“How did it turn out like this?”
“Now is not the time to worry about that! Stop them as quickly as possible before the front line collapses!”
Urging his subordinates, who were thrown into utter confusion by the unexpected turn of events, Grimgor drew his own sword and charged forward.
Great Devourers were continuously crawling out of the massive holes blasted into the ground.
With Great Devourers also rushing them from the front, the joint coalition army was effectively caught in a pincer attack.
“Hurry and block these holes!” Grimgor bellowed, swinging his sword in an attempt to prevent the defensive line from collapsing before the battle had even properly begun.
His sword energy instantly sliced a rushing venom-sting Great Devourer in half, even destroying and collapsing the tunnel entrance.
Others also tried everything they could to block the tunnels.
The dwarves frantically tossed bombs into the tunnels, while the mages and sorcerers collapsed the earth to seal the entrances.
However, a massive number of Great Devourers had already crawled out, throwing the battlefield into complete chaos.
Kerrigan and the Great Devourers' strategy had succeeded; their unexpected ambush left the enemy unable to fight effectively.
“What on earth is that...?”
Just then, Grimgor froze when he saw a monster with an extremely bizarre appearance crawling out of a tunnel on numerous long legs.
Having unconsciously grown accustomed to the mutated ants mostly taking the form of insects or beasts, he couldn't help but feel a profound sense of alien strangeness toward the entity before him.
The monster possessed a massive spider-like body, with an upper torso that was nothing but hairless, grayish-white skin. Its face had no eyes or nose, only a lipless mouth.
It brought its hands together to form a seal, a bizarre incantation spilling from its horrifying mouth.
Seeing the faint magic circle that materialized simultaneously, Grimgor realized it was a summoning spell and was utterly shocked.
The magic of the Lictors, which fused and pushed the traits and advantages of all the organisms they had preyed upon (including humans) to the absolute limit, possessed power that even surpassed that of human mages infected by Cordyceps.
“Ugh!”
Grimgor hurriedly raised his sword, taking a defensive stance.
A powerful shockwave erupted from the magic circle, spreading in a fan shape and crushing the joint coalition army soldiers around Grimgor to death.
'These creatures have indeed crossed the line.'
Looking at the surrounding area leveled by the magic, Grimgor gritted his teeth. Instinct told him that there was no limit to the Great Devourers' evolution. He tightly gripped his sword.
Whenever the Great Devourers displayed such terrifying aspects, his resolve to completely purge them from this world grew even stronger.
“Die!”
For now, Grimgor had to first deal with the bizarre mutant before him—the Lictor.
Using human mages infected by Cordyceps to cast spells was barely acceptable; but the Great Devourers actually trying to completely absorb magic as their own power was something he had to stop at all costs.
Grimgor's greatsword, glowing with red magic power, instantly cleaved toward the Lictor's head.
The mutant Great Devourer created a blue-black barrier using its unleashed psionic energy, but the technique imbued in Grimgor's sword honed his burning magic power to an even sharper edge, instantly shattering the barrier.
Clang!
Yet, at that very instant, a figure swiftly intervened, also wielding a sword, and blocked his strike.
Peering through the slit of his helmet, Grimgor saw those burning red eyes and widened his own in shock.
This was Kerrigan. After being slain by him, she had appeared in a completely different form, now crossing blades with her nemesis once again.
“You demon. A mere monster dares to imitate humans!”
Grimgor did not know what Kerrigan had consumed to become like this.
Whether she was imitating beastkin or humans, Grimgor was not sure.
Unlike Elise, Kerrigan's body was distinctly different from a simple human female, so it was only natural for Grimgor to react this way.
However, to Kerrigan, none of that mattered.
No matter what she became, her ultimate desire was to become the strongest, to fight more and stronger enemies, and then to slaughter them.
Grimgor was startled by the pair of arms extending from Kerrigan's body.
A creature wielding four swords was an opponent the hundred-year-old beastkin Grimgor was facing for the first time in his life.
'This creature is notoriously infamous. If I eliminate her, our morale will soar, and perhaps the monsters will fall into disarray.'
Grimgor did not know that Kerrigan was the very queen he had once slain, resurrected in a completely different form, much like a larva transforming into a butterfly.
He fought simply as a hero, a leader who had to guide those around him and provide hope.
For this goal, he would fight even an enemy he had never met before.
“Do you think I would be afraid?!”
Grimgor kicked off the ground, charging at Kerrigan first.
It was an attack that channeled immense power into a single strike, capable of shattering an enemy's defense and throwing them off balance.
Kerrigan leaped lightly into the air. Drawing upon the force of her psionic burst, she boosted the output of her magic heart, unleashing a dazzling flurry of her four swords.
Every strike was infused with maximum output, unleashing devastating slashes.
“Everyone, get back! The Captain is fighting with everything he has!”
The aftershocks were so intense that both the joint coalition army and the Great Devourers fighting nearby were forced to retreat.
The shockwaves of the clashing blades made the air vibrate, and each time she rapidly stepped on the ground, the earth—already unstable from the tunnels—collapsed and cracked.
'How can there be such mechanical swordsmanship?'
Within a short span of time, Grimgor found himself marveling as he countered the frenzied torrent of sword techniques unleashed by Kerrigan.
The techniques and swordsmanship Kerrigan had continuously traveled, absorbed, and mastered during this time were both vast and incredibly refined.
The ability to learn using the hive mind and auxiliary brains was one of the Great Devourers' proudest advantages. It provided immense help in copying technologies like magic or martial arts that the queens were interested in, before adapting them into patterns unique to the colony.
In addition to this, there were senses, reflexes, and processing speeds that had already transcended the limits of ordinary living organisms.
The pure swordsmanship displayed by combining all of these had already allowed Kerrigan to step into the realm of first-class warriors destined to leave their mark on history.
“Ugh.”
Kerrigan's sword strikes grazed Grimgor's body, tearing through his magic power, shattering his armor, and leaving distinct wounds on his arms.
...
The battlefield was a chaotic clash between two forces numbering in the tens of thousands.
Although the Great Devourers' surprise attack had succeeded, the joint coalition army, after all, was an alliance of two major factions. They did not collapse immediately and were desperately holding their ground.
As corpses piled up in real-time, Begrun panted heavily. He finally averted his eyes from the Lictor, whose barrier had been destroyed, now lying dead beneath his sword.
To protect the Lictor—a precious individual that received significant investment even within the Great Devourers—all the guard ants that had rushed forward had been slain by him alone, which was no small feat.
However, not far away, Grimgor was locked in a fierce battle with Kerrigan.
It was a ferocious clash that ordinary people dared not even approach.
“No!”
Seeing Grimgor wounded under these circumstances, Begrun cried out in shock.
Having only recently begun learning martial arts from Grimgor, he simply could not comprehend Grimgor being bested in swordsmanship.
“Did you think you had won?”
Just as Kerrigan swung her sword toward Grimgor's vital spot, a swift counterattack suddenly struck.
This counter strike severed one of Kerrigan's arms, causing her to shudder.
Blood spurted from the severed wound as Kerrigan leaped back to create distance.
Seizing the opportunity, Grimgor opened his eyes wide. Imbued with magic power, his blood-stained sword flared, burning away the blood as he stood up.
“If it had been just a bit deeper, I would have taken your head right off.”
Grimgor looked regretfully at Kerrigan's bleeding arm.
If it had been slightly deeper, Kerrigan's head would have fallen along with her arm.
“The monsters standing before us have no emotions; they are merely claws and blades acting on orders.”
Grimgor steadied his breathing and looked around. Everyone, including Begrun, was staring at him.
Everyone gazed at Grimgor with eyes yearning for hope, and he had to live up to their expectations.
As the light guiding everyone, the beacon illuminating the path ahead.
The great hero's voice grew louder and more resonant, emphasizing the beating of their hearts and the burning passion within.
“But we are different. We have hearts. We have souls. Carrying these with us, we march forward. You have fought through blood and fire all the way to get here!”
Stripping off his shattered armor, Grimgor roared as he gripped his sword tightly once more.
Fueled by this intense emotion, his magic power blazed furiously, surging within his body and radiating rhythmic waves like a heartbeat.
“Shattered armor, flowing blood, and an unyielding heart. This is why we are warriors! We fight side by side, to the very end! We will return alive!”
With that, Grimgor charged once again at Kerrigan, who had lost an arm.
The Realm of Martial Zenith—this was the very state he had attained, allowing him to amplify his power to an overloaded state.
Kerrigan attempted to counterattack with her remaining three arms, but one of her swords was shattered in a single blow, and another arm was severed by the second strike.
'Miscalculation.'
Kerrigan was suppressed by Grimgor's realm. Contrary to her expectations, Grimgor was growing stronger and stronger as the battle progressed.
Yet another arm was chopped off. Now, Kerrigan was left with only one arm and a single sword.
“No matter how decently you mimic us, you can never copy this. Does a monster like you possess the burning heart of a warrior?”
Grimgor said coldly to Kerrigan.
For no matter how outstanding Kerrigan's senses and physical capabilities were, she could never reach the Realm of Martial Zenith.
Grimgor finally severed Kerrigan's last arm, then delivered a heavy kick to her defenseless abdomen.
The force of the kick was enough to shatter solid rock. Kerrigan's exoskeleton-like armor splintered, and her internal organs ruptured.
Kerrigan was sent flying, crashing to the ground where she convulsed, spraying bodily fluids.
...
Was she going to lose again? Kerrigan saw Grimgor walking over, intending to take her life.
This would make it her second defeat.
The first defeat was to technique; the second defeat was to the heart.
【Kerrigan is furious】
This absolutely could not be. A massive, boiling rage and hatred drove Kerrigan's body.
Though Grimgor was taken aback and under a misconception, Kerrigan was no ordinary mutant—she was a queen.
A queen of the Great Devourer colony, having reached this current level, could never be an empty shell.
The queen's desire was the milestone that determined the very nature of the colony.
Who would dare to dismiss the heart of an existence that guided such a massive consciousness?
Relying solely on that single desire, transcending the evolution of species to come all this way—that was precisely what the queens did.
Although this desire was different from the noble warrior's heart that Grimgor emphasized, the fury it contained was not a single bit lesser.
【The migratory colony is furious】
Kerrigan's rage spread to all the colonies under her command.
At the same time, an eagle-shaped Great Devourer swiftly flew across the battlefield, dropping a writhing, leech-like object held in its six claws right onto Kerrigan's head.
It was a variant of the symbiotic carapace ant that had once wrapped around Celia.
The symbiotic carapace ant instantly wrapped around Kerrigan's body and fused with her, healing and regenerating her body, allowing her to fight once more.
“Could you be...?”
Grimgor suddenly realized something, trembling as he felt the intense hatred surging toward him.
The migratory colony, which should have collapsed after he severed the queen's neck, had actually restored its strength and become completely whole again.
The appearance of the new mutant, along with this intense rage and hatred...
“The Queen of the Great Devourers!”
Grimgor shouted in shock as he watched Kerrigan charge toward him.
Rate on N.U.
