The path of expansion knows no retreat—only forward motion.
Pathstriders are shaped by their ideals, and when those diverge, so do their paths. Tonight's chaos thrilled Ryan. The calm before the storm was ending. He needed deeper insight into the Honkai, even if it meant venturing into danger.
He walked forward through the shadowed ruins, steady and unblinking, toward the flickering silhouettes ahead.
A medium-to-large-scale Honkai outbreak.
A three-story-tall Chariot-Class. Three Catapult-Class. And—at the center—a towering Templar-Class Honkai Beast.
Ryan's gaze settled on the Templar: over three meters tall, its silvered carapace glinting under the emergency lights. It wielded a broadsword and shield, massive and imposing. If memory served, the A-rank Valkyrie exam in the future era would test candidates against such a beast—one on one.
Of course, strength varied even within the same classification. But size often correlated directly with power.
Thud.
Ryan halted. The Honkai Beasts began to converge, forming a massive stone sphere. He knew from experience—these things never hesitated.
He crouched low, the concrete beneath his feet fracturing under pressure.
"For me, the path of expansion is—"
Whoosh!!
With a deafening tear, the stone ball launched like a cannon round, devouring the light, cloaking him in darkness. Simultaneously, the once-still warrior sprang into motion.
"—taking the most rational step, and then the next, without ever looking back!"
BOOM!
The impact cratered the earth. A shockwave struck Ryan's back as he blurred forward, coat flaring behind him. He burst through the darkness, scanning the ten moving figures ahead, flipping mid-air—
And kicked off a glowing energy platform mid-spin.
Whoosh—BOOM!
The ground shattered below.
Ryan became a comet.
Falling Star.
His spear came crashing down, impaling a Knight-Class Honkai Beast, flattening it in a single blow.
The air trembled.
Boom!!
A concussive blast rippled outward. Dozens of Zombies were blown away; debris shredded the battlefield like shrapnel. Sparks exploded where metal struck monster flesh. Smaller mosquito-class Honkai Beasts dropped like flies.
Yet instinct—not fear—drove the enemy. Three new stone balls launched in his direction, while the titanic Chariot-Class entered the chaos.
It advanced slowly, a fist like a battering ram rising high.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
But then, the stone balls—disrupted midflight—ricocheted backward, slamming into the Chariot's torso. The beast staggered, crashing into a nearby classroom building.
Glass shattered. A five-story structure caved inward.
Dust filled the sky.
When it cleared, Ryan stood motionless in its heart, bathed in dim shadow.
But his stance bore no hesitation.
He had slain dozens of Chariot-Class Honkai over the last decade. Size meant little. They were lumbering, unstable, slow to correct.
He twisted his wrist.
Honkai energy surged into the alloyed spear. It condensed at the tip, forming a blazing, meter-long blade—a spinning, flame-shaped vortex.
He stepped forward, spear raised.
The rotation intensified—like a turbine blade screaming through air.
Then he swung.
The red vortex tore through the Honkai Beast's legs, cutting a clean arc through the mass of enemies behind it. The slash painted a searing trail across the battlefield—nearly a hundred meters wide.
Rumble.
The giant's frame trembled. Its upper body separated cleanly, collapsing under its own weight. The dying Chariot crushed several of its own kin beneath it.
Ryan's breath quickened. A mad, electric thrill surged through his veins.
"Ten years. I gave up a peaceful life for this."
To hunt the Honkai. To test himself against Herrschers. To push both body and mind to the very edge—chasing a future others couldn't even dream of.
CLANG!!
A massive sword slammed into his spear, jarring his stance. His knee bent slightly under the force.
The Templar-Class stared, confused.
No human should have blocked that.
But confusion didn't slow it. Its massive shield swung around, heavy as a falling tower—
And slammed forward, like a steel gate meant to crush bone.
The wind pressure smashed into him.
Ryan pulled back, retracting his force as he leapt away. Behind him, shattered stone rained down—the Templar-Class's shield had obliterated the debris in its path. Still, the metallic behemoth, momentarily off balance, didn't hesitate; it rolled sideways, positioning to strike again.
Sudden Advance — Decisive Strike.
A simple, brutal technique. The greatsword came crashing down, its momentum splitting the air. The shockwave tore through the edges of Ryan's white coat, slicing clean through the fallen Chariot-Class. The massive corpse slammed into a classroom wall with a concussive boom.
"Terrifying power," Ryan murmured, eyes narrowing. "No wonder they resort to saturation bombardment."
Only by standing toe-to-toe with such monstrosities could one understand how absurd it was to call them cannon fodder. Against Herrschers, perhaps. But to humans? They were extinction made manifest.
A few years ago, I would've been crushed.
But Honkai made a mistake—
It kept feeding me.
His hand slapped the ground. Ryan rebounded with practiced ease, spear whirling in hand. He charged, staying low, and slipped under the beast's massive shield.
Bang!
Metal shrieked against alloy; Ryan's palm tingled from the impact. He hadn't pierced the armor, but he had disrupted the creature's stance. The charged greatsword descended—too slow. It struck only empty air as Ryan moved inside its guard, his spear humming with crimson energy.
He was no stronger than this Templar-Class in raw kinetic force—but that wasn't the point.
The greatest difference between man and beast—
Was the mind.
Instinct versus adaptation. Primitive patterning against learned experience.
The spear met the greatsword—neither weapon yielded. But while the Templar-Class recoiled, Ryan surged in. He ducked low, twisted between its legs, and pivoted on his heel—
Ryōgi Peak.
THUD!!
His elbow slammed into its abdomen like a war hammer. The impact crumpled the iron shell, lifting the creature off its feet. Its body rocketed backward, carving trenches into the concrete. Aware of its peril, it tried to raise its shield—
Too late.
There was no sensation of weight, no resistance.
Only wind.
It felt a rush beneath its waist—
Behind?
The Honkai Beast turned—just in time to see a shadow blur in.
The last thing it saw was the glint of cold metal.
Reverse Spear Thrust.
Thwack.
The spearhead pierced its skull cleanly, halting the machine's monstrous functions. Ryan exhaled slowly, looking down.
The beast's greatsword had stopped inches from his waist.
A little later…
He would've been bisected.
"Too bad," he muttered. "You lack a brain."
He wasn't in it for the kill. But each victory—each fragment of progress—ignited something inside him.
Another step on the invisible path.
What had once been theories were now lived reality. His past wasn't wasted. The endless nights spent refining techniques, deciphering Honkai energy, all converged into this moment.
And his power—grew from others.
Expansion is power.
With time limited, he would gamble everything in pursuit of truth. Without overwhelming force, how could he ever face the higher beings—let alone Herrschers?
"After all these years..." Ryan looked to the fifth-floor classroom building, intuition flaring like a sixth sense.
"You finally decided to throw me a party."
Atop the building stood a shadow.
It wasn't humanoid.
It hovered, limbless, slightly larger than a Templar-Class. A rhomboid growth like an ear crown pulsed atop its head. Four scale-like plates circled it, floating in rhythm.
Most Honkai Beasts defied logic, their forms difficult to describe. But Ryan didn't need aesthetics.
He focused on the energy—raw, dense, volatile. Far greater than a Templar-Class.
"Honkai Emperor," he whispered. "The apex of low-tier Honkai Beasts."
Finally—a challenge worthy of him.
Ryan raised his spear slowly. His grip tightened.
Fire Moth's rare cooperation tonight... this chance wouldn't come twice.
He had never faced a Honkai Emperor before. And then—
His pupils narrowed.
"What—?"
The hovering monster disappeared without warning.
Ryan moved immediately, his body acting faster than thought. He launched backward on instinct—
Whizz—
A searing red beam carved past his cheek, slicing through concrete with surgical precision.
High-compression Honkai energy. A directed beam attack—like a laser.
"Instant movement through the Imaginary Tree... Long-range Honkai control..." His thoughts accelerated. Ryan flipped through the air, dodging in a broken Z-curve.
Each leap barely missed the beam. Sparks trailed behind as the crimson energy cut through stone and steel.
Finally, he landed atop a shattered classroom building.
Moonlight pierced the clouds.
It glinted off the creature's mirrored shell, giving it a halo of menace.
Silent. Unknowable. Unholy.
Ryan removed his cracked glasses. The frames crumbled in his palm with a sharp snap.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Interesting."
"Let me tear apart your body—"
"—and uncover the truth within."