"Bang!" Even the aftershock of the magic was enough to send Ye Luo crashing to the ground. He got back to his feet and stared at the two charred bodies falling from the fireball. An indescribable feeling of suffocation filled his chest, and his heart ached as if a piece had been torn away. It was as though the most important things in the world were vanishing, bit by bit!
"Ye Meng! Ye You!!!" Ye Luo clenched his fists!
"My Emperor, we must leave at once!" Ye Yi transformed into human form and spoke with unshakable resolve. He, too, grieved for his comrades' deaths, but as a battle hero, he had to ensure the Overmind's safety!
But Ye Luo's expression changed. Ignoring Ye Yi's protests, he turned into an arrow and shot toward Ye Meng and Ye You!
At the same time, the mage Barrit gave a cold snort. "That beast is one tough bastard. It took a direct hit from my fifth-level spell and still didn't die immediately?"
They weren't dead! That was right—Ye Meng and Ye You hadn't died on the spot. At the most crucial moment, Ye Meng reverted to his Zergling form, and Ye You did the same. Their hard carapaces had just barely helped them survive, but they were in terrible shape. More than eighty percent of their skin had been burned, and they were alive only thanks to the Zerg's formidable vitality!
Ye Luo threw himself beside them. His right hand trembled as he released two balls of white light, sending one Healing Aphid into each of their bodies!
"Your Majesty, why... why did you come back?" Three seconds later, Ye Meng abruptly opened his eyes. The instant he saw Ye Luo, he could only manage a helpless smile.
Ye Luo gripped them tightly, his eyes bloodshot. "If we live, we live together. If we die, we die together!!"
Ye Yi stood guard at Ye Luo's side. That delay had extinguished their only sliver of hope: a thousand Iron-Clad Soldiers had arrived from behind, and the encirclement was closing!
What was more, Ye Luo's ability to fly had badly startled Warwick. A battle that should have been a sure thing had nearly gone awry. If Ye Luo hadn't given up his chance to escape for the sake of his subordinates, he might really have gotten away. To prevent anything like that from happening again, Warwick decided to take matters into his own hands!
A Diamond-Rank Fighter was leagues beyond a Silver Warrior in both physical strength and fighting energy. Ye Luo and the others could easily take on Silver Warriors with their respective abilities, but facing a Diamond Fighter would make them understand just how vast the gap in strength really was!
"Bang!" Silver light flashed around Warwick as he shot forward. Without the slightest hesitation, he swung his right fist, unleashing a sonic boom!
Ye Yi clenched his jaw and kicked at him. "Boom!" The impact sent Ye Yi flying ten meters away like a kite with its string cut! Even using his strongest leg to block, he still couldn't make up for the disparity in their strength.
Ye Yi hit the ground, his right leg twitching uncontrollably. The Iron-Clad Soldiers nearby immediately rushed to strike him down!
"Get away from him!" Ye Luo slammed both hands into the ground. Two enormous spikes burst up from the earth, instantly killing the five soldiers attacking Ye Yi!
But Ye Luo had saved Ye Yi's life—who could save his? The moment Ye Luo's hands struck the ground, Warwick charged at him!
"Demon Beast? Die!"
"Bang!" Warwick's fist slammed into Ye Luo's stomach. Ye Luo got to enjoy a free spin through the air, while his insides felt as if they were being churned by a drill. The pain nearly knocked him unconscious, and blood poured from his mouth in mouthfuls!
With the Healing Aphids slowly restoring them, Ye Meng and Ye You rose at the same time and charged at Warwick from either side.
Warwick's face was filled with bloodthirsty cruelty. He regarded the two approaching fighters with utter disdain, then stamped down hard. The ground beside his feet split open in two places, and the cracks raced toward Ye Meng and Ye You. A surge of fighting energy burst from underground, striking them like two enormous hammers and sending them flying!
"Know your place!" Warwick reveled in the status, glory, and pride his strength brought him. He walked step by step toward Ye Luo!
"Today, you're as good as dead!" Warwick looked down at Ye Luo as if he were an ant.
Ye Luo stared up at him, his body utterly limp. He forced a smile. "Is that so? Then you'd better kill me quickly, because as long as I'm alive, I'll be your... your nightmare!"
"That's a powerful threat. I hate threats—and I hate nightmares even more. So I'll grant your wish!" A murderous glint flashed in Warwick's eyes as he swung his fist at Ye Luo's head!
"Rumble, rumble, rumble..." Just then!
Ten Earth Spikes shot out of the ground!
They thrust at Warwick from every direction!
Warwick could kill Ye Luo without a second thought, but those ten spikes would pierce him like a honeycomb!
"Damn it!" Reluctantly, Warwick pulled back his fist and formed a seal with both hands before his chest. "Diamond Guard!"
"Chink, chink, chink..." Diamond-Rank fighting energy enveloped Warwick, protecting him as it crystallized into a transparent diamond shield around his body.
The Earth Spikes struck the nearly transparent shield with tremendous force, but all they could do was leave white scratches across its surface!
"Rumble!" Suddenly, the ground behind the spikes—the spot where Ye Luo had been standing—collapsed. Ye Luo dropped into the hole and disappeared at once!
Warwick's eyes widened. He roared, "Mage Barrit!"
Barrit reacted just as swiftly. The instant Ye Luo fell into the tunnel, he tore open a scroll. A flood of blue-green energy poured from the opening, rapidly forming a blue-green rune. It flashed, and a pair of wings appeared on Barrit's back! By the time Warwick called to him, he had already reached Warwick's side. "I've sensed them. North, seven hundred meters away. Those bugs actually dug a tunnel underground!"
"You go after them. I'll deal with the rest!" Warwick turned his gaze toward Ye Meng, Ye Yi, and Ye You, but suddenly more than twenty dark shapes shot up from the ground. They lunged at him, baring their fangs and claws!
"Die!" Warwick roared. Fighting energy condensed into a broad sword, and he swept it across. Five or six Zerglings died instantly! But more Zerglings kept crawling out of the ground like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, their numbers growing by the second!
The confidence on Warwick's face gradually gave way to irritation and fury. He swept his hands across his chest and formed a strange seal. "In my name, fight by my side! Appear, Iron Blood!"
A vast amount of fighting energy condensed into a red broad sword. It was 1.3 meters long and two chi wide, a deep blood-red from hilt to tip, like a small door panel!
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