Flames erupted.
The air around the raised greatsword warped. Then, searing light gathered on the blade, illuminating the surrounding ruins and giving the desolate scenery a touch of warmth.
However, unlike that warm orange glow, the energy contained in the Judgment of Shamash was pure destruction. Its terrifying heat could not only destroy its enemies, but it could also melt the earth into glass.
And such terrifying energy could not be fully controlled. That's why the one wielding the Judgement of Shamash would be the first to be consumed by the flames.
Even though the blade wasn't pointed at her, Lihua could feel her hands being charred in an instant. The terrifying energy traveled up her arms and into her body. Flesh, organs, bones… everything seemed to burn.
Lihua knew that if not for the High Honkai Resistance in her body, she would have turned into dust by now.
But even with that resistance, her body was still being destroyed. Rapid Recovery was not enough to fix the immense damage.
From the outside, it looked like Lihua's body was completely engulfed in flames. You could only barely make out the glowing veins on her skin that seemed to flow like lava. If it was anyone else, they'd be wailing in pain, like they were falling into the fires of hell. But Lihua didn't make a sound.
Pain Control, baby!
In contrast to Lihua's focused mindset, Otto was on the verge of collapsing.
For him, nothing was more painful than having to witness the person he loved most be slowly burned to ashes in front of his eyes.
Otto wanted to roar, get up, stop Lihua, and kill the Herrscher of Corruption that was the cause of it all— but he couldn't. He was weak. He could only lay there like a useless tool, and watch it all happen in front of him!
The Herrscher of Corruption also seemed to notice something was wrong. Seeing the fire-like Lihua, she became anxious and frantically launched the incomplete pseudo-Tailed Beast Ball in front of her. It was an attempt to make Lihua stop burning herself.
Lihua felt a bit regretful when she saw the attack coming. She had felt that she could have endured it a bit longer. Just a little more, and she could have launched an even more powerful attack.
But the Herrscher of Corruption was too impatient, forcing her to end the charge up and deal with the attack.
Did she realize what I was doing and get anxious?
Lihua didn't know what the Herrscher of Corruption was thinking. All she could do was swing her sword down.
"Judgement of Shamash--Unleashed!!"
Boom!!!
A dragon of roaring fire swept across the battlefield, completely obliterating the pseudo Tailed Beast Ball.
For a moment, the world seemed to have lost all sound.
In that moment of pure destruction, the surrounding area melted. The earth turned into glass, the ruins crumbled into dust, everything was annihilated by the destructive Divine.
The purple fox was also gone. After the fire faded, there was only a melted black box on the ground.
Everything was silent after that single attack.
The only figure left standing on the completely leveled battlefield was Lihua.
"That was easier than I expected... Is that it?"
Lihua looked at her hands. Though they were charred, she could still somewhat make out their shape. She could even move them slightly.
Because the Herrscher of Corruption had launched her attack earlier, Lihua hadn't been able to fully unleash the power of the Judgement of Shamash. She also wasn't burned to death. She was just barely able to keep herself alive, though any treatment in the medieval world wouldn't help her with this kind of injury.
The Rapid Recovery trait was still working hard, but the flames of the Judgement of Shamash were too strong. It could only delay her death.
[Energy +1,000,000]
Lihua knew whose energy she was receiving.
Otto, you beautiful man. You were able to make the show so memorable, and even gave me so much energy. I'll forget about that time you tried to kill me.
After all of these years, she was finally about to make her exit...
The clouds had been swept away by the attack. Lihua looked at the warm sunlight pouring onto the ruined battlefield. Everything was tinged with gold.
It's not so bad to die in such a beautiful place--Wait, didn't I have to save someone?
Lihua touched her chin, and a large chunk of charred skin peeled off. She quickly retracted her hand.
The Judgement of Shamash's side effects were too much! Why did it have to burn her so realistically?
Why couldn't she have that cool and beautiful death that she saw in movies? A charred body in such a beautiful place was so unromantic.
Unfortunately, this wasn't something that Lihua could change. She sighed internally.
She should probably go and save Otto and Kallen. She had seen that they had sustained severe injuries. If she didn't help them, they might die.
She had planned to wait for the other Valkyries to come to save them, but now that she was here, she should do it herself.
Lihua picked up the Abyss Flower. It wasn't as good as Judgement of Shamash in a fight, but it was good as a support weapon.
Her charred hands touched the white body of the Abyss Flower, leaving a dirty stain. It was like touching a brand-new white dress with dirty hands. Lihua, who had a habit of keeping things tidy, found it unappealing.
But she couldn't do anything about it, because her whole body was charred. She would leave a trail of ashes wherever she went.
When she had unleashed the Judgment of Shamash, she had made sure to protect her back. Otherwise, Otto, Kallen, and Eleanor would have been vaporized.
I'll be taking a break now…
Lihua let out a breath, and started walking toward Kallen. She needed to see how she was doing, but suddenly she sensed someone coming toward her.
It was a man.
He was tall, with dark skin. His eyes were as cold and hard as steel.
He looked at her.
And then spoke.
"Who are you?"
His voice seemed to have come from the depths of hell. It had the power to make Lihua freeze in place.
What was going on now?
But before Lihua could think anymore, he drew his sword and unleashed an attack.
Lihua had no chance to react. She felt a sharp pain in her body as she was sent flying into the sky.
Ahh, so this is how I die.
As Lihua was slowly losing her consciousness, she started to laugh.
Hah, what a joke. I should have expected this.
I should have known that there would never be an ending for me.
Even in the face of death, I'm still so pathetic.
And then, everything turned black.