The Indestructible Cockroach

— [Armored Explorer Gamma—ONE072].

Designed for prolonged survival in the harshest cosmic environments, this exploration armor incorporated numerous cutting-edge technologies. Its defensive capabilities were such that they could ensure its wearer’s survival even amidst stellar-level catastrophes.

This was a high-grade armament Titan had only ever observed from afar, never daring to touch, yet now, through the power of the Divine Blood, it had manifested into reality.

“Aaaah—”

Feeling the surge of abundant energy within him, Titan swung his armored fist, swiftly turning to meet the Demonic Sword’s incoming slash.

“Boom!”

‘Again?’

Pushed back by an unexpected surge of immense power, the girl grunted, her body losing balance as she stumbled uncontrollably backward.

Pressing his advantage, a point of light flared at Titan’s fingertip.

[Ground Eradication Beam Alpha—PW02]!

The next moment, countless light projectiles shot forth, relentlessly pursuing the girl.

“Annoying…”

This move, with its sheer volume, blistering speed, and lock-on tracking, was one she had seen countless times. If it appeared in games with weak character performance, it would undoubtedly drive players to madness, cursing the developers.

Unfortunately, Liu Yu was a ‘stats monster,’ a character whose numbers seemed to be arbitrarily inflated, rendering this purely damaging attack utterly ineffective against her.

“Rumble—”

As the smoke and dust dispersed,

Emerging from the barrage,

Was the gray-haired girl, completely unharmed.

She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Just give up already. These petty tricks are useless against me.”

Titan offered no reply, merely unleashing an even greater volley of light projectiles toward her.

“Boring…”

Liu Yu couldn’t even be bothered to dodge, allowing the countless light projectiles to relentlessly bombard her.

‘Still, taking hits like this indefinitely isn’t a solution. I need to find a way…’

‘In that case, I’ll try this.’

Having made her decision, the girl altered her strategy. She gripped the hilt of her sword with both hands, holding it horizontally across her chest in a defensive stance, as dense Shadow energy converged upon the blade, poised for action.

“Now!”

Just as another volley of light projectiles was about to strike her, Liu Yu forcefully swung her Demonic Sword.

“Hyaah!”

Accompanied by the girl’s crisp, sharp cry, the Demonic Sword dragged a black sword aura, tearing into the descending “meteor shower” of projectiles.

An incredible sight unfolded: the light projectiles did not explode upon colliding with the sword aura as they should have. Instead, the moment they made contact, they were stained black by the sword aura.

“All of it…”

“—I’m returning it to you.”

Liu Yu brandished her Demonic Sword, and the sword aura, carrying a cluster of black light projectiles, surged back towards Titan.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The already precarious building finally succumbed to the reverberations of their battle, collapsing with a terrifying roar, and sinking into the earth. The swirling dust obscured the vision of everyone present.

****

[Coordinates confirmed. Jump initiated.]

Titan clutched a cylindrical object, roughly half the size of his finger, and gently pressed its tip. In an instant, he vanished from his position.

Leveraging the power of the Divine Blood, he had effortlessly created a device capable of spatial leaps.

‘Next, this…’

Moving silently behind the girl, Titan, suspended mid-air, pressed his hands together. From them, he drew forth a clear, transparent blade of light.

[Reaper—PW09]

A mid-tier armament designed for demolishing mountain structures, yet with sufficient energy support, it could even cleave through meteors and small celestial bodies.

However, such destructive power wouldn’t be necessary this time. Adjusting its potency up by a few notches, Titan brought the blade down towards the girl who had lost sight of him below.

“Swish!”

As if anticipating his move, the Demonic Sword precisely met the falling blade of light, firmly parrying its sharp edge and cleaving an insurmountable chasm between the two combatants.

“Crack, crack, crack, crack…”

Fine cracks spread across the solid blade of light. After barely a few seconds of stalemate, the Demonic Sword shattered the Reaper’s physical form with devastating force, continuing its trajectory towards Titan.

Seeing the unfavorable turn of events, the Bloodkin hastily employed spatial leap, vanishing from the girl’s sight in an instant.

“This is… spatial movement?”

Had she witnessed Titan’s sudden disappearance before, Liu Yu would have certainly dismissed it as abnormally high-speed movement.

However, everything left a trace. After entering her ‘Sword Draw State,’ her abilities had received an all-encompassing boost. Not only her raw power, but also her perception and reaction speed had been greatly enhanced.

It was no exaggeration to say that, if she focused, Liu Yu could now clearly perceive even the slightest ripples and distortions in space.

“There!”

Seizing the brief interval between his successive spatial leaps, the girl’s form blurred. The next second, she had sprinted to stand before the Bloodkin, delivering a simple, unadorned slash at the still-reacting Titan.

It proved that once stats inflated to a certain degree, skill became merely a bonus.

Liu Yu’s simple vertical slash, delivered with plain elegance, struck Titan’s vital point precisely, leaving him with an inescapable, undefendable sensation.

‘Damn it… just one second… I only need…’

‘There wasn’t enough time to execute either a spatial leap or an evasive dodge.’

In that critical moment, he crossed his arms into an ‘X’ over his chest, as a torrent of energy, as if heedless of the consequences, surged into the Armored Explorer, desperately attempting to buy enough time to initiate a spatial leap.

But,

It was useless.

“Aaaaaaah—”

Titan let out a gut-wrenching scream. The layers of defense he had established on his body were sliced open by the Demonic Sword as if they were made of paper, his arm and body cleaved in two.

Yet, the time he had bought was just enough to activate his spatial leap. After a ripple of distortion, Titan vanished once more, leaving no trace.

“…Did he escape?”

Commanding the Shadow to devour the severed half of his body left on the ground, Liu Yu remained rooted, not rushing to seek Titan. Instead, she uncharacteristically began to ponder the upcoming battle.

The previous skirmishes had unequivocally proven one fact.

— As long as he was connected to The Gem, Titan was an indestructible cockroach; no matter how much damage he sustained, a single thought was all it took for him to revert to his original state.

So, how was she to defeat him?

Liu Yu fell into deep contemplation over this question.

But she soon arrived at an answer.

No matter how powerful The Gem was, it ultimately relied on its user to manifest its full potential. This much could be deduced from her past battles with Irina, and now with Titan.

The Gem’s power required its user to actively wield it.

Therefore, she simply needed to instantly erase him at a speed that surpassed Titan’s ability to think.

But was it truly possible?

To pierce through layers of defense and utterly obliterate him from this world before Titan could even think to use The Gem.

The girl assessed her available abilities, and after a moment’s reflection, concluded:

It would be challenging, but not impossible.

Titan referred to The Gem’s power as Infinity, yet the power of the Shadow likewise showed no discernible limit.

Which was stronger, or weaker, would be revealed with a single trial.

Acting on her thought, Liu Yu scanned her surroundings, once again searching for Titan’s presence, but found no trace of the Bloodkin.

‘Strange, where did he hide?’

“Hey, hey, hey, are you still alive, uncle?”

From a corner of the ruins.