Chapter 2958: New Strain
To prevent the outbreak from spreading further, General Anderson had already issued strict orders from the very beginning of the operation that no one was allowed to leave Baeldum Planet unless through properly secured teleportation checkpoints. Likewise, no additional support teams would be permitted to descend onto the planet until the main reinforcement arrived.
At the time, the decision sounded logical.
Now, standing amidst the growing casualties and the horrifying speed of the infection, even Anderson himself seemed to regret it slightly.
The crashed Proxima flagship quickly became a temporary emergency base as Emery and the four remaining Grand Magus worked together to contain the situation.
Fortunately—
Not everyone had been completely lost to the infection.
They swiftly managed to identify twenty-two survivors still showing signs of resistance. Among them were six Grand Magus.
However, knowing how abnormally fast this new strain of parasite developed, the group was forced to make difficult decisions immediately. The Grand Magus survivors naturally became the priority due to their stronger physiques and greater chances of survival.
Archbishop Stephen fully understood the severity of the situation.
The old bishop no longer held back.
Golden radiance suddenly erupted behind him as six massive wings of light manifested across his back,. The damaged command hall trembled slightly beneath the pressure released from the three-cosmos Grand Magus. Warm sacred light spread throughout the room, pushing back the lingering corruption while calming the restless minds of the survivors.
Then a chromatic bowl appeared within his grasp.
The artifact looked ancient beyond measure, its transparent surface covered in tiny divine inscriptions. The spiritual fluctuations radiating from the bowl carried dense aura of purity.
The moment the archbishop activated the relic, rainbow-colored divine water slowly began filling the crystal vessel from seemingly nowhere.
The sacred liquid released waves of holy energy powerful enough to visibly suppress the purple corruption spreading across the infected survivors. Several victims who had been convulsing moments earlier gradually calmed beneath the radiance while black mist continuously leaked out from their pores.
This greatly accelerated the purification process.
Meanwhile, Emery and Hubert took supporting roles throughout the treatment area.
Emery continuously moved between survivors while stabilizing their bodies using healing techniques. Pure nature energy flowed from his hands into patient after patient as Hubert activated purification talismans, suppressing the spread of corruption just long enough for Archbishop Stephen’s holy power to cleanse the infection properly.
Another assistant moved around them with equal efficiency.
A second Emery.
His Light Avatar.
The avatar operated almost independently from the original body, perfectly synchronized with Emery’s movements while assisting with treatments across the command hall. Soft green radiance spread from its hands as healing vines wrapped around wounded survivors, stabilizing damaged organs and suppressing violent parasite reactions.
Even with all their combined efforts, however, the process remained extremely difficult.
Several times during treatment, finger-sized parasites suddenly burst violently out from beneath survivors’ flesh while releasing horrifying screeches. Blood splattered across the room as the creatures attempted to escape, only to be immediately engulfed by holy flames or sealed inside reinforced crystal tubes for later study.
Unfortunately, many victims had already progressed too far.
The parasites had fully consumed both body and soul, leaving nothing worth saving behind.
In those cases, Hubert acted decisively.
The normally relaxed diviner showed no hesitation as rune bullets pierced straight through infected skulls one after another before flames consumed the bodies entirely, reducing both corpse and parasite into ashes before the corruption could spread further.
Meanwhile, the Sword Demoness remained occupied elsewhere.
Using some unknown soul technique, she continuously worked on extracting fragments from Ura’s corrupted spirit, attempting to gain information before the soul completely collapsed. Anderson himself was similarly occupied, alternating between suppressing the poison spreading through his body, checking the ship logs, and sending urgent reports back toward the orbital station.
A few exhausting hours later—
The results were finally clear.
Out of sixteen Magus-level survivors, only seven successfully survived purification.
Among the six infected Grand Magus, three managed to survive.
In total, eight survivors were stabilized and placed inside healing chambers.
Lambert was among them.
Seeing the Proxima vice commander still breathing caused Emery to quietly release a breath of relief.
Once the immediate crisis settled slightly, the Grand Magus units gathered together inside the damaged command center to discuss their findings.
The Sword Demoness spoke first.
Using fragments extracted from Ura’s corrupted soul, she had managed to uncover what truly happened.
Apparently, Ura had already been infected from the moment Parasite X devoured him earlier.
The infection had simply been in an extremely early phase, subtle enough that none of them detected it.
Unfortunately, because Ura had already been heavily injured beforehand, the corruption progressed much faster than expected. Worse still, the concealment master apparently realized something was wrong and secretly attempted to purify himself alone.
That decision doomed everyone.
Without realizing it, parts of his judgment had already been compromised by the parasites.
"When he fully lost control," the Sword Demoness explained coldly, "his mastery in concealment, he was able to eliminate the crew one by one before anyone realized what was happening."
With Parasite X’s corpse remaining nearby, infecting the survivors afterward became easy.
"Until our arrival interrupted him," she finished.
The Sword Demoness eventually concluded her report by revealing that Ura’s soul had become too corrupted to preserve. She then handed over the concealment master’s storage ring alongside his black dagger to Anderson so the items could eventually be returned to Ura’s family.
Hearing that, Emery could not help releasing a faint sigh.
One mistake.
One moment of carelessness.
Even a powerful three-cosmos Grand Magus could fall just like that.
Anderson confirmed most of the report using the ship logs before finally turning toward Archbishop Stephen to ask about the treatments.
The old bishop released a tired sigh.
"Honestly, all I did was suppress corruption through divine power," he admitted honestly. "As for understanding the parasites themselves..."
He slowly turned toward Emery.
"Fellow Grand Magus Emery likely understands far more than I do."
Everyone’s attention shifted toward Emery.
Emery stepped forward before placing three sealed crystal containers onto the table.
Inside each container, worm like parasites writhed violently against the transparent walls while releasing faint screeching sounds.
With his status as a master apothecary and his previous experience experimenting on parasites during the Tartarus campaign, he spoke confidently.
"I compared them with the known parasite strains recorded in the Alliance database"
As he spoke, several projected screens appeared beside him displaying rows of analytical data.
"These parasites are different."
He enlarged one of the parasite projections while pointing toward the purple rune-like markings spread across their bodies.
Another projection appeared beside it showing comparison charts.
"Based on the readings, their spirit energy intensity, toxicity levels.and corruption potency are nearly five times greater than ordinary parasite strains."
The atmosphere immediately turned heavier.
Even Archbishop Stephen frowned deeply while studying the projections.
Emery continued, "There are two possible explanations. Either these parasites underwent some form of evolution... or this is another species entirely."
He paused briefly before adding his own judgment.
"Personally, I lean more toward the second possibility. Evolution on this level should not happen naturally so quickly. Still..." Emery narrowed his eyes toward the parasite samples, "it could also be viewed as a forced evolution triggered under certain conditions."
The room fell silent for several seconds.
Finally, Emery concluded,
"I would classify these purple parasites as a higher-tier variant of their species."
Hubert immediately let out a low whistle.
"Damn... even parasites have their own upper class now."
This time, nobody reacted to the joke.
Anderson instead looked directly toward Emery with a grim expression.
"Master Emery... does this mean our repellent pills are no longer effective?"
The moment that question was asked, everyone’s expressions became wary.
After all, the repellent pills had been their primary defense since the mission began. Every member of the operation had consumed them before descending onto Baeldum.
Which meant—
Any of them could already be infected without realizing it.
The incense detectors and purification talismans they carried suddenly no longer felt reliable either.
Emery remained silent for a moment before finally giving an honest answer.
"The pills should still provide some protection," he said slowly, "but their effectiveness is clearly reduced."
He pointed toward the parasite samples again.
"These variants possess far stronger corruption abilities. I recommend consuming the repellent pills once every twelve hours instead of the standard schedule. Anyone entering direct physical contact with infected subjects should immediately take an additional dose afterward."
The atmosphere remained tense as Emery continued.
"To be safe, everyone should also perform a complete internal spiritual inspection every one or two hours."
Archbishop Stephen nodded heavily in agreement.
Unfortunately, Emery was still not finished.
"As for the incense detectors..." Emery exhaled slowly. "I’m afraid they likely won’t help much anymore against this strain."
That statement caused the room to turn completely silent.
General Anderson remained lost in thought for several seconds before finally standing up.
"Alright. I need to report this to the other teams immediately."
Then, just before leaving, the general suddenly turned back toward Emery.
"Master Emery... is it possible to improve the pills?"
Emery blinked slightly, clearly caught off guard.
"Right now...?"
Does he think creating these pills is easy?
Emery could not help muttering inwardly to himself.
###
Far above Baeldum, inside the Pritz orbital station, warning alarms echoed across the command center.
The drones that had been tracking the massive infected groups finally transmitted clearer footage from the planet surface.
These infected groups had already reached dangerously close to the defensive perimeters.
