Just as Garus summoned his undead legion, he saw a towering, ten-meter-tall armored insect charging at him, emitting strange, guttural sounds—rushing forward with reckless abandon.
Even from a distance, the stench reached him. Do these bugs ever bathe?
"Hiss... For the Queen! Surrender your flesh!" The Brood general envisioned crushing his enemy beneath him, securing his place as the new Brood King. A grotesque smile twisted his insectoid face.
He dismissed Garus as weak and insignificant, believing a single blow would end him. In his world, his razor-sharp claws had torn through countless foes and rivals. If not for Mykrum's superior size and intimidation factor, the position of Brood King would have been his.
Garus planted his weapon into the ground and met the enemy barehanded. His runic armor shielded him as he caught the Brood general's claws, preventing any harm.
Desecrated Ground! Ice Storm!
Death energy materialized as spectral hands, gripping the Brood general's limbs, immobilizing him. Meanwhile, a frigid wind solidified into razor-sharp ice shards swirling around Garus.
"What is this?!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! The ice shards struck the Brood general's armor repeatedly, forming cracks. He struggled to break free but was bound tightly.
It must be him—the one who killed Mykrum! A deep dread gripped the Brood general. This time, he was doomed.
Before long, the ice crushed through his body, impaling him. Green blood splattered across the battlefield.
Moments later, he lay lifeless, a frozen corpse on the ground.
"Idiot!" The Broodmother bared her mandibles in fury as she watched her subordinate fall in an instant.
At her mental command, a row of peculiar-looking Brood creatures at the rear began glowing with a faint blue light. One after another, they fired glowing projectiles at Garus.
A sudden sense of danger gripped Garus as he saw the blue energy bolts arcing toward him from the enemy lines.
For safety, he commanded a hundred gargoyles to form a shield overhead.
But whatever energy fueled those attacks was unknown to him. In an instant, his gargoyles, made of obsidian, melted away like snow under the blazing sun.
Garus narrowed his eyes. He had to eliminate those creatures first. Silently, he directed his Crypt Fiends to burrow beneath the enemy artillery units.
Just as the creatures prepared another barrage, the ground beneath them collapsed.
Boom! The hardened terrain caved in, swallowing them whole. Agonized screeches echoed from the pit.
Enraged beyond reason, the Broodmother lunged at Garus. Those artillery creatures were her trump card, and their annihilation filled her with wrath.
She stepped directly onto a heap of undead and Brood corpses.
A perfect opportunity.
So many corpses—both Brood and undead. If they exploded all at once, the devastation would be immense.
"Goodbye."
Gray death energy surged from Garus' hands, seeping into the lifeless bodies.
The eerie smile on his face sent chills down the Broodmother's spine. Before she could escape, the corpses around her began to swell.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A chain of explosions erupted around her. Shards of flesh and necrotic energy flew in all directions, splattering onto her exoskeleton, corroding deep wounds into her massive form.
She let out a bloodcurdling scream, her very soul burning from the necrotic energy. Her colossal body convulsed, then weakened. Soon, she lay motionless, while scavenging ghouls crawled atop her corpse, feasting.
Garus frowned at the battlefield, now littered with rotting flesh. Moving through this mess would be troublesome. It needed to be cleansed.
A crimson energy wave spread from his hands, enveloping the entire field.
The power of Death and Decay siphoned the last vestiges of life force from the remains, reducing them to dust carried away by the wind.
The Brood infestation was erased.
A convenient skill for corpse disposal...
Garus had his undead army secure the area while he approached the spatial rift alone. He sent a ghoul through it, using its vision to peer into the other side.
What he saw was a grotesque, horrifying world—a writhing mass of Brood creatures and organic, flesh-like structures.
The Brood had descended into chaos, leaderless after the Queen's fall. Fights erupted among them, likely to determine the next ruler.
Disgusted by the scene, Garus abandoned his survey but placed a teleportation beacon there—just in case he needed it later.
By the time the sun rose over the planet the next day, Skrull Queen Ermeryth stood before Garus' ship. She spotted Blonsky sitting cross-legged beneath it, eyes closed in meditation.
"Where is Mr. Garus?"
She had spent the night deliberating and ultimately decided to accompany them to Earth. The presence of Brood threats across universes was too great. Staying here was no longer safe.
Perhaps blending into human society would be the best option. That planet was relatively remote—or so she thought. She had no idea that Thanos already had his sights set on it.
Blonsky opened his eyes. "Gather your people and head to your ship immediately. Prepare to leave."
Veranke hesitated. "But the Brood have taken over our ship. We—"
Blonsky cut her off. "The Master has already cleared them out."
She was stunned but quickly relayed orders to Alan, instructing all Skrulls to regroup and return to their base.
As soon as Garus received confirmation, space rippled before Blonsky, and a portal materialized.
Ermeryth led the way through it. Upon emerging on the other side, she stared in shock. The ship, once overrun by Brood, was now completely devoid of them—not even corpses remained.
"Take me inside your ship," Garus commanded. "Let's see if we can find an alternative power source."
He had plenty of elemental energy cores in his spatial storage. Perhaps one could sustain the ship until they reached the nearest refueling station.
With security protocols verified, the ship's entrance opened. Inside, the vessel remained pristine—untouched by the Brood, unscathed by battle.
It seemed the Brood had little interest in their ship after all.
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