Chapter 66: Purging the Toxin
His voice came through the comms, reaching everyone’s ears.
Everyone’s expression instantly turned grim. They all knew what a Mutant Series Starbug meant.
It meant their attacks would be laced with toxins.
Felix York froze. Mutant Series Starbugs were rare; they were typically S-class or higher, with an appearance rate of less than one in ten thousand.
The Starbugs that appeared near their planet were generally not high-level. The vast majority they had cleared out in previous battles were just common Starbugs.
But they had encountered the Mutant Series before. Each time, they had suffered devastating losses.
The Starbug’s toxin, carried by its spiritual power, attacked the Spiritual Sea directly. To make matters worse, their own Spiritual Seas already contained volatile spiritual power.
In such a state, the toxin corroded them even faster. A low-level individual would die instantly.
But they hadn’t encountered a Mutant Series Starbug in a long time. They thought this would be a routine mission. Who would have expected not only a Mutant Series but an S+ Level one?
In the moment they were lost in thought, the Swarm gathered once more, launching another wave of attacks at them!
"The Mutant Series is surrounded by layers of other Starbugs. It’s showing no signs of attacking for now," Cillian Forrest reported after probing with his spiritual power.
Hearing Cillian Forrest’s words, Felix York immediately gave a decisive order. "Continue the attack!"
They lacked experience with the Mutant Series. Thankfully, the Marshal was present this time.
「Meanwhile, with the squad surrounded by the Swarm.」
Just as they were on the verge of running out of ammo and energy, just as they were about to give up hope, they suddenly detected energy waves from outside their position.
In an instant, the eyes of the few survivors lit up. "Major General, someone’s here to rescue us!"
"Hold on, we’re saved!"
They had been dispatched to eliminate a nearby Swarm cluster. The initial intelligence report stated it was only a small cluster, with no High-level Swarm members present.
As a result, the dispatched personnel were limited. To be on the safe side, they had followed a previous directive from the Marshal and upgraded their warship’s equipment by one level before departing.
The data from the Monitoring Department had never been wrong before, but with the Marshal away, they had taken extra precautions and assigned two additional S-class officers.
With the SS-level Leo Fane—another of the Marshal’s aides—as the lead commander, they had assumed the cleanup operation would go smoothly.
They never imagined they would encounter an S+ Level Starbug.
Encountering it would have been one thing. Their unit was well-equipped, and it wasn’t as if they couldn’t put up a fight. After all, Leo Fane himself was SS-level.
But they had never, ever imagined that the S+ Level Starbug was a Mutant Series. Its combat power was amplified, and its attacks carried a toxin.
During the attack, their squad was scattered. Several warships were destroyed, leaving only their own.
Even their communication equipment was damaged in the course of the battle.
As the commander, Leo Fane naturally bore the brunt of the assault. His body already harbored toxins from a previous encounter with a Starbug, and this new poison only made a bad situation worse.
Perhaps seeing that they were no longer capable of fighting back, the S+ Level Starbug ceased its attacks, content to simply watch them.
It was as if it were waiting with keen interest for them to die.
Just as Leo Fane resigned himself to dying there, the moment the person beside him cried out, he suddenly sensed something.
He snapped his eyes open. ’It’s the Marshal’s spiritual power!’
’The news from Ethan Cross was right. The Marshal is really alive.’
"Major General, the people who’ve come are from the Seventh Legion," the person next to him said excitedly.
’That’s right, we’re closest to Karath, where the Seventh Legion is stationed. Their monitoring system must have detected something and dispatched troops.’
The Seventh Legion’s squadron of warships quickly broke through the weakest point in the Swarm’s defensive line. Knowing the trapped unit’s comms were down, they could only activate their ship’s external broadcast function.
"Break out!"
At that command, both units simultaneously punched backward, breaking free from the Swarm’s encirclement.
At that same moment, Cillian Forrest unleashed his spiritual power. The S+ Level Starbug, which had been lounging lazily, immediately felt an oppressive force.
It snapped its eyes open and mobilized its own spiritual power to resist the assault. But Cillian Forrest’s spiritual power was too immense; it pierced straight through its defenses and landed a heavy blow.
In that instant, the Starbug flew into a rage and let out a piercing shriek.
"Watch out! Its spiritual power attack is laced with toxin!"
This was a unique skill of the Mutant Series. Spiritual power, cloaked in toxin and carried on the shriek, surged toward the Seventh Legion!
Felix York’s expression was grave as he opened a comm channel to Sophie Wexler. "Miss Wexler, you may begin the mass soothing."
Her purpose was to soothe the volatile energy created when they mobilized their spiritual power, allowing them to dedicate more of that power to resisting the Starbug’s toxic assault.
This was precisely why Cillian Forrest had brought Sophie Wexler with him.
"I will do my best!"
The moment Sophie Wexler finished speaking, a command came from the bridge.
"Retreat and defend!"
As the command was issued, everyone simultaneously activated their defenses. However, the shields could only block conventional energy attacks; the toxin carried on the creature’s shriek could not be blocked, piercing through the defensive barriers and hurtling toward the warships.
Immediately, a grim look appeared on everyone’s faces.
Warship after warship was rapidly retreating.
Watching the scene unfold, Sophie Wexler was on high alert. Her palms were slick with sweat, and her heart pounded violently in her chest.
The Starbug’s attack drew closer and closer!
Almost at the instant the command was given, Sophie Wexler’s expression became solemn. She took a deep breath, and her lips parted slightly.
As she began to sing, her voice, imbued with spiritual power, radiated out from her.
In an instant, a soothing spiritual power spread throughout the warships!
The volatile energy within everyone’s Spiritual Sea instantly subsided, and the excruciating pain abated.
At that same moment, the Starbug’s attack arrived. Everyone held their breath.
With the volatility in their spiritual power soothed, they could now spare more energy to resist the toxin’s invasion of their Spiritual Seas.
"Here it comes!"
It was the critical moment!
As the attack reached the barrier, everyone’s nerves were stretched taut. They held their breath, the only sound being Sophie Wexler’s song swirling around them.
The next second, they watched as the attack simply dissipated as it neared the barrier.
That’s right, it dissipated!
Even the toxin that should have pierced the barrier vanished along with it.
Everyone: "??!!"
A golden light flashed in the depths of Cillian Forrest’s eyes, which were now filled with utter disbelief.
In almost the exact same instant, everyone realized something.
The toxin had not attacked their Spiritual Seas.
’How is that possible?!’
’Our defensive barriers can’t possibly block the toxic energy carried on its sound waves. What’s happening?!’
Cillian Forrest stared intently at Sophie Wexler. ’Everything is happening as it should, with one exception: Sophie was also projecting her spiritual power while she sang.’
Sophie Wexler snapped out of her stupor and her song ceased. A fine sheen of sweat soaked the hair on her forehead, and the immense exertion left her breathing heavily. She noticed everyone was staring at her with looks of disbelief.
"What’s wrong?"
Cillian Forrest stared at Sophie Wexler for a long moment before a daring thought surfaced in his mind. ’Her spiritual power can block the Starbug’s toxin!’