The rate of photosynthesis was still relatively slow, but the day they would have to rely solely on the magical barrier was likely far in the future. By then, the Zerg would surely have developed other methods of utilizing energy.
At this stage, Xia Jin did not need to consider such complicated matters at all.
She leaped forward lightly, a pair of translucent wings instantly forming on her arms, allowing her body to glide into the distance.
From high above, a single glance revealed insects everywhere across the landscape for hundreds of meters.
Several mutalisks flapped their wings rapidly, relying on the air currents ejected from their tails to fly freely in the sky like jet aircraft.
They swept past the Queen at high speeds.
Xia Jin now kept her true body hidden in a very safe location at all times, and even the main hive had been replaced with a projection that looked exactly like her true body.
In the battle for air superiority against the Kingdom, with thousands of scourges deployed to the battlefield, the mere Falcon Knights could no longer pose a threat.
Of course, because the airspace was so vast, it was difficult for the insects to maintain absolute control over the entire sky even now. Occasionally, a few falcon squads would sneak over the Zerg territory to gather massive amounts of intelligence.
However, Xia Jin was completely indifferent to this.
On the contrary, the Kingdom was becoming increasingly terrified by what they saw.
The number of these insects was simply too high.
They had lost count of how many swarms they had seen that numbered in the tens of thousands.
By the third day, several main legions had been annihilated one after another on the front lines.
Specifically, a main force composed of the 7th Legion, 10th Legion, and 15th Legion, along with 100,000 reserve troops—totaling nearly 200,000 men—was besieged all at once by a swarm of 180,000 insects.
Across a front line over ten kilometers long, insects were rampaging everywhere.
Scourges in the sky descended like whistling shells, accurately bombing the mage legions.
Banelings were launched by catapults over a kilometer away, landing in the middle of the crowds and exploding into massive amounts of venom.
Terrifying roaches formed a heavy armor charge line of over a thousand, slamming into the human soldiers like moving city walls.
Although the swarm's losses were also heavy, as many as 20,000 drones were already waiting near the battlefield, ready to move in and collect energy at any moment.
With this massive wave of battle, Xia Jin was essentially planning to crush the strongest fighting forces the northern Kingdom could muster all at once.
At the same time, over 60,000 main swarm units, coordinated with over 200,000 locusts, launched their strongest offensive against the various opposing forces.
Within the capital, Lord Gor watched as reports of defeat after defeat were delivered to his desk.
At first, he refused to believe it.
It was not until the 200,000 strong army was annihilated in one go that he sat in his seat as if he had lost his soul, staring blankly ahead.
“Lord Gor, this enemy can no longer be measured by common logic. You know that more than seven legion commanders have already defected to the enemy, and Mir even went in person to urge our warriors to surrender. The enemy leader is indeed the princess who was exiled back then. That absurd possibility may have actually happened.”
Hearing the minister's response, Lord Gor rubbed his temples and leaned back in his chair.
“According to the latest intelligence, how far has the enemy advanced?”
“It is very bad. The 200,000 strong army was annihilated in the Beilin region, which is only 200 kilometers from the capital. Given their speed of advancement, even if a few legions intercept them on the way, they will likely arrive before us in half a day at most.”
“Half a day.”
Those words were terrifying to Lord Gor.
“It has been so little time since we joined the Empire, even if we ask them for help... no, that is simply not realistic.” Lord Gor shook his head. “Let the 3rd Legion go as well. In these final moments, we must block the enemy in front of us as much as possible. I will go speak with the King; we must consider the defense of the capital.” Lord Gor stood up abruptly.
“My Lord, do you truly believe the enemy has a way to conquer our capital?” The minister's voice was tinged with helplessness.
“That is not for me to decide. Before the war began, no one could have imagined such a thing would happen.”
Lord Gor sighed and slowly walked out.
...
The capital, Royal City.
Standing atop the high castle, looking out from the gates, one could see a gloomy sky.
And at this moment, tiny black dots had already appeared in the distance.
The giant griffins that had been resting on the ground suddenly raised their heads. Under the lash of their masters, they slammed their wings and flew into the sky.
“The Zerg are here.”
The clouds were thick with creatures, with swarms of mutalisks mixed among them, as eerie shrieks echoed through the air.
Hundreds of griffins and thousands of Falcon Knights took to the air, rapidly approaching the enemy.
The two sides immediately engaged in a fierce battle.
Mutalisks spit out terrible glaive wurms that slammed into the Falcon Knights. Amidst violent explosions, these powerful aerial warriors fell toward the ground like rain.
Meanwhile, strings of scourges collided with the powerful enemies before them, perishing along with their foes in the explosions.
Only the Griffin Legion, hailed as the glory of the Kingdom's air force, demonstrated astonishing combat power at this time.
Starting at Tier 6, with an average strength of Tier 7, and one third reaching Tier 8, these terrifying bred creatures were the strongest magic beasts humans could command.
They opened their mouths and could even spit out extremely high temperature lava, melting entire swaths of scourges.
Rate on N.U.
