The group quickly moved to form a tight formation, each mutant taking their designated position as if they had rehearsed this countless times before.
It was clear to Lily that they were well-trained and diciplined, unlike the panicked guards from before they didn't allow themselves to make any mistakes even in their fear and confusion.
That is to say— they still held fear.
No matter how well-trained one was for a situation, in the face of the unexpected and unknown there was so much that training could do— while they held determined looks on their faces and focus in their eyes, Lily could see the lingering fear behind them.
The Swarmlings locked onto them as the next target of their controlled chaos.
However they didn't act just yet— Lily watched the situation from her vantage points. Her view was a full 360 of the entire battlefield thanks to her many Hive Units.
Her mind calculated the best course of action to take— she understood that while her Swarmlings were formidable, they were not invincible. In fact one had already fallen under the earth spike attack of the man.
This group was coordinated and had much better training than any of the mutants she had face so far. Honestly it was impressive and it made her truly wonder the depths of this organization— but for now she had to deal with them.
An idea flashed in her mind and without hesitation she put it into action— the ground under the group shook slightly as they were focused on the Swarmlings around them.
Only the leader seemed to have noticed, as just before the ground burst open from below— revealing the mouth of the large Direworm Lily had controlled to dig under them— he shouted a command to the group.
"Dodge!"
The group didn't even question or doubt the man's order as he gave it, dodging to the sides as he ordered with large jumps. Due to this, they avoided the incoming Direworm; however, despite their quick reflexes and the man's ability to sense the vibration in the earth below him— they were not entirely unscathed.
Shards of rock and debris flew through the air from the outbreak— striking several of the mutants and sending them stumbling from the mess.
Yet, even in the midst of this chaos, they remained resilient and disciplined, quickly regaining their footing and closing the distance between each of them to maintain a closed formation.
They assessed the situation around them— gazing at the sudden appearance and disappearance of the Direworm with increased vigiliance.
They were now aware of the dangers they faced, both above the ground and below it— and due to this, they had to remain quick on their feet. Even the previously gutsy female was vigilant.
With the momentary gap in the group's formation caused by the sudden emergence of the Direworm, Lily wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to launch a coordinated assault on each of them using the Swarmlings.
The Swarmlings rushed forward from all directions and as the group was trying to gather back into formation, they swiftly attacked them like an incoming wave.
They were overwhelming— one of the mutants attempted to fight back the incoming Swarmlings by somehow pushing them away forcefully— however they did not touch the creatures physically.
Lily instantly recognized the ability as some form of telekinesis— and while it was strong enough to push away a few of the incoming ones. Faced with the large amount and the lack of a method to kill them— she was quickly overwhelmed by the Swarmlings and dragged into the hoard.
Another mutant— the muscular female was fairing much better.
As she had more combat capabilities than the mutant with telekinesis, she was able to put up a greater fight. The first few Swarmlings to attack her were squished by her like bugs— the pain from their death ringing through Lily's mind.
She fought valiantly— killing over 5 of the Swarmlings before she was simply overwhelmed by their large amount and covered in wounds. Their hard body and hair granted them a natural defense— and by using their hard strands of hair as needles it even granted them a means of offense.
Under the continuoed attack of dozens of the Swarmlings at once— facing the brunt of the force— she was overwhelmed and could barely hold on.
"Come on, boss, do something!"
She groaned as she grabbed one of the Swarmling's body and swung it at another incoming Swarmling— sending it flying like a homerun ball.
The leader could do little in this situation either, as he had to handle a problem of his own. Not only did he have to deal with the Swarmlings— which he was capable of doing— killing quite a few by creating spikes from the ground below them.
But he had to face the constant attacks from the Direworms below which caused him a headache. Due to their constant burst from underground he had to constantly be moving around, seperating and isolating him from his team.
This was all part of Lily's plan— as she knew he would pose a problem with his ability to manipulate the earth and easily kill her Swarmlings.
In fact, the amount of pain she felt from him alone was enough to cause a mild headache— which goes to show his capabilities.
What she didn't expect, however, was what she thought was a successful plan— to suddenly go haywire.
One of the mutants she paid little attention to due to their weak attacks— only creating small bursts of kinetic energy that seemingly pushed away the Swarmlings and didn't do anything of worth— suddenly stood up and stopped moving.
The Swarmlings rushed them, using this chance to kill them quickly. However, as they each attacked the body of the person, Lily noticed that they attacked while harming them, but they made no attempt to make it stop.
This caused an odd sensation of doubt and worry to ring through her mind as she quickly ordered the Swarmlings to stop attacking and move back— fearing that something would happen.
And it seemed her premonition was right because as she ordered the Swarmling to move back— the male mutant that stood still all along suddenly spoke and said.
"Brace for impact."
With his words of warning— and the Swarmlings having backed off to create distance— the team suddenly grouped up away from him, and a barrier covered them all.
Then came the blinding light— it covered the entire field and swallowed the Swarmlings that were within range.
Dozens of Swarmlings all died at once— even some of her Direworms that were near the surface suffered from the explosion.
Blood gushed out of her eyes as the feedback of all those deaths hit her at once— and while her body wasn't technically injured— she couldn't help but spit out some blood and clinch her head.
"Ugh, what?"
Her mind rang from the pain— temporarily disorienting her as she tried to reaccess the situation through her hive.