Xiezhi's power was truly beyond expectations. It took the combined efforts of Theresa, Nicholas, and the others to barely hold the almost berserk Xiezhi at bay.
It might be hard for some to imagine, but the difficulty of holding this Honkai beast back was actually greater than killing it.
Whether it was the Judas that utilized a large amount of Honkai technology or the weapons manufactured by Future City, they could all inflict effective damage on Xiezhi, but no one could withstand its charge head-on.
In the sandstorm that enveloped this mutated Honkai Emperor, every grain of sand had the ability to pierce through their bodies. The chaotic flight trajectory was enough to tear anyone who accidentally stepped into its range into pieces.
It was this "keep out" stance that made them fight with some hesitation. They did have effective killing methods, but they would all result in mutual destruction.
And as luck would have it, everyone present had more or less important tasks on their shoulders.
"How did this monster appear in this world?!" Nicholas, who had retreated again, stumbled to a stop, looking at her armor that seemed to have been polished by a sander with annoyance.
The protective equipment on her body was already the heaviest among everyone. But in fact, many grains of sand had already pierced through her armor and embedded themselves in her body. Now, every movement she made was interfered with by the foreign objects in her body.
"This is not a solution if we keep this up," Theresa slammed Judas heavily in front of Nicholas, relying on its huge area to barely block the sandstorm at the edge.
"Of course I know this is not a solution!" Nicholas twisted her body and quickly confirmed how many more injuries she had sustained. "Aren't you an Apocalypse? Hurry up and think of a way!"
"Me?!" Theresa looked back at Nicholas in horror. "My mind is a mess right now too!!"
"I can't think of a way to break the deadlock either..." Salome said with a grim face, raising her hand to pull the two of them back in front of her. "The few of us are already struggling. If someone withdraws at this time, the rest of us won't be able to stop it.
"If the scene turns back into a big melee, we will undoubtedly be at a disadvantage."
"If only we had a helper who could withstand the pressure from the front..." Theresa gritted her teeth and pulled a long spear from Judas, about to continue the fight.
And at this moment, Theresa suddenly felt her heart tighten. She subconsciously turned her head and saw Cecilia falling from the sky.
The breakthrough point had appeared, but it was not on their side.
You can't do anything...
Only this sentence remained in Bianka's mind at this moment. She seemed to have returned to that cold laboratory, back to the gazes of countless "herself."
[You failed to protect Rita, and she was seriously injured.]
[You failed to save Fu Hua, and her life and death are unknown.]
[You failed to protect Aizahár. Such an injury is a torture just to be alive.]
[You failed to help Siegfried, and instead became the biggest culprit for his lost arm.]
[And now... you still failed to protect Cecilia.]
Her mind was sinking, and the malice that had been suppressed for a long time was breeding in her heart.
[Kill her...] a black shadow with an unclear face came up behind Bianka. She gently raised her hand and placed it on Bianka's shoulder, then raised her other hand and pointed at the Herrscher in the air.
[You can't protect everyone, but you can kill her... you can avenge everyone.]
Gu Chu's grave gaze suddenly turned to Bianka. He frowned slightly, then turned his head, a plan already in his mind.
He had to admit that Cecilia had just borne a lot of pressure, and had indeed bought him enough room to display his skills. And in the half a minute that Cecilia was hit by the power, Bianka had seamlessly taken over that pressure.
And now, the moment he saw Bianka's state, he already knew that she had no combat ability.
Why?
He had never met someone who would be distracted in such a battle.
The ever-growing killing intent in Bianka's heart ultimately failed to erupt. Because just as the killing intent solidified, a golden chain with only some black patterns whipped Bianka, and her figure instantly disappeared from here.
Gu Chu saw this chain that had sent Bianka flying clearly, but he did not stop it. He just suddenly showed a look of realization.
Li Sushang wanted to stop it, but she was not capable. The pressure she bore was even greater than that of Cecilia and Bianka combined. The moment Bianka was sent flying, nearly half of the golden chains rushed towards her, as if intending to finish her off with Bianka.
It was the spontaneously acting Xuanyuan Sword, the body of Mò Rǎnxiāng, that had timely protected Bianka, who was a step behind due to her distraction, but it also temporarily removed her from the battlefield.
In an instant, only Gu Chu and the Herrscher were left facing each other.
The Herrscher floated in mid-air, her eyes full of divine patterns looking at Gu Chu.
"Now it's just you," the Herrscher said, and the golden chains behind her vaguely formed a tall human figure. The golden light gave people the feeling of a god descending.
And Gu Chu's tightly furrowed brows had already relaxed.
"After all this time... I finally understand," Gu Chu released the illusory long sword in his hand and let it dissipate in the air. And he himself, as if relaxing, began to move his body and stretch.
"I've always been a little confused about what your power is... it looks like chains, but in fact it doesn't have much attack power and can't cause those terrifying wounds.
"And you're always talking about judgment, and you were even drawn out by such a simple show... Heh, you're really obsessed with this...
"In my original speculation, you could only use all your power through that trial. But now it seems that it's a bit different from what I expected..."
The smile on the Herrscher's lips disappeared. She stared at Gu Chu and slowly raised her hand.
"You could have gone all out against everyone from the beginning, right?" Gu Chu said with a smile, and the Herrscher's expression froze at that moment.
"What you judge is never the so-called [crime], but the [malice] in a person's heart. Selfishness is malice, greed is malice, malice towards others, malice towards oneself, and even malice towards the world are all malice.
"And even our malice towards you... that is the source of your power. Every killing move we think of can make you stronger! And the so-called judgment...
"That's probably just your wishful thinking, right?
"My good friend... the Herrscher of Binding?"
"Shut up!" Thousands of chains instantly rushed towards Gu Chu.
The chains of binding forced Gu Chu back in a state of creeping barrage. Large swathes of sandy land were overturned, and the dust that was raised had even surpassed the sandstorm raised by Xiezhi.
"You're in a hurry... what, is it so hard for you to accept that you're not ordained by heaven?" Gu Chu pursed his lips. His way of speaking actually had a bit of a certain blond-haired bishop's shadow.
"This world is full of such filth. Since I have the ability, then I am ordained by heaven!" Bindings roared, and her hand shot up. A reverse creeping barrage shot up from behind Gu Chu and, together with the approaching chains in front, trapped Gu Chu in the middle.
Gu Chu showed a ghostly figure and began to quickly shuttle through the dense chains. At the same time, his mouth cannon did not stop.
"This is why I hate you... relying on the power you got for no reason, having a strange background, and relying on these inexplicable things to shamelessly say that you will bear everything..."
Gu Chu successfully silenced himself. The next moment, he suddenly stopped dodging and raised his hand to instantly assume a stance.
Heaven Splitting—!
The only move that Fu Hua had used to injure him had saved him at this moment. And he stood in the shattered fragments, his head raised in anger, looking at the Herrscher in the sky.
"All of you who claim to be ordained by heaven... get ready to be pulled down from your high horses!!"
He raised his hand and pressed it on his chest. The Honkai energy that had been dormant in his body for a long time finally began to flow in his body, pushing the power to his whole body.
He had already made up his mind. Even if he had to use that ability, he would kill this person here!
A soaring sharp intent erupted at this moment. The sky and the earth changed color at this moment. The clear blue sky was covered with dark clouds at some point, like a curtain covering the things in the sky.
It was as if all things in the world were speaking at this moment, jointly issuing a tender and firm childish voice.
"God—"
In this instant, the scene on the field turned into a three-way standoff.
The aura of Gu Chu, who was rapidly rising, was quickly approaching the Herrscher in the sky. And the giant sword in the sky, which had only revealed its tip, had forcibly split open the domains of the two and created a world of its own.
The Herrscher faced the pressure from both sides alone. She just raised her hand, and the golden chains behind her gradually disintegrated into large particles of light and began to condense towards the three figures.
The dark clouds in the sky began to twist, as if they were about to shatter in the next moment.
...
Suddenly, all three of them raised their heads and looked at the sky in disbelief.
A crack suddenly appeared in the high sky, like a conspicuous crack on a huge piece of glass. It appeared so abruptly that no one present had been able to predict its appearance in advance.
It seemed that something had hit the crack from behind it again, causing the crack to instantly spread into a large spider web.
The next moment, the sky seemed to really shatter, revealing a huge hole, dark and leading to nowhere.
But what was more eye-catching was not the background like the night sky, but the ancient mast that protruded from the hole.
An old sailing ship was floating out of the hole with a strange feeling, and it was in the air! It gave everyone present an unreal and dreamlike feeling.
Gu Chu suddenly shook his head, and his drowsy head instantly cleared.
This was the aura of power!
And there was more than one.
The ship itself had the aura of power, and there were several different auras of power on the ship!! His dizziness just now was caused by one of the powers.
Although it was easily shattered by him, it was a genuine power!
Not just him, Bindings had also sensed that fragile power. She stared at the sailing ship floating in the sky, and the three human figures around her gradually took shape.
Suddenly, a dazzling stream of light flashed in her vision.
That was...
The Herrscher's attention was instantly focused on the stream of light that was falling towards her. And at this moment, along with the stream of light came an overwhelming and vast pressure.
No exaggeration!
The Herrscher was suddenly smashed to the ground, and the area of several thousand meters around her instantly sank by several meters. Even the few human figures that had not yet formed could not escape their fate!
And the stream of light had not even arrived!
At the same time, the Herrscher also felt an explosion of her power... it was an extremely dense killing intent!! It was contained in the dazzling stream of light!
That was an attack! And it was only at this moment that the Herrscher suddenly realized this... what had interfered with her?!
The Herrscher gritted her teeth and could only barely turn over in the sand.
The power washed over her body before she found the faint white light.
It was also pitifully fragile, but it could still take effect.
It's here! The stream of light was already close at hand!
Two of the three unformed figures suddenly collapsed, and the remaining one directly skipped the step of condensing and turned into a paladin in heavy armor, holding a giant shield.
The paladin held up the giant shield that was several meters high with one hand and firmly protected the Herrscher under it.
The moment the stream of light came into contact with the giant shield, everyone only felt that they had lost their color vision in an instant.
Only the point of contact was brilliant.
The sound of the giant shield shattering made a hint of confusion appear on the Herrscher's face. The next moment, the paladin suddenly reached out and grabbed the Herrscher, and threw her out with a backhand.
Just as the Herrscher's figure left, the stream of light shattered the giant shield and mercilessly shattered the paladin.
When the paladin exploded, it also contributed a huge circular shockwave that pushed the Herrscher's figure far away. After rolling on the ground for a few circles, she spat out a mouthful of blood in a pathetic state.
And at the original spot, a piece of broken, sparkling land appeared in the desert. It was a natural miracle created by the instantaneous heavy pressure.
The dazzling brilliance gave that small area a dreamlike feeling. A scepter that could be called "brilliant" was slightly tilted and inserted there.
A figure that seemed to be burning landed on top of the scepter, and a pair of eyes sparkling with various colors stared at the Herrscher indifferently.
"Leave the rest to me."
He said, and raised his hand, and held the sunlight that was obscured by the dark clouds.
"Shu!"