Unlike the Nine-Headed Dragon Flash, Bai Luo's body leaned slightly forward, his left arm raised horizontally in front of him.
His right hand rested Elucidator against the forearm of his left.
"Dual Wielding—!"
The sea's surface rippled, and Bai Luo—who should have been moments away from plunging into the water—vanished into thin air.
In the next instant, multiple afterimages flickered around Beisht's massive form.
These afterimages seemed intangible—when Beisht lashed out with hydro-infused attacks, they passed right through them without effect.
But when the afterimages' blades struck Beisht, the damage was all too real.
What was even more terrifying was that these attacks ignored her defenses entirely, each slash landing precisely on her vital points.
A single strike wasn't particularly painful—in fact, it was less damaging than Bai Luo's earlier flurry of dazzling combos.
But the sheer number of attacks made up for it.
Sixteen consecutive slashes, each dealing true damage—who could withstand that?
The Starburst Stream Bai Luo was using now was actually a modified version.
The original, unaltered version did exist, but he could only access it after obtaining its exclusive weapon, which would upgrade his Elemental Burst to the classic Dual-Wielding form.
Both versions had their own pros and cons.
For example, the current non-exclusive version of Starburst Stream had the advantage of invincibility frames and true damage.
Meanwhile, the exclusive-weapon version sacrificed true damage and invincibility in exchange for instantaneous burst damage.
Each had its strengths.
Unsurprisingly, Bai Luo had targeted the far-right head with Starburst Stream (Non-Exclusive).
Sixteen hits in one second—Beisht's rightmost head finally gave out, crashing heavily into the water, unable to even lift itself anymore.
All it could do was let out a helpless whimper.
The fact that it was still alive after eating a full Starburst Stream was a testament to its absurdly high HP.
If this had been Tartaglia (without his Delusion active), he'd have been dead on the spot.
As the sixteenth strike landed, Bai Luo's figure slowly materialized atop the defeated head. Gripping Beisht's horn for balance, he held Elucidator casually, completely ignoring the threatening roars from her other three heads.
Looking down at the barely breathing head beneath him, Bai Luo knew the time had come.
The reason he had focused all his attacks on one head was to deplete its HP as quickly as possible.
Now... the execution threshold had been reached.
"Hmm—"
A pale golden light erupted into the sky, blasting a massive hole through the storm clouds Beisht had summoned.
Beneath the darkened sky, Bai Luo stood bathed in the radiant pillar of light.
"ROAR—!"
Beisht had long since resolved to sacrifice a head if it meant killing Bai Luo, but this descending light forcibly halted her assault.
"This is...?"
Under the influence of the golden glow, Beisht's frenzied emotions calmed slightly.
But now, in her restored clarity, she trembled.
Because of the light?
Yes, but not entirely.
She could sense the threat within it—though not enough to fully destroy her.
But... this purity of light was not something an ordinary being could wield.
In her memory, only one kind of existence could generate and control such radiance.
An Archon.
"Here it gathers—the river of light that guides the fairies!"
"Here it shines—the claws that annihilate evil!"
"Here it blooms! Fairy Glitter!"
Amid Beisht's furious roars, the ring of light surrounding her blossomed.
The head beneath Bai Luo's feet didn't even have time to let out a final cry before being engulfed completely.
As a follower of Osial, Beisht was far tougher than something like a Primo Geovishap.
That head was dead—no question about it.
But unlike the Primo Geovishap, which had been reduced to ashes, Beisht's corpse remained intact.
If Beisht had still been resolved to fight to the death before, now her remaining three heads wavered.
Abandoning the slain head without hesitation, the other three let out warning hisses as they retreated.
Bai Luo glanced at his still-on-cooldown skills and chose not to pursue.
Switching back to Himura Kenshin, he sat atop the lifeless head, reverse-blade sword in hand.
The storm clouds had begun to disperse, and the raging waves settled into calm.
Now, the surrounding waters teemed with fish and sea creatures—yet none dared approach Bai Luo.
Instead, they lingered at a distance, forming an eerie blank zone around him.
Since only one head had been severed, Beisht wasn't truly dead, so there was no catastrophic aftermath like when Havria perished and turned everything to salt.
But the oppressive aura radiating from the decapitated head was undeniable.
Half an hour later, the Crux Fleet finally arrived.
Standing at the ship's prow, Beidou had tied her loose hair back with a new hairpin. Her right arm was in a sling, and her left forearm was wrapped in bandages—she looked utterly battered.
Yet she had insisted on leading the rescue party herself.
The Alcor hadn't fared well either—the waves from Bai Luo and Beisht's battle had rocked the ship violently.
If not for the combined efforts of the Vision wielders on board, the vessel might have capsized.
Once Beisht fled, the storm clouds vanished, and Beidou had kept her promise, returning as agreed.
However, considering Bai Luo's opponent was the wife of the Vortex God Osial, she hadn't taken any chances—bringing only the Alcor while leaving the other two ships behind.
"He... actually killed that Beisht thing."
Staring at the massive serpent head floating in the water, the crew felt their scalps tingle.
Even though it had lost its elemental glow after being severed from the main body, its sheer presence was overwhelming.
"More like forced a retreat."
Beidou glanced at the receding dark clouds in the distance, piecing together what had happened.
But the fact that Himura Kenshin had driven Beisht back meant his strength was even greater than they'd imagined.
Though they hadn't witnessed the battle, the horrific wounds on the sea monster's corpse spoke volumes.
Crisscrossing slashes, strange constriction marks, and its eyes—once gleaming—now clouded and dull, as if it had suffered unimaginable torment.
But the most shocking thing was Himura Kenshin's condition.
In their minds, fighting such a beast should have left him at death's door, or at least as badly injured as their captain.
Yet the red-haired ronin, casually holding his reverse-blade sword, looked completely unharmed—aside from his slightly damp pants, there wasn't even a scratch on his clothes.
In other words, after decapitating Beisht, he was still perfectly fine.
That was... terrifying.
Recalling his earlier words, Beidou couldn't help but sigh.
"If only I'd given him more Sunsettias—he could've taken all four heads."