Separated by the specially treated glass and walls, it hadn't felt like much.
But the moment Sylvia stepped into the cultivation bay, facing that colossal cocoon without any barriers between them, she realized that Ruan Mei's experiment was at least half a success.
That faint, intangible sense of oppression had nothing to do with raw strength. It felt a bit like what Sylvia had experienced when she stood before the white-haired Mei.
Within the crimson glow, the silhouette of a massive Swarm King loomed.
Thump—
Thump—
A booming sound, like the striking of a giant drum, echoed continuously alongside the pulsing of the cocoon.
Did a Swarm King even have a heart-like structure?
Sylvia doubted it. With a body that gargantuan, relying on a heart for internal circulation seemed practically impossible.
"SCREEECH! SCREEECH!"
Smaller bugs emerged from the massive cocoon, accompanied by sharp, piercing shrieks.
With a low, buzzing hum, the newly born insects swarmed the area. Impatiently, they lunged straight toward Sylvia, the outsider.
BOOM!!!
A torrential wave of fire, interwoven with faint, barely visible silk threads, instantly tore through the entire space.
The interlocking flames, combined with the rushing wind pressure, caused the temperature inside the chamber to skyrocket. Every bug in the vicinity was instantly snared by the silk threads.
Flames and gale-force lacerations silently latched onto their bodies.
Not only did their energy levels plummet drastically, but the continuous, agonizing damage also forced a chorus of miserable wails from the creatures as they fell from the air one after another.
Sylvia didn't attack the cocoon itself.
It was Ruan Mei's experimental subject, after all. She might as well wait for it to hatch before doing anything.
"ROAR!!!"
An agitated, raspy bellow echoed from within the cocoon.
Evidently, the big guy inside had witnessed everything happening outside and was desperately trying to break free.
Sylvia didn't mind. Resting her hands on her greatsword, she looked up at the massive structure.
Starcrusher Swarm King: Skaracabaz.
Even if it was just a clone, the terrifying aura it radiated was clear and palpable to Sylvia. She couldn't help but wonder just how magnificent and powerful a true Swarm King would be.
Screeech—
The cocoon continued to spew out waves of insects, but without exception, they were all burned to ashes by Sylvia's flames.
Fortunately, the creature inside didn't make her wait too long.
The Swarm King within the cocoon grew increasingly restless. Razor-sharp claws and a massive horn began to tear at the outer membrane. What initially looked like a translucent, soft skin actually possessed incredible resilience.
"ROAR!!!"
The Swarm King bellowed almost directly in Sylvia's direction.
Its massive, sharp appendages slashed wildly, displaying an agility that completely defied its hundred-meter-tall frame.
A sickening, squelching cutting sound echoed through the outer layer of the cocoon. To the naked eye, the shell seemed to be turning more and more transparent.
The blurry silhouette of the Swarm King became increasingly distinct in Sylvia's vision. It was the result of sharp claws ripping through layer after layer of the cocoon from the inside out.
Knowing the beast was about to be born, Sylvia finally raised her giant sword.
Flames flickered behind her, poised and ready.
A faint golden power flowed across the surface of her body, so intense that even her eyes were dyed a brilliant gold.
The powers of Abundance and Destruction fused together perfectly, much like Phantylia back then, resulting in an exponentially greater effect.
The fire, bursting with vitality, blazed even brighter.
A melodious song began to resonate from the greatsword. It was a track Sylvia had recorded in her spare time under Robin's tutelage, and the singing brought forth an even more formidable surge of power.
Sylvia's aura climbed frantically, provoking the Swarm King inside the cocoon into another piercing shriek!
Vrrr—
As the cocoon grew thinner, a sphere of deep blue energy rapidly condensed right in front of the Swarm King's massive mouthparts.
A surging energy reaction rippled through the cocoon, pressing directly against Sylvia.
Sylvia recalled the game text's description of Skarcabaz: 'It can collect in its mouthparts the death ray that fragmented celestial bodies.'
As if deliberately validating her thoughts—
BOOM!!!
A death ray bursting with blinding light instantly pierced through the outer skin of the cocoon, tearing through the air as it blasted straight toward Sylvia!
"Break!"
With a sharp shout, Sylvia swung her greatsword down with all her might.
Carrying a terrifying momentum, the blade collided head-on with the oncoming death ray!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Scattered beams of light ricocheted like siege cannons, slamming violently into the surrounding walls. Accompanied by an earthquake-like tremor, the hardened metal walls began to melt and crumble.
Alarms instantly blared across the entire Seclusion Zone.
A single clash had left the chamber housing the cocoon practically ruined.
Standing on the upper level, Acheron tightened her grip on her long blade. She watched silently from above as Sylvia took the enemy's beam head-on.
The surging flames and the sharp blade sheared right through that horrific beam of light. After colliding with the power on Sylvia's greatsword, most of the rampaging energy was instantly annihilated in midair. The scattered residual beams probably didn't even retain ten percent of the original attack's power.
This cloned Swarm King was incredibly strong. It wasn't quite on the level of an Emanator, but it was definitely not something an ordinary Pathstrider could mess with.
Acheron watched from above, quietly assessing the Swarm King's strength.
Sylvia, however, was right in the thick of it and had no time for such idle calculations.
The moment the Swarm King's beam ended, a terrifying drone echoed alongside a howling gale. The mountainous Swarm King opened its mandibles wide and dived down with a screech!
Bring it on! Sylvia shouted internally.
As she channeled her power to its absolute limit, a pair of dragon horns and a tail involuntarily emerged.
With a flick of her right wrist, she retrieved her longsword. The fire beneath her erupted like a volcano, melting the metal floor plates while providing a wild, explosive thrust. The billowing flames accelerated Sylvia to top speed in an instant.
At a terrifying velocity that an ordinary person couldn't even register, she tore through the air, creating a scorching sonic boom as she charged at the oncoming Swarm King!
The liquid fire flowing from her sword whipped up a terrifying crimson tide, transforming into a soaring, wing-flapping dragon that charged resolutely upward!
"ROAR!!!"
Accompanied by a light that practically blinded everything in sight, Sylvia rode the dragon, raising her greatsword high before hacking it violently into the Swarm King's skull!
Rumble!!!
As the flames completely submerged the chamber, the overflowing fire spilled through the shattered cracks, sweeping through most of the Seclusion Zone.
Consequently, the entirety of the Herta Space Station experienced a violent tremor.
"An earthquake?!"
"Help!! Is it the Antimatter Legion?!"
"Someone's attacking the space station!!"
For a moment, all the staff members on the space station became paranoid, jumping at every shadow.
At that moment, Herta was standing with Asta.
As the space station shook, Asta looked at Herta nervously.
Herta, however, let out a frustrated click of her tongue and complained, "This is what Ruan Mei calls 'insured'?"
As her personal toy box, Herta Space Station used materials and designs that could be considered top-tier in the universe. The fact that the Doomsday Beast spitting at the space station before hadn't even damaged the Supply Zone's platform proved its worth.
But now!
Because Sylvia and Ruan Mei's experimental creation were throwing down, the entire Herta Space Station was shaking like crazy.
Herta really wanted to grab Ruan Mei by the ears and ask her exactly what kind of insurance she was talking about.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL