Outside the Zerg Empire.
The Barren Rock Wasteland.
Wild, howling winds swept through, like wraiths whispering mournfully in their ears.
As far as the eye could see, the ground was scorched, covered in dry grass, and scattered with disorderly giant stones.
This was the only place in the surroundings suitable for stationing troops.
Additionally, it had a geographical advantage.
"Gobu Yue, I believe you can do this," Alice said with a piercing gaze, her tone serious.
Beside her stood Gobu Yue, also clad in armor.
"Yes!
I've been preparing for this for half a year, all to rescue the Boss!"
Normally, Gobu Yue never participated in battles, but in the past six months, she had been relentlessly practicing puppet magic.
All for this moment.
Her current skill level was already close to that of Persephia, allowing her to control any dead object and turn it into a puppet for combat.
The Barren Rock Wasteland, with its abundance of rocks, was perfect for creating puppet soldiers.
"With such a devoted subordinate, that kid's really lucky," One-Eyed Owl remarked, her brown cloak flapping in the wind with a crackling sound.
For this operation, she, too, had specially donned armor.
In the distance, everyone became alert as a giant green caterpillar slowly approached.
Alice unsheathed the Ominous Blade at her waist, her killing intent spreading.
"Holy crap, Goblin King, is that a human?
Are you sure that's one of your people?!
That killing intent is terrifying!
I'm too scared to get closer—what should I do?!"
The green caterpillar trembled violently upon seeing the scene and froze in place, too scared to move.
A pair of fierce eyes stared at him like thunderous fire, sending chills down his spine.
Lin Tian's muffled voice rang out from inside, "Are you there yet?
Hurry up, I'm suffocating in here!"
Left with no choice, the green caterpillar crawled forward a few more steps.
"Swish!!!"
Suddenly, a sword aura carrying the force of a raging wind exploded beside him!
"Boom!"
The ground was slashed open, leaving a hundred-meter-long fissure.
The green caterpillar immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
"Oh my God, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!
Don't kill me, I'm on your side!"
As it spoke, it spat out Lin Tian, who was wrapped in a cocoon.
Lin Tian hurriedly tore through the silken threads with his claws, and upon seeing the familiar faces before him, he was so overwhelmed that he nearly cried.
"Thank goodness, you've finally come!
I almost died in there, do you know that?!"
At these words, everyone's faces lit up with joy, and they rushed forward.
When they saw Lin Tian's emaciated figure, a wave of fear washed over them!
They couldn't imagine the suffering he must have endured.
"Boss, you've really been through hell," Gobu Yue and Gobu Kuang said with pained expressions.
Even the members of the Dragon Slayer Guild were upset.
"Brother Tian, we'll avenge you!"
"That damned Zerg Queen drained you dry like this!
We can't even have fun anymore!
We absolutely must kill her!" One-Eyed Owl cursed, her voice full of anger.
Everyone gave her a strange look.
"Big Sis, that's a bit inappropriate, isn't it?"
"Is it?
I'm just outraged on his behalf," One-Eyed Owl replied, confused.
Lin Tian raised his hand.
"Forget it, just take me to rest first.
Also, I underestimated the Zerg's numbers.
There are at least two hundred million of them.
If we're not confident, we should retreat and fortify our defenses while we gather more forces…"
In his earlier patrols, Lin Tian had missed the nocturnal Zerg and the others hiding underground.
He hadn't expected there to be as many as two hundred million.
"Hahaha!
Even if there were three hundred million, we wouldn't be afraid!" Bill said proudly, pointing to the sky.
With the massive airship hovering above, he wasn't worried about the enemy's numbers, only whether they had enough bombs.
Nearby, the green caterpillar gaped in astonishment at the sight of the enormous forces and the dragons and strange machinery in the sky.
In disbelief, it stammered, "Goblin King, w-what exactly is your identity?
I thought you were bluffing when you said you were going to kill the Zerg Queen!!!"
"Who is that?" Alice asked cautiously.
Lin Tian replied calmly, "Just a pet of mine.
Sara, help me down."
Sara nodded and guided Lin Tian toward the rear of the army.
Seeing how concerned everyone was for him, Lin Tian felt incredibly comforted.
Sara, Gobu Yue, Lia, Katheryn, and many others.
They were all by his side, taking care of him with great attention.
They even helped him change clothes and clean his body.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Katheryn let out a startled scream, flustered and at a loss.
Everyone was puzzled.
"What's wrong?"
"N-no, I was mistaken.
What on earth did Goblin King go through to look like this?
He's like a shriveled old cucumber!" Katheryn said sympathetically.
She then tried to heal him.
Though his appearance recovered, the internal damage couldn't be healed.
Thinking of this enraged Lin Tian.
"Tell Alice and One-Eyed Owl not to kill the Zerg Queen.
I want to torture her bit by bit until my rage is fully vented!"
"Boss, don't take it too hard.
You have Abnormal Fusion, right?
I'll find you a better body to merge with," Gobu Yue consoled.
Lin Tian nodded.
"True.
When the time comes, I'll use brand new weapons to exact brutal revenge on that damned Zerg Queen!"
Now that he was free, he could seek out various biological parts to fuse with.
"The Zerg are coming!" a voice shouted from outside the tent.
Looking out, they saw the Zerg Empire's forces—a vast, dark 'flood'—surging forward!
At a glance, it was a terrifying sight, a mass of densely packed insects, overwhelming to behold.
The swarm rose like a tidal wave, blotting out the sky!
What was once a grayish-brown landscape was now covered by a multicolored carpet.
Insects filled both the land and the air!
It was a breathtaking spectacle.
Even Alice, feeling the overwhelming pressure, couldn't help but tighten her grip on her sword, a strange tension filling the air.
It was like standing before a tsunami.
But this was a sea of insects, far more horrifying.
Any other woman would have screamed, "I'm scared of bugs!" and trembled in fear by now.
One-Eyed Owl, however, scanned the swarm and smirked disdainfully.
"I see a few that seem worth fighting.
I'm going in!!!"
"Swish!"
She became a blur, charging straight into the insect sea!
Alice raised her weapon high and commanded, "Attack!"
The two opposing tides—one of insects, the other of warriors—clashed violently!
In an instant, the air was filled with flying bodies as the slaughter began!
One-Eyed Owl quickly locked onto the Death Spider Chieftain.
"Long legs, huh?
I may not be a goblin, but I'm still pretty excited!"
She rushed toward the spider.
"Why would a human help the goblins?
Interesting…" the Death Spider Chieftain sneered.
Seeing One-Eyed Owl charging mindlessly, the spider looked down on her and spat a glob of phlegm.
Thick, filthy white spider silk shot out, covering One-Eyed Owl.
"What the hell is this?
Feels just like that kid's stuff.
So gross!" One-Eyed Owl grumbled, standing still for a moment in disgust.
She tried to tear off the spider silk, but it wouldn't budge.
It started to settle on the ground, rooting her in place!
The Death Spider Chieftain laughed smugly.
"Don't bother resisting.
The more you struggle, the more stuck you'll be!
Attack, kill her!"
"Stuck?" One-Eyed Owl raised an eyebrow, thinking it was a joke.
"Crack!"
In an instant, she ripped up the entire ground beneath her!
Ignoring the sticky threads, she charged forward, smashing her way through!
The spider silk clung to massive chunks of earth and rock, weighing several tons.
She swung it around, crushing hundreds of incoming Zerg into pulp!
She fought like a madwoman!
The Death Spider warriors nearby were horrified.
"Chieftain, your tactic is backfiring!
You're getting our own people killed!
Do something!"
"Shut up!
Keep spinning silk!
I don't believe she can keep this up!" the Spider Chieftain snapped angrily.
At her command, more spider silk shot toward One-Eyed Owl, enveloping her completely.
But then, a massive, kilometer-long fireball descended from the sky at lightning speed!
It was impossible to make out what it was at first—it was Firefly.
In six months, the dragon had grown to a kilometer in size.
It unleashed a fiery blast!
The intense heat melted away all the spider silk surrounding One-Eyed Owl, yet she remained completely unharmed in the center of the flames.
"Impossible!
How could fire melt our silk?!" the Spider Chieftain gasped, her eight eyes wide in disbelief.
Their silk wasn't supposed to burn, being extremely fire-resistant.
Unless… the flames contained some kind of special magic.
One-Eyed Owl gave a thumbs-up to the sky.
"Thanks, Firefly!
Good thing you inherited the dark element's corrosive power; I almost suffocated in there!"
Like Little Black, Firefly had inherited the dark element's annihilation power.
So, the silk had been corroded, not burned.
"But hey, later, do me a favor and roast me a spider to eat!" One-Eyed Owl cracked her neck, joints popping loudly.
She immediately launched herself into another attack!
This time, the spider silk couldn't touch her at all.
Earlier, she had just been careless.
Once she got close, despite the Death Spiders' eight legs, which they wielded like blades, One-Eyed Owl was prepared.
She had taken advice and wasn't being reckless this time.
Her armor protected her, allowing her to charge through and smash the Spider Chieftain's head open!
After killing the Chieftain, her gaze shifted to the Cockroach Chieftain in the distance.
"What a bizarre creature, but… looks like it could be fun!" she said, moving once more.
In the distance, the Cockroach Chieftain effortlessly lifted a Goblin Overlord and ripped it apart.
It also withstood attacks from the Potion Goblins as if they were nothing.
The Snakefolk had developed many offensive potions in addition to their healing ones.
When thrown, they could cause effects like freezing, fire, and corrosion.
Goblin warriors, armed with these potions, earned the title of Potion Goblins.
However, the Cockroach Chieftain was completely immune to their effects.
His Demon King-level strength, combined with the cockroach race's natural resilience, allowed him to resist most forms of damage.
"Hmph, so these are goblins?
Too weak," the Cockroach Chieftain sneered, taking a bite from the corpse of a Goblin Overlord.
"Pah, disgusting…"
Just as he finished speaking, he was abruptly sent flying several hundred meters by a single punch!
He smashed through a large number of Zerg along the way!
One-Eyed Owl looked even more disdainful.
"This is a Demon King?
Why does he feel so weak?"
Suddenly, a black figure flickered behind her, its hand shaped like a blade, stabbing viciously toward the lower left of her back, aiming straight for her heart.
Crack!
The sound of her armor shattering echoed!
One-Eyed Owl quickly leaped backward, her expression turning serious.
"This thing's got some skill after all.
Looks like a dumb brute, but it's way more dangerous than it looks!"
"The next strike… you will die…" the Cockroach Chieftain growled, his eyes full of killing intent.
His figure flickered as he vanished into the shadows.
One-Eyed Owl tensed, fully alert now, not daring to let her guard down.
Over the past six months, her combat power had risen to about 14,000.
But the Cockroach Chieftain, with his Demon King-level power, was close to 16,000.
Any creature with a power level exceeding 15,000 was considered to have reached Demon King status.
Despite the gap, One-Eyed Owl could still hold her own, and the fight was evenly matched.