Using a move that combined the explosive properties of [One-Inch Punch: Heaven Splitter] and [Sea Tiger Destructive Punch], Leo Ash not only shattered Chiyou's core but also used the power of the Herrscher of Thunder's authority to partially disintegrate it on the spot.
Although some fragments of Chiyou's core remained, it was obvious that the giant beast could not survive after its heart had been pulverized.
However, its death was now a certainty, but that didn't mean the battle was over.
After all—the System's reward hadn't arrived yet!
Which meant that a great danger still existed around Leo Ash!
Looking at the Seven Thunders of Retribution floating near the heart, just as he was about to fall, Leo Ash grabbed the tachi that was emitting a thunderous glow.
And the moment he pulled the Divine Key from Chiyou's body...
[Ding, the reward has been sent to your mailbox. Please check it yourself, Host.]
The notification he had been waiting for finally popped up in his mind.
*Ah, it's over.*
*Finally...*
*—it's over.*
His strength completely depleted, Leo Ash began to fall from the sky alone.
And at that moment, having defeated the formidable enemy, countless images flashed before Leo Ash's eyes.
In the original story of Honkai Impact 3rd, during the Xuanyuan Arc and Chiyou Arc, the difficulties the main characters had to face were not this absurd.
In the original story, when Himeko started her operation with the main trio, they did encounter mechs led by Sin Mal, but they never got to fight.
And at that time, although Chiyou could move, it was still under the seal of Danzhu and Cangxuan.
Even after swallowing the main characters and Sin, it had yet to display the power befitting the strongest Honkai Beast of the Current Era.
But in the subsequent plot, a small problem occurred.
The main characters mistook the seal set by Danzhu and Cangxuan inside Chiyou for its [core], and used the Hyperion's main cannon, which could only be fired twice, to help Chiyou break the seal.
It was because of this that Chiyou became even more terrifying and rampant.
If the group hadn't stopped the corrupted Ji Lin inside Chiyou and also destroyed its heart, Chiyou would have likely continued its rampage.
It was precisely because Leo Ash was referencing the original story, where there were only a few key points, that he thought the difficulty of this mission wouldn't be that high.
But he had clearly been overthinking things.
When this incident began, someone had already secretly infiltrated Chiyou's body and released the seal left behind by Danzhu and Cangxuan at the cost of their lives.
And the group, unable to enter Chiyou's body, could only attack it from the outside.
As everyone knows, dismantling an enemy's core from the inside versus hacking them down from the outside are two completely different levels of difficulty.
What's more, Chiyou was a Judgment-class Honkai Beast. The Honkai Beast armor and muscles it used to protect its heart were not defenses the group could easily break through.
If things had stopped there, Leo Ash still wouldn't have had to risk his life.
Siegfried and Theresa were often looked down upon by the player community, but in Leo Ash's eyes, two powerhouses who could use Divine Keys and even activate their Zeroth Power were clearly super-thighs to cling to.
Theresa did everything right; she did indeed break the enemy's defense with her Divine Grace Field.
Siegfried also did everything right; he risked his life to unleash Judgment of Shamash Unleashed, hitting the enemy's core with that devastating blow.
So where did the problem lie—who the hell knew that there was a Herrscher Core inside Chiyou!
If it weren't for the Seven Thunders of Retribution being inside Chiyou and being absorbed and utilized by it, Leo Ash wouldn't have had to take such a risk.
Leo Ash's powerful assault using Raiden Mei's power was actually inspired by the plot in the Anti-Entropy Invasion Arc, where the Herrscher of Thunder's personality attached its power to Kiana wearing the [White Comet] battlesuit.
But, although he successfully borrowed the power, he also truly felt—just how dangerous this power was.
It was only thanks to Raiden Mei's regulation and the [ability to absorb Honkai Energy and convert it into corresponding elemental attacks] characteristic of the Key of Domination that Leo Ash wasn't instantly disintegrated by the power of the Herrscher of Thunder.
But even so, he felt that his body had been quite severely eroded by Honkai Energy this time.
So all of this was actually caused by that bastard who dismantled the two seals and even gave Chiyou a Divine Key.
*Natasha Cioara—that bitch is definitely inside Chiyou.*
Before Leo Ash's head hit the ground, Bronya, who was closest to him and still had normal mobility, immediately commanded Project Bunny to fly up and catch him.
Then, she looked at Leo Ash's right hand, which was tightly gripping the tachi, and said with great tension.
"Brother Leo, your body—"
"Kid, let go!"
Siegfried, who was kneeling on one knee, saw the Honkai Energy corrosion on Leo Ash's right hand worsening. He forced himself to get up and pulled the Divine Key from Leo Ash's hand.
At the moment Siegfried completed this action, the Honkai Energy patterns on Leo Ash's right hand finally stopped spreading.
Siegfried, holding the Divine Key, confirmed that the Honkai Energy on Leo Ash's body was not spreading further and let out a huge sigh of relief.
Divine Keys were indeed powerful weapons for Honkai warriors, but with great power came great risk.
Of course, the Key of Domination used by Cheng Lixue and Leo Ash was much weaker than a normal Divine Key, so it didn't carry such a heavy burden.
But ordinary Divine Keys were not so 'gentle'.
In the past, Schicksal's selection requirements for Valkyries were much stricter than they are now. At that time, apart from the group of Divine Key users, the four members of the strongest Snow Wolf Squad had all tried to use a normal Divine Key one by one.
And the results of their attempts could only be described as terrible—the moment any of them gripped Abyss Flower, their arms would be eroded by the Divine Key's power.
The four members of the Snow Wolf Squad, aside from Cecilia, were the strongest elites of Schicksal at the time. In today's assessment environment, they could probably all be promoted to S-rank.
If even powerhouses of their level had their bodies eroded by Honkai Energy just by holding Abyss Flower, then other Valkyries weaker than them would only suffer a more tragic fate if they touched a Divine Key.
Siegfried couldn't quite judge Leo Ash's strength.
But he felt that if Leo Ash continued to fight with his current mindset and methods, the probability of his death would only increase.
He was only seventeen now. When Siegfried was seventeen...
Oh, he was still a runaway from home.
Looking at it this way, Siegfried found Leo Ash even more 'terrifying'.
But now, Siegfried had no intention of staying to admonish Leo Ash.
He was certain that a person with a resolute character like Leo Ash would not change because of a few words from him.
Just like when Welt told Siegfried to give up on Cecilia back then, he had only wanted to give Welt a big slap in the face.
Besides, Siegfried didn't have time to stay here any longer.
If he didn't leave soon, Kiana would return to the battlefield and see him.
And if Sirin inside Kiana were to awaken at this time, the half-crippled Siegfried and Theresa, even if they fought together with all their might, would only be easily defeated and killed on the spot by Sirin.
*There's no time. Because of that damn plan of Otto's, I can't stay here any longer.*
*And the Third Divine Key...*
With a soft sigh, Siegfried still placed the tachi gently at his feet.
Leaving the Third Divine Key here would only strengthen Schicksal's forces. From that perspective, as someone now in the Anti-Entropy camp, he should have taken the tachi with him.
But if he took the Third Divine Key, Theresa would surely have to bear more pressure.
"What a pain."
In the end, Siegfried still left the tachi on the ground. Without another word to anyone, he chose to depart from their sight.
Watching Siegfried leave, Bronya looked at the dying Leo Ash and said helplessly.
"Brother Leo, before you pass out, is there anything else you want to say?"
"Pools of wine... forests of meat... my ambition..."
Seeing Bronya staring at him speechlessly, Leo Ash found his joke fell flat and closed his eyes.
"Never mind, no more jokes. Tell the Headmaster, the appearance of this Divine Key here means someone definitely got inside Chiyou."
"That person is the culprit behind Chiyou's rampage! Send people to capture her! And absolutely do not kill her!"
"She is an excellent source of intelligence. We absolutely cannot let her die before we've squeezed every last bit of information out of her!"
After saying these words, Leo Ash's face gradually became contorted. Then, his head suddenly tilted to the side, and he completely lost consciousness in the arms of Project Bunny.
Listening to Leo Ash's words, Bronya actually felt a sense of relief in her heart.
After all, being smart, the moment she saw this Divine Key, she had guessed that this incident had nothing to do with Cocolia.
But her guess was one thing; if others still thought Cocolia was behind this, then Cocolia would still have to take the blame.
And this wasn't even anyone's fault.
After Cocolia had done so many crazy things, whenever any terrifying incident occurred, as long as people thought it might be related to her, any tiny clue would become evidence for their theories after some brainstorming.
Whether Leo Ash was intentional or not, at least his words didn't directly pin the blame on Cocolia, which was a great help to Bronya.
But still...
"Brother Leo, you're such an idiot."
Looking at the completely unconscious Leo Ash, Bronya said helplessly.
"If you keep fighting so desperately, even if you don't die this time, your body won't be in good shape."
Bronya's words were not without basis.
In fact, she herself had experienced something similar.
A year ago, due to an attack by her orphanage companion, Sin, her legs had been injured to some extent before an experiment.
And in the X-10 Experiment, Bronya's legs were so severely eroded by Honkai Energy that before being treated by Durandal, she could only move around by floating with prosthetic limbs.
Leo Ash had been practicing moves with Fu Hua almost every day recently. Even though both of them held back during their sparring sessions, the act of punching would inevitably leave some hidden injuries on the body.
If the two had treated them in time, it would have been fine, but the problem was, in this past month, Leo Ash hadn't felt anything wrong with his body, so he hadn't paid it any mind.
Now that his body had been eroded by Honkai Energy, those hidden injuries that weren't a big deal before were likely to erupt all at once.
Bronya didn't know if Leo Ash would end up disabled like she once was, but judging by his current state of convulsing all over, he was probably in for at least half a month of pain.
"Leo Ash... this child, how can he be so reckless!"
Theresa, who had used Judah to transport herself here, saw Leo Ash's condition and immediately contacted the still-on-standby Murata Himeko through her communicator.
"Hello, Theresa? Kiana and Yuno have made contact with our rescue team. What's the situation now?"
"Himeko, listen to me. Get out of the Nexus System connection room first. You don't need to risk your life anymore."
"Oh, you took care of Chiyou?"
"You might not believe me, but..."
Glancing at Leo Ash being carried away by Fu Hua, Theresa said to Himeko.
"The one who dealt the final blow to Chiyou was actually Leo Ash."
..
Several minutes later. Hyperion command bridge.
Himeko, who had returned to the command bridge, was still processing the information Theresa had given her.
This time in Jiuyou, both the conservative and radical factions of Anti-Entropy had sent people.
But just like last time, the conservative faction had at least acted like human beings and sent people to deal with the Honkai.
The radical faction, on the other hand, was completely shameless. Not only did they not intend to deal with the problem in Jiuyou, they even brought Titan mechs for a sneak attack, and the person they sent was even a teenage girl.
Wow, this Cocolia person, really has no bottom line, does she.
But, at the end of the day.
Even if Theresa broke through Chiyou's defense.
Even if Siegfried heavily injured Chiyou's heart.
But, for Theresa to tell me that Leo Ash, who was just a Schicksal agent a month ago, had now successfully defeated Chiyou...
Before, there were people in the organization who were sour, saying that Leo Ash had only managed to handle the mess in Nagazora City through sheer dumb luck with the HSN serum.
I didn't believe those rumors then, but the thing is...
First battle, he resolves the Third Eruption. Second battle, he pacifies the Chiyou crisis. Isn't this a bit too exaggerated?
Are all young people these days this capable?