Vrrrrrrrrrr—!!!
The beautiful vampire girl wielded a chainsword nearly as tall as a person—or rather, an oversized, brutally powerful chainsaw—and unleashed a relentless barrage of ferocious attacks against the cook before her.
The blades of the chainsword spun continuously, its built-in engine roaring with tremendous power. Every swing Luna made left terrifying marks wherever her weapon passed.
"Turn to ashes!!"
"Ugh! This strength!"
Mei raised her signature weapon, the Key of Castigation, to block. But a single blow sent her staggering backward several steps, leaving a small crack in her katana.
The two of them certainly weren't pretending to fight. If Mei hadn't blocked that last attack, she probably would have been cut in half.
(I underestimated this newcomer! She's incredibly strong!)
Mei's expression grew considerably more serious. She watched Luna swing her chainsword as effortlessly as a tree branch, recalling the tremendous physical strength behind that last attack in addition to the weapon's destructive power.
Without question, that kind of strength belonged to a MANTIS.
And not just any MANTIS, but one at the Judgment-class or even Vipralopa-class level. Without summoning her Godsbane Suit, Mei realized that she couldn't defeat Luna through physical strength alone.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Bzzzzzzzzzt!!
Their weapons collided again. Unsurprisingly, Mei was forced back several more steps. Both hands gripping her katana had gone slightly numb, while several additional cracks had appeared along the Key of Castigation's blade.
Mei's eye twitched, while Luna's lips curled upward.
"Your weapon is far too thin and fragile. I've barely touched it, and it already looks like it's about to shatter~"
A slender katana against a massive chainsword.
The disadvantages were simply overwhelming.
Not only was the latter heavy and tremendously powerful, but every strike also inflicted cutting damage and caused severe damage to opposing weapons. After just a few exchanges, the Key of Castigation's durability was practically exhausted.
Overall, the Key of Castigation's only advantage as a katana was its speed. However, as a vampire princess, Luna possessed strength comparable to a Vipralopa-class MANTIS.
Although the girl's arms looked slender and soft, they were powerful enough to swing that enormous chainsword at speeds almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.
"Wait. If that were just an ordinary weapon, there's no way it could have cracked the Key of Castigation!"
Mei frowned as she spoke.
After all, this was the signature weapon Honkai had bestowed upon her after she became the Herrscher of Thunder. Even if a massive chainsword naturally countered a katana, a couple of clashes shouldn't have been enough to crack her weapon.
"That's because this weapon was a gift from my Human. It's one of my wedding presents, so of course it isn't ordinary."
Luna proudly showed it off. She looked at the enormous black, red, and gold chainsword with undisguised affection. Its appearance alone perfectly matched her tastes.
More importantly, Elias had constructed it using the Authority of the Herrscher of Truth and a mysterious material that surpassed even soulium.
Put simply, it was made from the same material as Elias' Baldur exoskeleton armor, Bronya's Truth mecha, and Mei's Godsbane Suit.
Of course, that alone wouldn't have given it such tremendous power. However, Elias had always insisted on giving his girls the very best gifts, especially when the recipient was his wife.
So he had also installed an Ether Anchor inside the massive chainsword as its power source, giving it its current destructive capabilities.
If weapons powered by Herrscher Cores were called Divine Keys, then perhaps this enormous chainsword, powered by an Ether Anchor, ought to be called a World Key!!
Its only drawback was that, unlike a Divine Key, it couldn't continuously draw Honkai energy from Imaginary Space through a Herrscher Core. Fortunately, Elias had plenty of Ether Anchors, so he could simply replace one whenever its energy ran out.
Mei: "ELIAS!!"
Seeing the resentful look his cook directed at him, Elias broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't expected that the very first person Luna would fight using this weapon would actually be Mei.
"Human, I'll use the weapon you gave me to personally carve out our happiness! Watch me eliminate everyone who gets in our way!"
Luna looked at Elias with determination and tenderness in her eyes. The next second, she activated her chainsword's hidden function.
The enormous chainsword split in two, transforming from a single weapon into two. Luna then launched another frenzied assault against Mei, apparently intending to finish the fight with a dual-wielding Starburst Stream.
"Raven, I'm borrowing your Seven Thunders of Retribution!"
Gritting her teeth, Mei directly teleported the weapon from her good friend's waist into her own hands, entering dual-wielding mode as well.
"Hey! Raiden Mei, you little...!"
Raven was absolutely furious. How many times had this happened already?! That damned cook had stolen her weapon yet again! If she hadn't known she couldn't beat Mei, she would have taught her a lesson long ago.
Fortunately, with the Seven Thunders of Retribution's assistance, Mei managed to withstand Luna's assault. However, both the Key of Castigation and the Seven Thunders of Retribution sustained varying degrees of damage.
"Hmph. You got lucky this time."
Luna narrowed her eyes and continued approaching Mei with her enormous chainsword, radiating an intimidating presence. As a vampire whose very genes contained an element of madness, her fighting style embodied the aesthetics of violence.
Elias wholeheartedly approved!
However, the Queen of Thunder wasn't someone to be underestimated either.
"I suppose it's about time I got serious."
"What?"
"Thunderous Judgment!"
BOOOOOOOOM—!!
Countless bolts of crimson lightning descended from the heavens. Only now did Mei truly begin demonstrating her power. During their earlier exchanges, she had merely used Honkai energy to enhance her body without activating any of her Authorities.
The women watching widened their eyes. Just as they thought the outcome was decided and Elias would surely intervene, he remained standing exactly where he was, without moving a muscle.
Although watching his beloved girls duel each other couldn't possibly make him happy regardless of who won, and even the slightest bump or bruise on either side would leave him heartbroken for days,
there was an old saying in China that people often became friends after fighting. Sometimes, a good fight really was the fastest way to fit into a new environment. And with Elias present, neither of them could possibly get hurt, no matter how fiercely they fought.
Naturally, the reason he hadn't intervened was that an attack of this level was nowhere near enough to overwhelm Luna.
Sure enough...
When the dust raised by the lightning strikes finally settled,
Luna stood exactly where she had been, completely unharmed.
"What?"
Mei was astonished. How could there be so much smoke without any damage?!
She had clearly felt her lightning strikes connect.
Luna: "Are you finished attacking? Then it's my turn next. You don't have any objections, do you?"
Mei: "I'm not finished, I do have objections, and try this!"
A portal suddenly appeared behind Luna. After sheathing the Key of Castigation, Mei intended to use the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void to launch a surprise attack against the vampire girl from behind.
Of course, she had even more ruthless techniques available, such as directly teleporting a Subspace Lance into Luna's body. But... that would obviously be going too far. After all, they weren't genuine mortal enemies.
However, the very next second, Mei was dumbfounded again.
"What?!!"
Her katana had pierced straight through Luna. Although the blade was sheathed and no longer sharp, the scabbard that emerged from behind had effortlessly penetrated Luna's back and chest.
For anyone else, that would undoubtedly have been a fatal injury. Yet Luna couldn't have cared less. She reached behind herself, seized the Key of Castigation, and yanked it free, taking advantage of Mei's astonishment to snatch her weapon away.
At that moment, everyone understood.
"Interesting. I see. So this is one of a vampire's abilities."
"That's right. You weren't the only one holding back earlier."
As Luna spoke, she demonstrated her ability. Her entire body transformed into crimson mist, allowing her to ignore all physical attacks. Even the lightning strikes from earlier hadn't actually been able to hit her.
This was one of a vampire's abilities, Mistification. By transforming her body into blood-red mist, she could avoid most forms of damage.
With this ability, Mei's katana had effectively been incapable of injuring Luna from the very beginning. All the women present were astonished. None of them had expected the vampire girl to be this powerful.
However...
"Mistification, huh? Heh~ Spatial Confinement."
"Hm? What did you do?!"
Luna was suddenly horrified. She discovered that her Mistification had been forcibly interrupted. An invisible pressure and restrictive force emerged from the surrounding space, compelling her body to remain completely solid.
Mistification was indeed extremely useful, but unfortunately, it was countered by the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void. In truth, the Authority of the Herrscher of Wind was an even stronger counter. After all, a powerful gust could simply blow the mist away.
Mei had grown increasingly proficient in manipulating the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void lately. Within this confined space, Luna couldn't transform into mist, much less move a muscle.
"Now, can you still avoid taking damage?"
Mei's lips curled upward. She refused to believe that she, a mighty dual-Core Herrscher, couldn't defeat a single vampire.
"Your name is Luna, right? I'll admit you're genuinely strong, but there's something we need to make clear... I married Elias before you did. Call me Big Sister right now, and I'll stop."
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Dark clouds churned across the sky, with crimson lightning surging endlessly within them. The overwhelming heavenly might was so tremendous that even Luna, with her current strength, couldn't possibly withstand it if those lightning bolts descended.
However, the vampire girl was equally stubborn.
"You actually expect me to call you Big Sister? Fine, but that depends on whether you have the ability to make me! Mei, was it? I'll admit you're strong, but now... the vampire's banquet begins!"
"Are you hallucinating? It's broad daylight. Where would you even find... What?!"
"Let night descend and the crimson moon appear!"
Luna's eyes glowed an increasingly vivid crimson. As she unleashed her power, the sky, which had been bright with daylight moments earlier, actually transformed into darkness. A blood-red moon appeared overhead.
Beneath the crimson moon's radiance, the vampire princess received an enormous increase in power and directly broke free from her spatial confinement.
As everyone knew, nighttime was a vampire's true domain.
Of course, this wasn't genuine nighttime. No matter how powerful Luna was, she couldn't possibly reverse the movements of the sun and moon. Instead, she had released an enormous quantity of Honkai energy to envelop the surrounding area and create an artificial nighttime battlefield.
There was only one thing to say. Honkai energy really could do anything!
Elysia: "Wow! Miss Luna actually has a battlefield-changing ability? Looks like Mei might be in danger now! If she doesn't use her Godsbane Suit soon, she might lose!"
Raiden Mei: "ELYSIA, SHUT UP!!"
Thinking about it carefully, the entire reason these two had started fighting was that this troublemaking pink elf had stirred things up and deliberately provoked them. The cook immediately made a decision. Tonight, she would prepare an outrageously high-calorie feast.
She would turn Elysia into a fat pink piggy as soon as possible!
Completely unaware that her weight was heading toward disaster, Elysia continued watching the spectacle with delight. Then she pulled out yet another bucket of popcorn and began happily munching away... At this rate, even if Mei didn't prepare a high-calorie feast, she could probably eat herself into becoming a piggy anyway.
"Eli, who do you think is more likely to win?"
"...Do you seriously think I can answer that question?"
Elias rolled his eyes. After ten thousand years apart, had his elf's emotional intelligence actually decreased? How could she dare ask such a deadly question?!
"Uh, fair enough. By the way, aren't you going to stop them?"
"Stop them? They're barely getting started."
Elias shook his head. Although the fight looked incredibly fierce, neither side had actually displayed their true strength yet. After all, both Luna and Mei were genuinely formidable fighters.
Their earlier exchanges had essentially been nothing more than probing attacks.
Besides, he trusted his cook to know her limits. Luna, admittedly, didn't seem to have any, but Elias could help her with that.