"Bastard!"
Watching his comrade sacrifice himself before his very eyes, the pilot of another Apache, who had just shouted a warning, had now turned his aircraft, all fire control weapons aimed squarely at Lu Xing.
"Swoosh!!"
Flames trailed a stream of light several tens of meters long.
Two "Hellfire" missiles tore through the air, rushing straight towards Lu Xing directly ahead—the Hellfire missile probably never imagined in its entire, not-so-long missile-life that it would need to attack a "ground target standing in the air."
However, there were perhaps many things it had never imagined.
Facing the rapidly approaching missiles, Lu Xing didn't take evasive action, but instead charged directly towards them!
Unlike the "Hydra" rockets, which fired and exploded instantly.
The "Hellfire" required a short acceleration period from launch to reach its maximum flight speed—at such close proximity to the target, this seemingly brief acceleration time was its most fatal weakness!
"Bang!"
Lu Xing's body shot forward rapidly.
The mid-air acceleration, accomplished by using [Strike] and [Crystal Wall], was executed in one smooth motion.
The [Dash] skill, which he had maintained ever since being attacked by the 120mm cannon, further endowed Lu Xing with the most agile movement enhancement.
Taking off, landing.
In less than 0.3 seconds.
Lu Xing had already appeared above the first "Hellfire" missile that had been launched—
"Boom!!"
The second [Strike] triggered again as his right foot stomped down.
The Hellfire missile beneath his foot instantly snapped in two; the engine section, trailing flames, spun towards the ground, while the warhead became a bomb plummeting below.
At the same time.
As Lu Xing used the momentum to rush towards the second Apache, his left hand had already thrust straight towards the second missile!
"Clack!"
Palm upright like a blade.
His forearm pierced through the midsection of the missile.
The warhead was now less than 15 centimeters from Lu Xing's chest.
In the next second, just as he was about to be pushed away by the reverse thrust, his right hand, palm opened into a claw, snatched and swiped towards his side!
"Pff!"
The missile's direction instantly reversed!
The "Hellfire," its tail still spewing flames, became like a pointed warhammer in Lu Xing's hand, aimed back in the direction from which its attacker had fired—
"Returning this to you."
"Bang!"
The missile plunged straight into the cockpit!
At this moment, Lu Xing, whose figure had just brushed past, had already landed steadily back on the ground.
In the night sky diagonally behind him, the remaining time before the Apache turned into a firework depended solely on whether the second hand was willing to halt its ticking pace for it—
"BOOM!!!"
Regrettably, it seemed not.
————
The firelight illuminated the city's devastation.
At the same time, it also spread terror to the remaining three Apaches.
From the moment the attack was launched to when two friendly aircraft were shot down, less than ten seconds had passed in total—if counted from when the enemy began to counterattack, not even half that time had been used.
Moreover.
Lu Xing's performance was just beginning.
To take out the main battle tanks lying in wait in the distance, these buzzing flies overhead had to be dealt with first.
"Click."
Lu Xing stood with his back to the impact and flames.
Deep purple crystals rapidly converged in his palm.
Turned, twisted his waist, puffed his chest, swung his arm... and threw with all his might!
"[Honkai Lance Projection]!"
"Swoosh—"
The sharp lance tore through the night sky.
The rippling shockwave formed a triple-layered wave of air around the lance.
A hundred meters in an instant!
"Boom!!"
Armor capable of withstanding .50 caliber rounds was as fragile as plain white silk; the purple stream of light pierced through the Apache's protection without any hindrance.
Along with the lance disappearing over the horizon.
The third Apache entirely transformed into a deflagrating fireball, exploding violently in the sky above!
"Clack! Clack! Clack!" xN
The renewed sacrifice of their comrades.
Finally allowed the fear in the crew members of the remaining two Apaches to be completely overwhelmed by anger.
"Die! Monster!!"
Unlike the previous continuous bursts from the chain guns.
The chain gun's selector switch was turned directly to the "All" position, to empty the magazine.
Orange-yellow light flashed from the chain gun's muzzle, and the vertically spurting dust bloomed like gray flowers everywhere behind Lu Xing.
Even with the assistance of the auto-locking function.
The chain gun still couldn't keep up with Lu Xing's pace—in a normal state, it might have had a chance to hit, but Lu Xing, enhanced by [Dash], was moving at a speed that could be called a cheat.
"Thump!"
Gravel disintegrated and scattered beneath his feet.
Lu Xing, continuously running along the street, executed an extremely fast sidestep and retreat, dodging the交叉点 (intersection point) of the two Apaches' overlapping fire.
Although his speed was forcibly reduced for an instant.
It was enough time, during the interval before the Apaches could re-target, to use [Honkai Lance Projection] again—
"Bang!" x2!
"Crack!"
"Thump!"
————
From directly ahead.
The sudden attack knocked Lu Xing's body back a full body length!
Completely overlapping points of impact.
Nearly identical firing times.
The motion of凝聚 (condensing) [Honkai Lance Projection] was forcefully interrupted, and the [Ravenwing] was blasted with two huge holes!
"Hiss!"
His gaze shifted downwards.
A searing, scorching sensation came from the center of his left palm, which was clutching his chest—the Knight Captain's chest armor had been pierced frontally by the attack just now!
"Rustle."
Lu Xing casually tore off the cloak.
Unlike [Radiant Star] and [Frost's Lament], [Ravenwing], as a special piece of armor, didn't offer very strong defensive effects, nor could it be repaired with his own Honkai energy.
In other words.
This rather good-looking blue-quality item was destroyed.
And the perpetrator of it all...
"Clack! Clack! Clack!" xN
Before the chain gun's ammunition could hit.
Lu Xing's figure, which had been stunned for an instant, moved again.
However, his attention was now entirely focused on the location from which the two shots had come—the top of a building approximately 1500 meters away in a straight line. The sniper who launched the sneak attack had fired from there.
The armor was continuously repairing itself under the effect of Honkai energy.
But the pain radiating from his chest made Lu Xing thoroughly fixated on the attacker—he hadn't felt "pain" for a very long time; the most recent instance was the battle with the Knight Captain tens of days ago, still difficult to erase from his memory.
The weapon used for the sneak attack wasn't large caliber, but the ammunition type was extremely special. Lu Xing felt the flow of Honkai energy within his body was greatly affected.
If he didn't concentrate completely...
While evading the Apaches' attacks, Lu Xing had tried to condense the lance again. But even the slightest external influence would cause problems in the process, leading to a failed release.
"In that case—"
"Thump!"
His forward momentum suddenly stopped!
His standing point, the far end of the long street, an unobstructed line of fire!
At the position where all three conditions were met, Lu Xing's right foot viciously shattered the asphalt pavement beneath him, firmly pinning his body to the spot!
Since dodging would affect skill release, he simply wouldn't dodge!
The instant Lu Xing's figure stopped!
"Swoosh!"
"Bang!"
"Hoo!"
Artillery shells, rockets, sniper bullets.
All three, firing almost simultaneously, unleashed their explosive firepower towards Lu Xing at the same time!
"BOOM!!!"