The cannons of the four warships roared across the sky. Electromagnetically accelerated heavy shells, traveling at Mach 30, tore through Chiyou's gray carapace. Delayed-detonation fuses detonated violently after embedding themselves in the beast's flesh.
The colossal beast roared in agony, struggling to crawl toward Canghai City. From the high-altitude warships, the coastline of the distant city was now clearly visible.
"Core 2 silenced! Confirmed loss of mobility in Chiyou's right forelimb!"
"Core 3 silenced! Confirmed loss of mobility in Chiyou's left hindlimb!"
"Core 4 destroyed! Confirmed Judgment-class Honkai Beast Chiyou has completely lost all mobility."
At this point, Chiyou was only fifteen minutes away from landing in Canghai City.
Whew—
Everyone aboard the warships breathed a sigh of relief as they watched Chiyou thrash helplessly in the sea, its roars growing weaker. They then stared at the location of the final core, uncertain how to proceed.
"We can't reach Kiana and Himeko. According to Fu Hua, they should have headed to the Core Area after being separated by the mechanisms."
"We're stumped on how to get the last Core... Even with our heaviest firepower, we can't blast through that mountain anytime soon, and we don't have enough ammunition for that kind of assault anyway," the weapons officers from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy grumbled over the comms.
Unlike the four joints they had previously targeted, Chiyou's back was covered in thick layers of sedimentary pitch that had accumulated over millennia of slumber on the seabed, forming a natural armor. Prolonged exposure to Honkai energy had further hardened this armor, giving it a tendency to evolve toward the gray carapace of Honkai Beasts.
The accumulation was most pronounced on its back, which served as the primary depository for debris and organic matter. Describing this Judgment-class Honkai Beast as carrying a mountain on its back wouldn't be an exaggeration.
If Chiyou's movements had caused the outer armor plates on its limbs to fall away, creating opportunities for the airship's heavy cannons, the mountain on its back left the four airships to sigh in awe from a distance.
After all, the idea of stirring a giant vat with a toothpick might be amusing in a fantasy novel, but in reality, it seemed utterly impossible!
"Can this thing even flip itself over?" The Anti-Entropy captain, hijacked by Ninti on his warship, grumbled.
"Captain, do you think this is a pancake that you can just flip? Are you going to toss it in a wok too?!" A crew member on the bridge retorted loudly.
"Well, it's not entirely impossible..." The captain twisted his body, taking the opportunity to brush against Ninti, who was clinging to him, and wore an expression of a man who could die without regrets.
This guy is beyond saving. The Anti-Entropy crew members rolled their eyes at their captain.
"So, we're just gonna stand here and watch? Is this a pangolin or a turtle-king?" Another warship captain stared at Chiyou's mountain-thick gray carapace, his face twisted like he'd just eaten shit.
"Wait, you guys mentioned tossing it in a wok? I've got it!" Kyuusyou, who had been listening to the ridiculous banter between the warships, seemed to have an epiphany.
"Everyone, split the four warships into two groups. Fly to either side of Chiyou and lower your altitude. Bombard its exposed underbelly!"
"Its legs are broken, but its spine isn't. Let's hurt it enough to make it twist around and shake off some of that garbage piled on its back—wouldn't that be perfect?"
"Quick, quick, quick! Just do it!" Kyuusyou barked into the channel.
Pfft—are we really going to flip the wok?! I was just joking! The Captain from earlier spat out the water he had just swallowed.
"Just answer me: are you flipping it or not?!"
"Of course I'm flipping it! Flipping the wok of a Judgment-class Honkai Beast? We can brag about this for the rest of our lives!"
"Charge! Charge! Charge!" Hearing that they could actually flip the Judgment-class ladle, the crew erupted in excitement.
"Hey, Kyuusyou, you're a goddamn genius!" Theresa exclaimed, slamming her fist on the bridge railing.
"Alright! Everyone, execute the plan as briefed! Begin the assault from both flanks!"
The command crackled through the communication channels. The four warships began their descent, and the dormant cannons roared back to life.
Just as Kyuusyou had predicted, Chiyou writhed in agony after the relentless bombardment of its relatively soft underbelly, swaying wildly from side to side.
As the behemoth thrashed violently, the external carapace on its back began to crumble, chunks of gray carapace constantly breaking off and plummeting from its body.
Effective! Seeing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and they redoubled their efforts, hammering the creature's flanks with renewed fury.
-
"Class Monitor, are you alright?" Snow asked with concern, watching Fu Hua nimbly dodge falling debris through the communicator.
"I'm fine. What's happening out there, Snow?" Fu Hua dodged another falling boulder and asked the golden-haired Valkyrie aboard the warship.
"We're... uh... stir-frying! No, wait, we're attacking its flank to provoke it into struggling—
Its natural armor, accumulated over millennia on its back, is virtually impervious to direct artillery fire. By forcing it to thrash and roll, we're trying to dislodge as much of that external armor as possible."
Snow briefly explained the situation to Fu Hua. The gray-haired Valkyrie, while constantly evading falling rocks, signaled her understanding.
"I see. I'm currently trying to find a way around to reach the Nine Realms' Core Area and rendezvous with Himeko and the others. Once the armor on Chiyou's back is dislodged, notify me, and I'll guide you to its final Core."
"Understood. Good luck, Class Monitor Fu Hua."
Ignoring the Anti-Entropy members beside her, who had already forgotten their earlier fear and were now flipping woks with wild abandon, Snow nodded to Fu Hua.
"So, we're just waiting for the Valkyrie to rendezvous with your friend?" Cocolia asked irritably, standing nearby.
"Not quite, Lady Cocolia... We can still flip woks." A playful smile tugged at Snow's lips as she watched the Judgment-class Honkai Beast Chiyou, being tossed around like a pancake by the main cannons of four aerial warships below.
"You...!"
"I know who you are, Anti-Entropy Executor Cocolia... Bronya Zaychik is your adopted daughter, correct?" Snow's blue eyes swept over the woman beside her with detached indifference.
"What do you want—?!" Cocolia tensed, watching the Valkyrie before her.
"Relax. I merely wish to inform you that Bronya has been doing well recently. Though it seems she doesn't want to see you."
"Whenever her mother is mentioned, she always falls silent—" Snow scrutinized Cocolia.
"...You didn't mistreat her?"
"Why would we mistreat a 14-year-old girl who lost her family in the Second Eruption?" the golden-haired Valkyrie retorted with a sneer. "But you, Lady Cocolia, was the X-10 Experiment fun—for—you?"
"What?! How could you possibly—" Cocolia's tense, hurried question was cut off by Snow's eerie smile.
"I know everything—
Lady Cocolia, we'll meet again soon... very soon... very soon—" The Valkyrie performed a noble-style curtsy toward herself, her smile unwavering, before returning to her usual posture.
"You..."
"The sediment on the target's back has been reduced to an acceptable level! The battleship is ascending again, preparing for bombardment! Requesting beacon guidance!" The intelligence officer below the bridge deck interrupted Cocolia's question.
"Fu Hua, we are fully prepared." Ignoring Cocolia, Snow opened a communication channel to Fu Hua, who was inside Chiyou.
"Understood. I'll provide guidance for you all once I regroup with Himeko and the others."
"Now... let time provide the answer." Snow, well aware of what would unfold within the Nine Realms, established communication with Theresa.
"Headmaster Theresa, have the Medical Department prepare. It's about to end."