The explosive power of Vill-V's Helixcraft energy core surpassed even that of a nuclear bomb. Caught completely off guard, the Herrscher of Wind was once again engulfed by a wave of annihilating force. Her Herrscher shield was torn apart like a soap bubble in a gale, bursting in an instant as the explosion splashed across her face.
The Magician removed her top hat with effortless flair and produced a tall wine glass from within. It was filled with grape juice that shimmered like red wine.
Because Vill-V was still underage, she could not drink alcohol.
Well, she might cheat and swindle when necessary, but she would not drink. Vill-V knew she was a good girl.
After all, in her previous two lives she had already tasted alcohol. That bitter, throat-burning flavor had been enough to ensure she would never touch it again.
In front of the screen, the Magician's eyes sparkled as she raised her glass and declared passionately, "Farewell, my forty-ninth Helixcraft! Let me unleash a fiery Patrick Star masterpiece in your honor. Cheers to your departure!"
Watching her Helixcraft turn to ashes, the Magician exclaimed in high spirits, "Aha! This explosion effect is way cooler than conventional weapons like nuclear bombs. Look, this time my sakura bomb design turned out pretty well, didn't it? I originally thought it would bloom inside a ground-level building, but blooming in the sky isn't bad either. I have to thank my little assistant Wendy for the cooperation."
Clearly, detonating her own Helixcraft was not something the Magician had done only once. In fact, most of her previous Helixcraft iterations had been sent off by her own hand for one reason or another.
"Hehe, it's my first time blowing up a two-billion Helixcraft. I can't wait for Expert to build one worth tens of billions next time so I can blow that up too."
(Expert: That's my Helixcraft... sob...)
This time, the Herrscher of Wind suffered even more. Every dormant weapon within Vill-V's Helixcraft had funneled its power into this single detonation.
The Herrscher of Wind burst out from the shrinking, multicolored thundercloud of flame in the sky. In just a blink, she streaked like a meteor and arrived above the quiet town of El Paso.
Although she appeared physically unharmed, the exhaustion on her face was unmistakable. The crystalline wings on her back and the dazzling emerald whirlwinds around her had dimmed considerably.
To withstand Vill-V's point-blank workshop self-destruction, she had clearly expended an enormous amount of Honkai energy.
After arriving above the town, the Herrscher of Wind did not launch a vengeful counterattack. Maintaining her usual elegance and composure, she merely lifted her hand and casually summoned a colossal tornado—just as she had done in other cities before—then slipped into the heart of it and vanished from sight.
"The Herrscher of Wind must be recovering inside the tornado right now. This is a good chance, Kevin—wah..."
Clang—ding! Bang!
At the control console, Vill-V raised the central apparatus to block a flying metal barrel.
The gale had arrived without warning. One moment it was calm, the next it surged like a raging flood.
What followed were countless objects hurled into the air by the storm. Since this was the power station, many of them were live high-voltage cables. In an instant, blue arcs of electricity crackled throughout the building, snapping and popping like a giant Tesla coil.
And that was not all. Even though this tornado had been raised casually by the exhausted Herrscher of Wind, its destructive force was already enough to wipe the entire town off the map.
The tornado's diameter expanded rapidly, devouring nearby buildings one after another. Structures at its core had already been shredded into fragments, further amplifying the storm's cutting power.
The main power building stood at the very edge of the tornado. Under the relentless assault of the raging winds, it emitted a terrifying howl, as if it could collapse at any moment.
The top three power transmission levels, designed like a canopy, had already been torn away entirely. Fortunately, they had not been structurally integrated with the main building. Otherwise, the entire structure would have been uprooted just like Vill-V's Helixcraft command tower.
But it was only a matter of time. Once the tornado accumulated enough energy, it would sweep up and obliterate everything in its vicinity.
Inside the control center, Vill-V was in a sorry state. Even crouched beneath the protection of the central apparatus, she could feel the entire device—bolted to the ground—swaying violently from side to side, as though it might be overturned at any moment.
On other floors of the building, survivors who had refused to heed Kosma's warning were still hiding in secret. For ordinary people, merely crouching in wind-sheltered corners and clinging to metal railings required every ounce of strength. Before long, their skin began to pale as they started transforming into zombies.
For humanity, simply surviving at the hands of a Herrscher was already a miracle. To speak of resistance was nothing short of unrealistic.
When facing a Herrscher, humanity's actions could hardly be called battle. It was more like ants struggling to save themselves amid a natural disaster. Could that truly be called fighting?
And a Herrscher was the most violent natural disaster in the world.
As the tornado intensified, Vill-V heard the central apparatus creak in agony. Hugging her head, her voice trembled. "Ugh, Boss Kevin, get in there already! I can't hold out much longer..."
Vill-V was nothing like Kevin, who could shoulder immense weight, leap and sprint even while wearing heavy protective gear and Amplified Fusion-Core Armor. The equipment Vill-V could carry was extremely limited, consisting mostly of offensive weaponry designed to counter Herrschers. She had almost no defensive gear.
When confronted by a Herrscher's attack, she relied entirely on the Magician's tricks to evade. But under the wide-ranging influence of a tornado like this, even the Magician could not escape.
Besides, if she ran out, wouldn't that mean facing the Herrscher head-on again? Vill-V's delicate body simply could not withstand that.
It was not that the Magician feared her tricks being exposed, nor that she lacked the desire to perform. The Magician had a stamina limit too. Vill-V was a collectively athletic failure, and even the lively Magician could not escape the constraints of an empty stamina bar.
No wonder that in the future, even scientists would all become MANTIS. The weakling scientists who failed to become MANTIS had probably already died. Even Dr. Mei would have to learn how to operate the Key of Blankness.
Scientists really ought to just activate Artificial Cascade directly, grab the holy sword of physics, shout "Demacia!" and charge the Herrscher head-on like true champions.
Not only could they fight Herrschers, they could also use hard logic to deal with those irritating colleagues from MOTH. Once your fists were hard enough, reason would follow.
"Warning! Warning! Honkai energy detected—1053 HW."
Due to the Herrscher's presence, the surrounding Honkai radiation was approaching the safety threshold of anti-Honkai protective suits. In such an environment, ordinary people would have already turned into zombies.
Fortunately, Kevin was wearing a specially made secondary soulium protective suit provided by Dr. Newton. Its resistance to Honkai energy corrosion exceeded 1200 HW.
Kevin was merely a reconnaissance soldier of MOTH. There was no obligation for him to risk his life in a desperate gamble. As long as he remained in the basement and waited for the Herrscher of Wind to leave, he would be temporarily safe.
Unless he decided to brave the raging winds and step outside to engage the Herrscher of Wind in a true man-to-man one-on-one battle.
Would Kevin do that?
Kevin's answer was: yes.
He still owed that young hero a promise. He would stop the Herrscher of Wind here and buy more time for the refugees to escape.
Bang!
The steel blast door flew open. Kevin lunged out in a low sprint, like a lion released from its cage.