Faced with the sudden appearance of the Temple-class.

The entire small team instantly entered combat mode—the Serval leaped to one side, awaiting an opportunity to ambush; the twins and the Shadow Dancer charged directly to the forefront to act as vanguards; the Ranger, along with the Loli Demon God, pulled back to create distance, while the Guard, as always, stood beside the Loli Demon God.

The Loli Demon God had never seen a Lv.60 Temple-class.

However, based on the experience gained from [Appraisal], she knew very well that the limit for lower-tier Honkai Beasts was Lv.60; after all, she herself was at such a threshold.

A Honkai Beast that could reach this level.

Even if it couldn't defeat an Emperor-class, escaping from one should still be possible. Such a level of power definitely posed a threat to her and her squad.

However...

Faced with the poised Variant Deadman squad, the red Temple-class made no hostile moves, not even raising its weapon.

"Humans."

"Don't be so tense."

A somewhat gloomy voice resounded in the Loli Demon God's mind.

If she still possessed the physiological function of sweating, the Loli Demon God's forehead would undoubtedly be covered in beads of perspiration—both before and now, these two voices did not originate from the Temple-class before her!

It was evident from its name.

This Temple-class belonged to a Honkai Beast legion led by some "Emperor-class"!

All facts indicated...

"Rustle."

Sand and stones tumbled underfoot.

The earth trembled faintly.

Unbeknownst to them, a mist shimmering with electrical sparks had already enveloped the surrounding scenery, completely sealing off all escape routes.

And within that mist—

A snake head, nearly two stories tall, slowly revealed itself.

Pitch-black scales covered its body like armor, with dark gold patterns extending along its long neck deep into the dense fog.

Its vertical pupils, larger than lanterns, slowly approached the Loli Demon God—overflowing lightning crackled wildly at the outer corners of its eyes.

And terrifying snake heads like this...

A full five of them appeared!

"We can..."

"Hiss, talk things over properly."

Name: Shesha

Level: 70

Others: Unknown

Utterly motionless.

This wasn't a question of wanting to move, but whether they could—all the Deadmen, including the Loli Demon God, were forcibly rooted to the spot.

This was Shesha in his "True Darkened" form.

Although his level was suppressed at the peak of Emperor-class, still lacking certain key elements to return to Judgement-class, his actual strength was likely no less than his own at his peak.

Among the three abilities Shesha mastered.

[Infinity] was undoubtedly the one with the most potential—this ability, which could be described as overturning life and death, in Lu Xing's view, had even more plasticity than the "Withering and Creation" authority of the current era's Herrscher of Death, which had not yet fully unleashed its power.

Lu Xing had suggested Shesha ponder this talent himself.

Unexpectedly, Shesha, whose mind had been continuously enlightened since following him, had actually managed to concoct a new skill:

[Serpent's Gaze]

[Serpent's Gaze: Suppresses the target's physiological activity and Honkai energy activity. Can exert a lethal effect on targets with a lower level than oneself.]

Currently.

The ability controlling the Deadman squad was a weakened version of [Serpent's Gaze].

If unleashed at full power, Shesha's "what'cha gonna do 'bout it stare" possessed the ability to instantly kill lower-tier Honkai Beasts—even fellow Emperor-class Honkai Beasts would have their strength greatly suppressed; with sufficient preparation (time), even Judgement-class beings would be affected.

After mastering this new skill.

Shesha even had the nerve to go look for Cheche for a spar... and then got beaten so badly he couldn't find his way north.

Although Cheche appeared in the form of a Honkai Beast, as a "Whoa!-grade" weapon that had absorbed a Herrscher Core, its Constitution of 310 points clearly demonstrated just how tough it was.

Shesha's [Serpent's Gaze] didn't even have time to take effect before Cheche took him down with a simple [Pounce] followed by [Heavy Crush], pinning him to the ground without a chance to retaliate, K.O.'d in a single move.

Ever since then.

Shesha had lost his chance to show off.

He definitely couldn't beat the Emperor (wouldn't even dare to think about it), and the two aquatic Variants weren't on the Australian mainland. The only ones he could truly lord it over were the four Temples that had been exalted by the Emperor's power.

But the four Temples...

When the Emperor bestowed attributes upon them, a very small portion of Herrscher authority flowed into them.

The War Temple's flames, the Plague Temple's spirit, the Famine Temple's space, and the Death Temple's lightning.

Fighting one on one was Shesha bullying them.

But if all four were to attack together... Shesha could certainly win, but each victory was always somewhat pathetic.

The key was.

The four Temples were the Emperor's personal guard; he didn't dare to damage them too badly.

If he couldn't go all out, he was very likely to be suppressed—don't look at the four Temples as still being lower-tier Honkai Beasts; Shesha could already see a shadow of Lu Xing's "Black Knight" persona from back then in them.

Finally.

Some new faces appeared in the legion's territory.

These humans infected by Honkai energy... Hiss, although they were also part of the Honkai side, Shesha really didn't consider them his own people. As a Judgement-class Honkai Beast second only to Herrschers, if not for Lu Xing's "meticulous tutelage" during this period, with Shesha's arrogance, he probably wouldn't have paid any mind to anyone weaker than him.

Shesha's bad habits had been unknowingly corrected by Lu Xing for the most part.

What bad intentions could Sheshe have nowadays?

He just wanted a chance to show off his strength—having followed the Emperor for so long, that feeling of "Struggle all you like, everything is under my control," Shesha desperately wanted to experience it!

These tiny humans before him.

As targets, they were simply perfect!

"Humans."

The snake's slightly chilling tone made the already immobilized Loli Demon God's thoughts begin to slow down as well.

"Were you, just now, badmouthing this... Emperor?"

When mentioning the word "Emperor," Shesha subconsciously (cautiously) shrank his head—but then again, he was indeed an Emperor-class Honkai Beast now, so there was absolutely no problem with him addressing himself as such!

As for the Loli Demon God who heard this...

Half of Shesha's body was already revealed outside the dense fog.

Looking at the familiar black and gold intertwined scales on the other party, and the power that belonged to an Emperor-class, or perhaps even a higher level, the Loli Demon God could basically confirm that she had encountered the true master of this legion.

"Great Emperor."

"We meant no offense. We came here merely to thank you for your previous assistance, and we desperately seek your protection—because we have glimpsed certain secrets, we are being hunted by humans."

"Your..."

Shesha didn't hear the latter few sentences.

Upon hearing "previous assistance," his originally razor-sharp snake eyes now looked towards the War Temple at his side with a slightly dazed gaze:

"?"

"Lord Shesha."

The War Temple nodded slightly towards Shesha in acknowledgment.

"The Emperor's 'Wings' did indeed save these 'humans' not long ago. My purpose in coming here was also to guide them before the King's throne."

"..."

"Thwack!"

The War Temple was blindsided by a sudden tail whip, sent flying directly into the distant fog.

"This damn brat!"

"He must be retaliating for me using him as a punching bag earlier..."

Shesha grumbled as he left the scene.

Only the Loli Demon God, now freed from restraint, and her teammates remained, staring at each other with heads full of question marks—

"??"