"Ora Ora Ora Ora!"
Round bombs rained down, the terrifying density of [Ballista] fire comparable to a B-52's generous level bombing.
This was a tactic Lu Xing had just conceived.
He had originally planned to use the [Ballista] projectiles as landmines, strewing them along the Knight-class beasts' inevitable charge path, but now it seemed he had unlocked a new method of deployment.
The effect was outstanding!
Although the power of each individual shot was negligible, perhaps even less effective than a single soldier's hand grenade—the relatively fragile shell of the [Ballista] projectile couldn't serve as highly lethal shrapnel; this move's power relied entirely on the impact of the explosion.
But even if it was weak, the satisfying feeling of fixed-point target practice was definitely addictive.
Knight-class Honkai Beasts.
Regardless of their strength, they possessed no ranged attack methods—the only thing that could be classified in this category was throwing their knight lances like "javelins."
But Knight-class and Ballista-class beasts were fundamentally different.
The knight lances in their hands were not easily materialized. They weren't disposable constructs like those of the Ballista-class, but rather required the condensation of a large amount of Honkai energy and continuous fusion with "elemental" attributes to achieve their current solidity, sharpness, and "enchantment-like" elemental effects.
If not for being tempered through a thousand refinements, the Paladin-class's lances would have had no reason to block Lu Xing's enhanced [Spinning Slash].
The "Heavy Cavalry Leader" did not lead the Paladin-class beasts to flee.
For nearly 20 seconds of Lu Xing's frantic bombing, the five Knight-class Honkai Beasts withstood the continuous explosions with their physical bodies. Just as Lu Xing was about to think that the intelligence previously displayed by the Knight-class was merely a flash in the pan, and that their true nature was to just stand there and take a beating when faced with a sudden situation.
A pale purple stream of light streaked across the sky, rapidly approaching Lu Xing's position!
"Swoosh!"
————
The incoming projectile was extremely fast.
However, Lu Xing was not careless. While continuously pouring out firepower, he was also diligently on alert for potential attacks.
Although his primary intention was to guard against the Knight-class's "javelin throws," he was also wary of attacks from other directions.
This naturally included this...
No, it was these [Crystal Shots], as dense as an anti-aircraft artillery net, blanketing the entire sky!
Some rhomboid, some spindle-shaped.
[Crystal Shots] of slightly varying sizes and shapes, like an anti-aircraft fire net formed by heavy machine guns, strafed towards Lu Xing in a dense barrage from deeper within the city (the Honkai Beast side)!
"Swoosh!!"
Faced with such anti-aircraft fire.
Lu Xing immediately abandoned his bombing run, using a [Dash] to instantly flash out of the barrage zone surrounding him—
"Clang!!"
And was then immediately and utterly overwhelmed by an even denser hail of [Crystal Shots]!
A single hit definitely wouldn't hurt much, but this density was simply too exaggerated.
The same part of his body would be struck by 3-5 [Crystal Shots] in less than two short seconds.
Lu Xing could only rely on his superb flying skills—honed during his sparring sessions with "Little Purple"—to begin a desperate aerial performance.
It was already quite clear which Honkai Beasts were attacking Lu Xing.
Species: Rotor-class
Level: 20
Abilities: Crystal Shot, Crystal Wall
Other: Unknown
Correct, the Honkai Beasts launching the attack were precisely the next tier in Lu Xing's evolution path, the flying garlic heads, "Rotor-class"!
The results of the [Appraisal] fed into Lu Xing's mind one by one.
The Rotor-class beasts were at most level 20, but their numbers far exceeded the Knight-class beasts below. A rough scan by Lu Xing yielded a somewhat despairing number:
50 of them.
The Rotor-class's main body defense wasn't strong, and speed was also a weak point (compared to the Ranger-class). But to compensate for all these shortcomings, they possessed a powerful fire net that other Honkai Beasts of this tier lacked.
Each Rotor-class Honkai Beast—at least those Lu Xing had spotted—could fire [Crystal Shots] at a target at a rate of 2 rounds per second.
In other words.
Lu Xing was now facing a terrifying fire density of 100 rounds per second!
"Clang—"
"Scrrrape!"
————
Lu Xing, of course, wouldn't just take a beating without fighting back.
But despairingly, he had no way to break through the "Rotor-class's" defense—the [Crystal Wall] was equivalent to a weakened version of the [Honkai Energy Crystal Wall]. The Honkai energy crystals condensed by this move were no thicker than a few sheets of paper stacked together, and their defensive power was only on par with a civilian bulletproof vest.
But... this thing could stack!
Using the acceleration from [Dash], Lu Xing charged towards the Rotor-class beasts near him.
To deal with Rotor-class beasts below level 20, he didn't even need [Power Strike]; a single swing of his wing could slice them in two.
However, before that...
Lu Xing simply couldn't break through the [Crystal Wall] that had been stacked a full 30 layers thick. His swift [Dash] shattered more than half of them, but for the remaining portion, even supplementing the damage with [Spinning Slash], it was nowhere near as fast as this swarm of "Rotor-class" beasts could reconstruct their [Crystal Wall].
"Swoosh!"
Forced to halt, Lu Xing took more than 10 [Crystal Shots] head-on.
Most of the Rotor-class beasts' Honkai energy was being used for defense, so this volley didn't hurt Lu Xing much.
But continuing like this was definitely not a solution.
He had to lower his flight altitude—although the city was in ruins, some building remnants three or four stories high were still visible.
These ruins would serve as natural cover, helping Lu Xing evade the Rotor-class's firing trajectories.
The only downside was.
The Knight-class beasts could reach such heights.
They didn't even need much of a run-up; a simple backward dash to gather momentum was enough to overcome a mere 10-meter height difference.
This meant the Knight-class's lances could reach him.
Even so.
Low-altitude flight was currently the best option... if Lu Xing didn't want to be riddled like a sieve.
And just as he was paying attention to the "Heavy Cavalry Leader's" movements—
"Shhhrrrk!"
The air shrieked mournfully as it was torn.
A projectile far larger than a [Crystal Shot], flying in an arc, charged fiercely towards Lu Xing!
"Damn it!"
He should have thought of it sooner!
The "Heavy Cavalry Leader" had no ability to command Rotor-class beasts. For more than two types of Honkai Beasts to participate in a "planned encirclement and annihilation"...
There was a higher-level Honkai Beast here!
Otherwise, there was no way to explain what was currently rushing towards him—
Species: Space-Time Ripper (Ranger-class Variant)
Level: 22
Other: Unknown
Species: Space-Time Guardian (Ranger-class Variant)
Level: 22
Other: Unknown
These two types were already mid-tier among Ranger-class beasts!