This brief exchange truly set the nerves of the 12th Legion's warriors on edge.
Most unsettling of all was the fact that they had not seen the true form of their enemy from start to finish.
To avoid excessive losses, the mages had snuffed out the lurkers underground in a single wave.
Though they had won, it left the soldiers under immense psychological pressure.
Of course, they were a regular force after all; a few hundred casualties had a negligible impact on morale, especially since their truly high-end combat power had not even been deployed. Only a few Tier 6 soldiers had died.
The Zerg, in fact, had no intention of launching a full-scale attack here.
Although the mages of the 12th Legion remained exceptionally tense, they faced no further attacks from the Zerg throughout the rest of their march.
The expected battle was long in coming.
The Zerg had truly only set that one small ambush.
“These bugs,” Legion Commander Mir spat on the ground.
“Perhaps they are afraid,” the noble man beside him whispered.
“Sir, underestimating the enemy is unacceptable.”
Mir mounted his warhorse and began ordering the army to advance.
The war had to begin eventually.
Several legions had already reached the front lines, with a total scale exceeding 100,000 men.
If they remained stationed here indefinitely waiting for the enemy to strike, it would be an act of absolute stupidity.
“Vanguard, increase speed!”
The order was sent out via a magical device.
He rode his warhorse, leading the legion at the very front.
The main force advanced in a stable formation, while the vanguard of over 2,000 men quickly separated from the main body with the help of scouts.
To the naked eye, they appeared detached and several kilometers ahead.
However, Xia Jin knew that this position allowed them to be directly supported by the following units.
Buried several kilometers away, two zerglings with only their eyes exposed and most of their bodies hidden in the soil watched the scene silently.
To strengthen her scouting capabilities, Xia Jin had previously ordered the brain bug to design a mosquito-like creature to approach the enemy.
As it turned out, they were killed by a strange light.
“Magic?”
It was ridiculous; they couldn't even get within a kilometer of the enemy.
Watching the enemy slowly approach, the scouting zergling immediately dove deeper into the earth.
Although zerglings had not yet developed the ability to burrow and move, they could manage simple digging. It was just impossible for them to advance rapidly underground as she had envisioned.
Furthermore, against this group of humans, a surprise attack was impossible.
“Have the hydralisk unit prepare.”
The Tier 6 hydralisks had already readied the bone spines on their bodies.
They stood two kilometers away from the enemy, hiding behind a small slope.
Just as the attack was about to begin, over twenty terrifying creatures suddenly rose from the rear of the enemy formation and flew directly into the sky.
These were creatures resembling giant eagles.
On the ground, over a hundred fierce beasts also broke away from the formation and charged toward this location.
“Falcon Knights? Magic beasts?”
The domesticated magic beast units were all Tier 4, which wasn't particularly strong.
But the falcons flying in the sky were a bit absurd.
Accompanied by a series of shrill cries, those monsters suddenly dived from the heavens, falling at an exaggerated speed.
Their target—the hydralisks.
Bang!
Bang, bang!
The hydralisks, who had originally planned to attack the ground troops, were forced to aim their fire toward the sky.
Terrifyingly, the flight speed of the Falcon Knights was too fast.
They fell from the sky like arrows.
The knights sitting atop them erupted with blinding radiance, shining like the midday sun even in broad daylight.
“At least Tier 5, and some Tier 7.”
Thud, thud, thud—
The firepower of over a hundred hydralisks was aimed at the sky. Because the enemies were so fast, most of the shots missed.
A small portion, however, struck the falcons squarely.
In an instant, at least three were hit hard, plummeting down with wretched cries.
The human knights sitting on them fell from the sky along with them.
But another Tier 7 falcon, seeing that it was about to be hit, banked sharply at the critical moment and dodged the attack.
“They can even dodge that?”
The hydralisk's spines were extraordinary in both speed and destructive power.
However, the falcons lived up to their reputation as the Kingdom's elite air force, second only to the griffins. Faced with attacks that were difficult to track with the naked eye, they could dodge in advance using their terrifying dynamic vision.
But as the hydralisks continued to fire spines in succession, several more falcons were shot down to the ground.
If their bodies were hit even once, they could be torn apart.
One unlucky knight found his mount still unharmed, but he himself had taken a critical hit, falling screaming from the sky.
After a charge lasting several seconds, six falcons finally reached the hydralisks.
Sharp claws instantly pierced through their bodies before tearing their heads completely off.
The knights' lances followed close behind.
In a single exchange, nearly fifteen hydralisks were killed.
The remaining falcons turned to soar back into the sky, but unfortunately, two were quickly struck by spines flying from below and crashed down.
Due to the close proximity, three Tier 6 falcons were lost instantly, and one Tier 7 was hit by multiple attacks, crying out before escaping unsteadily.
This Tier 7 creature was wounded.
...
“Heavy infantry, prepare to charge! Mage unit, auxiliary magic!”
The heavy warriors in the front row were suddenly covered in several layers of strange light—red, blue, and green. Subsequently, nearly 1,000 men began a grand, sweeping charge.
Their pace grew faster and faster, as if they were under some kind of miraculous enhancement.
Every man was armed to the teeth, their pitch-black armor shimmering in the sunlight like the surface of a lake.
Amidst the sound of footsteps, metal hummed. As so many enemies charged toward them, the hydralisks fired off their hard spines one after another.
Rate on N.U.
