Facing an Emperor-class Honkai Beast alone—this was something only the fearless Lin had done before.
The documented records of High-Class Honkai Beast subjugation were all experiences of brutal, near-death battles. Without the aid of Titans and advanced equipment, trying to defeat an Emperor-class Honkai Beast with Herrscher-like power was undoubtedly an incredibly arrogant and reckless endeavor.
But continuing to delay would only worsen the disadvantage. The only way to break the deadlock was for one person to take a gamble: to subjugate the Emperor-class Honkai Beast amidst the sea of Honkai creatures' corpses. The remaining Honkai creatures could then be cleared out with the help of the Titans.
The current defense line was barely holding. At most, only one person could attempt this, and even the Titans had to assist in the defense. Otherwise, a breakthrough would lead to the annihilation of the Fifth Branch and devastating damage to the Far East.
Thus, there was only one choice: Himeko, who had the highest level of experience, strength, and status among those present.
Himeko rushed past Hua, snatched the greatsword plunged into a zombie, and strode forward, smiling beautifully: "Don't worry. Even that brat Lin could single-handedly subjugate Emperor-class and Judgment-class Honkai Beasts. I am your Captain's Captain. How could I lose?"
Yes, no matter what, she couldn't waver.
The past losses were irreparable, so all the more reason to protect the present. If she stopped at every failure, she would be unworthy to face the fallen comrades and teammates.
Stomping her foot into the ground, Himeko held the scarlet greatsword level with both hands. She took a deep breath, transferring the full force from her waist through her whole body—
"Get out of my way!"
The blade burned with scorching flames. She wielded the greatsword using sheer, unrefined power, instantly engulfing the battlefield in front of her with high heat.
The lighter zombies were sent flying by the attack. Himeko, who had cleared the area in front of her, did not hesitate. She charged forward with the greatsword held loosely downward. The cleared area behind her was immediately filled again.
Every strike was executed with full power. Every strike burst with a loud, ringing sonic boom. The fiery red heat fiercely burned in the dark night.
Among Fire Moth soldiers, those who used only melee weapons were few, and those who used greatswords were even rarer. This type of weapon was a hindrance for soldiers who needed flexibility and agility on the battlefield. Wielding it would rapidly deplete stamina, and it was slow, heavy, and clumsy, sometimes with less destructive power than ordinary weapons.
But Himeko had been using heavy weapons from the very beginning. Her strength was considered exceptional even in Fire Moth. With the battlesuit's augmentation, let alone humans, even Honkai Beasts…
Two Templar-class Honkai Beasts blocked her path. A cold glint flashed in Himeko's eyes. She chose not to go around them. Her entire power armor activated at full capacity simultaneously. She stomped her foot on the ground, and spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground beneath her.
"Boom!"
Two lances were cleaved down toward her simultaneously. The red-haired woman stood her ground, pressed the greatsword to her right side, and then, amidst the roar of the battlesuit, she glared fiercely and swung the blade, meeting the two Honkai Beasts, whose bodies were taller than the Titans, head-on!
The three weapons connected, but the stalemate didn't last even half a second. The lances from the two Honkai Beasts were blasted away by the greatsword!
Overall imbalance caused by the force being repelled was something even Honkai Beasts couldn't avoid. The triumphant greatsword plunged into the ground as easily as cutting tofu. Himeko did not pull it out immediately. Instead, she gripped the hilt with one hand, leveraging her body from the ground using the greatsword as support, and delivered a kick to the shield of one of the Templar-class Honkai Beasts.
Incredibly, the colossal Honkai Beast was sent flying back like a zombie from that kick, crashing into the horde of zombies, crushing a large number of them into pulp.
Himeko's entire body spun and landed, gracefully pulling out the greatsword. She immediately delivered a diagonal slash to the shield of the remaining Honkai Beast. The terrifying force instantly cleaved the Honkai Beast's entire body and shield in two.
"Howl?"
The porcupine saw an anomaly aggressively breaking through the wave of Honkai creatures. Its massive body twitched, and it fixed its murderous gaze on Himeko, who was charging straight toward it.
With its intelligence, it easily discerned that this was an elite among humans, the leader of the stubbornly resisting soldiers, an existence similar in status to itself.
If it killed this person, the remaining human resistance would collapse.
It had conserved its strength precisely to deal with this situation.
"Roar—"
The Emperor-class Honkai Beast's roar pulverized the zombies in front of it. It gathered highly compressed Honkai Energy in its mouth. This move was immensely draining and would normally be blocked by the Titans' plasma shields. But since this human had left the protection net of the Titans, it could easily blast her into ashes at this distance.
An inky black beam shot out from its tusk-lined mouth. The zombies and Honkai Beasts it struck were decomposed into ash.
Himeko, mid-run, saw the high-level Honkai Energy reaction on her contact lens-display system. Her pupil constricted, and the black beam swept past her position without giving her time to react.
That was energy with properties similar to the black mist. This was a unique ability of the High-Class Honkai Beast, a subordinate of the Sixth Herrscher. If they categorized it and the tree as subordinates of the Sixth Herrscher, the tree possessed the Authority of Creation, while the porcupine possessed the Authority of Decay.
Living organisms could not withstand this type of attack.
The porcupine roared smugly at the spot where Himeko had vanished.
In its view, expending a portion of its energy to blast the elite human was a worthwhile exchange.
But the next moment, the sound of rushing wind came from above.
"You pig! Even with intelligence, you're still just a pig!"
The porcupine, whose intelligence mimicked that of a human, looked up. It was met with a powerful downward slash. Temporarily weakened and completely defenseless, it took the blow directly to its right eye. The entire area from the eye socket to the jaw was cleaved open.
"Aww—" A pained howl erupted from its mouth as it was slammed into the ground.
"Hmph… huff… Hehehe… Honkai Beasts can scream too? Then you're truly far inferior to your comrades, aren't you…"
The crimson figure looked up, sneering at the agonizing porcupine.
A portion of her right hand and right leg muscles had vanished. No blood dripped from the wounds. In the brief moment they were touched by the energy, those muscles had turned into black ash, leaving a scorched, flat surface.
"At least your monstrous comrades didn't utter a single scream when I chopped them in half! You boastful, arrogant pig, did you really think you could compare to humans!"
"Howl—"
After a brief moment of pain, the porcupine opened its gaping maw and roared deafeningly. Purple blood dripped from its right eye and jaw. Its left eye, filled with a human-like hatred, stared at the panting Himeko.
"Heh… That's more like it… Fight me with your inferior intelligence until I chop you into small pieces of pork!"
Himeko swept her greatsword horizontally, sending the surrounding zombies flying. Her entire being transformed into a scarlet bullet, charging toward the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
The Emperor-class Honkai Beast stomped its foot. Its tail violently slammed the ground. It threw its head back and roared. All the quills on its body fired simultaneously toward Himeko!