Chapter 1 Journey's Start

The ape originally had one arm blown off by self-detonation, and now it had to spare another arm to hold its prisoner.

Relying only on its two legs, its speed obviously slowed down.

If it fought those humans directly, it would definitely win, provided they didn't self-destruct.

A one-on-one fight might allow it to instantly kill one, but fighting a group was a different story. A human alone and a group of humans were two completely different creatures.

Gritting its teeth, it decided that its life was more important than food.

It used force to crush the prisoner's head, turned around, and threw the corpse at the pursuing soldiers.

It landed squarely on one of them.

"Dick!"

The leading man looked at the unrecognizable head. Inside the metal helmet, the eyes bulged, one of them burst, and the cheekbone spurs protruded deeply, forcibly altered by the metal helmet, tearing a large area of muscle.

"Boss! Dick's dead."

"..."

The leading man didn't say anything. He used the little remaining magic essence to ignite the corpse.

"Boss..."

"Rest in peace... Prepare the warlocks, no matter what happens... all together!"

"Yes!"

While the men were grieving, the one-armed ape immediately distanced itself, watching them from afar, cautiously starting to retreat.

At this time, the apes from the fortress had also arrived,

A group of apes surrounded the humans in a fan shape.

Everything was dark and invisible, only the continuously burning corpse emitted bursts of light, and the few remaining soldiers in tattered armor raised their swords warily.

"Kekeke—"

"..."

Is it over—

Is it really over... I really want to go home and see my daughter. She should be born by now.

I came here already with the determination to die!

But, I'm so unwilling... so unwilling, I really want to see... just one more look.

The large hand holding the broken sword trembled slightly.

I can't see anymore... then

I'll do my best to win a chance of hope for the others!

...

...

"Empress, the Sixteenth Legion's garrison is ahead. You can rest there for a while."

The old Speaker said nervously. Although he said so, the fact that he hadn't been able to contact the Sixteenth Legion made him a little uneasy.

"Oh? The Sixteenth Legion... Are you sure that place is ours? That dark, looming castle?"

"Yes."

"Are they all dead, or are you using magical creatures? Black, hulking things, three or four meters tall, like apes?"

"!!!! Empress!"

"Alright, I understand. But it seems they're not all dead. There are still a few alive, kaka, let's go save them."

In Lin Mo's eyes, a burning human-shaped flame flickered. Through the Overlord's eye-bug, Lin Mo noticed the flame almost immediately.

He was in a good mood and quite bored, so he might as well save them.

"Yes, Empress."

An Ultralisk separated from the group, burying itself underground with a muffled thud. The Hydralisks on its back were distributed to the other Ultralisks.

"Is one enough?"

"Empress..." Kaka didn't know what to say. Was the Empress's fear of insufficient firepower getting worse? It was an Ultralisk! Dealing with these small apes was a piece of cake.

"Alright, you decide, Kaka."

After the Ultralisk went underground, it began digging, using a speed faster than running on the ground, with slight tremors.

This was ridiculous. Why was it faster underground than on the surface!

The old Speaker was stunned. Was there such a use? Was this a bit outrageous?

With this kind of skill, what was the point of walls?

Although there were arrays protecting the walls underground, as the soil deepened, the consumption of magic essence would increase, but the digging speed would also decrease.

But, with this ridiculous digging speed, none of that seemed to matter?

He swallowed. What other Overlords did the Empress have hidden? He remembered the dense crowd of all kinds of creatures in the square that day.

If each one had special skills like this...

It was unimaginable!

Coming back to his senses, he saw Lin Mo's blood-red eyes looking at him.

"What are you thinking about? Speaker?"

"No, nothing. I'm just marveling at your power. The Overlord's strength is truly terrifying."

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

Lin Mo smiled and nodded. As long as you praised the Overlord, you were a good friend.

"Huh? Why are so many apes afraid of these human soldiers?"

Lin Mo muttered to himself.

"What did you say, Empress?" The old Speaker, whose cold sweat hadn't subsided, didn't dare to relax, so he heard Lin Mo's murmur immediately.

"Is there something special about the soldiers? Why are those monkeys afraid of so few..."

"Self-detonation. Self-detonating warlocks. That's our ultimate weapon."

Looking at Lin Mo's expression, as if saying, "I've never seen that," the old Speaker smiled bitterly.

"That's a skill only taught on the front lines."

The topic was a bit heavy, and Lin Mo nodded.

...

...

Whoever it is! Save us!

The silent smoke of gunpowder drifted past them. No one knew when they would be suddenly attacked.

The tense atmosphere only needed a spark to ignite.

The ground trembled slightly, as if something was lurking in the sand.

What is it?

The leading soldier didn't dare to look, but... it was probably bad news. What other abyssal creatures were there?

He didn't expect these monkeys to be so good at mobilizing. Reinforcements had arrived so quickly... Was this a game?

"Zizizi!"

"Roar!"

Pfft—

The apes were caught off guard, harvested by the scythe that suddenly came out of the ground.

Like iron slicing through tofu.

The apes were dumbfounded.

They were afraid, but mostly they were dumbfounded.

What is this!

Director, I'm reporting! Someone's cheating!

"Roar!"

The Ultralisk jumped out of the sand. Its ten-meter-tall body was covered in black blood mixed with gravel, which peeled off in chunks.

Its dim yellow eyes swept over the monkeys present, noticing the few bipedal creatures in the center. Those were the Empress's mission targets.

Its purpose was to protect these humans.

"Zizizi!"

The monkeys wanted to retreat, but they couldn't. Apes kept coming.

Those monkeys that hadn't been hit were immersed in a dream of "however many against one—advantage is mine."

They pushed and shoved, unable to retreat! What are you doing! Kill it quickly!

The apes closer to the Ultralisk were numb. Their idiot teammates! Stop yelling! Did you hear what I said? There's a terrifying monster ahead! Retreat!

They leaned back, their feet pushing hard against the ground, trying to slow down their speed towards the Ultralisk.

But it didn't work.

Their feet had already plowed two deep grooves in the ground, unable to stop at all.

Closer and closer, they kept moving their feet, but they couldn't get a grip!

Damn it! It's all sand!

A flash of white light.

I'm done for!

I'm done~

Their heads flew far away, falling into the ape crowd behind.

The three-meter-tall ape was just the right height for the Ultralisk to lift its leg. It just needed a little effort, a high leg lift, and it could pass by.

One foot could crush countless apes, and there were even some trying to get hit on purpose?

Actively bumping into its scythe?

What's the meaning of this?

Were they trying to scam it?

Did they want it to pay? But it was only a year old and had no autonomy. That meant its guardian would have to pay, which was the Empress. Rounding up, these damned creatures wanted to extort money from the Empress!

But the Empress didn't have money, so there would be some strange compensation methods...

Crap!

How could it tolerate this? They were practically shitting on its head!

"Roar!—"

It roared to the sky and began to run. Its two scythes were held horizontally at its sides, and it lowered its body, positioning them right at the monkeys' heads. Wuhu! Harvesting wheat!

You damned bad guys! How dare you think of the Empress that way! Die!

Meanwhile, the surrounded squad in the center was dumbfounded.

What was going on? Unlike those monsters being crushed by the apes, they could clearly see the Ultralisk's massacre because there was some distance between them.

"Boss, what's going on? Are these our reinforcements?"

"..."

The leading soldier looked down at his broken sword, then at the Overlord's blood-stained scythe, and didn't know if he should still be holding this piece of junk.

"I don't know, but I remember during the previous meeting, they said our inland was invaded by a large monster, so we never received reinforcements, which is why we collapsed."

"...So, the newcomers are hostile?"

He nodded, sighed, and stuck his sword in the ground. Giving up!

"Boss?"

"Put it down. Isn't it tiring?"

"Ah?"

The leading man smiled slightly and pulled out a small, palm-sized metal flask from his lower back.

Everyone swallowed.

"Heh, what's the point of resisting? Look at that guy's combat power. The apes' teeth can't even break that monster's armor. Do you think we can?"

"..."

"Haha, what's with the gloominess? Come on, let's have a drink, brothers, in our final moments."

He opened the lid, looked at his still-burning teammate, pursed his lips, filled the lid, and poured it in front of him.

As if with emotion, and as if with regret, "If I had known, I wouldn't have set you on fire. That way... maybe all of us could have kept our bodies..."

"You... never mind, it's come to this. I won't scold you, but I still have one thing to say. Your brat definitely doesn't deserve my precious daughter! Whether you're dead or alive! She's my treasure!"

"So... if you're still around, let him grow up well. If I can go back... I..."

As if thinking of something, he suddenly laughed, "I seem to have set up some terrible flag. Never mind, I wasn't going to survive anyway."

"Come on, let's drink, one sip each. I've counted it out, so if you don't leave me a sip, don't blame me for kicking you! I'm warning you!"

"Yes, Boss."

"Cry! What the hell is wrong with you all, still crying! His little son isn't even crying!"

He pointed to the fire that was burning even brighter.

"..." Snot mixed with alcohol, covering his face.

"Don't get it dirty! I'm going to use it next time!"

The leading man snatched the flask, looking at his sniveling subordinate with displeasure.

While wiping the crying subordinate's snot with his sleeve, the Ultralisk had already finished its work. Not that it had killed them all, but it had made them understand its terror, and they had run back to the fortress.

Well... wish them good luck.

The Empress should have reached the fortress by now.

The Overlord shook its head, as if sighing.

Then it looked at the few bipedal creatures who were both crying and laughing.

??

What kind of strange ritual was this? It looked a bit like a bonfire party... but, wasn't the timing a bit off?

Hiss! It was about right, a moment of survival. What a good time!

"Boss, I can wipe it myself. You don't have to bother."

The man's sleeve still didn't stop.

After a while, his nose started to hurt, but the man still didn't stop, and even, even the speed seemed to be a bit faster than before.

And what did the sweat on his head mean? Was he tired?

Hey? Why was the boss starting to tremble?

A huge shadow enveloped him. Although there was no sunlight, and no shadow, all senses except sight were telling him one thing: there was something behind him, and it was a big one...

The hairs on his back stood up immediately.

The thick, bloody smell, the hot air exhaled from his nostrils.

He turned his face stiffly like a puppet.

?

〣(ºΔº)〣

Huh, what is this? A yellow gem? It's quite bright, round, and it has my reflection.

His brain had long understood, but it just didn't want to admit it.

Hoo—

A snort blew up the sand, blinding his eyes. "Grandma... are you here to pick me up..."

The Overlord raised its head again and made a low growl.

...

Looking at the few guys huddled together, the Overlord was stunned. What the hell were they doing!

Wasn't it cute? What were they afraid of!

Who said it was cute? Of course, its beautiful, kind, gentle, and cute Empress! It was the Empress's little treasure!

"Roar!"

It got anxious.

(Don't be afraid! Smile!)

The men were even more afraid, and the Overlord started to have doubts. Was it really cute? This doubt?

But when the Empress praised it, her sincere expression didn't seem fake at all!

Right! There must be something wrong with these people's eyes! That's it!

Well, it had saved them, now it could go back to the Empress and get a head pat~(✪▽✪)