Chapter 50: The Blockade Plan
The healer, Cocoa Bean, slipped away without mentioning any Soul Coin payment. Her decision was wise, because the insect nest had already bred a Demon Flame Dragon.
Soaring overhead, the Demon Flame Dragon was entirely black in color. Beneath its rough dragon hide were vein-like magma patterns, and the area below its neck was completely the color of molten rock.
When the Demon Flame Dragon spread its wings, its wingspan reached about 38 meters. Within its vertical pupils, it was as if infernal fire burned. Scorching flames, thick smoke, tough skin, a body difficult to harm—this was the first impression the Demon Flame Dragon gave.
"Roar!"
The Demon Flame Dragon roared in the sky. After flying for a while to get used to the feeling, it dove down, spewing dragonflame at the Wasp Clan below.
Whoosh!
The sound of blazing flames echoed far and wide. A large group of Wasp Clan members, amidst agonized screams, turned into molten-iron-like liquid, falling onto the fungal carpet below, gradually being absorbed by it.
The Demon Flame Dragon was the strongest unit of the seventh-rank insect nest. The supernatural flames it spewed were very special, a result of evolution. If it burned enemies to ashes, that would go against the Insect Race's way of war. If that were the case, the Insect Race would not have awakened the genetic memory of the 'Demon Flame Dragon.'
With dragonflame above and seventh-rank Demon Beasts below, Leviathan's living missiles continued without cease. At this point, the seventh-rank insect nest displayed its formidable side.
Splat, splat!
Mucus splattered everywhere. The bodies of five Worker Scorpions shattered, their flesh and blood forming a massive biological spore sac. The fungal carpet rapidly spread outward along the lower edge of the spore sac.
On the back of a giant beast over ten meters tall, Tamisha watched the battlefield ahead. She raised her hand, her gaze turning to a golden mark on her palm. This was a strange secret art from the Ancient Elves. This secret art required Soul Energy, whether from enemies or allies. Once the Soul Energy filled it, the golden mark could be activated. At this moment, the golden mark was already ready for activation.
Golden light appeared in Tamisha's hand, eventually converging into a dazzling golden orb of light. She clenched her hand, and the golden energy transmitted along her arm guard.
Thump~
A golden shockwave spread outward, centered on Tamisha. A trace of pain appeared on her face. This intense pain, enough to cause a seventh-rank Contractor to collapse, only made Tamisha furrow her brow.
The golden shockwave swept over the bodies of all the Wasp Clan members. Abnormal bulges appeared on their carapaces, as if inexhaustible power surged within them.
Roars of fury spread. The Wasp Clan, which had been steadily retreating under the Demon Beasts' assault, suddenly reversed their decline, holding firm against the Demon Beasts' fierce attack.
The war continued. Tamisha knew very well that if the insect nest wasn't flattened today, the Wasp Clan would have no chance left.
The fierce battle began. The number of Demon Beasts reached 70,000. Tamisha did not retreat. She leaped down from the giant beast's back and arrived at the front line. Her people were wailing in agony; she couldn't just watch.
When the number of Demon Beasts reached 130,000, the Wasp Clan's fighting spirit remained high. Besides the Flame Prince and the golden mark, the Wasp Clan's third trump card finally arrived at the battlefield, albeit slowly. This was a super biological cannon, which fired energy blasts at the cost of Wasp Clan lives. One shot required consuming 1,700 Wasp Clan members.
The mobile biological cannon was extremely powerful. One blast shattered a large area of Demon Beasts. Using this as a breakthrough point, the Wasp Clan advanced towards the insect nest with the biological cannon, preparing to shatter it.
Before long, two more Demon Flame Dragons crawled out from the insect nest. The three Demon Flame Dragons ignored all attacks, spewing supernatural flames at the biological cannon.
The blazing flames surged forward. The Wasp Clan learned on the fly, using the same method the Demon Beasts had used against the Flame Prince to block the dragonflame. One by one, Wasp Clan members climbed onto the biological cannon, throwing themselves at the dragonflame spewing from the sky. Their carapaces crackled and popped from the heat. One by one, they were swallowed by the dragonflame. The scene was spectacular.
8 hours and 49 minutes into the battle, the number of Demon Beasts reached an astonishing 270,000, with 260 Leviathans and 12 Demon Flame Dragons.
On the battlefield, Tamisha crushed the head in her hand, flicked her arm, and the Demon Beast's remains turned into fragments, riddling over a dozen Demon Beasts to her right.
Whoosh!
Dragonflame spewed down from above. Tamisha raised her hand, and the dragonflame seemed blocked by an invisible shield. Just as Tamisha was about to kill a Demon Flame Dragon at top speed, a torrent of living missiles rained down, numbering at least a thousand.
Even though Tamisha was incredibly powerful, once having crushed an Apollo with her bare hands, she dared not withstand a thousand living missiles head-on. This would mean death, certain death in battle without any suspense.
One by one, Wasp Clan members rushed to Tamisha's side. Continuous explosions occurred. The acid contacted the air, turning into dark green flames that began to burn.
Several hundred meters away, Queen Bee Carol's eyes were bloodshot from killing. Just then, hurried footsteps sounded. A figure over two meters tall, clad in full black armor, charged towards Carol. This figure wielded a greatsword forged from Demon Beast carapace, black flames burning on the blade.
This figure had two sharp, backward-curving horns on its head, and a heart seemingly made of magma exposed on its chest. It stood out conspicuously among the Demon Beasts.
Seeing this figure, Carol was stunned for a moment, then immediately raised her hand, slowly clenching her fist.
With a thunderous crash, a Demon Flame Dragon dove from high altitude, wrapping its wings around the black-armored figure. The Demon Flame Dragon crashed to the ground, the flesh on its back exploding.
One failed attempt, and Carol immediately retreated, but she had memorized the black-armored figure's appearance. Somehow, she felt she was destined to fight it.
With a thud, the fully black-armored figure knelt on one knee, as if apologizing to some existence. But soon, it gripped its Black Flame Sword and charged at the nearby Wasp Clan. This fully black-armored creature was a leader-level individual among the Demon Beasts!
The probability of a leader-level individual appearing was very low, but its growth rate was fast. When first cultivated, it was roughly at the peak of sixth-rank combat power, but after fighting on the battlefield for a short time, its strength reached the lower level of seventh-rank, and it was improving at an extremely rapid pace.
After a total of ten hours of fierce fighting, the Wasp faction retreated, because they saw no hope of victory. At this point, beside the insect nest, there were 280,000 Demon Beasts, 250 Leviathans, and 12 Demon Flame Dragons.
After Su Xiao developed an Insect Race army of this scale, it signified that he had officially risen in this world, able to contend with the Wasp Clan.
The corpses on the fungal carpet were quickly decomposed, converted into Bio Energy. The surroundings became much quieter, but the smell of scorching still lingered.
On the plain, the Wasp Clan army did not return to their territory. Instead, they crossed a forest belt and arrived at the plain opposite.
A whistling sound came from above. Spears, seemingly forged from ore, flew in from ahead, embedding themselves in the ground before the Wasp Clan members.
"Wasp Clan, do you want to start a war again?"
A native covered in red paint, with feather ornaments by his ears, walked forward. Behind him followed at least ten thousand of his kin.
"Where is the Holy Witch?"
Tamisha walked out from among the Wasp Clan. Seeing her, the feathered native took half a step back. Including him, all the natives placed one hand on their chests and slightly bowed their heads. Even though this was a former enemy, they had to show respect. This was Tamisha, the Lord of the Wasp Clan.
Tamisha had come to the territory of the Dia Tribe for a simple reason: she wanted to ally with the Dia Tribe to deal with Su Xiao together.
...
One hour later, in a stone house within the Dia Tribe's Great Gathering Place, the flames in the fire basin flickered. Several figures sat in various parts of the stone house.
"You mean Kukulin Bai Ye summoned hundreds of thousands of Insect Race, repelling the Wasp faction's frontal assault? And now Tamisha is negotiating an alliance with the Holy Witch, preparing to counter the threat from the Insect Race?"
Naji Jia, sitting in the darkness, spoke. The others remained silent.
"I feel..."
Mu Xiao, sitting by the fire basin, just started to speak when Wen Chong interrupted him.
"Mu Xiao, don't talk for now, I'm begging you."
Wen Chong had clearly witnessed Mu Xiao's reverse prophecy ability. The smell of medicine on him right now proved that.
After everyone was silent for a few minutes, Wen Chong asked, "Naji Jia, what do we do next?"
Wen Chong's expression was relaxed, seemingly unconcerned about the threat from the Insect Race.
"The plan continues. We need to use 'that thing.'"
Naji Jia sighed, waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave. Soon, only Naji Jia and Wen Chong remained in the stone house.
"Naji Jia, what exactly is 'that thing' you just mentioned? A hidden trump card of yours? We're different from other Contractors. Before we finish that matter, we can't leave this world."
Wen Chong's cheek twitched. He had been acting just now.
"What trump card in the seventh rank can deal with hundreds of thousands of Insect Race? 'That thing' doesn't exist. I was just stabilizing them. You go out first. Let me think quietly."
Naji Jia raised his hand and gently rubbed his forehead. His head was starting to ache. Originally, he thought he was about to engage in a battle of wits with the old schemer from Reincarnation Paradise, striking fatal blows from a thousand miles away.
Now it seemed there was no such good fortune. The other party was a 'summoner,' a 'summoner' with hundreds of thousands of Insect Race.
In reality, Naji Jia didn't need to worry about Su Xiao targeting him for now. Su Xiao planned to occupy the Trial Grounds first. As for the Void Tree's restrictions, that was easy to solve.
First, have the Demon Beasts block the entrance to the Trial Grounds. Each time, send in over 4,000 plus 3 Demon Flame Dragons. Once the Demon Beasts inside the Trial Grounds suffered casualties, immediately replenish them. As long as the Insect Race wasn't kept inside the Trial Grounds for a long time, there probably wouldn't be a penalty, since the Insect Race was judged as special summoned creatures.
As for the Death Forest at the entrance to the Trial Grounds, he would just use low-rank Insect Race to forcefully charge through. Su Xiao didn't believe the Death Force there was infinite.