In the northern region of the Kingdom, near the Swarm-controlled area, north of a village.
A dense heavy legion formed a solid shield wall, advancing step by step.
Several squads scattered within a hundred kilometers of the legion had all encountered the Swarm and died in the wilderness.
However, at the very last moment, a magical transmission still reached the hands of the legion commander.
“These enemies seem unable to restrain themselves any longer.”
Mir, the commander of the 12th Legion—the main commander of this force known as the Lightning Legion—put down the intelligence report in his hand.
At that moment, a noble man approached his side.
“Lord Commander, I have already sensed the presence of those bugs. Why not let the mage unit strike the first blow of this battle?”
“I shall leave it to you,” Commander Mir nodded slightly.
The next moment, the man took out a small box and shouted into it, “Mage unit, bombard the marked location.”
The power of magic instantly established communication.
The next moment, twenty mages located at the rear of the formation began to chant.
Ten seconds later, countless scorching fireballs emerged above their heads, whistling toward the distance like cannonballs.
Soon, the fireballs landed on a patch of ground two kilometers away.
Boom, boom, boom, boom—
After the violent explosions, the site was completely covered in flames.
Xia Jin narrowed her eyes. She discovered that her lurkers hidden underground had taken a heavy hit.
Although it was only a test with about twenty lurkers buried there, she hadn't expected them to be detected so quickly.
“I hate magic the most.”
The biggest reason Xia Jin had always been wary of the Kingdom was that the enemy possessed powerful mage units and many experts above Tier 7.
It could be said that compared to the other side, this was the Zerg’s weakness.
As for numbers, even if they weren't enough now, as long as the battle continued, the Zerg would eventually gain a sufficient advantage.
After this wave of explosions, Xia Jin stopped overthinking and immediately ordered the ambushing lurkers to attack.
Spines shot out from the ground, thrusting toward the shield warrior phalanx ahead.
Since the enemy legion was traveling on relatively flat land, there was virtually no terrain for either side to exploit; this battle was a straightforward clash of raw power.
Tactical command and individual performance.
The Kingdom’s 12th Legion wasn't a particularly powerful main force, but it still had 22,000 regular soldiers.
Xia Jin wanted to see how she compared to them in a head-on confrontation.
The ground spikes caught the enemy off guard.
Countless triangular blades pierced the soldiers in front. The small number of Tier 3 soldiers among them were almost instantly skewered by the blood-red blades. Among the Tier 4 experts, except for a few lucky ones, those standing directly above the spines were unable to resist the sudden thrust and were sliced in half.
Three or four rows of blades swept through the phalanx for hundreds of meters.
At that moment, a Tier 7 mage released a spell, turning the soil into terrifying quicksand, dragging the lurkers down a hundred meters below and ending the threat.
“Troublesome.”
Xia Jin calculated the losses. Twelve were killed by the first wave of fireballs.
The subsequent quicksand had buried all the lurkers. After sinking to the bottom, they couldn't even crawl back up.
With a hundred meters of quicksand pressing down on them, even lurkers couldn't withstand the weight.
Worse still, because it was all shifting sand, any attempt to climb would only cause them to sink deeper.
What about crawling sideways?
Unfortunately, that wouldn't work either, as the surrounding sand was sliding toward the center.
In other words, these lurkers were trapped here to die.
“Current lurkers can't survive by eating sand. What a shame.”
Xia Jin had no solution for now.
The Swarm had been developing for too short a time. Before they became strong enough, there would surely be many ways for the enemy to counter them.
But...
In that previous counterattack, the enemy had lost over 120 men, with another 60 seriously injured and many more with minor wounds.
This sudden exchange was still quite satisfying to her. After all, it included Tier 3 and Tier 4 warriors, as well as eight Tier 5s and one Tier 6 who were killed.
Losing a Tier 6 Zerg wasn't a big deal, but humans took a long time to train a warrior; they couldn't afford such losses. The standard energy gained from this wave of attacks was already enough to produce another batch of lurkers, with some left over.
The price was that the intelligence about their underground burial was now known.
Conversely, the Swarm now knew the enemy mages possessed spells like quicksand and fireballs that could target the ground. They could be more cautious in future battles.
...
The slightly chaotic human legion quickly regrouped.
The lurkers located at the base of the hills on both sides retreated stealthily.
This was mainly because the primal brain bug noticed a mage paying attention to the area, preparing to cast a spell.
Sure enough, a strange earth dragon emerged from the ground in the next moment, boring directly into the hillside to search for the lurkers. However, because the bugs reacted quickly, not a single one was killed.
“You did well, Brain Bug Fungus,” Xia Jin praised.
The primal brain bug wriggled excitedly, to the point where Xia Jin wondered if the fellow might pass out from the thrill.
“Suddenly, I feel like I'm committing a terrible crime,” she muttered to herself.
Rate on N.U.
