The Herrscher of Evolution frowned almost imperceptibly.
This subtle change in expression was magnified infinitely in Kallen's eyes, like the last fluctuation of air pressure before a storm.
He didn't wait, nor did he ask further questions.
For him, the question just now was based on habits remaining from past memories, a "superfluous" attempt made out of the habit of trying to understand and communicate.
But at this moment, he just raised a hand, rubbed his forehead somewhat irritably, and let out a very soft sigh full of self-mockery.
"Heh... I was actually hoping to 'talk properly'..." He muttered to himself, his voice carrying ridicule for his remaining humanity.
"Clearly already 'saw' the anomaly, clearly 'felt' something was wrong, yet still slowed down by these useless 'emotions' and 'patience'... Really... disgustingly inefficient."
With his words, the surrounding air began to undergo strange changes.
Not the roar of surging energy, but a subtler, more unsettling "activation."
Free dust, microorganisms, and even some basic energy particles invisible to the naked eye in the air seemed to be forcibly "awakened" and "edited" by an invisible will.
A faint, purple-black Honkai energy halo spread out with the Herrscher of Evolution as the center, like ink dripping into clear water. It wasn't dazzling, but carried an aura of "growth" and "metamorphosis" that made life instinctively tremble.
The oppressive feeling was no longer static coercion, but grew and spread crazily like a living thing, instantly filling the entire space, making the pressure alarm inside Arahato's cockpit screech mournfully!
The last trace of complex emotions belonging to "Vakh" disappeared from the Herrscher of Evolution's eyes, leaving only cold indifference focused on "solving the problem."
"Forget it."
He lowered the hand rubbing his forehead and casually waved lightly in the direction of Arahato.
Just in the small patch of air swept by his waving trajectory, a light spot the size of dust, barely discernible to the naked eye, suddenly lit up!
Immediately after, in less than a hundredth of a second, that light spot seemed to experience billions of years of accelerated evolution, frantically devouring surrounding Honkai energy and material basis, violently expanding, twisting, and shaping!
An indescribable "creature" was born out of thin air!
It was roughly streamlined, about the size of a hound, without clear eyes, ears, mouth, or nose. Its whole body was covered by rapidly proliferating, hardened chitinous shell flickering with purple-black luster.
At the front of this monster, an incredibly sharp, high-speed rotating spiral spike condensed, and at the tail was a propulsion organ erupting unstable purple flames.
The only meaning of its existence seemed to be completing this swift, violent, direct piercing attack!
Born to charge!
"Roar——!"
The monster let out a roar, or perhaps just the screech of air being extremely torn.
Amidst this explosion, the "monster" turned into a purple-black lightning bolt, piercing straight at Arahato's chest armor core—which was also the position protecting Yae Rin—at a speed far exceeding sound!
Kallen's pupils contracted sharply!
Too fast!
This wasn't an energy attack that could be deflected, nor a physical barrage that could be intercepted. This was a disposable killing weapon catalyzed by the extreme concept of "evolution"!
Without time for excessive hesitation and fear, Kallen decisively controlled Arahato to cross its arms and push forward boldly, firmly protecting Yae Rin behind its arms.
At the same time, the composite armor layer in front of Arahato's chest armor instantly thickened, and the energy shield power output reached the limit, emitting dazzling white-blue light.
All attitude adjustment nozzles of the machine worked at full power, trying to make the smallest deflection to avoid frontal impact.
Bang!!!!!!!!
Not the roar of an explosion, but a tooth-aching dull loud noise of an extremely hard object hitting heavy armor with terrifying kinetic energy!
The moment the purple-black "Disposable Evolutionary Spike Beast" hit Arahato's stacked shield and armor, its body structure began to disintegrate and shatter because it couldn't withstand its own violent kinetic energy and reaction force.
But the tip of its spiral spike had already torn the overloaded energy shield at the moment of impact and chiseled fiercely into Arahato's chest armor with terrifying rotational penetrating power!
Ear-piercing sounds of metal twisting and tearing exploded!
Arahato's huge body was knocked flying backward in the air by this tremendous force, smashing fiercely onto the glass curtain wall of the building behind, creating a spiderweb-like crack! Alarms rang continuously inside the cockpit, red lights flashing crazily.
Left mechanical arm transmission structure severely damaged, external armor peeled off!
Chest composite armor partially penetrated, internal buffer layer torn, only a hair's breadth from the cockpit wall!
Right shoulder weapon mounting point along with part of the missile launcher twisted and scrapped in the impact!
Main thruster pipeline damaged, output dropped by 37%!
Multiple sensors failed!
Just one casual single-target attack "evolved" instantly from microorganisms caused the superb-performance Arahato to suffer heavy damage, losing almost most offensive capabilities and mobility advantages!
However—
Kallen gritted her teeth tightly, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. The huge impact force still affected her through the buffer system.
But her arms, Arahato's mechanical arms, remained like the strongest cage, protecting the internal wheelchair and Yae Rin, who was scared into closing her eyes tightly with a pale face, perfectly intact!
All the force of the impact was borne by the machine structure and Kallen's gritted teeth, not a trace transmitted to the protected person.
Amidst the dust and disintegrated purple shell fragments, Arahato leaned against the shattered glass curtain wall, barely maintaining suspension. Electric sparks and faint smoke rose from various parts of the machine. Its posture was wretched, but the protected core area stood firm.
The Herrscher of Evolution still floated in place, hands in pockets, as if he just flicked away a fly.
He looked at the severely damaged Arahato with indifferent eyes, seemingly not surprised by this result, only paying a slight evaluative attention to the fact that the steel creation could actually "hold on."
"Oh? Blocked it?" He spoke flatly. "Then... again?"
The Herrscher of Evolution's plain "again" was not an empty threat, but he indeed didn't attack immediately.
For him, this wasn't a qualified battle, more like disposing of a malfunctioning obstacle that needed to be "cleared" or "studied."
The huge gap in strength even gave him the leeway to use a few tenths of a second to "think" before launching the next attack.
Should I cover it with a more complex multi-target evolutionary attack, or directly spawn an individual with energy-devouring characteristics?
Or, try directly interfering with the internal structure of that armor using Honkai energy?
This "leisurely," research-oriented hesitation was, for Kallen, a fleeting golden gap flashing in a desperate situation!