The Mechanical Celestial Sphere, Cybertron.
The silence of the deep space here stood in stark contrast to the clamor in the surrounding star systems.
The [Zagg Swarm] had already descended in full force, and the Imperial legions' battle line had been pushed back to the four central systems of the Vitriel Star System. The counterattack by Kalpas and the Temple of War had eliminated nearly a tenth of the Swarm. While this move had thinned the Swarm so that it no longer blotted out the sun like a dark cloud, it had not completely halted their advance…
It had even driven the Swarm into a greater frenzy.
Now, apart from Vill-V who was guarding the celestial body, and the reinforcements hastily cobbled together from wounded soldiers who had just arrived from the Starforge Legion, the other six Imperial Apostles had already departed for the front lines: Kalpas, Temple of War, Mobius, Hua, Golem, and Beluga.
In a sense, since even a researcher like Mobius had taken to the battlefield, Cybertron, the great rear base, had truly reached a point where it had no more soldiers to spare.
Precisely because of this.
TWANG—
VMMMM!!!
In the Daemos Galaxy, directly above the star's axis of rotation, an exaggerated gravitational tide shifted the star's movement. Throughout the entire system, all hydrological and geographical data underwent a drastic change at this very moment.
A colossal lifeform, its size comparable to a galaxy, descended upon this place.
RUMBLE!
A purplish-green, roughly heart-shaped, irregular sphere appeared above the galaxy.
[Vajra Hive Mother]
Its energy level was still in the Super-Planetary class, but the near-endless Imaginary energy reaction within its perception far exceeded that of any other lifeform of the same level from any other Path.
That's right.
Magor was indeed going to take out the legions' home base.
But he had not abandoned the Swarm's greatest advantage. Anyone who could make it to the level of an [Emissary] was certainly not lacking in intelligence (even if they were part of the Swarm), to say nothing of an Emissary who had made the wise move of "defecting."
While keeping the [Zagg Hive Mother] busy suppressing the legions, Magor had directly brought the [Vajra Hive Mother] from the three Swarms along with him.
In fact, the [Vajra] and [Scrin] were far less numerous than the [Zagg]. They had not originally been under Magor's command (Magor's origin was the Zagg Zerg). The Antimatter Legion had captured and modified the two dying Hive Mothers and integrated them under Magor's command.
Do not underestimate the Swarm.
As one of the most powerful Astral Gods of his time, Tayzzyronth's retainers were by no means as simple as they appeared. While maintaining powerful physical attributes, the Vajra specialized in "psionic" abilities, and the Scrin were masters of mechanical construction.
These two were "elite swarms," which was why the Antimatter Legion had preserved them.
However…
As an [Emissary] who had been promoted from a "lesser swarm," Magor did not actually like these two Zerg factions. The seemingly subtle differences in their branches meant that even as an Emissary, he could not unleash the full combat potential of the other two [Hive Mothers]. Back when Tayzzyronth was still around, the Hive Mothers and Emissaries were actually one-to-one partners.
Be that as it may, facing a legion base that had become an "empty nest," simply unleashing the "ordinary" combat power of the [Vajra Hive Mother] was more than enough to achieve Magor's goal.
SPLURT!!!
The heart-shaped Hive Mother began to vibrate violently.
Twisted fleshy lobes and sinews tangled together madly. As countless winged Zerg flew out majestically from the Hive Mother, the state of the "heart" also changed.
"—"
Solid connected to solid.
Amidst an eerie sound of flapping wings, the Vajra Hive Mother gradually transformed into the likeness of a "humanoid locust."
For now, let's call it…
Let's just call it "J-1." This designation has no other meaning; it is simply because the spatial coordinates of the Vajra Hive Mother during its "transformation" were registered as the "J-1" position on Haxxor Bunny's end.
That's right.
The moment "J-1" completed its "transformation," Haxxor Bunny, with her Heavy Armored Giant Rabbit 18YP having entered its "Overload Collapsed State" (Haxxor Bunny herself had simultaneously entered her "Overclocked Collapsed State"), appeared directly between "J-1" and the Mechanical Celestial Sphere, Cybertron.
"J-1's" attack pattern was simple.
Magor was unable to use the Hive Mother to launch the psionic attacks that the Vajra Zerg were best at, so he would just use pure power to crush his opponent. The clenched fist of "J-1" was even more ridiculously large than a planet. The behemoth swung its giant arm, which spanned one astronomical unit, and brought it down with unparalleled momentum toward the legion base!
BOOM!!!
The shockwave from the punch pulverized all space debris and the asteroid belt into dust.
If this strike landed, the entire Daemos Galaxy would suffer irreparable damage—a genuine Super-Planetary level attack… just as the description for this level of power suggests, capable of easily destroying a terrestrial planet in a single blow.
"Big Bunny!"
Faced with an attack of this level, Haxxor Bunny calmly called out her partner's name.
"Roger."
Swoosh—
BANG—CRACK!!!
Heavy Armored Giant Rabbit's arms slowly opened as if to embrace someone.
In that instant, the Mechanical Celestial Sphere, Vill-V's pride and joy "Cybertron," which had been rotating around the star on its fixed orbit, suddenly began to vibrate violently!
The long-waiting planetary engines ignited at full power, and a spectacular torrent of blue flame erupted from one end of the planet!
And then—
The mechanical planet, with its absurd mass, transformed into components of armor…
It became Haxxor Bunny's armament in its entirety!
A combination of [Artificial Collapse] and [Monarch Armament], and also the theoretical origin of the [Godslayer Armor]—a brand new path originally pioneered by Haxxor Bunny for the relatively weaker [Machine Race], combining her own power with the boons granted by the Monarch!
Its name—
[Machine God Armament]
Although its amplification was not as powerful as Little Zi's [Great Sun Collapsed State] or Kevin's [Savior Collapsed State], its duration was far beyond what the former two could compare to!
And it was more than enough to counter the Super-Stellar-class "J-1."
After all…
This was, at the very least, combat power at the peak of the Super-Planetary class.
---o---
From the bottom up, Big Bunny also threw a punch.
Although the difference in their sizes was vast, the structural mass and density of the contact surfaces… one could only know who was stronger after they fought!
BOOM!!!
"Magnetic Field Overturning Fist—"
Haxxor Bunny used a rather distinctive name.
To be precise, the names of the moves she was using now all came from the probably-useless knowledge she had obtained from a parallel world!
CRACK!
A massive collision of energy.
It hammered cracks into the barrier between reality and the Imaginary.
The fragile space was squeezed and twisted by the fists, and hundreds of thousands of light-flames converged into a blaze that seemed about to ignite the planet like a torch!
"—Eighteen Hundred Million Horses!!!"
BOOOOOOM!!!!!
---o---
"Hmph. As expected, they had something up their sleeve."
Inside the Vajra Hive Mother, Magor, who was commanding "J-1's" actions, began to detach himself from the tentacle-wrapped control center.
"But this is the extent of it."
To reiterate: Emissaries have brains.
If anyone thinks they are pure brutes, it's either because they don't even see their opponent as worthy, or because acting is more efficient than thinking.
Of course, the major premise of the above statement is that the Emissary in question does not represent the side of chaos or disorder. From the Astral Gods down to the Pathstriders, these factions, from their very "source," do not allow the brain to play too large a role.
To do so would be to deviate from their Path.
For Magor, who had successively served two major chaotic factions, to have such "tactical acumen" was truly remarkable.
Therefore.
"Combat power approaching the Stellar-class."
Magor was observing Haxxor Bunny's performance.
"A pity. If my race's Grand Monarch were still here, such a fine specimen, with just a little infection, could have become another Heterodox Emissary."
[Heterodox Emissary]
One of the ways the Swarm expanded its high-level combat power, it possessed the terrifying ability of "forced conversion," which was also a very important reason for their eventual demise. The reason the Monarch had not used [Root Regression] to forcibly "brainwash" an Emissary or two to supplement the Empire's lack of high-level combat power was precisely because of the intelligence the Empire had gathered on the Swarm.
Lu Xing had reason to believe that this ability, obtained from the Astral God of Order, surely had some special connection to the Astral God of Propagation.
Gurgle.
Magor began to stretch his limbs.
His previously "plump" body, where a single eye took up a large portion of his mass, began to undergo a startling transformation. Tentacles intertwined and reformed into thorny limbs, thick, keratinous wings, and an armored tail more than twice his body length.
Finally…
A bizarre "five-headed dragon" appeared in the center of the Hive Mother.
This was not Magor's original form, but a new form he had obtained using the Zagg Zerg's innate talent after defeating and devouring a [Dragonkin] of the same level. It also marked Magor de Vishi's complete entry into his combat form.
This monster, part dragon and part insect, had a new title:
[Magor Serpent]
---o---
"Big Bunny!"
"Roger."
The collision of machine and biology prevented any Swarm below the planetary level from even approaching. Even from the Swarm's current position, they could only barely manage not to be blown away by the shockwaves; any attempt to get closer would result in being pulverized.
But the Swarm's vast numerical advantage could be converted into stronger individual combat power through a certain amount of sacrifice. Using the few [Vajra Overlords] as cores, the swarming Zerg, in an extremely frenzied suicidal ramming attack, used their own corpses to construct new bodies for the Overlords.
Unlike the initial Overlords, these new ones, with a mass equivalent to one-twentieth of a terrestrial planet, could withstand the aftershocks of the Super-Planetary level confrontation and launch attacks on the deadlocked Haxxor Bunny.
The attacks themselves were not fatal, but in a beam struggle where neither side could gain an advantage, the harassment was enough to overturn the battle.
To this end—
BANG!!!
With a burst of pure white steam of extremely low visibility, sheets of shimmering silver armor plates rapidly detached from Big Bunny!
[Authority of Reason].
But this was not an [Authority of Reason] that created something from nothing. These were three-headed mechanical combat avatars with physical materials as their framework, reinforced with her own energy, each possessing one-thousandth of the main body's combat power.
This was an inspiration Haxxor Bunny had gotten from the intelligence Eden had submitted to the Apostle council.
Of course, a 1/1000 power level was better than nothing in a battle between equals, but the most crucial power came from the [Authority of Erosion].
None of the Authorities Haxxor Bunny held had advanced to a Dominion.
But when it came to the two powers she was most familiar with… her level of mastery was absolutely unparalleled among the Imperial Apostles!
Erosion!
The ecological structure of the Swarm dictated that their tactical composition was extremely dependent on higher-level "brains." This model enhanced the Swarm's large-scale combat capabilities, but against an opponent who was a master of this very thing, it also became an irremediable flaw and a fatal weakness!
As an elite swarm, the [Vajra], who were skilled in psionics, would not normally have this problem, but unfortunately for them… the current Vajra lacked a qualified leader!
CRACK!!!
The Big Bunny avatars collided with the bodies of the [Core Overlords].
Immediately after, as a large number of mechanical structures disintegrated, the power of erosion swiftly corroded the Core Overlords' bodies from the outside in, and then rushed madly toward "J-1" along the silent mental network of the Vajra Swarm!
"Success."
The erosion had worked.
"J-1," which was locked in a fistfight with Big Bunny, showed an extremely obvious weakening. The Imaginary energy filling its arm, which had previously been evenly matched, began to decline precipitously. Even its body structure began to fail. The Zerg corpses that made up its muscles and sinews began to decompose in large numbers. In less than half a second, "J-1" would lose its form.
Just then!
Vmm.
In that brief instant when Haxxor Bunny was about to celebrate her victory, a giant monster covered in deep red armor instantly appeared directly behind Big Bunny.
The Magor Serpent's timing was perfect—the moment it struck completely overlapped with the moment Haxxor Bunny's move was exhausted.
Setting aside the hard gap in their power levels, at this moment, even if Haxxor Bunny wanted to change her move, it was simply too late. The Magor Serpent was absolutely certain that this one claw strike would be enough to instantly kill the opponent before it… This seemingly simple and unadorned claw strike was already the strongest attack the Magor Serpent could unleash while concealing its own fluctuations!
But!
It seemed that Haxxor Bunny wasn't the only one who had poured all her energy into her attack!
Vmm.
A spatial fluctuation concealed another spatial fluctuation.
Its sneak attack was also the key to its own demise. The very instant the Magor Serpent struck, a ferocious dog's head with the same "color scheme" had already bitten down hard on the three central heads of Magor!
"ROOOAR!!!"
Cerberus had attacked without holding anything back.
As a former Ancient Beast, her knowledge of the Swarm might not be extensive, but as for the Magor Serpent in its five-headed dragon form… a Dragonkin of this appearance was her favorite meal on the dinner table countless eons ago.
As for how to enjoy its most delicious parts, in the entire cosmic sea, probably no one knew better than her.
SPLURT!!!!!
The terrifying dragon necks separated from the crimson body.
Cerberus's attack was simple and direct.
In an instant that ordinary life could not even perceive, this Swarm leader of the Antimatter Legion…
...had perished on the spot.