That strong?
Belle stared in shock at Xiao, who stood not far away, then turned to the building that had been smashed through by Hoshimi Miyabi's clone. Her eyes were full of disbelief.
She knew Xiao was powerful—probably the strongest among Keqing and the Traveler's group.
She had seen him fight before, back when they battled the Ethereals. His combat style was overwhelmingly strong.
But even so, the power he had just displayed still left her stunned.
She could tell that the black figure resembling Hoshimi Miyabi was incredibly powerful, yet Xiao had defeated it in a single strike.
At this moment, in Belle's eyes, Xiao had become a powerhouse on par with Sam Li.
The next second, Belle snapped out of it and quickly asked, "Did we win?"
Paimon shook his head. "Probably not. That black guy's weird. That last hit likely didn't kill it."
Just as he finished speaking, an explosion rang out from within the ruined building.
Then, with a deafening crash, its walls collapsed, and thick dust and smoke filled the air, obscuring everyone's view.
In a flash, a black figure burst forth, attacking Xiao again at lightning speed.
The black blade came down.
Xiao casually raised his spear and swept it toward the clone.
Their weapons clashed.
With a burst of strength, Xiao's spear pierced through the clone's sword, shattering the black blade in two.
But it didn't end there.
Before his feet even touched the ground, Xiao kicked off the air with force.
Though it looked like he had stepped into nothingness, his body shot forward like a cannonball, charging straight at Hoshimi Miyabi's clone.
He struck with his spear at blinding speed.
By the time everyone realized what had happened, Xiao was still gripping his spear, which had already pierced through the clone's chest, pinning it to the wall.
Was the fight over?
Belle looked at the battlefield in astonishment. "It's over just like that?"
She had seen Hoshimi Miyabi fight high-level Ethereals before. Although the clone wasn't quite as strong as the original, it was still incredibly powerful.
She hadn't expected the battle to end so fast.
Even the real Hoshimi Miyabi might not have wrapped it up this quickly.
Beside her, the Traveler let out a sigh of relief. "Bringing Xiao along was definitely the right call."
Hu Tao chuckled. "Of course~"
However...
On the other side of the Hollows, just over a kilometer away from Keqing's group, at the rebel research center—
When several rebel researchers saw Xiao nearly overpower the Hoshimi Miyabi clone, they stared at the screen, wide-eyed in disbelief.
How could this be?
Who was this tattooed shorty? How could he be even stronger than New Eridu's youngest Void Hunter?
One of the researchers shouted, "This can't be right! Something's wrong! I gathered data on all of New Eridu's top fighters—this guy isn't in there at all!"
Another frowned. "No way. The clone can't lose…"
They couldn't accept it.
After all the effort they put into collecting Hoshimi Miyabi's combat data to finally create this clone, how could it lose to some tattooed kid who looked totally unremarkable?
And one who came out of nowhere?
At that moment, the researcher known as the professor furrowed his brow and said sternly, "Calm down. We haven't lost yet. Don't forget—the clone is an Ether creation. It doesn't just possess the combat capabilities of Hollow Special Operations Unit 6's Hoshimi Miyabi. It also has abilities derived from the Ethereals... such as a regenerative ability even more terrifying than the Ethereals themselves."
With that, he stared intently at the footage on the main screen.
The clone wasn't down yet.
But things weren't looking good.
Another researcher quickly spoke up, "With such a huge power gap, even insane healing won't help. Call the clone back immediately!"
If the clone died here, there'd be no way to explain it to the rebel leader.
But the professor ignored them. He kept his eyes fixed on the screen.
"Let it keep fighting. The more intense the battle, the better. We need to collect combat data on that tattooed boy..."
His eyes grew increasingly frenzied as he watched the footage. He was convinced that the power of this tattooed youth surpassed even Hoshimi Miyabi's.
He wanted to create a stronger clone.
Even if it meant sacrificing this one, it would be worth it.
...
Meanwhile, back with the Traveler and Xiao—
When the spear pierced through Hoshimi Miyabi's clone, everyone thought the battle was over. Even Belle and Paimon had started walking over.
But suddenly, the clone grabbed its own chest with both hands, tore open the gaping wound, and forcibly freed itself from Xiao's spear.
And just moments later, the shattered chest was completely restored?
Even the black sword that had been destroyed—was back in one piece?
Belle quickly warned, "Be careful! It's not dead yet! It has the same insane regeneration as the high-level Ethereals!"
But Xiao had already noticed.
He swung his spear without hesitation, charging the clone once more.
Again and again, the spear pierced its chest…
Again and again, it shattered the long blade…
He even sliced the clone clean in half...
But no matter how grievous the wounds, the clone regenerated with astonishing speed.
Like an immortal monster, it rose again and again to fight Xiao.
Any normal agent would've collapsed under the intensity of this battle.
But Xiao was different.
During the Archon War, he fought divine beings for three days and three nights…
When the calamity descended, he held off thousands of monsters alone and battled through the entire night...
As a Yaksha, he was long used to this kind of relentless combat.
To him, this fight was nothing.
If the clone could regenerate endlessly—
Then he would just keep fighting until it couldn't anymore.
Of course, Keqing, Hu Tao, and the Traveler didn't just stand by. They quickly joined the fray, fighting alongside Xiao against the clone.
On the sidelines, Belle kept a close watch on the battlefield, reporting everything to her brother.
At the same time, she heard Fairy's voice in her ear:
[Master, a strong Ether accumulation has been detected within the unknown Ether entity. It may be an energy core. You can try targeting the core to kill the unknown Ether entity...]