Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2971: Analysis

The Baeldum crisis had already spread far beyond a single world.

Across Alpha Quadrant Sector 13, multiple cities were now fighting their own outbreaks. Emergency quarantines had been established. Grand Magus had been mobilized. Entire factions had thrown their full strength into containing the spread.

Yet everyone understood the same grim reality.

No matter how many infected were killed, no matter how many cities were saved, the crisis would never truly end unless the source itself was understood.

Just an hour ago, Emery had received a report from Klea regarding the situation in Dawnstar. The message detailed the experiments conducted by Gerardy Dawn, the involvement of the Moonlight Syndicate, and the discovery of the underground facility hidden beneath the mountains.

Most importantly, it contained news about Kayelin, who had been missing for days.

When the follow-up report arrived minutes later, informing him that the situation in Dawnstar had been stabilized following the arrival of reinforcements, Emery could not help but feel relieved.

"I guess I worried for nothing," he muttered.

Soon afterward, he logged into the Cosmic Palace and made his way toward the research laboratories. Emery stopped outside the laboratory and waited.

Before long, the person he had been expecting finally arrived.

The Fey Priestess Kayelin.

Having recently received her own access to the Cosmic Palace, she had come immediately after receiving Emery’s message.

The moment she appeared, Emery frowned slightly.

Kayelin’s complexion was pale, and there were still traces of fatigue lingering in her eyes. Her spiritual aura felt weaker than usual, lacking her usual calm steadiness.

Emery wasn’t particularly surprised.

The last twenty-four hours had been a battlefield for everyone.

Even a Grand Magus would not walk away from such an ordeal unaffected.

"How is the situation in Dawnstar?" he asked.

Kayelin had never been good with words. She gathered them carefully now.

"The situation... was handled."

A pause.

"But there was too much ...sacrifice."

She drew breath to say more.

Emery, spoke first.

"I understand ...I am sure you’re needed there too. But this is more important."

Kayelin looked at him for a long second.

Then she nodded, very slightly, and let the words she had been gathering go.

Emery did not see it.

He opened the door behind him and stepped through.

The laboratory beyond was a chamber the size of a small temple, every wall lined with floating analysis projections, parasite scans, and theoretical formulas developed over the long night. More than a dozen Masters and Grand Masters worked in tense silence around containment chambers where corrupted samples drifted in suspension fluid.

Emery, as the lead of the project, briefly introduced Kayelin to the room before turning back to the table.

"What do we have?"

It was Master Linneus who answered. The Arbor master gestured at a magnified section of parasite cellular membrane suspended in the air above the main console.

"This."

Several enlarged sections rotated slowly above the table. The answer they had been chasing for hours was finally revealed.

"The parasite isn’t evolving," Linnaeus said. "It cannot be considered a mutation."

So Emery’s initial assumption had been wrong.

The original strain behaved exactly like a biological parasite. It invaded a host, multiplied aggressively, and gradually overwhelmed the body’s natural defenses. The higher strain, however, possessed an additional structure woven throughout its cellular network—tiny purple runic patterns that glowed faintly even under suppression. Embedded along the parasite’s cell walls like intricate circuits, they formed a secondary system unlike anything the researchers had previously encountered.

At first, the researchers believed these runes were responsible for the parasite’s unusual resistance to treatment.

They were wrong.

The runes were not defensive organs.

They were receivers.

The more simulations they reviewed, the clearer the pattern became.

"This isn’t biological evolution," Linnaeus said quietly as he studied the latest results. "It’s magically enhanced adaptation."

The enhancements were remarkably specific. The higher strain could infect a host several times faster than the original parasite while dramatically increasing its ability to overwhelm powerful individuals. Hosts who would normally resist infection for hours—or even days—could be completely compromised within minutes. In extreme cases, even Grand Magus cultivators were vulnerable to the enhanced strain.

The theory matched everything Emery had observed on Baeldum.

It explained why the outbreaks had become progressively more dangerous and why the parasites spreading in the later stages behaved so differently from the original strain.

Emery immediately thought of the mysterious creature capable of overwhelming Grand Magus cultivators within minutes.

If the researchers were correct, then the enhanced parasites were not a natural development at all. Their existence was likely tied directly to that creature.

A possibility quickly formed in his mind.

"Are you saying that if we kill that thing... the enhancement will disappear as well?"

"That is very likely," Linneus replied. "Based on everything we’ve discovered, that creature should be the carrier. More accurately, it appears to function as the source of the adaptation network."

A flicker of hope appeared in Emery’s eyes.

"If we destroy it," he asked, "will the infected be released? Will they be cured?"

Unfortunately, Linnaeus shook his head.

"Most likely not."

The room immediately quieted.

"Our decade of studies indicate that more than ninety percent of hosts displaying late-stage infection symptoms cannot be cured" he added "The enhanced strain appears specifically designed to accelerate the infection process and force victims into the later stages much faster than the original parasite."

Several researchers lowered their heads.

Emery released a deep sigh.

It was disappointing, but not surprising.

Emery, and most of the others present, exhaled the slow, heavy breath of people accepting a truth they had been hoping to avoid.

"Then our objective is clear," Emery said at last.

Heads turned toward him.

"The Alliance enforcers can focus on locating and eliminating the carrier. As for us..." his gaze swept across the assembled masters and grandmasters, "...we need to create a resistance pill strong enough to withstand the carrier’s influence."

It was the most realistic solution available.

Developing a cure capable of reversing advanced infections would be hundreds of times more difficult. Creating a compound that could prevent infection or delay its effects was far more achievable.

A cure could come later.

Survival came first.

Everyone quickly nodded in agreement and returned to work.

As the discussion resumed, Emery noticed Kayelin standing unusually quiet among the researchers.

She seemed distracted. More than once, her gaze drifted away before returning to the present, as though part of her attention remained elsewhere.

"What is it?" Emery asked.

The Fey Priestess appeared as though she wanted to say something.

She hesitated.

After a long moment, she took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"I did create a formula."

Several heads immediately turned toward her.

"However, it wasn’t designed to resist infection." She paused briefly. "Its purpose was to weaken the parasites."

The room instantly became interested.

Kayelin began explaining the research she had conducted within the mountain facility and the compound she had developed alongside the experiments performed there.

As the formula appeared above the central table, Emery and Linnaeus immediately began studying it.

The more they examined the recipe, the more promising it appeared.

"It functions as a sedative," Linnaeus muttered.

Kayelin nodded.

"It suppresses parasite activity and slows the progression of the infection. It doesn’t cure the host, but it can buy valuable time."

The elderly Arbor Master’s eyes lit up.

Time was exactly what they needed.

Without hesitation, he called several master apothecarists over and assigned them to assist Kayelin.

Their objective was simple.

Combine the sedative effects of Kayelin’s formula with the resistance compounds already under development and create the strongest antiviral possible before the next major battle on Baeldum.

"How much time do we have?" Linnaeus asked.

Emery’s expression turned serious.

"Twelve hours."

The atmosphere inside the laboratory immediately became tense again.

Twelve hours.

For a project of this scale, it was almost nothing.

Yet it was all they had.

As the researchers reorganized their work, Emery suddenly thought of the key ingredient behind Kayelin’s formula.

The Elysian Leaf.

Without wasting time, he entered his domain and gathered every mature leaf currently available.

When he returned, only fifty leaves rested inside the jade containers in his hands.

It wasn’t much.

Considering the number of tests they would need to perform, the supply was alarmingly small. Even if they successfully created the pill, the first production batch would be extremely limited.

Emery carefully placed the containers on the table.

"Use them wisely."

The researchers nodded solemnly.

As the laboratory returned to its frantic pace, Emery found himself glancing toward Kayelin once more.

Something felt off.

She had contributed her formula, answered every question, and joined the project without hesitation.

Yet there was still something weighing on her mind.

Something she wasn’t saying.

Emery considered pressing further.

In the end, he decided against it.

This was not the time.

There were still hundreds of experimental sequences to test, thousands of variables to evaluate, and only twelve hours remaining before the inevitable clash on Baeldum.