Chapter 905: Against the Space Bugs
The space bugs' ability to evolve to deal with a stronger threat was so difficult to deal with that only a rare few hunters would be willing to counter a bug invasion.
Yang Ze sighed. "The most troublesome aspect about all this is that, during the evolution process, a large number of mutated bugs or even a bug monarch will appear."
Zhou Ying added, "According to the reports I perused, these bugs may even make use of the evolution process to selectively breed a bug monarch."
"A bug monarch? To lead the bugs in times of trouble, is that it?" Zhang Lie thought out loud.
None of the members of Team Zenith were able to confirm this guess. The hunters of the Milky Way had tried to study this species in earnest, but there was still much that was unknown about these bugs.
Li Feng's outlook was more optimistic. "We don't know for certain that these bugs are evolving, do we?"
Zhou Ying replied, "I can feel a lifeform of unparalleled strength gestating. It's in some sort of stasis at the moment, but once it becomes active... It's already giving off a terrible stench to my senses, and we're heading straight toward it."
The hunters fell silent. Among the hunters present, Zhou Ying was surely the authority on such matters.
The shuttle flew toward where the bugs were most concentrated. Because the bugs had fallen back after their disastrous defeat, the skies were no longer covered with dense clouds of bugs.
The shuttle shot forth without encountering any resistance. It quickly entered the bugs' territory. The hunters could see that the land that the bugs had claimed was now devoid of all life—all that was left behind was barren ground and a few bloodstained rocks.
Upon witnessing this sight, Zhang Lie swore that he would destroy the bugs here—he couldn't let such devastation strike Earth.
Eventually, they finally reached the bugs' nest, an ink-green, bulbous structure shot through with narrow tunnels, like a piece of moldy cotton. Merely looking at the nest made the hunters nauseous.
As the shuttle approached the nest, a titanic swarm of bugs appeared from within. Land and sky was dyed black by their arrival.
"Disciples of the Zenith Dojo, prepare for combat!"
A high-energy laser shot out from the shuttle, scattering the bugs and clearing a patch of sky. The beam was so wide that even the bugs on the ground were annihilated, leaving a path straight toward the nest. Countless bugs were burning from having been incidentally struck by the beam, both in the sky and on the ground.
The members of Team Zenith were standing by the head of the shuttle. Zhang Lie stood at the front, followed by the other five hunters of Team Zenith, and then Hong Xi's four-hunter party.
"We attack!" Zhang Lie waved a hand as all the hunters manifested their weapons.
"I'll go first!" Fang Yi jumped down from the shuttle, a spear in his arms. He launched his spear, crackling with wind and lightning, with incredible force. It sent wind howling and lightning flashing through the sky.
Fang Yi thrust his spear forward once more, so quickly it left dozens of afterimages in all directions. Huge swathes of bugs were cleared out from the vicinity.
Waves suddenly appeared in the sky, shimmering like a mirage. Spatial fluctuations rippled as Yang Ze activated [Mirrored Refraction]. Dozens of crystalline lotuses surrounded him, all of which he had been manifesting during the flight over. Even while engaged in conversation about these bugs with the rest of Team Zenith, Yang Ze hadn't stopped creating more of these lotuses with his genetic energy.
"Take this!" Two dozen lotuses were swept forth by the tides of genetic energy. They burst apart in mid-air like bombs.
"[The Boundless Blade: Shark Frenzy]!" Pale-blue sharks appeared in the sky, consuming all the bugs they came across. Yang Ze allowed one shark to carry him through the sky. Whenever any bugs drew near, the crystalline lotuses surrounding him would explode into a ball of mist as shards of ice fell toward the battlefield.
Sun Xiaowu leaped high into the air as gold-attuned genetic energy radiated from him like a second sun. "[Blinding Flash: Hundredfold Echo]!"
Sun Xiaowu's body split into over a thousand clones, so many they seemed to fill the sky. Each was simultaneously real and illusory.
"[Golden Divide]!" The thousand clones used [Golden Divide] simultaneously, coloring the sky in gold and raining down golden feathers in such numbers that it seemed as though a thunderstorm had just formed out of thin air.
All the bugs in the vicinity were shot down by the feathers, both in the sky and on the ground. Sun Xiaowu was the splitting image of a radiant sun.
"Hey, watch it, Sun Xiaowu!" Li Feng scowled as he defended against Sun Xiaowu's feathers. A blinding pillar of white shot out of his body, competing with Sun Xiaowu's golden light in terms of brilliance. Half the sky was gold, and the other half silver.
As a dragon roared in the air, Li Feng cried out, "[Light Dragon's Remnants]!"
Li Feng marshaled his genetic energy into the form of a large number of white dragons that dive-bombed the battlefield.
Zhou Ying stood at the front of the shuttle, her hair blowing in the wind. Vitality surrounded her, so concentrated it manifested as a green barrier. Her hair had turned the color of sparkling jade, and she was so beautiful no one could look away.
As motes of green light surrounded her, she took two bounding steps forward and leapt off the shuttle, her hands extended.
"[Avatar of the Fae: Earthbound Prison]!" Zhou Ying released all her stored vitality at once, causing the ground to quake as thousands of jade-green wood dragons rushed out of the earth.
Giant vines broke through the earth, and dragons of wood appeared over the battlefield.
Their bodies were made of thick bark, and they were surrounded with jade-green leaves. As Zhou Ying fell from the sky, the wooden dragons reached out to support her. Zhou Ying landed atop the head of one dragon and surveyed the battlefield from her vantage point.
As Zhou Ying pointed forward, the wooden dragons surged forth in a tide, crushing any bugs in their way. The fierce wooden dragons easily overwhelmed the bugs.
The hunters of Team Zenith were able to block the bugs' advance and simultaneously tear an opening in their defense.
Hong Xiao cried out, "Sister, it's our turn next!"
Beneath the Hong siblings' feet appeared white moonlight; to their backs appeared black suns.
Hong Xi activated all her combat-oriented soulshards. A fan of feathers materialized in her left hand, and a moonlit sword in her right. Behind her, multicolored light flared.
The domain of [Eclipse] spread out beneath her feet. She walked forward, moonlight radiating from her every move. A black sun appeared behind her, sparking where it touched the moonlight at her feet.
Wind howled. The sword in her right hand gleamed like the radiant moon. As she waved her fan, she summoned a twister in the air, devastating all the bugs ahead of her.
Hong Xiao charged forward in a silver breeze. The two siblings strode into the battlefield with hard-earned coordination.
Jun Jiuxiao and Ye Xianchen were determined to make a strong showing themselves.
Wind and storm buffeted Jun Jiuxiao's body as [Wind's Spirit] propelled him forward. [Floating Clouds] allowed him to teleport between patches of bugs, each of which he cleanly sliced in half.
As Ye Xianchen made her move, the skies turned dark. Darkness descended on the land as her genetic energy manifested in the shape of demons, which barreled forward and clawed apart everything in their path. Ye Xianchen's hands morphed into twin claws, raking apart the bugs in the sky.
Zhang Lie was very satisfied with the hunters' performance. Although there was still much they could improve, they clearly had a good grasp of the basics.
As the cabin doors opened up, the members of the Zenith Dojo launched themselves from the titan-class shuttle.
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com