The Spear of Subspace was not sharp, but the spatial powers attached to it were the most lethal edge, easily severing Michael's right arm at the root.
At the same time, the railgun's muzzle shook, and the shell that was fired just as it left the muzzle seemed to hit a thin film. The entire space visibly twisted until it swallowed the shell.
The tip of the Spear of Subspace stopped an inch from Michael's chest. He turned around to dodge with extreme speed, but the pink crystal rose held between Elysia's fingers still cut off half of her hair.
The speed that Elysia was able to reach was something that the Second Herrscher had never expected.
Although she had never thought about these things.
Lacking human emotions, her fighting relied more on instinct.
And her instinct warned her not to engage in close combat with these two.
Not because she didn't want to, but because it was unnecessary.
Spatial rifts opened around her. Jumping through space was as natural to her as eating and drinking.
But this time, she didn't succeed.
Michael used his remaining left arm to forcibly pull her back, and his right arm quickly grew into a miniature electromagnetic pulse cannon.
Two loud bangs came almost simultaneously. The electromagnetic pulse cannon hit the Second Herrscher's chest, and Michael's abdomen was struck by a light purple pillar of energy. The two of them were instantly sent flying.
And Elysia, who should have been chasing after the Herrscher relentlessly, hesitated slightly, slowing down by a fraction of a step, only managing to tear off a piece of her clothing the moment the Herrscher slipped into a spatial rift.
Without the Herrscher's power, the energy pillar slowly dissipated. Michael wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up with Elysia's support.
At his right arm, the electromagnetic pulse cannon gradually disintegrated, revealing a slightly pale arm. He shook his arm. It was clearly not the first time he had reconstructed a part of his body, but each time the newly grown limb felt a little strange.
"It seems that as fellow Herrschers, she seems to be a bit stronger than you, Michael."
Could she really be Elysia? Even in this situation, she didn't forget to tease him?
Michael poked her cheek in annoyance.
"Let's go. Since we can't stop her, we can only continue the mission that Squad Five was supposed to carry out. I wonder how Captain Himeko and the others are doing... We left in a hurry, and both our exoskeletons and communication equipment were left behind. Let's look for them along the way."
Although he said that, when he calmed down and listened to the intense sounds of artillery explosions in the distance, he couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied.
The battle just now was only a brief moment, but he felt that he had done his best, but he was still a bit lacking compared to the Second Herrscher.
Perhaps, she was really just fighting based on instinct?
Because she was relying on pure instinct, without any thought, every movement of her body and every flow of Honkai energy within her was the most natural and fastest choice.
She could even multitask, using her powers to create the Spear of Subspace to cut off Michael's arm while also tearing space to swallow the railgun shells—in Michael's eyes, it was like a person eating with chopsticks in both hands at the same time, something that an average person could never do with both hands being equally skilled.
"Anyway," Michael said, as if talking to Elysia and to himself, "that attack just now at least injured her. Her powers can't repair her limbs as quickly as I can. To heal herself and even take her powers a step further, she must absorb the Honkai energy stored in the underground base, and that is our..."
At this point, he suddenly froze, his steps also stopping.
Since the Second Herrscher didn't have humanity and all her actions were based on instinct, then Honkai energy was to her like fish to a cat, meat to a dog, little monsters to...
In short, if it was based on instinct, she should have absorbed all the Honkai energy in the underground base immediately!
It was absolutely impossible for it to be left until now!
The Second Herrscher's actions were based on instinct, that was undeniable, so the problem must lie with the Honkai energy—with the Honkai energy storage tanks being intact, she shouldn't know about the fact that the underground base stored Honkai energy!
Then Squad Five's mission suddenly became unnecessary.
Was it possible that Phamas, the Fire Moth commander, had a brain fart, or that he had made a misjudgment, mistakenly believing that she knew about the existence of the Honkai energy storage tanks?
But that didn't make sense. The center of the Honkai outbreak was Irkutsk. Phamas should be very clear that it was impossible for Squad Five to reach the underground base before the Herrscher.
Then there was only one possibility left—the commander's plan was to use the storage tanks containing a large amount of Honkai energy as bait, and after attracting the Herrscher, kill her by some means.
But with Squad Five's combat power, was it possible to kill a Herrscher by conventional means?
Michael put himself in Phamas's shoes. He felt that the most reliable plan that Phamas could think of was—to directly open the Honkai energy storage tanks, hoping that the radiation formed by the massive amount of Honkai energy would cause Squad Five and the Herrscher to perish together.
A perfect plan, the only imperfect thing was that this plan was actually a gamble—betting that the Herrscher's Honkai energy adaptability was not infinite, but had a threshold.
"I'm sorry... the Herrscher's Honkai energy adaptability, it seems to be truly infinite..."
Michael didn't believe that there would be a fish that drowned in the sea, just like he didn't believe that there would be a Herrscher who would be burst by an excessive amount of Honkai energy... Okay, no need to set a flag...
What was even more serious was that if this method was effective... no, even if it was ineffective! The problem it brought was that the Herrscher would receive a massive supply of Honkai energy. Unless the Silver Bullet was used, humanity would have almost no means of retaliation.
And for the Second Herrscher, whether the Silver Bullet would explode above her head, or whether she would pass it to a human city, was hard to say...
"What's wrong, Michael?"
Seeing him stop moving, Elysia asked in confusion.
It was the first time she had seen Michael with such a pale face.
Not to mention that this pale face quickly turned into a ghastly white, as if he had seen something terrible.
"Buzz buzz... zzzzz... crackle... zzzzz..."
The sound of electricity came from the snow under their feet. Before Michael could react, Elysia had already taken out the object making the sound.
"Eh? This is... a miniature earpiece?"
"Is someone talking?"
Michael grabbed the earpiece, and with a light flick of his index finger, Himeko's voice came through.
"This is Squad Five Captain Himeko. If any members who are still able to move hear this message, please proceed to the target location immediately."
"This is Squad Five Captain Himeko. If any members who are still able to move hear this message, please proceed to the target location immediately."
"This is Squad Five Captain Himeko. If any members who are still able to move hear this message, please proceed to the target location immediately."
The night gradually darkened.
"Is it a recording?" Elysia asked.
"No, it's the captain constantly shouting."