As Ian Song led the Vermin Squad toward the city wall to join the battle, the soldiers guarding the camp stepped forward and blocked their way.
"No orders from above—you're not allowed to act on your own. Go back!" one of the guards barked.
These martial artists hadn’t received military training, and preferred to act solo or chase personal heroics. Even if they got onto the city wall, they wouldn’t be much help—and might even create chaos.
So, the current supreme commander, Marshal Victor Chao, could only assign these martial artists to the volunteer camp and post guards to keep watch. Without his orders, they weren't allowed to rush up to the city wall.
"Why won’t you let us go up? Move aside for this young master!" Brian Zhang’s face darkened. His Sigilforge Realm aura erupted, bearing down on the group of camp guards.
They’d come all this way to help, only to be looked down on by a bunch of low-level soldiers. If Ian Song hadn’t kept a lid on it, Brian would’ve blown up long ago. Now, blocked again by the camp guards, he couldn’t hold back and erupted on the spot.
The strongest among the guards was only at mid–Divine Sea Realm. There was no way they could withstand Brian's pressure. As his aura pressed down, cold sweat broke out and fear flooded their hearts.
"Enough—let’s go!"
"Enough. Let's go," Ian Song said calmly, striding straight toward the city wall.
The rest of the Vermin Squad hurried after him.
Blackrock City was just a small fortress town.
Jason Zhuge couldn’t help but complain as he looked out at the endless, surging insect horde just a kilometer beyond the wall.
So, the 150,000‑strong army had to fight in rotating shifts.
Ian Song divided everyone into ten squads, assigning each to a section of the wall. His gaze fell on the insects swarming above and below.
So Victor Chao had already arrived at the wall with dozens of personal guards, and had ordered all other soldiers to stand by below the ramparts.
There must have been at least a billion Flying Beetles overhead, and the ground swarm was even larger—at least three billion.
Victor Chao didn’t reply. His sharp gaze stayed locked on the insect army creeping toward the city, and his heart grew heavier. Seeing the hundreds of black clouds overhead, he felt colder and colder inside.
This time, the insect horde must number at least five billion.
Even with over 100,000 soldiers and more than 200,000 martial artists, it would be tough to hold the line.
If Blackrock City fell, the three cities behind—Mudriver City, Grandriver City, and Skycloud City—wouldn’t be able to hold out either. Most of their troops and resources had already been sent to Blackrock.
The next moment, Victor Chao spoke sharply: "Pass on my command—notify the city lords of Mudriver, Grandriver, and Skycloud to lead their citizens in immediate evacuation."
Those three cities held a combined population of twenty million—he couldn’t afford to take risks.
The insect horde was a truly bizarre race. Unlike humans, their queens could mass-produce insects, and the newborns were ready for battle in just one day.
But the queen needed energy to spawn more insects, and that energy came from devouring the corpses of other living beings.
So, if twenty million humans were devoured, the queen could create another army of over a hundred billion insects.
Victor Chao continued, "Notify Xingtian Squad, Thousand Blossoms Squad, Immortal Sword Squad, and Radiant Faith Squad—have them come up to the wall and help with the defense. As for the other squads, send them to the martial artists’ camp to organize those fighters. If our regular troops can’t hold, they’ll have to step in!"
"Archers, keep firing! Sigilforge warriors, prepare to charge. After two more volleys of Cloudburst Arrows, attack directly!" General Jackson Jiang issued his orders calmly.
Just then—
Two more volleys of Cloudburst Arrows were fired. Then, over fifty Sigilforge martial artists, weapons in hand, charged out from the wall and into the swarm of Flying Beetles.
Victor Chao frowned and looked up, spotting a group of young martial artists in shabby armor arguing with the soldiers stationed there.
"Damn it—these martial artists have no sense of timing! Even now, they’re causing trouble!"
"No rush. Let’s hold off for now," Ian Song shook his head.
As soon as he finished speaking, a group of young men and women in white robes, exuding an ethereal aura, descended from the sky. Standing atop hundreds of flying swords, they unleashed a dazzling barrage. Sword lights flashed like lightning, crashing into the flying beetle horde and bursting into radiant blooms.
Victor Chao called out, then pointed to a section of wall: "Have the soldiers there fall back—let those martial artists take over!"
"What?"
General Jiang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and hurried off to carry out the order.
"Who’s in charge here?"
General Jiang’s gaze swept over the group of martial artists in shabby armor. He asked in a deep voice. Suddenly, he felt a jolt—though their gear was simple, their energy was tightly contained. If he wasn’t mistaken, every one of them was at least Sigilforge Realm, and some he couldn’t even see through.
He immediately understood Victor Chao’s plan and his expression eased: "Marshal’s orders—hold this section of the wall. Don’t let him down! The rest of you, fall back to another section!"
With the battle about to begin, even though he saw how strong these martial artists were, General Jiang had no time to question their origins. He gave his orders and hurried off.
"Ugh, these insects are disgusting!"
Zhuge Jiancheng couldn’t help but complain as he looked out at the endless, surging insect horde just a kilometer beyond the wall.
As for the women in the group, seeing those ugly insects made them all feel a little sick inside.
Song Yan divided everyone into ten squads, assigning each to a section of the wall. His gaze fell on the insects swarming above and below.
Individually, the insects weren’t powerful, but their numbers were terrifying.
There must have been at least a billion flying beetles overhead, and the ground swarm was even larger—at least three billion.
A moment later—
The flying beetles finally drew close enough for the Cloudburst Arrows to reach.
Three thousand archers, already at the ready, loosed their Cloudburst Arrows at General Jiang’s command.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
A dense rain of arrows shot into the black clouds of flying beetles, bursting in midair. Countless insect corpses rained down in pieces.
Unfortunately, the flying beetles were simply too many. That first volley only killed a hundred thousand or so—barely a drop in the bucket compared to the billion overhead.
Before General Jiang could give the order, the three thousand archers had already begun their second volley.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
"Bang, bang, bang!"
In no time, the three thousand archers had fired eleven volleys of Cloudburst Arrows, killing about three million flying beetles. But the black clouds were now only two hundred meters from the wall.
"Archers, keep firing! Sigilforge warriors, prepare to charge. After two more volleys of Cloudburst Arrows, attack directly!" General Jiang issued his orders calmly.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Two more volleys of Cloudburst Arrows were fired. Then, over fifty Sigilforge martial artists, weapons in hand, charged out from the wall and into the swarm of flying beetles.
"Captain, should we join the fight?"
Wenren Junjie asked eagerly, unable to contain himself.
"No rush. Let’s hold off for now," Song Yan shook his head.
As soon as he finished speaking, a group of young men and women in white robes, exuding an ethereal aura, descended from the sky. Standing atop hundreds of flying swords, they unleashed a dazzling barrage, striking the flying beetle horde with lightning speed.