Bathed in moonlight, Fuli raised his wrist. The remaining Honkai Energy in his body gathered on the surface of Mikazuki, unleashing a blade gleam that severed the head of the four-tailed demon fox.
Several Trailing Shadow Swords followed closely, pressing in to form a storm domain of sword qi that enveloped the enemy, mincing it finely into minced meat, striving to leave no possibility of it springing back to life.
Only then did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The strong wind formed by high and low pressure howled across the sulfur-scented battlefield, blowing him into a stumble, nearly knocking him directly to the ground.
The seven-sword nuclear explosion just now had drained the last trace of strength from Fuli's body. At this moment, he felt as if he had just been drained in turns by three thousand succubi; being able to stand relied entirely on his tempered will and the temptation of picking up the spoils of war.
He moved his heavy steps towards the finely minced fox meat spread on the ground.
"Looks like you're really looking forward to picking up Big Sister's corpse, little guy~"
An intoxicating, magnetic murmur like a nightingale played in his ear, causing his dilated pupils to instantly shrink into pinpoints.
Fuli turned his head and looked at the source of the voice with disbelief.
"I have to say, little guy, in fifty thousand years, you are the third person to push me to this point."
It was a beautiful shrine maiden with cherry-blossom hair and bewitching purple eyes. Her skin was as smooth and delicate as tassels, her chest swelled like mountain peaks, her facial features were exquisitely beautiful, and her temperament was mesmerizing.
A cruel smile hung on the corner of her mouth. Holding a demon blade in her pure white hand, she slowly approached Fuli's location.
Pre-battle setup, charged slash, Moon Ring;
Distracting attention, countless narrow escapes;
And the final seven-sword nuclear explosion used for the harvest.
RIN admitted that she really, really, really almost fell into Fuli's hands.
But if there's blame to be laid, it lies with the move you used at the end called Sakura · Scatter.
Genes are miraculous things; even after thousands or tens of thousands of years, the information recorded within them will not disappear.
On the eve of the destruction of the Previous Era, scientists from the anti-Honkai organization Fire MOTH transcribed the Stigmata genes of countless excellent warriors into the bodies of artificial biological females who served as EMBER. They were meant to become the mothers of humanity in the new era fifty thousand years later, passing down the seeds of resistance against the Honkai.
Yae Sakura, living in that ignorant era five hundred years ago, didn't know that the Stigmata genes within the Yae family came from a powerful warrior named SAKURA from the Previous Era.
The Yae-style swordsmanship she learned in her ignorance, its true form was the Setsuna Blade engraved in SAKURA's Stigmata genes.
RIN was SAKURA's biological younger sister. Fifty thousand years ago, her favorite thing to do was sit in the courtyard, cupping her small face, watching her sister dance with swords and blades with a smile.
Perhaps it was a miracle called forth by the will of that sister who loved her little sister. The moment Sakura · Scatter—or rather, Setsuna Blade · Naraka—came into view, RIN suddenly calmed down completely.
She activated the authority of Corruption, which had been reduced again and again, and used her last bit of strength to transfer her consciousness into another body within herself.
That was the body of Yae Sakura, sealed together with her.
Regarding Yae Sakura, this guy who repeatedly defied her will, RIN should have destroyed her body long ago.
But perhaps it was that face, identical to her sister's, that made the girl unable to harden her heart in the end.
She never thought that at this critical juncture, the body left behind due to a moment of softness would save her life when she had nowhere to run.
Just like that, RIN used the body of the four-tailed demon fox as a shield, forcefully withstanding Fuli's seven-sword nuclear explosion and the subsequent beheading offensive.
Then, using her own corpse as cover, she dived underground (tunnel warfare), dodging the subsequent corpse-mutilating confirmation kill.
Yes, old Beijing behavior; that's called authentic. (A meme referencing "tunnel warfare" = authentic/di-dao)
Don't worry about the move; as long as it works, it works.
Of course, this also exposed Fuli's shortcomings in combat: his confirmation kill was just mincing into meat instead of digging three feet into the ground? Bad review, bad review!
But then again, while it's normal for a BOSS to have a second phase, saying the previous battle was useless is also unfair criticism.
The moment she was sealed into the Divine Key production program—God's Box—fifty thousand years ago, RIN had already lost the ability to "connect to Imaginary Space and extract unlimited Honkai Energy."
Unable to replenish Honkai Energy, she was essentially no longer the Herrscher of Corruption who single-handedly cut off the last hope of the Previous Era.
The Honkai Energy lost in the previous battle was truly lost. Now, the energy concentration in RIN's body was probably only about the same as a regular B-rank.
And although she hadn't destroyed Yae Sakura's body due to its resemblance to her sister, RIN had continuously eroded it during the five hundred years of sealing to prevent her from waking up in peak condition and beating her up again.
In other words, whether it was defense, MP cap, or HP bar, the second-phase RIN was far inferior to before.
If Fuli still had a hidden card at this moment, maybe he could easily harvest her?
"Pity, what a pity."
RIN slowly arrived in front of Fuli, who was slumped on the ground. The bewitching long blade frivolously lifted his chin.
Her left index finger swayed leisurely, the Moon Ring spinning on it endlessly.
"This thing, or the initial unimpressive seven-sword volley, were all used to imply to me that 'you only have these means,' right?"
With a little force, the Moon Ring turned into powder and fell suddenly.
Seeing that it had come to this critical juncture, Fuli actually calmed down.
Sitting on the ground, he looked up, his gaze bypassing those slender lotus legs wrapped in white thigh-high stockings, meeting the shrine maiden's peerlessly beautiful face. "That's right."
"You really have eight hundred schemes in that heart of yours."
RIN smiled beautifully, the pair of cherry-colored fox ears on her head, distinct from ordinary humans, twitching slightly.
"—Die."
Then she raised the long blade and slashed down at his head without holding back!
Fuli's life is over!
...