I'm a little panicked when I cross the collapse

"Ah Qiong, I'm so scared, please save me~"

The girl's slender arms wrapped around the man's waist, her cheek buried in his chest, her voice trembling with tears, as if she were about to collapse at any moment.

Lu Qiong looked down at the familiar face in his arms—soft long hair, delicate features, and eyes filled with fear.

"Um, it's okay, I'm here..."

His voice was as gentle as ever, as if it could soothe all unease.

However, the next second——

puff!

A dull tearing sound exploded in the air.

A long, slender, pale hand, almost sickly pale, emerged from the man's chest without warning, its fingertips still dripping with warm, bright red blood.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! How foolish."

The girl in his arms suddenly changed her voice. Her previous weakness and fear vanished instantly, replaced by an almost manic coldness and arrogance.

"This body no longer belongs to that woman after it merged with another core!"

She slowly raised her head, and her once clear eyes were now filled with strange patterns, with countless scarlet runes seemingly dancing deep within her pupils.

"I am now an apostle of God! I am the terminator of this world!"

The excruciating pain of having his chest pierced did not cause Lu Qiong's expression to twist even slightly. He simply stared quietly at "Himiko" before him, his gaze calm to the point of being indifferent.

"I know."

His voice remained steady, as if the hand that pierced his heart had merely passed through a thin, insignificant mist.

"you know?"

Himiko paused for a moment, then burst into a sharp laugh.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!...That only proves that you, an ant, are even more foolish!"

She slowly withdrew her blood-stained right hand, gently wiped away the remaining blood from her fingertips, placed it on her nose, and took a deep breath.

"Look, this fresh blood, what a wonderful thing it is..."

Her expression grew increasingly frenzied, her eyes gleaming with a morbid excitement.

"Oh? The aura of a god?"

She suddenly paused for a moment, as if she had sensed something unusual in her blood.

"Hahaha... I never expected that... you are also one of my kind."

She licked her fingertips, a cruel smile spreading across her face.

"It really came without any effort. If you add yours, and the Herrscher core from that woman named Alicia..."

She looked up, surveying the world that was about to be destroyed, her eyes filled with fanaticism.

"Then in this world, no one will be able to stop me!"

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

The wind in the world seemed to have stopped flowing, leaving only the arrogant laughter of the Herald echoing over the ruins.

"I don't think so."

Lu Qiong spoke calmly, his voice not loud, but clearly drowning out the harsh laughter.

"What? You're going to stop me?"

Himiko seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. She slowly tilted her head and looked at him with a pitying yet cruel gaze.

"With your current weak body that has almost no strength? Hahaha, that's a huge joke."

Her tone was full of disdain, as if she were looking at an overconfident ant.

The Herald's mockery echoed through the empty ruins, but it did not stir even the slightest ripple in Lu Qiong's heart.

He simply looked down at the shocking wound on his chest.

Fresh blood kept gushing out.

"Weak, huh...?"

He murmured softly, as if talking to himself.

Then, he raised his head and calmly met Himiko's gaze.

“Strength is never measured by the integrity of the body.”

He said calmly.

Facing the Herrscher's murderous gaze, he did not take a step back. Instead, he slowly raised his hand and reached into his pocket.

Under Himiko's slightly puzzled gaze, he pulled a gun out of his pocket...

Lipstick?

It was an exquisitely designed lipstick with a deep purple casing engraved with delicate lightning bolt patterns that shimmered faintly in the dim light.

"Oh?"

Himiko raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement flashing in her eyes.

"What are you doing? Trying to put on makeup before you die?"

Her voice carried an undisguised sarcasm.

Lu Qiong ignored her mockery, only glancing down at the lipstick in his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"You mean this?"

he whispered.

"This isn't for makeup."

As soon as he finished speaking, a thought struck him.

hum-

The air suddenly vibrated.

The seemingly ordinary lipstick suddenly burst into a dazzling purple light, and lightning crackled wildly in his palm.

The next moment, the lipstick's outer casing began to decompose and recombine, as if being pulled and folded by an invisible force.

Under Himiko's slightly surprised gaze, the tiny lipstick quickly elongated and deformed, eventually transforming into an extremely exaggerated katana.

The blade is long and sharp, its edge gleaming with a cold light, and adorned with cool purple patterns that seem to flow with lightning.

The hilt is deep purple, wrapped with black cord, while the guard is an exquisite lightning emblem, exuding a chilling sense of oppression.

The Third Key to God – The Seven Thunders of Purification.

"Key of God?!"

Himiko's pupils suddenly contracted, and the smile on her face finally faded a bit.

She knew that this weapon, a creation of May and Velvet, possessed terrifying power, but some fools seemed to be oblivious to its value and actually halted the development of the Divine Key.

"I never expected that those ignorant fools, the Fire Moths, would still have such a thing."

She narrowed her eyes, a dangerous glint flashing within them.

"But even if it's the Key of God, so what?"

Lu Qiong did not answer, but slowly gripped the hilt of the Seven Thunders of Purification.

The moment his fingers touched the hilt of the knife, a powerful and violent force seemed to awaken from its slumber, surging wildly into his body along his arm.

boom--

Purple lightning exploded around him, forming a dazzling ring of lightning that enveloped his entire body.

"This is.........."

Himiko's expression finally changed.

As soon as he finished speaking, he grasped the Seven Thunders of Purification and slowly raised his katana.

The blade was aimed directly at Himiko.

boom!

The ground instantly shattered, and countless fragments of rock were swept into the sky by the lightning.

The Seven Thunders of Purification emitted a deep rumble, as if in response to his declaration.

"Humph, just pretending."

Himiko snorted coldly, her eyes blazing with murderous intent.

"Since you've chosen to stand against me, then die!"

She raised her hand, and countless dark blue Honkai energies gathered in her palm, transforming into a giant firebird.

Inside, it felt as if countless wailing souls were struggling, emanating a suffocating sense of oppression.

The firebird, trailing a long, fiery tail, traversed the distance between the two in an instant, like a falling meteor.

Wherever it passed, the air was directly annihilated, and tiny cracks appeared in space.

Faced with this terrifying attack, Lu Qiong simply exhaled a breath.

The next moment, he moved.

Almost no one could see his movements clearly.

Only a purple bolt of lightning could be seen, flashing by in an instant.

boom! ! !

A deafening explosion occurred.

The firebird was split in two by lightning, and the internal Honkai energy was instantly ignited by the lightning, turning into countless purple lightning snakes that disappeared into the sky.

"what?!"

Himiko's pupils contracted sharply, clearly not expecting that her slightly serious attack would be so easily neutralized.

"you--"

Himiko suddenly let out a deafening burst of maniacal laughter, a laugh that seemed to come from the depths of hell, revealing endless madness and confidence.

Hahaha... Very good! You have successfully enraged me! Her eyes flashed with a ferocious light, as fiery and dazzling as burning flames.

Immediately afterwards, she charged towards Lu Qiong like a cannonball, her speed was astonishing, and she even left a clearly visible black afterimage in her place.

Faced with such a fierce offensive, Lu Qiong remained unusually calm and composed, his thin lips slightly parted:

"A cage of fate..."

"...I will sever it!"

Before the words were even finished, a deafening roar shook the heavens and earth. In an instant, dark clouds gathered, a fierce wind arose, and countless thick bolts of lightning ripped through the sky, like giant silver dragons rolling and roaring in the air.

At the same time, hundreds of bolts of lightning converged from all directions, carrying a world-destroying power, and danced closely in sync with the blade in Lu Qiong's hand.

Just then, the Seven Thunders of Purification were finally unleashed, and an incomparably powerful aura suddenly erupted. This aura was as dazzling as the sun, yet as heavy and oppressive as a mountain, making it hard to breathe.

Buzzing...

The dazzling white light spread rapidly, covering an area of ​​hundreds of kilometers in the blink of an eye.

Wherever it goes, it envelops everything.

At this moment, time seemed to be abruptly paused by some invisible force.

Everything around was eerily quiet. There was no wind, no explosions, and even the sound of a heartbeat seemed to be swallowed up by the strange silence. The air was heavy and solidified, so oppressive that it was almost impossible to breathe.

That dazzling white light still hovered silently in mid-air, like a falling sun, or an insurmountable monument, dividing the world into two realms: light and darkness.

"What happened?!"

Inside the command center of the Firemoth headquarters, the operators who had just completed the redeployment of the drones were met with a blinding white screen. Everyone was stunned, their faces filled with confusion and unease.

Why is the screen completely blank?

"Signal interference? Or equipment malfunction?"

"Zoom in! Zoom in!"

Anxious shouts echoed throughout the command hall, but received no response from the white light.

After an unknown amount of time, the chilling halo finally began to slowly dissipate, disappearing into the air little by little like the receding tide.

The moment the white light dissipated, the image finally became clear.

On the battlefield, the smoke and dust had not yet completely settled, and the shattered buildings stood silently in the wind, like silent tombstones.

Lu Qiong stood holding his sword, crimson blood slowly dripping down the blade, blooming into dazzling flowers on the ground. In his arms, he held Himiko, whose life force had almost completely dissipated; her body was so light that it seemed a gust of wind could blow her away.

"clang--!"

A crisp, yet slightly abrupt, sound echoed across the empty battlefield.

Lu Qiong casually tossed the third divine key in his hand—the Seven Thunders of Purification—onto the ground beside him.

The weapon, crafted from a precious Herrscher core, was now being discarded like a piece of ordinary scrap metal.

With his hands, already stained with blood, he struggled to support Himiko's body, his movements careful, as if he were holding the whole world in his arms.

At this moment, Himiko's consciousness was teetering on the edge of lucidity and unconsciousness. Her vision was blurred, but she still tried her best to focus on Lu Qiong's face.

She slowly raised her right hand, the fair hand that had controlled the gale and flames just a quarter of an hour ago, but now it was so weak that even raising it seemed incredibly difficult.

Her fingertips gently touched the bloody wound on Lu Qiong's chest, her movements so gentle as if she were afraid of hurting him.

"Qiong...I'm...I'm sorry..."

Her voice was broken and weak, yet it still carried a deep sense of self-reproach and heartache.

“I…I have done so many wrong things…I even…hurt you…”

Her eyes were full of tears, but she no longer had the strength to let them fall.

Lu Qiong was too weak to speak anymore. His throat was as dry as if it had been burned, and every breath brought excruciating pain to his chest.

But he still managed to lift his head and look quietly at Himiko in his arms, his eyes filled with tenderness, as if silently saying, "It's not your fault."

"I'm so unwilling to accept this..."

Himiko smiled softly, a weak yet still gentle smile.

"The wonderful life we ​​shared...it didn't even last a few days...it vanished into thin air because of the collapse..."

Her voice grew softer and softer, as if it might be blown away by the wind at any moment.

"I hope...in the next life...I will meet you again..."

She gripped Lu Qiong's clothes tightly, as if grasping at the last straw.

"Then I'll lock you up tight... and have a few more... lively little ones... and we'll be together..."

Her words gradually faded, and the last few were so soft they were almost inaudible.

"Together...until we grow old..."

The sound eventually disappeared completely into the air.

Himiko's hand fell limply to her sides, and the light in her eyes dimmed, eventually turning into a deathly silence.

Lu Qiong felt as if his heart had been ripped apart, and intense pain spread from his chest throughout his body.

He used his last bit of strength, his lips moving with difficulty, his voice hoarse and low, yet filled with unwavering determination.

"Okay... I promise you."