Inside a dark cave, three figures moved in a line cautiously. Instead of walking, they ‘slid’ through the ground, the roots below their two legs moved as if it was just a large swarm of insects carrying the treant creatures. They all held a round leaf-covered gel which produced light, illuminating their tree-like bodies.

If any humans saw them, they would recognize what they were—kojans, the tree-like enemies of humanity!

As they continued exploring the cave, they scanned every corner and every stalagmite, wary about any unexpected hidden danger. The uneven rocky surrounding slowly changed. The cave was smoothed into a neat square tunnel, and there were steel pillars to reinforce and support the tunnel.

The lead kojan turned to the others and nodded.

With their mission accomplished, they prepared to head back. Suddenly, several metallic spiders jumped out from the cave walls and lunged at the three kojans.

The kojan’s reactions were quick as they brandished their blades and sliced the incoming spiders into scrap. Even as the spiders laid dead on the ground, the kojans crushed the corpses with their feet.

The attack alarmed them and they didn’t waste any more time lingering. They sprang into a sprint towards the opposite direction, no longer sliding across the floor. From the cave walls, several hidden turrets revealed themselves and launched enhanced steel bolts at the kojans. The kojans effortly blocked every bolt with their swords while slicing at dozens of spiders at the same time.

As the kojans frantically fought their way out, the shadows revealed groups of armored humanoids, each half the size of a man, approaching the kojans. Not a tinge of killing intent could be felt from these men made out of iron as they formed a shieldwall and brandished their spears at the three kojans.

With their only path blocked by these humanoids, the kojans charged. Normally, shieldwalls had no trouble keeping hundreds of soldiers in place, yet these three kojans slammed through the tough defensive formation with no effort. The kojans even took some time to crush the heads and bodies of the metallic humanoids, despite being surrounded by enemies from all sides.

It was laughable to simply compare the kojans to mere humans! It was not simply their strength that was incomparable, their combat skills were also unmatched!

Despite their casualties, the metallic creatures ceaselessly pressed their attacks. Even the cave itself seemed hellbent on trying to kill the kojans as parts of the ceiling fell onto the kojans. However, the kojans skilfully dodged the traps while defending themselves against several attacks.

As the kojans progressed through the tunnel, smoke flooded the place from hidden vents on the cave walls, obscuring the vision of the kojans. Despite the new challenge, they still managed to keep a steady pace fighting through the swarm of spiders, humanoids, and turrets.

As one of the kojans cut through a group of humanoids, his sword was stopped by several spears. He quickly pulled his body back as a steel axe swung past in front of him. Slowly, the short humanoids were replaced by a taller variant, only slightly shorter than the average human. Their glowing red eyes illuminated through the black smoke.

While the fight before felt like a walk in a garden, it now felt like an actual fight for survival for the kojans. Their new enemies were smarter, faster, and marginally better at giving them trouble.

The kojans twisted their bodies, dodged, and danced through the blockade of spears. The trio defended each other's backs and launched attacks whenever they saw a weakpoint in their enemy's defenses. Just as they were getting confident that they could still fight through the cave, one of the kojans was abruptly killed, his illuminating gel falling into the floor.

Even through the smoke, the two kojans could see a massive figure looming towards them.

“Dodge!” the leading kojan shouted, but his warning was too late.

A great axe carved through the other kojan’s face. Even as the axe was lifted, the kojan’s body was firmly stuck. The dying kojan resisted with whatever life it had remaining, swinging his sword forward but was stopped with a loud ‘peng’ as if his sword had hit a steel wall.

Without warning, the axe flung towards the wall, and the kojan’s body was carved into two. The impact was so strong, smoke was pushed out from the area of impact.

The last kojan suddenly found himself no longer under attack, as if the swarm of hostiles had disappeared into thin air. He raised his sword in front of himself in anticipation.

Smoke stopped spewing into the cave, and soon the kojan could see something up ahead—a massive horned creature covered in plates of greenish steel armed with an axe the size of a full grown man. It made a sound resembling breaking plates and charged at the kojan. Waiting until the last minute, the kojan parried the great axe and threw a quick counterattack. He thrusted his blade forward at the gaps of the creature’s armor. As his blade gained momentum, a snake-shaped line glowed across the blade.

However, just before it was about to connect, it was blocked by a pair of blades. The giant creature revealed two smaller arms on its sides armed with a sword each. Not a second sooner, the creature launched successive strikes at the kojan. The kojan was forced into the defense, not because he was outskilled by the great monster, but because every time he found a gap, two or three spears would come from behind and force him to defend himself.

Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the kojan threw his only source of light away and held his sword with two hands. He negated his defense and launched a series of berserk attacks. This time, the giant steel creature was forced back, step by step. Despite its defense, several cracks appeared on its plate armor.

Now, every time the metallic humanoids launched their attacks, a few would be destroyed by the following counterattack. The kojan’s disregard for his own life had pushed his body to the limit, and transparent yellowish liquid flowed into the cavern floor.

On the other side, the giant metallic creature had lost one of its horns, its plate armor was even battered. One of its smaller arms was severed and was failing wildly on the floor. Despite the kojan’s efforts, the giant metallic creature was still very far from death.

As the kojan raised its blade one more time, he was suddenly pounced by several oversized frogs in armor. They bit into the kojan and tore its bark-like skin apart.

The kojan threw the newcomers off him and prepared to punish the frogs with a wrathful attack but was stopped when a bolt pierced his head. The blade on his hand fell onto the floor, and a second later, his body joined the blade on the floor.

Across the tunnel, a person stood with a crossbow. When he was satisfied with the kill, he rested the crossbow against his shoulder and shouted, “Heeey, Minos! You don’t look like you’re faring well against that thing!”

The giant metallic creature, Minos, clenched his fist and ran a diagnostic scan. “Severe damage to external plating. Minor damage to internal parts,” Minos reported. “Full report successfully sent to Master Custodian, Niner.”

“Just the three of these things destroyed a lot of our drones! Imagine if they sent more!” Niner casually walked toward the kojan’s corpse, carefully not stepping on the broken drone spiders and drone warriors. After kicking the kojan’s dead corpse, Niner sighed. “By strict definitions, our defense is technically a success, but with our losses, we won’t hold out long if the kojans get serious.”

‘Niner, report,’ Custodian ordered in hivespeak.

‘Master Custodian, it seems that your prediction is right. There’s entrances all over Varangia, not just at Mount Varangia. And from the looks of it, our defenses are still not enough,’ Niner responded.

Custodian looked through Minos’ report and pondered. ‘It seems that we need to overhaul the defenses. Even with a Daedelus model on the front, these organics could still put up a good resistance. Niner, we will need more resources to organize a better defense. See to it.’

Niner handed his crossbow to one of the frog-like creatures and grunted. ‘Not a problem! But we need to stop the stream of troglodytes to the war down there.’

Custodian had remembered that his subordinated troglodytes were currently waging a war in the uncontrolled areas of the dungeon. After running some calculation and looking at the reports from his drones, he concluded, ‘The vassal troglodytes are self-sufficient now. They’ve captured several villages and are preparing for the long haul.’

‘Great! With this, we can use the troglodytes as free manpower once more,’ Niner said. ‘Now, we better hurry before the kojans attack sincerely!’

‘Good. As for you, Minos, Smith will return shortly. Get repaired. As our only Security and Termination unit within Varangia, it’s imperative you stay in top condition. There will be many more battles ahead,’ Custodian ordered.

‘Affirmative,’ came the reply.