Soul of Searing Steel

On the other side of time and space, in the Amos Court territories of the Galaxy of Bloodbath, though the Void was without night or day, the current point in time was a moment of rest according to all Amos traditions in the major planetary systems.

After extended planning and preparation, Mycroft's provisional spy Creed and his alien friend Elma were now ready to infiltrate the Amos Court—although truth be told, the matter had nothing to do with their original objectives. However, since all intelligent creatures were born with curiosities that could kill them, both Creed and Elma sincerely desired to unravel the truth in the Court under the influence of a certain important figure.

After all, they had a kind and gentle God of Steel watching their backs.

"Ready, Creed?"

Elma, who now resembled a tall female human rather than a cluster of tentacles, adjusted the bow of a Void warship. Around her, solid lifeforce flowed as she exchanged information with the main system port of the ship. Behind her, the black-haired youth touched his clothes uncomfortably, before eventually managing to reply, "Ready… Urgh, so we are just going on a trip in a warship… or to be precise, your true form?"

By now, Creed had learned about the actual lifestyle of the Amos Court: physical labor was carried out by calibrated Flesh Servitors, a curious synthetic form that was half-organic and half-machine. As for Amos individuals who had gone through divine light trials (mana radiation exposure), they were generally categorized as either Combat, Thinking, or General Use, handling war, scientific studies, as well as various fields concerned with culture, production, and refinement.

Amos of the Think type were usually gathered within several closely-guarded artificial systems, shielded by Imperator Amos's personal. On the other hand, Amos of both Combat type and General Use categories evolved to the level that they could freely move around the Void, hence able to gain citizenship and voice their opinion regarding various topics. Even so, one could transit between the categories. Elma was a perfect example who had gone through all three, with her true form naturally possessing the capacity of entering and exiting Void—in order words, a huge biological warship.

Creed had been left bewildered when he first learnt the fact, having difficulty understanding that the humanoid before him was merely a transiting terminal, and that Elma's true form was the warship beneath his feet. He soon, however, accepted the fact: it was nothing unusual since mage towers towered spirits, weapons could be sentient and ships could have ghosts…it was all very understandable.

What really left him unsettled was his clothes.

It was actually a part of Elma's body, organic matter she had secreted in his face…and was alive, a tool that connected the both of them in real time and observed his physical state. Being a young man who was just over twenty and having seen the lofty, human elegance of Elma, Creed was really embarrassed about wearing clothes that was considered a part of her body.

His alien friend was however not as self-conscious. "I am a highly-ranked individual possessing commander-class clearance," she answered as if it was naturally, "I can enter various secret facilities, with 95% of secrets not actually secrets if I wanted."

"Even so, the abnormality in the Court this time is the 5% I am unaware of. Stealing information from the data vault in the capital is a final resort, and before that, I would rather check out current circumstances around for any other information."

That was a reasonable and logical action that Creed had no protest against. The pair hence slowly left from Elma's personal Void anchorage and began sailing through the stars.

The quiet Void was like an ocean without undercurrents, while warships were giant beasts swimming gently through it.

The current system Elma was in was within the fringes of the Galaxy of Bloodbath. The Court had not enforced order tightly in the area, which explained Elma's ability to discreetly prepare to escape the Court's control and gather resources there. Naturally, it was also a population zone with complete facilities where many Amos lived.

Though it was late night for most civilians in the system, Combat individuals never needed sleep to adjust themselves or rest, which was why there were quite a few wings of warships patrolling and closing the passages. However, Elma's true form was a counterintelligence warship with full-infiltration modes, with observational tentacles protruding out of the flanks of her fusiform hull. Yet, thought Elma could activate stealth mode, she conspicuous revealed herself in full, moving through the Void in a translucent appearance with flickering fluorescence.

Creed was naturally rather nervous about that, but he was aware of the reason: Being a member of the Court, Elma knew every rule, even the unspoken ones. Moreover, she possessed commander-class clearance (Supreme-pinnacle), and her movements would not have been fussed over by most patrols, possessing special clearance where she would only be questioned when getting into vital facilities.

As expected, the black-hulled patrol ships that resembled an undercut paused and transmitted greeting signals when they noticed Elma, with the occasional patrol leader (larger stair-pyramid ships) also dispatching inquiry signals prompting her to state her business. Elma simply ignored the former and casually responded to the latter, and then proceeded on their course in the Void.

"The level of alert is more serious in deeper territories. There would usually be a few ships loitering even late into the night, but you would now only see patrols and some of the military crew with partial clearance in the entire quadrant and its dozen worlds."

Elma's humanoid clone appeared solemn inside the ship. "Fringe systems were not as tightly guarded back when we were in a standoff against the Takur Ruin Cult. Now, it's very much an all-out-war authoritarian control—as an Amos individual, Creed, I can only imagine two possibilities: that the Court is ready for war, or is guarding against World Eaters… although it possibly isn't so simple. What do you think?"

Elma knew perfectly that despite her broad knowledge, she was limited by her perspective due to the Amos' social attributes. Meanwhile, Creed may not have been some savant, but he could at least provide reference from the perspective of another race.

"I think…" Pausing for a moment at the question, Creed, who was himself a Mycroft elite trained as a captain, contemplated things for a moment before answering, "It feels a bit like the Empire being on guard when the cultists were spreading sickness in the middle of the Berserker Dragon plagues. Every family had to stay separated, with only knights and patrols on watch to keep the plague from spreading due to population movements."

"Of course, it's also as if there are some monster or cultists able to move around very easily lurking in cities, and thus high alert levels were raised in order to find the culprits."

At that, Creed could not help feeling an inward absurdness. What plague could have spread through the Void? What monster could force such a profound galactic empire into such high alert?

And it was not one, but two: The Takur Ruin Cult had been behaving the same lately. Even so, could mere plagues and monsters have kept two xenophobic Void factions on their toes?

It was impossible.

***

The system where Elma lived was not too vast or too complicated in its layout. They finished observing most regions, where there was nothing unusual saved for the strict guard, with news and announcements inside the Court considered normal.

In that respect, Creed had indeed felt how special Elma was. She was far more inquisitive and active than most other Amoses, able to discern unusual things in the seemingly normal quadrant through metaphysical sensing and deduction.

"The Simba family lives in that settlement, but dimensional signatures show that there has not been any movement in or out for ten full days."

Inside the ship, Elma thoughtfully replicated the afterimage of dimensional tracks, imitating Creed's serious lip-biting look while saying softly, "I suspect that something has happened to the family… we have to find an opportunity to check on what has happened in the settlement."

"Ready for scouting. Leave it to me—you're a huge target so you shouldn't be hanging around too long here."

In that moment, Creed knew that it was time that he played his part. The black-haired youth stood up and press a hand over his black-gold belt and quietly whispered, "Crisis Handling System, activate!"

"Equipping Extraordinary plugin—Phantom Gold!"

[Equipped—Are. You. Ready?]

"Arming!"

There was a rapid but brief exchange of soft mechanical vibration sounds. Black dust clouds ejected out of Creed's belt in between golden lines that resembled bolts of lightning, fully engulfing Creed. In the very next second, all dust and golden bolts retreated, turning into a black-gold full armor that covered Creed completely. A burst of dark but undying flame was burning over his head and shoulders, with golden sparks flickering in its heart.

'Cool, even with Amos aesthetics,' Elma thought as she watched.

[Mr. J system—special plugin edition, activated… connecting to Crisis Handling System and modular processing… Extraordinary armor, Phantom Gold Inferno fully energized.]

[Lurking, ambushing, uprooting. I am the fire of the shadows!]

"Activate Shadow Trail!"

Having energized his Extraordinary armor, Creed did not hesitate to activate the most important in-built functions armor: Shadow Trail. A dagger crafted entirely of shadow appeared suddenly in his hand, and with Elma's help, Creed casted it at the right direction without hesitation.

The visible black streak vanished in a flash, sinking directly inside the nearby settlement.

Shadow Trail was a powerful supernatural ability—a combination of the Shadow power possessed by Goliath the Demon King of the Sixth Abyss, along with substance manipulation ability of Radcliffe, Legendary warrior.

[A shadow dagger—throw it at any direction to form a Shadow Trial, and as long as the user is within the Trail's range, they can bypass all dimensional barriers, energy guard, physical walls and bounded fields.]

[The thirty-seventh experiment with Shadow power was rather fruitful—although Goliath looked rather unhappy... 'I'm not a lab rat!', what does that even mean?]

[The combat researcher reluctant to be named—Mister Radcliffe]

Nodding slightly to Elma beside him, Creed darted directly through the Shadow Trail, transcending all things instantly despite the seemingly extended distance—even Elma's senses which were readied for it did not see how Creed suddenly crossed the Shadow trail.

"It's like warping!"

At present, Creed had entered the Void settlement. Elma's voice still reached him, however, due to his clothes being a part of her body… although Creed did not have the time to pay attention to what she was saying because spiritually, a warning from the Crisis Handling System was being blared into his eardrums.

[Warning! Aberrative lifeforms detected!]

[Warning! Aberrative infection detected!]

[Warning! Horde of microscopic lifeforms approaching!]

What the hell?!

Creed had never imagined that the danger would have reached him so quickly, even if he had been prepared for critical threats in the Void settlement. It was simply abnormal—he had merely looked up to glance at the wall and hall that appeared ordinary, and he was already being assaulted by some invisible, abnormal thing!

"Damn it, I guess I have to use it!"

His hand being forced, Creed activated Spectral Wasteland, the second Extraordinary function of his armor.

Having activated his armor a few times previously, Elma and Creed learnt that the Phantom Gold Inferno carried four powerful supernatural functions: Phantom Trail, Spectral Wasteland, Sunfire Refract, and Ember Advent.

Amongst them, Phantom Trial provided mobility and concealment. It could be thrown to cross long distances instantly, while flinging it beneath his foot would have keep him hidden in shadows. Sunfire Refract meanwhile created a small steel shroud around the user for complete concealment, removing every trace of Creed, from scent to energy signature, as well as was used as a shield in regencies to dispel or deflect non-physical energy damage.

On the other hand, Ember Advent was a full lifesaving function with great effect albeit a long cooldown period. Upon detection of mortal harm, the Crisis Handling System would have forced the Phantom Gold to detonate at full power for a Legendary strike. Whether the user died in the process (which is very likely) or his body was reduced to ashes, the armor's core carrying the soul would have teleported a Phantom Gold fragment which had been sent away beforehand and hence restored it.

Apart from special functions, the armor also greatly increased the user's physical attributes and reaction, and was also equipped with various auxiliary combat systems—a multifunctional amplifier indeed…even a seventy-year old woman could probably have beat up most non-combat class Extraordinary individuals with it.

Nevertheless, the Phantom Gold Capacity only had a single offensive measure in Spectral Wasteland: a Black Space would form the surface of the armor, and any object or energy that the space touched would have been disintegrated and crushed by the Steel Strength within, a move that combined offense and defense, perfect save for its lacking range. Despite that, there was also an aspect to consider, though not quite a flaw—given its major impact, it was likely to hurt allies or absorb allies' attacks, and so could only be used when there were less allies around, making it only very effective when breaking through enemy encirclement during infiltrations or attempting to silence witnesses.

As Spectral Wasteland activated, a thin shadow appeared over Creed's form, igniting dark golden flames upon space that appeared empty. It kept spreading too, and as Creed looked around in shock, he was absolutely aware that it was the sign of some invisible airborne entity being eaten away by Steel Strength, although he could not fathom what was attacking him.

"…Creed, look for Simba's family… or their corpses."

Elma had already realized that the Simba family whom she was acquainted with, each of whom were logistics crew working in General Use, had been in a mishap when she saw everything through the black-haired youth's eyes. However, sadness and rage did not slow her even for an instant, and she guided Creed along.

"Simba's family isn't large. They are a clan of professional logistics who live in this settlement, tasked with repairing patrols passing by as well as the bodies and machine of Combat personnel. They spend most of their time in the maintenance zone lower down the settlement."

"Alright."

Creed naturally did not protest, and looked up around the living room… it should be mentioned here that the Amos' size was so much larger than humans that their normal doorways were as large as the triumphal archways found in the capital of the Far Southern Kingdom, as if one was a pygmy in a nation of giants. Nonetheless, helped by his armor and guided by Elma, Creed quickly moved through each passageway to the maintenance zone.

Along the way, Creed was assaulted by the invisible entities again. But by handling each with Spectral Wasteland, he soon found his first target—a massive corpse resembling a snail.

It lay at the center of a corridor, virtually blocking it—forty meters long, twenty-five meters tall and a stunning twenty meters wide, its main body was a huge alloy snail shell supported by a network of carbon fiber tubes that appeared to have been its bones.

There was no blood or flesh on the corpse, nor was there rot on the ground around it. It was so cleanly strip that none of the formless threat was detected when Creed approached with Spectral Wasteland: it was simply hollow.

"What creature is that?" Creed exclaimed in surprise as he stared at the corpse that was the size of a building. "Is this Amos? Your kind's size is so huge… Even logistics crew have such stunning forms!"

"No!'

Despite all that, Creed heard Emma's somber voice, "No! The corpses of Simba's family wouldn't look like that… they'd only evolved their brain's processing ability! They don't have something as cumbersome like shells since they usually are soaking in the nutrient fluids down in maintenance handling resource transportation and logistics!"

"Take a look elsewhere—these might be Amos corpses."

Creed was certainly fine with that. The walls and sealed doors of the Void settlements were all meaningless to him with the help Shadow Trail, and so he walked through every corner of the Void settlement in less than ten minutes.

In the process, he found five corpses in the maintenance area, including the first one he saw—amongst them, one possessed a huge snail shell, another had sturdy bony wings, along with one other that had no actual form but a broken skeleton, just as there was one that was mere crystallizations that resembled eyes.

The last corpse was the most unusual—it had grown a massive metal shell as well, with two massive ejection ports that must have been connected to two flesh engines inside, allowing the creature to accelerate.

"…Five corpses, Simba's family all accounted for… the eldest son who is in engineering, the mother who is in charge of logistics, the second daughter who calibrates machinery, the second son who is an observer, and the father who is responsible for Void warship maintenance."

Elma muttered. "But the corpses are entirely different, even having some distinct attributes… and their appearance all seem familiar…"

She soon quickly remembered the familiar sensation. "Wait. Isn't that model the special abilities and form early generations of Amos had previously evolved?!"

"It's retrogression!"

Just as Elma recalled the origins of the familiar sensation, Creed received a important notifications from the Crisis Handling System.

[Identity of microscopic organism confirmed: Molecular dominant mutator (Temporary name: Ultimate Virus)]

[Effect: Force changes to host form, consuming substantial energy to unseal depth of host by 100&, mutating individual to an ultimate form of a particular aspect.]

[Warning: Non-Supreme entities infected by mutator would collapse in living essence irreversibly, with only one in a trillion chance of developing ultimate form without sufficient energy. With sufficient energy, that chance increases to one in a hundred, but failures would be drained of all energy, including and not limited to fat, muscle fibers, blood…]

[Conclusion: Supernatural virus posing extreme hazard!]

[Suggested countermeasure: Full purge!]

[Prevention measure: Complete physical quarantine. Dispose of infected substance into a star or incinerate above 12,000 degrees for twenty seconds, breaking its shell and inactivating the virus!]

[Execute countermeasure: Escape immediately!]