Breaching the Line

On the battlefield, a mage watched the diving tiger hornet ants, his face turning pale as he screamed, “H-Hurry, get out of the way!”

In this brutal slaughter, the primary targets of the tiger hornet ants, aside from those marked by the hive mind for elimination, were the magic artillery units frantically pouring fire from the rear of the battle line.

The mages, who were in the middle of casting spells, hurriedly interrupted their incantations and scattered in panic, their faces devoid of color.

Accompanied by the hair-raising buzz of beating wings, the sharp limbs and venomous stingers of the tiger hornet ants rained down like a torrential downpour.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Anyone who failed to dodge was seized by a tiger hornet ant and instantly dragged high into the sky, just like a portly mage was at this very moment.

Unable to even chant a spell, the panicked, wretched mage flailed his short limbs wildly.

In the next second, his skull was crushed to pieces by the tiger hornet ant's mandibles, which were powerful enough to bite through solid rock.

Splattered by the blood raining from the sky, Celia fell heavily to the ground. Utterly despondent, she muttered to herself, “How... How did they create another monster like this...?”

The appearance of this brand-new mutated species instantly turned the tide of the entire battlefield, delivering a devastating blow.

Moreover, these incredibly powerful individuals were absolute game-changers.

They rendered all the countermeasures the coalition had painstakingly researched and devised after investigating the ant colony completely useless in an instant.

Given the ant colony's ability to continuously birth brand-new mutated species, Celia had anticipated some contingencies, but this rate of evolution had completely shattered the boundaries of common sense.

Thoughts raced through Celia's mind; she had never heard of any reports regarding these tiger hornet ants anywhere.

If they had appeared even once before, it would have been impossible for there to be no rumors at all.

Yet, if they had only just mutated, their movements were far too agile and too practiced.

Furthermore, the ant colony constantly learned and accumulated experience during battles, and any newly born individuals could instantly inherit all of that combat experience.

From the moment they broke out of their cocoons, they were perfect killing machines.

Celia had also long noticed that as time passed, the actions of the ant colony and the mutants became increasingly precise and destructive, meaning they were continuously improving even at this very moment.

But even so, the capabilities displayed by the tiger hornet ants that appeared now were simply too overwhelming.

It was as if they had been bred long ago specifically for this moment, constantly training and waiting.

Celia let out a low groan. “Ugh!”

There was absolutely no time for her to think. A tiger hornet ant had already locked onto her and was diving down at high speed.

The violent beating of its wings kicked up clouds of dust. Dropping to one knee to steady herself, Celia furrowed her brows, raised her staff forward, and hurriedly chanted a defensive spell.

I must figure out their true nature and their weaknesses as much as possible! she thought.

A blue barrier instantly unfolded in front of her, barely blocking the tiger hornet ant's impact.

This was the strongest and sturdiest defensive magic she could cast at the moment.

The tiger hornet ant continuously bit with its mandibles and jabbed with its stinger, attempting to tear the barrier apart through sheer brute force.

Yet, this magical barrier constructed of magic power only showed a few cracks; it was impossible to destroy with pure physical attacks alone.

Taking advantage of this opening, she unleashed a blazing firestorm, instantly engulfing the tiger hornet ant.

However, the tiger hornet ant showed no reaction whatsoever to the scorching heat wave, continuing to frantically batter the defensive barrier in an attempt to shatter it completely.

Watching her magic being completely shrugged off, a mage beside her said in utter disbelief, “H-How is this possible?! The fire blast was actually blocked!”

Even in this life-or-death moment, Celia relied on her instincts to frantically analyze the characteristics of the tiger hornet ants:

Even if they couldn't directly wield magic power, the sheer energy contained within their bodies was enough to provide such formidable defense.

Right then, the companion mage beside her suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream.

Another tiger hornet ant had quietly appeared from behind, a blind spot that Celia's defensive barrier could not cover.

“No!”

The diving tiger hornet ant grabbed her companion by his arms and head, instantly tearing him apart.

The entire process took less than three seconds, but in Celia's eyes, this instant seemed to stretch on infinitely.

This feeling was exactly the same as when she had first witnessed the ant colony destroy her homeland.

Staring at the tiger hornet ant that had instantly rushed right before her eyes, Celia clearly felt that her life was about to come to an end.

Just then, a figure charged over like a runaway juggernaut. Using his massive frame and brute force, he slammed into the tiger hornet ant that was about to attack her, while shouting at her, “Get up! Prepare to run!”

Celia subconsciously cried out his name: “Bogut!”

Bogut, who had been fighting a bloody battle on the front line, had his armor shattered, his helmet lost, and his entire body covered in wounds.

Swinging a battleaxe with a chipped blade, he hacked viciously at the mandible of the tiger hornet ant struggling on the ground.

“The front line has completely collapsed! Those bastards are breaking through!”

Panting heavily, Bogut pointed forward with a trembling hand.

At the sector he was supposed to defend, the formation had completely shattered. Ants flooded in like a tide, carrying out an indiscriminate massacre.

Bogut continued, “If even one more person survives, we'll have more strength to seek revenge in the future. If we are wiped out here, this entire region is finished.”

Celia opened her mouth, stammering with difficulty, “But...”

Bogut raised his hand and pointed to the sky, saying to her, “Look. Your commander has also issued the retreat order.”

Accompanied by the unique horn of the beastkin, magic flares rose into the sky.

It was the signal to retreat.

The two armies that had been locked in a fierce struggle to completely annihilate each other had ultimately ended in a crushing defeat for the joint coalition army.

The arrival of the tiger hornet ants had become the straw that broke the camel's back.

Although there were only a few dozen tiger hornet ants, which wasn't enough to wipe out the entire joint coalition army, they possessed the power to instantly shatter the deadlock.

Standing on an Earth Slab created by a shaman's magic, Celia hurriedly reached her hand out to Bogut and shouted, “You get on, too!”

Bogut rejected her outstretched hand, slowly turning around. In a deep voice, he said, “No, someone must cover the retreat. Otherwise, they'll just hunt us down one-sidedly. I'll hold them off! I'm the strongest here. It's not over yet.”

He intended to stay behind with a suicide squad, risking their lives to hold back the pursuing ant colony and buy time for the main force to retreat.

Celia froze as she looked at him, realizing he had already resolved to die.

It was undoubtedly a heroic act, but the price was that the hero would lose his life.

If even the heroes were gone, what was the point of a so-called next opportunity?

But in the end, Celia could not stop Bogut as he charged forward with a roar.

“You damned bugs! If you have the guts, face me one-on-one!”

The last image she saw of Bogut was several tiger hornet ants rampaging nearby suddenly turning around, as if they had planned this all along, and pouncing on him from all directions.

Before long, Bogut was grabbed by several tiger hornet ants and dragged into midair.

Amidst the retreating ranks, Celia tightly shut her eyes when she spotted a mangled heap on the ground that could barely be identified as the remains of a certain someone.