Interstellar Survival: Invasion

A bright flash erupted as the fiend stopped the antlered bird's attack. We could clearly see that the fiend had easily stopped the attack with only one hand.

"You've been holding back, but I haven't been using all my strength either," said the fiend, who seemed completely comparable with the antlered bird in strength.

"A lowly life form like you dare to be so arrogant? You're courting death!" roared the antlered bird before rising into the air. Then, it dove down and swung its claws at the fiend.

The fiend's body enlarged and grew to a size similar to the antlered bird. It avoided the attack with a leap to the side. An intense battle erupted between the two. This was a fight between individuals of two different layers of the universe. The fiend was basically among the strongest living beings in existence in our universe layer. However, it was still very surprising, especially for the antlered bird, that the fiend could actually match it evenly in a fight.

"What are you doing here? Piss off already!" said the fiend to the two little fellows watching the fight in a daze.

That woke the two up from their shock. They hurriedly scrambled deeper into the tunnel.

"That fellow is surprisingly strong. It can even stop a native of your Planet Xica," said the great sovereign while panting heavily.

"I know its previous strength. The fiend must have absorbed the energy from the core of a planet. Therefore, it is actually fighting the monster with the power of an entire planet. It should be able to handle this opponent," said Bulu.

"Forget about them. We need to leave this place. My descendants are still trapped inside," said the great sovereign, who was losing patience at the thought of its imprisoned descendants.

Before long, they encountered light in the dark tunnel. It was obvious that the biggest obstacle in the tunnel was the antlered bird. The endless tunnel was also a product of the bird.

The two little fellows ran madly toward the light. Finally, they arrived at the exit. Ahead of them was a dark abyss, and in the middle of the abyss was a floating island. On the island was a stone platform. A green laser barrier surrounding the glossy platform trapped all the surviving core pulp worms on the platform.

"Look, they're all there. We need to save them," said the great sovereign anxiously.

"These are all mental manifestations. How can you save their actual bodies?" asked Bulu.

"Their actual bodies are in the super bodies. Only their minds are trapped here. So long as we can remove the shackles binding them here, they will be able to regain their freedom," said the great sovereign.

"This is an endless abyss. We need to think of a way to cross it. Can you create a mental bridge?" asked Bulu.

"Why don't you tell me to make a mental plane instead?" said the great sovereign with a roll of its eyes.

They needed to reach the floating island, but they were stumped because they couldn't fly. Right at that moment, heavy footsteps rang out behind them. The battle between the fiend and the antlered bird must have ended, and the winner was heading toward them.

The footsteps sounded louder and louder. Both Bulu and the great sovereign blanked out. If the victor was the antlered bird, it would be able to easily throw them both into the endless abyss.

As the footsteps continued coming closer, our hearts beat faster and faster even though we were only spectators. From the perspective of the two, a massive silhouette slowly appeared from the dark tunnel. Disappointingly, it was the antlered bird.

"This is getting troublesome. Let's wake them up," suggested Lamo.

"That seems to be our only choice if we want to keep them safe. Looks like that fiend only looks impressive but is actually weak," said Somo.

"Stop talking," said Baron Sisse as he gestured at them to stay silent.

When the antlered bird walked out of darkness, we found with astonishment that only half its body was left. A massive hand was holding its slender neck, and the owner of the hand was also slowly emerging from the darkness. It was the fiend of Pluto.

"What a surprise. You're actually quite capable. You defeated that fellow so quickly?" said Bulu, relieved to see that the newcomer was the fiend.

"Amazing! A native of a lower universe has actually defeated a native of a higher universe. You have my heartfelt admiration." The great sovereign was not stingy with its praises.

"I didn't defeat it. It had decided to run suddenly," said the fiend, alarming all of us.

"What? It fled? What do you mean?" asked the great sovereign.

"Its soul suddenly left its mental body, leaving only an empty shell. I was worried that it would return suddenly, so I ripped this body apart," said the fiend.

"It left by itself? Why would it behave like that?" asked the great sovereign doubtfully.

"Maybe there is an even bigger trap waiting for us. Let's end this quickly and leave this place," said Bulu.

"My descendants are all on that island. So long as you can fly over and remove the green barrier, they will be free," said the great sovereign.

The endless abyss was nothing for the fiend. After tossing the antlered bird into the endless abyss, it spread its wings and flew toward the island. A green laser barrier was keeping all the cores locked up. All the cores looked extremely weak, as though they were all dying. After a short observation, the fiend noticed that the barrier was a top-down cover that fully surrounded the stone platform. It was constantly supplied with an energy source coming from above.

"Can you break the barrier and free them?" asked the great sovereign.

"This energy barrier is very well-supplied with energy. I can't break it too easily," said the fiend.

"What? There's a difficulty you can't overcome? I thought you were the number one warrior in the universe? Can't you solve a problem this small?" said the great sovereign.

The fiend snorted coldly, but it did not turn around or say anything. Instead, it bent over and hugged the lower part of the stone platform.

"What is this fellow doing? Is it going to snap the stone platform with brute force?" asked the great sovereign.

"That seems to be the case. It looks like the fiend is trying to take the place apart," said Bulu with a nod.

With an abrupt roar, the fiend exerted strength with both its arms and forcefully moved the stone platform. Upon realizing that the stone platform was much harder than it had imagined, the fiend gathered even more of its strength before pulling with its entire body. With a loud crack, the stone platform was snapped off the ground.

The moment the platform was parted from the ground, the fiend opened its mouth and released a red shockwave, slowing the green laser barrier that was extending downward to cover the platform that had shifted from its previous position. Then, it took the chance to spin the platform around before placing it on the ground. In the blink of an eye, the green barrier spread downward to cover the created gap. However, its prisoners were no longer present.

"This fellow sure is strong. It was able to free your descendants with such a simple method," said Bulu.

Next, a surprising scene unfolded before our eyes. The core pulp worms started vanishing into thin air.

"What's going on? Where are they going?" asked the fiend.

"Their souls are no longer locked, so they can leave this place. They have all returned to their bodies," said the great sovereign in a gratified manner.

"In that case, have we completed our mission here?" asked Bulu.

"Yes. We can finally leave this place," said the great sovereign.

Suddenly, a series of urgent footsteps rang out from the other side of the cavern.

"Shit! What's that? It sounds like a horde of creatures is running in our direction," said the great sovereign.

"This is bad. I think all the creatures in the drawings have been brought to life. The footsteps do not sound like they come from the same type of life form," said Bulu.

"Don't worry. I'll beat them all up," said the fiend, who had returned to the two. Only excitement could be seen on its face.

"There is no need for that. There are too many of them. You're not their match alone. It's pointless to fight them here," said Bulu.

"What should we do, then? They're going to arrive here soon," said the fiend.

"We have completed our mission. Why are we still staying here? We can just leave," said Bulu. His answer was simple: retreat.