Faced with an unidentified object hurtling toward him at supersonic speeds, Fuli's first instinct in his combat state was to kick it away.
A glance from the corner of his eye caught the long scythe clutched in its hand, and he immediately realized something was wrong. He changed his kick to an embrace, pulling the young woman into his arms.
Rita's face was pale, her stamina completely drained—a state almost unimaginable for an S-rank Valkyrie.
The enemy following close behind, however, explained exactly why this was the case.
Fuli stared at the unblemished Aschour and asked in a low voice, "Something's not right, Rita-jiejie. After fighting for so long, you didn't even break his defense? It's true you're the weak link among Schicksal's three S-rank Valkyries, but you can't be this pathetic, can you?"
He was suddenly reminded of a scene from Stephen Chow's Royal Tramp, which, if adapted to the current situation, would go something like this:
Rita (resolutely): "Don't worry, he won't be able to harm a single hair on your heads unless I'm dead!"
Fuli (smugly): "Is that so? Why aren't you running? Once she makes a move, you two are dead!"
Next second: Rita-jiejie, dies!
You bit the dust a little too fast there, sis!
"...Please, let go of Rita!" Rita gritted her teeth against the soreness spreading through her limbs, pushing herself up to continue the fight.
As their side's only critical-level combatant, she had to hold off the enemy's strongest fighter. Otherwise, a massacre was all that awaited Fuli and the others.
She hadn't expected her legs to give out the moment she left the boy's embrace. After stumbling, she looked up, and that annoyingly handsome face once again filled her magnificent eyes under her gray-gold bangs.
Feeling a strange sensation from a certain part of her body, the girl, now held in his arms again, fell silent for a moment. "Lord Fuli, your... it's poking me."
"Getting hard is the greatest respect for a woman's charm!" Fuli said, brimming with unearned confidence!
Aschour, who was more than a step slower, arrived on the battlefield at this moment. The white-haired youth crossed his arms and looked Fuli up and down in a very impolite manner.
After a moment, he let out a strange cry. "I thought I saw wrong before. You're really only A-rank?"
He had originally thought that as Durandal's man, even if Fuli's strength wasn't on par with his own, he should at least be at the critical level.
"This is really unsatisfying for me," the youth complained. "I was thinking of bullying her man to get back at her for defeating me before, but this is it?"
"You're one to talk," Fuli raised an eyebrow. "You've mentioned 'Durandal' several times since this fight started. Can you not keep casually saying another man's girlfriend's name?"
The quietly panting maid heard this and looked up. Seeing the boy's expression was still calm and unconcerned, she realized he was just provoking him, not that he had already figured out that fatal truth.
"That's not an unreasonable point, but to call yourself her boyfriend while holding her best friend in your arms..." Aschour tilted his head. "I even helped create this opportunity for you. Shouldn't you thank me, Cupid?"
Heinrich shouted in a low voice, "Enough nonsense! Finish them off quickly!"
"Alright," Aschour shrugged and stomped his foot, launching himself at Fuli like a cannonball.
"Brother Argenti, and you too, Brother Boothill, I've got something to take care of here. I'll have to leave Heinrich to you two for now."
Fuli executed a Void Flash Step to retreat quickly while chanting the Acalanatha's Fire Realm Mantra.
The demon-purifying divine fire that could incinerate three thousand worlds compressed and then rapidly expanded, turning into thousands of fire feathers that bombarded the enemy to obstruct his vision.
"Rest assured, Brother Fuli!" Argenti replied with a determined expression, his crimson spear sweeping through the army, shattering the earth and trees that were sent flying by gravity manipulation.
"That bastard's really pissing me off!" Boothill, firing continuously, also spat out curses. Anyone could see that Fuli was leaving to draw away the enemy's strongest fighter, just like Rita had done before.
This sense of powerlessness infuriated the Galaxy Ranger, who lived for swift justice, to the extreme. However, this shitty reality wouldn't change just because of a momentary fit of anger. They could only handle their own business and not drag anyone down.
"Go!"
A chase of one pursuing and one fleeing began, and the gap between A-rank and critical level immediately became apparent.
Fuli weaved through the deserted streets, relying on Void Flash Step and Jueyu's angle-traversing ability. Even though he occasionally threw things like shipping containers and telephone poles to obstruct Aschour, the distance between them was reduced to less than a hundred meters in just a few dozen seconds.
The sound of splashing water suddenly came from under his feet. Unbeknownst to them, the two had already stepped onto the Thames, which flows through the City of Fog.
Compared to the Seine in France, which was now called the "Ganges of Sai," the Thames's environment was clearly much better. Shrouded in the night rain, it was like a flowing ribbon of dark silk, dotted with sparkling ripples by the fine rain.
The lights of the buildings on the opposite bank pierced through the rain, casting swaying bands of light on the misty river surface.
Fuli, halfway across, sharpened his gaze. The energy lotus he used for leverage condensed under his feet. He changed direction and ran rapidly downstream.
Rita's weak, enchanting voice whispered in the boy's ear, bringing a slight itch and ripple. "Choosing a more dangerous route to avoid the battle affecting the civilian area on the other side of the river? Lord Fuli, you..."
The boy interrupted her impolitely, "Any intel on the enemy?"
From his understanding of Rita, this woman, who came from an assassination unit, would never have come away empty-handed from the previous battle, even if she had made a temporary mistake.
"Does it matter?" Rita asked in return from his arms. "We're going to die here anyway."
She said with a hint of resentment, "Lord Fuli must be thinking, 'If only Bianka were here.' Lady Durandal is not Rita. If she were here, even if the enemy controlled the power of time to some extent, she would surely be able to defeat him easily and protect everyone in the City of Fog."
"Time?"
"Meow?"
Just as Fuli was about to ask, he looked up and saw a familiar-looking cute cat sitting on a small boat docked by the shore.
"Like a flea! Stop running if you've got the guts!"
BOOM!!!
Glancing at Aschour behind him, who was already starting to lift the solidified river water to smash at him, the boy didn't hesitate. He scooped up the bewildered Pardo-cat and placed her on his head.
"Meow meow meow?"
The innocent cat, caught in the crossfire, was stunned. Just as she was about to protest, she caught a glimpse of the white-haired youth who didn't hesitate to use violence. She immediately hugged Fuli's head tightly and didn't move.
"Good girl, good girl~"
Even on the battlefield where life and death hung in the balance, the Pardo-cat's "initiative" still made a certain terminal cat lover very happy.
Stare—!
Noticing Rita's resentful gaze, he coughed lightly. "What's this about controlling time? Explain in detail!"
Rita explained, "Aschour's ability comes from the Lance of the Finality fragment inside him. It's essentially the unchanging authority of immutability."
"A one-sided application of the Finality (Time) authority? Another gimmick monster, and the most broken type at that, the space-time type." Fuli complained, "Can't break his defense unless you're S-rank, and he has critical-level physical stats himself. In an era where all S-ranks are restricted by the treaty, isn't he the true strongest at the critical level?"
It wasn't hard to understand. Bronya had been making him watch anime recently, and this guy looked exactly like that Sin Archbishop from Re:Zero.
Of course, in this case, Aschour was clearly influenced by the lance fragment inside him, and his hair and eye color were gradually changing to match the Herrscher of the Finality.
To be honest, it wasn't like Fuli hadn't encountered space-time abilities in his previous playthrough. The B-rank Chrono Wheel and the A-rank Spacetime Dimension Secret Arts series were all powerful techniques that could manipulate space-time to a certain extent.
But a freak who was literally written as "invincible"... that was truly a first for him.
Fuli finally understood why Aschour was so arrogant. If he had this ability, he'd dare to threaten the pancake lady to add two extra eggs when buying an egg pancake!
"But even so, you should have a way, right?" Fuli dodged one long, narrow air blade after another without looking back. "What about Argent Knight: Artemis? What about Soulium Animara? Use them to fuck him up!"
No matter if the opponent was some Lance of the Finality fragment, his energy level was ultimately just critical.
Whether it was by using Honkai energy of a higher level—that is, S-rank—to forcefully neutralize it, breaking the gimmick with the semi-idealistic property of Honkai energy that could shake the physical laws of the stars; or by using a reality-distorting field, which was also a gimmick, to forcefully annihilate a large area indiscriminately.
Like Cocolia's Creation Engine, Rita's strength would soar directly to S-rank when equipped with the fourth-generation Valkyrie battlesuit. Soulium Animara was her unique ability. No matter how he thought about it, she shouldn't have been chased like a stray dog.
The girl in his arms flashed a hint of surprise upon hearing this. Only Durandal in the whole world knew about the effects of Soulium Animara. Even Otto was only vaguely aware of it.
She didn't understand where Fuli got his information, but now was not the time to dwell on it. "Argent Knight is still under repair at headquarters, and Soulium Animara... I already used it in the previous battle..."
As mentioned before, it was precisely because Argent Knight: Artemis was under maintenance at headquarters that Elizabeth dared to put her plan of usurping Rita's body into action.
And the reality-distorting field had, unfortunately, already been used on her, and couldn't be deployed again for half a day.
Fuli couldn't help but exclaim after hearing this, "Sis, it's rare for someone to be this unlucky."
If it were him, he'd be dead from depression. It was as if an invisible hand was manipulating fate, forcing the girl who could have gone on a killing spree to be cornered here.
So Rita Rossweisse getting owned is, just like dissing Mei, 8 > 50000, and Raven's island inevitably exploding, engraved in the underlying logic of the Honkai universe?
At the same time, seeing Fuli's amazed but fearless expression as he dodged and weaved, Rita couldn't help but ask curiously, "You... aren't you scared?"
"I am," the boy winked at her, a corner of his mouth curling up. "But being scared is useless, isn't it?"
Stats and gimmicks all crushing him. How was he supposed to fight an enemy like this?
Kamui was obviously useless too. The move was essentially about piercing through shields to strike the main body, but the problem was that Aschour didn't put up any defense. His body was his best defense.
Even so, Fuli remained optimistic.
Prometheus, observing from the moon, could understand her host's mentality. The boy had said from the beginning that he was ready to die at any time after stepping into the Honkai side. He could accept any kind of death.
It was true before his rebirth, and it was true after.
"But I have to struggle a little before I die," Fuli flipped his hand and took out a mysterious potion flowing with a pink aura from his system space, called the Love Potion.
"You don't want to die either, do you, Rita-jiejie? If you don't want to die, then cooperate with me a little?"
What's with this 'Rita-jiejie'?! You used to call me Rita-onee-chan! the girl thought resentfully, but then her rose-colored eyes widened.
"Meow!!!"
"Holy shit!"
To the flying ears of the Pardo-cat on his head and the shocked gaze of Aschour behind him, Fuli first unscrewed the love potion, took the liquid into his mouth, then leaned down and bit Rita's charming, tear-stained lips.
The air on the Thames seemed to freeze at this moment. Everyone stared dumbfounded at the handsome boy who was boldly kissing the girl in his arms.
Even Rita herself was the same. She was so shocked that she completely forgot to resist, subconsciously swallowing all the potion that was passed to her.
It wasn't until their lips parted that her cheeks suddenly flushed. She pointed a slender white finger at Fuli, stammering, "You, you, you! You, you, you!"
Don't be fooled by Rita-jiejie's usual experienced driver appearance, teasing this person and that person all day. She herself had no experience in that department whatsoever; all her knowledge came from the internet.
Then, the young woman felt a certain "something" inside her connect with the boy in front of her.
It was a wonderful feeling that couldn't be described in words, as if their lives were being shared.
"I didn't do it on purpose, okay? The activation condition for this broken skill is this. If you want to blame someone, blame God." Fuli wiped his mouth and stopped running.
Feeling the abundant power in his body, he turned around, a corner of his mouth curling up into a wanton smile.
[Name: Slay Her in Your Arms]
[Rank: B]
[Category: Status]
[Effect: As the name suggests, this skill can only be activated by holding a beauty in one's arms. This beauty must be female both physiologically and psychologically, with excellent looks and figure, and must have a fondness for the skill holder that is at least at the level of a confidant.
When the skill is active, the stats of both the activator and the embraced will be calculated based on the higher of the two. At the same time, the activator will gain the right to use three of the other's skills at random.
The above effects are only active when both parties maintain intimate contact. Once separated, the effect is canceled.]
[Note: Why do beautiful women often have tragic fates since ancient times? Because if you're ugly, no one cares if you live or die.]
This was the B-rank skill that Fuli had complained was "point☆less" in the last ten-pull lottery.
The reason was simple. The stats of the embracer and the embraced were calculated based on the higher of the two, which meant that the woman's strength had to be higher than the activator's for it to be useful.
But since she's stronger than you, why not just charge up and solve the problem herself? Why would she need to whimper and dive into your arms for a bonus? Just because your name is Fuli (福利, bonus)?
Besides, so what if you get her stats? Not everyone was like Fuli, whose realm and strength didn't match. Once a low-level fighter gained higher stats, the situation would be no less than a child wielding a Desert Eagle.
It could only be said that the world was unpredictable and water was formless. Under various coincidences, such a useless skill actually had a use.
And in order to make the effect of "Slay Her in Your Arms" work properly, Fuli, to be on the safe side, had also passed the Love Potion from the last ten-pull to Rita through a kiss.
[Name: Love Potion]
[Rank: C]
[Category: Consumable]
[Effect: Made by a certain magician who is skilled at manipulating people's hearts. The user will develop a certain degree of fondness to love for the first person they see after taking it. Only those with an extremely strong mind or special characteristics can possibly resist the effect.
When used on someone who is mentally unstable (with a distorted personality or obvious mental loopholes), it will produce unpredictable and powerful effects. Use with caution!]
[Note: The feelings hidden in the heart will turn into uncontrollable, fierce love, burning you and your beloved to ashes.]
The kiss was to ensure that Rita would see him first the moment she took the potion. It was definitely not to deliberately take advantage of her!
Yes! That's right!
But speaking of which...
After his body strength synchronized with Rita's in her prime under the effect of "Slay Her in Your Arms," Fuli thought, This isn't right. We're both at the critical level, so why are the maid's stats so much weaker than mine when I just broke through in the Dominion Theater last playthrough?
After thinking for a long time, he finally blamed it on Rita-jiejie being too useless. As expected of the one who was just there to make up the numbers among Schicksal's three S-rank Valkyries.
So thought a certain someone who had stacked the Herrscher of Domination + a companion Judgment-class Honkai Beast ■■■■■ + the Hundred Beasts of Brahma.
...