"Kacha."

His body, contorting and vibrating, continuously emitted a cringe-inducing grinding sound.

Lu Xing's movement as he held the spear was extremely slow, but regardless, the spear tip would pierce his own body in a few tens of seconds.

From the Emperor's current actions, and the one-sided dialogue just now, Shesha finally understood what was happening to Lu Xing:

"A Herrscher!?"

After the cry of surprise, Shesha could only watch helplessly.

But certain existences wouldn't just give up the ghost without a sound.

"Bastard!"

"Are you insane!?"

Frantic and furious roars echoed in the mental world, undoubtedly originating from the Herrscher of Sentience possessing Lu Xing.

But curses couldn't solve any problems.

Aside from the small question at the very beginning, Lu Xing showed no intention of responding to the Herrscher of Sentience, his hands still firmly guiding the lance towards his core.

It was hard to say if Lu Xing had gone mad.

The Herrscher of Sentience truly couldn't hold on much longer—she was currently completely unable to break free from Lu Xing's body. To avoid detection by Lu Xing, the spiritual power she had used to possess him wasn't much to begin with; its main purpose was to serve as a backup, and also to "incidentally" sway the Black Knight's thoughts in the process.

But!

With her main body "dead."

This awakened wisp of consciousness had no way to receive spiritual power support.

Lu Xing's spiritual power was very strong, but his mastery of mental-type skills wasn't refined—thanks to this, the Herrscher of Sentience, forcibly trapped within Lu Xing's body by his spiritual power field, could still offer some slight resistance in terms of body control, preventing her from being completely overwhelmed.

But not for much longer...

"You're committing suicide!"

"Shesha's ability can't save you! The Herrscher Core is attached to your core; no matter how many times you resurrect, I will be reborn alongside you!"

Lu Xing didn't reply to the Herrscher of Sentience's words; his motion of thrusting the spear tip showed not a hint of hesitation.

"Stop this meaningless act at once!"

"Since our goal is to destroy humanity, can't we cooperate fully?"

"Pa."

As a piece of pitch-black, translucent armor plating fell from the front of his body.

The Herrscher of Sentience was truly panicking—she had told him all the pros and cons, but looking at the Black Knight... even if it meant resurrecting repeatedly until he dropped to Ranger-class, he was determined to fight her to the death!

She had possessed him.

It was to gain a loyal subordinate and a reliable means of resurrection, not to become a weak and powerless lower-tier Honkai Beast!

No!

If the Black Knight truly steeled his heart to kill her completely, the only trace of her left in this world...

恐怕就是那个.

Would probably be that.

即将被人类利用,毫无自我可言的"神之键"了!

The "Key of God," about to be exploited by humans, devoid of any self!

————

"Ange."

Lu Xing finally spoke the Herrscher of Sentience's name.

But this didn't reassure her—the sharp spear blade had already pierced the armor and was continuously advancing inwards.

"We could have been friends."

The reason Lu Xing chose to help Ange become a Herrscher was simple. His only demand at the time was for her to swear allegiance to the Honkai.

For this, he had even risked potential exposure to carry out his plan in a city of tens of millions.

"At worst, we could have been comrades advancing hand in hand."

Herrschers were high and mighty.

This wasn't a particularly serious matter in Lu Xing's eyes.

As the supreme combat power on the Honkai's side, their strength gave them the qualification to speak as such.

Lu Xing wasn't particularly magnanimous; he was indeed dissatisfied with Ange's attitude after she became a Herrscher, but he only intended to make her suffer a bit, never planning to set a trap to kill her—regardless, the existence of a Herrscher was a great supplement to the Honkai's side.

Incidentally.

An Emperor-class like Moyuli, who didn't know what was good for her, was far more useful dead than alive.

Until...

The Herrscher of Sentience used the opportunity of helping him recover to inject her own consciousness along with Honkai energy into Lu Xing's body.

Other things could be excused.

Even if he couldn't understand, Lu Xing could categorize her actions as "thoughtless."

But it was precisely this calculated move, this attempt to control him, that truly aroused Lu Xing's killing intent—the measures he had previously left in place as precautions all became catalysts in the process of killing the Herrscher.

Until this very moment.

"It's a pity..."

"Kcha!"

The lance had already touched the surface of the Honkai Core; it only needed a gentle push forward—

"Farewell, Ange."

"CRACK!!"

————

The core shattered.

An exaggeratedly vast amount of Honkai energy churned and roiled madly in the air; the entire sky was stained the deepest shade of purple.

Within it—

"NO!!!"

A shriek, laced with unwillingness, indignation, and countless complex emotions, repeatedly washed through the mental world.

3 minutes, 5 minutes... a full 15 minutes later.

"Hey!"

Shesha, somewhat dazed.

Was staring blankly at the lance floating in the air, and... the "gem" that slowly revolved around the lance like a phantom.

It had initially thought the Emperor was just putting on a show, expressing the firmness of his will to the Herrscher of Sentience—that after committing suicide, he would quickly reawaken from the wreckage.

But he hadn't...

After waiting for so long, Shesha didn't detect any familiar aura reviving from the place where the two had "died."

"Hey!"

"Emperor!"

"Hey..."

"Don't shout so loudly."

"I'm not far; I can hear you."

Shesha, finally hearing the familiar voice, hurriedly turned around—

"Wha...t!?"

There, it saw a figure with an extremely familiar color scheme, but a rather unfamiliar appearance... no, not that unfamiliar either:

[Big Universe]

"No need to doubt."

"Shesha, you won't find another Ranger-class capable of making you fly in the sky."

Skipping the "this isn't you" retort.

Lu Xing directly used actions to show Shesha his identity and the reason—its performance just now was enough to prove that Shesha, no, Sheshe, was qualified to truly become his confidant.

This [Big Universe] individual.

Was an avatar created by Lu Xing using the [Fission] ability after he killed Moyuli and before the Herrscher of Sentience appeared.

To prevent the Herrscher from discovering any abnormality,

This [Big Universe], created for "insurance purposes," actually hadn't been allocated many attribute points—with the main body dead, relying on a mere Ranger-class to turn the tables was almost impossible.

Making a comeback.

Moreover, it lacked sufficient Honkai energy and a relatively safe environment.

But all these prerequisites would be completely shattered upon the completion of the advancement mission—

"Sheshe."

Shesha still hadn't gotten used to the new name Lu Xing had given it.

"Move a little further away from me..."

"If you get caught in the fallout, it could be a big problem."

The mission was already complete.

Lu Xing had suppressed himself for so long without appearing precisely to confirm whether the external environment was safe—although the plan was quite meticulous, given the huge commotion just now... if Kevin and the others had left a bit slower, they might still have been drawn back.

As for now...

Everything was ready; there was no need to hold back any longer!

"Zzennngg!!"

A dazzling golden light shone in the sky!

Lu Xing began... his evolution into a Honkai Emperor.