After a year of grueling training, Kevin's physical abilities had undergone a qualitative leap. Even while wearing the heavy secondary soulium protective suit and facing the raging winds, he could still move swiftly.
With the aid of a super-elastic propulsion device, he launched himself into the air using the wind's force and hurled a high-frequency electromagnetic pulse grenade toward the center of the tornado.
The violent electromagnetic pulse detonation interfered even with Kevin's communicator. It emitted a sharp, piercing hiss of white noise that made his eardrums tremble.
At the same time, the EMP shockwave caused the entire tornado to falter for a brief moment, revealing the Herrscher of Wind seated upon her throne of storm.
Her eyes were half-lidded, her expression languid. She seemed faintly annoyed by this human interruption.
Yet when she saw who had come, something flickered in her gaze. For reasons unknown, much of the anger in her eyes dissipated.
Her bare toes lightly tapped the air, and the tornado obediently calmed.
Seizing the opportunity, Kevin repeated his tactic. Five high-frequency electromagnetic pulse grenades detonated around the Herrscher of Wind in rapid succession.
If she had been using a plasma shield like the Herrscher of Thunder, she should have been affected by the electromagnetic pulses.
Unfortunately, the Herrscher of Wind was not the Herrscher of Thunder. She watched the human struggle before her with detached indifference. Her throne and wind shield remained completely unaffected.
However, the EMP grenades were not entirely useless. The wind shield could not block the penetration of electromagnetic waves.
"Mm—"
The Herrscher of Wind suddenly stiffened from the attack and let out a muffled groan as she lowered her head. Opening her eyes fully, she dispelled the throne of storm and rose to face Kevin directly.
Crack—
A magnetic storm blade slashed toward her. Kevin had drawn the weapon from his waist and struck against the wind shield before her.
High-voltage sparks burst and crackled across the barrier, scattering wildly. The result was predictable—the magnetic storm blade was deflected by the wind shield.
Kevin had expected as much. To break a Herrscher's shield, a weapon would need at least one-tenth of a Herrscher's output—over three hundred HW—equivalent to the power output of three nuclear plants. The magnetic storm blade simply could not reach that threshold.
The moment Kevin saw the Herrscher of Wind's gaze shift toward him, he pulled the pin on a flashbang. It detonated at once, a blinding flare illuminating the night sky.
If everything went according to plan, the Herrscher of Wind would lose her vision momentarily, allowing Kevin to search for a weakness in the wind shield.
She did close her eyes in response to the flash.
But—
"Do not push your luck, human!"
A sudden gale crushed down upon Kevin, like a speeding train slamming him violently into the wall of a nearby high-rise. He smashed into the concrete, embedded within it.
"Guh—"
Kevin spat out a mouthful of blood. Several ribs were likely broken.
If it had been the Herrscher of Thunder, she might have shouted "Kneel!!" while using her authority to force Kevin to the ground.
But the Herrscher of Wind would not do such a thing. Kneeling was the act of a slave. And she disliked slaves—she disliked forcing others into becoming slaves even more.
The throne of wind was also an embodiment of her authority. It wielded dominion over the wind, gathering and absorbing Honkai energy at unimaginable speed.
As long as she sat upon that throne, the Herrscher of Wind possessed an endless supply of Honkai energy.
Yet when facing others, she would often dismiss this throne—symbol of divinity and power—to express a kind of equal freedom.
That was why, earlier, she had always given Vill-V the impression of lacking Honkai energy and performing poorly. Wendy had willingly abandoned the greatest rechargeable battery available to the Herrscher of Wind.
There were no gods upon the earth. Compared to the divine identity that represented nature's grandeur, the Herrscher of Wind identified more strongly as Wendy.
After being dazzled by the flashbang, she rubbed her tearful eyes. Even after slamming Kevin into the wall, she did not immediately kill him. Instead, she explained with faint amusement, "The wind... tells me your position. In truth, I have long known where you were hiding."
Does the Herrscher's wind function like radar? Kevin analyzed inwardly. The searing pain made it difficult to move, and the gale still pressing against him prevented any motion.
Before a Herrscher, humanity was that small and fragile—at the mercy of their power. Even Kevin, the most outstanding recruit in MOTH's history, was exerting every ounce of strength merely to remain conscious. Anyone else would have already passed out from shock.
At the same time, a question formed in his mind: Why had the Herrscher of Wind not killed him outright, but chosen instead to converse with him?
A trace of confusion flickered in her eyes as well. "Strange... you are wrapped in peculiar threads... binding your actions. You are different from the other humans."
Her tone carried sympathy and pity. "In my eyes, you are like that little bird in the cage."
Clearly, she still had not let go of Gulu ulu's death. Now that she had encountered a similarly resilient Kevin, she had no intention of ending his life either. She wanted something from him—recognition.
The mention of threads greatly concerned Vill-V, who had been eavesdropping through Kevin's communicator.
Touching her smooth cheek with a finger, Vill-V muttered in confusion, "Discovered? That shouldn't be possible..."
There were indeed threads on Kevin's body. They were actually safeguards secretly installed by the Magician—magical threads created by tampering with the programming of Kevin's soulium armor.
In a life-or-death situation, the Magician could perform a grand disappearing act, instantly extracting Kevin from danger and ensuring a rapid retreat from the battlefield.
Yet just moments ago, Vill-V had lost all information links to Kevin's armor.
"But those should only become noticeable after I activate them. How did Wendy detect them?"
Vill-V pondered. "Or is she referring to something else unknown on Kevin?"
"Did she see it through her Herrscher authority? Fluids... fluids... could information flow also count as a conceptual fluid?"
A chill crept into Vill-V's heart. If fluid was merely a concept, then perhaps the Herrscher of Wind's authority could achieve far more outrageous feats than even Expert's theoretical predictions—such as controlling capital flow, consciousness flow, or even the flow of time.
"Well damn. A traffic bandit, is she? If she worked for certain companies, she'd be making a fortune."
Because of the unimaginable applications of a Herrscher's authority, the battlefield situation had already slipped beyond Vill-V's control.
Wendy was not a god.
But that authority was truly absurdly powerful.