The vacuum of Europa's orbit was no longer silent; it was screaming with the feedback of a severed ley line. The Harvester Executioner didn't walk; it propelled itself through the void with bursts of pressurized ichor, the massive skull-flail trailing behind it like a comet of bone. Each skull in the chain began to wail, a psychic attack designed to shatter the soul of any organic lifeform within a thousand miles.
"Xiao Yue, Lunar Stillness!"
Lin Xuan stood his ground as the Moon-Glow Larva emitted a ripple of silver tranquility. The psychic wails didn't just stop; they were absorbed, the silver light turning the negative energy into a soft, protective mist that coated Lin Xuan's Necro-Chitin armor.
"You... little parasite," the Executioner's voice ground into Lin Xuan's mind like rusting gears. "You think a few bugs can stop the tide of the Great Reap? We have consumed galaxies. Your world is but a snack."
"Then I hope you're ready for some indigestion," Lin Xuan replied.
The Scythe of the Void
The Executioner swung the flail. The weapon didn't just move through space—it broke it. A rift followed the path of the skulls, threatening to swallow Lin Xuan whole.
"Xiao Lu, Spatial Counter!"
The Void-Eater Mantis on Lin Xuan's arm didn't move an inch until the flail was centimeters away. Then, with a speed that bypassed the concept of time, it flicked its emerald scythe.
A tiny, razor-thin slit appeared in the air. The massive flail, with enough force to crack an asteroid, simply vanished as it hit the slit, its momentum redirected into a pocket dimension. The Executioner stumbled forward, the sudden loss of its weapon's weight throwing its massive frame off balance.
"My turn," Lin Xuan whispered.
He blurred forward, his movement aided by the Abyssal Shadow-Slayer's spatial hopping. He appeared directly in front of the Executioner's chest.
"Xiao Jin, Heart-Piercer!"
The Dragon-Slaying Hornet shot from Lin Xuan's shoulder like a golden railgun slug. It struck the Executioner's chest plate—a material supposedly made from the core of a dead star. The armor didn't just dent; it dissolved. The Hornet's stinger, imbued with the Law of Destruction, bypassed the density of the metal and struck the creature's primary core.
The Banquet of Europa
The Executioner let out a soundless roar as its internal systems began to melt. But Lin Xuan wasn't finished. He reached out and grabbed the creature's massive, armored neck.
"Xiao Hong, The Final Feast."
The Scarlet Weaver shot from his cuff, spinning a web of deep arterial red that instantly enveloped the Executioner. The red threads didn't just bind; they began to glow as they siphoned the 9-star vitality from the dying giant.
Lin Xuan could feel the power flowing through the web, through his arm, and into his own spiritual sea.
[System Notice: 9-Star Vitality Absorbed.]
[Path 600: Void-Eater Mantis — Evolution Progress 100%.]
[Unlocking Skill: 'Dimension Eater' — The ability to consume and repurpose enemy spatial gates.]
The Executioner's body shriveled until it was nothing but a desiccated husk, which Lin Xuan contemptuously kicked away into the frozen abyss.
The Collapse of the Garden
With the Executioner dead, Seeder-2—The Flesh-Gardener—began to plummet toward the surface of Europa. Its internal reactors were going critical without a pilot to stabilize the energy backlash.
"Xuan'er! Get back to the ship!" Lin Feng's voice crackled through the neural link. The Obsidian Talon was already moving to intercept the falling wreckage. "The ship is going to blow, and it'll take half this moon with it!"
"Not if I take the energy first," Lin Xuan said.
He looked at the Mantis, which was now vibrating with emerald light.
"Xiao Lu, Dimension Eater."
The Mantis opened its mandibles. A black hole, no larger than a marble, formed in front of it. As the massive Harvester ship began to explode, the fireball—thousands of tons of high-density spiritual plasma—wasn't allowed to expand. It was sucked into the marble, drawn in by a gravitational force that defied physics.
Within seconds, the massive ship was gone. All that remained was a small, glowing green crystal floating in front of the Mantis.
[Item Acquired: Harvester Core — Rank 9.]
The Warning
Lin Xuan returned to the bridge of the Obsidian Talon, his presence now so heavy with power that even the Sovereign Shadows bowed instinctively. Lin Feng rushed over, checking him for injuries before pulling him into a fierce, relieved hug.
"You're a madman," she whispered. "You just ate a 9-star ship."
"I ate a distraction," Lin Xuan said, his gaze fixed on the command console.
The navigation logs of Seeder-2 were scrolling across the screen, but they were different from the first ship. A red alert was flashing in a language that the Queen of the Swarm quickly translated.
"The Master has noticed," the Queen said, her voice trembling slightly. "The loss of the Executioner has triggered the 'Final Protocol'. The main fleet isn't coming in five months anymore."
Lin Xuan looked at the screen. A massive spatial rupture was forming near Saturn.
"They've collapsed the other two Seeders to create a 'Short-Jump Bridge'. The Harvester King is arriving... in three days."
Lin Xuan looked at his sisters, his expression turning to one of absolute, cold resolve.
"Three days," he said. "Tell Lin Chen to wake up the entire Nest. We aren't defending Earth anymore. We're going to meet them at the gate."