The lingering sound of Otto's "battle start" was still drifting in the sea breeze. Shu stood on the empty beach, with the vast ocean behind him, the anchored "Noah's Ark" in front of him, and all his "covetous" companions on the ship and on the shore.
A very strange sense of isolation instantly enveloped him.
Something's not right.
Very not right.
Why is no one moving? Why are they all looking at me?
Their gazes... were not the vigilance or fighting spirit of looking at a powerful opponent, but more like... waiting for something? Or rather, expecting something?
Shu's brain was working at high speed, trying to understand this opening that was beyond all his expectations.
Illegal teaming? But this is too blatant! Moreover, even Himeko's Titan squad, the two intelligent machines, and even Sussanna, who had almost let it slip... this was almost the sum of all the high-end combat power of the base!
Just to deal with a "Kevin"?
Whose ramen did Kevin touch?
Unless...
An absurd, yet increasingly clear thought in the face of the facts before him, like a bolt of lightning that broke through the fog, struck him.
"Hum—!"
While Shu was still thinking, the fiery red Titan piloted by Himeko was the first to attack. The huge mechanical arm was raised, not firing a solid projectile, but a scorching energy beam.
The beam cut through the sand in front of him, raising a huge sand screen that rushed towards Shu's face.
But if this attack wasn't a signal for the start of the battle, it wouldn't even be enough to attract too much of Shu's attention.
What really lifted Shu's spirits was the scene that was happening on the other side.
"Kiana! Let's go!" Mei's clear voice sounded.
"I can't wait anymore!" A long-suppressed smile finally bloomed on Kiana's face.
She raised her hand and slapped her chest. The "Key of Genesis" burst out with a strange red light. The surging Honkai energy made Kiana's long hair, which was mixed with red strands, fly up.
"Wait—" Shu's heart was in a mess at the beginning of the battle. His eyes were firmly locked on Kiana.
The dazzling red light on Kiana was obviously a sign of high power! Was it really necessary to use such a high power for a selection competition?!
Because his attention was completely attracted by Kiana, who had activated the "Key of Genesis," Shu was unable to dodge the laser fired by Himeko in the first time. So this unexpected attack, like a slap, successfully interrupted Shu's words to stop Kiana.
Of course, this attack was just that. It didn't even break through the first layer of protection that was always on Shu. It just gave him the information that "someone is attacking me," and made him look back in a daze.
And when he saw that Himeko and the entire Titan squad had already dispersed their formation and distanced themselves from him, Shu suddenly realized that something was wrong.
Kiana's speed after activating the "Key of Genesis" was very fast, and the distance between "Noah's Ark" and Shu was very short. In this moment of shock, Kiana had already rushed to Shu's side.
And faster than Kiana was Bianka, who had skipped the "start-up time" and was always in a state of combat!
A punch with a heavy chill ruthlessly smashed towards Shu's head. Although it didn't carry any killing intent, the attack power was real. Facing the threat, Shu still raised his hand, caught Bianka's wrist with a faster speed, and then decisively threw her backwards.
Bianka only felt her body instantly lose control. The moment she reacted to being caught, she had already crashed into the sand a hundred meters away, creating a cloud of dust that rushed to the sky.
The dust in the sky rushed to the highest point before it began to fall. Bianka, who was lying in the center of the sand pit, looked at the sky that was covered by the dust with a dazed expression, her hands neatly placed on her chest.
No... what is this? Is this really the strength of the same dimension?
This feeling of being casually thrown away like a roadside object, the last time Bianka had felt it was when she had just started fighting and was thrown away by Theresa in a circle.
No, this was even more exaggerated than that time!
"So strong..." Just as the dust was about to fall on her face, Bianka sprang up, her dazed gaze turning into a frenzy.
And on Shu's side, after avoiding Bianka's interference, Kiana followed closely and came in front of him, and Shu had already reacted.
Kiana is using the Key of Genesis for the selection competition, right? Then I can just eliminate her directly?
So in this period of time when Kiana was punching at him, Shu looked at Kiana from head to toe as if he were watching a slow-motion movie, and finally locked on the position of the "Thousand Stars of Reason"...
Shu's expression twisted slightly, but he failed to complete the "twisting" action because the actual time was too tight.
Why is it on the soft armor on her chest! And it's even covered by the "Key of Genesis"!
In other words, if he wanted to take off the "Thousand Stars of Reason" to eliminate Kiana, he would have to strip off her armor?!
Forget it, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures!
His accelerated thinking completed a series of thoughts in an instant. Looking at Kiana's fist that was already swinging over, Shu withdrew the hand that had thrown Bianka away, preparing to use the same trick again, to catch Kiana's fist to make it easier for him to...
No!
The force from his palm was completely different from the "limit" that Shu had estimated! The huge force crushed Shu's "just right to not hurt Kiana" defensive preparation, and pushed the back of his hand towards his face at a high speed.
How did Kiana's strength suddenly become so strong? She wasn't this strong when she was fighting the Herrscher of Binding!
Did Kiana break through? Did she improve? Or—
"Hahaha! Shu! This is the brand new realm of 149% 'Evolution'!"
Shu: ?
This voice that exploded in his mind was so shocking that Shu's face was already being deformed by Kiana's punch, but he still couldn't remember to increase his defensive strength.
Evolution?!
No, you f*cking—!!
Bianka, who had jumped up with a carp flip, was just about to return to the battlefield with full fighting spirit when she saw a black shadow "swoosh" and fly over her head, creating an even larger cloud of dust in the distance.
"Hmm?" Bianka's eyes widened. She took a closer look and saw Kiana standing in place, retracting her fist and jumping in excitement.
Who was that that flew out?
Shu, who had just "instantly killed" her, was now "instantly killed" by Kiana. This instantly formed debate box relationship made Bianka's head confused for a moment.
But the next moment, the dust in the distance dispersed, revealing a figure wiping his face.
At a glance, he was unscathed.
Except his face was a little red.
No... Bianka squinted her eyes and looked carefully.
His face was red all the way down to his neck.