Chapter 675
A terrifying and bloody slaughter was still ongoing in the dark and narrow tunnel!
The druid that had transformed into a serpent opened his fanged mouth, biting and spitting poison at the swarm and dealing decent damage with every attack. The long tail dragging behind him was also frantically sweeping and waving about, slapping and smashing the pursuing horde into patches of meat paste.
Sadly, these insects didn’t seem to understand death and continued to surge recklessly toward the druids from both sides of the tunnel. Even if they were crushed to death by the serpent the very next second, their only thought in the present was to lunge at the serpent and tear a piece of flesh out of its body.
Under the fearless assault of the swarm, the snake was soon covered in wounds, despite its sturdy body and fine scales. Countless fine cuts had appeared on its body.
The Flashing Gopher and Poison Arrow Toad sitting upon the serpent’s body were also trying their best to exterminate the swarm assaulting them. Burning Fire spells and poison arrows caused countless casualties among the black beetles, burning the insects into charcoal and melting them into pungent slime.
An indescribably pungent odor filled the entire tunnel!
Finally, after cutting his way through the swarm and knocking down a wall of insects, the serpent succeeded in bringing its companions into that wide stone hall.
It was called a stone hall, but it was no more than a ten-meter-wide cave formed by erosion by underground water.
In the blink of an eye, he had transformed from a harmless woodpecker into a Firelion shrouded in magical flames.
His lithe and powerful body had just formed, and the surging fires had already burned the remaining beetles in the tunnel to a crisp. His intimidating lion’s head turned back and shouted out, “Follow closely!” He then turned and charged into the distant darkness without looking back.
Along the way, the raging fires on his body occasionally stretched and shrunk, scorching the beetles that were continuously squeezing out of the cracks in the walls. The druid quickly leaped into the depths underground.
These scattered swarms of insects could not possibly stop the advance of such a powerful Second Grade firelion!
The two First Grade druids immediately followed after that scorching path of flame in joyful surprise, closely following behind the Second Grade druid master.
Just as the druid master quickly entered a new tunnel after a fork, the path he was previously in mysteriously collapsed.
The two First Grade druids stopped their feet in shock!
Before they could even figure out what it was that had happened, the chattering sound in the tunnel grew louder and louder. The dark, black swarm emerged from various tunnels, ditches, and cracks, trapping the druids in here. Behind the squirming swarm, four black shapes were also silently approaching.
A dozen seconds later, the death throes of two druids also rang out of this place– sorrowful and tragic cries!
…………
Bug Adept Billis had to send out two intermediate First Grade magical mantises with every group as insurance for dealing with those beginner First Grade druids. Moreover, with the tide-like swarm, the druids that had their escape path cut off had no chance of fleeing!
Billis, who had found his ticket out of this sticky entrapment, would have trouble bringing such a tremendous number of insects with him.
To thoroughly squeeze every bit of utility out of the remaining twenty thousand insects, Billis didn’t mind committing to such an extravagant and wild strategy!
The bug adept utilized his familiarity with the labyrinth and his comprehensive grasp of the battlefield at all times to toy with the enemy, working expertly with strategies such as isolating, cutting reinforcements, interventions, and fixed ambushes. Billis trapped all the druids in a sea of insects at the price of exhausting his swarm, then proceeded to lay traps and bait as he liked.
Once a First Grade druid was isolated, Billis would unhesitatingly strike out, even if he had to lose thousands of insects to accomplish his goal of killing the druid. He would either collapse the tunnel and separate the enemy or simply send out the swarm to stall the Second Grade druid. At any rate, those trapped First Grade druids couldn’t dream of escaping unscathed once Billis found an opportunity to strike!
With the masterful use of the labyrinth’s advantage and the rapid exhaustion of the swarm, the casualties to the druids underground started to rise exponentially.
The hidden Second Grade druids didn’t seem to realize the severity of the issue at first. By the time they started to sense life auras vanishing quickly in succession, they could no longer hold back. All of them burst out with their full force!
At this point, the number of insects had also been drastically reduced from its initial twenty-one thousand to its currently meager four thousand.
Billis sensed the constant explosions of energy flux in the labyrinth and finally gave the order to retreat.
All surviving insects seemed to have gone mad at that instant, wildly throwing themselves at what remained of the druids. Bug Adept Billis used a secret tunnel to gather with five of his magical mantises as well as a thousand insects carefully picked out from the swarm in a spot underground.
The Burrower that had just hatched was laying here, taking large bites out of the druid corpses sent over by the insect army. It had only been half an hour, but its powers had improved tremendously. It had evolved from a young worm to a grown worm!
“Let’s go!”
Billis hissed under his breath while cloaked in his black robes.
The Burrower–now thicker–started to crawl toward one side of the wall like a massive snail. The speed at which it moved was almost infuriatingly slow.
However, the moment its fat intestinal body touched the stone wall, its concentric formation of sharp teeth pierced the earth, and the Burrower started to suck. The rock layer that was meant to be even tougher than steel had a one and a half meter long tunnel dug out of it.
Don’t judge the Burrower based solely on the fact that its entire body was made of flesh and fiber. It was important to note that Burrowers were the best option when dealing with earth and rock layers.
Much like a swimming fish tossed into the water, the initially fat and slow body of the Burrower suddenly turned agile. A smooth and wide tunnel appeared before Billis’ eyes at a rate visible to the naked eye. The shaft was still quickly spreading forward.
Billis nodded in satisfaction as he lifted his leg and jumped onto a magical mantis. The mantis then dove into the tunnel with him upon it.
The other magical mantises quickly followed after, as the one thousand insects following at the very rear marched forward along with him while also trying their best to destroy the tunnels behind them.
As large clouds of dirt and sand collapsed from above, this tunnel that had just appeared was quickly covered and buried under thick sand and dirt.