“Four thousand Tier 4 scourges for a thousand pairs of aerial knights—not bad at all.”
Xia Jin looked up at the retreating enemies in the sky, knowing they had been frightened off.
One must realize that a Falcon Knight consisted of both a falcon and a person; killing one falcon was equivalent to taking two lives.
Sometimes, when the knight on its back died, the falcon below would become exceptionally frantic, potentially even colliding with nearby comrades and triggering a chain reaction.
Furthermore, with the scourges' low cost, exchanging them for over a thousand creatures starting at Tier 3 or 4 and reaching up to Tier 5 or 6 was an incredible value.
Of course, those at higher tiers were not so easily killed unless bombarded by a large swarm.
Considering her current limited number of scourges, Xia Jin did not intend to do that just yet.
She hadn't deployed the mutalisks primarily because their numbers were still small. To avoid them being overwhelmed, she chose to continue stockpiling her forces.
“Increase scourge production from here on.”
As single-use consumables, these creatures should be used at critical points, working in tandem with the banelings on the ground to strike the enemy. Xia Jin estimated that winning this wave against the Kingdom's army would be quite easy.
Although the remains of the scourges after detonation would result in a greater loss of energy, once recycled, they could still be used to produce new scourges (unlike the recovery rate of ordinary insects, they only yielded seventy-five percent).
After this wave of attacks, the three legion commanders in the distance were completely rattled.
Those with good eyesight had already spotted Xia Jin.
Initially, only a silver-haired girl stood there, but before long, a large number of hydralisks crawled up to the high ground, flanking her.
“Artillery, fire a round at that person in the distance!”
The 4th Legion commander suddenly turned back and shouted toward the rear.
The artillery was generally located at the back of the formation, but the command was still transmitted quickly thanks to messengers waving flags.
Over a minute later, a cannon in the distance began to slowly adjust its orientation, soon aiming at the girl three kilometers away.
“At this distance, it might be difficult.”
The squad leader of the cannon crew used the sights to gauge the shot.
This was nearly at the absolute limit of the cannon's range.
“Bring a few more pieces to bear. If we miss, we'll only provoke the other side.”
“A silver-haired one... is it really okay to blast her?” the loader whispered as he pushed a magic crystal into the breech.
“What do you care? The order came from the legion commander; it has nothing to do with us,” the squad leader snapped at him.
“But... we might end up taking the blame.”
The young man was a bit dejected but complied nonetheless.
“Fire!”
More than one cannon fired simultaneously.
The shells traveled at incredible speeds. Without a high-speed camera to slow it down, one would generally only see a dark blur flash by.
From the perspective of a shell, the entire landscape shifted rapidly as it crossed kilometers of space, flying toward the girl standing on the high ground at extreme velocity.
As it neared the target...
Boom!
A translucent light membrane flickered into existence. A violent explosion erupted in front of her, but the terrifying energy was entirely blocked to one side.
Xia Jin narrowed her eyes.
As expected of a Tier 8 projection coupled with the Overlord’s Shield; its power was immense. An explosion that could instantly kill a zergling could not cause her the slightest bit of harm.
“Pfft.”
Seeing this from afar, the 4th Legion commander cursed under his breath, “Just as I thought!”
He knew it wouldn't be that simple.
“It looks like those monsters are about to attack us. The enemy commander looks like someone who can be reasoned with... she couldn't really be the little Princess, could she?” the 5th Legion commander asked uneasily.
“Don't worry about it. We'll just pretend we didn't see. The orders were handed down from above anyway. If things go south, we'll just find someone below us to take the fall.”
“That's all we can do.”
The massive army began to maneuver, with melee infantry forming phalanxes in various directions and long-range units positioned behind them.
As for the mage units, they were spread out as usual to prevent the Swarm from finding a concentrated target.
Before long, the main force of the Swarm that Xia Jin had been waiting for finally arrived.
They had come from other directions and, because their speed had been carefully controlled, they arrived almost simultaneously.
“Go!”
The mental command was issued, and countless zerglings leapt up from around the girl, charging down the slopes.
Some zerglings even jumped seven or eight meters high, soaring over the girl's head.
In an instant, the landscape spanning several kilometers was entirely covered by the Swarm.
“All units, prepare for impact!”
The legion commanders had nothing left to say.
This time, it wasn't they who initiated the attack, but the enemy.
Xia Jin had concentrated all her strength for this wave. Following this initial charge, more swarms would attack from the flanks and the rear.
Due to the heavy consumption, only twenty to thirty thousand locusts could be deployed. They gathered within the zergling ranks, ready to spit venom the moment the two sides made contact.
The two massive armies soon collided, descending into a meat-grinder of a battle.
The ten-kilometer-long marching column was suddenly swarmed on all sides. On the flanks, nearly three thousand roaches suddenly appeared like a fleet of tanks, forming a rolling torrent of insect armor.
The hydralisks began their bone spine bombardment from all directions.
After using the scourges to repel the enemy's air force, the Swarm had established aerial superiority. They began sending out large numbers of flying insect species to patrol, effectively gaining a complete view of the entire battlefield.
In the war of intelligence, the Kingdom was no match for them.
Even killing the reconnaissance insects was useless, as information was shared through instant transmission. Unlike humans, they did not need to send magical communications or return to report.
Rate on N.U.
