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Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
Sheyan knew how destructive a large group of Mutalisks could get.
Because on planet Pandora, Sheyan already had the experience of bombarding Viperwolves packs with a large amount of Mutalisks. The acid spores the Mutalisks sprayed and the splash damage they caused were truly an amazing sight. But now that he was about to become the target of the acid spores, he found nothing amazing about it at all.
However, the main weakness of the Mutalisks was also widely-known – they had insufficient range. Their attack belonged to the category of mid- to short-ranged attack, so if a large number of Mutalisks wished to attack a certain target, they would inevitably have to cluster together.
And when the Mutalisks grouped together, the Protoss' powerful Psionic Storm could easily eradicate them. They also had to be wary of the Archon's psionic shockwave, which was also an AoE attack.
And within Sheyan's group, there happened to be a very powerful Archon – Aldaris! Not only could he attack with psionic shockwaves, he also had the powerful Psionic Storm at his disposal. As long as he could seize a good opportunity, he could actually wipe out all the incoming enemies by himself.
Sheyan had had a conversation with Aldaris before this. In other worlds, he could only transform into an Archon for a limited period of time, so he could only use this power as an ace up his sleeve, but this time, he was on a special mission, so he could actually maintain his status as an Archon without any consumption!
The Mutalisks swooped down with ear-piercing cries, bringing with them a harsh wind. Their main target of attack was, of course, Aldaris, who was hidden amid a soft white light.
Aldaris stood still as if he had been paralysed by fear, but Sheyan knew Aldaris was someone who would grow stronger the more powerful his enemy was. He was definitely calculating all the possible trajectories right now, trying to eliminate all uncertain variables! That's right, in Aldaris' mind, despite their horrifying numbers, these Mutalisks were all already dead! They would become the stepping stone for his victory!!
"Now!" When the shockingly large group of Mutalisks had dived to within 50 meters of him, Aldaris suddenly lifted his hands. Terrifying psionic energy leaped around on his fingertips. A terrible Psionic Storm suddenly rose, sweeping across the entire sky!
A brief moment after the Psionic Storm enshrouded the Mutalisks, another Psionic Storm appeared ahead of these flying Zerg, as well as to their left and right! Aldaris had actually unleashed four Psionic Storms almost simultaneously! An area of coverage of this size was unheard of!
Based on the destructive power of the Psionic Storm, the Mutalisks would be shredded into pieces if they could not fly out of the Psionic Storm within two seconds. But considering the vast area covered by the four Psionic Storms, it was almost impossible for them to achieve this unless they could immediately force themselves to stop mid-dive and fly in reverse like a car backing up. But of course, that kind of maneuver was only wishful thinking!
For Aldaris, the moment this horrifyingly large group of Mutalisks congregated, they immediately became his most ideal prey, as well as his source of Protoss prestige points and loot! He had a strong confidence in his secret move, the Psionic Storm Matrix.
However, there were always exceptions to everything.
The Queen of Blades, having arranged these Mutalisks to be the last line of defence to stop the enemies, would certainly take their greatest weakness into consideration! Especially when they were facing the powerful Protoss who were proficient in AoE attacks.
The one responsible for covering up the Mutalisks' greatest weakness was a heroic unit.
It was a very ordinary-looking Mutalisk hero, almost identical in appearance to the rest of the Mutalisks. Within the large group of flying Mutalisks, it was like a stone hidden on the beach.
But gold would always glitter. When the powerful Psionic Storm descended on the Mutalisks, all of them drew close to the Mutalisk hero. A huge protective cover, tinted green, instantly appeared around the hero and skillfully shielded the Mutalisks from the Psionic Storm.
In the end, Aldaris' completely depleted his MP after unleashing the Psionic Storm Matrix, but he did not even manage to scrape a single layer of skin off a single Mutalisk! What he had to face now was the furious attack from a swarm of angered Mutalisks in their prime condition!!
In an instant, Aldaris' position changed from a winner into a loser – a loser who might very well lose his life!
Sheyan instantly activated his Awakening Skill, 'Survival Mark', using it on Aldaris without any hesitation. Fortunately, he still had his innate ability, 'Death's Lament', at his disposal, so he did not have to worry about being insta-killed.
The Mutalisks continued their dive under the protection of the giant shield. Their terrifying numbers covered up the sky and shaded the sun. Fifty metres... forty metres... twenty metres! In the blink of an eye, Aldaris was already within the Mutalisks' firing range! Even under the protection of 'Survival Mark', he would most likely be instantly killed!
But right at that moment, a Zealot next to him burst into flame, then started swelling up. The flame burning him was dark red in colour. He rapidly became a giant glowing sphere, exactly like Aldaris but dark red instead of white. The silhouette inside exuded an oppressive pressure.
Like a High Templar, he did not possess any physical attacks, but he could make his enemies tremble in fear with just his psionic powers!
His outer appearance was almost exactly the same as Aldaris. The difference was, Aldaris looked like a white ball of light, while this guy named Noos was glowing dark red, as if he had just climbed out of the magma of hell. He was a type of powerful creature made up of living plasma energy, which injected into him eternal fury. These creatures could be formed by fusing any two Dark Templars together, and had the ability to control the mysterious energy within space and time.
These terrifying units were so powerful that the Dark Templars refused to acknowledge their existence for a thousand years. Only after the Zerg destroyed planet Aiur did the Dark Templar realise the need for, and unseal, their most powerful weapon!
Their name was... Dark Archon!!
(TL: The Dark Archon is a heavy Protoss psionic support unit. The powers of Dark Archons extend well beyond those of the regular Archon, more than compensating for their lack of any physical attack capability. starcraft. fandom. com/wiki/Dark_archon)
And this time, the one who appeared was a heroic Dark Archon!!
The moment Sheyan felt the oppressive pressure, he instantly knew that this Noos guy must be the hidden leader of the selected assault force, the one entrusted with the command of this operation by the powerful Uraki! He had actually been hiding among their group all this while! Noos was probably hiding near Sheyan because he was wary of him. Sheyan was not a Protoss, so Noos must have thought that he was the most unstable factor in the whole squad. Surprisingly, Noos actually revealed himself at such a time.
The Dark Archon's dark red flame would send fear into any enemies that laid eyes on him, even the Mutalisks that were swooping down from the sky. But under the leadership of the Mutalisk hero and the protection of the powerful radiation shield which could absorb any harmful power, they resolutely continued to dive down!
Amid the blood-red illumination surrounding him, Noos raised his left hand and pointed at the giant radiation shield, or rather, at the Mutalisks in it that were flapping their wings hard and spewing acid spores! His consciousness instantly established communication with the mighty power which filled the vast starry sky, and evoked a resonance. A terrifying space vortex erupted among the Mutalisks. The powerful attractive force of the vortex did not cause any damage, but it could ignore the radiation shield because the shield only protected the Zerg from destructive damage. Most of the Mutalisks suddenly halted, as if they were frozen in time!
(TL: That was the Dark Archon's Maelstrom ability, which prevents all biological units (friendly included) within a 4 x 4 area from attacking, moving, or casting spells for short period of time. starcraft. fandom. com/wiki/Maelstrom)
Seizing this opportunity, Sheyan dashed towards Aldaris and kicked him away from the Mutalisks' dive trajectory.
After Noos had cast the Maelstrom, the dark red flame that was burning all over his body flared up to form an ancient Protoss symbol about two meters in diameter. He then shouted:
"Darkness overpowering!"
The ancient Protoss symbol instantly shattered, and the space on top of the Mutalisks, that were still frozen by the Maelstrom, split open. A large number of circular yellow rays radiated out of the rift, and... the minds of all the Mutalisks within range were controlled by Noos! They had become Noos' servants!
Mind Control!
(TL: Mind Control – Transfers control of any enemy unit to the casting player. Using Mind Control will drain the Dark Archon's shields and leave it vulnerable. starcraft. fandom. com/wiki/Mind_control)
The heroic Mutalisk naturally could not be mind-controlled, but it happened to be within the firing range of the Mutalisks that had just been controlled. In the blink of an eye, countless acid spores struck the Mutalisk hero violently. The powerful heroic unit instantly burst into pieces in the air!
Such a tragic end, such an unexpected process!
No wonder there was a saying that it did not necessarily take a sword to kill. On the battlefield, the greatest damage were often caused by those that had no direct destructive power.
Noos did not really care about Aldaris' survival. His first priority was to make sure that his spell was 100% effective.
Therefore, Aldaris actually still took some hits from some Mutalisks, and the cumulative damage was actually pretty high. If it wasn't for Sheyan's Awakening Skill, Aldaris would probably have died. But even if he did escape with his life, he was still seriously injured and had fallen unconscious.
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