An Armed Doll with a name.
This was the first time Lu Xing had encountered one.
Her appearance here was undoubtedly to protect that invisible weapon.
Scythes were cool weapons, and as for girls who wielded scythes... although he had seen many in various ACG (Anime, Comics, Games), the coolest, and the one who could be called the progenitor, would have to be Maka from Soul Eater—especially her "Soul Resonance" awakened form, "Witch Hunter," which was simply the pinnacle of aesthetic appeal.
As for the one before him.
[Crescent Rose].
Since the weapon used by the Armed Doll bore this name—Lu Xing felt his battle spirit begin to surge.
Ever since defeating the Knight Captain and obtaining this humanoid body.
Lu Xing had never once clashed head-on with another humanoid being using cold weapons.
Those Magic Knights, his subordinate Knight-class.
They just used the same few moves over and over; fighting them was utterly uninteresting.
This place, this moment...
A godsent opportunity. Hack first, ask questions later!
"Clack!"
Lu Xing slowly lowered his body.
The radiance spilling from his horns dyed the surroundings a mysterious, ethereal blue-purple.
The halo, seemingly sparkling with a river of stars, spun with ever-increasing speed as light flowed through it, becoming more and more breathtaking—beautiful and dangerous in equal measure.
"Crunch."
Gravel and stone were ground to dust beneath his feet.
Lu Xing had already assumed the spear-wielding offensive stance ingrained in his DNA.
The tip of the horizontally held knight lance was at a standard 15-degree angle to his sideways-turned body; his inverted right palm forcefully lifted the spear shaft, which was firmly clamped by his upper arm and flank; his right knee was bent, his center of gravity shifted forward, while his left leg was slightly bowed, poised to unleash power.
The long saber gripped tightly in his left hand.
Was held in a "slicing" stance—it could be used to defend against sneak attacks from other directions, or to deliver a second strike to the opponent's throat if the spear thrust failed.
Still as a virgin, swift as a—
"BOOM!!"
His left leg straightened in an instant!
Beneath his left foot, which had unleashed a [Power Strike], the full-force kick gouged a conical pit fifteen meters in radius out of the ground!
Combined with a [Dash] powered by his Honkai energy operating at full capacity.
In that刹那 (chànà - instant).
Lu Xing's speed even surpassed the limits of ordinary image capture!
(Cold knowledge: Speeds exceeding 260 km/h make it impossible for speed cameras to clearly capture license plates.)
"BANG!!"
The instant Lu Xing launched his attack, Ruby did not sit idly by—Crescent Rose was not just a long-handled scythe; its main body was also an anti-materiel sniper rifle!
Bright silver threads streaked through the air.
These were "excess projectile mass" melted by high temperatures during acceleration.
The sniper rifle in Ruby's hands was no ordinary weapon; its design referenced and incorporated parts belonging to the "Third Key of God, Key of Judgment, Seven Thunders of Retribution."
"Using Honkai energy as a power supply to create a magnetic field and launch accelerated projectiles."
This was the essence of [Crescent Rose] as a firearm.
In its scythe form, this weapon could, to a certain extent, replicate the Third Herrscher's theoretically strongest ability—by eliminating the electromagnetic interaction between microscopic particles, it could achieve the effect of decomposing objects at the atomic level.
Unfortunately.
The so-called "certain extent" was probably only at a level of 1% to 3%. Ruby could not use [Crescent Rose] to achieve the aforementioned conceived effect.
The reason was none other than.
The plain and simple "materials and energy supply are substandard": materials capable of withstanding this power, and a Honkai energy source abundant enough to be squandered in such a manner.
For both of these.
The Mu Continent had not found a solution.
So... it was best to treat this scythe as an ordinary electromagnetic weapon.
"BOOM!!"
A streak of light flashed past.
Lu Xing's head exploded like a watermelon!
An anti-Honkai energy reactive warhead, combined with the super-acceleration from a strong magnetic field—Lu Xing's speed was already very fast, but the muzzle velocity of the projectile fired by this weapon still exceeded the limits he had anticipated.
Ruby possessed a skill called [Swift Dash].
This ability granted Ruby extremely fast instantaneous acceleration and superb reflexes.
Although its duration was not long, after activating this skill, Ruby could indeed match Lu Xing in speed.
Under such circumstances.
Trying to judge the firing trajectory by the muzzle direction and then dodge or intercept the shot would become a fool's errand.
Consequently.
The projectile fired by Crescent Rose effortlessly blew up Lu Xing's head... or, more accurately, half of his head. This weapon's main strength lay in its penetrative power; the explosive effect was merely a secondary bonus. If Lu Xing's main body's defenses had been even slightly weaker, perhaps he would have been left with only a finger-sized scar.
If it were a human.
The impact of a headshot might be enormous.
But for Lu Xing, whose Honkai Core wasn't located in his head at all, Ruby's shot merely caused him to lose his five senses for a short period.
There was also a rather unique point.
Losing his head would not cause Lu Xing to lose his sensory perception; the "organ" he used for this ability was actually the Honkai Energy Halo above his head.
Therefore—
Lu Xing's movements did not stop!
Ruby's response was equally flawless—the recoil of an electromagnetic weapon was less than that of a gunpowder weapon, and the feedback from [Crescent Rose] was far from enough to disrupt her movements.
"CLANG!!"
The tip of the spear and the blade of the scythe clashed.
Lu Xing's [Thrust], aimed directly at Ruby's heart, was forcefully pressed down by a downward swing of the scythe. As a weapon that was front-heavy, light at the back, and exceptionally good at chopping, the "vertical slash" unleashed by the scythe was extremely powerful, second only to hammers and axes among long-handled weapons.
However...
The opponent had fallen into his trap!
The knight lance's thrust was indeed delivered with full force, but this didn't mean Lu Xing had gambled everything on a single blow. What scraped and sparked between the spear tip and the scythe blade were not sparks, but shattering, scattering ice crystals!
Ice attribute!
Even if only for a brief instant, Lu Xing's ice attribute, enhanced to its peak, successfully froze their two weapons together!
"THUD!!"
The weight of Radiant Star was even more exaggerated than that of Crescent Rose.
Lu Xing didn't even need to exert additional force; the massive knight lance had already brought the scythe down with it, stabbing diagonally into the ground.
Ruby realized something was amiss.
But.
Inertial thinking prevented her from abandoning her weapon immediately; instead, she instinctively tried to lift the scythe.
A lift and a release.
This seemingly simple action wasted more than half a second.
Faced with such an obvious opening...
The instant the blades met, Lu Xing proactively released his right hand gripping Radiant Star; he then channeled all his strength, infusing [Frost's Lament] with the maximum amount of Honkai energy, and swung it forcefully at Ruby's neck—
"SCHLICK!!"
A cold gleam flashed.
Silver radiance, along with迸发 (bèngfā - bursting forth) electric currents, leaped up together at a height of 150 centimeters from the ground. Lu Xing, who didn't let grudges simmer overnight, had avenged his "head."
However.
The battle was not yet over.
Armed Dolls, like Lu Xing, were not beings that could be finished off simply by beheading.
Especially when...
The opponent was not alone!