Chapter 3106: Flee

The infected Supreme closed in fast.

Emery spun around and immediately forced the Star Plaque back into action, throwing up a barrier on reflex. The protective light had become noticeably thinner this time, its surface flickering and trembling under the strain. The barrier barely had time to stabilize before the Supreme’s fist slammed into it.

BOOM!

The barrier shattered instantly.

"Dammit."

Emery barely had time to curse before the fragments of energy scattered around him. He probed the Star Plaque with his Divine Sense during the brief opening and immediately understood the problem.

The relic was running dry.

Its energy reserves had been pushed far beyond their limits.

The Supreme surged forward again, its massive fist already drawing back for another strike.

Emery had no barrier left to buy himself time.

Instead, Emery reached into his storage ring and pulled out a dozen deep-green vials. Without hesitation, he hurled the enhanced Chthulu bombs directly into the Supreme’s path.

The vials struck the air and detonated almost simultaneously.

BOOM!

A violent bloom of dark green energy erupted across the battlefield. Corrosive power spread through the surrounding space, tearing into the Supreme’s body and forcing the infected to stagger mid-charge.

For the first time, its advance stop completely.

But it wasn’t enough.

Behind the Supreme, five infected Three-Cosmos cultivators closed the remaining distance within seconds. Their powerful auras converged on Emery from different directions, leaving him almost no room to escape.

Emery’s expression hardened.

There was no clean way out of this.

He needed something chaotic enough to stop all of them at once, something powerful enough to create a real distance.

Emery shut his eyes.

He raised both hands, and Khaos energy began gathering between his palms. Spatial power twisted violently, forming a dark, spinning vortex that rapidly grew in size. Spatial fluctuations rippled outward from its center, distorting the surrounding air and causing the surface of the ocean below to tremble.

The approaching horde slowed.

Even the infected Three-Cosmos cultivators could feel the dangerous spatial fluctuations spreading across the battlefield.

[Black Hole]

Emery had never fully mastered this spell. In fact, he had deliberately avoided using it because of how difficult it was to control.

But his comprehension of the Law of Gravity had deepened considerably after absorbing the Earth Core beneath Kharzun Hold.

Now, with death closing in, he had no reason to hold back.

Emery suddenly opened his eyes.

"Break Open!!"

The spatial fluctuations violently collapsed inward.

The dark vortex expanded in an instant, transforming into a massive gravitational force that distorted the surrounding space. Everything caught within its range was dragged toward its center. The pursuing infected were suddenly thrown into chaos as their movements slowed under the tremendous gravitational pull.

A handful of the slower infected, caught completely unprepared, were dragged directly into the vortex.

Their bodies twisted violently before disappearing into the darkness, swallowed by the crushing force of the Black Hole.

Emery staggered backward, his breathing heavy.

The spell had devoured a brutal amount of his spirit and cosmic reserves. Even maintaining it for those few moments had left his body strained, and he could feel his remaining energy rapidly dwindling.

But he had bought himself the time he needed.

Emery spun on his heel, the light wings on his back flaring open in a brilliant burst.

Then he shot forward after the group.

The reprieve lasted for a while. Emery managed to put a few hundred miles of clean distance between himself and the pursuing forces, giving him a brief chance to catch his breath.

Ahead of him, the possessed Soltz continued carrying the dwarves deeper into the sea, dark webs stretching from his body and dragging the survivors along like puppets suspended from invisible strings.

Then, without warning, something else happened.

A spatial rift suddenly formed directly ahead of them.

Emery’s eyes narrowed.

This time, it was not his doing.

Powerful energy fluctuated from within the rift, followed by a surge of purplish miasma that immediately filled the surrounding space. Emery’s expression changed as he recognized the familiar and terrifying aura.

He knew exactly how much trouble they were in.

Before he could react, dozens of writhing tentacles burst through the rift, followed by several familiar Parasite Spawn. The creatures surged forward in a chaotic mass, forcing the possessed Soltz to stop abruptly.

Then something else emerged.

A flying abomination followed the parasites through the rift, its grotesque body dominated by a massive, bloodshot eye. The moment Emery felt the powerful mental fluctuations radiating from it, recognition struck him.

It was the same abomination that was found living inside Parasite X.

A powerful mental assault erupted without warning.

Emery immediately raised his mental defenses, shielding his consciousness from the attack. Even so, the force still caused a sharp pain to spread through his mind.

His concern, however, was the dwarves and High Elves next to him.

He quickly glanced toward them.

The possessed Soltz stared at the massive eye for a moment before letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Huh... this ugly thing again?"

Then her expression suddenly hardened.

"SCRAMMM!!"

Her scream exploded across the sea.

A powerful sonic burst erupted from Soltz’s body, spreading outward in a violent shockwave. The mental assault from the giant eye was instantly disrupted, the overwhelming sound tearing through the psychic attack and forcing the Parasite Spawn to freeze in midair.

For a moment, the entire swarm was paralyzed.

The possessed Soltz immediately raised her arms.

Darkness surged from her body.

Streams of shadow energy burst outward like liquid vines, twisting through the air with unnatural speed. The shadow tendrils rapidly multiplied, wrapping around the dozens of Parasite Spawn and the massive eye creature at the center of the swarm.

The smaller parasites did not even have time to struggle.

The shadow vines tightened.

CRACK!

Their bodies were crushed instantly, purple blood and fragments of corrupted flesh scattering through the air.

The grotesque eye creature was another matter.

It resisted the crushing force, its formidable body thrashing violently against the restraints. Several tentacles lashed toward Soltz, tearing through the surrounding water, but she twisted aside as shadow tendrils intercepted them. The abomination’s eye suddenly turned crimson, gathering another terrifying mental attack.

But before it could release it, the dark vines surged over its enormous eye.

One layer.

Then another.

Then another.

The shadow tendrils wrapped around the creature’s pupil, gradually covering it completely until the crimson light disappeared beneath the layers of darkness.

The abomination struggled violently, its tentacles whipping through the air as it fought desperately to break free, but the restraints held.

Emery’s eyes narrowed, a thought flashed through his mind.

With the creature so tightly restrained, this was a good opportunity to kill it.

If this was the same creature, there was a good chance it possessed another spatial shard.

Excalibur emerged in his palm as he prepared to move.

But before he could act, the possessed Soltz suddenly turned toward him.

"Flee!"

Her voice was sharp and urgent.

Emery immediately understood.

He did not need another explanation.

The arrival of these Scourge forces had already cost them precious time. Behind them, the infected horde was closing in once again, and leading the charge was the terrifying Supreme.

Emery glanced back and saw the overwhelming mass of infected creatures rapidly approaching.

"Damn persistent creatures!"