Modern Cultivation : The Strongest Couple Bonded by Vampire System-Chapter 635 - 635: Goliath Mantis

The goliath mantis charged.
Its blade-arms swung forward like two guillotines.
CLANG!!!
The qi knight raised its shield and took the hit. The knight's feet dug two deep grooves into the ground as it was pushed back.
The mantis didn't stop.
It stepped in again, its lower limbs stabbing into the soil.
Its upper body snapped forward, and the second blade came down.
CLANG!!!
The qi knight blocked again, but this time its shield cracked.
Captain Jorren frowned.
"Hold the line! Don't let it reach the array core!"
Two cultivators behind the knight pressed both palms to the formation. Their faces turned pale as more qi was pulled out of them.
The knight steadied itself and raised its sword.
SLASH!!!
A wide arc of qi tore across the ground and carved a trench.
Several insects in front were cut apart and thrown aside.
But the swarm reacted immediately.
The smaller mantis insects split into groups.
One group kept attacking the barricade, forcing the turrets to keep firing.
Another group ran wide to the left, moving along broken pipes and rubble like they had practiced it a thousand times.
A third group crawled over the bodies of their own dead and built a living ramp, stacking themselves so the ones behind could climb higher.
They moved like ants.
Alex watched their movement and his eyes narrowed.
'Do they use something like pheromones, or is there a higher-ranked one controlling everything?'
A cultivator on the barricade shouted, "They're coming from the flank!"
Jorren snapped his head.
"Left side, send two squads. Don't chase. Focus on blocking them."
Two teams jumped down. They drew their weapons and threw talismans.
A wall of fire burst across the left path, forcing the insects to climb over burning wreckage.
Meanwhile, the goliath mantis slammed its blade-arms forward again.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Each strike pushed the knight back another step.
The knight's body began to flicker. The formation lines trembled like they were about to break.
The qi knight tried to counter.
It drove its sword forward, stabbing for the mantis's chest.
The goliath mantis twisted.
The sword scraped against chitin and sparked, but it failed to cut through.
The mantis swung a brutal hook.
Its blade-arm caught the knight's shoulder and ripped it open.
SLASH!!!
A chunk of qi armor tore off.
The knight staggered, and the cultivators feeding the formation coughed blood.
"We need more qi!" someone yelled.
"You want us to die?" another cultivator snapped back.
Jorren didn't look at them. His eyes stayed on the mantis.
"Your choice. Feed it and we still have hope, or we all die!"
His words worked.
The cultivators forced out what they had left. The knight's body started to become solid again.
But the goliath mantis lowered its body and charged like a battering ram.
BOOM!!!
It rammed into the knight.
The knight flew back and slammed into a barricade.
A turret got crushed under the impact.
The swarm reacted instantly.
The insects rushed the gap.
They didn't run in a straight line. They spread out like a net.
Some threw themselves at the remaining turrets to jam their barrels.
Some climbed the barricade and used their bodies to block incoming fire, letting the ones behind slip through.
A few mantis insects leapt high and landed among the cultivators, trying to drag them off the formation.
"Dammit!" Jorren roared.
A cultivator swung his blade and cut one in half, but another grabbed his ankle and yanked.
He hit the ground hard, and three more insects swarmed him.
"No! Help! I don't want to die!"
The qi knight tried to stand. The formation lines under it flickered again.
The goliath mantis raised its blade-arms.
Its jaw clicked once.
"Tk."
Like a command, the swarm shifted.
The insects that were flanking stopped targeting the walls. They turned toward the formation core.
Jorren's expression darkened. "Dammit."
He turned his head and shouted, "You two, why are you standing there? Do something!"
Alex didn't answer.
He raised his gun.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three mantis insects dropped, their heads exploding from the bullets.
Mingyue moved at the same time.
A wall of ice spears stabbed into the ground and pinned another row of insects in place.
The goliath mantis turned its head.
Its eyes locked onto Alex like it had found a new target.
Alex smiled and raised his gun toward it.
The goliath mantis moved.
Its blade-arms swung wide, but the moment it struck, it always follow the same pattern.
A slight pull in the neck.
Than a very short pause, as it was trying to balance it's huge body.
Alex focused on that moment, while looking for it's weakness.
In reality Alex and MingYue could just unleash their power to kill the mantis.
But they still need to hide their power.
So Alex decided to only use the empire weapon, while Mingyue use her ice based attack.
Every time the mantis attacked, the plates near its left shoulder opened just a little, like it needed space to move its inner joints.
For an instant, a seam appeared under the chitin armor.
Alex's eyes sharpened.
The mantis rushed again, wanting to finish the qi knight before going toward Alex.
Its blade-arm came down.
Alex fired before it landed.
BANG!!!
The bullet hit the seam.
The mantis's shoulder twitched.
Its swing went off by a fraction, and the blade scraped the shield instead of splitting it.
Alex didn't stop.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Each shot went to the same point.
The seam started to crack. Black blood began to drip.
The mantis let out a loud screech.
It twisted its body, trying to shield the spot.
Jorren saw it right away.
"What are you doing? This is our chance!"
The cultivators roared, they poured qi into the formation again.
The qi knight begin to move.
The cracks on its shield lit up and begin to recover.
"Now!" someone shouted.
BOOM!!!
It slammed its shoulder into the goliath mantis and forced it back a step.
The mantis tried to hook its blade-arm down, but the knight's shield met it head-on.
CLANG!!!
The mantis reeled for a breath.
The knight's sword came down.