Chapter 240 | Swarm: I Became a Cataclysmic Disaster

“A breakthrough... is probably impossible now.”

Begrun sighed softly.

Although he had ultimately subdued the commander of the 45th Paladin Order, who had charged at him like a demon, the Vice Commander and the squad leaders nearby clamored for revenge, rushing forward one after another to block him.

Begrun swung his power-infused greatsword to attack them, but even so, it was difficult for a single person to hold back an entire Paladin Order charging with a death-defying resolve.

It was the same for the other forces around him.

The forces of the migratory colony charged at the enemy without hesitation, but without continuous reinforcements, they fell just short every time.

However, the forces of the Goddess of Light Association fought desperately as if this were their final opportunity, unleashing all their accumulated weapons and troops. They finally began to push the Great Devourer back, inch by inch.

“It's the same here. What should we do? We can't break through without reinforcements.”

It was the same on the battlefield where Yuno had joined.

Although they had stopped further launches of the Heavenly Thunderbolt, they failed to break through the defenses and capture the enemy's camp.

Yuno also had to deal with a massive number of enemies swarming toward her. Although she thoroughly enjoyed such a challenging battle, the Great Devourers were being shot down one by one, gradually putting them at a disadvantage in both firepower and numbers.

“We've almost succeeded! The nests of those bugs are right before our eyes!”

Sensing this momentum, Charlotte, the commander of the Goddess of Light Association, shouted solemnly into her communication orb.

The fierce offense, defense, and life-and-death struggle had already raged for nearly ten days.

Neither the Great Devourers nor the Goddess of Light Association had the chance to properly retrieve the corpses of their fallen comrades.

Gaia's body was now almost fully grown.

The main force of the Goddess of Light Association had already deployed for battle directly in front of the Great Devourer nest where Gaia was growing.

As long as they destroyed it, the Goddess of Light Association would be able to completely expel the Great Devourer from this land through unilateral reinforcements.

“That's the one! That's their Queen!”

Charlotte pointed at Kerrigan, who had been fighting like a madwoman at the absolute forefront of the front lines for days.

With her pitch-black hair fluttering in the wind, Kerrigan leapt into the air, wielding four swords as she flew toward a holy golem that was dozens of times larger than herself.

The holy golem was busy grabbing the horn of a heavy-armored ant and tearing it apart, failing to stop Kerrigan from leaping onto its head in time.

Seizing this opening, Kerrigan instantly concentrated all her strength into the tips of her swords and delivered a slashing blow.

The power of the Realm of Martial Zenith shattered the holy golem's holy forcefield. Its colossal body cracked with a loud snap and came crashing down.

‘How can such a monster exist!’

Charlotte was shocked by the sight of Kerrigan single-handedly destroying a holy golem that far exceeded her in size.

In truth, it wasn't just Kerrigan; the Legion Commanders under her, including Begrun and Yuno, were all absurdly strong, serving as wild cards that completely disrupted the battlefield.

“Commander! We must capture her this time!”

Charlotte deployed the entire 34th Paladin Order accompanying her to capture Kerrigan.

By continuously modifying her body and honing her techniques, Kerrigan indeed possessed immense strength and skill that transcended her size. However, the power a small body could unleash was ultimately limited.

The Great Devourer solved this problem by swapping out magic hearts as if they were batteries.

Theoretically, as long as they kept replacing power sources like magic hearts, they could fight indefinitely.

However, Kerrigan was currently unable to receive such supplies.

Her strength was gradually waning, and the scope of the battlefield she had to handle alone was growing wider and wider.

“An enemy that dares to inflict such heavy losses upon us and awaken our vigilance... how many years has it been since such a thing last occurred?”

Charlotte murmured in dazed admiration as she watched what was to be the final attempt to assassinate Kerrigan, an operation that had already failed dozens of times before.

Under the onslaught of the Paladin Order, pieces of Kerrigan's exoskeleton—which was strong enough to reshape terrain—cracked and fell away.

The arm she used to wield her swords was caught by a priest's holy chains, then severed by a paladin's blade. She stumbled, and a spear impaled her thigh, pinning her to the ground.

Although this was only a portion of the remote Pioneering Zone, and the deployed forces were only a fraction of their total strength, the Goddess of Light Association had always followed the will of Goddess Hestia, focusing on territorial expansion rather than large-scale warfare. Thus, this war against the Great Devourer was the largest conflict they had faced in hundreds of years.

Charlotte bit her lip as she finally saw Kerrigan forced to one knee, pinned down by numerous knights.

Even pinned to the ground, Kerrigan's eyes still flashed with a red light beneath her helmet.

Now, as long as her head was severed and hung high, Charlotte would go down in history as the victorious protagonist of their first true war in centuries—a moment that seemed to be right within reach.

“Tuning, begin.”

However, at that very moment, Gaia, who had been continuously growing, finally extended her last root and stretched her final leaf toward the sky.

A massive eyeball emerged from the fleshy stem, and immediately after, the eyeball tore open as a colossal upper body peeked out.

Charlotte froze, looking at Kerrigan pinned to the ground and Gaia, as massive as a castle, revealing herself behind her.

“A Stargate?!”

“That monster is going to open a Stargate!”

Gaia pressed her hands together and began to open a massive spatial rift in the center.

By devouring planetary energy and operating her entire colossal body like brain cells, Gaia could rapidly open a Stargate of such massive scale, provided she could withstand the extreme inefficiency.