Chapter 45: Annihilation or Rise
The sky was covered with dark clouds, faint rumbles of thunder sounding. Compared to this natural fury, the mountain range below, already leveled flat, had turned into a hellscape.
No mountains could be seen near the bug nest. The fungal carpet, spanning three kilometers, spread across the ground like several layers of pale green spider webs laid over the earth.
A total of 43,200 Demon Beasts were distributed around the bug nest, forming a circular defensive line with a diameter of 2,000 meters, resisting the Tiger Wasp Clan charging in from all directions.
At the front line, a single Demon Beast was facing the siege of three Tiger Wasps. Its blood splattered as the Tiger Wasps slashed it with their blade-like arms. Comparing individual combat power, the Demon Beast was weaker than the Tiger Wasp; the former was a fifth-rank elite insect race, the latter a seventh-rank combat creature. From all aspects, the gap in combat power was considerable.
The Demon Beast's claws firmly gripped the head of one Tiger Wasp. Its nearly three-meter-long whip-like tail hooked around, and the stinger blade at the tip pierced into the Tiger Wasp's neck. But it only penetrated less than five centimeters before being stopped by the Tiger Wasp's tough body, not to mention the Tiger Wasp also had an outer carapace.
Puchi, puchi...
The three Tiger Wasps wildly slashed with their nearly one-meter-long blade arms, chopping the Demon Beast into pieces. For a Demon Beast, there was no concept of severe injury; as long as it hadn't completely lost mobility, the battle wasn't over.
After the surrounding Tiger Wasps completed their first charge, a large swath of Demon Beasts forming the circular defense fell. At this rate, it might not be long before the insect race's defensive line was breached.
Limbs flew everywhere, shattered flesh and blood splattered. The battlefield was like a giant meat grinder, continuously grinding both sides of the war into pieces.
A barrage of living missiles came flying in—a total of 1,800 living missiles—forming a ring-shaped explosion zone on the battlefield. Acidic liquid splashed everywhere, igniting upon contact with the air. Everything the acidic liquid touched began to burn continuously.
The Tiger Wasps within the acid flames wailed in agony. Seizing this opportunity, the Demon Beasts on their side pounced forward, their long tails aiming straight for eye sockets and mouths—areas without carapace defense.
Although the Leviathans were fifth-rank insect races, their attack power was strong. After a volley, the Demon Beast defensive line, which had been retreating step by step, barely stabilized.
But the good times didn't last long. As soon as the surrounding acid flames extinguished, the Tiger Wasps began compressing the Demon Beasts' defensive line again.
Among the many Tiger Wasps, Ice Jue was covered in insect blood. Nearby, there were two other contractors—temporary teammates Ice Jue had brought along. These two had paid a heavy price to get an introduction from Ice Jue and finally receive a war-type hidden mission.
"Ice Jue, are these insect races? A hidden faction?"
"Killing them gives Tiger Wasp faction reputation, so of course it's a hidden faction. Could it be someone's summoned creatures? Haha."
Ice Jue wiped the insect blood off his face, displaying his 'sense of humor' through his words. He had killed four Demon Beasts and gained 623 points of Tiger Wasp faction reputation. Once his reputation reached 5,000 points, the reputation shop would open.
By then, he wouldn't have to grovel to Bee Queen Carol anymore. Thinking of this, Ice Jue's mood turned from cloudy to sunny. But there was one thing he couldn't figure out—why would the insect race faction dare to attack the Tiger Wasp faction?
"Never mind what faction this is. Just follow the Tiger Wasps and kill. Isn't faction reputation sweet?"
A man with unusually long arms and an ape-like physique spoke. He had paid a heavy price to get the intelligence from Ice Jue, thereby triggering the war-type hidden mission.
"Right, just kill and be done with it."
Ice Jue roared and charged forward with his short-handled axe.
The defensive line formed by the Demon Beasts seemed to be retreating step by step, but in reality, from the start of the battle until now, it had only retreated about ten meters.
The Tiger Wasps were superior to the Demon Beasts in both individual combat power and numbers, especially in numbers. This wave of attacking Tiger Wasps numbered at least 1.1 million, completely sealing off the surrounding area, displaying a posture of exterminating the insect race.
Many Demon Beasts died, but the bug nest was producing soldiers at a rate of 1,950 Demon Beasts every 2 minutes. Not only that, the bug nest had also consumed nearly 450,000 points of bio-energy to begin constructing a second egg-laying tissue and cultivation sac.
Under normal circumstances, a production rate of 1,950 Demon Beasts every 2 minutes would be sufficient. But now it wasn't enough; the cultivation speed had to be doubled, reaching 3,900 Demon Beasts every 2 minutes.
A fifth-rank bug nest was 120 meters tall and could accommodate at most three 'egg-laying tissues' and 'cultivation sacs'. But the total consumption of 900,000 bio-energy points was too high.
570,000 bio-energy points could upgrade the bug nest's rank. Under normal circumstances, choosing multi-cultivation was a very loss-making decision. But now it was different; the overall number of Demon Beasts had to be ensured, guaranteeing that the enemy couldn't kill them faster than the bug nest could cultivate them.
With a splat, dark green blood splattered on the side of the bug nest. The second 'egg-laying tissue' and 'cultivation sac' entered the adult stage, now capable of cultivating Demon Beasts.
Six temporary exits opened at the bottom of the bug nest. Demon Beasts, their bodily fluids still wet, rushed out from these exits.
This war was no longer about whether the Tiger Wasps could break through the insect race's defensive line, but whether their kill rate of Demon Beasts could outpace the bug nest's cultivation rate.
At the start of the battle, the death rate of Demon Beasts was around 1,000 to 1,200 per minute. At this rate, the Demon Beasts would be wiped out before long. Then Su Xiao would have to face the charging Tiger Wasps alone until he died.
In the core area of the bug nest, inside the Queen's Hothouse, Su Xiao sat on a wide seat constructed from biological tissue. Beside him was Jila, her body naked and half-submerged into the inner wall of the bug nest.
"Once the number of Demon Beasts exceeds 80,000, start cultivating the third 'egg-laying tissue' and 'cultivation sac'."
Su Xiao tossed a Soul Crystal (Small) into his mouth and slowly chewed it.
"Mm~"
Jila released a mental wave, and all the Demon Beasts on the surrounding battlefield went berserk.
The war had already begun. Su Xiao naturally wouldn't show himself easily, including Amu and Baha. As for Bubu Wang, he didn't need to worry about exposure.
On the chaotic battlefield, Bee Queen Carol, standing on the back of a giant beast, frowned deeply. From a while ago, the Tiger Wasps' advance had slowed down. The enemy seemed inexhaustible—kill one, and two would replace it; kill two, and four would replace it.
"Within one shadow hour, I want to see that ugly structure shattered (one shadow hour is approximately 1 hour and 9 minutes)."
Bee Queen Carol pointed at the distant bug nest. In truth, she didn't have the right to say that. Although the bug nest wasn't aesthetically pleasing, it was still much more pleasant to look at than a wasp nest.
"As you command, my Queen."
A particularly strong Tiger Wasp roared. After this roar, golden light appeared in the pupils of all Tiger Wasps, and their combat power increased by a notch.
The Tiger Wasps roared, their blade arms slashing so fast they left afterimages.
The fierce battle began. The Tiger Wasps truly lived up to their reputation as a combat race. Large swaths of Demon Beasts fell. Fifth-stage Demon Beasts had a considerable gap in overall combat power compared to Tiger Wasps, barely holding on through sheer production speed.
The Tiger Wasps began to advance, compressing the battle circle by over 100 meters before their advance slowed down. There were even more Demon Beasts now.
A sense of foreboding arose in Bee Queen Carol's heart. After the battle started, her side clearly had an overwhelming advantage. But nearly an hour had passed since the battle began. She roughly estimated that the enemy's death toll was around 70,000. Even so, the enemy's numbers were increasing the more they killed, seemingly about to break through 100,000.
Bee Queen Carol hadn't yet noticed that the bug nest ahead had unknowingly grown a bit taller. The third egg-laying tissue and cultivation sac had entered the adult stage. At this point, the bug nest could cultivate 5,850 Demon Beasts every 2 minutes.