Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 263 Dark Spiritual Energy

"Approaching the range of dark energy, please prepare to withstand the first wave of dark energy impact..."

Just then, the AI's cold voice came through.

So fast?

Duwu looked ahead, and in his vision, the enormous, scale-covered thing beneath him stretched all the way to the edge of the universe, endless and uninterrupted, no matter how the spaceship flew by.

But AI doesn't lie. Since they are about to enter the range of dark energy, it means they are about to approach the head of this behemoth.

Dark psionic energy is a strange energy found only in "world devourers". This power is similar to the psionic energy of interstellar humans, but there are some subtle differences. Scholars call it dark psionic energy.

The World Eater was shrouded in an invisible layer of dark psionic energy, much like the atmosphere of a planet, with the densest concentration at its head—the very target of the psionic warriors.

At the eyes.

The eight psionic warriors simultaneously closed their eyes and entered a meditative state.

Faced with this immense power, conventional methods have become ineffective; only by trusting one's innate spiritual energy can one protect oneself in a realm filled with powerful dark spiritual energy.

"First wave of dark energy impact, 10...9...8..."

The AI ​​is starting a countdown, and the spaceship has switched to defensive mode. Equipped with a small spacetime distortion device, the spaceship is ready to deal with the impact of that strange force.

Duwu felt surprisingly calm, as if he were simply resting quietly in a secret room.

The spiritual energy emanating from An Ning's heart is quietly protecting Du Wu's body, like a tough, thin film.

"3...2...1...0!"

"boom!!!!"

Suddenly, an unimaginably powerful mental storm crashed down, shattering my previously clear mind in an instant.

Like a toy in the hands of a raging giant, or a small boat in a storm, the heart that once trusted so deeply now wavers in an instant.

It was as if countless voices were ringing in my ears.

Was it a whisper in the darkness? Was it mockery? Was it a strange murmur? Du Wu didn't know. He only felt as if his brain had become unrecognizable to him. Countless strange thoughts had emerged from his heart, which had been as calm as a lake.

"You are Duwu? No! I am!"

“Coward, wimp, you don’t even dare to look at her…”

"help me……"

The countless thoughts, some familiar, some utterly unfamiliar, were like my brain suddenly exploding into countless pieces, some old, some young, some male, some female, some rational, some crazy, and so on. It was as if I had transformed into millions of people, or millions of people had been stuffed into my brain.

These thoughts argued and clashed, tearing at his will and making the self-awareness called "Duwu" seem exceptionally small.

On this vast ocean of the mind, countless consciousnesses are battling and fighting for sole dominance.

"..."

It sounded like someone was vomiting blood, but Duwu was too preoccupied to care.

But even in the face of this situation, centuries of tempering have not been in vain. The more dangerous the situation, the calmer that tiny self-awareness becomes—almost strangely calm. In this war for self-control, it tears apart and shatters other wills, gradually swallowing up the fragmented mind once more.

Within consciousness, regardless of time or how much time had passed, consciousness returned to unity once more.

The pressure from the dark energy still existed, but the impact only existed when I first encountered the dark energy. Although I still felt dizzy, I was able to open my eyes again with difficulty.

In Duwu's view, the spaceship had completely changed. The once minimalist interior was now covered with strange flesh and organ structures. Opposite him were two headless corpses with bloodstains around their necks. Their heads had exploded into pieces, and some parts of them had shown varying degrees of deformity and mutation.

On their very first encounter with dark psionic energy, the two precious psionic warriors died instantly.

The other five psionic warriors were still not free from the influence, and blood was already seeping from the corner of one of their mouths.

"Psychic energy detected... underlying protocol anomaly, urgent... urgent... urgent..."

The normally cold AI voice was now speaking in a strange tone, as if it were that of a madman whose speech had lost its coherence. The spaceship's AI seemed to realize its abnormality and tried to execute emergency procedures, but it couldn't finish speaking no matter what it tried.

Has AI also been infected?

With his face unchanged, Duwu ignored the AI ​​that was suspected of being infected and instead tried to wake up his five companions.

In the end, the four companions struggled to wake up, while one of them completely lost his rationality. His self-awareness was lost in countless thoughts, and he had gone insane.

"The spaceship's AI has gone out of control. It seems impossible to try to guide us through the AI ​​anymore. We have no choice but to go to our destination on our own."

After ending the life of his unfortunate companion with his own hands, Duu spoke in a low voice. In this world filled with strange dark psychic energy, communicating using psychic energy was already an extremely dangerous thing, so Duu unusually chose to speak.

The four companions did not answer, but simply nodded calmly.

Immediately afterward, the five figures disappeared inside the spaceship.

"Underlying protocol... execution... emergency..."

The infected spaceship AI continued to repeat itself endlessly, as if trapped in a vicious cycle, until suddenly a powerful external force surged in and crushed the entire spaceship...

Outside, above the scales of the earth, a grotesque, gigantic creature, dragging its long tail, floated in space. It appeared as a phantom, its body transparent, but its gaping maw, greedily devouring the spaceship, proved it was no illusion.

That seemingly misty body swallowed the tangible spaceship whole.

Eyes all over its body opened, hundreds and thousands of eyes looking in the same direction, where tiny creatures were escaping, and those creatures had a delicious smell.

"Roar!"

In this bizarre world, an invisible voice rang out, and the giant monster flicked its tail and vanished from the spot.

……

In space, tens of millions of kilometers away from the "Earth," the five psionic warriors could all feel the invisible force beside them—a force similar to psionic energy.

In this environment, psionic energy was unusually suppressed.

However, for these demigods who can command wind and rain, summon thunder, and traverse space with their physical bodies, teleportation is still possible. While they cannot directly teleport a person tens of millions of kilometers away using subspace, it is sufficient to teleport them tens of thousands of kilometers away.

Although it cannot compare to a spaceship, it has already entered orbit, so there is no need to worry about being thrown off again; it can simply continue moving forward.

Don't get too close.

A psionic warrior extended a finger, a finger emitting faint light, and wrote in the void.

He dared not communicate using psychic powers; in this situation, the more cautious he was, the better.

Duwu understood his meaning: the closer they got to the World Eater, the stronger the influence of dark energy would be. Losing three psionic warriors on their very first encounter with dark energy was pointless; they should try to teleport forward along the edges.

[Let's teleport forward together.]

Duwu also began to write in the air with his finger.

The five psionic warriors held hands, forming a circle. Invisible psionic energy surged around them. In the next instant, the psionic energy they unleashed together pierced through the spacetime structure, heading into the warp, and vanished from the spot.

When they reappeared, the five were already tens of thousands of kilometers away, but just as their bodies transitioned from intangible to real...

"Roar!!!"

In the void of space, where sound should not exist, a violent surge of psionic energy suddenly jolted the group's minds, causing even the psionic warrior's thoughts to slow. The next instant, Duwu felt his companion's hand, which he was holding, suddenly slip away…

"Watch out! Something's there!"

Centuries of training suddenly jolted him awake. Without thinking twice, Duwu roared.

Suddenly, two swords with rainbow-like light appeared in his hands, and he swung them out into the void without hesitation!
"..."

The solid feel of the twin blades told Du Wu that he had struck something in the void, but the other party moved away after a brief touch. At this moment, the other three also reacted and quickly drew their weapons, which had been hidden inside their bodies.

The companion who was originally next to Duwu's right hand is now only one hand floating in space.

As for the other parts? Nobody knows.

【what? 】

One of them cautiously sensed the surrounding environment while asking a question.

[I don't know, there's no information available.]

They didn't teleport again. Someone had just been attacked right after they teleported; the unknown entity seemed to have ambushed them while they were teleporting. In this uncertain situation, teleporting again would be tantamount to suicide.

Holding his twin swords, Duwu's prosthetic eye scrutinized his surroundings intently...

There are no signs of it disappearing, so it doesn't seem to have vanished using invisibility technology. Where is it hiding?
Although there was no evidence, Duwu had a feeling that the thing that attacked them was still lingering nearby and had not left.

Psionic warriors have great faith in their intuition, because their intuition often reflects the future as predicted by their own psionic powers. Therefore, they trust their intuition without hesitation.

That thing must still be nearby.

(End of this chapter)