Beyond the Apocalypse
Chapter 451: Massacre in the Jerar Country

Chapter 451: Massacre in the Jerar Country

The Levithan forces in the Jerar Country had been gravely affected by the gray fog containing the Levithan Virus. Countless drones had perished under its power, their forms collapsing into lifeless husks scattered across the desolated landscape. The aerial units and insect-humanoid warriors were now weakened, their wings torn and limbs trembling beneath the weight of infection and exhaustion. In the heart of this country stood a shattered city.

Within this ruined city, a swarm of mosquitoes hovered in the stagnant air. They drifted down onto the surviving Levithan units, piercing their chitinous hides and injecting a substance that caused the creatures to regain a portion of their lost vigor. The insect-humanoid hybrids and the aerial units, which had been on the brink of death, began to recover. Even as they regained some strength, their collective gaze fell upon the millions of drones that had succumbed to the virus. There was no way to bring back the dead. Yet, the hive mind would not surrender its advantage so easily.

Soon, faint echoes drifted into the city: the distant scraping of pincers. A swarm of drones, already immunized against the virus, approached the broken city’s borders. They intended to consume the corpses of their deceased kin so that the obsidian obelisk could reuse the biomass. This cunning strategy would bolster their numbers once more.

But fate had other plans. As the immunized drones neared the center of the ruined city, positioning themselves amidst the countless Levithan corpses and ready to eat their kind, a radiant burst of flames, wrapped in lashing currents of lightning, tore open the sky. All the Levithan units turned their gaze heavenward, fury and killing intent burning in their eyes. The hive mind recognized the presence of the young man even before he appeared. Yet recognition could not halt what came next.

Vlad descended from above, hurtling downward with overwhelming power. His impact upon the broken city was colossal, releasing a shockwave of dust, debris, and blazing light. The fallen structures, already weakened by previous battles, shattered further. Fractured masonry, twisted beams of metal, and scorched rubble exploded outward as if flung from the epicenter of some unholy tempest. The ground trembled as tongues of flame and arcs of lightning surged outward in all directions.

The roaring burst of energy engulfed the Leviathan corpses strewn about, incinerating them in an instant. Those drones that had ventured too close were caught in the inferno. Their shells cracked open under the assault, fluids and ash mixing into the scorching air. Yet, as the blinding flash waned, it became clear that the swarm was vast. Many Levithan units still lived, their eyes fixated on the center of the explosion. Despite their losses, they remained numerous and deadly, their instincts guided by the hive mind’s relentless hunger and rage.

This fixation on the explosion’s center proved fatal. Not even five seconds had passed since the incendiary impact when hundreds of thousands of human forces poured into the shattered and burning city. They arrived like a tide of flesh and steel, their faces drawn with exhaustion and grime. For three and a half days, they had been running, fighting, never pausing to rest. They had pushed their bodies beyond mortal limits, aided by alchemical drugs that forced their muscles and nerves to obey long past the point of natural collapse. Still, within their eyes burned a fierce determination as they made their Force explode.

Swords, hammers, and spears flashed in the haze. Human soldiers cleaved through Levithan, smashing chitinous limbs and splitting the armor-like exoskeletons. The weakened aerial units, caught on the ground, were impaled or crushed. The insect-humanoid hybrids, though formidable, were battered by wave after wave of human fury. The soldiers fanned out, encircling the broken city, ensuring that none of the Levithan forces could escape the encirclement. Within moments, the city became a crucible of violence, where lightning, fire, and steel converged to slaughter the monstrous foe.

From the city’s center, bursts of lightning and fire erupted anew. Vlad dashed forward, lunging from one cluster of Levithan to another. His fists and legs crashed through their bodies with inhuman strength. Each blow shattered shells and splattered fluids across the charred ruins. Every impact generated new explosions of fire and light, intensifying the inferno raging inside the city.

For nearly an hour, the slaughter continued. Explosions and shrieks, the crunch of exoskeletons, and the sizzle of burning flesh formed a dreadful symphony of death. At last, silence returned.

Vlad stood atop the rubble, his body drained and trembling, sweat running down his face. He saw that the human forces were also on the brink of collapse. After half a week of continuous fighting and running, even supernaturally resilient humans could endure no more without succumbing to total exhaustion. The alchemical drugs that kept them on their feet had stretched their limits dangerously thin.

Yet, despite their exhaustion, smiles spread across the faces of every last soldier. They looked upon a field devoid of Leviathans. Not one remained alive. The north and center of the Jerar Country had been cleansed. More than ten million drones had been burned, and hundreds of thousands of aerial units and insect-humanoid hybrids had been slain!

Vlad clenched his fist, exhilarated by what they had accomplished. The victory was immense, but he knew it would not simplify the struggles ahead. Their recent efforts had halted the hive mind attempt to reclaim biomass through the immunized drones, but the mosquitoes carrying the vaccine had also reached this land. They had prevented the swarm from retrieving biomass from this city, but the same could not be said for the south of the country.

"Rest. We move in twenty-four hours," Vlad’s voice echoed across the human forces. He knew they might not have a perfect opportunity later, but pressing onward in their current state would be dangerous. The soldiers heard his command and allowed their limbs to yield at last. With relieved sighs, they collapsed onto the hard pavement, turning broken stone and charred rubble into makeshift bedding. They were so exhausted that these unyielding surfaces felt like the softest beds imaginable.

The choice to rest would cost them the chance to reach the Levithan corpses in the distant southern territories before the hive mind’s drones recovered. Yet it was a gamble Vlad was willing to take. Their supernatural constitution and the alchemical drugs had carried them this far, but to push any further would destroy them from within. By resting, they would gather their strength, steady their minds, and prepare themselves for the inevitable escalation of the battles that sure as hell would come.