How many Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants were there in front of them at this moment?
,000? 100,000? Or... Even more than that?
Captain Luxican didn’t know. All he could see was a densely packed multitude of Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants that formed an infinite, boundless ant tide surrounding them on all sides.
“Aren’t Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants underground Magical Beasts? Why are there so many of them here?”
Luxican couldn’t understand why. However, whether or not he understood was already no longer something of importance because the densely packed ant tide was already surging toward them. They pounced onto them, brandishing their sharp teeth as they did so.
“Get lost!”
“Leave me alone, you ugly freaks!”
“Ahhh!”
Against the raging, torrential ant tide, the Lucivia Mercenaries were as if an isolated island in the vast ocean. They didn’t last long before all of them disappeared without a trace, drowned by the waves.
Rustle, rustle!
The Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants were expressionless, as though what they had done was merely something trivial and inconsequential. They continued to surge forward while waving their sharp teeth.
Not a single person knew that the famed Lucivia Mercenaries had been annihilated just like that. The incident didn’t create even a ripple in the sea.
...
Meng Lei didn’t know about the Lucivia Mercenaries’ tragic fate. He steered the magic carpet and continued flying toward the outside of the forest. Now that they’d gone a far ways off, the Saint Domain Magical Beasts’ roars were no longer audible. It was only then that his heart settled a little.
“Ol’ President, why exactly are those Saint Domain Magical Beasts rampaging?” Meng Lei couldn’t figure it out. “It’s impossible to even catch a glimpse of them usually, so why did all of them suddenly come to life today?”
Ol’ Amos shook his head lightly. “There’s no smoke without fire. I can’t be sure what exactly has happened in the forest’s central region, but it’s probably nothing good.
“Saint Domain Magical Beasts are existences that already stand at the pinnacle of Magical Beast Forest. What else is there that’s capable of mass-inciting them?”
Meng Lei’s eyes swiveled as he asked, “Could some kind of treasure have emerged in the forest’s central region? Thereby causing all of them to make a move for it?”
“Not impossible, but it’s not very likely.” Ol’ Amos shook his head and said, “A king exists in Magical Beast Forest, and all the Saint Domain Magical Beasts are its subjects. Even if a treasure has really emerged, they don’t have a chance of getting it at all.”
“The king of Magical Beast Forest?” Meng Lei was taken aback. He hastily asked, “Ol’ President, Magical Beast Forest has a king?”
“Humans have kings, too. Why can’t Magical Beasts have one?” Ol’ Amos cast a glance at Meng Lei and said, “Seventh-Grade Magical Beasts possess intelligence comparable to humans, while Ninth-Grade Magical Beasts can even speak the human language. It wouldn’t be surprising even if Magical Beasts were to establish their own kingdom, much less just a king!”
“Fine!”
Meng Lei nodded quietly. He then asked, “Ol’ President, what kind of Magical Beast is the king of Magical Beast Forest? How strong is it? Have you ever seen it?”
A complex look flashed across Ol’ Amos’ eyes upon Meng Lei’s questions. “I was fortunate enough to have seen it once. That was when I had just broken through to Ninth-Grade Magician and became Fire Dragon Kingdom’s court magician.”
“What does it look like? What kind of Magical Beast is it?” asked Meng Lei with a curious expression.
Buzz, buzz!
Meng Lei’s magic communication device suddenly rang at this point. Meng Lei’s brows furrowed slightly, and he looked at it with great dissatisfaction, only to see that it was actually Abbe that was calling.
Abbe?
Meng Lei was rather bewildered. Abbe had never called him before, so why was he calling him now?
A puzzled Meng Lei chose to pick up the call.
The fellow had a distant and aloof expression on his face, and he uttered only a line before he hung up—”Something has gone wrong in Magical Beast Forest. Leave at once, otherwise, your life will be in danger!”
“Uh...”
A mildly dumbstruck Meng Lei stared at the communication device that was now disconnected. “That cold, icy fellow is actually giving me words of caution? How unexpected!”
Ol’ Amos laughed and replied, “Golden Colossal Dragon People may be haughty by nature, but they also make a clear distinction between kindness and grudges. You saved his life once, so it’s understandable that he’d warn you.”
“I guess so.”
Meng Lei shook his head lightly. Just as he was about to put away the magic communication device, it rang again unexpectedly. This time, the caller was Fatty Hart.
“Old bro, are you in Magical Beast Forest?”
The moment the call connected, Fatty Hart began to question him right away.
“Yes, what’s the matter?”
Meng Lei was rather bewildered.
Fatty Hart replied anxiously, “Something has gone wrong in Magical Beast Forest. A large-scale ant tide has erupted! You’d better run! Any longer, and you’re gonna die!”
“An ant tide? How did you know that?”
Meng Lei looked stupefied.
I’m in Magical Beast Forest, and I don’t even know what has happened, yet a little fatty like you in the capital city miles away does?
Are you kidding me?
Chapter 86: The Fearsome Ant Tide, Returning To The Village
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It was hard to tell what Fatty Hart was currently doing. His arms were bare, and his chest was revealed. Two huge 36D-sized lumps of fat swayed left and right, almost blinding Meng Lei.
“The news has already spread throughout the capital!
“His Majesty has just convened all the royalty, nobles, and officials for an emergency meeting and has also issued a special-class beast tide warning!
“At the same time, His Majesty has deployed the kingdom’s top elite Flying Dragon Troops to the borders. They’re probably on the way there now!”
Something seemed to occur to Fatty Hart, and he added, “By the way, the academy is also gathering seniors fourth-year and above in preparation against the beast tide.
“The Mercenary Guild, Magician Guild, and the church have also begun to mobilize their manpower in preparation for the ant tide that’s very likely going to break out!”
“Is it that bad?”
Meng Lei looked astonished. It hasn’t even been that long since the commotion had broken out in the Magical Beast Forest, yet the kingdom already knew all about it?
A special-class beast tide warning—that was the Fire Dragon Kingdom’s highest-class beast tide warning!
One must understand that as a result of Fire Dragon Kingdom being situated close to the Magical Beast Forest, it suffered badly from beast tide attacks. In order to defend against beast tides more efficiently, the capital was set in a location nearby Magical Beast Ridge, and they didn’t think much of normal beast tides at all.
Yet they had actually issued a special-class beast tide warning now. It seemed like things were really serious this time!
“An ant tide?”
Ol’ Amos’ brows drew together slightly. “There aren’t many powerful Magical Beast ant species in the Magical Beast Forest, though. Why would it set off such a huge commotion?”
Then, something seemed to come to Ol’ Amos’ mind, and his expression changed. “Hurry, ask him which Magical Beast ant species is the main unit for the ant tide this time?”
Meng Lei didn’t dare to be tardy, and he quickly asked Hart.
“I heard that it’s the Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants!” Hart answered at once.
“I
n addition, it’s a very large-scale Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ant tide. The eagle scouts have detected that extraordinarily large-scale Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ant invasions have simultaneously appeared in several regions of the Magical Beast Forest.
“These savage Sixth-Grade Magical Beasts have formed overwhelmingly large tidal waves that swept through every part of Magical Beast Forest. All the Magical Beasts there are desperately fleeing, and I heard that even the Saint Domain Magical Beasts were alarmed by this, causing them to flee in a panic!”
“Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants!!” Ol’ Amos’ expression changed drastically, and he sucked in a breath of air. “To think it’s actually the Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants! This is terrible!”
Meng Lei’s heart gave an uneasy thump upon the sight of Ol’ Amos’ expression. “Ol’ President, is a Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ant tide very scary?”
“How can the word ‘scary’ even cut it?”
Ol’ Amos heaved a sigh. “Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants are a type of dark-elemental Magical Beast that live underground. They rarely leave their habitat to move about elsewhere.
“Even if they did occasionally emerge aboveground, they were but just individual Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants that had lost their way. They are just Sixth-Grade Magical Beasts and don’t pose any threat at all.
“But...”
Ol’ Amos’ words took a turn in another direction. “When Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants emerge from underground at the same time on a grand scale, they will come together to form an exceptionally fearsome catastrophe. You can never imagine the sight of several million red ants congregating into a red torrent.
“Not even skeletal remains are left behind, and nothing is left alive in the barren lands!
“Every single living thing gets wiped out!”
“Is it that scary?!” Meng Lei gasped.
“Scary?” Ol’ Amos chuckled and asked, “Do you know why the six Saint Domain Magical Beasts, like the Moon-Howling Heavenly Wolf King, for example, suddenly ran out of their lairs roaring as they rushed toward the forest’s central region?”
“No, I don’t!” Meng Lei shook his head.
“It’s because they’ve gone to seek protection!”
Ol’ Amos gazed into the distance. “The king of the Magical Beast Forest lives in the forest’s central region. Only the king is capable of protecting those Saint Domain Magical Beasts. Otherwise, when the ant tide comes sweeping toward them, even Saint Domain Magical Beasts... would die a terrible death!”
“Even Saint Domain Magical Beasts would die?” Meng Lei gasped.
“Magical Beast insects such as ants and so on are different from other Magical Beasts. They don’t fear death, and they launch wave upon wave of attacks. Their numbers are inexhaustible, too. Even deities would find them a pain to deal with should they encounter them, much less Saint Domain Magical Beasts?”
Ol’ Amos shook his head.
“What should we do, then? If the ant tide attacks the kingdom’s borders, how are they going to fight them?” asked Meng Lei.
“It’ll have to depend on the situation!” With a shake of his head, Ol’ Amos went on. “The ant tide moves at a ferocious momentum with only one motive in mind—to seize food. All the Magical Beasts, trees, and weeds are their targets of plunder! Once they seize enough food in the Magical Beast Forest, they’ll automatically withdraw.”
“What if they can’t get enough food in the Magical Beast Forest?” Meng Lei balled his hands into fists. “Are they going to charge out of the forest and surge toward the borders?”
“Yes, that’s right!”
Ol’ Amos nodded. “Similar incidents had taken place several times before, among which, quite a few of them were false alarms. The ant tide had stayed only in the Magical Beast Forest to seize food and hadn’t attacked the borders.
“However, there were also a few times where they had invaded and caused great disaster upon the kingdom. People’s lives were plunged into great misery and suffering, and countless lives were lost!”
“So, nobody can guarantee whether or not they’ll attack the borders, right?” Meng Lei asked with a grave expression on his face.
“That’s right!”
“I understand now!”
Meng Lei let out a breath. He sped up and flew toward Magical Beast Village right away. While it was true that he didn’t harbor many sentimental feelings toward the village, he couldn’t just watch as the villagers perished in the ant tide, either.
He wasn’t capable of something like that.
Thanks to the magic carpet flying full speed ahead, Meng Lei managed to return to the village by noon. The adults busied themselves with their chores while the children frolicked and played. Smoke from cooking rose into the air, and the aroma of meat assailed the senses.
Magical Beast Village was still immersed in peace and quiet. None of them knew that a disaster was imminent!
Bong!
Meng Lei landed on the village walls at the village entrance and rang the old brass bell there. The deep, dull bong of the bell resounded in the sky above the Magical Beast Village, startling all the villagers. The adults’ countenances froze, and the children stopped where they were, and all of them looked in the village entrance’s direction.
“The old brass bell is ringing!”
“The beast tide is here again?”
Captain Hudders was having his lunch in his wooden hut when the bell rang. His countenance changed, and he tossed aside the bone he was holding. Then, he picked up his huge sword and exited the hut in a flash. He was in such a hurry that he couldn’t even be bothered to clean off the grease on his hands.
Swoosh!
All the adult men stopped their chores and walked out of their homes. They picked up their shovels and hoes, swords and rakes, and various other weapons and ran straight to the village entrance.
The women called out loudly for their children as they got ready to enter the underground shelter any moment.
For a moment there, a disturbance went through close to a hundred villagers of the entire Magical Beast Village!
“Meng Lei!”
Hudders, who was the first to reach the village walls, was overjoyed to see Meng Lei upon arrival. He said, “Meng Lei, when did you come back? Haha, with you around, I can rest assured!”
Contrary to his expectations, however, Meng Lei shook his head and replied, “Captain Hudders, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you. The scale of the beast tide this time is too big. I... can’t stop them!”
Hudders’ expression changed at once. “But you’re a Sixth-Grade Warrior and even a Fifth-Grade Magician, too. What kind of beast tide is it that even someone like you cannot fight against it?”
“We’ll talk when everyone’s here!”
Meng Lei waved him off.
“Meng Lei!”
“Captain!”
Before long, all the guards and adult men arrived one by one. Old Peter, the village chief, also hurried over to the village entrance while using his walking stick for support, stumbling as he did so.
When everyone had more or less arrived, Meng Lei recounted the details of the ant tide to them. Upon hearing his words, everyone was scared witless, and they felt chills coming all over them.
Blood drained from Captain Hudders’ face. He asked, “Meng Lei, is what you said really true? The ant tide is really coming?”
“It’s hard to say for sure whether or not they’ll come, but a large-scale Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ant tide has indeed occurred in the Magical Beast Forest. My friend in the capital has also told me that the king has specially issued a special-class beast tide warning because of this.”
Meng Lei looked grave as he continued speaking in a deep and low voice. “I heard that even the Flying Dragon Troops have been mobilized. The reason for me hurrying back here is precisely to inform all of you to make preparations in advance.
“You can only be safe if you take precautions. If the Bloodthir
sty Iron-Crystal Ants really surge out of the Magical Beast Forest, it’ll be the end for villages like ours. The kingdom’s troops will never leave the frontier defense stronghold to save commoners like us!”
A special-class beast tide warning and mobilization of the Flying Dragon Troops!
Blood drained from everyone’s faces.
“Meng Lei is right! It’s better to be safe than sorry!”
Old Peter was the first to make a decision. He instructed, “Tell every household to prepare rations and drinking water at once. The moment we discover traces of the ant tide, everyone is to enter the underground shelter immediately!”
Chapter 87: The Great Dragon Blood Wall, Making Arrangements For The Villagers
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Grandpa Village Chief, I’m afraid the underground shelter won’t do!” Meng Lei vetoed Old Peter’s suggestion at once. “The underground shelter can only defend against normal beast tides. It won’t be able to stop the Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants!”
“Why is that?
Old Peter’s brows drew together into a frown.
“Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants are a type of dark-elemental Magical Beast that live underground. The moment they catch a whiff of their prey, they’ll start to dig tunnels!” Meng Lei explained solemnly, “You can try imagining how fast Sixth-Grade Magical Beasts are at digging tunnels. The shelter won’t be able to stop them at all.”
“What should we do, then?”
Old Peter’s countenance changed at once. The village sat at the Magical Beast Forest’s fringes—the shelter was their last hope. What were the villagers supposed to do when even the shelter couldn’t serve its purpose?
“Retreat into The Great Dragon Blood Wall!” Meng Lei said slowly, “It’s the safest in the Great Dragon Blood Wall. Our safety can only be guaranteed over there!”
“The Great Dragon Blood Wall?”
Everyone looked at one another.
“Yes, the Great Dragon Blood Wall!”
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