Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 3118: Special Units

Emery joined the battle without hesitation, taking up a position near a watchtower along the northern cliffs. From there, he could observe the battlefield while keeping a safe distance from the fiercest clashes.

Below, millions of Scourge surged toward the fortified land bridge. Soldiers unleashed volleys of enchanted bolts and spells, while Grand Magus moved along the ramparts to intercept the stronger creatures breaking through the defensive lines.

Emery had no intention of risking his life unnecessarily. Valder’s strange behavior still puzzled him, and the king might have a reason for bringing him here beyond testing his abilities. For now, he would help the defenders while keeping an eye on the king and the ongoing battle.

His attention frequently returned to the Supremes fighting in the distance.

Emery watched closely, trying to understand the principles behind their techniques. Even if he could not fully comprehend their Laws, witnessing their application in actual combat might provide valuable insights for his own cultivation.

A sudden movement interrupted his observation.

Parasite Hounds leaped, its jaws wide open.

Excalibur flashed, and three of them fell in a single arc. A Rift Step carried him thirty meters down the wall into the thick of an infected pack, and the blade swept again. Purple blood sprayed across the stone. He vanished, reappeared behind a Scourge brute about to crush a wounded soldier, and cut it down before the man even saw it.

He moved like a ghost, never staying where the enemy expected. Every strike landed where it mattered most. He killed the strongest infected first, the ones whose claws would have taken the most lives, and left the lesser ones to the soldiers. A young Grand Magus pinned beneath a bone-plated hulk looked up in disbelief as the thing’s head rolled away.

Emery was gone before the boy could thank him.

Then Parasite X finally moved.

The monstrous shadow behind the swarm shuddered, releasing a vast cloud of purple mist that rolled across the strait.

The infected vapor spread toward the fortress, swallowing the ground in its path. Grass withered to grey beneath it, and soldiers unfortunate enough to touch the mist felt their veins darken within seconds.

Emery’s pulse quickened. The Scourge was escalating its assault.

But the Pardera had prepared for this.

The female Supreme standing beside Illir Batara finally made his move as well.

As she approached the battlefield, Parasite X reacted immediately. Its enormous body shuddered, and several terrifying eyes emerged from the mass of flesh, opening one after another to reveal dark, swirling pupils. An invisible pressure swept across the land bridge, spreading through the minds of everyone within its reach.

The battlefield froze.

Soldiers halted mid-strike, their bodies refusing to obey their commands. Even some Grand Magus found themselves unable to move, their faces twisting in agony as the mental assault invaded their consciousness. Weaker cultivators screamed, clutching their heads as blood trickled from their noses. For a brief moment, the entire defensive line seemed on the verge of collapse.

Yet the female Supreme continued walking.

Her expression remained calm as the terrifying eyes turned toward her. Then, a third eye slowly opened on her forehead, radiating a faint silver light. The moment it appeared, the mental pressure around her shattered, leaving her completely unaffected by the attack.

Emery watched the exchange closely, his eyes narrowing.

A Spirit Champion!

Parasite X’s mental assault was clearly one of its most dangerous abilities, capable of disrupting an entire army without directly striking a single soldier. Yet the woman had broken through it with apparent ease.

Emery could not be certain, but a possibility began to form in his mind. The female Supreme might have deliberately held back because she was a specialist in dealing with Parasite X.

As she continued suppressing the creature’s mental assault, however, the purplish mist kept spreading across the battlefield. Hundreds of soldiers and Grand Magus were exposed to the infection, and some had already begun showing signs of corruption. Even with the female Supreme holding Parasite X at bay, the defenders were rapidly losing ground.

The situation was becoming critical.

Then, a signal horn sounded three short notes, and ten Grand Magus swept down from the walls in a tight formation. They wore matte-grey armor, each piece etched with fine silver runes. Strapped to every soldier’s chest was a squat, cylinder-shaped artifact that hummed with a steady, low vibration.

A special unit, indeed. Emery immediately understood their purpose.

The ten spread into a wide crescent and activated their artifacts. A pulse rippled through the air, forcing the approaching mist to recoil. More remarkably, the vapor did not simply retreat. Purple mist twisted toward the cylinder and disappeared inside them, as though the artifacts were devouring the infection itself.

The advancing wall of mist gradually thinned, opening a path as they moved forward step by step.

A second group followed behind them. These Grand Magus wore similar armor but lacked the cylinder-shaped artifacts. Several alchemists in grey robes accompanied them, their hoods drawn tightly over their faces.

Emery searched for Ivaris and Milia, but neither was among them. Still, the arrangement was obvious. These alchemists had been assigned to the front specifically to treat Scourge exposure.

Working beneath protection, they reached soldiers whose veins had already begun to darken. Each victim was placed on a stretcher, injected with medicine, and carried back behind the defensive line under guard. Meanwhile, other alchemists distributed small crimson pills to the Grand Magus still fighting at the front.

The resistance pills.

The new formula, adapted by Milia’s team in only a few days, was now being tested in actual combat.

He watched as the soldiers swallowed the pills and returned to the fight, wondering how many would withstand the Scourge’s infection.

Throughout the battle, King Valder remained calm at the rear, watching the fighting without showing any intention of joining in. The two Supremes accompanying him also stood silently on guard, seemingly accustomed to battles of this scale.

Then something finally caught everyone’s attention.

Among the sea of Scourge across the strait, a massive pile of flesh began to move. At first, it resembled nothing more than a mound of corpses, but the moment it stirred, the bodies began dragging themselves toward it, pulled by an unseen force. Limbs twisted and snapped as they were absorbed into the grotesque mass, their flesh melting into its bloated body.

The creature continued to grow.

Its surface bulged with countless faces, their mouths opening in silent screams beneath layers of translucent, purplish skin. Beneath the shifting flesh, something enormous pulsed like a heart, sending waves of dark energy through the abomination. Wherever its shadow passed, the Scourge seemed drawn toward it, crawling over one another to be consumed and incorporated into its expanding form.

Then the mound lifted its upper body.

A gaping maw split open across its torso, revealing rows of uneven teeth and a long, muscular tongue that dragged across the ground. From within came a wet, grinding sound as the creature devoured another cluster of corpses.

Emery watched the abomination grow, the Grand Magus standing beside him had gone pale. Even from a distance, they could sense the dreadful pressure emanating from the creature.