Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

Finally, under Bronya's forceful urging, the laser cannon went crazy overload, and the particle beam it fired was almost thicker than when it was at full power.

Under such intense fire, even though those three parallel load-bearing columns were made of reinforced concrete, they were melted by the thousands of degrees Celsius with almost no resistance.

Suddenly, the entire southern part of the mall finally gave way and emitted a deafening roar.

The south entrance area of ​​the shopping mall collapsed.

The two Titan mechs, which were speeding along, couldn't keep up with Kiana, who had activated the [Time Fracture System] to get there, and were left far behind. At that moment, they were so focused on running that they didn't realize the huge noise coming from above.

Of course, even if they noticed, it would probably be of no use, as the large collapsed area had already encompassed their movement route and the surrounding area.

As if the sky had collapsed and the earth had split open, the two mechs were struck and buried by the massive rubble and concrete fragments that fell from the sky, carrying immense kinetic energy.

Concrete is indeed not as strong as Titan's armor, but Titan's armor is already damaged.

While an overloaded Titan can indeed move tons of concrete, a buried Titan is practically powerless to do so.

People have always considered burying someone alive to be a very desperate form of torture, but some people think that this method of killing is simply idiotic: "Why don't I just move around a bit to loosen the soil around me and then climb out?"

But that's not the case. When the clods of earth around you are compacted, and when your hands and feet are bound by the mud and you can't exert any force, you'll find that you are actually wrestling with the earth.

"Wow, Keng Huo, you plagiarized my idea!" Kiana, who had rolled several times on the ground to escape the danger zone, looked back at the ruins of the shopping mall—now truly ruins—and righteously accused Keng Huo, "I want that thing..."

"Um..." Kiana seemed to fall silent, and awkwardly rolled her eyes.

"Bronya, what's that guy's name again?" Kiana asked Bronya in a low voice.

"Patent infringement compensation fee".

"Oh right! Patent infringement compensation fee!"

———————————————————————————————————

But concrete fragments are not the earth.

Kiana was just about to sit down and catch her breath when she heard the sound of rubble rolling down from the still smoke-filled ruins.

"No way?!" Kiana jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, drawing her gun from its holster with heightened alertness. "They can still move?! They were buried!"

However, the reality was that these two Titan mechs could not only move, but also perform a full-on Titan Overlord Fist.

The sound of the falling pebbles gradually grew louder and more frequent.

Kiana and Bronya retreated somewhat guiltily.

What kind of enemy is the most terrifying? It's not the kind that can punch the earth to pieces, but the kind that you could easily punch to pieces, yet you still pinned them to the ground and beat them up for an hour, and then they could still stand up shakily, stick their neck out, and start arguing back at you.

With a loud whooshing sound, the pile of concrete ruins suddenly exploded, creating a hole. Several pieces of rubble flew past Kiana's face, as if to tell her that this was not a dream.

Those two Titans are back.

Chapter Sixty-Four: If You Are Willing to Trust Me

"Retreat! Move towards Mei! The mine chief..." Keng Huo didn't relax for a second. Almost as soon as the rubble began to loosen, he issued a new order: "The mine chief is rapidly approaching this area!"

The large red dot representing the powerful Honkai energy radiation source on the battle map is approaching this war zone in an incomprehensible way and at an incomprehensible speed.

It seemed to teleport, each appearance traversing a vast distance without any sign of movement in between. It simply appeared in one place, then disappeared, and reappeared a few hundred meters away from the war zone.

Keng Huo could determine without even looking at the surveillance footage transmitted by Dandelion that this method of movement must belong to the [Summoner] branch of the Death Warrior clan.

The [Summoner] sub-race is a very special type of assassin. So far, no low-level assassins have ever been discovered. Any assassin from the [Summoner] sub-race possesses at least mid-level combat power from a Honkai creature, and can rival an ordinary B-rank Valkyrie squad by himself.

They are different from ordinary assassins, not only in their clothing but also in their appearance.

They all seemed to have been cut from the same mold.

They were barefoot, suspended in the air with two black coffin-shaped objects that were always by their side. They wore the same red and black straitjackets, their hands were wrapped in sleeves that intertwined behind their backs, their eyes were covered by a black cloth, and their long white hair that reached the ground was tied into twin ponytails with two black ribbons, which fluttered on both sides of their bodies.

Their abilities are so powerful and difficult to understand that they cannot be explained or mathematically modeled using existing physics.

The [Summoner] tribe can summon a near-infinite number of undead using the black coffin-like objects floating around them. Each coffin, upon exiting, transforms into an unknown substance or energy that disappears underground, becoming a spatial vortex whose energy spectrum cannot be described by any detection device. An undead will then be teleported out from this spatial vortex. The stronger the [Summoner], the stronger the other types of undead they summon. When they sense danger and want to escape or travel long distances, they can open a spatial vortex beneath their feet, the principle of which is also undetectable by any instrument. Through this spatial vortex, they can instantly appear anywhere within their reach. When the black coffins floating around them are exhausted, they will condense an immense... Its density is so high that it can even materialize into Honkai energy. This Honkai energy gathers and rotates around them like a high-speed turbine. Almost no physical attack can penetrate the shield formed by this energy vortex. After the energy vortex condenses to a certain degree, it will suddenly explode and condense again into a black coffin that can summon assassins. Their last unique ability is one of their few special abilities for active attack. With the help of the black coffin, they can form a structure similar to an energy binding field and launch huge amounts of Honkai energy out of no reason and in a savage manner, like a super-large caliber laser cannon. Under the fierce erosion of Honkai energy, the creatures hit are annihilated before they even have time to Honkai.

What's even more terrifying is that the [Summoner] assassins can be seen as beings with a certain intelligence, completely free from the kind of thinking that resembles that of wild beasts. They can command, escape, and even use some tactics to ambush.

The highest-ranking assassins among the known Summoners are called Summoning Demons. The last time such assassins appeared in the world, the Destiny Organization even dispatched an entire Valkyrie army to wipe them out.

An entire army!

That's not a Valkyrie squad that can be made up of just three people. It's a real army with a complete set of heavy mobile units, aerial reconnaissance support, rear heavy firepower support, and hundreds of B-rank Valkyries led by an S-rank Valkyrie and several A-rank Valkyries!

That wasn't a battle, but a small-scale war.

If it were the highest-ranking assassins or Honkai Beasts from other races, Schicksal would prefer to send an S-rank Valkyrie or several A-rank Valkyries to encircle and annihilate them, but the [Summoner] race is completely different.

Because all the [Summoner] assassins, given enough time, she could form an army all by herself!

The recorded [Summoning Demon God] could summon up to four times simultaneously, and the summoned assassins were not ordinary [Summoner] assassins, nor were they the ordinary or even elite assassins summoned by ordinary [Summoners]; rather, they were a continuous stream of [Summoners]!

Imagine if this [Summoning Demon God] were given some breathing room, the army she could command would increase exponentially with her continuous summoning. No one knows where the limit of the [Summoning Demon God] lies, because no one dares to let her summon continuously.

Therefore, when referring to this special group, those within Destiny prefer to call these [Summoners] "she" rather than "it".

They are the darlings of [Honkai].

Now, a black vortex has quietly appeared in the open space between Bronya and the Titan mech.

Keng Huo also noticed the energy source that had suddenly appeared in the center of the battlefield.

"Have we finally arrived..." Keng Huo murmured, "I've been waiting for you for so long..."

"Mei, how much longer until you get there?" Keng Huo connected to Mei's private communication.

"Estimated arrival time: 48 seconds." Besides Mei's voice, there was also the sound of whistling wind, indicating she was also rushing here with all her might.

Keng Huo had previously ordered the three of them to scatter on the spot in order to seize the time to escape the pursuit range of the Titan mechs. However, the overload mode of the Titan mechs was simply too powerful. Without regard for the lifespan of the transmission shafts, the amazing combat power that their mechs could unleash could instantly multiply several times.

It was precisely because they were relentlessly pursuing Kiana that Keng Huo's plan to have Kiana and the other two disperse and escape from the Titans' pursuit range at top speed was severely disrupted, forcing Kiana to rendezvous with Bronya ahead of schedule to stop the Titans' advance.

Meanwhile, the leader of the mining area had arrived at the battlefield, and the final battle plan could be launched. However, Mei and the other two had retreated in the opposite direction, so it would take them another forty-eight seconds to arrive.

Keng Huo gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. This miscalculation left a lingering resentment in his heart.

According to his plan, these actions should have been linked one after another, closely connected, leaving the enemy no breathing room at all, but the results he received on the spot made him feel powerless.

"Plans can't keep up with changes..." Keng Huo sighed silently. "I... overestimated myself..."

"Forty-eight seconds!" Keng Huo's eyes suddenly turned fierce. "No, it should be forty-three seconds now..."

Kiana! Powerful Shock Bomb!

"Received!" Kiana's reply was crisp and decisive, without the slightest hesitation, as if she had been prepared all along. She had chosen to entrust all her trust to Keng Huo, who was far away in another world.

The powerful shockwave flew toward the [Summoning Mage] who had just emerged from the spatial vortex, as if it had eyes. As expected, the intense shockwave made her lose consciousness before she could even take in the battlefield.

Bronya didn't need any command at all. Almost as soon as Keng Huo finished speaking, she activated the charging of the [Supergravity Field], and flew straight into the sky like a missile, before crashing down towards the target.

"...Then...run! Towards Mei! Sprint with all your might!"

Without any hesitation or doubt, Kiana and Bronya didn't even have time to think. Without hesitation, they followed Keng Huo's instructions and, like two sharp swords, rushed over the two Titan mechs and the Summoning Mage, which were bound by gravity lock, towards the ruins of the shopping mall after the aftershocks of the [Supergravity Field] had ended.

The Titan mechs, bound by gravity lock in overload mode, seemed to be able to break free of gravity lock under the impetus of their recklessly running engines. Although their movements were indeed restricted, they were still able to throw a punch at Kiana and Bronya as they passed by.

But they were still a little short. Bronya and Kiana passed through the enemies without any danger, managing to avoid being touched in the slightest, and successfully entered the mall's walkway. This part of the walkway was relatively well-preserved because it was not in the collapsed area that Bronya had previously calculated. In the middle of the road was a straight walkway, with rows of shops on both sides. Above the walkway was the mall's ceiling, which was tens of meters high. The second and third floors seemed to have been split in the middle, with arches on both sides, as if a path had been cleared for them.

"In that case... we can meet up in about twenty seconds..." Keng Huo's brain was working frantically, as if he wanted to thoroughly analyze the layout of the entire mall in those few short seconds.

This combined attack can only delay the enemy's pursuit for a few seconds. What about the next ten seconds? What will they use to withstand the enemy's pursuit? The Titan mech's pursuit ability in overload mode is simply terrifying, like a battlefield reaper!

With just the two of them facing the enemy, they have absolutely no chance of winning! It's not a matter of holding out for a few seconds; if they were to face the enemy head-on, they would be utterly defeated at the first touch!

Real combat isn't like in games, where if the enemy is a few levels higher than you, you can barely hold out for a few rounds, and with a bit of luck, you might even get a few critical hits and defeat an enemy stronger than yourself.

This is reality! Your attacks cannot break through the opponent's defenses, and you cannot withstand even a single attack from them. Their attack speed is faster than yours, and their reaction time is shorter. What do you have to fight against them?

"You idiot! What's next?!" Kiana yelled into the communicator, seemingly without any intention of considering whether Keng Huo had any further plans. "So what should we do next?"

"Kiana, keep running! To the right where it hasn't collapsed yet! Bronya, use your jetpack to fly up to the second floor where it hasn't collapsed!" Fine beads of sweat appeared on Keng Huo's forehead; he was unusually flustered at this moment.

"If you are willing to believe me..." Keng Huo hesitated slightly, as the current situation had indeed exceeded his expectations.

"Nonsense! You're our commander! Of course we trust you!" Kiana shouted into the communicator, as if she were stating a matter of course.

Keng Huo's heart felt as if it had been struck hard by a sledgehammer, and then cruelly squeezed into a ball by a hand.

"Of course I trust my brother the most!"

Do you believe me?

I believe it.

So……

How could I possibly let you down?!

I failed to protect the person who was willing to trust me with everything they had.

But if there were a second chance...

I hope……

Unbeknownst to the researchers, their commander had somehow disregarded the intense radiation emitted by the [Subspace Mass Projection Device] and removed the helmet from his heavy [Anti-Honkai Radiation Suit].

Keng Huo silently took off the glasses he always wore.

He opened his mouth slightly, as if uttering a barely audible sentence.

"Kiana, maintain your current speed. Turn right in three seconds, then turn left and go upstairs in one second." Keng Huo's voice seemed to have changed completely. It wasn't a change in tone of voice, but rather a change in manner, or even a change in temperament.

If anyone in the research lab, who was busy to the point of exhaustion, were to glance back at Keng Huo in the command room, they would probably be surprised to find that Keng Huo's face was as cold as ice.

Perhaps "icy cold" isn't quite the right word; it's more like an expression of indifference.

Ignoring the enemy, ignoring the battle, ignoring all subjective emotions, and even ignoring one's own existence—this is not an expression that should appear on a human face.

Keng Huo raised his hands and made a gesture in mid-air as if he were waving something away.

Suddenly, the combat screen in front of him split open, revealing a dense array of small windows, increasing the total number by more than a dozen in an instant. The data on the screen was changing rapidly every moment, and even a glance from an ordinary person would be dizzying.

Kiana didn't have time to think about why Keng Huo would issue such a strange order, but she simply followed Keng Huo's instructions subconsciously.

Four seconds later, Kiana saw the still-standing staircase that had miraculously appeared before her.