After the battle had raged for over twenty minutes, the commander already knew his legion could not stop the enemy.
The army of fifty thousand clashed violently with the black swarm within the dense mountain forests.
The sounds of slaughter echoed along the rugged roads as individual units fought off the sea of insects attacking from every direction. A rain of flaming arrows fell everywhere, met by the insects' return fire of acid.
The commander tried to order a retreat, only to find that the long marching column was not only difficult to coordinate but also that their rear path had been completely cut off by the insects.
Though he desperately wanted to break through, it was impossible with an army that was now fragmented and in total chaos.
Before the battle began, he never would have imagined that a powerful lord's legion would lose so miserably.
“There is more than one type of these magic beasts. Could they be directed by an existence from deeper within?” he wondered.
After all, he lacked knowledge of the Border Forest. The mystery and power displayed by this group of monsters were truly soul-shaking.
The killing intent shown by every single insect and their madness, utterly devoid of any fear of death, made him feel a chill in his heart.
Even soldiers with the strongest willpower quickly collapsed when facing such emotionless, machine-like monsters.
So...
After the battle continued for several hours, only about three thousand exhausted soldiers remained, forced back into a narrow area.
The ground was littered not only with the corpses of human soldiers but also with a vast number of dead insects.
Even many hydralisks had fallen to the mages' long-range spells.
Some zergling units had even been wiped out by the enemy's concentrated superior forces.
Overall, however, the humans did not have many powerful practitioners. Even if they achieved local victories in the short term, they were quickly pushed back to their original state by the insects.
In moments, these three thousand people were at their wits' end.
They finally formed a massive circular formation, leaning on each other to block the zerglings attacking from all sides. Hiren, covered in blood, swung his blade and took off a zergling's head. But before he could relax, he saw the zergling's torso continue to swing its scythe-like claws at him.
He had no choice but to release another burst of energy, slicing the creature's body in two.
“Damned things! What are these creatures?”
What kind of creature could continue fighting after losing its head?
Even with the strength of a Tier 7 peak, Hiren was starting to lose his stamina in such high-intensity combat.
“These magic beasts... they're too dangerous.”
He had never imagined a swarm of magic beasts could be so terrifying.
Every single one was like the most fanatical warrior, fearing neither death nor danger.
Were these really the same creatures that adventurers could kill at will?
“Lord Hiren, we can't retreat anymore. Are we going to die here today?” the adjutant shouted beside him, unwilling to accept their fate.
“Hold on! Keep fighting!”
Hiren had no idea how to comfort his subordinates and could only shout back.
Losing tens of thousands of men in a single battle was a heavy blow. It was foreseeable that Amelo's strength would be significantly diminished, allowing neighboring lords to gain the upper hand.
“Commander, have you sent the message back to the Lord?” After killing another zergling, Hiren turned his gaze toward a commander not far away.
“It's been sent!” the other man shouted immediately.
“Good. Next is the final battle. Pick up your weapons and take these magic beasts down with us!”
With that, Hiren raised his weapon.
At this point, his stamina was mostly depleted. While not completely spent, he wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.
There was no doubt he would die here today.
This was not just a battle to resist an invasion; it was a battle between two species, humans and magic beasts. He could not afford to look pathetic; he had to show these magic beasts that humans were not easy targets.
Amidst the sounds of battle, the two sides continued to clash.
The encirclement grew smaller and smaller. In less than fifteen minutes, the number of survivors dropped to a thousand.
Just then, the swarm suddenly dispersed, unexpectedly halting their attack.
Then, under the suspicious and uncertain gazes of the warriors, the massive swarm retreated and moved to the sides. Several humanoid figures appeared in their line of sight.
Leading them was a girl with flowing silver hair, wearing a deep black princess dress in the style of the royal court. The red and blue patterns along with the gold trim gave the already peerless girl an air of nobility.
Behind her were several girls with different hair colors wearing ancient, artistic openwork armor. They had pointed ears and bows on their backs. Without a doubt, they were the mysterious elves.
Hiren was stunned by the sight.
Setting the elves aside, as the top general under Amelo, he knew that silver hair was a color unique to the royal court's nobility, possessed only by a few princesses and the Queen.
This color was different from the white caused by a lack of melanin in old age; it was a pure, vibrant silver that showed no signs of aging.
Therefore, the moment he saw Xia Jin, Hiren was frozen in place.
He didn't understand why a girl with long silver-white hair would appear on the side of the magic beasts in a situation like this.
Her exquisite appearance naturally made him think of the Princess from the kingdom's legends, the one hailed as the reincarnation of the Goddess of Beauty.
Coupled with recent rumors that the Princess had been exiled to the forest—though they were unconfirmed—he couldn't help but think in that direction.
Surely this girl couldn't be a mythic kings in disguise?
Even if they understood humans, with a magic beast's aesthetic sense, it would be impossible for them to mimic someone so perfectly.
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