# 354
Chapter 354 – Battling the Swarm
“Hear me—huh?”
Li Deyang froze. Before he could turn, four figures shot past him like lightning!
Clang—!!
Lin Qiye’s twin straight blades left their sheaths together. A wash of darkness coated the steel; the two blades hovered, then streaked into the dense tide of giant ants.
At the same time, twin summoning arrays flared in his palms.
A small mummy popped into being on his left. It waved excitedly at Lin Qiye, bandages unraveling as thick gun barrels poked from its body…
Lin Qiye grabbed it. “No open flame in a forest—switch to knives!”
Mumu: (╥﹏╥)
Mumu stuffed the barrels back, then shiny straight-blade edges sprouted all over its body. Looking like a steel hedgehog, it scuttled shrieking into the ants.
Nearby, A Zhu—still in orderly uniform—stood bewildered. Seeing ants taller than himself charging, his little face went white.
“Waaaah! Giant ants! Sister Hongyan, save me!”
With a sob he spun to flee. Lin Qiye, still lecturing Mumu, twitched, snagged A Zhu by the collar, and hauled him back.
“You’re River Realm—what are you scared of? You’re so agile they can’t touch you. We raised a spider for a thousand days to use him once—time to pay your dues!”
A sharp yank and A Zhu was airborne, hurled straight into the swarm.
“Noooooo! I don’t wanna die!”
A white spider the size of a cart scurried between the ants, sobbing in terror. No matter how the monsters chased, they couldn’t catch it. Silk jets lassoed several together; moments later the bound ants collapsed, souls reeled into an invisible web overhead.
Lin Qiye watched his two unreliable helpers and sighed.
Dozens of worker ants were already trouble; now several peak-River soldier ants had joined. The four of them would be stretched thin—hence the “reinforcements.”
…who were clearly anything but.
Elsewhere, black fiend-fire lanced skyward. Cao Yuan, fully berserk, carved through workers like vegetables, straight blade flashing. The flames were only condensed malevolence, not real fire; otherwise Lin Qiye would have knocked him out to save the woods.
An Qingyu fought in eerie silence. Frost froze ants around him; invisible [Ghost Silk] drifted through the air, slicing the frozen monsters into neat sections—grisly but efficient.
Baili Pangpang fought most normally: one hand protecting his backside, the other swinging his [Wind-Thunder Broom], skulking on the edge. A casual sweep sent gales and lightning flipping ants through the air.
Lin Qiye’s gaze swept the field and settled on five black soldier ants in the center. Night gathered in his eyes; two hovering blades orbited him as he walked forward.
Several red workers shrieked and charged.
He didn’t even look—just closed his eyes.
When they opened again, twin golden flames blazed!
Divine might crashed down like a hammer. The Seraph’s pressure slammed every red worker around him; their minds blanked, huge bodies flattened to the earth, paralyzed.
Lin Qiye strolled past the prone ants, finger flicking.
The spinning straight blades pierced each worker through the neck groove, killing them instantly. A pool of green blood spread beneath his feet…
Behind him, Li Deyang’s jaw dropped.
What… is this?
I was ready to die heroically, and you show me this?
He recognized the straight blades—Night Watch blades, unforgettable—yet these people hid their identity. Who were they? A special squad? But only four…
While Li Deyang wrestled with questions, Lin Qiye faced the five soldiers.
They too quailed under his pressure, but instinct drove them; they shrieked and charged. Black soldiers were far faster, their antennae hardened into spear-like spines whipping through the air.
“Hehehehe…”
A burning silhouette shot in from the side, train-like, smashing one soldier aside and chasing it with wild slashes.
Invisible threads materialized, lashing another soldier; frost raced along the silk, crusting its armor and slowing it. An Qingyu dropped from above, icy longsword in hand, tightening the threads until the monster was pinned.
Of the five, only three remained for Lin Qiye.
Darkness thickened around him; the gold faded from his left eye, replaced by abyssal black. He reached toward the first charging soldier and ripped the air—
Crack—!!
Darkness flooded the ant; its two forelegs were seized by unseen hands and torn sideways. With a shriek they ripped free, green blood fountaining.
Legless, the soldier lost balance like a tank without treads, its jaw plowing into the dirt, body tumbling to halt at Lin Qiye’s feet.