Chapter 132: Wings of Twilight

Ten minutes later, a massive fleet suddenly materialized in the high-altitude orbit of Midgard. Although shielded by cloaking fields, the energy tides caused by its arrival still drew the attention of Kamar-Taj, and even the Ancient One, currently within the Mirror Dimension, felt her brow twitch.

Looking at the fleet before him, Artanis felt a trace of surprise. In the next instant, the figure of Fenix was teleported to his side.

"The carrier *Wing of Twilight* has arrived on the battlefield. Please issue your orders, Hierarch Artanis." Fenix bowed and greeted Artanis. As the Protoss Empire's diplomatic ambassador stationed in Asgard, the war unfolding in Midgard also fell under Artanis's jurisdiction.

"No need for such formalities, Praetor Fenix. Is that massive vessel the *Wing of Twilight*?" Artanis pointed toward the colossal carrier suspended in the void. Compared to the vessel they were currently aboard, this one was many times larger in sheer volume.

Fenix understood Artanis's curiosity. Since their communication was conducted directly through the Khala, it did not disrupt the flow of battle, so Fenix transmitted all the intelligence he possessed regarding the *Wing of Twilight* straight to Artanis.

The carrier *Wing of Twilight* was a new model of carrier researched and developed by the Khalai of the Protoss Empire to greet the coming of the Tide of Darkness.

After successfully repelling the Evil God Ghahros last time, the Khalai had conceived some new ideas for improving the current warships of the Protoss Empire. According to the prophets' calculations, the vast majority of the enemies faced by the Protoss Empire were avatars of evil gods, or even descending true gods.

Consequently, the invincible armada that once suppressed the universe seemed somewhat lacking in might. While the power of the Ark ships remained sufficient to annihilate these opponents, a capability gap had emerged between the Ark ships and standard carriers—making it extremely difficult for a single carrier to deal with a demigod.

Thus, an upgraded version of the carrier was placed on the agenda, leading to the birth of the *Wing of Twilight*.

The diameter of the *Wing of Twilight* far exceeded that of ordinary carriers, reaching a staggering ten kilometers, and it was equipped with a variety of new weaponry developed by the Protoss Empire.

From an energy standpoint, the *Wing of Twilight* employed a breathtaking dual-core system, powered by two Khaydarin crystals.

This was not only to account for the immense hull of the *Wing of Twilight*, but also the first attempt made by the Khalai after witnessing the astonishing combat data of the Void Ray.

If the Void Ray derived its power from its commander channeling two distinct psionic forces, then the *Wing of Twilight* was the first time a warship had been equipped with a Dark Crystal as its primary energy source.

The Dark Crystal was a variant of the Khaydarin crystal, a special mutation produced by the long-term absorption of void energy by the Dark Templar.

To better distinguish between these two different crystals, Protoss theologians had named them Kalis crystals, while those used by the Templar could be called Uraj crystals. Both, however, fell under the broader classification of Khaydarin crystals.

The yield of Kalis crystals was naturally low, a result of the inherent properties of the crystals themselves. The Dark Templar, who practiced the path of the void, lacked the protection of the Khala; to commune with the psionic realm, they had to rely entirely on their own strength, and the Kalis crystals influenced by them naturally bore this characteristic.

This caused the growth rate of Kalis crystals to be exceptionally slow, and it was only through millennia of accumulation that the Khalai engineers had finally obtained enough Kalis crystals to power a carrier.

Crystal growth could not be catalyzed using time-acceleration technology because the psionic realm they communicated with existed at a level higher than the prime material plane. Even if the time of a crystal was accelerated, the speed of the psionic realm remained unchanged, meaning the energy the crystal could harvest would not alter.

Nevertheless, with this millennia of accumulation, the Protoss Empire had acquired a substantial stock of Kalis crystals. After all, millennia ago, prophets had foreseen the critical importance of Kalis crystals, and the seeds they planted had finally blossomed and borne fruit a thousand years later.

The dual-core *Wing of Twilight* could not be managed through simple addition and subtraction. The energy of the void and the energy of order were both conflicting and harmonious; mastering this immense and dangerous power was something even the most advanced supercomputers of the Protoss Empire could not guarantee as entirely safe.

After all, even when Void Rays utilized their commanders' psionic powers, there remained the danger of backlash and self-detonation—let alone the two major crystals harnessed by the *Wing of Twilight*.

To ensure the safety of the personnel aboard the carrier, the Khalai engineers had racked their brains for a long time before finally finding a solution: designing a specialized stabilization device for the *Wing of Twilight*, powered by solar fragments to supply purifying psionic energy, and manned by a Purifier for real-time regulation.

Yet, this alone could not guarantee the stability of the *Wing of Twilight*. Therefore, the Khalai engineers also compressed a fragment of shattered space-time, using it to forge one of the outer layers of the stabilization device.

This compressed, shattered space-time rivaled the spatial barrier of the primary universe; barring the Infinity Stones, absolute destruction of it was impossible.

Inevitably, the six Infinity Stones were the materialization of fundamental laws, and no device forged within this universe could ever transcend the limitations imposed by the six Infinity Stones.

To resolve this issue, the Khalai of the Protoss Empire had continuously researched void devices and Khala devices, which currently remained in the experimental stage. However, should they truly achieve a breakthrough, the weaponry of the Protoss Empire might even become capable of harming true gods.

With such a formidable power source, the strongest weapon mounted on the *Wing of Twilight* was the Purification Beam, fueled by Twilight power. The reason Twilight power was named "Twilight" was because its very essence was destruction and erasure.

Enemies obliterated by Twilight power were often forcibly severed from their connections to other planes, leading to their complete eradication. This was precisely why the Protoss Empire had persisted in researching Twilight power.

Many avatars of evil gods relied on so-called immortality to wreak havoc; only Twilight power could sever their resurrection methods from the root, thereby completely destroying their avatars.

Yet, some Protoss scholars held the view that since the fusion of light and darkness generated destructive force, it naturally must also produce restorative force. Consequently, they dedicated themselves to researching the powers of restoration and healing—with Artanis being one such researcher.

In addition to this main battery, the *Wing of Twilight* was also outfitted with experimental spatial annihilation devices, experimental space-time confinement devices, experimental space-time shields, and numerous other experimental armaments.

The reason these weapons were labeled as "experimental" was that the majority of them had not undergone complete weapon testing, with some still lingering in the development phase.

Upon receiving Artanis's distress signal, the Conclave of Light had dispatched this *Wing of Twilight* to the front lines. Beyond the immense threat posed by the Dark Mother, they also wished to test the true combat capabilities of this newly upgraded carrier.