Chapter 282 - 245: The Third Earth Ring: The Unspeakable Parasite

Unlike the first Earth Ring—the Forbidden Magic Force Field, whose Extraordinary Traits were completely fixed—the Mimic Evolution Body, the second Earth Ring that Reinhardt constructed using his Extraordinary Armament, Morphic Armor, possessed the mysterious ability to evolve on its own.

However, because it was a mimic, even though the Earth Ring could determine the optimal solution on its own, it still required a sample of Extraordinary Power from either the Real Cosmos or the Void Realm.

[Analysis Complete.]

When the system’s faint blue text faded, an evolution tree for the Morphic Armor, glowing with a dark purple light, appeared in Reinhardt’s line of sight.

Just as in the Kemola Underground Tomb Complex, the evolution tree still only displayed two Special Abilities: Living Bomb and Overload Drive.

The difference now, however, was that the evolution tree in Reinhardt’s vision was faintly squirming, like a rhythmic heartbeat. The two activated Special Abilities also seemed to have been parasitized by some peculiar power. They had transformed from their original text descriptions into what looked like corrupting eggshells, glowing with a pulsating purple light.

Below the two eggshells representing Living Bomb and Overload Drive, two progress indicators both read ’1/3’.

Then, the system’s faint blue text began to scroll.

[Unspeakable Parasite: The third Special Ability of the Morphic Armor’s Mimic Evolution Tree. This wondrous parasite does not grant new Special Abilities on its own. Instead, it absorbs the power essence of the mighty dead to provide other Special Abilities with the option for further evolution.]

[Endless hunger...]

[Devour the power essence of two more powerful beings, and Living Bomb and Extreme Overload can evolve again. The Mimic Evolution Body will mark powerful enemies when they are encountered.]

[It is rumored that this Extraordinary Creation was forged by a Flaming Goat on a mountain sealed in a thousand miles of ice...]

[Slaughter, Devour, Evolve.]

After the third Earth Ring, the Unspeakable Parasite, completed its evolution,

Reinhardt sensed a peculiar Extraordinary Power squirming within his Extraordinary Armament, the Morphic Armor, spreading until it reached every last corner of the armor.

Although the third Earth Ring’s Special Ability didn’t immediately increase his combat power, this trait, which provided a secondary upgrade path for the other abilities on the evolution tree, was in fact more powerful than any single Special Ability!

If one were to create a standard model for the power level of an Earth Ring, the strength of the Extraordinary Power provided by the Unspeakable Parasite would be completely off the charts!

However, to fully unlock the power of the third Earth Ring, he still needed to slay two more powerful foes.

Afterward, the flames on the Divine Emperor’s Fury in Reinhardt’s hand gradually died down.

Though this Radiant Holy Artifact was powerful, allowing him to slaughter Demons and Void Knights with ease, it placed an immense drain on Reinhardt’s stamina. He wouldn’t have used it so readily on the vast battlefield if he hadn’t encountered a powerful enemy from the Void Realm.

At that moment, several Flesh Battleships packed with Demons entered the Barge Port through the Net Path. Swarms of Demons poured out of the vessels, crashing against the port’s defensive lines. Aided by Angel Vision Technology, Reinhardt’s gaze pierced the warzone, looking through the port’s massive sealed viewport.

Lances of light from ship-to-ship cannon fire wove an impenetrable web of destruction in the space of Verne’s high orbit, so dense that even the light of the star seemed to dim.

Pulled by the planet’s gravity, tens of thousands of shipwrecks became a rain of dead steel, burning brightly as they pierced the atmosphere and crashed to the ground.

Mixed in with this space junk were the landing beacons of the Imperial Administrative Region’s legions, continuously deploying millions of Mortal infantry to the warzones on the surface.

Although the war in the Verne Star System was exceptionally brutal and the Imperial Administrative Region’s forces had suffered heavy losses, every member of the high command, Reinhardt included, knew that the current scale of battle was merely an appetizer for the grand war yet to come.

This was because the main force of the Imperial Rebel Army had yet to appear; they were only dealing with scattered vanguard units. Likewise, the Dark Abyss had only dispatched Convicted Demons and Slaughter Demons as line-filling cannon fodder, aiming to attrit the Imperial Administrative Region’s forces.

Beyond the Verne War Zone, there were other threats.

Internal opposition forces simmered within the Administrative Region, while hundreds of light-years away, Grand Lord Kles watched with a covetous eye. He was a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.

Commanding large legions was a task of unimaginable pressure for any ordinary person. Even the slightest miscalculation could lead to millions of infantrymen dying horribly in the trenches of Verne.

This was all without mentioning the pressure from internal factions and Grand Lord Kles.

Aside from a brief, pre-mission conversation with Sedon aboard the Iberian Glory, Reinhardt had had no further contact with him.

One could only imagine the pressure Sedon and the other frontline commanders were under.

Securing the Divine Emperor’s Fury to his back, Reinhardt retrieved his Black War Axe. His gaze fell upon the Demon Army at the port once more. The exhausts of his Aikacia Nozzle began to glow, and a stream of high-temperature energy propelled him into the warzone, back into the heart of battle.

「Elsewhere.」

After Stearns, commander of the Death Battle Group’s Second Company, and his men entered the Punisher ship, the six Technician Priests following him caught sight of the cloak Agate was wearing—a symbol of a Mechanical Sage—and hastily dropped to their knees.

"Praise... Praise the God of All Machines, my lord."

One could hear a slight tremor in the Technician Priests’ voices, born from a mix of overwhelming excitement and fear.

Hailing from the strictly hierarchical Mechanical Order, these Technician Priests—or "grease monkeys," as they were sometimes called—would never have dreamed they would encounter a Mechanical Sage here.

Their kneeling forms trembled just as their voices had.

Stearns was also inwardly stunned when he saw Agate’s cloak, and his brow furrowed in thought.

He couldn’t understand what value such an insignificant orbital port could possibly hold compared to the rest of the warzone. First, a large contingent of the Ash Guard had built a defensive line here, and now a Mechanical Sage of esteemed status was here repairing a ship...

Nevertheless, out of respect, he gave a slight bow of reverence to Agate, who was dressed as a Technician Soldier. He then hurried to Florian’s side, knelt on one knee, and shouted for the medical personnel behind him.

"My lord, your wounds..."

After quickly examining Iron Crown Florian’s injuries, Stearns’s brow tightened. He couldn’t imagine what kind of enemy could have wounded someone as powerful as the Iron Crown so grievously, almost fatally.

The two men clasped right hands firmly.

Florian looked at his former subordinate, exhaled a ragged breath, and forced himself to his feet. "Just some minor wounds," he replied.