Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

Sword flight? What's that supposed to be? Li Sushang, now weaponless, was utterly bewildered. The wind rushing in through the car window, a consequence of their high speed, whipped against her face, leaving her with a strange sense of emptiness.

Shu, however, gripped his sword, a sudden surge of confidence welling up within him. At the same time, that strange wish refreshed itself. Then came Otto's empty wish: [Kill the Emperor-class Honkai Beast, Imperator].

All the elements were in place. Standing tall on the roof of the speeding car, Shu raised his sword high, pointing it at Imperator, whom he'd previously punched skyward.

"Come on, let's see if I can crack that shell of yours!" Shu's gaze hardened. A substantial amount of Hope(pray) transformed into [Expectation] in his hand, coiling around the blade with a sharp, keen energy.

The fierce wind parted smoothly around him as he bent his knees, poised to meet Imperator's next attack. He was still a beginner, after all. Fu Hua had only had time to show him two of the most basic sword techniques from the Taixu dojo: "Guard" and "Strike."

This "Strike" was the first move Shu had prepared for Imperator. As long as it continued its dive…

"Huh?" Shu froze mid-stance. Imperator, which had been plummeting from the sky, had abruptly halted its descent.

Why? Could this Honkai beast actually sense danger?!

Shu stared, wide-eyed, as Imperator hovered in the air, the distance between them widening as the car sped onward. He felt a frustrating surge of pent-up energy with nowhere to go. Not that it was a bad thing…

"Shu, what's happening?" Otto asked, frowning, his voice reaching Shu on the roof. The expected impact hadn't come.

"I don't know. Imperator just…stopped attacking. It feels like it sensed a threat," Shu replied, his voice grave.

"Sensed a threat…" Otto's frown deepened. "Could this Emperor-class Honkai beast possess some level of intelligence? Or is it just a basic biological instinct for self-preservation? If it's the latter, we're in trouble…"

If it was self-preservation, that practically amounted to precognition. Any effective attack would be dodged…

Logically, a creature's self-preservation instincts stemmed from inherited traits or deeply ingrained memories of past trauma. This Imperator hadn't been around for long. Without higher intelligence, what experience could it have accumulated? So, it had to be inherited instincts? But who here could have inflicted a serious sword wound on an Emperor-class Honkai beast...?

Otto paused, his eyes shifting, catching sight of Fu Hua and Li Sushang in the rearview mirror. His gaze lingered on the Taixu dojo emblem on Li Sushang's clothing.

Could it be…?

While Otto pondered, Imperator finally made its decision. Living beings react to instinct in two ways: fear, leading to avoidance, or… adaptation.

Shu's eyes flickered, instinctively glancing down at his arm.

"The temperature…it's rising?" Kallen said, surprised, waving a hand in the air.

Empowered by [Expectation], Shu's senses were incredibly sharp. The sudden spike in the surrounding temperature didn't escape his notice.

"Shu!" Kallen's warning snapped Otto back to attention. "Watch out for Imperator! Increase your output!"

Shu's expression turned serious. He looked up towards Imperator.

The sight that greeted him was like staring directly into the sun. Intense heat radiated outwards, forcing him to squint.

No, it's supposed to be overcast today!

It was Imperator.

[From Otto: A pair of sunglasses]

The blinding light was the reason for Otto's warning. Shu immediately materialized a pair of sunglasses and put them on, blocking the worst of the glare.

But the intense light wasn't the only problem. A wave of scorching heat washed over him, instantly igniting his clothes!

And this was from nearly a thousand meters away! He hadn't even registered it as an attack!

No…time for a new name.

Shu patted out the flames on his clothing. The surrounding temperature instantly returned to normal, thanks to another wish from Otto.

"Lava Emperor…" Shu muttered, his gaze fixed on the fiery being above through his sunglasses, now a second sun in the sky. It hovered amidst the towering skyscrapers, the heat distorting the light and the very buildings around it… no, the buildings were distorting. Glass and steel melted together, the cold grey of the skyscrapers transforming into the incandescent glow of molten metal.

Lava Emperor floated serenely, a blazing angel of destruction, high above.

Shu gripped his sword tighter, facing the apocalyptic pressure.

Human and beast, locked in a silent standoff. Then, Lava Emperor moved.

Only then did Shu realize that the initial wave of heat wasn't an attack at all. It was merely an insignificant aftershock.

Cars below exploded in rapid succession. Trees erupted in flames. Everywhere Shu looked, everything was burning, melting. Even though the temperature around him remained normal, the sheer sight of this hellish landscape made him feel like he, too, was about to be consumed by the inferno.

Floating plates of armor around Lava Emperor began to rotate, spiraling around its body. All the flames within Shu's vision followed the whirling armor, the fire spreading, growing.

A screech of tires. Shu stumbled, glancing back. A wall of fire blocked the road ahead.

"You're the Flame Emperor?!" Watching flames from a burning tree surpass the height of a skyscraper, Shu couldn't hold back a furious shout. "You're the Herrscher of Flame!"

This wasn't hell anymore; it was a cage. The rising curtain of fire had trapped them in an arena.

Meanwhile, Little Chen, the first to flee the shelter, stopped, legs trembling, staring at a sight she would never forget.

A towering fire tornado, connecting earth and sky.