The Divine Arsonist appeared brash and confident. His flamethrower was already armed and ready to spread powerful propellant. While the Goliath on the opposite side was considerably larger and more intimidating, the Faceless Giant was determined to claim its life!
Ves directed his attention to the Goliath in question.
"Your man is up for a serious challenge." Lord Richard Brownstone said. "The Ekstrom strain is known to be large and fairly well-protected. It is a formidable brawler that can use its large horn for charge attacks and claws for primitive grappling moves. One of its most notable features is that it possesses a thick exoskeleton that comes in multiple layers which it can replenish by devouring voribugs. This slows down the Ekstrom Goliath, but allows it to endure a great amount of damage. It is not completely helpless against distant enemies either. It possesses a strange backmounted organic missile launcher that can quickly replenish its ‘ammunition’ by devouring other voribugs. The organic missiles are not that strong, but they are dangerous enough to wear down mechs and other assets."
"The Ekstrom Goliaths don’t appear to excel at dueling." Ves analyzed the powerful bug. "Even if he has grown to Level 7, this guy shouldn’t have the speed and agility to keep up with real duelists. His missile launchers are good against ordinary targets, but they are probably not that good at taking out other champions. Perhaps the only noteworthy aspect about this strain is its endurance. It can keep up its defenses and continually fire missiles so long as there is enough cannon fodder within its reach. This is a strange hybrid between a melee unit and a fire support unit."
Ves did not feel as if this was a particularly good design. The Ekstrom strain was equipped to fulfill two different jobs, but because it tried to do both at the same time, it was not able to do either of them particularly well.
What was the Goliath Princess thinking?
Maybe she wanted a Goliath that wouldn’t remain useless if he was unable to get close to its target.
Although Ves despised the Ekstrom strain as a design, he did not dare to look down on a Level 7 Goliath.
This was an organism that the Goliath Hive had painstakingly grown to such a formidable extent.
Its strength had surpassed certain organic limitations and reached a form of biological transcendence that Ves would soon be able to witness for himself.
As much as Ves looked forward to the duel between the Divine Arsonist and the Ekstrom Goliath, he also had to pay attention to the other Goliaths.
He hadn’t forgotten about his secret mission.
Ever since he determined that corrupting a Goliath voribug was the best way to capture it alive, he had begun to think which strain was the most suitable choice.
The Ekstrom strain did not seem like a good choice.
It looked like a feisty and combative Goliath that was large, strong and difficult to restrain.
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Its large body and harder exoskeleton also meant that it took a lot more darkness energy to corrupt this big bug.
Perhaps the only advantage of choosing this strain over the others was that it was relatively slow and unable to run away before the process could be completed.
Ves wondered whether it was better to corrupt a weaker or a more powerful Goliath.
A Level 4 Goliath would probably succumb quickly. Yet the lack of value of such a weak insect may make it difficult if not impossible to trace the coordinates of its Hive Princess.
A Level 7 Goliath on the other hand must definitely maintain a stronger connection to the Goliath Princess.
Such a big beast represented a bigger investment. Its higher life level also meant that its spirituality was a lot stronger. This likely translated into a stronger connection with its progenitor.
However, corrupting such a powerful creature would not be easy. Ves needed to prepare a powerful device that could overcome the Goliath’s powerful resistance against spiritual attacks.
Prolonged physical contact would be necessary, but the challenges were great as it would be difficult to immobilize a Goliath without killing it entirely.
Choosing the right Goliath to corrupt was therefore vital.
Ves believed that he only had one shot at this. Once he tried and failed to corrupt a Goliath, the Hive Princess would definitely take notice.
The Goliath Hive could quickly adjust the Goliath strains to become a lot more resistant towards this form of subversion!
Even if that was not possible, the Goliath Princess could always implement a failsafe that would cause the targeted Goliaths to perish and disintegrate before the corruption process was complete.
Ves narrowed his eyes. There were many possible ways he could botch an attempt, so he needed to do everything right the first time.
He was already cooking up a design for his corrupting tool in his head. As soon as the material shipments arrived, he was ready to develop a weapon that should lend more credence to the Dark Apostle’s name.
"I can’t wait."
Even if Ves did not get to wield this weapon in person, the Dark Apostle would definitely like this toy.
This was enough to satisfy the kid inside Ves!