Chapter 134: The Insect Plague and the Suicide Attack

Chapter 134: The Insect Plague and the Suicide Attack

In the city of Darklake.

Before the city gates, a vast, open ground was filled with neatly arranged golems.

At the center stood thousands of stone golems, flanked by swarms of dual-blade spiders.

Massive iron golems and elite stone golems stood at the forefront of the formation, immovable like reefs in the sea.

On the city walls, Carolina gazed down at the golem army, her heart filled with awe.

No wonder Master is the Master. He single-handedly created such a powerful and terrifying army!

It's simply unbelievable!

Behind Carolina, the sphinxes also wore expressions of shock, their gazes filled with reverence as they looked at Su Nan's back.

Sphinxes were a race that revered the strong and despised the weak. Over the year and a half since Su Nan took control of Darklake, they had witnessed the city's rapid growth firsthand. Their initial resentment towards Su Nan had long been replaced by deep respect.

A strong master who could command such a powerful army was definitely worth following.

Su Nan, unaware of the sphinxes' thoughts, his gaze swept past the island and the lake, landing on the distant darkness.

With his mental power, he could faintly sense a large number of creatures rapidly approaching from that direction.

Carolina and the sphinxes seemed to sense something as well, their gazes fixed on the distance with a sense of impending doom.

Soon, a strange rustling sound emerged from the darkness, like countless legs scurrying across the ground.

In the next moment, bizarre creatures suddenly burst out of the darkness.

These creatures resembled jellyfish with legs, their translucent, pale white bodies fluttering like curtains as they moved rapidly.

They rushed to the shore and, without hesitation, leaped into the water. Their bodies, supported by the lake water, floated like water lilies, connecting one after another to form a rapid bridge toward the island in the center of the lake.

Before long, a white 'floating bridge' had formed between the shore and the island.

Following closely, countless insect beasts surged out of the darkness, scrambling onto the 'floating bridge' and charging toward the island.

These insect beasts looked like giant centipedes, their heads replaced by a massive mouth filled with sharp teeth, emitting a bone-chilling, low-pitched hiss.

"These are the jellyfish insects and the giant-mouthed sandworms!"

Carolina said with a serious expression, her brow furrowing.

"Master, something's not right. The number of insects seems unusually high."

At a glance, the field of vision was filled with a dense swarm of insects.

This was just the first wave of the insect attack. The main force, the bell beetle insects, hadn't even appeared yet. The number of insects already rivaled the most intense attacks in the past, which was definitely not normal.

Su Nan had heard Carolina describe previous insect plagues and could see that the current situation was clearly off.

However, he didn't say anything, just gazed down with a focused expression.

Seeing that her master was calm, Carolina also regained her composure, her eyes fixed on the scene below.

The surging insect swarm crashed into the golem army like a violent tsunami.

From a high vantage point, the insect tide seemed to have slammed into an immovable reef. The giant-mouthed sandworms at the forefront shattered into a spray of blood mist upon impact.

In contrast, the iron golems and elite stone golems at the forefront stood firm, unharmed, raising their massive fists to continuously strike down the insect beasts.

Unable to break through the iron golems and elite stone golems, the insect swarm began to spread to the sides, engaging the stone golems and dual-blade spiders.

In an instant, the open ground before Darklake became a battlefield of blood and gore!

The battle quickly intensified!

The number of giant-mouthed sandworms was overwhelming, densely covering the path from the lake shore to the city gates, with an estimated two to three thousand, and more were still surging from the other side of the lake.

In terms of numbers, the insect swarm vastly outnumbered the golem army.

However, the combat ability of the giant-mouthed sandworms was far inferior to that of the bell beetle insects, let alone the golems.

Facing the insect swarm, the golems did not retreat a single step, forming a solid wall that held the tide of insects at bay, preventing them from advancing.

The dual-blade spiders charged into the insect swarm, their sharp front limbs slicing through the insects, creating a trail of blood and gore.

For a moment, the overwhelming number of insects was pinned at the city gates, unable to break through the golem army's defenses no matter how hard they tried.

In the distance, at the entrance of a large stalactite hanging from the cave ceiling, Red Widow and Duke Black watched the battle with solemn expressions.

"Such powerful puppets!" Duke Black said with a mix of awe and fear. "I never expected an army of puppets to be so formidable!"

He had once sent his subordinates to test the combat ability of the golems in the mine. While he was surprised at the time, he hadn't been truly terrified.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that when these golems gathered by the hundreds and thousands on the battlefield, their combined combat power was far more than just the sum of their parts.

It was a formidable army that followed orders to the letter and feared no death!

No wonder the wizard had no interest in cooperating with them and even planned to counterattack Kasam.

He truly had the confidence and strength to back it up!

"Indeed, very impressive!"

Red Widow nodded slightly, her usually playful smile absent from her beautiful face. Her crimson eyes were filled with solemnity.

"At first, I thought we had overestimated the military strength of Darklake City, but now it seems we underestimated them."

Red Widow took a deep breath and gazed at the deep darkness across the lake.

"Cooperating with Kasam was the right decision. We absolutely cannot allow Darklake City to continue growing any further, or sooner or later, Matu and Osen will be swallowed by it!"

Duke Black followed her gaze, the black flames in his eyes flickering intensely.

Although Darklake City currently had the upper hand, they weren't overly concerned.

After all, this year's insect plague was vastly different from previous years.

In the past, the insect swarms would split into three groups, attacking Darklake, Matu, and Osen simultaneously, their forces diluted.

But this year, all the insect swarms had gathered at Darklake, their numbers roughly three times larger than in previous years.

The giant-mouthed sandworms were just the appetizer.

The main course was yet to come!

They would wait and see!

As if in response to Red Widow and Duke Black's thoughts, a buzzing sound suddenly emerged from the darkness across the lake, like countless wings flapping in unison.

In the next moment, a large number of insects, resembling oversized bees with six wings, a pair of giant pincers, and a sharp stinger, burst out of the darkness and buzzed toward the city gates.

"These are the six-winged insects!" Carolina whispered at the right moment. "Their giant pincers and stingers are highly venomous!"

Su Nan nodded without comment.

Venom was useless against puppets, which were naturally immune to all biological toxins.

However, the six-winged insects' ability to fly posed a threat to the golem army.

After all, the stone golems and dual-blade spiders couldn't fly and had difficulty eliminating the six-winged insects in the air.

Fortunately, Su Nan was well-prepared.

With a slight mental command, an elite dual-blade spider appeared on the city wall.

To the shock of Carolina and the sphinxes, the elite dual-blade spider's surface glowed faintly, and then its massive body lifted into the air, transforming into a black streak that darted toward the six-winged insects!

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Several six-winged insects didn't even have time to dodge before they were sliced into several pieces by the elite dual-blade spider's swift blades.

The elite dual-blade spider didn't stop, moving like a black lightning bolt, continuously slicing through the six-winged insects in the air.

In an instant, the sky above the battlefield was like a pot of boiling dumplings, with one six-winged insect after another plummeting to the ground.

In contrast, the venom of the six-winged insects was ineffective against the elite dual-blade spider, and their sharp pincers couldn't even scratch the elite dual-blade spider's steel body, which was reinforced by a toughness spell.

A single elite dual-blade spider was enough to push back several hundred six-winged insects!

Red Widow and Duke Black, hidden in the darkness, were dumbfounded, unable to suppress a gasp.

"A second-circle legendary puppet!"

"That guy actually has a puppet of that level!"

Shock was evident in both Red Widow's and Duke Black's eyes.

They had initially thought Su Nan's strongest puppet was a first-circle legendary, but now another second-circle legendary puppet had appeared.

This was a combat force on par with their own!

What level of strength must Su Nan possess to create such a powerful force?

Just thinking about it sent a chill down their spines.

Their only hope now was that the person behind Kasam could deal with Su Nan; otherwise, they would be the ones in trouble.

"Uuuu!"

A low, mournful sound suddenly came from across the lake, like a horn being softly blown.

Hearing this sound, Red Widow and Duke Black's spirits were instantly lifted.

Here they come!

The main force of the insect swarm!

At the same time, Carolina on the city wall also adopted a solemn expression.

"Master, it's the Bell Beetle Insects!"

Even without her reminder, Su Nan had already guessed that the main force of the insect swarm had arrived.

The true onslaught of the insect plague was about to begin!

Amidst the sphinxes' terrified gazes, a vast swarm of Bell Beetle Insects emerged from the darkness on the other side of the lake. Their wings flapped furiously as they crossed the water in an instant, arriving above the battlefield.

The dense cloud of Bell Beetle Insects blocked the bioluminescent light from the cave ceiling, casting the entire battlefield into a dark and eerie shadow.

Many sphinxes instinctively swallowed hard, recalling the terror they had faced under the Bell Beetle Insects' sonic attacks. Their proud, muscular bodies were rendered useless when hit by the Bell Beetles' devastating sound waves. A single group attack could leave them with internal injuries and blood streaming from their orifices.

Only the elite warriors and noble sphinxes could withstand the Bell Beetles' sonic waves.

"Uuuu!"

The Bell Beetle Insects soon launched their first wave of attacks.

Over three hundred Bell Beetles simultaneously sounded their "horns," sending a deafening wave of sound across the entire battlefield!

Even from a distance, many sphinxes on the city walls couldn't help but show signs of pain, clutching their chests and gasping for breath, as if they were suffocating.

To their surprise, the golem puppets on the battlefield were completely unaffected by the sound waves, continuing their relentless slaughter of the insect beasts.

Hidden in the darkness, Red Widow and Duke Black were stunned.

"Can these puppets actually be immune to sound waves?"

Red Widow and Duke Black exchanged a glance, realizing they had likely made a grave mistake.

They had never encountered a wizard before and their knowledge of puppets was limited to rumors. They had no idea that puppets were generally immune to sound wave attacks, which led them to misjudge the military strength of Darklake City and Kasam.

"No, that's not right."

Red Widow quickly reacted.

"We don't have information on the puppets, but the person behind Kasam is also a wizard. He must know that the Bell Beetle Insects' sound waves are ineffective against puppets!"

Duke Black also came to the same conclusion, nodding in agreement. "Yes, he must have other plans!"

At the same time, Su Nan on the city walls was making similar deductions.

"If there really is a wizard's apprentice controlling Kasam from the shadows, he must have anticipated this situation and prepared a countermeasure."

In the sky above the battlefield, the Bell Beetle Insects, undeterred by the failure of their sound waves, circled once and then descended like meteors, crashing into the golem puppets below.

Boom!

Upon impact, the Bell Beetle Insects exploded, creating a visible distortion in the air.

The parts of the stone golems that came into contact with the distortion seemed to be bitten off, disappearing in an instant!

In just a few moments, over three hundred Bell Beetle Insects were completely annihilated.

Their suicidal attacks, however, managed to destroy over a hundred stone golems and a dozen dual-blade spiders.

Carolina's face turned pale.

When did the Bell Beetle Insects develop this ability?

Why had they never used it before?

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

More Bell Beetle Insects flew over from the other side of the lake, their numbers estimated to be in the thousands!

Carolina sucked in a sharp breath.

In previous insect plagues, the largest swarm of Bell Beetle Insects had only been around five or six hundred.

Even then, Darklake City had paid a heavy price to survive that attack.

Now, the Bell Beetle Insects numbered in the thousands, possibly even more.

The sheer number was enough to make one's scalp tingle!

The sphinxes on the city walls were pale and sweating profusely.

Only Su Nan remained calm, his eyes revealing a look of confirmation.

"I didn't expect these Bell Beetle Insects to be capable of self-destruction."

"Is it the release of the sound energy stored in their tumors, creating a destructive effect similar to annihilation?"

Having dissected Bell Beetle Insects before and being familiar with their anatomy, Su Nan quickly understood the principle behind their suicidal attacks.

"This confirms it. There is indeed a manipulator behind Kasam, and it's a wizard's apprentice!"

Su Nan couldn't help but marvel.

He had thought he was the first to develop this area, but it seemed that a wizard's apprentice had already established a force here before him.

Judging by the timing of the insect plague, the wizard's apprentice had likely been in the underground world for several decades.

What was puzzling, however, was why the wizard's apprentice, instead of developing the mineral veins, had chosen to hide in Kasam and control the insect swarms to hunt and kill.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end