Operation Successful

Although they were few compared to the thousands of students in the academy, most people lacked the courage to flee immediately.

Inside the mentor building, several powerful individuals actually managed to kill a few zerglings and dozens of locusts, fighting their way down to the first floor.

However, just as they landed, rows of sharp spines from lurkers sliced toward them.

A magic mentor immediately cast Earthquake, directly attacking the insects hidden underground.

But the lurkers were too far away, and with their strength being at Tier 7, this immensely taxing magic clearly didn't have much of an effect.

More zerglings and locusts formed a containment net, spitting waves of acidic venom at them.

The Tier 5 zerglings moved nimbly, dancing around the edges to stall for time.

“Get out! We must leave this academy. The enemy is coming specifically for us!”

The strongest Tier 7 warrior dodged a spine erupting from the ground and suddenly released a shockwave, shattering the spine into two.

“I'll go send a distress signal.”

One mentor from the Magic Department knew he might not be able to escape. Simply resisting was of little significance, so he set his sights directly on the distant office building.

“As long as I reach that place and get the message out...”

No one had ever imagined that this heavily fortified academy would one day encounter such a catastrophe.

...

“My Queen, the Swarm in the surrounding areas is under external attack. The army stationed in this city has already arrived to provide support.”

Linya sensed the intelligence detected by some of the insects in the city and couldn't help but frown.

An attack on the academy was a very serious matter, especially for the magic, command, and martial arts classes; the students within were the future lifeblood of the Kingdom.

In fact, they already possessed the strength to serve as backbone members within the military.

A significant portion of the Kingdom's legion commanders had graduated from Star Rain Academy.

This wave of Zerg attacks had essentially struck the Kingdom’s weak point.

At this moment, the 19th Legion stationed here had already dispatched 2,000 men to the scene.

On the roads, rows of soldiers ran forward. The clatter of their movement in the night woke many sleeping civilians.

The army was everywhere. Torches illuminated every street, and several magical flares flew into the sky, releasing a piercing white light over the entire city.

“What’s happening?”

A woman walked to her door, opened a window, and muttered as she watched the rows of warriors running down the street below.

Just then, a faint thudding sound reached her ears.

Thinking it was her husband, she sighed. “It looks like there’s no sleeping tonight.”

Turning around, her expression froze.

She realized that the figure who had come up beside her was not the man she knew, but a massive, terrifying creature.

Blood dripped from the monster's mouth. It stood nearly two meters tall, and its giant black scythes reflected a faint, cold glint under the light from the window.

As if sensing her gaze, the monster that had been looking out the window slowly shifted its eyes toward her.

Their eyes met.

“Ah—”

Just as the woman was about to scream, the scythe swung down, severing her head.

Afterward, the zergling turned around, picked up the corpse, leaped over her husband's body, and quickly crawled down to the first floor.

A drone crawled out of a hole dug beneath the kitchen and dragged the corpse down.

After the drone left, roughly dozens of locusts and two zerglings crawled out one after another.

At the same time, similar events were occurring inside countless houses.

Of course, no matter how careful they were, accidents still happened.

In several houses, the insects failed to handle the situation quickly enough, and cries for help rang out. Consequently, large groups of soldiers rushed in and engaged in combat with the insects lying in ambush.

Xia Jin was aware of all of this.

The total number of insects that had infiltrated the city wasn't actually that high; half were at the academy, and the other half were spread throughout the city.

The goal of those in the city, besides eliminating some of the stronger individuals under the cover of night, was to draw the attention of the garrisoned legions and cause harassment.

This would delay their arrival as reinforcements to the academy.

While the fighting raged, Xia Jin also had Linya leave through an underground tunnel.

She herself went to the middle floors of the building and completed her self-detonation.

Thus, the only building that hadn't been given special attention by the Swarm collapsed under the power of the Queen’s Projection's self-detonation.

...

The next morning, when the soldiers completely occupied the entire academy and began taking count, they realized many corpses had disappeared.

“The losses are severe. The Magic Department was essentially wiped out, with very few survivors. An enormous explosion occurred in Building 3, and over a hundred students died inside.”

An officer reported the situation to a noble.

After seeing the data in the report, the noble couldn't say a single word.

“These Zerg are too cunning. Last night, a large number of them used the underground pipes to launch sneak attacks. Even now, skirmishes break out from time to time. Many civilians no longer feel safe staying in their homes and only want to flee the city. The streets are now crowded with people trying to leave from the south.”

“We cannot open the city gates,” the noble man sighed. “The capital is only three hundred kilometers to the south. Find a way to make these civilians take up arms and resist within the city. If we let them out, it will be even more dangerous.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Zerg were known for their mobility and flexibility. From the perspective of these commanders, any civilian who ran out into the open would be in extreme danger.