Chapter 415 - 415: Unexplainable Purity
Besides the crew, part of the felines were brave enough to leave the safety of the walls and fought with everything they had.
Caw! Caw!
Nyx, the dark crow, flew above the battle.
His bottomless gaze observed Nyla, his master, while she was locked in combat with an ant emitting the aura of a Grandmaster.
Having recently advanced to Late Master did not mean she could afford to fight the creature fairly, which was why she was supported by several of her kin, Colt being one of them.
Explosions erupted from the center of the battlefield, where Michael and the crew did everything in their power to halt the largest number of enemies possible.
However, neither Nyla nor Colt were able to glimpse at the spectacle, having their hands full with a single enemy.
Sweat clung to Nyla's forehead as she launched one arrow after the next. Since the golden exoskeleton of the spiritual beast was too thick for her to pierce, she focused on the gaps in its armor.
Her attacks were surprisingly effective.
The ant would have stomped her if it weren't for Colt, who was desperately clinging to one of the creature's legs.
"Stop, you good-for-nothing beast!" Colt murmured, exerting great effort to pin the creature to the ground, not allowing it to fly by causing imbalance in its wings.
With the support of the other felines, bold enough to hold their ground, the ant finally grew limp and fell to the ground.
"We did it!" Colt immediately rejoiced, turning toward Nyla.
"Did you see that?! I proved it… We proved it! We can hold our ground! As it turned out, these ants weren't that scary to begin with!" The man proclaimed with a laugh.
Nyla giggled, her face slightly pale from the effort.
"Yes, yes, I know. But don't forget that only morons get distracted during battle."
Her words fell on deaf ears.
With Colt's inexperience in real combat compounded by his back turned toward the battlefield, he didn't notice another Royal Champion landing right behind him.
The ant raised one of its frontal limbs and slashed.
It carved through Colt's head in one fluid motion.
Blood splattered across Nyla's still-open eyes, painting her world crimson.
Her breath hitched. Colt's headless body toppled towards her.
The beheaded body twitched a few times before growing limp.
"NOOOOOO!" Nyla's cry faded amidst the slaughter happening throughout.
At the same time, Michael's figure was slightly hunched. About a dozen Royal Champions swarmed him with no regard for their own safety.
Boom!
Heaven's Judgment fired constantly, each shot mutilating the body of an ant, only for two more to take its place.
The scent of fire reached his nostrils. Victoria was nearby, pushing her flames to the maximum.
Before Michael could be overwhelmed, rockets embedded themselves into the ground around him.
When they exploded, they incinerated parts of the ants' bodies, easing his burden considerably.
Claire, piloting her mech with Cyberfang's assistance, had launched them with the intent to help.
He nodded, showing his gratitude before turning his attention back to the foes.
Amid his rampage, his eyes spotted a familiar figure toward the horizon.
Relying on the backup of her forces, Lord Eleanora had emerged from her lair, ready to put an end to the rebellion once and for all.
Summoning her soul weapon, she released a high-pitched melody that resonated across the entire battlefield.
"!!!"
This time, it wasn't only Michael who felt the effects of her power. The crew, along with the felines, all felt a disturbance in their souls.
Still not accustomed to its effects, Michael halted momentarily.
That alone should not have been cause for concern. However, at the same time, an Hreh'tar Overlord carved a path through the ant numbers, reaching Michael in a blink.
Slash!
Before he was able to defend himself, one of the creature's tentacles wounded his leg.
The injury was not deep enough to threaten his life, but the fact that a Hreh'tar had graced him meant he had been infected by the alien's spawn.
"HAHAHA!" Eleanora erupted into laughter.
Given that Michael was a Lord with masterful control over his spiritual energy, he was capable of eliminating the alien's influence. However, doing so would divert his attention from the battle.
In other words, he would either be temporarily weakened by the Hreh'tar ravaging his body or be forced to expel them, becoming a sitting duck.
"Just like I said, you are the most devoid of humanity! No different than the felines. Your time is near!" Eleanora continued her laughter.
Frowning, Michael caught the Overlord's limbs before they could deal further damage.
But a foreign presence spreading in his body immediately began to weaken him. That, combined with the instability in his soul, meant he was unable to kill the creature!
While his mind was busy racing with possibilities, a figure with enhanced stealth flanked the Overlord.
Ruby, showing no signs of soul disturbance despite Eleanora's melody, drove her claws deep into the alien's vital point, killing it in seconds.
Eleanora's eyes opened wide, witnessing Ruby for the first time.
Although blind, the Lord was still capable of deducing that Ruby was a feline… Yet the shocking discovery was that despite her origin, there was no visible impurity in her soul!
"Preposterous! How can that be?!" Eleanora bellowed.
Even humans had reacted negatively to the sound. If Ruby hadn't faltered, didn't that suggest the altered feline possessed a purer soul than a human?
Impossible! If that were true, it would mean that everything Eleanora had believed until now was blatantly wrong. She could not allow that to happen!
Instantly, killing Ruby became Eleanora's number one priority!
Meanwhile, a path of severed corpses, both belonging to aliens and ants alike, littered the ground.
With the clash in full force, nobody had noticed when a tall silhouette had charged right past the slaughter, heading toward the ants' nest.
Everything that dared to interpret his path met the same fate… dying to his claws.
Walking nonchalantly, Devil spared a glance at the Monarch clinging to the pillar before entering the nest.
Devil's task was to kill the ant queen.