Siege

Four hundred {Rebecca} headed for the Riwaka Star System under Liya's command, with Likafeier assisting her.

Lila's warships remained at the border. Although Liya had not explicitly refused Karduoduo, she did not want to use Lila's army.

Likafeier noticed Liya's hesitation. "Commander Liya, four hundred {Rebecca} are enough to help you retake the Third Colony Star System. With your prestige, I believe its troops will be willing to join us. But the Asha Empire is simply too vast. Without the Lila People's help..."

"Thank you for your help, my Insect Race friends. As for the Lila People, I truly don't trust them. I only hope Asha's people will join me in overthrowing Asalas's rule."

Likafeier nodded. "Very well. We of the Insect Race support you unconditionally. But war means casualties. I hope you won't be too merciful, Grand Commander Liya. When the Insect Race fights... we never leave survivors!"

The battlefield on Riwaka, Third Star System

The Insect Race army launched a surprise attack on Riwaka. In less than a day, it had occupied all six major cities.

In Deva, the capital... hundreds of thousands of Asha warriors were reinforcing the defenses and charging the ice-blue cannons. To muster enough firepower, even juvenile Ice Blue Dragons had been dragged into the staging area.

The soldiers gazed at the insectoid tide surging toward them across the horizon, their hearts filled with nothing but despair. They could not understand it. Weren't the Rebecca Insectoids their allies? Why had they launched a surprise attack on Riwaka?

Then the soldiers saw Grand Commander Liya standing below the walls.

"Is that woman in golden armor Commander Liya?"

"Looks like her. But wasn't Commander Liya arrested for treason?"

"Could she really have betrayed the empire?"

"Impossible. The rumors said Commander Liya had defected to the Lila People. She led us against them for hundreds of years. I wouldn't believe she'd join them even if you beat me to death."

"What's so impossible about it? Isn't she leading the Insect Race against our city right now?"

"The Insect Race is the Insect Race. How are they the same as the Lila People?"

"How are they any different?"

As the two soldiers argued, they were about to come to blows...

A handsome man in silver armor, wielding an enormous two-handed longsword, roared, "Both of you, stop! The enemy is at our gates, and you still want to kill each other?"

"General Luke, do we really have to fight the Grand Commander?"

"She is no longer the Grand Commander. She is nothing but a traitor. Whatever her identity, we cannot let her set one foot inside Deva."

Luke surveyed the Asha warriors of the Third Star System, who had once served under Commander Liya. Seeing their lowered heads and silence, he roared, "Do you understand?"

"Yes!" the warriors shouted in unison. After all, they were soldiers of the empire, not Liya's private army.

Liya led the Insect Race army to the city walls. Rather than ordering an assault, she approached the walls alone.

She was just about to speak when the energy cannons atop the walls delivered Deva City's answer.

Had Likafeier not shielded her with Sacred Barrier, Liya would already have departed this world.

"Grand Commander, are you still hesitating?"

Liya glanced at Likafeier's right arm, scorched by the energy cannon, then glared at Luke atop Deva City's walls.

She hesitated no longer. Sacrifices were inevitable if she wanted peace for Asha. At her command, the insectoid tide surged madly toward Deva's fifty-meter-high steel walls.

Cannon fire flew and blood sprayed. Beneath Deva City's walls lay a sea of blood and mountains of corpses. The Insect Race feared neither life nor death, and Deva City's defenders were equally prepared to die.

A {Savage Bull} charged furiously toward Deva City's gates. Braving the city's concentrated cannon fire, the enormous creature, over ten meters tall and weighing a hundred tons, rammed the steel gates hard enough to warp them.

But the {Savage Bull} failed to breach the gates, and it never got a second chance.

At Likafeier's command, two more {Savage Bulls} charged out of the ranks. Atop Deva City's walls, Luke shouted anxiously, "Concentrate your fire! We must stop those two siege beasts!"

Nearly half the wall's firepower poured into the two {Savage Bulls}. They fell before they could reach the gates.

Their deaths, however, bought time for the {Night Apes} climbing the walls.

Several {Night Apes} had barely reached the top when the defenders speared them and shoved them off, before they could even attack.

But there were simply too many members of the Insect Race. For every one shoved off, ten immediately climbed up. Within moments, the Insect Race and the defenders were locked in a chaotic melee atop the walls.

Luke was just about to issue an order when a tremendous crash shook the wall. He looked down and saw that a {Savage Bull} had smashed through the gates!

"Light shield bearers, hold the gate! Don't let the Insect Race into the city!"

The order took only a sentence, but the warriors paid for it with their lives.

Trying to stop a {Savage Bull} that could smash through city gates with flesh and blood was like throwing eggs against a rock. The {Savage Bull} rampaged through the city, with a flood of {Sword Mantises} pouring in behind it.

Cannon fire erupted throughout Deva City, and anguished cries filled its streets. The Insect Race mercilessly slaughtered the Asha warriors, who retreated again and again.

Seeing that Liya could not bear the slaughter, Likafeier shook her head. She stood beside Liya and used her powerful psychic energy to send a message to everyone.

"Surrender... or die!"

Those who laid down their weapons were left unharmed as the insectoid tide surged past them. Those who stubbornly resisted were mercilessly torn apart.

Looking at Likafeier's back, Liya said softly, "Thank you!"

"Can you relay my words to everyone?"

Likafeier nodded. "Put your hand on me. I'll carry your words to every corner of Deva City."

Liya placed her hand on Likafeier and roared, "Stop fighting! Warriors of Asha, stop fighting!"

"Asalas is a kingslayer! He is the one who tore the empire apart, the one who dragged it into the abyss!"

"I... Lia Gross, daughter of Jel Gross and commander of the Third Star System, beg you to hear me out."

"We have no reason to kill one another. Asalas is the one responsible..."

A blast of ice-blue cannon fire streaked straight toward Likafeier. She had no choice but to stop relaying Liya's words. With the help of two {Broodmothers}, she barely managed to withstand the immensely powerful blast.

Likafeier was about to fly into a rage when she saw Luke raise his two-handed longsword and point it angrily at Liya. He roared, "Lia Gross, I, Luke Eland, issue you a Sacred Challenge! The loser shall face justice!"

Sacred Challenge: the most sacred duel among Asha warriors. The two combatants fought to the death. The loser not only forfeited their life, but their soul was also barred from entering the Sacred Hall. It was a duel with one's soul at stake.

"Shameless. There's no honor in issuing a Sacred Challenge when defeat is certain. Grand Commander, you needn't accept." Karen shot Luke a disdainful glare as he stood atop the wall.

"I accept your challenge!"

Karen exclaimed, "A battle without honor! Grand Commander, have you gone mad? Issuing a Sacred Challenge in a battle he's certain to lose is utterly shameless!"

Likafeier also tried to dissuade her. "I don't want to interfere with your decision, Grand Commander. But I hope you won't let your mercy make our Insect Race's sacrifices meaningless."

Mora added, "Luke Eland... he's a man whose word means nothing. He gained his position through underhanded means. To undertake a Sacred Challenge against a scoundrel like him, Grand Commander..."

"Enough, all of you. I will accept anyone's challenge! Only victory can make them understand that we stand for justice!"

Zhang Fan's voice suddenly rang in everyone's ears. "This is a warrior's honor. All of you, stand down and let the Grand Commander decide for herself!"