Published at 1st of December 2025 8:15 am

Chapter 1774 Stages of plague development

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Rumble-

The Black Plague individuals hurriedly, almost desperately, forced their bodies upward, dragging themselves out of the soil they had buried into moments earlier-even if doing so meant tearing their own decayed flesh or cracking what remained of their fragile limbs. That descending beam of light was simply unbearable; its presence felt like a merciless, unforgiving fire pressing down on a dying creature, burning with intent rather than mere heat.

The very first strike alone was powerful enough to pulverize and erase the smaller Plague entities. They instantly disintegrated into fine black dust that scattered helplessly across the wind like ash from a long-dead forest fire.

But the larger ones, the sturdier ones, were not willing to accept defeat so quickly.

Immediately, the Plague creatures split their heads open from the top, revealing a horrifying inner layer, and released an enormous surge of suffocating black smoke that rose like a storm and swallowed the horizon whole. They hoped- desperately to buy even a few extra seconds, just enough time to pull the rest of their bodies free from the soil's grip before the deadly light consumed them entirely.

Yet the moment that smoke touched the piercing, radiant beams above, it began to tremble violently, producing strange vibrating pulses-almost like muffled, agonized screams-before collapsing in on itself and vanishing completely as if it had never existed.

""

At the side, Richard sat lazily on his rear, simply watching everything unfold. He didn't look afraid, irritated, or even slightly tense. Instead, he wore the calm expression of someone observing something familiar. This certainly wasn't the first time he had seen Serene annihilate these things.

The battle carried on for several minutes without a single word spoken or any sound exchanged. Both sides tried to destroy the other in complete, unnatural silence.

This was typical behavior for the Plague; every variant communicated through scents and chemical signals, never through sound or spoken language.

Thinking about that odd fact, Richard allowed himself a faint, almost nostalgic smile. The memory of casually chatting with a few Red Plague back in his father's Empire was both absurd and amusing.

It was probably the only place in the world where one could meet a Plague creature capable of speech, thought, and actual conversation. The thought remained ridiculous... and yet impressively unique.

Crk-Crk-

"Hmm?"

Richard lowered his gaze as a familiar sound rose from below. The ground...

It was already dried out, cracked, and drained of life due to the Plague's approach, but after the planting process, it was now transforming completely- turning into brittle charcoal-like soil as it crept toward him with increasing speed. In just seconds, it would reach where he sat.

"Don't ruin my mood."

Richard's expression darkened briefly. With a simple snap of his fingers, a beautiful green flame bloomed to life. His hair brushed lightly against the ground as the fire descended-

Fwooooooosh!

Kiiiiiiiiii-!

The flame spread instantaneously, like a spark thrown into a lake of oil, exploding outward in bright green waves. The creeping, grinding noise that had been drawing closer turned into a sharp, agonized shriek-the unmistakable scream of something dying violently.

And then, the advance of the black soil halted completely, frozen in place.

But the green flame continued expanding rapidly, consuming everything with its ghostly radiance, and the buried cries from beneath the ground rose in volume, echoing like distant wails trapped far below.

In truth, the reproductive method of the Black Plague was monstrously hideous and deeply terrifying. The moment those creatures rooted themselves into the ground, they began pumping a horrifying amount of microscopic eggs into the soil-spreading from the surface all the way down to the deepest point their mutated roots could burrow into.

A newly produced Plague spawn could spread across a network reaching ten kilometers beneath the surface. And one could only imagine just how deep a ninety-meter giant could penetrate the planet's crust to inject its endless brood.

Once those eggs hatched, the newborn Plague emerged-tiny, nearly invisible organisms that fed on anything they touched: plants, water, soil, metal, stone- anything. They corroded it, devoured it, and grew steadily larger.

Beneath that hollow, decayed land lay an immeasurable army of Black Plague- tens of millions of them, crawling and spreading unseen.

And this wasn't their only method of reproduction.

That black smoke pouring from their heads to block out the sun?

That was also Black Plague-slowly drifting across the planet, settling onto the chests of living beings and eating them from the inside out.

Any creature infected with the Plague's eggs would appear from the outside as though its flesh were melting and sliding off its bones, as if moments away from complete collapse... because the Plague was actually consuming both

bone and muscle from within.

The ones Serene was fighting now were merely the Plague tasked with surface

expansion during this cycle.

They were insignificant.

The true Plague wasn't in the air.

The true Plague wasn't seen above the ground.

The real Plague was buried beneath the ground-waiting.

When Richard witnessed the scene for the first time, he immediately

understood - with a sinking certainty that the situation was completely hopeless. This planet wasn't merely damaged; it had crossed the threshold of no return. Its very flesh had been hollowed out, its essence gnawed upon from the inside. At this point, the only realistic outcome was destruction. One of the academies needed to dispatch a specialist immediately, someone capable of annihilating the entire planet before its core was swallowed whole.

If they delayed even a little longer, one of the stronger members of the Black Plague could burrow deep enough to reach the planet's heart and consume the exposed core... and once that happened, the true catastrophe would unfold - the birth of the star-devouring Blue Plague mutant, a nightmare known across

entire star systems.

According to ancient and widely feared legends, the Red Plague originates from the blood of unwanted creatures - filthy, corrupted beings that the heavenly laws themselves decreed must be erased from existence. From that tainted blood, the Red Plague forms as a creature forged entirely from living, flowing blood, beginning its infamous and devastating cycle.

Once the Red Plague starts its rampage, it goes on to slaughter every intelligent species it encounters, and nearly every living creature it can overpower. But its hunger never fades; when there is nothing left to kill, the Red Plague turns upon itself, devouring its own kind in a desperate frenzy. By that point, the cycle of the Red Plague usually reaches its end, and it fades into extinction - at

least in ordinary scenarios.

Yet in rare, chilling exceptions, something different happens. From soil drenched and darkened by the blood of the Red Plague, a new threat emerges: the Black Plague, rising in the form of a sinister fungal growth that begins spreading its spores everywhere.

This marks the continuation of the plague's planetary invsion: first the extermination of life, then the gradual dismantling of the planet itself. The Black Plague progresses relentlessly until it reaches the planet's core, gnawing through layers of stone and energy before finally absorbing the core entirely. Once this core is consumed, catastrophe follows. The planet's atmosphere collapses, the crust fractures violently, and the world breaks apart into drifting meteorites, leaving nothing but cosmic debris behind. The Black Plague, having lost its foundation, typically dies soon after.

But in extremely rare, almost mythical cases... consuming the blisteringly hot planetary core triggers a profound transformation within the Black Plague. Instead of perishing in the vacuum of space, it mutates into a completely new form - a terrifying entity known only as the Blue Plague.

The Blue Plague is undeniably the most dangerous and most powerful form of plague evolution. It is born from a fully matured Black Plague that has absorbed the burning essence of a world's heart. Through this process, it develops an uncontrollable craving for superheated planetary cores and small, blazing stars with exceptionally high temperatures.

The Blue Plague cannot reproduce - a blessing that has spared countless civilizations - yet it grows stronger with terrifying speed, strengthened by the very nature of the cosmic fuel it devours.

In terms of danger classification, raw power, and even their preferred prey, people across the universe often compare the Blue Plague to Space Beasts, the apex threats.

The only comforting fact is their extreme rarity; if Blue Plagues were even slightly common, the universe would have faced an extinction event ages ago. If you asked the average person whether they feared space beasts or the plague more, most would, without hesitation, choose the plague. After all, these abominations can begin as nothing but a single drop of

corrupted blood... and through mutation and relentless evolution, eventually grow strong enough to rival cosmic beasts themselves. The word "plague" suits them perfectly they are enemies to all life, from the smallest organisms to

the grandest titans.

And among the minority who fear the plague above all else, their reasoning includes one final, horrifying thought:

If the plague can already evolve into three forms... what prevents the emergence of a fourth?

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