February, it had been almost four full months since he met Raiden Mei.
From originally just professing his love and giving flowers daily to complete the task, then leaving after finishing, to later spending every day together, the giving of flowers and declarations of love had become indistinguishable as to whether they were for the task or truly conveying emotions.
And Raiden Mei had never responded to Takatsuki's confessions, just as they had agreed at the beginning...
However, the bouquets that she originally would have discarded were now carefully preserved by her.
When he went to her house to complete tasks on weekends, he could see various bouquets in the empty mansion.
And the hundred draws for the item pool were also about to be accumulated.
Looking at the ten draws that would be accumulated in a few days, Takatsuki resisted the urge to do a single draw.
However, he didn't know if his luck was too bad, or if this broken system really required a hundred draws to get an S-rank. He had already drawn a hundred times, including the character pool, and hadn't gotten a single S-rank, relying entirely on the guarantee to get A-rank items.
There were weapons, and items with strange effects. All in all, they were of no help for him to survive in the Honkai Energy.
They were even less practical than a Stigmata to increase his adaptability.
Moreover...
Time was also running out...
When Takatsuki woke up and checked his tasks today, he found that his five unmoving task objectives had changed.
The task of maintaining public order had changed to clearing Honkai Beasts.
Are you trying to kill me?!
For those without Honkai Energy adaptability, contact with the Honkai is like contact with potent poison.
Moreover, there was actually a task to clear Honkai Beasts. Was the plot about to begin?
Takatsuki hadn't forgotten that although he skipped through games and only watched well-made, famous CG scenes, he still knew that the Honkai Eruption in Changkong City was a scheme by that woman, Cocoilia.
She had already begun planning before the Honkai Eruption occurred, especially at Senba Academy, where Mei was located.
And Kiana was also attracted by the abnormal Honkai Energy in Changkong City, which led her to enroll in Senba Academy.
"Forget it... even if it's a Honkai Beast, the current stage shouldn't be too strong. As long as I don't directly touch it, it should be fine."
He happened to have suitable weapons among the items he had drawn.
He pulled out two guns, one black and one white. Although firing guns in the city could easily attract the police, a qualified Assassin Master, even with surveillance, wouldn't be caught by the police. Moreover, these two guns had no gunpowder residue and could even be put into a backpack...
Honkai Beasts are monsters that appear with the Honkai phenomenon. Their essence is either wild beasts infected with Honkai or monsters purely created by Honkai Energy, just as humans infected with Honkai become zombies.
Honkai Beasts also have different strengths depending on the type of animal infected and their adaptability.
The human-head-sized Honkai Beast flying in the air in front of Takatsuki was clearly the weakest type of Honkai Beast, the Rush-class Honkai Beast.
It seemed to be an insect that had been infected with Honkai Energy.
Through Eagle Eye, Takatsuki easily found this Honkai Beast, born in a corner of a deserted alley, wandering aimlessly in the city.
Although there were other insects here, it seemed that the Honkai Energy was still too scarce, only giving birth to one Rush-class Honkai Beast.
Looking at the Honkai Beast that hadn't discovered him yet, Takatsuki stood on a high balcony and silently took out two pistols, one black and one white.
These were also A-rank weapons drawn during this period.
Ebony and Ivory (A)
Effect: Unlimited bullets, can produce corresponding bullets in the respective firearms, and can also inject special power to give bullets special effects and power.
Description: Dual pistols manufactured by Nell and assembled by Dante. Ivory has hollow-point bullets with the fire rate of a submachine gun, and Ebony has powerful steel-core bullets, but both guns have extremely high recoil.
Takatsuki looked at the description and thought for a moment, then hung Ivory back on his waist and held Ebony with both hands, aiming at the Honkai Beast below.
After acquiring this weapon, he often found a deserted place to practice his marksmanship, but even with Ezio's physical prowess, he couldn't hold the gun with one hand like Dante.
After all, the recoil of these two guns was so exaggerated that it could make a person briefly float in the air.
Bang bang bang!
Several gunshots rang out consecutively. Although Ebony and Ivory were three times slower in rate of fire, as firearms that didn't need reloading and wouldn't overheat, their rate of fire was still faster than ordinary pistols.
In just one second, three bullets were fired. If Takatsuki hadn't felt his arm giving out from the recoil, he could have directly shot this Honkai Beast to death.
The heavily wounded Honkai Beast shrieked and charged towards Takatsuki.
Shaking his hands, which trembled slightly from the recoil, Takatsuki pushed off with his leg and leaped onto another balcony. Fortunately, these were all abandoned buildings, so he didn't have to worry about anyone coming out to investigate the gunshots and being attacked by the Honkai Beast.
It would probably take ten-plus seconds before he could shoot again...
Takatsuki made a judgment after feeling his hands with slight force. If he didn't want to engage in close combat with the Honkai Beast and risk Honkai Energy infection, he would have long since pulled out his sword and cut the thing down with one strike.
And during these ten-plus seconds, Takatsuki could only try his best to play hide-and-seek with it.
However, playing hide-and-seek with a flying Honkai Beast in an alley was an unwise decision. Takatsuki's jumping and maneuvering on the upper floors were completely meaningless against a flying enemy.
After only a few dodges, Takatsuki realized that this terrain was still disadvantageous to him.
"This won't do..."
An open platform was even more advantageous for the extremely fast Rush-class Honkai Beast, which was why Takatsuki chose to fight in the alley. On one hand, it was difficult for others to discover him without surveillance, and on the other hand, it was to restrict the Honkai Beast's movements.
Small Honkai Beasts did not yet possess the destructive power to damage buildings.
Watching the Honkai Beast charge at him again, Takatsuki directly jumped off the balcony, using the wall to absorb some of the impact as he landed on the ground.
He watched the Honkai Beast, which had crashed into the wall unharmed, charge at him again, headfirst.
The dual pistols in Takatsuki's hands simultaneously vanished, and a silver-white katana appeared in his hand.
Gripping the scabbard with his left hand and the hilt with his right, he assumed a drawing stance towards the Honkai Beast.
As the opponent approached, Takatsuki took a step forward, and a silver-white slash was unleashed from Takatsuki's hand.
Transient Moonlight!
This was the special combat skill attached to the famous blade Moonveil, the weapon in Takatsuki's hand. Because it was placed in his equipment slot, Takatsuki could use it skillfully even though he didn't know how to draw a sword.
The sharp slash, accompanied by a silver sword aura, split the attacking Honkai Beast in two.
Takatsuki immediately moved away from the Honkai Beast's death location.
Watching the Honkai Energy from the Honkai Beast's body dissipate into the air after its death, Takatsuki waited until it had completely vanished before daring to approach and leave. He didn't want to risk infecting himself with Honkai Energy by being too hasty.
After checking his body and confirming there was no Honkai Energy contamination, Takatsuki breathed a sigh of relief, put away his weapon, and prepared to leave.
"Who are you!?"
A voice suddenly came from above him, and a white figure descended from the sky. White hair styled into two braids, azure pupils, and a baseball bat in her hand—these distinct features made Takatsuki instantly recognize the newcomer's identity.
"Kiana!"
"Huh? How do you know me?"
Kiana had originally rushed over after sensing a Honkai presence and then hearing faint gunshots, so she had jumped to the rooftop and continuously leaped across the building to arrive quickly.
She hadn't expected to encounter someone who knew her.
"Huh!? Did you forget? It's me, Takatsuki."