Chapter 581 329: Waxing and Waning

Xige Plane, Wanxi Plain.

In previous years, by June, Wanxi Plain would always be a sea of blooming flowers and lush greenery, with herds of wild cattle galloping about, full of vitality.

However, this year, the entire Wanxi Plain is shrouded in smoke and filled with killing intent reaching the sky.

The Star Alliance and millions of ancient insects have gathered here, fighting desperately.

The clash of energies, the brilliance of magic, the sky-obscuring black smoke, the roar of golems and the screech of ancient insects have turned Wanxi Plain into a mess, losing its former beauty.

More than half of Wanxi Plain has now turned blackened; after years of warfare, the surface layer has been blasted countless times, leaving the ground pitted and cratered like a landscape struck by meteors, with no intact spot in sight.

Looking out, over a thousand square kilometers of land, only a few thin blades of grass stubbornly poke out from the blackened ground, reminding that this was once a beautiful prairie.

At this moment, in the center of Wanxi Plain, a battle is still raging fiercely.

Fierce insect beasts are charging forward like waves, their piercing screeches echoing across the plain.

Standing in their way is a battle formation composed of countless golem puppets.

They are like rocks, unmoved by the flood of insect beasts crashing against them.

In the sky above, thousands of flying magic ships escort dozens of stellar fortresses and three wizard towers, raining down firepower without restraint upon the insect swarm.

A large number of flying insect beasts flap their wings at high speed to destroy these war machines threatening the insect swarm, but are annihilated before they get close, unable even to break through the outermost flying magic ship formations.

Boom!

A thunderous sound abruptly rings out, clear even on the noisy battlefield.

Two cavalry legions suddenly cut in from the left and right wings of the battlefield, piercing the insect formation like sharp knives.

Clad in fine armor with dark demon patterns on their faces, the construct knights ride sub-dragons and Black Rock Leopards, charging wildly into the insect swarm like tigers into a flock of sheep, creating a scene of blood and gore in an instant.

Already at a disadvantage under the Star Alliance's war machines, the insect swarm, with the Demon Pattern Knight Order joining the battlefield, is now retreating more and more, showing signs of collapse.

But just then, an invisible wave sweeps across the battlefield like a storm.

In an instant, the sharp screeches rise to a new level.

The remaining ancient insects on the battlefield suddenly become extremely frenzied, recklessly charging towards the Star Alliance army.

At the same time, more ancient insects suddenly emerge from the rear and from underground, joining the battle, instantly stabilizing the shaky situation of the insect swarm, and even allowing a counterattack.

Inside the Wizard Tower, Sherman, Attila, and Cole watch this scene, not surprised but delighted.

"It's the psychic wave of the ancient insects, the Mother Bug has finally shown itself!"

"After waiting so long, we've finally forced it out."

"After all, this is the last troop of the ancient insects. If it doesn't come out now, it will have no chance."

The war on Xige Plane has lasted more than ten years, with the ancient insect invasion exceeding ten million in scale.

Realizing that such a large swarm must be commanded by a Mother Bug, the Star Alliance immediately sent massive armies to confront them. After hundreds of battles, uncountable ancient insects have been exterminated, and finally, today, they've forced the Mother Bug to show itself.

As the commander of the Xige Plane war affairs, Sherman was prepared for this and immediately issued new orders.

In the next moment, the deafening roar of dragons echoed from afar.

A group of giant dragons flapped their wings, causing a storm as they swiftly swept in, reaching the battlefield in an instant.

After a thousand years of breeding and development, the Star Alliance's Giant Dragon Legion has become formidable, with the entire legion boasting over six thousand dragons.

Among them, more than a hundred have reached Level 2 status.

The dragon group that suddenly appeared on the battlefield is only a part of the Giant Dragon Legion, numbering about a thousand.

With the dragons joining the battle, the insect swarm, which had shown signs of a counterattack, was immediately suppressed again, with many ancient insects perishing under the scorching breath of the dragons.

Boom!

Just then, a huge explosion erupted from deep within the insect formation, followed by a piercing shriek that seemed to tear through eardrums, and a thunderous roar.

As the sound began, all the ancient insects on the battlefield suddenly froze, then unhesitatingly turned around, recklessly charging towards the source of the sound, exposing their backs fully to the enemy.

Seeing this, Sherman was overjoyed.

"The Hidden Dragon succeeded!"

Attila smiled slightly and said, "Indeed, this kind of task is best suited for the Hidden Dragon."

As the magical pet of Sunan, the Star Alliance's leader, and the only Level 3 dragon in the Star Alliance, the Hidden Dragon is ranked among the top thirty high-level combat forces within the Star Alliance.

Especially with its ability to shift between reality and illusion, it executes terrifying assassinations on the battlefield, often effortlessly breaking through to the enemy commander's location to execute decapitation tactics.

This time is no exception.

The Mother of Insects had been hiding all this while, but now that it's surfaced, no matter how deeply it hides, it will soon be found by the Hidden Dragon.

For creatures like the Mother of Insects that have little combat power, once the Hidden Dragon gets close, their fate is predictable.

Sure enough, before long, the screeching sound in the distance abruptly stopped.

At the same time, the remaining ancient insect formation went into disarray, falling into panic, scurrying around like headless flies.

The Star Alliance army seized the opportunity to intensify their offensive, exterminating the swarms.

"It's over." Sherman showed a faint smile on his face.

Once the war here ends, the insect swarms on the Xige Plane are basically exterminated, with the remaining scattered ancient insects no longer a threat.

"Now the swarms within Star Alliance's territory have been almost completely cleaned up."

Attila's eyes also flashed with a hint of joy.

Unknowingly, the ancient insect disaster has persisted for over twelve hundred years.

The entire multiverse has suffered from this catastrophe, countless powers have perished beneath the sea of insects.

Even large Wizard influences have suffered great losses due to the ancient insect disaster.

The Dark Throne has suffered the most losses.

More than a third of its territory has fallen, and it has yet to reverse the disadvantage.

Among the many forces, the performance of the Star Alliance can be said to be exceptionally outstanding.

On one hand, the Star Alliance was well-prepared early on, reserving a vast amount of supplies.

On one hand, although the Star Alliance is a second-tier top-notch Wizard force, the number of planes under its control is relatively small, even less than a second-tier Wizard force like the Ten Thousand Headed Bird.

Thus, it doesn't need to disperse its strength to guard against multiple planes like those large Wizard forces, allowing its defensive power to be relatively concentrated.

Throughout the millennia-long war, the losses suffered by the Star Alliance were not significant.

On the contrary, the high-intensity war allowed the Star Alliance's strength to multiply.

A large number of Wizard Apprentices and Wizards succeeded in breakthroughs after being tempered by the war.

Other Wizard influences lost many Wizards due to the war, but the number of Wizards in the Star Alliance has not diminished but increased, now surpassing five thousand.

The number of Level 2 Wizards even exceeded three hundred.

There are as many as seven Level 3 Wizards.

Led by Lady Lize, who is currently in seclusion seeking a breakthrough, it's estimated that it won't be long before she advances to a True Spirit Wizard.

By then, in addition to Lord Sunan and the three Divine Power Golem, the Star Alliance will gain another Level 4 battle power.

With the rise and fall, the current strength of the Star Alliance is subtly approaching the Dark Throne.

"With the Xige Plane's warfare resolved, we can also return to the Starlight Continent."

Sherman exhaled deeply.

Attila glanced at him, smiled, and said: "Your third talent crystal is about to be fully filled, right? Are you going to prepare for seclusion this time when you return?"

Sherman nodded with a smile.

As the commander leading the war effort on the Xige Plane, he gained a lot of Contribution Points this time, enough to exchange for plenty of resources, allowing him to seclude himself and advance to a Level 3 Wizard in one go.

"Don't just talk about me; you two are almost ready too."

Attila shook her head: "Cole is almost ready, I'm still far from it."

Her talent is not as exceptional as Sherman and Cole's, and her advancement to Wizard took much longer than theirs. She has just constructed her third talent crystal and needs at least a few hundred more years to fill her Spiritual Power.

Cole merely nodded slightly, not saying anything.

"Roar!"

A dragon's roar sounded.

The Hidden Dragon's massive figure slowly manifested outside the Wizard Tower, with its right claw clutching a bloated, obese insect beast with an exceptionally large head.

Evidently, it was the swarm's commanding brain, the Mother of Insects.

Seeing this, Sherman and the other two stopped chatting and delegated the task of handling the aftermath to their subordinate Wizards, then took the Mother of Insects back to Starlight City.

The Mother of Insects is an insect beast explicitly ordered by their teacher for collection; they must deliver the insect carcass to the teacher's laboratory immediately.