Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

The Honkai energy, existing in the form of light spots, bowed their heads as if worshipping a being on a throne. These evil spirits that had once claimed lives now obediently circled the boy's body, without harming him in the slightest.

The school badge pinned to Su Qing'an's chest suddenly shone brightly due to the increased concentration of Honkai energy, and that blooming light and the surrounding spots of light illuminated the already dimming environment.

How sacred and beautiful this scene is!

Yuno Sato knew what was on his back.

Artificial stigmata.

She didn't know exactly how much longer Su Qing'an could live; no one could quantify that number precisely.

But one thing is certain: the more the power of the Holy Mark is squeezed out, the larger the burning life force becomes.

This is the first time Su Qing'an has actively used the power of the artificial holy mark, with the aim of breaking through this barrier.

Sato Yuno is very strong, much stronger than Su Qing'an, there is no doubt about that.

However, this strength is in a broad sense. In terms of pure attack power that can be unleashed in a very short time, Su Qing'an, who is wielding the Holy Mark, is superior at this moment.

Only in that fleeting moment when the [Time Cut] strikes, can the boy briefly overcome the constraints of his body and the limit of power that Sato Yuno can unleash in a few breaths.

Sato Yuno couldn't stop Su Qing'an.

So when he decided to unleash his sword at such a cost, Sato Yuno knew that she had no choice but to cooperate.

“Yuno, there are some things you can’t hesitate about,” he said earnestly.

Sometimes, even if you burn a little slower, it won't make any difference if your body is reduced to ashes.

Just like if Su Qing'an had arrived a day later, she would have encountered a completely simulated version of Sato Yuno.

So if you really want to hold onto something, to protect something, then you can't hesitate when it's time to burn.

In that instant, countless points of light surged into the sword sheath, like the people bowing their heads to listen to the king's grace.

Su Qing'an drew his sword.

He used to think that the current [time cut] was fast enough, and that he should be able to break free from this limit in the short term.

With the help of artificial stigmata, the submissive Honkai energy easily allowed him to surpass this limit.

That's normal. If you keep putting diesel in a Bugatti Veyron, how can you expect it to run indefinitely? It's good enough that it doesn't break down.

Now that the Bugatti Veyron is equipped with 98-octane gasoline, it's naturally going to run faster than anyone else.

This sword strike was closer to the flow of time than any of his previous strikes.

The mist was cleaved through at a speed that Sato Yuno couldn't even see.

In the past, Su Qing'an's sword strikes, aided by Honkai energy, were all sword energy or sword waves.

This time, however, she could only see one ray of light.

The path cleared by the sword light was like a king walking toward his throne, and the subjects around him could only kneel down and make way.

The whole world must make way for him.

The boy's determination to draw his sword speaks volumes.

Thus, all external objects in the scene were quietly separated, and the sword light, sculpted by countless rays of light, collided with the barrier of the living puppet.

The fog in the entire mountain forest seemed to freeze for a moment, and then the world trembled.

As if some forbidden creature had been triggered, the mist locked onto the direction of the struck barrier and surged forth like waves. From above, apart from the area hit by the sword light, the mist in the rest of the area was so thin that it was almost completely cleared away.

The sword light was momentarily blocked by this frantic action, its brilliance constantly shattering into scattered fragments. However, each fragment that fell instantly burned into even finer Honkai energy, which then surged back into the sword light, acting as a catalyst to make the sword light burst forth with even more magnificent colors.

The fog is being dispelled.

The barrier was on the verge of collapse.

Finally, at the moment when the sword light completely dissipated, the intertwined Honkai energy erupted with a tremendous roar.

The barrier shattered.

The whole world really made way for this one sword strike.

The live puppet is roaring.

"How dare I? How dare I! How dare I?!"

Overwhelmed by the roar of countless voices, it successfully revived in just a few breaths.

Even in the initial resurrection, the living puppet deliberately delayed the process.

Killing two people should have been an unnecessary event for the living puppet, but now that the barrier has been broken, it no longer has the option to do so.

The reappearing mist eroded all the spores in the air, rendering Sato Yuno's methods ineffective. The living doll, whose expression remained smiling, was now filled with unparalleled rage.

Its resonant, booming voice proclaimed its will.

Immediately, everything in the mountains and forests collapsed towards the two of them.

That's the power to corrupt a Herrscher; a living doll naturally can't reach the Herrscher's level. But this shrine, this mountain forest, has long been transformed into its domain by the accumulated Honkai energy over the past five hundred years.

Sato Yuno and Su Qing'an are now in the same old home of a mage, directly confronting a mage in the mage tower. Naturally, the difficulty they face is quite different.

Everything in the mountains and forests, along with the burning remains of the shrine and the mist, twisted into a massive wave that surged toward the two of them. The living doll wanted to drown and crush them directly; it would not allow anyone to disturb the process of the believers searching for offerings for it.

The holy marks on the boy's back suddenly went out. After swinging the sword, his strength was almost exhausted. His chest was as warm as a furnace, but now that furnace was frozen. He could feel something being stripped away from his body little by little.

That feeling was too magical and illusory; he understood that this was the price to pay.

The passage of time is drastically accelerated, and life slips away from the body.

Himeko-nee has experienced this feeling more than once, hasn't she?

That's incredibly strong.

Su Qing'an, who would be extremely weak in a short time, looked at the overwhelming scene before her, but her mind was filled with endless thoughts.

The reason he had difficulty concentrating was his mental and physical exhaustion, but the more important reason was that Sato Yuno was standing next to him.

Since he dared to unleash that sword strike, there was no reason for him not to trust Sato Yuno.

Sato Yuno looked at the scene before her, her black contact lenses shattered into nothingness, and her emerald eyes, which were exposed to the outside world again, were as indifferent as a frozen lake in Siberia.

Honkai energy gathers and condenses, and the girl's black-dyed hair returns to its original light purple color.

“This is no longer your territory,” she said.

The earth trembled, and all things grew.

Thus, the wave of control by living puppets was overtaken by an even larger wave.

While the mage was sleeping, Sato Yuno also built a mage tower.

Now, the game is evenly matched.

37. Escape the barrier, dragon's breath.

The contest between the two sides ended in a near draw, leaving the torii gates, trees, and stone slabs in the area completely destroyed.

The live dolls exhibited far greater mobility than before.

Even when a massive wave, mixed with countless fragments of things, surged in, it couldn't harm it in the slightest.

She hovered in mid-air, her magnificent kimono spotless, her bare toes drooping low, her pale pink nail polish contrasting beautifully with her snow-white skin.

Even after killing the living doll twice, it remained unharmed.

It was as if resurrecting this body was not a significant drain on it at all.

The situation is not looking good.

If the battle continues at this distance, only Sato Yuno among the two present has the confidence and experience to maintain a prolonged stalemate with it.

The fog was still thick.

Sato Yuno ran.

No, "leap forward" would be a more appropriate description.

Vines wrapped around her slender waist, with the other end of the vines connecting to Su Qing'an. Beneath the girl's feet were vines shaped like swimming dragons, and she stood on the dragon's head, while the Honkai energy was responsible for stabilizing her body.

The vine sped forward like a wild off-road vehicle racing across the grassland, undeterred by the dilapidated and uneven terrain.

The barrier wasn't actually far from the two of them; at this speed, it would only take them a few seconds to escape the battlefield.

Regardless of whether the living puppets choose to pursue, they will have achieved a partial victory.

Along the way, she looked around unhappily at the scenery, as Honkai energy continued to surge from beneath the ground.

It's conceivable that if the two hadn't been able to quickly escape the battlefield and continued in this state, the solid barrier would have been reborn, and everything would have returned to square one.

Until they find that thing, they will repeatedly engage in a difficult and extremely long tug-of-war with the living doll.

The Honkai energy within Sato Yuno's pseudo-Herrscher core is also nearly inexhaustible, so she has absolutely no reason to be afraid in a war of attrition.

But the key right now is to shift the battlefield; leaving quickly is the top priority.

But the living puppets obviously wouldn't let them leave so easily.

The overwhelming black dots were clearly visible even against the gloomy sky, and the cacophony was deafening.

"Ah, ah." It was a dejected, unpleasant, hoarse, and rough voice, but at this moment, such an unpleasant voice was repeated thousands of times.

It's very unpleasant. Just hearing about it is unpleasant.

The girl frowned in displeasure.

It was crows; the living puppets controlled at least several thousand crows to prevent the two from escaping.

Sato Yuno wasn't surprised that there were so many crows in the mountains. There are naturally many crows in Japan, and it's perfectly normal for crows, which feed on carrion, to live in the mountains.

In Japan, crows are considered auspicious birds, and in legends they are messengers responsible for guiding the souls of the dead to a better place.

But at this moment, these crows were like the Grim Reaper, their black feathers indistinct in the gradually darkening sky, only their blood-red pupils were exceptionally clear, making them extremely eerie.

Almost without hesitation, the crows launched a suicidal attack on Sato Yuno and her companion.

The crow's only weapon is its sharp beak.

From a distance, the scene resembles ten thousand black arrows falling in unison.

But that's all there is to it.