Red Queen's fleet hovered within the deathly silent vacuum of space, the metallic hulls flickering under the fading afterglow of a distant star.
The light bursting from the charging cannon muzzles—each beam powerful enough to disintegrate a Viltrumite body in an instant.
"Maintain mobility. Don't let them lock on," Thragg's voice transmitted through telepathy to the surrounding Viltrumites.
Before his words even faded, every Viltrumite transformed into streaks of white light, carving eerie trajectories through the cosmos.
Their reaction speeds were sufficient to predict the exact instant of a weapon's discharge, allowing them to evade lethal attacks at superluminal velocity.
Inside the bridge of Saintess Prayer, Mobius glanced at Red Queen beside her. "Why did you stop?"
"Unable to achieve long-range spatial lock," Red Queen replied. "Their high-speed movement interferes with remote weapon targeting."
"Tsk. No wonder the savages in this universe prefer close combat," Mobius clicked her tongue, casually twirling a strand of hair by her temple.
Wesker's voice came through the communicator, cold and rigid. "Can the planet-destroying weapon be used?"
"It can," Red Queen nodded. "But their intelligent atomic bodies allow subspace jumps at thousands to tens of thousands times the speed of light in space. The hit rate would be below one percent."
On the bridge.
Kevin, Melin, Su, and the others felt it was absurd upon hearing that.
Crossing the sea of stars with the flesh alone, and reaching such terrifying speeds.
Thousands to tens of thousands times the speed of light.
Was this some kind of joke?
"Completely fabricated stats," Mobius sneered, her tone dripping with disdain.
Saint Kallen asked, "Can they really fly that fast?"
"Yes," Red Queen explained. "Viltrumite faster-than-light travel relies on intelligent atoms to perform subspace jumps. In this universe, it is scientifically valid."
At that moment, Misfortune's voice sounded out. "Grandma, can I go out and play?"
Mobius looked at her eager expression and waved her hand helplessly. "Fine. Be careful. Close-range brawling in this universe seems quite effective."
"That's only if the stat gap isn't too large," Misfortune smiled. Before her words even finished, her figure vanished within a ripple of space.
In the vacuum of space, Thragg abruptly came to a halt.
A purple-haired girl hovered steadily before them, crimson eyes sweeping across the Viltrumites as if appraising an assortment of interesting toys.
The three pure-blood elite Viltrumites behind Thragg instantly assumed combat stances.
Thragg raised a hand to stop them.
Clenching a fist the size of a casserole pot, he transmitted telepathically, "Who are you?"
Misfortune tilted her head. A trace of amusement flickered in her crimson eyes as her clear yet arrogantly absolute telepathic voice responded, "I am the ultimate lifeform—Misfortune."
Ultimate lifeform?
Thragg frowned deeply. After thousands of years traversing the galaxy, he had encountered countless races, yet never heard such a title.
"Do you intend to make an enemy of the Viltrumite Empire?" Thragg's tone darkened. His wariness of Red Queen's fleet weapons prevented him from acting rashly.
Moreover, the fact that she dared come alone made her strength an unknown variable.
The girl replied calmly, "You? You are not qualified to be my enemy."
"Arrogant!"
One pure-blood Viltrumite could no longer suppress his fury. Roaring, he transformed into a streak of white light and charged straight at Misfortune.
Thragg did not stop him.
He needed a test to gauge her strength.
The next second, everyone's pupils contracted.
Misfortune's figure swayed lightly, as if ignoring spatial distance entirely, and instantly appeared behind the Viltrumite.
Her slender hand precisely clamped onto his skull. Her five fingers tightened slightly—
The Viltrumite's head exploded like fragile glass—boom—scarlet blood spraying into the vacuum, only to be forcibly repelled upon striking the invisible barrier before the girl.
With a casual flick of her hand, the headless body flew away like a kite with its string cut, tracing an arc through space.
She shook her hand lightly.
"You should come at me together," she said, turning around. Her crimson eyes swept over the remaining three Viltrumites, her tone as relaxed as if inviting friends to play.
The two Viltrumites beside Thragg exchanged glances.
They simultaneously transformed into streaks of light, attacking from left and right.
Misfortune effortlessly evaded the punch from the left. Her right hand shot out like lightning, gripping the wrist of the Viltrumite on the right.
Crack! A crisp sound echoed as she forcibly twisted the arm, snapping it.
"Aaagh—!"
The shrill scream transmitted through telepathy across the vacuum.
She raised her hand and delivered a chopping strike to his neck. The head flew off, separating from the body.
Then she kicked the headless corpse toward the other Viltrumite.
The remaining Viltrumite instinctively caught it.
Misfortune's figure blinked again. Grabbing his waist with both hands, she exerted force—
Rip!
The Viltrumite was torn alive into two halves, blood and organs scattering through space in a grisly display.
At that moment, a streak of white light burst diagonally toward her. Thragg finally moved.
His casserole-pot-sized fist gathered the strength of his entire body and smashed fiercely toward Misfortune's unguarded back.
Boom!
The instant his fist collided with the invisible barrier, Thragg felt a tremendous counterforce rebound into him, numbing his knuckles.
He pressed the attack, his figure shadowing her relentlessly, fists pouring down like torrential rain, each strike carrying terrifying kinetic energy.
The dense assault continued, yet Thragg's expression grew increasingly grim—his fists were always blocked by that invisible barrier, unable to even touch the girl's skin.
Just as Thragg gathered power for a fully charged punch, the girl's pupils suddenly ignited with two beams of scarlet light.
Thragg's heart tightened violently.
That light reminded him of Red Queen's fleet attack—the lethal rays capable of instantly killing Viltrumites.
He had no time to think. His body instinctively rolled sideways in space.
Two red laser beams grazed past his waist, leaving behind two scorching crimson trails in the vacuum.
Taking advantage of the gap, Misfortune stabilized her posture.
She spun and struck, sending Thragg flying.
In the next instant, she teleported above him, clasped her hands together, and smashed downward.
Crunch!
A piercing agony exploded through Thragg's abdomen. His body caved inward under the blow.
Like a cannon shell, he was blasted from the cold void down toward the surface of Planet Viltrum.
Boom—!
The violent impact resounded across the entire planet. A bottomless crater was smashed into the surface, smoke and dust billowing as debris scattered everywhere.
But Thragg was, after all, the strongest of the Viltrumite Empire.
Soon, he shot skyward from the crater.
Yet when he returned to space, what met his eyes was a horrific sight.
Numerous severed Viltrumite limbs and fragments floated through the vacuum, scarlet blood everywhere.
And Misfortune stood amid the corpses, crimson eyes gleaming with a cruel smile, as if she had merely finished a trivial game.
"Aaaah—!!!"
Thragg let out a furious roar, his eyes blood-red.
He transformed into an extreme streak of white light and charged madly toward Misfortune.
His casserole-pot-sized fists struck again and again, every blow infused with his full strength.
Bang bang bang!
Dull impacts rang out continuously as his fists slammed repeatedly against the invisible bio-force field, numbing his arms and splitting his knuckles open.
Yet like a madman, he showed no intention of stopping. His punching speed grew faster, his power greater.
The two figures fought from outer space down to the surface of Planet Viltrum.
Misfortune threw a punch, clashing head-on with Thragg's fist.
Their fists collided, producing an explosion like rolling thunder.
Boom—!!!
At the instant their fists met, it was as if a star had detonated within the planet.
A terrifying shockwave radiated outward from the two of them, sweeping across everything in its path and lifting the very earth.
Thragg was blasted backward thousands of meters before barely stabilizing himself.
He lowered his head and looked at his blood-soaked fist.
Then he raised his gaze toward the unscathed purple-haired girl floating in the sky not far away.
For a thousand years across the cosmos, he had never encountered such a powerful enemy.
His attacks could not even break through her defense.
"What race are you..."