Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1531: Deployment

No tremors reached the reinforced room, but it wasn’t hard to imagine what unfolded inside the rest of the Leviathan-class ship.

Battle cries in different voices, languages, and types resounded throughout the ship as the various teams got to work, preparing themselves to face the layer of glowing smoke and the dangers it contained.

Doors all across the giant ship’s hull opened, releasing metal ramps that pierced the stable mana barrier to reach the black ground.

The various troops had also prepared for the event since the landing was imminent, immediately exiting those openings and crossing the metal ramps, abandoning the safety of the mana barrier to step on that darker-than-black planet.

Obviously, that moment earned itself the scanners’ full attention. After all, the allied front’s troops weren’t landing on an ordinary planet, and the scientific division never had the chance to test whether the rushed countermeasures worked.

Scalqa, Thilku, Ef’i, and humans left the mana barrier simultaneously, only to experience identical reactions. A disorienting weakness seemed to capture their figures, slowing down their advance and preventing them from arranging battle formations.

However, the various team leaders promptly shouted orders, reaffirming the presence of a breathable atmosphere, making their troops drop their respirators and reach for metal items sealed around their arms.

Despite the different sizes and species, all the troops wore identical metal cylinders around their right arms, and touching them activated their singular functions.

The direct contact with the celestial body made of True Chaos had started to annihilate the troops’ mana. Still, the cylindrical items released a dim, colorless barrier that enveloped each soldier, shielding them from the outside influence.

The colorless barrier’s properties didn’t end there. Hundreds of troops had exited the ship at the same time, and many relied on spells or sprinting techniques to avoid creating hindrances while arranging the battle formation.

Some spells or techniques released mana, making it seep past the colorless barrier, exposing it to the True Chaos’ annihilating influence.

Yet, what came out wasn’t exactly mana. The colorless barrier not only protected the soldiers. It also altered their energy, transforming it into something True-Chaos-resistant.

That was the culmination of what the scientific division had managed to achieve in that field. Those cylindrical items acted as artificial organs that altered the mana’s properties, replicating the mutagen’s effects.

Of course, that technology still relied on the mutagen, but it created a safer and more lasting alternative to the direct injections. Each soldier also had sets of spare flasks of that dangerous substance, allowing refills when the colorless barrier was about to run out.

That alternative gave the elite but ordinary troops a fighting chance without risking permanent mutations. Still, it featured an unavoidable weakness compared to the simple mutagen syringes. If the cylindrical machines broke while fighting, the soldiers would fall prey to the surrounding True Chaos.

The advantages outweighed the disadvantages, and everyone was aware of them, so the troops showed no hesitation while arranging themselves before the Leviathan-class ship, creating a diverse but joint line that faced the distant cloud fearlessly.

Typically, that finalized arrangement would mark the beginning of the battle or create the time for inspirational speeches. However, the allied front wasn’t done.

After the troops completed the battle formation, the ship retracted its metal ramps and closed its doors, only to open far larger gates and release more bridges toward the black surface.

Now that the scientific division knew the artificial organ worked, the order to release the army’s main fighting force resounded, making the ship release far bigger equipment.

Heavy weaponry of all kinds descended from the metal bridges. Giant rifles with even bigger barrels crawled on road wheels to reach the darker-than-black surface.

Portable shield generators also hovered down, and proper militarized vehicles joined the fray, walking on various numbers of metal legs.

Those were just a few examples of the advanced weaponry that landed on the celestial body and made its way toward the battle formation, stopping at some distance behind it to create a second line of fire.

Then, the Leviathan-class ship itself joined that trend. The many weapons that littered its hull tilted forward, pointing at the tall and vast veil of black smoke in the distance.

The allied front had capable and even extraordinary soldiers, but its main advantage against the True Chaos came from its technological achievements.

Some species inside that alliance were more advanced than others, but that problem didn’t exist when they worked together. Once the second line was complete, the ship released a tall, spherical object, which hovered toward the weapons, illuminating them with the light from its bright enneagram.

The heavy weaponry responded to that light, releasing a dimmer version of that blue glow, synchronizing with the Kros’ mainframe to act as a single organism.

Lastly, the ship released various probes from the top of its hull, which altered the view on the holographic screens connected to the scanners. Some even flew away from the battlefield, wanting to explore the celestial body to gather as much information as possible.

That marked the end of the preparations. The army, composed of hundreds of soldiers and even more weapons, was ready for that frontal clash, only waiting for the final order.

Khan didn’t hesitate. He nodded, and the Emperor mimicked his gesture, only for the other evolved warriors in the reinforced room to replicate it.

That silent gesture sent another order throughout the ship, which gathered its energy, diverting it toward its array of weapons, ultimately making them release a volley of massive mana bullets.

The ship’s weapons shared a connection with the machines on the ground, which joined the first assault, also releasing volleys of mana bullets, beams, and other types of attacks.

A rain of shining, blue energy flew over the arranged troops and crossed the sky to head for the massive veil of black clouds. The power condensed in that assault was incredible, almost promising to wipe out the entire enemy army in one blow.

Yet, the allied front wasn’t fighting mere soldiers or smoke. It was against a world, and the latter didn’t stay silent.

A short, seemingly condensed earthquake suddenly ran through the battlefield, releasing a specific interference that rose toward the sky, washing over the rain of mana-based attacks, the allied front’s soldiers, the weapons, and the ship itself.

The interference vanished as quickly as it came, but the same went for what it touched. The rain of attacks lost its structural integrity, splitting into whisps of energy that the ever-present annihilating influence quickly devoured.

The troops, weapons, and ship suffered from a similar fate. The defenses that had worked until now abruptly stopped functioning, exposing the entirety of the army to the True Chaos.