24: Flames and Worms

At the command of the Flame Lord, the scorching Fire Element army immediately responded.

The burning rage transformed into a force of counterattack, fiercely striking back at the source of the assault.

In an instant, countless fireballs, trailing dazzling tails, streaked across the sky, whistling towards the rolling black mist, exploding with a roar upon contact.

The shockwave from the violent explosion completely dispersed the black mist.

However, the cunning female banshees were already prepared.

Before the fire attack could get close, she skillfully escaped the danger zone, relying on her extraordinary mobility.

She darted freely through the sky, occasionally unleashing sharp wind blades to attack the Fire Element army.

This time, the Fire Elements were prepared, quickly raising fire barriers to defend against the wind blade attacks.

They were slow-moving and their formation was very dense, making it difficult to completely dodge the agile and varied wind blades, so they could only rely on their barriers to withstand the blows.

The Flame Lord witnessed all of this and did not order the army to disperse.

Previously, he had been caught off guard, which led to some losses.

Now that the army was prepared, the threat from these wind blades was much less than before.

If he were to rashly disperse the formation, not only would it be easy for the enemy to defeat them one by one, but he would also lose the amplification effect of the fire power.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, the formation must not be easily changed.

The Fire Elements continuously launched fireballs into the sky, but the female banshees always easily dodged them, and the battle between the two sides fell into a stalemate.

Just then, a faint tremor came from beneath their feet.

The Flame Lord suddenly remembered the King's warning, and an alarm bell rang in his heart, as he hastily shouted:

“Watch your feet! There are burrowing Worms lurking underground!”

No sooner had he spoken than countless grotesque Worms burst out of the ground, lunging at the Fire Elements with bared fangs and claws.

Although these Worms were not individually strong, all being below elite three-star and causing limited damage, their sheer numbers were terrifying.

The Flame Lord looked out, and a dense, surging tide of Worms completely covered the ground, leaving almost no place to stand.

Roughly estimated, there were at least twenty thousand of them.

These frenzied Worms disregarded their own safety, refusing to let go once they bit a Fire Element, even if their mouthparts were charred black by the flames.

Some Worms even exerted all their strength, attempting to drag the Fire Element underground.

However, the huge disparity in strength between the two sides was ultimately insurmountable.

The Fire Elements, relying on their strength, which was a whole rank higher, greatly reduced the effectiveness of the Worms' attacks.

Many Worms were burned to charcoal during the biting process.

This was even after Ye Chen had added the “Elemental Resistance” talent to them.

Elemental Resistance greatly enhanced the Worms' resistance to elemental damage; otherwise, the Worms would not have been able to even approach the Fire Elements.

The Worms, relying on their vast numbers, with dozens of them attacking one, brought considerable chaos to the Fire Elements.

“Everyone, activate Fire Vortex!”

The Flame Lord decisively gave the order.

The Fire Elements did not hesitate in the slightest, immediately stopping their attacks and working together to condense a powerful Fire Vortex.

Ye Chen, observing from high in the sky, quickly ordered the Worms to burrow underground.

Upon receiving the command, the Worms finally released their dark mouthparts and disappeared into the earth.

In an instant, raging flames swept across the land, and those Worms that had not managed to retreat were instantly engulfed by the flames, losing their lives.

The Fire Vortex continued to burn for a full three minutes before gradually subsiding.

The battlefield was a mess; the ground, once covered with Worm corpses, was scorched black, and the Worm corpses had all turned to ash.

After counting, apart from the one hundred Fire Elements remaining at the teleportation gate, of the original four hundred thirty Fire Elements that had pushed inward, only three hundred ninety-two remained, with over thirty having perished.

Even more infuriating was that those hateful Worms had stolen all the flame seeds!

Without the flame seed, these fallen Fire Elements would be unable to revive, which was undoubtedly a painful reduction in numbers.

The Flame Lord was seething with rage when, at that moment, the familiar tremor came from beneath his feet again.

“Attention! Those damned Worms are back!”

He warned loudly.

Before his words had even faded, the same scene played out again, with a large number of Worms emerging from underground and pouncing on the Fire Elements.

Flames once again burned on the ground, temporarily forcing back the Worm horde.

However, these Worms were like inextinguishable weeds, surging in wave after wave, endless.

Facing such continuous attrition, the Flame Lord could not help but feel anxious.

If he couldn't find the enemy's God Domain Core and continued this stalemate, the losses would only grow larger.

In desperation, he had no choice but to order the army to retreat.

At this point, the Fire Elements, facing continuous harassment from both the sky and underground, were already exhausted.

Hearing the order to retreat, they felt a sense of relief and hastily withdrew towards the teleportation gate, fearing to be entangled by the Worm tide again.

However, they did not notice that a thick black mist had quietly appeared on their unavoidable path.

Apollo had been waiting there for a long time, the small storm in his hand continuously absorbing the power of fear, poised for action.

When the Fire Element army reached the area beneath the black mist, the keen Flame Lord finally sensed something amiss.

The unusual energy fluctuations in the sky were clearly not naturally formed, and the powerful force contained within them sent shivers down his spine.

Before he could even react, the ground violently shook again, and those annoying Worms launched another attack.

The Fire Elements quickly condensed a Fire Vortex to counterattack, but this time, the Worm Army not only did not retreat but became even more frenzied in entangling their respective opponents.

The Flame Lord secretly thought, “This is bad.” These Worms were so reckless in their entanglement, disregarding casualties, that they must have another motive.

Considering the strange energy fluctuations in the sky...

“All troops, listen up! Quickly evacuate this area!”

He shouted the command.

Just then, the black mist in the sky gradually dispersed, and a terrifying Fear Storm was forming.

The storm continuously expanded in mid-air, sweeping towards the Fire Element army.

The Fire Elements, who were still fighting, heard the order and all tried to break free from their opponents and escape.

However, before they had run far, dozens of translucent, light-blue tentacles emerged from the ground, tightly coiling around them.

The Fire Elements touched by the tentacles instantly felt their bodies go weak, and an endless tide of fear surged into their hearts.

In a blink of an eye, the terrifying Fear Storm had roared into being.

This attack was completely different from before; its power was sufficient to destroy everything.

Under the cover of the storm, the Fire Elements let out shrill wails, one after another transforming into flame seeds and being swept into the storm.

Under Apollo's control, the Fear Storm swept towards the teleportation gate.

Along the way, Fire Elements were continuously entangled by Worms and tentacles, ultimately perishing in the storm.

The Flame Lord was enraged at the sight.

He stared intently at Apollo, who was controlling the storm and tentacles in the sky, knowing that this person was the instigator of all this disaster.

Eliminating him would end all of this.