Entering the perimeter, the ground was littered with the corpses of Honkai beasts and zombies.
Among them were also the bodies of humans who had died without being infected by the Honkai.
Thanks to the encounter years ago, Chang Yuan no longer felt nauseous at the sight of dead bodies, though it still made him somewhat uncomfortable.
At that moment, a flash of white light streaked across the sky.
The light passed right over Chang Yuan's head.
Boom—!
In the next instant, the towering buildings collapsed one after another, without exception.
"Hey, hey, Yuan, is this the power of the Herrscher of the Void? This is terrifying."
Seeing the Herrscher of the Void's power for the first time, Elysia couldn't help but express her shock.
If that attack had hit her, wouldn't she have been split in two?
"Well, at least we can still react. Let's go. The white light came from over there. Elysia, don't worry about me during the fight. I can handle myself."
After years of training, Chang Yuan had mastered the Inch Punch technique, going from a complete novice to a skilled practitioner.
Thanks to the Honkai, his physical abilities had also improved slightly. He could handle a few small-scale Honkai beasts like the Chargers, but anything stronger would be a problem.
"Tsk, sometimes I envy Kevin. He can take on a Chariot-class Honkai beast with just a baseball bat. That's way more impressive than me."
Despite his complaints, the two quickly made their way to the source of the white light.
The scene here was far more gruesome than anywhere else.
The ground was covered with bodies that looked as if they had been sliced apart, scattered organs, and lifeless eyes staring into the void.
"..."
Seeing this, Elysia didn't feel disgusted. Instead, she felt sorrow and compassion.
She mourned the deaths of these people but also admired their courage to sacrifice themselves for humanity.
"Yuan! Watch out!"
In an instant, Elysia sensed the threat of death. She shouted a warning before leaping to the side.
Whoosh—!
A spear-like object, a creation of the Imaginary Space, materialized where they had been standing moments ago.
It was thanks to Elysia's heightened sense of danger that they managed to dodge the spatial attack.
Rolling to her feet, Elysia quickly drew her bow and fired an arrow in one fluid motion.
However, the figure floating high above merely waved a hand, and a golden portal appeared in front of her.
The arrow Elysia fired passed through the portal, and another spatial gate opened beside her.
Seeing this, Elysia immediately backflipped out of the way.
The arrow she had fired narrowly missed her as she dodged it.
"Yuan, be careful. This Herrscher is really troublesome."
By now, Elysia had lost all traces of her earlier ease.
Her expression was tense, her focus razor-sharp.
Facing an enemy with spatial manipulation abilities, the unpredictable nature of her attacks made it difficult for Elysia to find an opening.
"Got it."
As he spoke, Chang Yuan punched a zombie that had gotten too close.
At the same time, his eyes remained fixed on the Herrscher of the Void.
He noticed that every attack from the Herrscher had a noticeable wind-up.
Therefore, dodging her attacks wasn't too difficult.
He was sure Elysia had noticed this as well.
However, both of them remained silent about it, as they couldn't be sure if the Herrschers had their own consciousness.
If they did, pointing it out would only make things harder for themselves.
If the Herrscher of the Void removed the wind-up from her attacks, they would be in serious trouble.
Elysia began circling around the Herrscher of the Void, occasionally firing arrows at her.
Annoyed by the persistent pest, the Herrscher of the Void opened a spatial gate and teleported right in front of Elysia.
Seeing the obvious wind-up, Elysia immediately jumped back, spinning around and firing an arrow at the spot where the Herrscher would appear.
In the next moment, the Herrscher of the Void materialized exactly there.
Thud—!
The arrow struck the Herrscher, but it only left a shallow wound, similar to a minor scrape on a human.
It was worth noting that Elysia was using a compound bow. At such close range, it could easily pierce through a car door.
Yet, against the Herrscher of the Void, it only caused a scratch-like injury.
However, this was the first time the Herrscher of the Void had been injured by a human. For a moment, she seemed stunned.
Seizing the opportunity, Elysia quickly fired a second arrow.
This time, her target was the Herrscher's eyes. For 99.99% of living beings, the eyes were the most vulnerable spot.
But the Herrscher of the Void had learned her lesson. Regaining her composure, she opened a spatial gate in front of her, redirecting the arrow.
Sensing the danger, Elysia sidestepped just in time.
The next moment, the arrow whizzed past her shoulder.
Realizing that close combat was too risky, the Herrscher of the Void opened another spatial gate, teleporting herself high into the air.
Seeing this, Elysia couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
At that distance, even if the Herrscher didn't dodge, an arrow would barely leave a scratch.
Seeing Elysia struggling, Chang Yuan fell into deep thought.
The original story didn't detail what happened here. Was this battle really this dangerous?
But in an instant, Chang Yuan came up with a risky yet highly effective plan.
Cupping his hands around his mouth, Chang Yuan shouted at the sky, "Hey, you fluttering moth up there! Come down here and face me! I'll take you down!"
The reason for this was to test whether the Herrschers had sufficient self-awareness.
If they did, his plan would be simple.
If not, his plan would fail.
Fortunately, luck seemed to be on Chang Yuan's side this time.
Upon hearing Chang Yuan's taunt, the Herrscher of the Void immediately materialized a ribbon-like weapon and swung it at him.
Chang Yuan quickly dropped to the ground.
Like the earlier white light, the surrounding buildings were cleanly sliced apart and collapsed.
After dodging the first attack, Chang Yuan continued to evade the subsequent strikes.
Thanks to his training, he was able to predict and dodge the spatial slashes based on the Herrscher's wind-ups.
Seeing her attacks repeatedly miss, the Herrscher of the Void decided to use the same tactic she had used against Elysia on Chang Yuan.