No Mercy

"I knew it wouldn't be anything good."

Upon hearing Augustus's words, Tychus, carrying his heavy machine gun, charged forward first, accompanied by more than thirty Revolutionary Army Red Devils Firebat and the Dark Prelate Zeratul, who moved like a shadow.

The Firebats in the Revolutionary Army have a different name from those in the Federation; they proudly call themselves the Red Devils because Hanak Hank, the first Firebat leader in the Revolutionary Army, still considers his troops to be part of the Demons of Heaven.

A full-strength combat company of about 120 Guard Division strode past Augustus from both sides. These elite soldiers were equipped with a large number of AGG-12 grenade launchers, Punisher Grenade, man-portable rockets, and electromagnetic weapons, enough to deal with the Zerg's tough chitinous carapace and the Protoss's plasma shield.

Augustus ordered his soldiers to launch an attack while calling for more reinforcements, believing that the Zerg would absolutely defend their new proxy, the Swarm, to the death.

As a Goliath Combat Robot with the Revolutionary Army flag flying from its cockpit passed by Augustus, he announced his final orders and led the Marshal Guard and several companies behind them forward.

In Augustus's view, Zeratul at the forefront moved forward like a fleeting shadow, his steps in the light and shadow elegant and coordinated, like a feline closing in on its prey, incredibly fast.

Compared to him, Tychus and the other massive Firebat seemed far too cumbersome; they were only able to keep up with Zeratul because the Dark Templar master had intentionally slowed down his pace.

This time, the Zerg did not roar as they attacked the humans. Instead, they hid behind the high walls of the infected border checkpoint and in the shadows behind them, keeping a close watch on the attackers' every move.

"Deploy the Psi Disrupter immediately!" Augustus waved his hand, ordering the engineers in the team carrying the Psi Disrupter components to assemble them immediately, but this was met with a low growl from a Hunter Killer Hydralisk.

Hundreds of Hydralisk, their carapaces gleaming metallic green in the sunlight, slithered through the Creep, their spines flashing as they unleashed a barrage of venomous spurs at oncoming enemies.

These deadly spines, capable of piercing 2cm thick steel armor plates at a range of 500 yards, were edged with sharp serrations and green acid. In the blink of an eye, they pierced through the Power Armor of the first few Firebat, embedding themselves inside the visors of their helmets. The sound of the spines piercing through the hard alloy steel armor was as crisp as a sharp knife cutting through a piece of white paper.

Firebat pierced by dozens or even hundreds of spines died the instant they fell to the ground. Their armor servo systems immediately locked all the joints of the Power Armor and the bleeding areas. Under normal circumstances, this would help the person inside hold on until the medic arrived, but now it was merely locking a cold steel coffin.

Almost simultaneously, the fire support teams of the Guard Division combat company behind the Firebat launched ground-to-ground Hydralisk and used heavy weapons such as railguns to suppress the Hydra Hydralisks in the checkpoint.

The distance between them and the Zerg was rapidly closing. After another slightly rapid breath from Augustus, Zeratul and the advance human forces behind him were less than fifty yards from the entrance to the checkpoint.

At the entrance, large groups of Zergling, poised to pounce, paced back and forth on the walls and near the barbed wire outside the checkpoint like hunting dogs hiding behind trees, as if contemplating where and when to deliver the most lethal blow to their enemy.

Augustus surprised to find that the Fenris Brood's Zerg were clearly more intelligent, or rather, more cunning, than individuals from other swarms.

When at least two hundred Fenris Zergling gathered at the entrance to the checkpoint, they were like a pack of hungry but patient wolves. They were as bloodthirsty as other Zerg, but knew exactly when to strike.

Despite their small numbers, the Fenris Brood of the Cerebrate Nagar remains one of the primary attacking swarms in the Overmind's various hives, possessing absolute lethal acuity and hunter's precision. If other Zerg are raging beasts, then the Fenris Brood is agile wolves.

The Fenris Zerg are deadly, even elegant, hunters within the Swarm. Their mission is to find superior genes for the Overmind and capture prey that greatly benefits the Swarm's evolution, thus expanding the Zerg's gene pool.

A signal, imperceptible to both humans and Protoss, suddenly sent a frenzy through the checkpoint. Hundreds of Fenris Zergling simultaneously approached the attacking enemy from different directions. Although the Swarm 'Zergling genetic sequence is inherently characterized by speed and agility, the Fenris Brood are noticeably faster and more alert.

Augustus's Revolutionary Army soldiers often described Zergling as ugly, scarred, and ringworm-ridden skinned dogs, because they were indeed ugly. However, Fenris ' Zergling were encased in beetle-like, copper-green carapaces. Their sickle-like appendages on their backs and their transparent, vein-like insect wings fluttered as fast as a moving lightning bolt.

Following closely behind these Zergling were numerous Fenris Hydralisk. They were not as large and dangerous as the Tiamat tribe, but they were much faster. As they swam across the slimy Creep, their spiked tails swayed, making them resemble black mambas moving through the grass.

Zeratul was the first to engage the Fenris Zerg. He followed a moving shadow to a leaping insect that lashed out at him on its powerful hind legs. In the time it took Augustus to take a single Zergling, a green Psionics blade extended from the wrinkled back of his hand and sleeve, slicing off half of the monster's head.

Then, Zeratul turned to a Fenris Hydralisk that lunged at him, dodging a fatal blow from its scythe-like forelimbs. As he turned, he casually used his Psionics blade to slice open the Hydralisk's relatively soft belly.

Augustus's eyes could barely keep up with Zeratul's movements; for the first time, he experienced the limitations of human vision. In stark contrast to his usual slightly hunched, elderly appearance, Zeratul on the battlefield was a deadly yet elegant killer. He slayed the Fenris Zergling and Hydralisk that pounced on him one after another, like an elegant swordsman dancing a waltz as he sliced open the throats of his enemies.

Extraordinarily elegant and agile, graceful yet deadly, this seems to be an innate talent of the Protoss. What distinguishes the Protoss from humans is not just their appearance and customs, but their vastly different physical structures and functions.

Humanity had never witnessed Zeratul and the Dark Templar fight before, but Zeratul taught the Revolutionary Army soldiers behind him, including Tychus, a lesson, telling them never to try to provoke a Dark Templar again.

Zeratul told Augustus a Dark Templar should hide himself, strike from the shadows, seize opportunities, and act when the time is right. But in Augustus's eyes, this Dark Templar Priest simply charged forward and shredded his enemies amidst the flashing blades.

Zeratul may be deadly and powerful enough, but he is not strong enough to face an entire Swarm alone. As Zeratul slays the roaring, Zerg Fenris, Tychus raises his Whisperer machine gun and fires a barrage of depleted uranium bullets at a row of Zergling, while the Red Devils Firebat behind him raise their flamethrowers and unleash a dense barrage of plasma flames.

More than a dozen leaping Zergling struggled and collapsed in the scorching plasma jets spewed by the Firebat army, crackling like burning dried bellflowers.

Augustus stood in the middle of the advancing column, surrounded by Faraday's Marshal Guard and two massive Goliath Combat Robot. As swarms of Fenris Zergling attempted to flank Augustus, the Goliath Combat Robot beside him quickly calibrated and opened fire. As the 30mm cannon barrels spun, one Zergling after another was blasted into pieces.

However, these Zergling are not only extremely agile and fast, but they have also clearly adapted to human attack methods. Their zigzag formation is quite dispersed, making it impossible for humans to easily sweep away several or even more Zerg with a single missile or a volley of bullets.

At this moment, the Psi Disrupter carried by the Revolutionary Army were activated, but the Zerg here did not seem to be affected much.

The jammer has failed again.

A nimble Fenris Zergling deftly darted across the fallen corpses of its kind, weaving and leaping through the gaps in the Gauss Rifle fire of the Goliath Combat Robot and Revolutionary Army soldiers, pouncing towards Augustus with the agility of a coyote or a sparrow perched on a branch. For a moment, Augustus could almost see the terrifying crimson eyes of this shrieking little monster.

Augustus certain the Zergling was heading straight for him. He raised his Gauss Rifle rifle, the stock of which bore the golden wolf emblem, aimed at the rapidly moving Zergling, and calmly fired.

Augustus possessed this quality even during his time at the Turaxis recruit training camp; he could maintain his firing stance even when cannonballs were falling just a short distance from his feet.

When dense, large swarms of Zerg rush towards the front line, such momentum is enough to intimidate any enemy in front of the Swarm. As long as a human soldier can shoot at the enemy accurately and without making mistakes, he can already be considered a veteran.

Just as Augustus emptied his first magazine, the darting leaping Zergling was struck by a volley of bullets. Augustus know if the bullet that killed the Zergling came from his own gun, but at that moment, no one cared anymore.

Even though the Zerg of the Fenris Brood are more deadly and dangerous than those of other swarms, they are still facing an elite force. The soldiers around Augustus are the best warriors from the Korhal Revolutionary Army, and their equipment is the finest, comparable to the Confederacy's special forces and the most renowned elite mercenary squads in the Koprulu Sector.

The Zerg that invaded Haj clearly did not expect Augustus's forces to arrive here; to the Cerebrate of these races, the plan should have been flawless.

Augustus's men quickly repelled the Fenris Brood's attack and forced them to retreat, clearing a path between the Swarm and the border checkpoint.

The Fenris Brood has temporarily retreated, but judging from the frequency of vibrations on the surface, a large number of Zerg are likely still on their way through the underground network of Nydus Worm.

By the time Augustus arrived at the checkpoint entrance, the steel gate, covered in a creeping Creep, had already been torn apart by the Zerg, and the remaining parts were covered with sharp scratches left by the Zerg's fangs and claws. All the Zerg organism tentacles with spines had been wiped out by Zeratul and Tychus, and the remaining Fenris Zerg had been forced back into the warehouse inside the checkpoint.

One of the warehouses was particularly heavily defended, and the Firebat and the Guard Division Company behind Zeratul and Tychus were launching a final assault on it. Dozens, even hundreds, of Zerg and Revolutionary Army soldiers lay dead on the ground.

Many people had their hands and feet severed by the Hydralisk's scythes or were pierced through the chest by its spiked tentacles, their bodies lying in pools of blood torn to pieces.

At this point, Augustus left behind a dozen Goliath Combat Robot and Arclite Siege Tank to guard the direction they had come from, while leading his guards to support Zeratul and Tychus.

A dozen or so Fenris Zerg were still guarding the entrance to the warehouse. Behind them was a huge fiberglass door, its smooth surface covered with vine-like intertwined tentacles and resilient blue veins that locked the door like chains. The walls of the entire warehouse were covered with the organic honeycomb shell of the main nest and a hard exoskeleton with interwoven patterns.

Augustus personally killed the last Fenris Zergling in front of the warehouse and ordered the demolition team to use D-type explosives to blast open the door.

As a shard of fiberglass grazed Augustus's shoulder armor, the sight behind the door made his eyelids twitch.

It was a huge, oval-shaped pupa or cocoon, composed of sharp bony claws and a green, skin-like membrane. It resembled a snake's soft egg rather than a molting cocoon. The pupa shone like the sun, emitting a bright light in the dim environment.

Augustus could see a humanoid creature inside the thick, viscous pupa, which was probably still a minor, curled up inside the liquid-filled pupa.

Afterward, this pupa will be taken to Char or elsewhere, where it will be further modified by the Swarm's evolutionary masters. The cells of this humanoid creature will be deconstructed, stretched, extended, and recombined by the Swarm into an incredible organism.

Near the pupa, four Fenris Hydralisk, like Zerg embracing snake eggs, lay prostrate. Their bright green crests were almost half the size of Augustus's body, and their enormous bone scythes on their forelimbs resembled bone-colored giant swords stuck in a wooden floor.

The robe painted with VEVE patterns in bright red on the pupa and several pieces of paper covered with various symbols made the place look even more eerie. If you looked up, you could see heads and pulled-out bright red human spines hanging from the top of the warehouse.

Surprisingly, even with hundreds of rifles, grenades, and rocket launchers aimed at them from outside, the four Fenris Hydralisk remained unusually calm, like dogs guarding a house in the midday sun.

The Hydralisk merely hissed menacingly, occasionally raising its crest like a cobra to observe the humans outside.

"This is so weird." Tychus got goosebumps all over.

"My goodness--"

"He's still alive. I can sense that this human named Gabriel Tosh still has a clear mind." Zeratul ignored Augustus's shout and slowly walked towards the pupa.

"He is immersed in grief; he is crying."

"Is there any hope for this child?" Augustus asked Zeratul.

"The Zerg have infected him, and this infection has altered his very nature at the genetic level. As far as I know, this is irreversible," Zeratul replied.

"This is my order," Augustus commanded without mercy after a moment of silence.

"Destroy this cocoon!"