บท 72: Attacking the Nest (4)
Before the start of the battle, the three Awakened of the government had explained their main goal clearly.
To kill the Spider Queen.
The spider queen was not only the strongest spider in the nest, but it had also a great reproductive ability. If the spider queen was not killed and it reached the outside world, it could give birth to thousands of spiderlings in one week.
Likewise, even if some of the other spiders reached the outside world, their threat would be much lower without a queen.
Swarm spiders can choose a new queen from the spiderlings, but the new queen needed time to grow. That is enough time for the Awakened in the outside world to exterminate them.
Due to it, killing the spider queen was the main priority of this expedition. However, the queen was protected zealously by the other spiders. If the queen was in danger, the other spiders would rush towards it immediately.
Aware of it, the Awakened did not attack the queen immediately. Instead, they attacked the nest and forced the spiders to leave it first.
Then, when most of the spiders had left the nest, John finally acted.
He used his sword to cut a path through the spiders, then he rushed straight towards the nest to kill the queen.
That was the reason he had not made a move until now. Since the start, his only target was the queen.
After John left, Serena looked at the rest of the group and shouted.
"Everybody! Endure until John kills the queen! After that, the battle will be much easier!"
She then continued using her skill, [Shockwave], to attack the spiders rushing towards the group.
Serena was extremely powerful, and her skill was very suitable for group battles. She alone was the reason why the spiders had not overwhelmed the Awakened yet.
She had killed more spiders that all the other Awakened combined! Around three hundred spiders had been killed by her alone!
But even so, the spiders seemed endless.
Serena was afraid that she would consume her entire mana pool before they could kill all the spiders.
"Fuck." Serena panted after using her ability to crush a nearby spider.
"Are you alright?" Asked Steven, the last Awakened of the government.
Unlike John and Serena, he was just at the sixth tier. But even so, he was much stronger than the other Awakened.
His mission was to protect Serena. He also helped to kill some spiders, but most of the time, he remained beside Serena to stop any spider that came too close to her.
"I'm alright. But I don't know how much longer I can keep using my skill. My mana won't last much longer."
Steven nodded with a solemn expression and observed the situation.
By this time, ten Awakened had been killed by the spiders, and another three were gravely injured. They would die soon if they did not receive medical attention.
The remaining Awakened were not in a good condition either. With a few exceptions, most of them had suffered injuries or had exhausted their mana.
Even then, they had killed only around half of the spiders.
If they continued like this, most of the Awakened here would die.
But suddenly, a wail of pain and rage came from the nest.
*SCREEECH!!!*
The spiders attacking the Awakened stopped immediately. They then turned around and rushed towards the nest in a panic.
"Stop them!" Serena shouted. "Don't let them go to help the queen!"
These words restored the morale of the Awakened. Immediately, they rushed towards the spiders and attacked them.
In an instant, the situation was reversed. This time, the Awakened were the ones attacking the spiders.
'Good.' Serena smiled. 'It looks like the plan worked perfectly.'
She could feel the fluctuations of battle coming from the nest. It seemed that John was fighting the queen and the spiders protecting it.
'Judging from the fluctuations, there are five, no, six Tier Five spiders plus several Tier Four spiders. John should be able to take care of them by himself.' Serena was finally relieved.
But it was still too early to celebrate.
Serena knew that their mission now was to stop the spiders from returning to the nest before John killed the queen. No matter how strong John was, he was unable to face over one thousand spiders by himself.
If John managed to kill the queen before the other spiders returned, then the rest would be easy. Otherwise, the situation would become more complicated.
"Continue attacking! Don't let the spiders return!" Serena shouted.
But at that moment, an unexpected change occurred.
All of sudden, a loud shriek came from behind the group.
*SCREEEECH!!!*
The piercing shriek resounded through the battlefield. It was so loud and sharp that some of the weakest Awakened bled from their ears after hearing it.
Serena looked behind the group with an ashen expression.
At some point in time, a five-meters tall spider had appeared behind them.
This spider was not much different from the others. It was just a bit taller than normal spiders. However, the mana coming from it made several Awakened become pale.
"Another tier six spider! Impossible!" Steven shouted.
In the next instant, the spider jumped.
"Fuck!"
Serena cursed loudly as she threw a shockwave towards the spider, but surprisingly, it crossed its front legs, using them to break through the shockwave and land in the middle of the Awakened.
Then, it brandished its legs as spears towards the Awakened in the surroundings.
In the next second, several Awakened were cut into two.
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