Chapter 26: Nothing More Than This
Nearly two thousand Putes swarmed out from the valley, some climbing along the rock walls, others charging toward the valley's only entrance.
In an instant, the massive horde of Putes clashed with the contractors in a chaotic melee. Despite only a brief charge of over ten seconds, the Putes endured heavy bombardment from the ranged contractors, leaving a trail of corpses in their wake.
There were over 800 enemy contractors in total, with more than 200 positioned atop the surrounding cliffs. Most of them were ranged-type, relentlessly bombarding the insect nest below from the valley's perimeter.
Bang!
A clump of dark elemental energy was blocked by a Pute, which had most of its body blasted apart mid-air. Purple-black energy rapidly corroded the broken edges of its corpse.
The ranged contractors on the surrounding cliffs found it no easy task to strike the insect nest. The nest, now standing sixty meters tall, was covered in Putes. Whenever an attack came, they would leap up, using their flesh-and-blood bodies to shield the nest.
Compared to the attacks from the three cliff faces, the battle at the valley entrance was far more intense.
Over 600 contractors were stationed at the valley's entrance. This bottleneck terrain favored the contractors—if the main tanks could hold the front line against the insect swarm and form a shield wall, the rear contractors would have a chance to slaughter large numbers of Putes.
The Putes charged fearlessly at the shield wall, which consisted of metal shields, energy shields, and even thick wooden shields with metal-like hardness but far greater toughness.
Half a minute into the battle, the contractors' defense line at the valley entrance stabilized. Apart from a few who died in the first wave from the rain of bone spikes, casualties were now rare.
Compared to the contractors at the entrance, those on the three cliff faces were far worse off. They had been enjoying their ranged bombardment, but after over a thousand Putes climbed onto the nest, they began counterattacking with bone spikes from their mouths.
Although each Pute only had three bone spikes over a meter long in its mouth, when near the nest, they could replenish their spikes using the biological energy provided by the nest.
In an instant, the contractors on the cliffs all ducked behind cover.
At the valley entrance, Master Muyu pressed a single finger to his brow. Sensing the predicament of the contractors on the cliffs, he immediately ordered them to retreat. Those three positions were not ideal attack points, and over a dozen contractors had already been shot into pincushions by concentrated insect fire.
Moreover, with very few ranged contractors at the valley entrance, the pressure on the front-line tanks skyrocketed. They not only had to face over two thousand insects but were also occasionally hit by ranged attacks from insects near the nest. If not for the abundance of healers from the Holy Light Paradise side, tanks would have already started falling.
Row after row of Putes fell. In less than a minute, the corpses of insects piled up into a small hill in front of the contractors.
"Yaklo, I can't hold much longer!"
A main tank wielding an alloy shield and wearing external armor roared. The surface of his alloy shield was covered in fine pits. One Pute was nothing, but after enduring dozens, even hundreds of attacks from Putes, even a tank could be swallowed by the insect tide.
Outside the valley.
"That's enough. This insect nest is troublesome, but it hasn't developed to an uncontrollable level yet."
The great healer Afuro spoke. She hadn't activated her ultimate ability to buff the contractors on her side—there was no need for that.
While the enemy developed their insect swarm, they hadn't been idle either.
"Mm. Muyu, you handle the retreat. My people are ready."
Yaklo pressed the micro-computer mounted on his arm. Hearing this, Muyu gave the order through the war channel.
"Roar!!"
Hundreds of Putes let out screeches, drowning out the contractors' battle cries.
"Fall back! Fall back! Everyone, get the hell back!"
The dozen or so main tanks at the front slowly retreated, holding the insect swarm at bay. The sharp clang of metal striking metal rang out incessantly. A Pute pounced onto a shield, its spider-like sharp legs clawing forward.
Clang!
Sparks flew as a leg scraped across a main tank's metal helmet. He shook his head, and a stream of gold-green energy surged into his back, restoring his ringing head to normal.
For some reason, the contractors began retreating out of the bottleneck, while the insect army advanced forward, packing the narrow passage densely.
Soon, over six hundred contractors withdrew from the bottleneck and regrouped with the more than two hundred ranged contractors. Their first assault had only been a probe.
"Ooh~ la la la..."
A primitive-style chant came from above the bottleneck. One by one, primitive men wearing fur skirts and covered in fiery tattoos leaped down from the cliffs above.
Pfft, pfft...
Blades cut through carapaces. In an instant, a large swath of insects in the bottleneck fell. Strangely, after these insects died, their corpses burst into flames. Fiery red particles drifted from the flames and sank into the primitive men, making their tattoos dazzling and their muscles visibly bulge.
Reinforcements from the Sun Tribe had arrived. These Blazing Sun Warriors were originally meant to deal with the contractors from Reincarnation Paradise. Now that 99% of Reincarnation Paradise's contractors had left this world, these warriors were sent to deal with Su Xiao's insect swarm.
The Blazing Sun Warriors were formidable. Over a hundred thousand of them could wage a full-scale war against fourth-stage insects. Currently, the Three-Paradise Alliance had over 2,500 Blazing Sun Warriors. Though most were elderly, with physical fitness far below that of young warriors, their combat experience was far richer.
"Now we can just watch the show. Everyone, you've worked hard."
Yaklo sat on a large rock. The crowd of contractors looked at him—truly, the most lethal kind of showing off was the effortless kind.
"The Death Paradise lives up to its reputation."
Knowing they wouldn't have to fight, most contractors from Apocalypse Paradise smiled. A few representatives exchanged a few words, then pooled together several dozen ores of various colors, packing them into a wooden box.
The large wooden box was tossed to Yaklo, who caught it easily, unfazed by its weight of several hundred pounds.
"There's no need for this..."
Before Yaklo could finish, he received a notification. He looked at the Apocalypse Paradise group with slight surprise.
"This is a token of thanks."
If it came to who had the most money, the contractors from Apocalypse Paradise were definitely number one.
"This..."
Yaklo hesitated. He had already spoken firmly, but the value of these ores was too high. Converted using Reincarnation Paradise's standards, these ores were roughly equivalent to three Epic-grade equipment pieces. How could Yaklo not be tempted?
"Big shot, don't be polite. It's only right."
"You recruited the Blazing Sun Warriors. Casualties are inevitable in war."
"That's right, Yaklo. If you don't accept, you're not giving us face."
The Apocalypse Paradise group could see Yaklo's hesitation.
"Then... I'll accept without ceremony."
A slight smile tugged at Yaklo's lips. The Apocalypse Paradise group flattered him a bit more. They naturally wanted to cling to a strong ally. They knew their own situation—being unable to fight wasn't shameful, but being unable to fight while still showing off was truly annoying.
Seeing Yaklo put away the large wooden box, the great healer Afuro nearby said nothing, though envy was unavoidable.
"Everyone from Death Paradise, you have a share too. And the ladies from Holy Light Paradise, don't worry—we've prepared yours as well."
The Apocalypse Paradise group each took out a few ores, and every contractor from Death Paradise and Holy Light Paradise received one or two.
The current battle situation was very favorable for the Three-Paradise Alliance. Coupled with the large amount of rare ores from Apocalypse Paradise, the contractors from Death Paradise and Holy Light Paradise were in high spirits.
At that moment, the fear once instilled by the madmen of Reincarnation Paradise dissipated. Even the weather seemed clearer. All they had to do was destroy this insect nest and the contractor controlling it, and they would win—a beautiful victory!
Smiles spread across the faces of the Three-Paradise Alliance contractors. A thought suddenly arose in their hearts: Reincarnation Paradise was nothing more than this.