Chapter 166: Flesh and Blood

Chapter 166: Flesh and Blood

For the first two days, Rio could still see Lily’s figure and directly follow her orders. After realizing he could carry out commands well, she rarely appeared again.

The commands were simple—find the nearest Demon Clan camp, then clear it. Like wiping away insignificant dust. She neither asked about the camp’s scale nor cared about the Insect Swarm’s losses.

This was a competition of survival of the fittest, fair yet cruel.

The Insect Swarm’s actions became more and more organized, splitting, merging, gathering, and dispersing more frequently. Probes paid for with lives gradually decreased; the Insect Swarm was beginning to understand the Demon Clan.

As they moved forward, several of his own kind appeared around him without him noticing—true kin, with dark green eyes, slightly taller and stronger builds, and a pair of auxiliary arms under their ribs, but these were not the most important traits. Humility was their shared characteristic; their tall, strong bodies were always hunched over, not daring, nor wanting, to stand straight.

Rio had weapons again. Four sharp battle blades were kept on his person at all times, held in his hands. The stains of blood on the blades proved they were not for show.

From the moment he tore the first bite of flesh, everything became different. A gloomy aura began to spread in his soul, slowly seeping out of his body.

Rio slowly raised a blade, and his slightly twisted face came into view.

“You! Are you still afraid of the stories from childhood?”

“No! Because I am the man-eating monster from those stories.”

…

As they pressed deeper, the targets became harder to deal with. The Demon Clan also noticed something unusual and began to pull back and retreat, sending out scouts. Although many went out and few returned, they gradually figured out the Insect Swarm’s scale.

The Insect Swarm moved very fast, so the Demon Clan decided to stay in what was once Silverpine Fortress, now Silverpine Town, to wait at their ease. Back then, the Demon Clan had always held the initiative on the battlefield, so this fortress was built carelessly. It was less a fortress and more a place for Demon Clan officers and soldiers to relax and amuse themselves, which also made the fortress more in name than in reality.

Back then, no one expected the war to last so long.

There, the Demon Clan met a real opponent—Anya. After failing to capture it for a long time, they tried to bypass it, only to encounter an even more troublesome foe—the Northlanders.

Everyone could sense the Northlanders were running out of steam, feeling that just one more push could break them, but they were wrong, very wrong.

One incompetent general was replaced, and another eagerly took his place…

Things became more and more like a farce. Those who were once despised by everyone straightened their backs again. Only because the losses grew more severe each time.

The arrival of each general was like a gambler. Just winning this one bet would bring a lifetime of glory…

Winning or losing gradually didn’t matter. Those sent here were not weak; on the contrary, it became a kind of proof. If you weren’t strong enough, then you weren’t qualified to be sent here.

More and more famous generals were tempered here, while the flesh and blood of the soldiers were forgotten.

The wall at the Western Territory pass was built from nothing, and the Demon Clan gradually gave up the idea of a direct assault there. However, the Northlanders’ retaliation began, and so the two sides went back and forth, seemingly endless…

Silverpine Fortress also accompanied this endless war, built from nothing. Armies came and went like tides, but they always left something behind, like children of unknown bloodlines. Like grains of sand abandoned on a beach, over time, the grains gathered more and more, and Silverpine Fortress gradually became today’s Silverpine Town.

The war was very close here because the army was the soul of this town; the war was also very far away because the flames of war had never reached here.

It was always them who unleashed the flames of war from here, and always them who voluntarily called them back, so the people here were always very proud.

In recent years, the war gradually moved away, but this pride remained. Because their army was still here, though its scale was not what it used to be.

There were reports that an unseen type of insect was attacking here. Their individual combat power was average, but their numbers were vast. The army in the fortress was mobilized in an orderly manner, without an overly tense atmosphere.

A bunch of insects, what was there to be tense about?

The army and townsfolk patiently waited inside Silverpine Town’s not-so-thick walls. The people here were used to war, even if some had never seen bloodshed.

…

Lily appeared again. Only then did Rio know that the Insect Swarm he was part of was just one of many.

Countless insects converged here. Resilient grass blades were gradually crushed, emitting a fresh scent that spread all around.

Silverpine Town, the military stronghold Rio spoke of. This Demon Clan member actually showed a trace of human-like emotion when mentioning it. But under her gaze, it quickly vanished.

“We can’t take that place,” Rio said in a faint voice, his face twisted with struggle. But this sentence, mustering all his courage, received no response.

With these words, Rio’s courage was completely exhausted. The Insect Swarm flowing past him carried him into the marching torrent.

…

In the early morning, the sound of a bell echoed over Silverpine Town. Many people paused for a moment before realizing it was an alarm.

Soldiers hastily ran toward the town wall. When they reached the top, a torrent had already surged forward. The torrent stopped a hundred meters from the town wall. Like water hitting a reef, it instantly split and flowed to both sides, soon surrounding the entire Silverpine Town.

As the encirclement formed, the clamor gradually quieted, and most of the insects crouched quietly on the ground. Thus, several figures were abruptly revealed.

This discovery caused a stir. Many soldiers pointed in that direction almost simultaneously. The clearly distinctive four arms belonged to the Demon Clan, their own people.

This was not an insect plague; someone was controlling this…

…

A young girl walked through the Insect Swarm, slowly approaching the town wall. As she moved forward, she gradually attracted everyone’s attention. People finally saw the clear Facial Markings on the girl’s face—a Northlander!

What did she want? To persuade them to surrender?

Were all the Northlanders dead? Letting a young girl take the lead.

Some sneered. They would wait for her to finish speaking, then give her an arrow. They had already decided the girl’s fate. Just as the Northlanders had done to them countless times.

The girl walked quietly to the front of the town wall, completely ignoring the arrows aimed at her.

“Can you understand my words?”

The town wall fell silent. Many looked at the girl with pity. Was she scared out of her mind…

…

Rio watched with mixed feelings as the girl walked out. Then he heard her question: “Can you understand my words?”

After a moment of silence, a burst of light erupted there, a dazzling, blinding light!

That light rose from the ground, landed on the town wall, and moments later, fell inside the town…

The Insect Swarm began to clamor, the sound growing sharper, more piercing, and more intense! But the insects’ bodies crouched lower and lower until their entire heads were pressed to the ground.

Rio also lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to move, as if he had returned to that day when a girl walked up to him and asked, “Can you understand my words?”

“Yes…”