Arm...
Shoulder...
A small part of the chest...
Half of the head...
"Shu's" half-body turned into the most basic particles the moment it touched the torrent, dissipating in the trajectory of destruction.
Even the process of vitrification was violently interrupted, leaving only a huge defect whose edges constantly emitted specks of light.
The remaining impact force smashed him like a withered leaf toward the distant deep space behind him.
His consciousness oscillated violently amidst the severe pain and the sudden collapse of strength. His vision was alternately filled with broken light and shadows and the darkness of deep space.
His broken body tumbled uncontrollably in the void, like the wreckage of a shattered star.
At the huge defect of his right half-body, glassy fragments mixed with "existence" itself were constantly dissipating. With every bit dissipated, his consciousness slid an inch toward the abyss of darkness.
Can't...
In his chaotic mind, the only remaining obsession flickered like a candle in the wind.
Using his remaining left hand, "Shu" struggled and trembled as he groped toward the edge of the terrifying vitrified wound on his chest.
The touch was cold and sharp.
Like broken glass.
Then, he forcefully thrust his five fingers into the crack in his chest.
"Ugh—!!!"
A silent roar of pain turned into sparks of thought in the vacuum.
He forcibly tore open his shattered chest, allowing more specks of light to gush out madly.
And in the deepest part of this nearly dried-up oil well, Shu dug out the last bit of combustible material.
The Mirror Core.
The Herrscher Core that caused all this, filled with "malice."
"Shu" moved without hesitation, abruptly digging it out from his gradually disintegrating body!
The moment the core left his body, the speed of vitrification seemed to accelerate, but he had no time to care.
He poured all his remaining mind into this cold crystal.
Copy! Reproduce! Condense—the "possibility" I lost!
The Mirror Core trembled violently, the luster on its surface flowing rapidly, reflecting countless broken images.
The HOMU shop, the deathmatch on the ice plain, the reverse-flying road sign of light...
Finally, these images were forcibly converged, condensing into form in front of the core.
The light faded, and a brand-new scepter floated in the void.
It no longer possessed the gorgeousness and fullness of the seven-colored flowing light from before. The staff was dim, its colors muddy, as if covered by a layer of uncleanable ash. Only a faint light at the head of the staff, like a candle flame about to go out, barely marked its "existence."
"Shu" tightly gripped this fragile new scepter with his left hand, which was almost reduced to energy veins.
A faint supporting force came from the scepter, allowing his tumbling body to finally barely stagnate, "standing" again in the void in a broken posture, facing the "abyss" that swallowed starlight.
He "stood" firm.
But the price was that the last bit of limited power in his body was completely drained.
What flowed in the new scepter was not so much power as a short period of "solidified time" bought by burning his "existence" itself.
Its strength was not even one-tenth of what it was just now.
And the opponent... Abzu.
That planetary-class body still stood tall. The scar caused by the "White Cell" was still clear, but obviously did not hinder its foundation.
The terrifying blow just now, which destroyed the moon with its aftershock and shattered half of his body, might have just been a casual "breath" for it.
Despair, like cold stardust, seeped into every particle of his dissipating thought.
Must think!
Must find a way!
A way to win, to protect, to respond to the last expectation of that departing figure...
...
He couldn't think of one.
He couldn't do it.
His consciousness became increasingly blurred, and a cold sense of nothingness spread from his limbs to the core of his mind.
[From Otto: ...Final calculation initiated... Hold on... I need...]
[From Mei: ...Kiana she... must...]
[From Einstein: ...Number anomaly... Anchor point not... calibrated...]
[From somewhere in ARC City: Mom, that colorful star... has dimmed...]
[From ***: Come on...]
[From **: Just hold on a little longer...]
Seemingly wisps of expectation from the ground crossed impossible distances and were absorbed by "Shu."
But these scattered expectations could hardly even restore "Shu's" consciousness.
"Shu" was too weak to distinguish the specific content of each expectation, but he could still feel the heavy and burning "don't want him to lose" within those expectations.
They were like countless tiny threads trying to pull his falling soul.
But he... really couldn't do it...
The enemy's strength was a difference in dimension, a crushing difference in scale.
Even if he tried everything, it was just a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
In a trance, those chaotic voices seemed to be pulled closer, sounding directly in his thought corridor on the verge of silence, yet blurred like somniloquy.
"...Just hold on a little longer... Channel unstable..."
"...Connection rate sixty-three percent... Continue..."
"...Ready... Authorized..."
"...Coordinates... Final..."
What are they saying?
What are they preparing?
"Shu" couldn't understand. His mind was like rusted gears, only able to capture some meaningless fragments.
He only knew that he must... do something.
Regardless of winning or losing, regardless of the cost, simply because he "must do it."
Like a moth flying into a fire, like a drop of water rushing into the sea.
He had to do something...
He... had to do something...
He...
"So, what can you still do?"
"Shu's" chaotic consciousness was stirred into a faint clarity by this sudden interrogation.
He jerked his head up, staring deathly at Abzu with his "eyes" that were left with only blurry outlines of light and shadow.
The opponent possesses intelligence.
It can precisely control gravity, conceal itself, launch destructive attacks...
And just now, it "responded" to that question.
No, more like that question triggered some "communication permission."
It... can communicate?
It possesses clear consciousness?
Then... is there another possibility?
Negotiation... make it understand that this place isn't worth destroying... make it... "leave"?
This thought had just formed, before it even had time to transform into any tentative mental fluctuation—
Abzu's "voice" came.
It was like directly "branding" a cold fact into the spatial rules where "Shu" was, making him "understand" naturally.
"Regrettable."
That "voice" was calm and waveless, merely stating.
"You, all must die."
"Shu's" remaining consciousness trembled.
Abzu's "gaze" swept over his incomplete body, especially the dim new scepter in his hand.
"You, hurt me." The "voice" continued to state.
"Therefore, you will be killed by me... This is my 'rule'."
"As for the planet behind you..." Abzu's "attention" seemed to sweep over Earth, "I have no 'intention' to destroy it."
This answer caused a trace of astonishment in "Shu's" dying mind.
But the next sentence crushed his last fantasy completely.
"I merely 'exist' here."
"My mass, my gravity, my Honkai energy radiation... my 'existence itself' is dragging your star system into my 'domain'."
"Just as when you walk, you naturally displace the air in front of you."
"You cannot say that the blowing of the wind is 'destruction' just because the movement of air formed 'wind'."
"That is merely the aftershock of my 'existence'."
"And you, just happen to be in the wind."