After a series of malicious, escalating traps, a seemingly "harmless" or even "beneficial" option suddenly appears, which itself is like the sweetest poisoned bait.
The more the opponent acts like it's "merely trapping you," the more Shu suspects whether the crocodile under the calm water surface is opening a giant maw that can swallow "existence" itself.
What if... "death" is not an end for the Imaginary Construct, but the beginning of some "capture" or "transformation"?
What if the "rewind" mechanism itself is what the opponent wants to analyze, or even seize?
Once suspicion takes root, it spreads madly under the shadow of the interlocking schemes.
The Imaginary Construct uses infinite frame-rate attacks as "shackles," not aiming for a kill, but for "attrition" and "imprisonment."
Shu, relying on the recovery power supported by [Hope], barely maintains his existence, neither daring to "die" to break the situation, nor able to actively break free from this entanglement that clings like a maggot on a bone.
It seems like neither side can "do anything" to the other.
But beneath the scales of the stalemate, fuel is burning silently.
[Hope] is finite.
And the Imaginary Construct's attacks seem tireless, its energy inexhaustible.
This is no longer a combat stalemate.
The Imaginary Construct is like the most skilled hunter, not in a hurry to kill with one blow, but quietly and continuously letting him bleed.
And Shu, bound by his own caution and fear of the unknown, can only watch as his "lifeline" slowly shortens.
Until [Hope] burns out, recovery stops, and then, under the still frame-filling violent attacks, he loses all ability to resist once more.
The stalemate solidifies in attrition, every second like burning the ashes of [Hope].
In this war of attrition that seems to last until the end of time—
Swish.
A sound of something cutting through the air, so faint it was almost ignored.
It wasn't an energy arrow, not a Honkai energy impact, not even a high-speed fragment.
It was just a stone.
An ordinary stone, about the size of a fist, still stained with some ice chips and dirt.
It drew a standard parabola so simple it was laughable, from an angle that theoretically should never have been able to penetrate the "absolute storm" formed by the Imaginary Construct's ultra-high frame-rate attacks...
And slowly floated in.
Then.
Pak.
A crisp, somewhat cute light sound.
The stone landed solidly on the side of the Imaginary Construct's torso.
Time seemed to be paused at this moment.
The Imaginary Construct's eternally uniform attacks that filled every frame... got stuck.
Its underlying protocol encountered an incomprehensible "abnormal input." The clock face without features flickered rapidly, as if the system was crazily reporting errors.
And in the next moment, it actually gave up its continuous suppression of Shu!
The black-gold clock blade turned with a "humiliated fury" and slashed a space-tearing black gash toward the distant ice plain where the stone came from!
Shlick—!
Almost simultaneously, a dull, light sound erupted.
Shu's figure was panting slightly behind the Imaginary Construct, and his entire right arm was already buried up to the root in the Imaginary Construct's clock head, having crushed the hour hand at its core.
It was still just an instant.
High-speed combat is like this, relying on grasping every single instant to achieve absolute suppression.
And it can also lose everything due to a single instant of "distraction."
The Imaginary Construct's movements froze completely. Its body, which was like a puzzle pieced together, began to fall apart after losing the support of its core.
Then these scattered fragments began to collapse abruptly.
A terrifying suction force acting on both matter and spirit suddenly erupted, turning into a gray vortex that seemed to swallow all color and sound!
Deathrattle...?!
Is this the fourth link of this "conspiracy"?!
Even though Shu is on the verge of his limit, and the enemy is an "exception"-level Imaginary Construct, there is still a "fourth link" as the final insurance?!
Remember, there is still a planetary-class Honkai Beast in outer space, waiting to strike!
And the enemy of that planetary-class Honkai Beast is just a "Shu" who is also on the verge of disappearing!
The instant Shu sensed that irresistible suction, he didn't even have the thought of pulling back.
He violently mobilized the last of his strength, wanting to force self-destruction and trigger Death Rewind.
But his thoughts were a step too slow, and under the erosion of the gray vortex, they quickly became sluggish.
That vortex not only tore at his body but also dissolved his consciousness, dragging him into a void so cold that even the concept of "existence" became blurred.
The thought of suicide had just arisen, and it had already sunk.
The action of resistance had just begun, and it had already dissipated.
A surging wave of fatigue and powerlessness submerged him more thoroughly than the Imaginary Construct's overclocked attacks.
His body felt like lead, his mind like being trapped in a swamp, his vision dyed gray.
In Shu's remaining consciousness, the last spark of [Hope]'s flame flickered in the gray vortex, about to extinguish.
This time...
It seems...
There really is nothing he can do...
Regret was like the final tide, washing over everything.
This was the last wisp of thought he had left at this moment.
Then, complete darkness enveloped Shu.
Slap—!
A slender hand reached out at the last moment, tightly gripping Shu's wrist, which was being dragged by the vortex and gradually losing its temperature.
Kiana raised her head, her white hair mixed with strands of blood bringing the color of "snow" back to Shu's side.
Blood flowed from her forehead like a stream, her body panting uncontrollably, the school uniform she wore for the performance tattered and torn.
She was like a traveler who had rushed from thousands of miles away, trekking aimlessly in the wasteland, and finally found her destination through "luck."
She looked at Shu's already unfocused pupils, a smile of relief on her battered face.
"Shu, I found you."
Then, the two figures were swallowed by the vortex together, disappearing completely from this world.
...
The reverse-flying meteor traced its final trajectory and finally hovered before that "abyss" that swallowed starlight.
Behind it, the azure Earth rotated slowly, its tranquility revealing a breathtaking fragility.
And just in that instant, "Shu" clearly felt his other self disappear, as if forcibly dragged into a deeper layer of "stillness."
The smile on his face faded for a moment, then he shook his head gently.
"Well, that's that..."
He muttered to himself, his voice only a ripple of thought in the vacuum.
"Is even the road back gone now..."
Good.
This way, there is only one direction left.
One reason.
A reason to win.
He raised his head, lifted the shimmering scepter, and directed all his perception toward the "existence" before him.
And before him, a new "moon" opened.
It was Abzu's eye.
...
If Abzu truly had an eye.