"...Gulp~" Kiana looked at the scene before her with a terrified expression. Even she had developed a considerable fear of this 'Infinite Abyss'... At this moment, the girl named Yoruichi had completed her challenge... or rather, she had reached her limit.
After continuously defeating twenty-nine waves of Honkai Zombies, Yoruichi still couldn't hold on... Although there was only one Honkai Zombie on the first floor, as she progressed further, the number of Honkai Zombies kept increasing, their agility and attack power became stronger, and different types of Honkai Zombies even appeared... Every ten floors, a Honkai Zombie that could shoot flaming arrows was added.
Through the transparent wall, Li Xuan could also clearly see the Honkai Zombie recorded in the books—the 'Knight-Captain Honkai Zombie', a Honkai Zombie that only exists in B-rank or higher Honkai outbreaks. This type of ranged Honkai Zombie, the Knight-Captain, is much more troublesome than the Guardian Honkai Zombie...
It seems that because this type of Honkai Zombie possesses a certain level of intelligence and special abilities, the arrows it shoots will burst into flames upon hitting an object. Arrows that shoot up into the sky and fall to the ground will even ignite the ground like an incendiary bomb, forming a circular field of fire.
And Yoruichi, who challenged the thirtieth floor, even with her considerably powerful spear skills... which could be said to have reached the realm of 'a spear striking like a dragon' in the hands of a young girl, was ultimately outmatched when facing the thirtieth floor... twenty-eight Guardian Honkai Zombies, two Praetorian Commanders, and three Knight-Captain Honkai Zombies...
"Make way..." The infirmary physicians, led by the busty Dr. Yu Qingqing in white coats, orderly carried a white stretcher and brought the girl down from the battleground.
"...." Are you kidding me? Aren't those monsters virtual beings?! Li Xuan looked at the girl named Yoruichi lying on the stretcher, being hastily carried out by the medical staff. She could actually get injured? Li Xuan suddenly had a bad feeling...
'Could it be that the injuries received in there are also fed back to the nerves and brain?!' Li Xuan thought with a frown. It seemed this was the only possibility... The black technology of this world is truly terrifying... You know, in his previous life, such technology only existed in novels and fantasies...
Also... just how many waves of monsters are there in this challenge?!
"Everyone be careful... it seems that injuries sustained inside will also cause pain and fatigue. Be careful when attacking the monsters... especially that kind of Honkai Zombie that shoots arrows." Li Xuan turned and reminded Mei and Kiana, who were standing beside him, as well as the expressionless Bronya.
"..." Mei bit her lip, her right hand tightly gripping the samurai sword at her waist... She opened her mouth, about to say something, when... a voice interrupted the words that were just on the tip of her tongue.
"Next up is the next contestant..." Theresa's voice was broadcast to everyone's ears. "The contestant from Class 1-B2——'Kiana Kaslana'!"
"It's my turn already?... I thought the main character always appears last?" Kiana said with a grin.
"Kiana, you have to be careful..." Mei said with a hint of worry, reaching out her right hand to hold Kiana's. "If you can't beat them, don't force yourself..." Mei looked at Kiana with a gentle gaze.
"Mhm! Don't worry! I'll definitely win..." Kiana said confidently with a thumbs-up. "Because... I am a warrior of the Kaslana family!"
"...Is this a public display of affection?" The speechless Li Xuan stood next to Bronya, rolled his eyes, and said teasingly. Fortunately, he wasn't a bachelor...
"Mmm..." Bronya frowned, nodded somewhat unhappily, and hummed in response. How could Sister Mei like a moron with an IQ of only nine...
"Ooh ooh!~ Watch me win the championship!" Kiana waved her arms and shouted loudly, resolutely stepping into the space enclosed by the transparent walls...
"Challenge start!" Under the cold electronic female voice, the next moment... the pillar on the ceiling once again emitted a strange fluctuation as endless energy was injected into it...
"Random map generation complete... Arena... Weather - Light Rain." As the electronic female voice fell, the scene before Kiana's eyes rapidly began to change... The ground was replaced by white tiles with black patterns, and the venue transformed into a high-altitude arena environment...
"Drip, drop, drip, drop..." Raindrops suddenly began to fall from the gloomy sky. The crystal-clear raindrops dripped onto the ground... The originally virtual rain quickly wet the ground after falling, feeling as real as if it were the real world... Kiana, in the heavy rain, could even clearly feel the cold sensation left by the raindrops on her body after they soaked her clothes...
"First floor begins..." The electronic female voice echoed in the arena space. On the arena, which had become somewhat hazy in the heavy rain, a Honkai Zombie holding a scythe appeared out of thin air...
"Mom, please protect me..." Kiana put away her carefree expression, and a rare look of seriousness appeared on her usually goofy face... Although Kiana's academic performance was quite poor because an accident made her unable to read, her practical combat ability was one of the best in St. Freya High School...
"Then let's do this!" Kiana showed a surprisingly cool expression, drawing dual pistols from the holsters on her thighs and rushing towards the Honkai Zombie... In the heavy rain, the falling raindrops hit the silver and yellow casings of Kiana's dual pistols. The moon-shaped parts connected to the grips emitted a faint, pure moonlight in the somewhat dark environment...
This was the four-star weapon Kiana had always treasured and never used—'Guardian of the Moon God'.
"Ha!" Kiana shouted loudly, her entire body leaping up fiercely. Her slender right leg kicked towards the Honkai Zombie in front of her without reservation... The Guardian Honkai Zombie had no time to swing its scythe before it was kicked, and its entire body was sent flying, falling to the ground without a sound...
Kiana, having easily dealt with the first floor, had no time for idle talk. The next moment... two Guardian Honkai Zombies walked out from nothingness...
Just like that... under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Kiana continuously defeated the appearing Honkai Zombies. She narrowly dodged the flaming arrows shot by the Knight-Captain Honkai Zombie on the tenth floor. On the twentieth floor, twenty Guardian Honkai Zombies, one Praetorian Commander, and two Knight-Captain Honkai Zombies forced her to start kiting and attacking. After using her 'Guardian of the Moon God' to take down the Knight-Captain Honkai Zombie and the Praetorian Commander with ranged shots, she dared to quickly finish off the scattered Honkai Zombies at close range...
"Hah... hah..." Kiana gasped for air, sweat from her forehead mixed with rainwater dripping to the ground, making it hard for her to tell which was real. She was finally feeling the sense of powerlessness when facing endless Honkai Zombies...
In fact, what was terrifying was not just the intense pain from the Honkai Zombies' attacks... but also the despair of not knowing how many more waves of Honkai Zombies there would be, and the fatigue from the intense physical exertion...
"How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!..." Kiana couldn't help but curse. It had taken her a full hour of kiting to wear down and kill the thirty-two Guardian Honkai Zombies, three Knight-Captain Honkai Zombies, and two Praetorian Commanders of the thirty-second wave...
But... this goddamn thirty-third wave that appeared before her consisted of thirty-three Guardian Honkai Zombies, three Praetorian Commanders, three Knight-Captain Honkai Zombies, and one Undead Honkai Zombie that she had only ever seen in books. That wasn't even all... but she really wanted to grab her dear Great-Auntie by the collar and ask what the legendary Honkai Beast 'Blazing Lightning' standing in the center of the field was?!
Is this supposed to kill her?! Kiana felt she had never been so indignant in her life...
One Praetorian Commander Honkai Zombie was equivalent to three ordinary Guardian Honkai Zombies. This type of Honkai Zombie was constantly wreathed in a mist of Honkai energy. When it swung its sharper scythe, it could strike twice in a row, and its body could even twist unnaturally in mid-air to hit its target...
And the other type of Honkai Zombie... the 'Undead Honkai Zombie' was even more terrifying. It was surrounded by two dark red coffins... and almost every few minutes, a Guardian Honkai Zombie would emerge from a coffin... If given enough time, it could definitely fill the entire field with an army of Honkai Zombies...
As for 'Blazing Lightning', Kiana was already speechless. According to her memory, this Honkai Beast... could use Honkai energy to propel its body to appear in front of you in an instant. Its right limb, wreathed in lightning and fire, would swing down quickly. A direct hit would not only cause fractures but also paralyze a person...
"There's no other way..." Kiana gritted her teeth and looked at the places on her body where she had been accidentally hit by Honkai Zombies... Even though it was only virtual, she could still feel the pain as if she had been cut by a knife. 'One last time...' After this floor, she would just admit defeat...
Kiana took a deep breath, and holding her dual pistols, she resolutely charged into the horde of Honkai Zombies, fighting them at close range as if on a suicide mission...
"Kiana is?..." Li Xuan, walking not far away, watched Kiana suddenly rush into the Honkai Zombie horde with confusion... If she took it slow, wouldn't she still have a chance to win? Shouldn't she be conserving and recovering her stamina now...
"Kiana..." Mei's sparkling eyes watched Kiana on the stage, the worry in them not diminishing in the slightest...
At this moment... Theresa, who was also watching Kiana, had stood up at some point without realizing it. She faintly saw the figure of that woman in Kiana...
As Kiana fought at close range within the Honkai Zombie horde, taking injuries, the Honkai Zombies also inevitably, or rather subconsciously, gathered around Kiana. Even 'Blazing Lightning' teleported to Kiana's vicinity. If it weren't for the circle of Honkai Zombies surrounding Kiana, preventing it from getting close for a moment, Kiana would have likely been taken out by it long ago...
"Now's the time!!..." Kiana saw that apart from the Undead Honkai Zombie she had kited and killed at the beginning, all the other Honkai Zombies had gathered around her, a flash of determination in her eyes...
"You're all going to die!" Kiana used what little strength she had left, stomped on the Honkai Zombie in front of her, and leaped backward. Her body did a flip in mid-air and she landed somewhat unsteadily behind the circle of Honkai Zombies that had just been surrounding her...
The Honkai energy within Kiana's body continuously gathered and twisted in her hands... The Honkai energy, which had the 'rules' to warp the world, operated under the special control of the Kaslana family's 'magic'... A rectangular object faintly appeared in front of Kiana...
"Roar roar!!" The horde of Honkai Zombies and the Honkai Beast turned around due to Kiana's sudden departure and charged in a line towards Kiana, who was not far from them...
"What is this?!... No, lower the transparency to the minimum!" Theresa, seeing Kiana's sudden action, frantically commanded the system.
The originally transparent walls suddenly turned pitch black... Kiana, who had been fully exposed to everyone's view in a tough fight, was now completely hidden, leaving only dark walls...
A gun resembling a cannon appeared in front of Kiana. It had a silver casing, a streamlined cylindrical body, a muzzle diameter of a full two meters, and a grip that required both of Kiana's hands to hold...
Kiana poured all her strength into the cannon before her. A faint light rippled, converging at the muzzle into a dazzling beam of light. The brilliant light was like a blooming flower of light, turning the entire world into daylight under its radiance.
"The light is gathering... What is this?!" Because the transparency of the wall was turned off, only Theresa and Murata Himeko could see what was happening on the field. Himeko said in surprise. She had never heard of such a thing, let alone a weapon.
"Do you know what the weapon used by the Allfather Odin in Norse mythology is called?" Theresa looked at the gathering light and said softly. "Legend has it that it was forged by the command of the dwarf Dvalinn (Son of Ivaldi), with a branch of the World Tree as its main body. Because Odin used it, it caused the irreversible 'Ragnarok'..."
"Because when it is thrown, it will emit a bright light that streaks across the sky. People on the ground call it 'lightning', another saying is 'meteor.'"
"It is called... Gungnir or the Meteor Spear... it can also be called..."
Its name is—
"Gungnir..." Kiana shouted the name of the gun in her hands... The light at the muzzle suddenly dimmed, and the silver casing opened up, like that brief moment of calm before a storm...
"Fire!"
Boundless light flowed...
Infinite light roared...
The heavy cannon, with its power unleashed, its muzzle suddenly burst forth with light, pouring out and transforming into a majestic pillar of light. The night was lost, and even the virtual thick clouds in the sky were illuminated as if it were day. This gushing stream of light rolled up countless vortexes, completely swallowing the night and the rain.
A dazzling pillar of light, like a meteor, instantly engulfed the figures of the Honkai Zombies and the Honkai Beast that were lined up...
'He who holds this spear shall rule the world.' Theresa looked at the light that illuminated her eyes and silently recited the legendary phrase in her heart...
(End of Chapter)