A disorganized volley shot into the air. Blue balls of flame erupted in the sky, taking huge chunks out of the approaching swarm. Yet it wasn't enough. This new demonized locust swarm was simply too massive. It was a wiggling, buzzing mass of demonic energy and death that pierced the hearts of the human forces with chilling fear.
Bei Yingluo stood rooted to the spot and shivered uncontrollably. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't prepared for something like this. Her aunt was screaming out orders desperately. The soldiers were firing arrows as quickly as possible. But everyone, from the weakest soldier to the strongest expert cultivator, knew that they had no chance.
"Ying'er!" Bei Chen shouted, "What do we do? Where is your master?"
"I… I…" Bei Yingluo didn't know.
She didn't know where her master was. Chen Wentian didn't accompany her on this mission. He could be anywhere.
"The talisman! Fire it off!" Her aunt shouted.
"Oh, right!"
As Bei Yingluo fumbled to fire off the emergency message talisman, Bei Chen gave out new orders rapidly.
"Retreat! Link up with our right wing! Hurry!"
The army broke into a mad dash, circling around the blazing firestorm in the middle of the field for their allies on the other side. Second aunt Bei Hao had come to the same conclusion and they were also rushing towards them. But even together, they were just a thousand souls, impossible odds against enemies that numbered in the millions.
"Here they come!"
"Run!"
The insects at the head of the pack dive-bombed the straggling soldiers, tackling them to the ground, ripping their armor and clothes into pieces. Screams of agony rang out as they were torn to shreds and eaten alive.
These locusts soon died to a wall of blue flame but it was only a minor victory as the main swarm soon arrived and surrounded the humans from all sides.
Arrows shot off in all directions and bright balls of flames kept most of the demonized locusts at bay. Yet through the openings, hundreds of insects would charge down and engage the humans on the ground in a deadly brawl.
"Hya! Ha!" Bei Yingluo shouted as she fought with all her strength.
Her kicks and palm strikes were highly effective but the enemy was endless. Her strength was rapidly being expended and she was starting to struggle. She didn't have great stamina and she was only holding on because of the impenetrable defenses of her battle robe.
Her forces also struggling and barely holding on. The battle was complete chaos. Screams of agony and terror rang out all around. People were dying left and right. It was just like the horrible memories of that time when her clan was almost exterminated during the monster invasion.
Her eyes reddened as tears overflowed. She felt helpless and useless. She thought she had managed to escape that nightmare. She didn't know why was this happening again.
"Fen Lang! Nooo! Get off him!" A furious shout rang out across the battlefield.
The familiar voice broke Bei Yingluo out of her stupor and she found second aunt Bei Hao nearby. Her husband, Fen Xuqi, was on the ground next to her. He was unmoving and the armor that protected his back was a bloody mess.
Bei Hao was quickly besieged by four powerful demonized locusts. Each one was twice as big as normal and at the Spirit Initiate Realm. She waved her spear around furiously, the prowess of the Bei Family Spear allowing her to hold the ground, at least temporarily.
"Second aunt…" Bei Yingluo cried as she watched.
She was simply too weak so there was nothing she could do. She could only hope but hope was dim.
Then, two more powerful locusts joined the fray and Bei Hao began to get overwhelmed. The insects first worked together to rip the spear out of her hands. Four of them proceeded to lock her limbs up while the other two started chomping down on her battle robe.
"Second aunt… second aunt!!" Bei Yingluo shouted but there was no response.
Abandoning common sense, she lunged at the pack of locusts. She slapped her palm against one of the enlarged insects and this earned her a harsh strike across her face, sending her tumbling away.
Ignoring the pain, Bei Yingluo got back up, her eyes flashing red, uncontrollable fury building up inside her. She was no longer thinking properly. Her body was acting purely on instinct.
"Get away from her!"
She attacked once more, forcefully ripping one of the locusts off of her aunt. She hammered its carapace and managed to break a fist-sized hole. She didn't know where her unbelievable strength was coming from and she didn't care.
Ignoring another demonized locust that was gnawing on her left arm, her right hand sank into the body of the first locust. She attacked its innards directly and ended its life in brutal fashion, shredding its organs until it went limp.
More locusts slammed into her body, sending her face-first into the ground that was now soaked in blood and guts of humans and demons. They pressed her down, biting and clawing against her battle robe, trying to find flesh and fresh blood. Buried under a wriggling, clattering pile of insects, she could no longer move or fight back.
Bei Yingluo went still. Memories and scenes flashed across her mind, Monkey beasts tormenting her clan and her family. Demonized locusts swarming around and killing her people. As these terrible thoughts threatened to consume her in eternal darkness, a flash of crimson red erupted deep within her dantian.
It was a familiar feeling. She had experienced this before…
The heat, the power, the anger…
She welcomed it.
Bei Yingluo let out an incoherent scream. A wave of crimson spiritual energy blasted away the insects swarming on top of her, severing their limbs, shattering their shells.
She then leaped to her feet, her eyes blazing red, her body radiating a bloody aura.
A particularly large and powerful locust dived for her head. She didn't dodge and slammed a fist directly into its face, crushing its head completely. Another locust tried to swipe her neck with its sharp wings. She caught it and simply tore it in half.
"Ying'er…" Bei Hao muttered in disbelief.
Bei Yingluo couldn't hear her aunt. She wasn't even in control of her own body and senses. She only wanted one thing, to kill!
"Yingluo!" Another voice called out her name.
This one was male and intimately familiar. It was filled with overwhelming power and comforting gentleness.
Blue flames then erupted all around her, protecting her, her family. It wiped away all the demonized locusts until not a single one was left.
Bei Yingluo's world melted away until there was nothing else except those flames, the flames of her master.
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