didn't reach its limit but became even smoother.
"Kosma... is that child helping me?"
Kevin vaguely remembers Dr. Mobius once telling him that the Vishnu genes in his body came from Kosma after his sublimation, not from the original Honkai Beast... there is an immeasurable difference between the two.
Really, I'm starting to sound more and more like a nostalgic old man.
Kevin shook his head to dispel these scattered thoughts, then closed his eyes and carefully sensed the state within this Rift. In just a few seconds, he successfully detected the anomaly.
"The source point distorting this space... is it in that direction?"
The center of the Rift isn't actually difficult to deduce. After all, compared to the originally intact world, the Rift eroding its surface is more like some kind of constantly proliferating cancer cell. You can understand it as being alive, or you can understand it as there must be some core substance sustaining its existence.
So as long as your senses are sharp enough, you can clearly perceive the source point of the Rift's spatial distortion—
Kevin didn't take the convenient and quick route by directly vaulting over the streets. Instead, he unhurriedly followed the empty, silent street step by step toward his destination, fully appreciating the different flavors of this other world.
Even though it has become so dilapidated, the objects occasionally revealed before Kevin's eyes always display many unique characteristics of Belobog.
The only fly in the ointment is that various Rift creatures constantly attempt to block his progress. Unfortunately, these monsters can't even get close to Kevin's side before instantly turning into ice sculptures and quietly shattering, eventually becoming decorations on the ground.
"It's here."
Finally, Kevin stood before a certain crossroads. However, compared to the path he came from, the other three intersections were all buried under collapsed ruins... Clearly, this was the edge of the Rift, or rather, its deepest part.
Different from those Rift creatures with various forms before, what ultimately appeared before Kevin was a special creature highly resembling a humanoid form. Its feet were off the ground, eerily floating in mid-air. Its golden body extended outward like morbid branches. This time, Kevin couldn't immediately determine what kind of energy was sustaining its existence.
Also different from those Rift creatures, it seemed to possess intelligence no less than that of a normal human... As if it had been waiting for Kevin's arrival all along, the moment it saw him, this monster unhesitatingly raised its palm and launched an attack.
"Kneel——Mother——!"
Even though it lacked vocal cords or such organs, an eerie rhythm strangely emanated from its torso. Simultaneously, immense energy vibrating space accompanied golden ripples as it violently surged toward Kevin's surroundings.
Boom————!
The tall buildings on both sides of the street were instantly blasted into collapse by terrifying spatial fluctuations, dust filling the entire street... Yet, Kevin at the very center of the attack remained completely unscathed, not even bothering to blink an extra time.
"This is... Imaginary energy...?"
Only after personally feeling the attack pass through him did Kevin suddenly realize the nature of this energy—in his original world, this energy could only be obtained by contacting the Imaginary Tree through the Sea of Quanta or by borrowing [Finality]. Yet here it was, manifesting naturally on this unknown creature before him.
As if... this was an innate ability it possessed?
Does this world also have an Imaginary Tree? Or rather, is this world actually the true Imaginary Tree beyond the branches that was blocked by [the Cocoon of Finality]?
Then, does the Stellaron possess the ability to borrow Imaginary energy, or can spaces distorted by Rifts connect to another world beyond layers of veils?
After finding the source, Kevin's doubts weren't resolved; instead, more questions kept surfacing in his mind, which inevitably made him feel somewhat troubled.
Often times, he really isn't suited to be a seeker of knowledge.
Moreover, clearly the monster before him wouldn't give him so much time to think. Upon realizing its attack was ineffective, it immediately began gathering immense Imaginary energy before itself once more—
Fundamentally speaking, the Imaginary Tree is the essence that gave birth to countless worlds. So describing Imaginary energy as a force capable of arbitrarily rewriting reality is not an exaggeration at all.
To put it simply: if this creature could truly master this power skillfully, then blasting half a commercial street into nothingness would be no problem at all.
But Kevin obviously wouldn't give it that chance.
"Pity. It seems to be a completely non-negotiable entity."
Bang————!
Before this monster could fully accumulate energy in its hands, bone-chilling cold erupted first, sculpting the entire crossroads into a perfect expanse of ice crystals that glittered under the starlight's afterglow.
As for that unknown monster, after Kevin extracted the core attached within its torso, it dissolved into pure energy and returned to an unknown space.
Thump—thump—
Even after losing its vessel and being held in Kevin's ice-crystal-covered palm, this core source causing Rift distortion still slowly pulsated like a living heart while continuously urging this space to further twist and expand.
Just like cancer...
(There is an illustration here; viewable after updating to a newer version.)