The night sky seemed to be sliced in half by a blue sword, arcs of electricity still crackling in its azure trail. This straight line stretched out, leaving behind a lava-like scar on the ground, and ultimately splitting the hill in the center of the deserted island in two, turning it into a blazing torch.
Residual electricity flickered through Ryan's body as he stood, staring at Śeṣa, who remained motionless in front of him. His breath was heavy, like smoke.
There were no Fire Moth drones here, no onlookers. With Soul Steel's resilience, Ryan could go all out and cause chaos without worry. And this destructive power was undeniably satisfying.
"If I didn't have authority, I might not be able to defeat it, even if we had the same energy." Ryan acknowledged Śeṣa's strength but didn't rush in.
The Honkai Beast was still curled up, a hole about a meter wide running through its center. Through that hole, Ryan could see the hill in the distance that had been split apart, but the beast wasn't dead yet. The two green marks on its chest gave it an eerie, gaze-like quality.
That "gaze" was chilling, without any hint of pleading for mercy, and that unsettled Ryan.
Śeṣa couldn't speak. So how could he ask it why it was waiting here? If it were Beibeilong, there'd be ways to make her speak.
What if I try using mental power?
Ryan was tempted, but before he could focus his mental strength, the frozen Śeṣa suddenly erupted with blinding light. The surrounding iron sand was destroyed as the collapse energy surged.
It's going to self-destruct?!
The thought barely crossed his mind when the intense light illuminated Ryan's face.
Boom—
A beam of purple light shot into the sky, piercing through the dark clouds and leaving behind a vortex of lightning. The remaining lightning spread across the sea, sweeping everything in its path.
The island was flattened. Everything within ten kilometers was consumed by the blast—the forest obliterated, the sea evaporated, and the Honkai beast was reduced to charcoal. Even the drone that had been flying overhead was caught in the powerful electromagnetic pulse, falling into the sea like discarded scrap metal.
The night became as bright as day, the sky alive with bolts of lightning, and the energy unleashed by Śeṣa was nothing short of a natural disaster.
A chunk of ice shattered in the storm, and Ying crawled out from the debris, looking around in confusion.
"Is this a Judgment-level Honkai beast?"
If I hadn't reacted quickly and used the 'Han Ying' to create a shelter, I'd have turned to charcoal with those Honkai beasts.
It's terrifying. The damage covers a hundred kilometers, and the ground's carbonized.
But where's Ryan?
She quickly stood up and scanned the area but saw nothing but silver, snake-like lightning and piles of charred corpses.
The sea area went from silent to chaotic, then back to silence, all under the thunder.
Her heart sank, but Ying didn't show sadness. Instead, she took a deep breath, stabbed her long knife into the water, created a path of ice across the surface, and headed straight for the explosion's epicenter.
The small island, once several square kilometers, was completely flattened. There was no trace of the once lush green forest. The ground was littered with large pits created by the lightning, and the air was scorching, suffocating.
"No way…"
Sakura's expression shifted. She swallowed and approached the island's center, where a massive crater lay. Looking down, she could only see the lava-like bottom of the hole.
Nothing. Did he really die with Śeṣa?
Her expression froze, but the sweltering heat made her feel a chilling cold. Her mind, usually calm, began to waver, but at that moment, she felt a hand gently pat her shoulder.
"You're here too early… Relax, it's me." Ryan leaned back and saw the blade next to his neck. Following the 'Han Ying' path, he saw the cold purple eyes.
Those jewel-like eyes reflected surprise, ecstasy, and a touch of anger.
"Ryan, you're not dead?"
"Nonsense, is a ghost talking to you?" Ryan laughed. Ying was usually calm, but sometimes, she was a bit dazed. Seeing the blade fall, he couldn't resist teasing:
"How did you feel when you thought I was dead just now? Were you sad?"
Sakura made a twirl with her knife, sheathed it, and nodded seriously. "Of course, I'm sad. You're very important to me, and I trust you to protect Ling. So, please don't sneak off and scare me like that. It's boring."
Ryan was taken aback. He was used to Mobius' harsh words and Hua's dullness, so this kind of straightforwardness was unfamiliar to him.
"What's wrong with you?" Sakura tilted her head slightly.
"Ahem, I didn't mean to scare you on purpose. The self-destruction of a Judgment-level Honkai beast is indeed powerful. Fortunately, the terrain here is good."
Ryan had dived into the sea and used his authority to form an electromagnetic field, which allowed him to counteract the Honkai energy. He wasn't injured, as he had anticipated this moment.
"It's a pity that Śeṣa's body is nowhere to be found. Our mission has failed." Sakura shook her head. With an energy explosion that intense, not even a trace remained.
"Don't be so pessimistic. I said the Honkai is evolving, and the speed is beyond my imagination."
Ryan jumped into the bottom of the pit and used Chi Xiao to dig through the lava. Sakura followed and saw black muddy water mixed in with the lava. Ryan was collecting the muddy water into a metal container.
"This is?"
"Śeṣa's second ability. The self-destruction was just a way to escape. This thing is not dead."
"It… it's so clever, it's learned to use sleight of hand." Sakura swallowed, scanning the area. She saw a large hole on one side of the crater and jumped over it instantly.
She placed her hand on the hole, feeling it carefully for a few seconds. Her pupils narrowed slightly.
"There's wind... there's a passage in here. It escaped!"
"He did escape. Wait, don't chase him yet."
Sakura had almost gone into the cave, but upon hearing this, she paused and turned back, confused. "We should still be able to catch up with him now. Are you planning to let him go?"
Ryan didn't seem anxious at all. He squinted, as if deep in thought.
Something's wrong. I need to look at this from a higher perspective, link all the information, analyze it with all my strength.
His mind was working at full speed, as if his soul had left his body. After a brief pause, he raised his hand.
"No rush. There will be plenty of opportunities to kill it. But what if Śeṣa has no intention of escaping at all?"
"You mean... it's luring us to chase it?" Sakura was shocked. She admitted Śeṣa was smarter than she thought, but the idea of luring the enemy was too extravagant.
From wisdom to tactics, are these monsters now trying to deceive us?
No, there's another source of collapse that hasn't appeared yet.
Sakura immediately thought of this, but there were too many possible interferences. It was possible that the Fire Moth's instruments had malfunctioned, or perhaps another Honkai source had gone its separate way.
"If they were together, would it just watch Śeṣa explode?"
"Don't try to understand these monsters with human emotions. They have no feelings for their companions, so you must be on guard." Ryan adjusted his cracked glasses. This had nothing to do with intuition—it was all about analyzing the information with precision, as if looking from a higher dimension:
"Since Śeṣa is intelligent, it wouldn't be foolish enough to face me alone. Aside from the massive energy loss from the self-destruction, that's a net loss. As an intelligent and rational creature, this is unreasonable."
"Secondly, it escaped too obviously, without even attempting to cover its tracks. There's definitely something wrong here."
"You're not dirty enough to play tactics with me."
Ryan fell silent, staring at the dark cave entrance. Sakura stood still, holding her knife and keeping watch.
She knew this man wasn't reckless, but his mind was sharper than anyone else's.
Finally, the low-level Honkai beast was just testing me. It could sense from its authority that I was coming. It didn't run away all day, choosing to engage in a fierce battle instead. This contradicts the second hypothesis.
If you can't beat them, why not just run? If the two sources of collapse aren't far apart, why not wait for reinforcements? Such a rational creature would never act out of hatred.
After a few seconds, Ryan raised his head, his voice firm.
"It wants to kill me, or rather, it specifically lured me here."
"What?"
"I said it wanted to kill me. With Śeṣa's ability to conceal its presence, there was no need for a sneak attack. Even if the sneak attack failed, it could just run away. Why stay?"
"Uh… but it can't beat you. If it has companions, why not ambush on the island? Two against one would be a guaranteed win."
Sakura was truly professional, immediately identifying the logical flaw. She noticed the heavy losses Ryan had taken in the previous battle.
"Simple. It wants to ensure I'm killed and won't give me a chance to escape." Ryan answered without hesitation, pointing to the cave entrance. "I don't know where this leads, but if I go in, I definitely won't come out."
Sakura was speechless for a moment. Anyway, it was her turn to charge in, so she said helplessly: "What are we going to do now?"
"Go find a ship and notify the Fire Chaser anonymously, saying that two Honkai beasts were found, but their coordinates are unknown. Also, help me check who in the Destruction Fleet has high Honkai adaptability. I have a worst-case hypothesis that needs to be verified."
"Are you really leaving? What if you're wrong? Wouldn't all your work be in vain?" Sakura said reluctantly.
"I'll take risks when I need to, and I'll save my life when I need to. As long as Śeṣa is still on Earth, he can't escape. There's no need for me to take risks." Ryan turned around decisively without hesitation.
There are many greedy people, but very few can resist the temptation in front of them. Sakura even thinks that this man is a bit anti-human, but his decisiveness also resonates with her.
He is indeed a legendary killer.
Sakura would not object or question, and she followed Ryan's footsteps, hurrying away.
The two headed toward the most isolated part of the island. The thunderstorm had a limited coverage area, and ten kilometers away, the ruins of a town still stood. Despite the houses destroyed by lightning, some ships remained at the port.
If you miss the first strike, you leave immediately. You are not the only one who can hunt.
Ryan stood on the tattered wooden pier, looking at the dark clouds in the sky and checking the time on his terminal.
It was seven in the morning. Dawn was still hidden behind the clouds. There was something off about the storm—it lasted too long, and it didn't seem like Śeṣa's doing.
"Since you want to kill me, even if you have the advantage of terrain, two Honkai beasts aren't enough. What surprise have you prepared for me?"
At that moment, a rusty ferry approached. Sakura stuck her head out from the bridge and said, "Let's go. The remaining fuel should be enough to get us to Lion City."
Ryan jumped onto the boat and asked hurriedly, "Is it done?"
"I just finished my work while repairing the engine. I've sent the information to the Fire Chaser Moth. With Śeṣa's movement, they'll be here soon." Sakura held the rudder and tossed a notebook to Ryan. "Also, I found the fleet list in the database. Apart from those confirmed dead, here are the missing. I selected those with high Honkai adaptability. There are very few of them."
The ferry started slowly, its speed barely reaching ten knots. Ryan skimmed through the computer and scanned the photos. The fleet involved in the fifth observation had belonged to the Far East branch. Unfortunately, this group of people was extremely unlucky, wiped out before communication could be restored.
All Fire Moths had their Honkai adaptability tested when they joined, to ensure they were assigned appropriate tasks. However, there were few members with high adaptability in the navy, so he disregarded those below level B.
This is?
Ryan paused as he slid the mouse, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the solitary photo in the center of the screen. A familiar face stared back at him.
Her gray-blond side bangs covered her right eye, and she looked somewhat youthful. The Fire Moth's adaptability rating for her Honkai energy was listed as "S-level," with a note indicating that her body needed to be found.
Ryan stared at the face, the recognition settling in as he took a deep breath.
"Lieutenant Rose."