“They’re too stubborn to go down!” An assassin complains while dueling an elite insectoid.

“We’ll launch a suppressing fire. We’ll push them until we corner them.” Rez orders the dwarven snipers and other mercenaries to keep firing. The hail of bullets and arrows manage to dent some of the elite insectoids’ tough carapace. The elite insectoids remain in a defensive position like an organized humanoid army. The front row shrugs off the projectiles while the back row shields the top.

“They’re smarter than I thought. They might like this one.” Rez lobs a bottle of oil to the elite insectoids. The flammable fluid seeps through their solid formation. After the flammable oil disperses, a mercenary mage casts a ball of fire, rolling across the floor.

“Fire in the hole!”

The mercenaries retreat as the elite insectoids go ablaze. Their defensive position breaks down by the sea of flame. Rez rallies his allies to continue shooting them down. They manage to whittle them down. Some elite insectoids limp down and screech in pain. Others decide to devour the carcasses of their fallen companions. The elite insectoids begin to bulk out and project sharper spikes.

“That’s disgusting!” An assassin throws out upon seeing the inhumane cannibalism.

“Looks like they believe in survival of the fittest. The weakest link gets eaten.”Rez observes while looking at horror. He never realized there will be living beings more terrifying than his race.

As the flame clears out, the elite insectoids recklessly charge forwards Rez and the mercenaries. Most of them managed to evade the charging enemies. Some got caught by the elite insectoids’ spikes. Before they could eat the injured mercenaries, Rez shoots them in their eyes.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Rez redirects the elite insectoids’ attention towards him. They scream at him for disturbing their supposed meal. The other mercenaries carry the injured away from the elite insectoids. Rez throws another cluster of explosives to weaken them. From the wake of the explosion, a pincer emerges and grabs Rez.

“Let go of me!” Rez furiously bashes the elite insectoid’s head with his firearm’s grip. The pincer painfully grips Rez but he struggles to survive. He knees the enemy’s head then performs a backflip kick. The insectoid gets stunned and Rez fires on the enemy’s abdomen. He rapidly triggers his firearm until the insectoid’s soft thorax becomes exposed.

“See ya!” Rez aims a sticky explosive at the insectoid’s thorax. He rolls backwards to escape The elite insectoid helplessly panics on the stick explosive and it detonates. The explosion’s impact rips the elite insectoid apart.

“You’re bleeding profusely.” A mercenary herbalist remarks and patches Rez’s wounds on both of his sides. She bandages the limping infernal who tries to act tough.

“This is nothing, we have to push forward and catch up with Randor.” Rez drags himself but remains standing. He opens his wrapped medicinal herb, burns its edge and sucks some of its smoke.

“That would be a temporary solution for your wound. You might need immediate medical help.” The mercenary herbalist comments.

The skirmish between the elite insectoids and the mercenary continues. Both sides got weaker due to the prolonged fight. The elite insectoids resume their defensive positions and block the hallway again like an impenetrable wall.

“They’re really stubborn, aren’t they?” Rez complains while filling up his firearms with another round of ammunition. They prepare for the enemies’ next charging attack.

Averill, the remaining elven knights and adventurers arrive at the main entrance of the hive. Corbin crashes the earthen gates with his sword. The elven knights take a defensive formation to shield the adventurers. The main chamber takes the similarities of a nobility’s manor. Everything has glistening stones and glowing light sources. Except the decorations look cruder with its earthen materials.

“The insectoids are surely extravagant with their hive.” Milas is eager to inspect the interior but Corbin tugs her back to the formation.

“The coast is clear.” An elven knight signals to Averill.

“Then let’s proceed to the throne room.” Averill holds her shield while preparing to strike any attackers. They slowly descend to the main chamber while staying alert. At any time, the enemy insectoids could ambush at their blind side.

Another group of elite insectoids are waiting for them, already anticipating their arrival. They croak in hostility and form their own defensive positions. The front row of elite insectoids pounds their chests to provoke the elven knights. The elven knights grit their teeths and carefully approach the enemies. The two sides clash and show no mercy to each other. The elite insectoids use their brute strength to crush the elven defense. The elven knights push away the elite insectoids then immediately duck downwards. Adventurers use projectiles from behind the lines. Despite dealing minimal damage, the projectiles distract the elite insectoids. The elven knights used the opportunity to surround them.

Out of the distance, Milas gives Corbin a footing. Coming from a running distance, he steps at Milas’s palms, leaps in the air and smashes the elite insectoids from above. He unleashes an intense force and the enemies almost get embedded to the ground. Corbin charges towards one of the elite insectoids’ commanders. He duels the large commander while the others strike at the elite insectoids.

Corbin and the elite insectoid commander face off each other. They take turns striking and parrying each other. Corbin’s successive slashes deflect the commander’s massive punches. The commander’s barbed arms puncture the half-orc while puncturing him. But Corbin’s momentum increases as he gets angrier. His eyes dilate and turn bloody red.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“RAAAUGH!!!” Mustering his orcish strength, Corbin ignores all of the commander’s punches and raises his sword. His relentless slash cleanly bisects the commander in half. Some elven knights get terrified with the half-orc’s might.

With no commander leading them, the elite insectoids lose their focus. This allows the elven knights to pin down the remaining enemies. Their swords and spears at first can’t penetrate the elite insectoid’s carapace. But with their continuous attacks, they manage to break their carapaces and finally hit their soft insides. The elven knights overwhelm the elite insectoids despite their huge stature. The rest of the adventurers cooperate in clearing the insectoid chamber.

Coming out of the eastern tunnels of the hive, Rez and the mercenaries emerge. They run away from the elite insectoids who are chasing them. Then a thundering explosion erupts behind the mercenaries. Some elite insectoids flung from the explosion.

“What an entrance you got there!” Milas shouts at Rez.

“We always got to look great!” Rez replies while struggling to run. He accidentally drops his medicinal herb from the explosion but he decides to step on it. He pretends to be alright.

“Come here sir Rez, you do look terrible with that injury.” Averill approaches Rez and performs a healing chant.

“Sacred World Tree, heal these painful wounds.”

A greenish aura radiates from Averill’s hands. She invokes life force from the ground and vines wrap around Rez’s wounds.

“Wow, I never felt this good!” Rez remarks and his wound closes like nothing happened.

“Just let the vines stay for a while, they would take care of your injuries.”Averill reminds the excited infernal.

“Elven magecraft? Never knew elven knights know magic.” Corbin comments.

“We do practice magecraft by invoking life force from the World Tree. The World Tree also bears runic fruits in the form of stone tablets.”

“Mighty knights using magic?. That sounds impressive.” Milas praises the elves.

“Looks like you fought better than us.” Rez complements the remaining rescue team.

“Please bring the injured here, we will heal them.” Averill asks Rez to bring the wounded on the elven knights’ side..

Rez called the injured mercenaries and the elven knights attended them. He even volunteers to carry one of them. Corbin and Milas help out on tending the injured by cradling them on their backs.

“The rest shall secure this chamber and recuperate. We will push further to the queen’s chamber.” Averill begins to sound like a seasoned captain.

Back at the elven hall, Regina is struggling to defeat the chilopoda. It still wraps the whole elven hall with its long body. The chilopoda spews acidic fluid but Regina dodges it.

“It’s been a while since I fought a massive insectoid. Have at you!”

Regina avoids each of the chilopoda’s acidic fluids. But a spray of acidic fluid almost touches her, she parries it with her massive shield. Knowing that its acid fluid no longer works, the chilopoda digs underground. It hides beneath the elven hall’s floor, prompting a strike. Regina patiently waits for her enemy’s surprise attack.

Minutes passed and the chilopoda never returned. While Regina waits, the reinforcements return to the Ironthorne Kingdom. They also brought back the prisoners to the barracks first. The elven’s residence is not yet safe to return. The civilians meanwhile have no choice but to barricade their doors.

“Captain Regina, are you all right?” Inquired by an inexperienced elven knight.

“How are the elders doing?” Regina asks her subordinate.

“We just arrived with the captured villagers and allies. They are currently staying at the barracks. We shall send them back once the invasion ends.”

The elven knight is about to report more of the situation when the chilopoda emerges to the kingdom’s higher rung. Nobilites and merchants run away from the rampaging chilopoda. It swings its body and demolishes some of the buildings.

“We may have to check the elders later. Let’s focus first with the immediate threat!” Regina calls her warmount, a white horned equidae. Her warmount arrives gallantly and allows her to mount.

“Call the rest of the knights and guards, we have a kingdom to save!”

Averill and the rest of the adventurers plan their next attack. With the help of the mercenaries and assassins, their strength increases.

But when the group is about to proceed, more elite insectoids emerge from the northern tunnel.

“Great, how can we reach Randor if these nuisance keep on appearing?” Rez gets annoyed.

“The prince went ahead of you?” Corbin asks out of disbelief.

“We can’t let him go alone. He might be in danger!” Milas worries about the prince.

The elite insectoids are marching towards the adventurers, mercenaries and elven knights. The alliance are starting to get exhausted. Their resources for the fight are running low. Out of nowhere, the hive tremors violently. Everybody in the chamber loses their balance. The hive’s ceiling crashes down, entombing some of the elite insectoids. The adventurers, mercenaries and elven knights manage to dodge the falling debris. They are fortunately away from the chamber’s main ceiling. A beam of sunlight gleams from above.

“The cavalry's here!” Ayala arrives with the allied insectoids and negotiators.

Ayala, Calma and Nia leap from the coccinellidae, and land carefully to the main chamber. They engage with the elite insectoids on their arrival. Ayala and Calma work back to back as they impale and bash the enemies. Nia uses a strengthening magecraft to Ayala and Calma. Her flank is supported by the allied insectoids.

The aphidoideas spew yellow strings to constrict the remaining elite insectoids. The coleopteras wrestles the enemies in toe to toe. Arriving from the annelidas, the rest of the negotiators use their magecraft to shoot down the elite insectoids. The white formicidae throw rocks from a distance since they can’t match the enemies’ strength.

The ambush from above is successful. Majority of the elite insectoids are defeated. Some elite insectoids who refuse to surrender stab themselves with their barbed arms. Others get ensnared by the aphidoideas’ yellow strings Ayala approaches one of the defeated elite insectoids and interrogates it.

“Okay listen, why invade Ironthorne Kingdom? We had a peace treaty years ago.” Ayala uses her insectoid speaking skills.

“The queen hungers, the treaty years ago is useless!”

“Is that what the queen wants or you decided for it?”

“The cube speaks for the queen!” The elite insectoid tries to clamp Ayala until Gimbal spits a yellow string on its mouth.

“They can no longer be reasoned with, the relic that you mentioned has altered their minds. The once valiant guards of the queen become hideous monsters” Gimbal sighs.

Ayala tries to reason with the other elite insectoids but they refuse. Every ensnared elite insectoid forcefully pop their heads off by building pressure from their thorax. Their act of sacrifice further horrifies the elven alliance.

“They are really loyal to the queen.” Rez observes with dismay. He imagines if he was an enemy, he would surrender peacefully.

“We can’t do anything about it. It’s time to stop the queen.” Nia solemnly prays for the elite insectoids who once were noble protectors.

“Then let’s go to the throne room!” Ayala insists everyone to move forward.