Read Novel Full Chapter 1565: Siege of Sophia
Chapter 1565: Siege of Sophia
The South. City of Sophia.
After the war council concluded, Kaelen immediately teleported back to the city. Standing atop the ramparts and gazing out at the boundless ocean of insectoids, Kaelen, Sophia, and Melissa felt absolutely zero fear.
The three of them consisted of one Insect King and two Broodmothers. As long as no entity at the Archlord rank or above took the field, this apocalyptic swarm wasn’t a threat to them—it was an all-you-can-eat buffet of resources.
"Did your Father leave any specific instructions?" Butterfly Mother Sophia stood beside Kaelen, a trace of anticipation in her beautiful eyes.
However, Kaelen simply shook his head. Before Sophia could voice her confusion, he explained, "Father left halfway through the council. For him to intervene personally, it means an insectoid Demigod has already touched down."
At this, Kaelen glanced back over his shoulder at Melissa, who stood exactly one pace behind them. His look practically screamed: Are you sure you have absolutely nothing to tell me about this?
"Mother Lilith ordered me to pacify the southern swarm as quickly as possible and establish coastal defenses to prepare for any impending strikes from the sea," Kaelen continued, hiding nothing from his mother. "Once that’s done, I am to march north, rendezvous with the Third and Fourth Legions, and conquer the newly formed northern territories in the Horde’s name."
Sophia gave a slight nod. She didn’t press the issue of his Father’s departure, pivoting instead to the immediate crisis. "The swarm outside the walls is completely ignoring my aura, and Melissa’s as well. Our natural suppression is having zero effect. That means there is undoubtedly a Broodmother or an Insect King of equal or greater strength commanding them from the shadows."
It was a tactical certainty. To orchestrate a siege of this magnitude, there had to be an intelligent apex predator holding the reins.
"I know. I can already sense him," Kaelen stated coldly.
In a flash, a pair of majestic butterfly wings erupted from his back. He shot into the sky like a ballistic missile, hurtling straight toward the distant swarm. Simultaneously, a deafening, rage-fueled insectoid roar tore from Kaelen’s throat.
Kaelen was an Insect King. Orion had officially granted him the City of Sophia; this was his sovereign territory. As the ruling Insect King of these lands, having his domain besieged by a rogue swarm was the ultimate insult. The only way to wash away that humiliation was to drown it in blood.
As Kaelen soared over the battlefield, a cascade of luminescent, ethereal stardust drifted down from his wings. The moment the stardust touched the earth, it triggered a chain reaction of violent explosions, carving a path of roaring hellfire through the enemy ranks. Under Kaelen’s devastating aerial bombardment, the suffocating pressure on the City of Sophia finally began to ease.
"Do you truly have absolutely no foresight regarding our current situation?" Sophia pulled her gaze away from Kaelen’s retreating figure, turning her head to interrogate Melissa once more.
She had asked this exact question no less than ten times.
"Mother, I am merely an insignificant Broodmother. I couldn’t possibly know too much, nor was I ever permitted to." Melissa shook her head, her expression as placid and resolute as always. "Mother, my stance remains the same. If it is at all possible, you and the Master should evacuate as soon as you can. With the Master’s talent, we can always rise again elsewhere. The swarms of the Insectoid Realm are simply too powerful!"
When it came to the grand swarm, Melissa’s conviction never wavered: running was the only logical play.
"You must feel the oppressive auras saturating the air," Melissa pressed. "Every single one of them belongs to an entity we can only look up to in despair."
In truth, with the realm integration complete, an invisible, intangible cosmic law had blanketed the entire Titanion Realm. Under this law, every insectoid in the world was physically and spiritually linked to a massive, unseen web.
From Melissa’s perspective, this suffocating web had already ensnared the entire world—save for the territories held by the Stoneheart Horde. And now, that same web was slowly, methodically closing its jaws around the Horde’s domain.
Butterfly Mother Sophia remained silent. As a Broodmother herself, how could she not feel that overwhelming, invisible net closing in? Honestly, witnessing the sheer, apocalyptic scale of the insectoid civilization left her profoundly shaken.
Yet, despite her biology, she was actively choosing to reject that web. She was choosing to wage war against the apex predators of her own kind. The pillars supporting Sophia’s absolute conviction were her man, Orion; her son, Kaelen; and her people, the Dark Butterfly Race.
"I don’t have a choice," Sophia said softly, standing tall upon the blood-slicked battlements. Bathed in the crimson winds of war, amidst the deafening shrieks and roars of the swarm, her voice was eerily calm.
"And Melissa..." Sophia turned back to the younger Broodmother. Framed by a few stray locks of hair whipping in the wind, she offered a gentle, serene smile. "You don’t have a choice, either."
It was the first time Sophia had ever smiled at her like that. The smile was warm and maternal, like a gentle spring breeze. Melissa stared back, utterly stunned.
The Abyssal World, Sixth Stratum.
The Tetra-Spire was the absolute symbol of supreme authority within the Conquest Legion. Only the true core of the Legion—the absolute apex predators—were permitted to reside within its walls.
Right now, at the very pinnacle of the spire, Witch Queen Delilah lounged across Orion’s throne. She wore a sleek, off-the-shoulder black gown; the skirts cascaded around her like a pool of midnight, dark, alluring, and infinitely mysterious.
This was a vastly different Delilah.
The Divine Sigil resting between her brows pulsed with a constant, intoxicating light. Any entity that dared to look upon her would unknowingly spiral into a sensory illusion. Her allure was an inescapable abyss. Tales of her breathtaking, lethal beauty had spread to every corner of the Conquest Legion’s domain.
Here in the Abyss, ruling over Orion’s territory, Delilah had been crowned with a new title:
The Prime Empress.
Unmatched in beauty, and absolute in power.
Over the years, Witch Queen Delilah had leveraged her terrifying charm and ruthless competence to seize the highest seat of authority, second only to Orion himself. She had even managed to bring the perpetually slumbering Scourge Wardens to heel.
Sitting at the absolute apex of this vast abyssal domain, nourished by mountains of resources and oceans of faith, Delilah’s foundation had grown unfathomably deep. Her true strength was now entirely incalculable. Even the Abyssal Dragon Xalathar, after a brief, strictly-controlled sparring match with her, had immediately abandoned the Foundry Citadel and relocated to garrison Wraithguard Keep instead.
"My dear sister, surely you won’t fail to hold onto a tiny little sandbox like the Titanion Realm?" Delilah murmured, her eyes half-closed as she leaned back against the throne, her delicate collarbones fully exposed.
As the true mastermind behind the Sentinel Corps, she was fully aware of the apocalyptic war currently raging across the Titanion Realm. Yet, she didn’t harbor a single shred of desire to descend and join the fray.
In her eyes, the Abyssal World was her domain; the Titanion Realm belonged to her twin sister, Lilith. As the wife of Orion, the supreme ruler of the Stoneheart Horde, if Lilith couldn’t even defend her own backyard, she had no right sitting on that high throne.
It wasn’t envy. It wasn’t jealousy. It was the high-handed expectation of an older sister looking down from the summit, waiting to see if her twin had the ruthless competence to survive the storm. She genuinely wanted to see Lilith succeed and prove her absolute dominance.
"With me here, it will hold."
Suddenly, a massive, calloused hand rested on Delilah’s bare shoulder, gently toying with the dark sapphire necklace resting against her throat. The gemstone pulsed with a deep, abyssal light, contrasting sharply against the raw power of the hand.
"My dear Orion," Delilah looked up, her eyes softening like spun silk, her smile blooming like a lethal, midnight flower. "You’ve returned."