Chapter 81: Invasion and Erosion (10)
“Haah… Haaack…”
Breathless and forgetting her dignity, she panted like a dog, sticking her tongue out. Even with the enhancement magic cast, her muscles were screaming.
Yet Reina could not stop her steps.
Having walked through the night, the signpost in the sky was gradually coming closer.
This was possible because they were both heading toward each other.
‘The army really has been summoned.’
Upon reaching the hill, she sat down on the ground, looking at the tiny figures far away.
By a miracle, she did not encounter any Legionnaires. It was because Eve had mobilized all nearby Legionnaires to move from another direction.
‘Who on earth are they at war with?’
Because of this, she, who was still unaware of the truth, could not hide her confusion.
The summoned human army advanced as if they had a predetermined destination while preparing for battle.
“…What is this!”
At that moment, sensing something, she turned back with a pale face.
She was horrified to see a mass of shadows drawing closer to the ground in a black swarm.
“Aaaah!”
As the flying monsters swooped through the sky, she had no choice but to cover her head and flatten herself on the ground.
However, these flying monsters showed no interest in a mere human like her.
“This can’t be.”
Monsters she had never imagined were flocking toward the army.
In that instant, Reina’s face hardened. She surely knew the source of those monsters.
“Roses..!”
Grinding her teeth, she rose again.
All she could think about now was to convey the truth as quickly as possible.
“Look, look at that!”
As Reina hurried back to this place, the main force naturally observed the attack of the flying types as well.
Enormous winged beasts were hurtling directly toward this location.
“Don’t make a commotion! Haven’t we already reported that there are flying creatures!”
The experienced commander-in-chief scolded the panicking people.
“Prepare the Mage Siege Cannons!”
At his command, people moved busily.
A giant ballista, carried on the back of a golem made of earth.
As the golems positioned themselves with their arms on the ground, a complex magic circle appeared at the front of the specially made ballista.
“Ready!”
“Fire!”
Giant arrows that were akin to loaded spears were fired as they were.
The spears that passed through the magic circle were instantly accelerated by magical propulsion, tearing through the air as they shot off.
“Good!”
That strike not only skewered the enemies flying in the sky but also exploded into a shockwave, shattering them completely.
The number of flying types, which had seemed to exceed five hundred, was reduced by nearly half in an instant.
“Fire again!”
Now with confidence, the reloaded arrows were shot once more.
At that moment, the flying types scattered deftly in the air, as if they had planned it, sending most of the arrows flying off into the sky.
“What is that… It’s almost as if someone is controlling them…”
The officer in charge of the launch and calculations muttered in disbelief.
To them, the movements displayed by the flying types just moments before were quick and precise.
“What does that matter? They are just beasts! Spread the web; don’t let them attack!”
Following the commander’s orders, the Mages came forth.
They stood drawing a specific coordinate with their bodies. Simultaneously, they moved their magic to chant the same incantation.
A large-scale spell cast by the research organizations of the Star Academy and the Clawclaw Academy.
Dozens of fireballs generated in succession enhanced their power as they were volleyed into the sky.
“Can you see it? That is the end for the monsters.”
The commander-in-chief smirked.
Without a chance to evade, the barrage of fireballs was unleashed mercilessly. The flying types started to be shot down one by one, falling to the ground.
“Continue the advance!”
Thus, the main force, having achieved a crushing victory in the first clash, marched onward.
And finally, when they arrived at the desired point.
The Mages began to move fluidly once again.
“Mage Mortar!”
“Prepare! Fire!”
Mages who had stopped dozens of kilometers away readied their magic toward the Nest.
Three Mages formed a group to cast the multi-binding magic.
The effect of this war magic, which was still unknown to the Legion, was to launch projectiles filled with energy at their limit in a parabolic trajectory toward the target point.
With a longer range than self-propelled guns, agile and rapid-fire.
Creating such magic required a level of skill unimaginable to ordinary artillerymen, but those present here were adequately skilled.
“Not that impressive.”
The commander-in-chief muttered as he watched the projectiles streak across the air.
But the projectiles did not accurately hit the target they aimed for.
A dark red defensive shield manifested around the black Sacred Tree, blocking the bombardment precisely at the impact point.
“Commander! They…!”
“Damn it, what on earth.”
The fact that an ancient beast, swept away even by a mere golem, blocked the magic was quite shocking to them.
They had no information because the higher class using Formancy had killed all eyewitnesses without leaving a single one alive.
“Continue firing! There must be a limit!”
The slightly flustered commander-in-chief issued a firing order with an expression of disbelief.
However, it was a choice made without knowing the total amount of energy the Legion possessed. It wasn’t long before the Mages exhausted their mana and had to be replaced.
“We will continue to advance.”
Ultimately, the main force had no choice but to break formation and advance onward. If long-range bombardment was not possible, they would burn everything up close.
Of course, this was what Eve, the Hive Mind of the Legion, wanted and had induced.
[But we currently have no troops. We even ordered the troops directed outside to advance inland, so what on earth do they think?]
“So many amazing magics indeed. They have endless versatility and possibilities.”
Eve, seated on her throne, chuckled.
Now the main force of the enemy was nearing the nest, having burned down the base nests and approaching the Erosion Nest.
“There are still many things I’ve only heard about. I want to see more diverse things, but they probably think we are easy prey and won’t show them. Or maybe it’s just that they are weak.”
Eve acknowledged that she had been heavily hit. The magic developed by the humans here was that complicated, diverse, and full of potential.
“That much, I want to know more. I want to have more.”
Suddenly standing up from her throne, Eve mobilized the last Legionnaires she had on standby.
Those coming to invade the nest were not even regular troops. They were merely a form of local defense force that had been summoned within two days. In other words, they were not the military strength of the humans.
Yet, they had pushed to this point. Eve reaffirmed that she had to evolve further.
It made no sense for a monster trying to devour the whole world to struggle against those who were nothing more than a mere meal.
“Shall we show our achievements to the masters who teach us the magic?”
In that instant, the ground trembled.
Even as Eve poured most of her energy into indiscriminate expansion, she retained a little energy.
With that residual energy, she created a new type of soldier.
A super-large species that surpassed the large types. A being equipped with brute force and defensive power that could withstand the magical attacks of opponents solely based on sheer mass.
Though still in the experimental phase, it was a force she could sufficiently utilize.
[Having combined the exoskeleton of the cave scorpion, which had been extinct due to the Devouring Fungus met in the labyrinth, with the cave giant, the largest beast, and infused it with the Legion’s compressed muscles, I made a new soldier designed purely to charge, trample, and pierce through.]
The dormant soldiers trembled the ground as they surged forward, crushing the beautiful trees of the forest.
Their size had already surpassed that of normal living creatures and matched that of large houses. A giant, standing ten meters tall and weighing thousands of tons, swung its solid head, which bore wide, sharp protrusions like a hammerhead shark.
There were ten such monsters in total.
Alongside them, hundreds of medium Legionnaires based on four-legged beasts ran in packs, slaughtering the broken enemy formations.
[The enemies are resisting. Magic and powerful spears are starting to fly in. Though the attacks are insignificant, if accumulated, they could damage the outer shell, and if the inner flesh is exposed, one blow could kill.]
“Let’s give them a gift.”
Eve did not allow all those attacks to pour down onto the precious super-large types.
One of the Legionnaires of a higher class, hovering above the super-large types, opened its back shell and spread its wings to ascend.
The higher type, hovering in the middle of the wedge-shaped formation, traced a circuit using its power source.
The core of that circuit was the power source acting as the heart of the rushing super-large type.
“Though a power source of this size can’t maintain its formancy, it can only fulfill the role of supporting that massive body. However, combining types like this allows us to efficiently harness synergy.”
Eve smirked as she watched the horrified humans.
The young Mage from the Star Academy that was devoured in the past. Even he, who had withstood stubbornly, had spilled all the academy’s visions under the torture that melted his brain.
Now, that achievement was manifesting. The formation demonstrated by the Knight and Mage was being replicated by the Legionnaires of the higher class and the super-large types.
