World Keeper

Chapter 1139: Stem the Tide

Three weeks after the beginning of the invasion, I found myself standing in the empty expanse of space, along the outer perimeter of Earth’s solar system. Lifre stood to my right, and both of us were fully equipped for combat.

At this point in time, the giant monsters were no longer considered major threats to the people of my realm. Or rather, they weren’t the biggest threat. There had been two colonized worlds along the outer reaches of the Hyperlane Networks that had been destroyed by these monsters, but those responsible had been dealt with.

Now, the main threat was purely the swarms. They had spread to such an extent that every planet was on full alert. For most planets, over a dozen gods were deployed to each, forming a combat unit to deal with any potential attacks.

Unfortunately, our fleets of ships were not suitable for dealing with swarms like this, so the combat truly was left to the gods and fallen gods. As for Earth, the defense was left entirely to myself and Lifre, while even Tsubaki was dispatched to support Desbar.

For more than a week, Scarlet continued her hunt of the enemy monsters, destroying them one by one. According to her, she believed that all of the monsters that she could track had been killed. Now, the largest monster in any of my universes was a memetic monster in the shape of a giant planet, which she sacrificed another avatar to discover.

How long until the swarm arrives, Lifre? I asked, red-scaled gauntlets appearing on my hands. Lifre opened a book, flipping through its pages with a pensive expression.

Thirty seconds. The narrative describes it to be an unrelenting swarm, its members blocking out the stars. She answered, and I nodded my head, preparing myself. Naturally, this was the Replicating Swarm, which had devoured more and more planets ever since being released upon every universe.

Forget finding alien life, it would be difficult to find planets capable of supporting it anymore in this region of the galaxy. If there was one thing that I was happy about, it was the fact that they attacked in a single wave, rather than surrounding a solar system and closing in from all sides. If that was the case, it would not matter how strong I was, I wouldn’t be able to defend against all sides at once.

Sure enough, I soon sensed an undulating silver cloud in the distance, composed of countless smaller creatures. These creatures all had a uniform shape, with a brick-like main body, metallic mandibles, and skittering insect-like legs. Individually, even a normal adventurer would be able to take them out without any real problems. But… when they swarmed in the trillions, they could consume an entire planet in a matter of hours.

I held my hands forward, my spiritual energy stirring as I activated the effects of my draconic gauntlets. Perish. I commanded, and a wave of spiritual power pulsed towards the swarm. The wave struck the front of the swarm, causing them to go still, before the units behind them pushed past. Some of them even began to cannibalize the dead units, creating replacements for them.

Perish. I focused again, and again, each pulse destroying another layer of the swarm. There were so many targets that I felt my own spiritual energy take a hit from the constant use, and had to supplement the effect with the Souls domain. Still, it was inevitable that they wouldn’t be able to make it through the waves that I was sending out.

I lost count of how many times I had to activate the gauntlet, but eventually, the area before me was saturated with the corpses of metallic creatures. All of them were simply floating, lifelessly. I’ll need to get Clara to come over here. Maybe her drones can repurpose these materials…

Mara crossed her arms impatiently, her eyes focused into the distance. She had been enjoying her day with her family in Codex Chaotic when an urgent request had come in from Ashtanu, asking for her aid in the defense against these swarms.

She was reluctant to fight, but when she realized just how grave the situation was, she realized that she didn’t really have a choice. If Fyor was the only world left after this destruction, then these monsters would target it next. Moreover, the servers of Codex Chaotic needed to be preserved, or else her new family would perish.

Despite the years that had passed, Mara still resembled a young girl, finding it the most comfortable form for her to take. This was the case both in the real world and in the game, where she had managed to convince her family to undergo the steps of perfection, holding onto her happy life with them.

Mara twirled a golden coin between her fingers, her eyes narrowing. She had promised to protect this solar system alone, stating that anyone else would likely just get in her way when her ‘other self’ took action.

Once she saw the fleshy ‘ships’ of the swarm approaching through her divinity, she flipped the coin up above her. Immediately, her body changed, the innocent, pouting girl gone. Instead, there was a furious woman with raven-black hair, wearing a business suit and staring with blazing, golden eyes.

Mara’s hand came up, catching the coin in midair and giving it a firm squeeze. She could see that there wasn’t just one swarm body approaching, but five. You like to eat? Then… feast! She commanded mentally, her divine powers stirring.

The fleshy, spherical vessels of the swarm slowed to a crawl, their members flooding out and into the open space. However, rather than charging at Mara, they began attacking each other. They tried to devour their own allies, shoving them into their hideous, vertical maws. Some of them even went to begin tearing apart the other vessels. Their every action had an eagerness to it, as if they believed that their ultimate evolution was just around the corner.

Mara could even see individuals appearing from the swarm vessels that were different from the standard creatures. These must have been entities that the vessels had consumed and learned how to grow in the past, and they were now being sent to fight on their behalf.

Mara simply crossed her eyes, still glaring at the scene before her. With her domains, it was a simple matter to make the swarms see each other as their enemies. Once they whittled away at their numbers until only one swarm host remained, she could simply turn it against itself.

You’re getting in the way of my retirement. Hurry up and die. She commanded, eyes glowing fiercely.

How are things going on your end? Atraxi asked Tower curiously over their mental channel. Tower let out a long sigh, shaking his head.

They are currently occupying seven hundred and thirty-eight instances. Thankfully, I’ve prevented them from entering the instance where I have stored my population, and the occupied ones are being filled with hazardous traps. It is annoying that they are consuming the walls and floors to increase their numbers, but they should be dealt with soon.

Tower was rather crestfallen, knowing that it would be so much easier if he could simply collapse the instances that had the Replicating Swarm in them. However, there was nothing that he could do about that. Dungeons could not close an instance that had a living creature inside, unless that living creature was part of the dungeon itself.

How are things on your end? Tower asked, directing his attention to Atraxi and Pietra.

Atraxi shook his head with an amused smile. Thanks to the warning from Olympus, we don’t have anything to worry about. We told our people not to bother attacking the swarm. They’re just digging around, trying to find resources that they can eat. Ah, wait, it looks like they’re leaving us. I guess that they realized that there weren’t any real metals on our planets.

Tower gave a slight chuckle at that, nodding his head. At least they can’t feed on slime.

That’s true. Speaking of which, do you want us to send some reinforcements your way? We might be able to clear out your infestation a little sooner.

Tower thought about that offer, before shaking his head to refuse it. I’ll be fine. Keep an eye on the outside world for me, and let me know if any new problems start to approach. I’m going to take a more direct approach to this.

After saying that, Tower began to focus. As the God of Monsters and Construction, his specialty had always been in golems when it came to customized creatures. However, that was not an option here, as the golems would simply become food for these tiny menaces. Instead, he began to construct a creature made entirely out of fire.

Like the swarm it was designed to suppress, it would be able to replicate itself. However, this replication would occur whenever it consumed mana, or anything that contained it. This would allow him to pour mana into these creatures to give them a quick boost in numbers, and then unleash them on the swarm.

While some worlds were able to easily fend off their threats with the gods at their disposal, this was not the case for all of them. Regardless of which type of swarm they were facing, there were planets left ruined in their wake. Populations were slaughtered or consumed, and the gods protecting them were no different.

When Tsubaki received the damage report, detailing which planets had been lost, as well as which swarms they had been attacked by, her expression grew grave. My Keeper, the time that the Origin of Fate warned us about is likely to soon be upon us.

There was a moment of hesitation, before the Keeper responded. Which god was consumed?

In this recent assault, there were seven gods that have been slain by the Cloning Swarm. They were all single-domain gods, with the domains of Wind, Fire, Stealth, Recovery, Communication, Defense, and Lightning. This arrangement was made taking their individual talents into consideration, with the belief that they would be able to fully support one another in battle.

And now, we are going to have to deal with armies that can use those domains? The Keeper asked in frustration. Was the planet where they were stationed destroyed?

No, sir. Tsubaki reported, knowing what he truly wished to know. The remaining five gods managed to push back the swarm and form a last line of defense. Rather than press the assault, the swarm retreated.

In other words, firing the Avenger at that planet is out of the question. He said with a sigh. Congratulate and thank the survivors, and do what we can to support the families of the fallen. I’m going to go have a talk with Terra. If this is the divine swarm that she warned us about, that means that it’s time for her to take action.

Tsubaki nodded her head, feeling the connection closing. Her eyes narrowed, thinking of all the death that had been thrust upon the realm thanks to these swarms. If she had the power to, she would gladly eliminate the entirety of the swarms from every universe. However, her skills were not suitable for fighting numbers that large, and she was well aware of that.

Instead, she would assist where she could, joining together with other gods and forming defensive lines. This was what she could do for her Keeper, until the weapons capable of ending this battle were produced.

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