Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 3068: Welcoming Party

On the right flank, the giant west general Boyd charged straight into the swarm, his massive fists tearing through the darkness. He didn’t need a flashy technique. Every punch carried overwhelming kinetic force, exploding Parasite Spawns into chunks of black flesh and severed tendrils on contact.

A dozen creatures rushed him at once.

Boyd swung both fists.

Boom!

The impact blasted several of them apart, while the rest were thrown backward by the shockwave. He barely slowed, continuing to advance through the swarm like an unstoppable wall.

Kayelin raised both hands, and layers of rainbow-colored barriers unfolded around Boyd like overlapping shields, intercepting the Parasite Spawns that tried to swarm him from the sides. Their claws slammed against the barriers, only to be thrown back by the shimmering defenses.

Behind her, Feyanorr’s antlers glowed with spectral light. Massive spectral claws materialized around him, sweeping through the void and crushing any Parasite Spawn caught in their path, reducing them to scattered chunks of flesh.

On the left, Khalid fought with his spear, each thrust leaving a trail of golden light.

[Thousand Sun Lance]!

His spear flashed forward, splitting into a dozen radiant points before striking. Tens Parasite Spawns were pierced through in the same instant, their bodies bursting apart as Khalid immediately turned toward the next wave.

Veyarel fought beside him, his spatial energy spreading across the battlefield.

A spawn lunged toward Khalid’s back, only for the space between them to suddenly distort. Its claws missed by several meters, as though the creature had completely misjudged the distance.

Another tried to flank them.

The surrounding space twisted again, throwing its trajectory off course and directly into Khalid’s waiting spear.

Soltz covered the remaining gaps. His earth-bound battlefield domain spread through the void, creating crushing gravity around the parasites. Their movements became sluggish as their own bodies dragged them downward, leaving them helpless targets for Khalid and Veyarel.

Even the six fighters on the front lines, backed by eight Grand Magus in reserve, couldn’t handle the swarm alone. The numbers became obvious within the first minute. For every Parasite Spawn destroyed, two more quickly moved in to replace it, threatening to overwhelm the flanks through sheer attrition.

The ship’s weapons answered that problem.

Rows of manned railgun turrets along the Destroyer’s hull swung into position, their Magus-realm crews tracking anything that slipped past the frontline. The cannons fired in rapid bursts, metal rounds tearing through the void and punching straight through the smaller spawns.

These creatures were beneath the attention of the Grand Magus, but they were still dangerous enough to damage the ship if left unchecked.

The railguns couldn’t do much against Parasite X itself.

But they didn’t need to.

Rosin Karat had already pushed far beyond them.

He flew straight toward Parasite X, golden light wrapping around both fists.

[Solar Sovereign Fist]!

His fist slammed into the creature’s massive body.

The impact erupted in a silent burst of golden light, sending cracks across its armored flesh.

Parasite X answered with a storm of enormous tendrils.

Karat twisted between them, caught one with his bare hand, and smashed it aside before driving another glowing fist into the creature’s torso.

Again.

And again.

Their exchange passed fifty rounds.

Every collision erupted in a burst of golden light, silent explosions flashing across the void as Karat’s fists slammed into Parasite X’s monstrous body. His raw physical strength proved more than enough to match the creature head-on, with each blow shattering another layer of its thick outer flesh and sending black fragments drifting into space.

The exchange continued for more than a hundred rounds before anything finally gave.

Then Parasite X suddenly convulsed.

A deep fracture tore across the creature’s body.

Something dark moved beneath the broken flesh.

Karat’s eyes narrowed.

The fracture suddenly split open.

Something inside Parasite X began forcing its way out.

"Watch out!"

Emery’s warning came a fraction of a second before the mental assault struck. An invisible force crashed into his mind, carrying a wave of alien malice and overwhelming spiritual pressure. His Seventh Pagoda flared instantly, locking his consciousness behind layers of spiritual defenses as he extended part of that protection toward Karat.

The mental assault slammed into both of them, but Karat quickly steadied himself.

Then something tore its way out of Parasite X’s ruined body.

The creature was barely half the height of a human, with a grotesquely thin frame, pale, slick skin, and multiple small eyes scattered across its face. Despite its tiny size, there was an unsettling intelligence behind those eyes as it suddenly erupted with a thick purplish miasma, the poisonous cloud expanding outward and rapidly engulfing both Emery and Rosin Karat.

The miasma continued to spread, threatening to swallow the entire battlefield.

To the creature’s surprise, however, a golden, glowing figure emerged from within the poisonous haze.

Rosin Karat was completely unaffected.

Without giving the parasite even a moment to react, the Supreme surged forward and launched another devastating bombardment of fists. Golden light exploded across the void as his fists hammered into the creature’s body, each blow carrying enough force to shatter its defenses.

The creature froze, confusion flashing across its many eyes.

Having known what they would be facing, both Emery and Rosin Karat had taken the superior resistance serum before leaving the ship, rendering the parasite’s deadly poison completely useless against them.

While Karat continued his relentless assault, Emery didn’t remain idle either. He unleashed a continuous barrage of spiritual attacks, each strike hammering into the parasite’s consciousness and disrupting its attempts to retaliate.

His [Spectral Gaze], powered by the Seventh Pagoda, wasn’t strong enough to break through the creature’s mental defenses, but it was enough to disrupt them.

Every time it tried to gather energy or launch a counterattack, Emery’s spiritual pressure crushed the attempt before it could take shape.

Realizing that it could no longer fight them head-on, the parasite suddenly attempted to escape.

Emery immediately reacted, unleashing his spatial spells to distort the surrounding space and disrupt its movement. The space around the creature twisted violently, cutting off its escape route and locking its body in place.

"You are not going anywhere!!"

Rosin Karat didn’t give it the slightest chance to recover. He continued his merciless bombardment, golden fists crashing into the parasite again and again until its body was battered and barely able to move.

Cornered and trapped, the creature still showed no fear. Instead, a voice entered Emery’s mind, cold and utterly devoid of emotion.

"> <You’re too late. This realm is already ours>

Emery’s expression hardened, but before he could extract another word, the creature’s body suddenly began to swell with unstable energy.

The tiny parasite let out a piercing shriek that seemed to scrape directly across the soul before its body detonated in Emery’s grasp.

BOOOOMMM!!!!

The violent explosion tore through the surrounding void, powerful enough to create a small torrents of black hole. Using his advanced spatial abilities and Khaos Riftstep, Emery managed to escape the worst of the blast, but even his formidable body was still wounded. Fortunately, the ship was far enough away from the explosion to avoid any serious damage.

With the death of Parasite X, the remaining Parasite Spawns suddenly began to behave like mindless creatures. Some turned and fled in panic, while others seemed to lose all reason, attacking anything in their path. Without the Parasite X controlling or coordinating them, the creatures were far easier to deal with.

The battle was over soon after.

Yet as the last Parasite Spawn was destroyed, Emery couldn’t shake the words he had heard from the creature.

He couldn’t help but wonder what had become of Tartarus.