Otto's calculations were meticulous.
A 50-kiloton nuclear bomb was potent enough to obliterate a small city, and compressing it within his Soulium body amplified its destructive power exponentially. To avoid alerting the Will of Honkai to the Honkai energy fluctuation,
Otto hadn't used a Honkai fission bomb, opting instead for a purely physical nuclear device to ensure the Soulium 's complete annihilation.
Unfortunately, the Will of Honkai proved far more resilient than he'd anticipated. While the nuclear blast shattered its Soulium structure, it failed to neutralize the Honkai energy's inherent properties.
In fact, by destroying the structure, it inadvertently deepened the fusion between Honkai energy and Soulium, freeing the Will of Honkai from its dependence on a physical vessel.
In essence, Otto's plan had not only failed but had created an even more formidable adversary.
If he hadn't sensed the lack of hostility, Ren would have suspected Otto had deliberately set him up.
However, this was within Ren's calculations. If the Will of Honkai were so easily dealt with, he wouldn't have spent months orchestrating his encounter with Kiana.
Dark purple Honkai energy, swirling with nuclear dust, formed a vortex within the shattered remnants, like a maelstrom in the deep sea, consuming everything in its path.
The Honkai-infused Soulium slowly coalesced. Stripped of its original color, it reformed into Otto's likeness, now completely white.
"Ugh…" A grotesque sound emanated from the figure, like a rusted machine awakening. The Will of Honkai slowly raised its head, its gaze fixing on Ren.
Empty white sockets stared, yet radiated a chilling aura that even Ren found threatening. As they faced off, the Will of Honkai raised its arm.
A faint hum resonated. Ren's expression hardened. He raised his hand, conjuring an energy shield. But in the next instant, a beam of light erupted from the Will of Honkai's palm, instantly engulfing the surrounding Imaginary Space.
Thousands of meters of turquoise stone, hundreds of meters thick, were sliced through like butter, leaving mirror-smooth fissures. Ren's shield, barely withstanding the initial blast, shattered. As a second beam approached, he could only raise his arm in defense.
The beam grazed his neck, deflected by his arm. Pain shot through him. Gritting his teeth, Ren retreated, momentarily escaping the Will of Honkai's targeting range.
Thanks to his puppet-enhanced body, his arm, though scorched black, revealing the bone beneath, remained intact.
Snap.
Hovering in the void, gazing at the Will of Honkai continuing its rampage, Ren snapped his fingers, channeling all the puppet legion's power into his own body.
The remnants of the Herrscher of Flamescion's authority, lingering from his time wielding the Gem of Haste, the Herrscher of Reason's power gleaned from the simulated world, and his own combined authority as the Herrscher of a Thousand and Dominance coalesced into a blazing greatsword.
"*With this blazing fire, I sever the unending!*"
Infinite flames erupted, forming a fiery storm that surged towards the Will of Honkai, propelled by Ren's swing.
Even before the flames reached it, the turquoise stone, capable of withstanding millennia of erosion within the Imaginary Space, ignited. Debris within a radius of thousands of kilometers was drawn into the attack, converging on the Will of Honkai.
Such a blow, unleashed on Earth, could likely cleave a continent in two. Yet, against the Will of Honkai, it was insufficient.
The terrifying flames vaporized everything in their path, nearly bisecting the Will of Honkai. However, within seconds, its body regenerated completely.
This didn't mean Ren's attack was ineffective. It simply hadn't reached the threshold of complete annihilation. The Will of Honkai was a manifestation of Honkai itself. As long as Honkai existed, it could regenerate infinitely.
Such a resilient foe was a headache, even for Ren. But within the Imaginary Space, his home turf, he had more than one trump card.
The regenerated Will of Honkai abandoned its beam attack, its gaze locking onto Ren. It spread its arms, and the space around Ren began to compress, collapsing rapidly. The Herrscher of Stars' authority over gravity, wielded by a god-like entity, far surpassed its original power.
Unable to dodge an invisible attack, Ren braced for impact.
A groan escaped his lips as his organs felt crushed. Blood trickled from his mouth, but his golden eyes shone even brighter.
As Ren exerted his control, a massive, shadowy structure materialized from the void. The Will of Honkai, warping space, looked up, startled by the sudden appearance of an immense Dominance Theatre within its range of influence.
Even the Will of Honkai couldn't withstand the intrusion of such a colossal structure into the Imaginary Space.
Crack.
Its attack abruptly ceased. Ren, seizing the opportunity, connected to the Theatre's core.
The swaying Theatre, along with its endless surrounding corridors, surged towards the Will of Honkai, dragging it into the Theatre, establishing a new battlefield.
The Will of Honkai, true to its name, was merely a will, incapable of directly interacting with the physical world. Its power stemmed from amplifying its host's abilities a thousandfold, creating a seemingly invincible foe.
This had been true with the Herrscher of Rimestar, and remained true with its current Otto form.
Defeating it wasn't impossible. The first method was eliminating its physical vessel, but thanks to Otto's meddling, even Kevin in his peak form likely couldn't destroy the current Will of Honkai.
The second method was a mental attack, like Kiana's sword strike, capable of obliterating both Ren and the Will of Honkai.
However, neither option was currently viable. Ren's only choice was to use the Theatre for suppression, attempting to slowly grind it down.
But…
Ren wasn't concerned about defeating the Will of Honkai. His worry was whether the outside world could hold on until he resolved this. Rimestar continued to wreak havoc on Coral Island, and time was running out.
He didn't care about ordinary human lives, but he couldn't bear to see Kiana grieve.
…
While Ren battled the Will of Honkai within the Imaginary Space, the situation outside deteriorated rapidly. The safeguards Ren had established with the Staff of the Underworld had crumbled without his maintenance, unleashing Rimestar's full power.
The colossal icefall, held at bay by Kiana's resistance, now threatened to engulf the island. Rimestar, enraged by her failure, had entered a state of frenzy.
The swirling storm intensified, now carrying debris that shredded the island's "coral-like" structures. These fragments, under Rimestar's control, coalesced into massive, clawed appendages.
The hooked claws dug into the island's surface. With a surge of the Herrscher of Stars' gravity manipulation, the entire island, spanning nearly a thousand square kilometers, began to rise from the ocean.
Kiana, struggling against the storm, watched in horror. Besides the evacuees on the auxiliary islands, over three million civilians remained trapped on the main island.
She desperately channeled her remaining Honkai energy into Flamescion, hoping to increase its temperature. However, instead of intensifying, the burning greatsword cracked, dark red fissures spreading across its surface.
Kiana's eyes widened in alarm. She frantically withdrew her Honkai energy, but Flamescion, pushed past its limits, shattered into countless fragments.
The flames… extinguished.
The backlash from Flamescion's destruction overwhelmed Kiana. Her suppressed injuries, like a tidal wave, surged through her body.
She reached out, trying to grasp the fading embers, but even raising her arm was impossible. She plummeted from the sky, thousands of meters above.
"Ren…"