Chapter 89: Chapter 89 - Fighting The Trained Mutants
The group quickly moved to form a tight formation, each mutant taking their designated position as if they had rehearsed this countless times before.
It was clear to Lily that they were well-trained and diciplined, unlike the panicked guards from before they didn't allow themselves to make any mistakes even in their fear and confusion.
That is to say— they still held fear.
No matter how well-trained one was for a situation, in the face of the unexpected and unknown there was so much that training could do— while they held determined looks on their faces and focus in their eyes, Lily could see the lingering fear behind them.
The Swarmlings locked onto them as the next target of their controlled chaos.
However they didn't act just yet— Lily watched the situation from her vantage points. Her view was a full 360 of the entire battlefield thanks to her many Hive Units.
Her mind calculated the best course of action to take— she understood that while her Swarmlings were formidable, they were not invincible. In fact one had already fallen under the earth spike attack of the man.
This group was coordinated and had much better training than any of the mutants she had face so far. Honestly it was impressive and it made her truly wonder the depths of this organization— but for now she had to deal with them.
An idea flashed in her mind and without hesitation she put it into action— the ground under the group shook slightly as they were focused on the Swarmlings around them.
Only the leader seemed to have noticed, as just before the ground burst open from below— revealing the mouth of the large Direworm Lily had controlled to dig under them— he shouted a command to the group.
"Dodge!"
The group didn't even question or doubt the man's order as he gave it, dodging to the sides as he ordered with large jumps. Due to this, they avoided the incoming Direworm; however, despite their quick reflexes and the man's ability to sense the vibration in the earth below him— they were not entirely unscathed.
Shards of rock and debris flew through the air from the outbreak— striking several of the mutants and sending them stumbling from the mess.
Yet, even in the midst of this chaos, they remained resilient and disciplined, quickly regaining their footing and closing the distance between each of them to maintain a closed formation.
They assessed the situation around them— gazing at the sudden appearance and disappearance of the Direworm with increased vigiliance.
They were now aware of the dangers they faced, both above the ground and below it— and due to this, they had to remain quick on their feet. Even the previously gutsy female was vigilant.
With the momentary gap in the group's formation caused by the sudden emergence of the Direworm, Lily wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to launch a coordinated assault on each of them using the Swarmlings.
The Swarmlings rushed forward from all directions and as the group was trying to gather back into formation, they swiftly attacked them like an incoming wave.
They were overwhelming— one of the mutants attempted to fight back the incoming Swarmlings by somehow pushing them away forcefully— however they did not touch the creatures physically.
Lily instantly recognized the ability as some form of telekinesis— and while it was strong enough to push away a few of the incoming ones. Faced with the large amount and the lack of a method to kill them— she was quickly overwhelmed by the Swarmlings and dragged into the hoard.
Another mutant— the muscular female was fairing much better.
As she had more combat capabilities than the mutant with telekinesis, she was able to put up a greater fight. The first few Swarmlings to attack her were squished by her like bugs— the pain from their death ringing through Lily's mind.
She fought valiantly— killing over 5 of the Swarmlings before she was simply overwhelmed by their large amount and covered in wounds. Their hard body and hair granted them a natural defense— and by using their hard strands of hair as needles it even granted them a means of offense.
Under the continuoed attack of dozens of the Swarmlings at once— facing the brunt of the force— she was overwhelmed and could barely hold on.
"Come on, boss, do something!"
She groaned as she grabbed one of the Swarmling's body and swung it at another incoming Swarmling— sending it flying like a homerun ball.
The leader could do little in this situation either, as he had to handle a problem of his own. Not only did he have to deal with the Swarmlings— which he was capable of doing— killing quite a few by creating spikes from the ground below them.
But he had to face the constant attacks from the Direworms below which caused him a headache. Due to their constant burst from underground he had to constantly be moving around, seperating and isolating him from his team.
This was all part of Lily's plan— as she knew he would pose a problem with his ability to manipulate the earth and easily kill her Swarmlings.
In fact, the amount of pain she felt from him alone was enough to cause a mild headache— which goes to show his capabilities.
What she didn't expect, however, was what she thought was a successful plan— to suddenly go haywire.
One of the mutants she paid little attention to due to their weak attacks— only creating small bursts of kinetic energy that seemingly pushed away the Swarmlings and didn't do anything of worth— suddenly stood up and stopped moving.
The Swarmlings rushed them, using this chance to kill them quickly. However, as they each attacked the body of the person, Lily noticed that they attacked while harming them, but they made no attempt to make it stop.
This caused an odd sensation of doubt and worry to ring through her mind as she quickly ordered the Swarmlings to stop attacking and move back— fearing that something would happen.
And it seemed her premonition was right because as she ordered the Swarmling to move back— the male mutant that stood still all along suddenly spoke and said.
"Brace for impact."
With his words of warning— and the Swarmlings having backed off to create distance— the team suddenly grouped up away from him, and a barrier covered them all.
Then came the blinding light— it covered the entire field and swallowed the Swarmlings that were within range.
Dozens of Swarmlings all died at once— even some of her Direworms that were near the surface suffered from the explosion.
Blood gushed out of her eyes as the feedback of all those deaths hit her at once— and while her body wasn't technically injured— she couldn't help but spit out some blood and clinch her head.
"Ugh, what?"
Her mind rang from the pain— temporarily disorienting her as she tried to reaccess the situation through her hive.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ZeroX0666
ZeroX0666 Sorry for the delay; my sister got sick and because of that I'm currently sick as well.
Chapter 90: Chapter 90 - Ending The Fight
Lily's mind reeled from the sudden onslaught of feedback from over a dozen of her Hive Units perishing at once— plus the ones that were injured in the process.
It was as if a bursting pain was ringing throughout her mind, the throbbing sensation causing an ache. Blood trickled from her nose— her hand wiping it away as she regained her composure.
If it wasn't for her enhanced mental strength, such mental feedback would be much worse; however, since her mental state was so high, it only made her temporarily disoriented. The blood loss was a natural bodily reaction to warm her of the impact.
"I expected it to be difficult, but this is disappointing."
She couldn't help but be disappointed in her own lacking capabilities—it had to be known that even though she was a hivemind, she rarely relied on her Hive Units to fight, and they rarely got injured.
Due to this she had little experience with personally controlling or dealing with the backlash that was brought about by the mental feedback of the Hive Units being connected to her mind— espicessly in such a large amount.
She shifted her attention back to the scene through her Hive Units.
From that attack alone, over 11 of her Swarmlings had been torn apart and instantly perished under the force of the explosion, including the ones that died facing the other mutants. In total, she had 34 Swarmlings remaining.
Even worse was the fact that a Direworm died from that explosion— being an expensive unit to produce and a key figure in her plans, losing one was unfortunate.
Putting aside the losses to the Hive for the time being, she assessed the situation on the battlefield using the various view points. The once chaotic scene lay eerily silent, the air thick with dust, smoke, and the wailings of pain coming from surviving Fort members who were caught in the explosion.
What she found curious was the way the explosion destroyed things—it wasn't like a bomb going off that simply destroyed everything around it; instead, from her point of view, it looked more like an outward burst of energy that either pushed everything away or disintegrated things that were too close.
The building itself was destroyed, but the walls weren't simply broken— they were caved in, overlapping with the inside of the building and sealing it off.
The people that were close to the scene that had managed to survive the Swarmlings were on the ground with bodies broken and seemingly rotting— as if acid had burned away at their flesh at rapid rates.
The ground had cracked, and a large crater had formed, with the mutant that had exploded at its core. As the dust slowly settled, she found the mutant still alive.
Albeit, they were seemingly passed out on the floor.
As the dust settled further and Lily was able to make out more of the battlefield, she found that the group of mutants, though battered and bruised, had managed to survive the blast, shielded by the barrier created by their companions.
From what Lily could tell, the barrier was barely holding on; cracks had formed throughout it, and the mutant that created it was supported by another member of the team.
It was clear that this was the majority of his strength—he would be useless in any further situations.
Lily felt a pang of anger ringing through her mind at the loss of her creations— many died because of the actions of one mutant, and even his allies remained.
But she quickly snuffed the thought out and focused on the matters before her— anger and grief were of no use to her if they distracted her in battle.
The mutant group wore grim faces, seeing and feeling the aftereffects of their comrades' abilities used to the max. They were thankful they survived, but they were not able to celebrate just yet as they noticed the remaining creatures still existed.
With a deep breath, the pain from her mind quickly subsided, and Lily focused her attention on the remaining pieces of the Fortress. Though weakened, the mutants were still formidable and determined; she wasn't sure what cornered animals would do.
She couldn't afford to underestimate them and face another backlash.
Slowly, the Swarmlings began to converge on the mutants from all sides. As the mutants were now gathered in one place, surronding them with the remaining Swarmlings was much easier.
The Swarmlings were swift and coordinated as they closed the area around their target off— but this time, Lily held back some of the Swarmlings.
Opting to have some remain back and observe a little first from a safe distance rather than having them all dive into battle.
She needed to conserve the remaining forces she had and act only when the perfect opportunity to strike arrived would she act.
As the Swarmlings she sent forward engaged in combat with the mutants— their swift bodies jumping at them with claws and teeth like razers ready to rip them apart— Lily watched intently from all angles.
Her mind raced with thoughts as she analyzed the entire battlefield, looking for any sign of weakness or vulnerability. Even the slightest moment could be used to her advantage.
Even in their weakened state, the remaining mutants were still quite skilled—especially their leader and the muscular female.
They were the main fighting force of the remaining group as the other member supported the weakened Barrier Mutant— using her telekinesis to support the others from behind.
Even with the injured and their team not full, they were able to work perfectly together— showing just how close and trained the team was. They each made up for a gap in another's ability and perfectly countered the Swarmlings that rushed them.
The tension in the air growing thicker with each passing moment— the onslaught of the Swarmlings growing more violent with each passing moment and the group growing weaker in turn.
And then, in a sudden flash of insight, Lily saw her opening to make a move.
The Barrier Mutant passed out from his weakness, which temporarily wavered the Telekinesses girl's attention and shifted it to him—this granted her the perfect chance to get in between the gaps left by her distraction.
Swarmlings rushed the group in an instant, and the ones that waited from behind rushed forward instantly. Slipping through the opening left by the two mutants that fought, they got behind them—their target was the girl.
Normally, she would make up for the blind spots of the other two, but with her distraction, the Swarmlings were able to slip past them and get to her— their claws slashing forward as they sunk into the girl's body.
Blood gushed out as the girl's gutwrenching scream echoed out when the Swarmlings bit into her body and neck, using their sharp teeth.
Before the other two could realize what had happened— she was dead.
The remaining mutants fought valiantly, their powers clashing against the relentless onslaught of the Swarmlings, but despite their best efforts, they were slowly being overwhelmed— their strength waning further with each passing moment.
With the fall of another of their comrades, their already lacking formation took a heavy blow—they could no longer leave their blind spots to the girl, and because of this, they were quickly put into a disadvantageous position.
The musclar female was the first to fall among the two that reaming— she fought with all her might and did a lot of damage to the Swarmlings however as she fought with her bare body, the wounds eventually caught up to her.
Bleeding out— she could no longer maintain her strength and fell to her knees— instantly, the Swarmlings rushed her and ripped her body apart without hesitation.
With a final burst of effort, Lily pushed her Hive Units to their limits to deal with the final one. He fought valiantly and refused to fall even with all his remaining teams dead—however, even the more valiant souls perished under the masses.
Eventually, he fell, unable to muster up the energy needed to control the earth once more— the Swarmlings were rushing him.
Yet under the impending Swarmliings the man did not show any fear, he did not beg for his life, nor did he cower— his face stood firm as he looked upon the sky.
Just as the Swarmlings covered him— ripping his body apart and killing him— Lily made out the words that escaped his lips.
"For the brotherhood."
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
12 Power
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