"This is..."
"The power of the Herrscher of Flame!?"
With the rapid ascent of his level, the "fire attribute" effects bestowed upon his various main skills, and that [Molecular Manipulation] skill—whose name sounded completely out of place with his other abilities, though it could only accelerate or decelerate and was currently unusable—
Lu Xing had to speculate.
It seemed he had... snatched a small part of the Herrscher of Flame's authority.
The process didn't last long.
The change originated from [Frost's Lament]—the long blade inherited from the Knight Captain had become the bridge for the energy link between Himeko and Lu Xing.
The long blade displayed a "toughness" far exceeding its grade.
But this persistence, ultimately, met a premature end due to its inherent limitations.
Crack!
Cracks spread, it disintegrated, turning into ash.
Frost's Lament, which had accompanied Lu Xing for a long time, finally vanished from his item list, just like Ravenwing.
The severing of the bridge.
It prevented Lu Xing from "siphoning" any more power from Himeko—no, she should be called the Herrscher of Flame now.
Fortunately.
The influx of the Honkai energy tide also happened to reach its final moments just then.
"Hoo."
As the "tidal wave" disappeared.
The Himeko before him...
Sizzle!!!
The thin layer of snow and the cold wind covering the ground instantly vanished amidst a heatwave!
Crimson flames transformed into faded embers, reshaping and reconverging in the air, becoming a magnificent, floor-length gown that gently enveloped the unclad Herrscher of Flame.
Her lowered eyelids slowly opened.
Her long, fiery red hair flowed without any wind.
Starflames ignited a prairie fire, heavenly fire soared to the sky—the Seventh Herrscher, the Herrscher of Flame, was thus born!
————
Name: Seventh Herrscher · Herrscher of Flame
Level: 75
Abilities: ?
Equipment: ?
Attack: ?
Speed: ?
Constitution: ?
Evaluation: Australia is gone again
————
Even with the highest-tier [Spiritual Perception], apart from her level, Lu Xing couldn't discern more detailed attribute data for a Herrscher.
"This is..."
Lu Xing's gaze was fixed on her.
The Herrscher of Flame's body slowly ascended towards the sky.
The flames, initially as docile as a kitten, gradually began to churn and roar like fierce tigers as her altitude increased!
"...the ultimate form of Honkai."
Sizzle!!
Fire serpents, flame dragons, explosive flames, meteors.
The sky was burning!
An endless sea of fire reflected the distorted city; the light of judgment was about to descend from the heavens!
Swoosh—
Heavenly fire descended, a judgment upon civilization.
BOOOOM!!!!!
————
The second hand ticked fifteen times.
Only then did Lu Xing end [Space-Time Rend] and return to reality.
If not for the recent energy replenishment, he truly wouldn't have been able to sustain [Space-Time Rend] for so long.
When Lu Xing reappeared.
The terrifying sea of fire was far from extinguished—fortunately, this level of high temperature could no longer affect Lu Xing, whose attributes had been further enhanced.
The terrain here had been completely rewritten.
A bottomless, bowl-shaped crater appeared beneath Lu Xing, its radius stretching for tens of kilometers, extending all the way to Sydney in the distant east.
No need for close inspection.
To the west, a crimson sunset; to the east, a raging inferno.
The entire continent of Australia, due to the Herrscher of Flame's appearance, was tinged with an unusual blush—嗯, an unhealthy blush, one might say.
As for the Herrscher of Flame who had unleashed that previous attack—
Sizzle!!!
The slightly diminished flames flared up once more.
As the Herrscher of Flame slowly raised her hand, a colossal "Flame Lance," hundreds of meters long, appeared in her "grasp."
Undoubtedly.
The tip of the lance was pointed precisely where Lu Xing had appeared.
"She's already dead, yet she still holds a grudge!?"
It was impossible not to panic.
Many factors contributed to a Herrscher's emergence.
A human host dying, then, filled with resentment towards the world, being eroded by Honkai energy and revived as a Herrscher... this was not a rare occurrence.
The problem was.
The Honkai Will would influence a Herrscher's way of thinking, making them more inclined to become weapons for destroying civilization. Normally, that was the process, yes, but the Honkai Will wasn't all-powerful. The beliefs, or rather, the obsessions held by the humans who became Herrschers, could suppress the Honkai Will... some formidable Herrschers could even completely shield themselves from or even erase the Honkai Will's influence.
Himeko hadn't reached that level yet.
However, her obsession with death, or rather, her "unwillingness" to die at Lu Xing's hands, caused Himeko, now the Herrscher of Flame, to subconsciously choose to eliminate Lu Xing while venting her destructive desires.
His life-saving skill, [Space-Time Rend], could still be used several more times.
However.
That "Flame Lance" in the sky, capable of burning him to ashes, was merely a casual creation of the Herrscher of Flame.
Whether he or Sydney would disappear first... that was truly a question worth pondering.
Lu Xing had never imagined he would become a target for the Herrscher of Flame.
And just when he felt he had run out of options, even praying that Ancestor Kevin might appear ahead of schedule.
A familiar and reliable voice.
Resounded simultaneously in both Lu Xing's and the Herrscher of Flame's consciousness:
"Herrscher, are you lucid?"
————
Unheard of.
An outrageously large, humanoid Honkai Beast appeared above Lu Xing.
Hundreds of deep cyan crystal bodies floated around it, collectively forming the "giant's" silhouette; sixteen huge, rhombic spikes, positioned behind the Honkai Beast's "head," coalesced into a slowly rotating halo; in the very center of its chest was an extremely exquisite sixty-four-faceted core; with it as the center, its left and right sides were completely enveloped by clearly demarcated flames and cold qi.
"Ice... Emperor!?"
The voice backing Lu Xing up.
Came precisely from the Ice Emperor, unseen for so long!
But its current appearance...
The Ice Emperor, having orchestrated a series of plans, had benefited far more extravagantly from the Great Rift than Lu Xing!
The Ice Emperor had actively accepted the power of the Great Honkai Eruption. With its strength surging, it was, in terms of classification, actually a "Herrscher of Flame's companion Honkai Beast."
However.
The Ice Emperor, possessing its own will, did not choose to obey the Herrscher's will. Instead, it proactively expressed its dissatisfaction—as the mastermind behind the Great Honkai Eruption and the Herrscher's birth, the Ice Emperor's goal was to retaliate against humanity and destroy civilization.
Not...
To watch a Herrscher, who should have been an ally, attempt to eliminate its own subordinate!
As for the reason it dared to speak this way—
————
Race: Emperor · Variant · Absolute Zero Purgatory · Divine Giant Soldier
Level: 71
Abilities: ?
Attack: ?
Speed: ?
Constitution: ?
Evaluation: Continental Catastrophe
————
"Emperor..."
"No!"
The word "Emperor" in its affix.
Represented its absolute dominion over the legion.
As for the Ice Emperor's true rank, perhaps it could be discerned from its evaluation: although Emperor-class beasts were powerful, they did not deserve such an evaluation.
Such a description.
Was only fit for the apex of the higher echelons—a Judgement-class Honkai Beast!