*Clang!*
In truth, collisions between source combat warriors of the Superior tier and above rarely produced the sound of clashing metal. At this level of combat, both sides would inevitably condense and unleash immense quantities of source energy across their weapons. What appeared on the surface to be blades crossing was, in reality, a clash of hyper-compressed energy.
Yet this time was different.
In this exchange, whether it was the greatsword that Puta'er brought crashing down or the dead iron straight sword Han Qingyu swung in a desperate last stand, both weapons completely shore through the condensed energy cloaking the other's blade.
Only then did a genuine, physical collision between high-grade dead iron finally occur.
*Clang! Buzz...*
Following the clang came an unending hum.
The entire expanse of space surrounding the collision shuddered and warped without pause.
The four-edged greatsword gripped in Puta'er's two hands paused in midair, trembling slightly, before continuing along its original trajectory, cleaving downward toward the lower left.
And Han Qingyu...
From the perspective of the officers and soldiers of the human expeditionary army, it was nearly impossible to describe what they felt in their hearts, or to convey the sheer, harrowing shock of the scene in the distance. It was simply too cruel—so cruel that in a single instant, it almost obliterated the faith in survival and victory that humanity had painstakingly built up over all these years.
Under this blow, Major Qing—who had soared into the distant sky to engage the foe, humanity's current strongest combat power—was batted away like a chunk of iron struck squarely out of the air by a devastating swing, hurtling backward abruptly.
Without the slightest cushion, without any attempt to struggle or break his fall, he shot straight back.
All the way until hundreds of meters away, slamming violently into the ground.
And then he skidded.
The barren Martian ground sank continuously in a straight line.
Major Qing's body plowed a long furrow through the collapsing earth until finally, drenched in blood, he collapsed face down in a massive crater.
Unmoving.
Completely still.
Several seconds later, under countless watching eyes, he finally stirred. He seemed to try to struggle to his feet, but in the end, using the warblade plunged into the earth for support, he only managed to lift his upper body slightly... before immediately collapsing limply back down, motionless once more.
"..."
No one spoke.
Across the entire expeditionary army's lines, everyone seemed to freeze in a brief, stunned daze the moment this happened—including Wu Xu, Shen Yixiu, He Tangtang, and even Wen Jifei.
This was something they were not used to, something they found unbearable to accept, a sight even Wen Jifei had never witnessed. It was not that they could not accept Han Qingyu suffering defeat—Major Qing was not invincible, and he had even fled from battle more than once. It was just that...
This time, there had been no desperate, grinding struggle. There had been no eruption of power in the face of despair, no rising to fight again and again, and none of the miraculous turnarounds of the past.
How desperately people wished they could hear the roar of a dragon once more, could see that familiar dragon silhouette surge abruptly from the crater.
Yet there was nothing.
It was already over. With just a single blow from Puta'er, the battle was brought to an end.
No matter how many people still clung to hopes and illusions, wishing that figure slumped on the ground would suddenly rise again, wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, and lift his warblade once more... this duel between humanity's strongest combatant and the Great Spike Puta'er was over.
This time, Major Qing had no cards left to play.
He could no longer stand in front of everyone.
In fact, he could not even make it back on his own.
The silence over the battlefield was certainly not out of disappointment, and even less a demand. In truth, no one had the right to demand that he keep fighting like that forever.
It was merely that over the years, without realizing it, they had grown accustomed to it. They were accustomed to victories and miracles, to strength giving way to even greater strength. They were accustomed to him shattering despair every time and fulfilling every expectation, accustomed to the sky scored by his blazing warblade...
After years of campaigning, rising from a raw recruit to where he stood today, Stream Blades' Han Qingyu had weathered hundreds of battles, but never once had he been so fragile and powerless as he was today.
Because he was Han Qingyu, the impact of this scene was something anyone who had not witnessed or lived through those times could hardly fathom.
It was as if hope were shattering...
As if faith were crumbling...
Then:
"Qingzi!"
A ragged, howling cry tore from the throats of many among the human ranks.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...*
The collective source energy of humanity's Superior-tier combatants erupted. As though blinded by fury and dread, no one cared about battlefield orders anymore, nor did they heed consequences or fear.
Wen Jifei did not speak up either.
Judging strictly from the battlefield perspective of a commander, he should have stopped them. Yet when it came to Qingzi, the worldly strategist Second Lieutenant Wen suddenly realized that he might not be as strong, decisive, and rational as he had thought.
In truth, if Han Qingyu's relentless years of combat—rushing from one battlefield to the next—were a fight he had to wage to protect the destiny and future of mankind, then for Wen Jifei, who accompanied him everywhere as a Dice, what lay at the deepest core of his heart, what he would guard, watch over, and defend even in death, was perhaps only them: Qingzi, Wu Xu, Shen Yixiu, Tangtang...
*Boom! Boom! Boom...*
Humanity's Superior combatants charged into battle en masse. Wu Xu, Shen Yixiu, and He Tangtang were the first to accelerate and leap, crashing directly through the air into the enemy ranks.
Where the three landed, earth and stone erupted into the sky, and dozens of Great Spike bodies were sent flying backward.
The distance was rather great; though the three had already plunged into the enemy formation, they were still nearly three hundred meters from where Qingzi had fallen.
Thus, without pausing to engage or slaughter, Wu Xu thrust forward with his Binggu Spear amid the swirling dust. In a dead-straight line, he swept aside every Great Spike blocking the path, taking the lead to carve a way directly toward Qingzi's side.
Even now, among the trio of Xu, Xiu, and Tang, Wu Xu remained the strongest.
Over the past years in the world of human source combat, the people of Azure and Stream Blades could always clearly see He Tangtang and Shen Yixiu growing stronger and advancing. For instance, Shen Yixiu had freed herself from the constraints of the source energy life-support system and acquired new armor; He Tangtang had devoured one Daie, and then another. Yet whenever the battlefield turned desperate and peril had to be faced, people would realize that the most formidable and reliable of the three was still that silent blockhead, Wu Xu.
He was a born warrior.
Yet that alone was evidently not enough.
Aside from Han Qingyu, Wen Jifei, and the few who spent every day beside him, no one knew what kind of torment and brutality this silent warrior had inflicted upon himself to reach this point, nor what grueling hardship and effort he had poured into every seemingly ordinary day.
...
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!* Led by Wu Xu, they charged desperately forward.
Across the distance, Puta'er had also set off. Its strides did not appear fast, but each step covered immense ground. As it surged toward Han Qingyu's position, it stamped the ground with its foot, dislodging more than a dozen pillar swords left behind by dead Great Spikes into the air. Scooping them all up in its left hand, it ran, swung its arm, and hurled them in a wide scatter... aiming straight for the human source energy craft that had already taken flight high in the distant sky.
Then, without pausing in the slightest, it continued sprinting, lunging toward where Han Qingyu lay.
This Puta'er, whom Han Qingyu had thought might lack culture earlier, seemed to have grasped that the human warrior it had just swatted away was the very linchpin driving this battlefield and the entire human army.
Therefore, it had to capture him—or eliminate him completely.
Puta'er could not manipulate pillar swords with precision by directly tethering them with source energy as Qingzi did, but its strength was formidable and its power unmatched; even as a scattered volley, the hurled pillar swords posed immense destructive threat.
*Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...*
Humanity's following Superior combatants—Christine, Shu You, and the others—leaped up mid-stride to slash and parry, struggling desperately to deflect some of the flying pillar swords.
Even so, in the sky behind them, four human source energy craft were struck and went down in flames.
Yet in a sky fraught with extreme peril, where pillar swords flew like deadly javelins, a human craft actually went on the offensive. Leveling its massive ramming prow, it hurtled straight toward the battlefield at maximum speed...
To be precise, straight in front of Qingzi, straight toward the Great Spike Puta'er.
CA117!
Major General Yang Qingbai had arrived!
Chapter 941