"CLANG!!!"
The song of ice and fire resounded across the small island.
Even with Kevin blocking in front, the squad members hiding in the distance were still thrown hundreds of meters away into the sea by the impact.
"Who is Xiao Bai?"
The steam had no time to rise before it was blown away by the fierce winds created by the terrifying temperature difference.
The wind fanned the flames, and the flames rode the wind's might.
The two greatswords crossed before her held fast against the "ice pillar" descending from the sky, preventing the absolute-zero power that froze everything from advancing another inch!
Kevin's attack was incredibly swift, or rather, a bit too rash. Kevin never doubted Elysia's power, but when it came to Mei... Kevin felt as if he were seeing a repeat of the incident that happened at the Flame-Chasers' base back then.
The other party had mentioned the name "Xiao Bai" twice.
Although it sounded harmless, for her to speak of this entity with such an "equal" tone meant that "extraterrestrial Honkai Beast" possessed combat power comparable to, or even greater than, the person before him!
Kevin trusted his teammates.
But he had not missed the words "the others"!
With the Black Emperor's whereabouts unknown, and due to pressures from all sides, the Flame-Chasers' forces were ultimately scattered across the globe. While the base was not exactly empty, its defenses were far from being as tight as they were in the first few months.
If there were a few more Honkai Beasts of this caliber...
"Xiao Bai?"
"CRACKLE!"
Amidst the surging electric light, a sudden repulsive force directly pushed Kevin away!
This was a combined application of the Authority of Thunder and the Authority of Rock. Xiao Zi had awakened later than Lu Xing, and her combat power wasn't as formidable. However, the time she had spent in contact with civilization—or more accurately, the time she had spent in contact with "knowledge"—far exceeded Lu Xing's!
The Authority of Reason in Xiao Zi's hands... was truly in its element, like a fish in water!
"Xiao Bai is just Xiao Bai."
Xiao Zi raised the [Mimic · Judgement of Shamash] high in a throwing stance, and amidst a black mist filled with bone-chilling cold, it transformed into the spear form of [Black Abyss].
At the same time, the Authority of Death was Xiao Zi's most familiar ability. Even if she was only using a mimicked weapon, its power was absolutely not to be underestimated!
"THWUM!"
Dark golden energy erupted from the wings on her back!
Honkai Energy enveloped [Black Abyss], forming a sharp and massive knight's lance that shot toward where Kevin's squad had been blasted—that's right, setting aside whether this move could even harm Kevin, his speed alone was not something a thrown spear could hit.
Unless, he had something he absolutely had to protect!
"Holy Lance: Reverse Flow!!"
"WHOOSH—"
"BOOM!!!!"
"Ah, right!"
The explosion kicked up a tsunami large enough to crush half a city.
And this tsunami was, in turn, frozen by an abnormally terrifying low temperature into a brilliant and splendid ice sculpture. Before this majestic scenery, a monster, barely humanoid and devoid of human features, floated quietly above the ice surface.
Kevin, in his Chimera Artificial Eruption state.
"That's not what you seem to call him."
Xiao Zi's voice remained the same.
But her grip on her twin swords tightened slightly. The human named Kevin had powered up far faster than she had imagined.
Xiao Bai had described Kevin's combat strength to her.
Normally, after losing a familiar weapon, a human's combat power should decrease significantly; even with personal improvement, it would be impossible to reach the same heights as when they wielded their weapon.
But...
If there was one negative impact from Xiao Zi's experience in the World Bubble, it was probably her sense of time. To Xiao Zi, a period of less than a year was roughly equivalent to a week in Lu Xing's eyes.
In such a short time, neither humans nor Honkai Beasts could undergo a qualitative change. Xiao Zi believed in science, so for two freaks like Xiao Bai to appear on a single planet was absolutely impossible.
And then... reality taught Xiao Zi a lesson: cheaters who break the rules truly exist.
The Kevin who appeared before her in his Chimera state... although she didn't know how many more Honkai Beast genes he had fused with, or what other strange things he had integrated...
In short, the might he now displayed was in no way inferior to his state back then when he wielded Jizo Mitama to cleave the meteorite.
"What a hassle."
Xiao Zi muttered under her breath.
The exchange with Kevin was born from her own will, and Lu Xing had not stopped her—on the condition that it did not interfere with the primary objective: Xiao Zi needed to stall Kevin for a short time.
Considering that during the Mu continent incident, Elysia's giant manta ray had been able to hold her back, this task shouldn't be too difficult for Xiao Zi with the boost from her own authorities... Xiao Zi hadn't originally planned to borrow Xiao Bai's power, but now it seemed that if she didn't, she might not even be able to complete her main objective.
"CLINK!"
The regular hexahedron materialized above her halo.
Profound, dark-gold Honkai Energy poured out from the void, flowing from the six wings on her back and rapidly into Xiao Zi's body.
"The color scheme is quite a good match."
Using the channel constructed by the Authority of the Void, Xiao Zi was able to directly draw Honkai Energy from Lu Xing's [Imaginary Link].
"But the name is really not that cute..."
Watching the "kin" holding an ice sword slowly walk towards her, Xiao Zi calmly spoke the name that Kevin had vaguely guessed:
"...something like 'Black Emperor'."
"I don't know why."
"But I have a really bad feeling."
Inside the Flame-Chasers' base, after a busy period of work—Mei's work was never-ending; she had been dragged here by force—Vill-V initiated a tea party among the ladies... which also included an Armed Automaton and a certain "friend to all women."
Setting down her cup, Vill-V leaned back and crossed her arms. The sight of her magnificent assets—something Mobius no longer possessed but which Vill-V now wielded as a weapon of wanton provocation—spurred Mobius to retort with a sneer:
"I must admit," Mobius said, slowly lifting her teacup. "Before the Black Emperor's attack, your premonitions were useful to an unscientific degree."
"But after that..."
"I suspect you might have developed a new personality with a persecution complex."
"No, Mobius."
Before Vill-V could rebut, Su, who was sitting beside them, unexpectedly intervened in the dispute:
"To be honest."
"I have a bad feeling too."
"This current scene... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."
Su, Sakura, Mei, Vill-V, Mobius.
That's right, the last time Lu Xing had launched a surprise attack on the Flame-Chasers, this was the exact configuration of people inside the base.
"Clink."
The bottom of a cup tapped lightly against its saucer.
"A meaningless guess," Mobius stated.
"It's still unknown whether the Black Emperor is even alive. Besides, the security level here, especially the spatial lockdown capability, is countless times stronger than before. Spatial abilities are completely ineffective within a fifty-kilometer radius."
"Speaking of which, this device was your—"
Before Mobius could finish her sentence, a slightly gloomy, hissing voice surrounded them from the shadows in every direction:
"Is that so?"
"Who's there!?"