Chapter 7504 Foreign Deity

Helena's miniature form floated in front of Ves as if she was just a pixie.

However, her gloomy demeanor along with her strong affinity for death made her seem anything but adorable.

This Daughter of Death should have felt at home in a star system that had become saturated with the power of her primary element, but the truth was different from what Ves imagined.

Why did she feel out of place in the Hypeh-Tekas System?

It was because another master had already claimed it as his or her own domain.

"I cannot tell you much about the individual who holds all of the power of death in its grip in this star system." The descended woman said. "Whoever he is, he is either a god or something close to it. The only reason why I am still able to manifest here is because we are fairly distant from his place of power. That will change the closer you are to the planet, moon or other place that he has established his base. His extended domain will only be stronger to the point where he can repel all foreign influences, including my own. Any existing connections will not break, but… they will be dampened to the point where hardly anything gets through. You should not expect to obtain any help from your design spirits at that point."

That was bad news. Though the Premier Fleet and the Bluejay Fleet did not make use of as many living mechs as the second-class forces of the Larkinson Clan, a number of important machines still depended on the power granted by his design spirits.

If the blockade described by Helena truly came into effect if they ventured deeper into the inner system, then the prototype Woodsap mechs would no longer be able to enjoy the grace of Gaia.

This impaired their combat effectiveness a bit more than usual due to their stronger dependence on her influence.

The elven Woodsap mechs would especially suffer a lot!

Furthermore, his high-ranking mechs also took advantage of different design spirits to pull off feats that could not be employed through regular means.

The Dark Zephyr Mark III maintained a connection to Trisk. The Amaranto Mark III borrowed the light of the Illustrious One. The First Sword Mark III sharpened her blade and fortified her armor by accepting the grace of Qilanxo. The Minerva Mark II augmented her multitasking capabilities with the help of Titania.

Though the ace mechs still remained powerful without the enhancements provided by these design spirits, their absence would still be felt in different ways.

The only living mech that had completely forsaken its design spirit was the Riot Mark III!

"Wait." Ves suddenly thought of another factor. "Will my ace mechs be able to forcibly maintain their connection to their respective design spirits due to the resistance generated by extraordinary willpower?"

Helena looked uncertain. "I am not sure. I am no expert on these matters, but my guess is that even if your ace pilots are able to resist the enemy death god's domain, it will be much more difficult or strenuous to maintain the connections. It may not be worth it. We can help somewhat on our end, but because we are trying to intrude into a domain that is in the grip of a powerful foe, most of our efforts will go to waste."

The dark miasma, which probably acted as the manifestation of this mysterious adversary's domain, had already demonstrated many troublesome properties.

From pressuring the souls of all human servicemen to blocking long-ranged sensor and communication systems, this vast and mysterious energy field reminded Ves of the God Kingdoms that god pilots used to effect change on a massive level!

Though the current hostile domain was nowhere near as strong as a genuine God Kingdom, its massive range already said much about the strength of its progenitor!

"Helena." The Saint Commander spoke directly. "We need to know more about this supposed 'death god'. You referred to it as 'he'. How do you know the responsible party is a male?"

"I can feel it, my dear Saint Commander. It is subtle. If I was not a death god myself, I would not be able to extract the nuances from the surrounding domain. I admit that the opposing deity knows his craft and has a fairly good grasp on his power. He has removed or obscured many of the traits that could have exposed many secrets about him. Yet because we share so much in common, I am still able to read between the lines and remove some of the tampering."

Ves leaned forward. "What have you learned, Helena? Can you tell me if we are dealing with a genuine True God?"

"The answer to that question is not simple. To be honest, I have detected a few signs that point out that the death god has truly mastered the power of death on par with my mother and other True Gods. Despite that, this domain feels remarkably… underpowered even when accounting for the range. I have managed to deduce one possible explanation that can explain all of these signs."

"And that is…?"

"You are likely dealing with a True God, but one whose power is shackled or restricted for whatever reason." Helena shared her most crucial insight. "Much of what is happening in this star system is likely based on his deep and extensive knowledge. However, he is not able to channel his full might in this star system at this time. That might change in the future, but for now, he is not as big of a threat as you feared."

A restricted True God. That still sounded scary, but also a lot more manageable as well.

Ves was not unaccustomed to fighting handicapped gods. He still remembered his first encounter with an alien God King from Messier 87. Perhaps a similar situation had arisen in the Hypeh-Tekas System.

"It has become apparent to me that the cultivators of Messier 87 possess the means to project their power and awareness across unimaginable distances. If it is possible for one powerful alien entity to do so across hundreds of thousands of light-years, then it is inconceivable for other alien powerhouses to possess similar abilities."

The Saint Commander made her own conclusion. "The deathborn have only arisen since the Great Severing. I used to think that they were merely the consequence of leaving the dead unattended while they are continuously exposed to exotic radiation. Yet what if the deathborn comprises far more than mobs of mindless ghosts? What if they possess higher forms, ones that have not gained greater power, but also greater intelligence? If they have developed in a galaxy as large as M87 from the start, they must have developed similar to the mutated voribugs. I fear that the deathborn may have developed a rich and sophisticated civilization in that distant galaxy. Now that the Red Ocean has suddenly entered their reach, their gods have cast their gazes in our direction. The current situation… may be one of their attempts at extending their reach into our dwarf galaxy."

"..."

Casella may have made a lot of assumptions when she shared this particular theory, but Ves found it way too compelling to dismiss it out of hand!

Even if the Saint Commander got a few details wrong, the overall story sounded way too logical to be too far from the truth!

Helena frowned the deepest. "I cannot corroborate your theory, Casella, but I am inclined to believe it. It would explain much how a True God is unable to channel his power here. He is too far away. The weak deathborn that have been born locally up until this point can only do so much. The only means of strengthening his grasp on this star system is to employ other means."

"Our seers and formation masters have a strong suspicion that this mysterious death god has employed large formations in this star system."

"That is most likely true. I am not familiar with the qi formations that the other death god has employed, but I can probably infer that he has deployed at least two. The largest and most powerful one is likely centered around the star. This… may be the reason why he has been able to expand his domain all the way to the outer system. Beneath this is a weaker but still fairly potent formation that is centered at another location in the inner system. I can point out the direction for you, but not much more. I cannot describe what it is doing. You will have to find out for yourself."

When Helena pointed her finger in a very precise direction, Ves consulted a database and quickly ascertained that she was likely casting her senses towards a planet in the inner system.

"Our objectives seem clear." He said. "The native aliens are up to something big. We need to visit the planet and the red dwarf star and do whatever we can to smash these formations."

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