The Final Desperation

Genji watched as the familiar T-Rex charged toward Red Empress alongside the other formidable fighters in the area. As it approached, Red Empress let out a loud screech.

"You think I'm like the other empresses? Think again!"

With that, the beetle burst into flames, causing her presence to increase to dangerous levels. Coupled with her immense mental powers, she was able to force back all her attackers and retreat to her nest. While she might look down on these defensive tactics, insisting on them in this situation would be foolish.

"Is that why she's called Red Empress? Because of her flames and fiery personality?" Genji asked, addressing no one in particular.

"Yes. She's a fire beetle with the ability of pyrokinesis. That's why she often fights on the front lines, but most queens think she's a bit unhinged," replied a Hercules Beetle Queen.

"I also noticed that Silver Empress has a fondness for hot places. Could their conflict stem from their similarities and competition for resources?"

"As believable as that may be, that's not the case. No one knows the real reason since the queens from that generation have long since passed away."

While Genji might have questioned that statement, he decided not to comment on it. Shifting his attention back to the battlefield, he saw the Sentinels assemble into a large cannon and bombard the sturdy walls of the nest. The Celestials began unleashing their energy attacks, the large T-Rex leaped over the wall, and the Parasites pestered her from a distance.

It was a chaotic battle, but he knew the plan had succeeded. The only way the queen could survive this encounter was to abandon her nest and flee. This, however, was a difficult decision to make since she would be giving up her entire nest. Without her nest, she would, at best, be a mini-boss-level unit, making her vulnerable to the other forces.

"Let's surround the area now," Genji said, prepared to cut off all paths of retreat.

As the battle raged on, Red Empress grew more desperate as her nest was torn down under the combined assault. Fireballs started manifesting around her as she did her best to repel the attackers, but her attempts were futile.

The large T-Rex simply refused to leave her alone, while the other forces employed their own strategies. By now, her entire nest had been destroyed, and multiple queens had perished. Red Empress had become a lone unit, with only some weaker bugs to support her.

Soon, the encirclement was complete, and Genji was confident in finishing this fight. Once Red Empress fell, it would become another battle royale between four parties for the golden orb. When that happened, they could swoop in to clean up the fight. However, Genji had left one thing unsaid.

Why did he try so hard to help Silver Empress kill her rival? If he wanted protection, it should have sufficed to cause some trouble without entering the battlefield himself. Why would he risk his life to ensure Red Empress's death? The answer was that his safety was not his only goal. Instead, he wanted to guarantee Red Empress's death to ensure his other goal: giving EverRealm the advantage in this war.

Genji did not doubt that he would be heavily rewarded for his efforts, so he went all out to achieve this. If he could eliminate any of these influential figures, he would deal a significant blow to the other factions, indirectly giving the Celestials an advantage.

Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for him to kill any of these figures. However, now that he had the help of a Silver Empress, he had a chance. As long as the poison circulated, they should be weakened enough to be overwhelmed. In the worst-case scenario, all the parties might cooperate to break out of this encirclement.

Should that happen, Genji would use Summon Kraken to restrain the General of Mutation. Since Genji had an irredeemable grudge against the Parasites, he might as well continue it. At least that way, one faction would be severely weakened, and the other factions would pounce on them.

As for the other factions aiding the Parasites, Genji was confident that wouldn't happen. They had gone to great lengths to escape, so why would they draw the Zerg's attention? In fact, this turn of events would be favorable for them because the General would buy them time to escape.

Yet as much as Genji planned, nothing could have prepared him for the next turn of events. Entering the battlefield in the form of a black whirlwind, a streak of death slaughtered its way through the encirclement.

When the whirlwind faded, the glint of a double-headed scythe greeted everyone's sight. Genji recognized this weapon and the sickly figure holding it. It was Morris, the Reaper. This had now become a six-way standoff.

Sensing his deathly presence, many people backed off, allowing Red Empress to catch her breath. Even West, the T-Rex, backed off, looking at Morris with caution. While West might have a stronger body compared to Morris, it would still be a hard fight, especially when his abilities are hypercharged from the massacre they just conducted.

Plus, West needs to protect the other beasts from this chaotic newcomer. The beasts are already scarce in numbers, so any loss is a big blow to them.

The Sentinels quickly grouped and transformed into large tanks to defend themselves. When such a strong figure appeared, separating would only increase their losses. With everyone backing off, this battlefield soon entered another standoff as they grew wary of the Reaper's purpose.

"What's wrong? Why don't you continue?"

"Who would dare do that when a Reaper shows up? We're trying to get a treasure, not get killed," Vind replied, his body tense.

"Oh? Am I that scary?"

"Cut the crap, Morris. We all know your abilities and the damage they can do right now," Vind said.

"I guess this battle has come to an end. Shame, really, since I finally found an interesting event," Morris remarked, still not lowering his scythe. 

If anyone believed him and let down their guard, Morris would be the first to pounce. Yet Genji knew this wouldn't happen. Everyone was too experienced for that.

"This is the end," the Hercules Beetle queen said.

"Not necessarily. I wanted to wait until later to use this, but I guess I have no choice now," Genji said as he pulled out two more large gel-like spheres that resembled the golden one.

In his left hand was a black sphere made from the extracts of [Titan Feller] converted to an air form. Genji had paired this with a variety of strong acids available in the nest to create this insanely corrosive concoction.

[Titan Corrosion]

Rating: Legendary

Effect: Deal 500 damage per second and corrode all targets in the area

Note: Although untested, EverRealm has no doubt this can corrode a titan's body into nothingness

 

Genji had wanted to save this if possible since it was hard to obtain the materials for such an item. If he wanted to buy everything from EverRealm, it would have cost millions to produce. In fact, this sphere consumed the remainder of his poisons, leaving him empty-handed. Genji had literally put everything on the line for this battle. Should he fail, he would be in a very passive position.

As for why he created this, despite his infectious poison, it was to target the Sentinels. Since they are machines, they wouldn't be affected by normal poisons. In case he needed to deal with them, Genji had prepared this to eliminate them.

Regarding the other orb, it's filled with an orange gas that neutralizes the gel membrane in the area. The reason he wanted an area effect instead of dipping it into [Titan Corrosion] had to do with the golden orb everyone was fighting over

[Aurora Surge]

Rating: Legendary

Effect: Upon consumption, break through the limits of your body and solidify your powers with the pure energy inside. If this energy ever runs out, the user will experience an overdraft of lifeforce and potential, crippling them.

Note 1: It might be Legendary, but not even its creator dares use this.

Note 2: At this point, EverRealm can't tell if this is a last resort or a poison.

 

As long as the energy remains, this buff will continue, making it semi-permanent. That's why none of these beings noticed the trap within this. The only problem is that using this will convert them into a being that seeks out this refined energy. 

In fact, the side effect wasn't intentional because that would have been easily detectable. It's just that whenever someone uses external strength, they need to consider potential unexpected side effects.

So what happens if this mixes with the other poisons?

 

---

 

Vind felt a comfortable sensation wash over him as a Zerg dived into the battlefield, dispersing the fumes of the three orbs. He questioned the origin of this feeling but soon dismissed his skepticism when he sensed the destruction of the golden gel orb.

'Did Red Empress decide to destroy the treasure when she couldn't obtain it?'

All the other parties had this thought as well, except for Red Empress.

"Who is it? Who destroyed my treasure?!?!?" She screamed hysterically.

"Cut the act, Red Empress. That won't get you out of this situation," Prosarmozo, the General of Mutation, said, fully prepared to kill her when Morris left.

"What the hell are you talking about? That's not my Zerg!"

Vind frowned at that. He felt that Red Empress was telling the truth, but that didn't make sense. If that's not her unit, then whose is it? And why would it lead them to her nest? Something didn't add up!

"Massive scheme detected," Sentinel#4 beeped as they reassembled into a massive, singular unit. Yet this turned out to be a mistake as the corrosive acid undermined their structural integrity, causing the transformation to collapse before they finished.

"High-density acid detected. Activating emergency protocols." The remaining Sentinels all grouped together to form a single aircraft and took off, abandoning their robots and realm members. This caused the ManaRealm members to look at the aircraft in bewilderment. Did they just get left behind? Why?

Vind was taken aback by this response. Acid? What acid? And why were they retreating so urgently?

"Quick. We're retreating!" Vind knew if his old rival retreated, then it would be stupid for him to stay. Sentinel#4 rarely makes a mistake in judgment.

Yet before he could do so, a massive explosion rang out in the air, sending the Sentinels crashing back to the ground. Judging from the insect remains plastered to them, everyone knew the culprit was a Zerg.

"Since everyone's here, why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Cammie's mental power covered the field to transmit the message.

"You're under Silver Empress!" Red Empress recognized this ant queen and realized what had happened. Everything was a scheme targeting her! What a grand scheme they had set up. When did her rival become so cunning?

"You think you can keep us here?" Parsarmozo asked, sneering at her overestimation of power. They were able to defeat an empress nest easily, so what makes them think an army would be enough?

"Why don't you try?" Cammie said as multiple Zergs that reeked of propane stepped into view.

"I think I will," he replied, sending his parasitized army charging at her. While this was happening, the other parties also charged in their own direction to break out of this encirclement. They could stay to watch the show, but they didn't want to be the show.

Yet as they approached the encirclement, these units charged at them, igniting a small flame inside their mouth.

*BOOOOOMMMMMM*

A chain of explosions covered the field as the heat wave forced back everyone. Then more units stepped out to continue the chain. 

'Weird. Why are they exploding so early? If they wanted to deal the most damage, they would wait until we got closer before doing that. At this point, we could simply wait for them to run out of exploding bugs before charging out.'

Yet as illogical as the Zergs' actions were, Vind's sinking feeling was getting stronger. Something was definitely off about this situation.

"Ignore everything. We're charging out," he said to his team.

"But sir. That would be a lot of unnecessary damage."

"Not buts! Captain's orders!"

"Yes sir!"

While they couldn't understand his choice, they knew better than to go against the leader in times of trouble. Their reactor cores went into overdrive as their armor provided them with a new boost of power. An energy coating covered them, allowing them to tank all the damages to charge out. 

Yet when Morris saw them like this, a small grin appeared on his face. 'They seem pretty desperate so what happens if I...'

Then Vind felt a sudden attack coming at him. Out of instinct, he countered with his own attack, but his teammates weren't so lucky, getting sent back into the explosion ring. 

"MORRIS!" Vind yelled when he felt the death energy shatter under his fist.

"What's wrong, Vind? Everyone's having such a good time. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Morris asked as he walked into view, completely unaffected by the surrounding explosions.

"Dammit."

Vind cursed his luck. Right when they were about to leave this suspicious encirclement, they drew the attention of this chaotic being. As for reasoning with Morris, Vind knew better than that. No matter what schemes the Zergs had, Morris was confident he could leave unscathed. Right now, Morris just wanted to make their lives miserable for his own entertainment.

Vind transitioned into a combat stance and prepared to defend himself. When he sensed Morris teleport, he swung at his side, clanging against the blade of the scythe.

Mountain Crushing Fist

Vind's other fist came at Morris's face, but he teleported before contact. Upon missing, a massive dust storm clouded the surrounding area. Then he braced himself for more exchanges against this foe.

From the outside, Vind's teammates saw multiple flashes of metal that illuminated the storm before a wounded Vind flew out, colliding with his teammates who barely caught him.

"Captain, is he that troublesome?" one person asked Vind as he got back to his feet.

"No. For some reason, my body isn't moving the way I want," Vind replied between heavy breaths.

'Also, why am I so tired? It's only been a few hours since we started. I should be in peak condition right now.'

But before Vind could think about the situation any longer, he abruptly grabbed the closest person and dived to the ground, barely dodging a spinning scythe. Yet his other teams were not as lucky as

two of them were decapitated in the exchange.

"Not bad, but you feel weaker. Did you damage your energy core or something?"

Morris stepped out into the open, catching the boomeranging scythe. "No matter. If you can't keep up, this will be your burial ground."

As Morris finished his sentence, he charged at them again, swinging his weapon wildly and forcing the team into a grueling defense.

 

---

 

"It's taken effect," Genji said, noticing the changing movements of the beings.

"What has?" The Herculean Beetle asked.

"For now, let's focus on the General of Mutation. He's the only one that can escape with his portals."

"I wouldn't worry about that. It takes a lot of energy and stable space for the Parasites to open one. With all the explosions happening, he would be shredded by spatial turbulence if he tried."

"Doesn't change anything," Genji replied, adamant about killing him first.

"Whatever you say. Hey Cammie. You heard him."

"Am I the commander or are you," Cammie grumbled under her breath, unhappy about being ordered around.

As the bugs piled onto Prosarmozo, let me take this chance to explain how the three poisons combined together. First, [Aurora Surge] infuses into the bodies of these beings, giving them a small boost in power. That's why Vind felt a pleasant sensation.

But this pleasant sensation masks the pain of the body being broken down by [Titan Corrosion]. Because the body was boosted, all such wounds instantly heal so they never noticed this.

While this was happening, the infectious poison devours the fragments of [Aurora Surge], causing the body to experience the side effects and grow in power. But then they breathe in more [Aurora Surge] particles, which repair their damaged bodies again. Yet all this repairing consumes a massive amount of energy and vitality from the host, which affects how their body functions. 

For now, the victims are experiencing the first effects of this combination: lack of energy and a weakened body. The longer they stay in the area, the deadlier the effects get. That's why the Zergs are doing so much to stall them.

"You think this is enough to bring me down?"

Prosarmozo clapped his hands together and emitted multiple dots of blue lights akin to fireflies, which promptly entered the bodies of the parasite army. Upon absorbing these light particles, the parasites inside the body started tumulting, starting with the tentacles wildly flailing about.

Bulges popped up beneath their skin, causing the flesh to contort randomly. Soon, the army began to transform, growing unnatural features and changing colors. Soon, purplish tentacles covered their bodies and their eyes rolled to reveal only whites without pupils. This was an uncanny transformation that caused the creatures to enter a maddened state and rampage erratically.

They charged at the incoming Zergs and killed everything in their path, giving Prosarmozo an opportune moment to flee. Yet before he could break out of the encirclement, a flock of speed Zergs rushed at him in a suicidal clash. Prosarmozo easily killed a bunch, but these units only had one purpose: to delay as long as possible.

After he crushed the last unit, Prosarmozo made another attempt to break out but was stopped by a bunch of bomber bugs. Without care for friendly fire, this group ignited a flame, detonating instantly. This huge explosion repelled Prosarmozo, wasting all his efforts so far.

At this point, the other people started to notice the mangled conditions of their bodies. It's hard not to when their body stopped moving the way they expected so drastically.

"Proposing alliance to escape." Sentinel#4 asked Prosarmozo as he skipped across the ground to land near them.

"Might as well. If we don't escape soon, we will all die," he responded.

*ROOOAAARRR*

West landed near them with his group of beasts and unleashed a deafening roar.

"Tyrannosaurus rex roars uncomprehended. 94% chance of joining the alliance. Welcome, partner."

"Whatever, overgrown lizard. Let's go."

Having made up their minds, the three factions temporarily teamed up to charge in one direction. Prosarmozo and Sentinel#4 were responsible for keeping the explosive Zergs at bay while West charged through any physical blockades. With this combination, they were able to carve a bloody path through the sea of Zergs. Soon there are only 200 meters left before they break out.

Seeing this hope, the team redoubled their efforts to speed up. Yet before they could get far, a summoning array appeared underneath West as tentacles sprung up, strangling him in place. 

As for Sentinel#4, a large group of Devourers carrying bomber bugs rushed at it. Prosarmozo was no different as a large ball of dark energy beelined for him. He sensed a huge threat from this projectile. If he gets hit, he has no doubt he will fall behind and get overwhelmed.

Prosarmozo did everything he can to dodge, given the limited space, but his arm was grazed by it. Upon contact, he felt another rush of weakness threatened to collapse him. Ignoring this, Prosarmozo turned to look at the origin of the attack.

"Sorry, to burst your bubble but escaping isn't that easy," Genji said as [Curse Bearer] returned to the back of his palm.

"You bear Panolis's mark."

"I guess I'm the person."

"You think you alone can stop us?" He asked activating his abilities on the tentacles strangling West.

Lumps formed on them, causing them to weaken and West to tear free. As the tentacles separated, a painful wail sounded from the summoning circle before they retracted.

"I don't need to stop you. Only delay. Plus you talking to me brought enough time already," Genji replied, pulling out a dagger and breaking down the crystalized energy to escape.

"This guy!"

Prosarmozo looked around and noticed the 200-meter gap had increased to 500 meters as more reinforcements joined the area. 

"Proposition to go all out," Sentinel#4 said, disposing of the last devourer.

"No choice now," Prosarmozo replied.

West roared in agreement and they both entered a berserk state while Sentinel#4 overloaded his power source. Energy attacks flew everywhere as the realm members also did everything they can to clear a path. Yet as much as the distance narrowed, the difficulty also spiked.

By now, the Zergs had completely disregarded their lives to form a dense blockage. If they want to get out, they will have to clearer a large path or end up overwhelmed.

"Statistics indicate separation is optimal," Sentinel#4 said after running the calculations. "Opponents limited to single direction reinforcement."

"Fine then. Let luck decide who gets out alive," Prosarmozo said, ready to separate from the group. West roared in agreement, but Sentinal#4 stopped them before they got too far away.

"If factions split, zero chance of survival. Each group needs others to cover weaknesses. Recommended: Group separation in collaborations."

At Sentinel#4's answer, the groups quickly broke off and paired up with the other factions. Then they all went different ways with Parsarmozo, Sentinel#4, and West remaining together. This was the optimal setup to maximize their chances of survival. If they get paired up with people weaker than them, the others would become deadweight, causing further deaths.

"So much for that plan. Now that they separated, how are you going to kill everyone?" Cammie asked Genji mockingly.

"Focus on the leaders. Killing them will have a bigger impact than killing the others," Genji replied as if he didn't notice the rudeness.

*Tsk*

With this order, Genji decided their fate. Many Zergs surrounded them and constantly swarmed them no matter which direction they go. Soon the poisons kicked up a notch and further weakened them, causing them to drown in the sea of Zergs. At least Sentinel#4's calculations were correct, preserving a large amount of the weaker forces.

As these beings escaped, they managed to glimpse a hooded figure on a hill, letting out a peal of outlandish laughter.

"And that's how you poison everyone to death, MAUAUHAHAHAHA."

Hearing this distorted voice, a shiver went down everyone's back. Was this the person responsible for their catastrophe? And did he say poison? So all that was his doing?

These survivors burned this haunting figure into their memories and hurried back to report. As for the name, they collectively settled on the same result: Insane Poisoner, a fitting title for someone deranged enough to celebrate like that.

As everything settled, Morris walked out with two heads in his hand. Red Empress and Vind. In the chaos prior, he had killed these two figures.

"Quite an event you planned," he said, unbothered by the deaths that occurred.

Seeing Vind's head, Genji's eyes turned cold. Since he initiated this event, he tried not to target the Celestials. They would have escaped if Morris hadn't interfered. Genji had purposely weakened the formation near them to allow for that. Yet now, they were dead, and he would have to deal with the consequences of it. This was an enmity that Genji refused to let pass.

"Silver Empress, have you ever killed a Reaper?"