Chapter 605.5: Swarm Tyrant
Laura examined the 16-wheeled golem trucks, quickly noticing their differences.
Normal golems had joints bonded by mana channels and material adhesion.
As long as mana flowed, the limbs stayed firmly connected—
Unless the mana ran dry or they suffered overwhelming damage.
But these Bay Territory golem trucks had a different design.
Their bodies bore signs of mana channels and enchantments, with energy cores identical to regular golems.
The difference lay in its various "joints."
The parts that controlled direction and bore cargo were managed directly by the golem's limbs, akin to human arms and legs.
Meanwhile, wheels, headlights, cargo compartments, mounted weapons, and structural assemblies were all externally attached and specially designed.
To Laura, it felt as if they used the golem's energy and control functions without utilizing its combat capability.
Instead, they outfitted it with high-speed wheels and treads, granting it new roles.
"Transport capacity has drastically improved..."
"The wheel design is really fascinating..."
"Why add treads on top of wheels?"
"So interesting..."
The clever design made Laura's eyes gleam with admiration.
While Laura studied the golem trucks—
The old man suddenly leapt onto the roof and looked ahead, his face turning grim.
Brown quickly climbed up too, pulled out a telescope, and followed the old man's gaze.
A massive tide of zombies surged forward like a flood.
Their target was Bloodmoon City!
Imagining the zombies swarming up the walls into the city, Brown shuddered.
Worse yet, a portion of the horde abruptly veered toward them.
Even a small portion numbered over ten to twenty thousand!
The golem trucks pressed forward without slowing.
Adam Smith, who was already prepared, clicked his tongue regretfully:
"Looks like our trump card has to be revealed now\..."
"Armor up! Load the cannons!"
Brown blinked in awe, Laura raised a brow, and the old man looked intrigued.
The golem trucks rapidly armored up in sleek black steel plating.
The front and rear were shielded with black ramming heads.
Two rows—top and bottom—revealed dark gunports.
Dozens of cannons aimed in all directions as Adam Smith roared without hesitation:
"Blast the bastards!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amid the billowing smoke, spinning shells exploded in all directions.
Their impact was on par with the full-force strike of a high-tier Professional!
The shells retained immense momentum—smashing through front-line zombies and devastating those behind.
The zombies surrounding them were blasted open with a massive gap.
The steel trucks thundered forward, charging straight in.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Their angled ramming heads cleaved dozens of zombies in half with ease.
They didn't slow—just bulldozed a bloody path.
Seeing the surrounding magic arrays glow, Laura was stunned.
Bay Territory's tactics seemed wild, but were intricately coordinated.
Achieving this level of battlefield effect required extensive experimentation and preparation.
Laura could practically see piles of gold coins burning away.
Over a dozen massive assembled golem trucks—
Top-tier adamantine armor for superb defense.
Elemental crystals powering high-output golem cores.
Large, durable magic arrays.
The blend of golems, machines, and arcane magic stunned Laura.
So golems could be used like this too?
At the swarm nest base made of flesh structures—
Devastating flames rained down.
The destructive breath of dragons obliterated the still-squirming nest buildings.
Though they looked like buildings, they were actually terrifying beasts—giant insectoid bodies.
Writhing and wailing in flames, they were reduced to ash.
Even with Swarm Modification Tech's resilience, combined with mutated flesh—it couldn't resist dragonfire!
Despite their strange regenerative powers, they burned.
Compared to these twisted insect beasts, dragons were true living weapons.
Oriana looked up and saw Yaya beating her wings, slamming the last two mutated wyverns into the ground. She waved and shouted:
"Hehe, this time I got them first!"
Normal mutated wyverns were no match for Yaya.
Let alone these newly spawned rejects.
Though weak, their materials weren't worthless. Yaya granted them death with joy.
"Hmm... a bit few—only ten or so."
The nearby wyvern riders smiled faintly and flew over.
They needed to handle Lady Yaya's spoils quickly—and would earn a hefty bonus too.
Seeing the nest sub-base destroyed, Lark calmly shook his head:
"Aside from the mutated wyverns, other swarm mutants develop too slowly..."
"They spread fast, but they're not strong enough."
"Against Extraordinary and Legendary power, they're far too fragile."
"And each operation requires massive setup and logistics—the losses are catastrophic..."
"Clearly, the Church of Eternal Life held back on us. But they're fools. They don't understand true value!"
"Let them face Bay Territory and Bloodmoon City's wrath..."
"I sincerely hope they succeed!"
Beside him, Bloodhand Karn stayed silent as Lark rambled.
Lark crushed the control core in his hand, activated the self-destruct, and dispelled his clone.
In a violent blaze, the underground command center turned to ash, buried beneath falling soil.
In the underground ruin—
Ferocious monsters roared and charged the curved walls.
But before they got close, cannons on the walls let loose.
Spinning shells—
Blew a three-headed ogre to bits and decapitated a standing four-armed troll.
Seeing the strange-looking zombies, high-tier adventurers fought hard.
They had to give everything to prevent zombies from breaching.
If the climbing variants reached the walls—
The frontline combat golems would take damage.
If too many were lost, adventurers would have to fill the gap.
Even with ample supplies...
No one wanted to fight these plague-bearing beasts up close.
They'd seen it firsthand—
Unlucky ones who skipped purification turned into zombies before their eyes.
And they didn't feel a thing until it was too late.
That kind of horror made their hearts race!
Thankfully, enough combat golems gave them real security.
Still, many wondered—why keep digging now?
Huge machines roared, devouring stone and ruins.
The debris was crushed and moved upward on conveyor belts.
Then mixed with magic cement, stirred rapidly, and poured with summoned water.
Quickly, it formed bricks carried by goblin-powered exosuits to assigned locations.
They were building a wall connecting the upper and lower ruins.
"You can climb? Then crawl through this little hole!"
Amid distant explosions, Matthew calmly flipped through reports.
Upon learning Yaya crushed the swarm base, he looked at the opened ruin entrance and simply instructed:
"Assist Bloodmoon City in defense."
Matthew knew cult tactics and operations well.
Set up secret bases, recruit dumb but controllable minions...
Corrupt or befriend certain officials to ease their operations...
Then trigger chaos with fast-spreading plagues or rituals.
If the zombie plague wasn't stopped early—
Weak towns and cities would become the enemy's fodder.
A base fed by over a million souls couldn't be weak.
Even if it couldn't beat Yaya or the wyverns, it should've held longer.
That was either a sub-base—or just part of a larger plan!
Bloodmoon City.
On the towering walls—
Activated golems stood at the ready.
Soldiers hurriedly stacked fire-oil barrels onto catapults.
The moat had been drained—now a pit of sludge and fire-oil.
Tons of highly flammable materials were hauled up.
Bloodmoon had prepped for the enemy's weaknesses.
Beyond combustibles, the dormant arcane tower defense lit up.
Magical lights shimmered on the great arcane array.
Most terrifying was the open magic field atop the Mage Tower.
It radiated dread power—ready to obliterate all threats.
Knight Harley, frowning, oversaw preparations and supply requests to 343. Staring at the red horizon, he worried:
"Can Bloodmoon hold this time?"
Spellcasters at the teleport zone watched the incoming tide.
They used special arrays to alert the Eastern Provincial Council and request evacuation clearance.
If it went south—they'd escape with the intel...
Soldiers on the wall were in full battle mode.
Members of the Church of Eternal Life looked on with mad fervor.
Around them, zombies weren't running to Bloodmoon City—
They leapt into a giant blood pool.
The pool bubbled with red foam.
On the surface—twisted oily faces shimmered.
Pop!
The bubbles burst and vanished.
More and more popped. The pool grew thicker and deeper.
The more zombies fed it, the larger it swelled.
At the center, on a bone-covered altar, a nearly troll-like humanoid howled and chanted:
"Blood to you!"
"Flesh for you!"
"Praise in slaughter!"
"Glory in destruction!"
A twisted power gathered from the pool and altar.
A gray-black-robed bishop of the Eternal Life Church stared in delight. He tore off his cloak and strode into the pool.
He no longer resembled a man.
Yellow-brown chitinous plates, a spiked tail, striped exoskeleton armor, scythe-like limb claws, and withered, warped arms.
Like a stitched horror of man and insect.
The pool's blood crawled up his body.
Transforming him bit by bit.
Watching the change, other cultists were openly envious.
If they could, they'd jump at the chance to remake their bodies too!
In agony, the bishop spread his arms and howled.
Surging blood poured into him.
His body swelled visibly.
Human remains vanished—replaced by hideous insect shells.
Feeling his new power, the bishop's mind flooded outward, connecting with countless bloodthirsty wills. He shouted:
"Haha, I did it! I did it!"
"I am the swarm!"
"I am the hive!!"
"I... am the Tyrant!!!"