NOVEL WEB Chapter 11: Heaven-Opening
"Detecting high-concentration Honkai energy reaction. Energy level exceeding 80HW."
Outside the academy, inside an armored command vehicle, alarms flashed red.
Unlike the fantastical portrayals in popular media, Fire Moth operated with scientific precision. Large screens displayed images from unmanned aerial vehicles; Fire Moth soldiers rapidly typed on keyboards; strategists adjusted plans.
"Satellite imagery confirms high-energy reaction near the fifth-floor classroom building. Confirmed as a common Honkai Emperor-class."
"Aerial sweep 70% complete. Second and third squads initiating infiltration."
"Fifth squad located two survivors in the storm drains. Confirmed as Chiba Academy students."
Himiko, the field commander, looked up. The screens showed Kevin and Mei's files. She was surprised they'd escaped the Honkai's epicenter, but quickly shifted her attention to another screen.
The screen resembled a weather map, the central area radiating a pale orange. Fire Moth usually judged enemy strength by Honkai energy levels. While far below the terrifying 2000HW Honkai energy of the Herrscher of the Void, this was still a significant event.
These students were lucky. Under normal circumstances, the affected population would easily exceed several thousand.
Himiko sighed quietly, adjusting her tone. "Classify the incident as medium-level. All frontline squads initiate harassment tactics. Keep that monster locked down; it absolutely cannot reach Nagazora City."
The clicking of keyboards echoed; the high-efficiency communication system relayed the orders. Fire Moth had confronted Honkai countless times worldwide, developing a rigorous procedure.
"Team Leader, aren't you deploying?" Rose whispered, excitement in her eyes.
"Is your hand itching?"
"Yes, didn't headquarters send the latest individual combat gear?"
"Contain yourself. There will be plenty of opportunities to face stronger enemies. A soldier's priority is self-preservation." Himiko patted her subordinate's head, a hint of worry in her eyes, then smiled brightly. "Deploy decoy units; lure that monster to the abandoned housing area in the north. Alert the branch office; prepare cruise missile strikes. These monsters shouldn't underestimate our firepower."
The operators grimaced. Sufficient ordnance could level that abandoned housing area—Himiko's battle report would mention it.
But they knew that taking down a Honkai Emperor would require at least a hundred casualties. The Lieutenant understood the weight of human lives versus a report.
"Far East Branch, this is 'Cloud Swallow' command. Lieutenant Himiko's orders…" The communications officer paused, stunned. On the UAV feed, the terrifying monster was airborne; then, a crimson beam appeared on the screen.
"Lieutenant, look!"
"Huh?" Himiko was planning the aftermath—a large-scale gas explosion, mobilizing the online disinformation team, etc. Hearing the call, she instinctively turned.
She saw the lingering beam, the collapsing buildings, the scene resembling a massive bomb detonation, scattering debris everywhere.
Someone was fighting? Wait, Chiba Academy…
She remembered something; her pupils constricted, a word escaping her lips.
"That bastard is fighting a Honkai Emperor alone!?"
...
Interesting. So this is a Honkai Emperor. Far stronger than a Templar-Class; it survived a full-power thrust.
Ryan surveyed the surrounding debris, feeling like he'd faced a storm. The lingering shockwave ruffled his clothes.
He ignored Fire Moth's shock, intently focusing on the flashes within the 'dark cloud,' his eyes filled with scientific curiosity.
'Long-range Honkai energy manipulation. I want to know how you do it.'
Whoosh—
In an instant, dazzling light erupted beneath his feet, like a geyser bursting from the earth, pulverizing everything within ten meters.
Bricks dissolved; dust vanished as if erased. Ryan felt a burning sensation on his back.
"A sneak attack?"
He rolled on the ground, catching a glimpse of the rotating geyser shearing through his hair. He quickly leaped up, spun, and plunged his spear into the ground.
Earth Burst.
Boom!!
A similar surge of scorching Honkai energy erupted, colliding with the rotating beam, canceling and annihilating each other. Ryan's knees bent, springing his body away.
Whizz, whizz, whizz!
Beams appeared as if from the void, piercing through the dispersed energy, relentlessly pursuing him, only stopping when he entered the half-collapsed classroom building.
This was a tiered classroom; the fallen ceiling had pulverized the lectern. Dust filled the air. Ryan adjusted his breathing, estimating the Honkai Beast's range, then took a deep breath, suppressing his fatigue.
Instinctively, it would come.
Rumble…
Amidst a low rumble, one wall was shattered; the silvery Honkai Emperor pressed forward, a hollow cavity in its chest, surrounded by a spiderweb of cracks.
Enemies met, eyes locked. Without hesitation, it charged, mirroring Ryan's attack.
Sudden Advance.
The desk shattered. Ryan watched the 'dumper truck,' intending to meet it head-on, but seeing the high-speed rotating rhomboid structures around it, he quickly rolled aside.
Whizz!
The air hissed; the rhomboid structures emitted meter-long blades, spinning at high speed around its body, instantly obliterating anything they touched.
It wasn't a dumper truck; it was a concrete mixer, an incredibly agile one. After passing Ryan, defying physics, it instantly reversed, charging again.
Slightly troublesome.
Ryan glanced at his right arm; his clothes were torn, a deep burn marring his flesh. Under high-energy beams, flesh was as fragile as paper. Yet, his expression remained unchanged; his brain raced.
'During its attack, it can't use Imaginary Space for movement, but my physical endurance isn't comparable to this silicon-based life form.'
The decision was instantaneous. As the 'concrete mixer' approached, he reacted.
Charge!
Ryan advanced, not retreating, facing the dazzling beams, his right hand reversing his grip on the spear.
His feet stopped; his heels dug into the ground, abruptly halting the beast's advance. The inertia traveled from the ground to his hips, then to his right arm. He bent low, unleashing all his strength.
Comet Thrust!
The spear left his hand, a comet hurtling forward, its shockwave gouging a straight furrow in the floor.
The high-speed counter-attack, a distance of less than ten meters, was almost instantaneous. The Honkai Beast, showing no surprise, only reacted instinctively, slowing, its spinning blades intersecting like crisscrossing sword light.
Clang—
A deafening clang echoed as the black spear flew into the air, smashing a large hole through several floors.
The most rational response. The Honkai Beast ignored the flying spear, focusing on its target—
Where is it?
Ryan had vanished. Or perhaps, the moment he released the spear, he moved at maximum speed, appearing before the Honkai Beast.
Blades whirred above his head, capable of slicing through armored tanks like tofu, but he ignored them, stepping forward, embracing the Honkai Beast, unleashing a devastating right hook aimed at its ribs.
Concentrating all his mind and strength, life and death hinging on this single strike—
Inch-Fist. Heaven-Opening!
Honkai energy, friction with the air, creating crimson streaks of light, flashing like climbing stars, striking the Honkai Beast's cracked chest with devastating force.
Time seemed to freeze; then, the intensely compressed Honkai energy exploded within the monster's body.
Boom— Roar—
Like a sudden eruption of flames, the ominous classroom building was hollowed out. The dispersed shockwave swept away the dust.
Vision returned. Fully armed Fire Moth soldiers stopped, Himiko at the forefront, unconsciously lowering her weapon.
She dazedly raised a hand, removing a piece of silvery debris from her hair—a fragment of the Honkai Beast's "flesh"—then stared blankly ahead.
The several-thousand-square-meter classroom building had been bisected. Amidst the rubble, only the incomplete lower half of the Honkai Beast remained. Before the corpse stood a dark-haired man, maintaining a forward leaning stance.
Complete silence, then the sound of a weapon being lowered. The fully armed Fire Moth soldiers stood rigid, like statues.
Thud.
The energy-depleted lower body fell to the ground, rolling down the slope of the rubble like discarded trash.
The man on the rubble finally lowered his fist, slowly straightening. Despite his tattered clothes, he exuded a more powerful aura than the fully equipped soldiers.
"This Honkai incident… is over."