A few hours later, the main force of the Swarm captured Duoye City in passing.
This city, which had once been a great help to Xia Jin in trade, had finally fallen into her hands.
With this, the entire northern line of the kingdom, along with the southernmost edge of the Border Forest, was now completely controlled by the Zerg.
Leopard... that is, Kahn, was directly transformed into a Zerg to become a useful pawn, leading a small number of zerglings to stir up trouble in various places.
His purpose was simple: to spread a message that surrendering to the Zerg was an option.
Not only that, but if you were loyal enough, the Zerg would even grant you a certain level of command over their forces.
This message was actually quite enticing to many people.
Whether one could truly survive safely after surrendering was something only Xia Jin knew.
Xia Jin created several more decoys like Kahn.
As the Zerg launched more attacks on the lords' armies with unstoppable force, more and more minor nobles considered surrendering.
Specifically, the incident with Kahn was spread far and wide, fueled by those with ulterior motives.
“What? Leopard was looked down on by his girlfriend, so in his despair he joined the Zerg, and now his girlfriend is filled with regret?”
Whether true or false, such a story was indeed somewhat captivating to ordinary people.
Two days later, many minor lords surrendered with their private armies in full formation.
These guys hadn't wanted to do this, but their territories were simply too close to the Swarm.
With the Zerg's increasingly frequent attacks and the realization that no rescue was coming from the kingdom, they naturally chose to side with the other party to survive.
While this seemed meaningless to the Swarm, it saved Xia Jin a great deal of time.
Almost overnight, nearly 20,000 square kilometers of land fell directly into her hands.
No battle occurring meant the produced Swarm was not consumed.
Moreover, the lords handed over all their family assets and raised magic beasts, allowing the Zerg to kill them without loss and obtain the necessary energy.
As for their warriors, Xia Jin considered turning these guys into cannon fodder... ahem, she meant letting these partners who had joined the Zerg deal with the stubbornly resisting nobles to reduce unnecessary consumption of the Swarm.
Everything was aimed at preparing for the great battle to come.
...
On the fifth day, as vast territories fell, the kingdom, which was mobilizing its army to move north, finally managed to react.
“Something big has happened.”
Standing on an unnamed earthen slope in the north-central part of the kingdom and looking at the points marked on the map, the 8th Legion commander frowned.
Without realizing it, twenty percent of the territory had already become the enemy's sphere of influence.
The reason for this judgment was that exploration forces in all directions had discovered traces of the enemy.
A very small Tier 1 creature.
Unlike many soldiers, this legion commander did not underestimate the enemy's strength just because they were only Tier 1.
Regardless, the collapse of so many nobles was a fact.
“There are rumors that the enemy's true leader is the Princess, back for revenge.”
The adjutant walked over with a smile, hands on her hips, looking calmly into the distance.
This adjutant was female and had once been fortunate enough to see the Princess.
In that moment, she had seriously doubted whether she was fit to be called a woman.
She was too beautiful.
The gap was so vast that even feelings of jealousy couldn't take root.
“If Her Highness was truly exiled, then she surely died in the Border Forest.” The legion commander rolled up the map and sighed. “This world is truly cruel. If I had known I would one day be out here facing such a thing, I certainly wouldn't have chosen to join the army.”
“Does that sound right coming from you?” The adjutant smiled and shook her head. “Madman Joss, you are a famous general of the kingdom. People are still boasting about the war with Novien even today.”
“It doesn't mean much.” The legion commander waved his hand. “I think we should stop advancing for now and wait for the follow-up troops. This war is shrouded in fog. I reckon the guys at the top still haven't figured out what's going on. I don't want to risk my life for them for no reason.”
“Alright, it's not like you care about achievements anyway.”
...
At this moment, several kingdom legions had appeared in the frontline area, some further ahead, some further back.
However, they all coincidentally chose to wait.
On Xia Jin's side, the frontline Zerg had already completed their battle preparations.
Originally, she had wanted to launch a surprise attack, but in the last two days, the war in the underground world had reached its final stages. She simply steeled her heart and diverted 40,000 fresh troops from the kingdom's direction to go down, preparing to deliver the final checkmate to the magic monsters.
This would secure a stable rear and liberate all the forces there.
“As for magic monsters, I can't find a reason to forgive them. I'll just keep a batch of the most valuable ones.”
Xia Jin knew that race harbored deep hatred for the surface world, caused by long-term brainwashing and war.
The Zerg were not so magnanimous as to slowly reform them.
Furthermore... the high-energy crystals these creatures naturally possessed made her very tempted.
Rate on N.U.
