The group hadn't left for long, only a few hours, when they came to a stop.

The course that the glove selected for their return happened to cross a locust migration, a trillion insects flying towards them, and thus Blue Xi. Someone might have suspected a joke of the fates, but Pef didn't.

He wore fate on his hand, after all. A small hint, it looked orange, if exposed to angled sunlight.

The Locust swarm was led by 100 Sovereign ranked locusts, and hidden somewhere hidden inside the humongous insect cloud, there was a god's messenger, bound to living creature.

Threat rankings and Cutting skill vectors lit up in Pef's vision at 100 kilometers distance, and he immediately stopped kissing and fondling the new wife whom he carried in his lap.

"Contact front! Use wide firecones. Yen, you support Jian. Yuan with me." Pef ordered at once, while creating a water vapor cloud around them.

"This is too big, Pef. I'm calling for help." the Lady Ignited said in a shiver, as her senses extended much further than her husband's and still couldn't reach the other end of the swarm.

The young Sovereign began circulating to recover some qi, and prepared for combat. His breastplate and helmet were Monarch rank now, not yet fully attuned or anchored with formations, but still a hundred times more durable than he was.

Yuan had her breastplate too, and also a Monarch ranked hammer. Jian, Qin and Yen wore full Sovereign plate armor, and had their feather polearms, light but sharp.

'So, this is Locust?' he asked inward.

'The planning and the insects, yes. The energy, to boost so many locust Emperor ranks to Sovereign...scanning. Beastgod has decreased a bit, Niruan too. Perhaps one more. Although, it maybe the strong druid counter-attack on Green Gea. Your White Pills gave them six more Sovereigns Lords and thus 12 more Sovereign mounts.' the glove explained and computed a few extra predictions.

"The Fire Lord is sending some help. Your uncle and the Ardent Hestia." Yuan said in a happy voice. More fire users would make burning this swarm easier.

Pef was already pulsing his own warning to Patriarch Deng Xi. It was his empire being targeted after all.

A minute later, a single word came back. 'Coming!'

It made Pef hopeful, not because of the incoming trillion insects, but for what was surely hidden inside that swarm.

When gods made a play, then went all in, trying to be certain of a victory.

The Lady Ignited fired a single fireball, in an arc which ended somewhere in the front ranks of the swarm, still 50 kilometers away, and visible as storm front. Then it exploded, incinerating the low ranks and a billion normal locusts.

She fired two more a few seconds later, then breathed deeply and circulated her qi. "I'm not losing qi at all, as long as I'm killing so many things..." Yuan said in a surprised tone, since she wasn't that used, with how the Legion method worked.

Huge detonations were seen on the horizon, and Yuan began firing four fireballs at once, two at the frontline, and two even further inward.

Giant explosions of fire qi and incinerated insects filled the distant skies. The swarm kept coming though, undeterred from losing billions of their members.

At 10 kilometers distance, Qin and Jian began firing their own smaller barrage, targeting dense pockets of locusts and setting afire millions of them with every fireball.

Then as the locust front arrived at one kilometer in distance, Pef unleashed his Cutting skill, splitting reality open over 10 kilometers and caving through 30 Sovereign Locusts in one hit. The skill kept going, decreasing in strength, but still exterminating a billion normal locusts and some smaller ranks in the area of effect.

Heavenly Lightning began gathering above so Pef flew a hundred meters to the side and waited. Just as the punishment fell, he launched another skill, terminating some 20 more Sovereign ranked locust in the front, and billions smaller one behind.

Then the first strike fell on him, not mitigated by an enemy, only by his neo knife, his glove and partially his armor.

His soul wasn't affected though, just making the inner sauna become blindingly luminous, and his dantian full of qi.

Thus, he used his water domain to desiccate all the locusts that entered it, and made them easy tinder for his fire wielding wives.

As the first strike ended, and the second lightning was gathering to bestow the heaven's punishment, he glanced toward the swarm and launched a vicious third skill at the menacing blinking triangle far in the midst of the insect cloud.

His water shield came up and began rotating at high speed, swatting away the incoming tide, as the lightning fell. This time he felt it, pain and contempt and a host of emotions coursing through the lightning strike.

His puppy smiled happy, having grown two new front teeth, while the glove was busy digesting all the new data encoded in the electrical current.

An immensely powerful screech sounded from whatever beast was hit by his skill, and Pef smiled despite the pain.

'It hurts you, more than me!' he gloated in joy, waiting for the electrocution the end.

The glove prepared another attack line, and blinked the instant the user could move. Pef launched his fourth skill, splitting a dozen Sovereigns in the way, and then going for 10 kilometers and impacting a dark red qi mass, evaporating part of it and impacting a bluish kind of insect.

Pef sped back after this, retreating a kilometer and letting the wives ignite their fire streams and evaporate the smaller locusts.

The third Heavenly Lighting strike fell, growing two more canines on his puppy, and stopping his heart. Pef kept his blood moving with his water qi, and compressed the qi infusion to the limit, forcing his own rank to raise in the process.

It hurt unbelievably great, and his nerves were on fire.

'Use it now, Aspirant. Ignite!' the glove yelled, a bit worried the foolish user would explode his dantian by trying too much.

A firewave erupted from his left hand, the fire mingled with electricity and heavenly energy. In effect it was plasma now, hot and dense enough to evaporate all beast ranks at Earth rank or lower.

Like a firestorm, the wave swept over the lines and insect formations, not quite to the effect a Monarch could achieve, but close. A front of 10 by 10 kilometers was completely cleaned of small insects, revealing hundreds of higher ranks, including three Monarchs.

Pef retreated again, wary of being hit by a skill or some powerful spell.

Then, 5 seconds later, another triangle blinked and Pef launched his fifth and final skill.

One of the Monarch beasts exploded, in a shower of gore and qi, then the Lightning fell from heavens, this time the emotions mixed, pity and regret, mixed with superiority and disgust.

But Pef didn't care. The heavens be damned! He had killed a Monarch! His rank rose again, and the qi replaced at great speed, even though he kept all his defenses and attacks on at all time.

His lungs stopped working as well, which would be bad if this fight lasted much longer.

A crippled insect the size of a truck flew by him and engaged Yuan in melee, exchanging blow for blow, while the third Monarch, began gathering qi for an attack of some kind.

Pef was frozen in midair, unable to move while the electricity course through him, so he could only soul strike at both Monarchs and hope the energy of the heavens would recover his depleted qi in time.

The beast fighting Yuan froze for a split-second, in confusion and disbelief, and turned towards Pef, giving the Lady Ignited a perfect piercing strike, with her spiked end of her hammer. Brains and blood spurted from the wound, instantly evaporated by Yuan's fire qi.

The grasshopper froze in midair, and Yuan folded and stored it into her Monarch ranked ring with ease.

Then a red bubbly qi strike emerged from the third Monarch, and headed for the vulnerable Sovereign.

Pef grinned with sad eyes. It seemed the adventure will end today.

The wives were frozen in fear, watching the deadly bubbling ray of death approach their husband at unknown speeds. Jian sped up and tried to throw herself bodily in front of the attack, as if her Tyrant ranked body would be of any use against a Monarch.

She tried, but didn't reach in time. A white beam emerged from behind, ignoring Pef and meeting the red beam head on. It didn't win, but it kept the red energy in place for a second, just enough for Yuan to speed by and grab Pef with her, by his leg.

Then she sped forward, attacking the monster with a husband in one hand, and her hammer in the other. Yuan wasn't a great warrior, but as a Monarch rank with 5 meridians open, she wasn't bad either.

Her hammer bounced hit after hit, but Pef's knife had grown a few teeth, enough to rip through the entangled qi of the divine messenger.

A second later, an old man wielding an identical knife joined the melee from the other side, his strikes perfect in every single way. Fast, precise and powerful, dismembering the Monarch ranked insect with each pass.

In seconds, the beast was dismembered, disemboweled and finally decapitated.

And just when Yuan and Deng breathed heavily from the effort, the fifth lighting strike fell, hitting Pef fully in the chest, then also electrocuted Yuan and even clipped Deng a little, as he was poking his silly nephew to check for lifesigns.

Pef was almost unconscious now, so he felt the pain in passing, just wondering who turned the light up so bright, inside his soul.

Yuan and Deng spasmed and contorted, while both Legion knives smiled at each other with glee. They could sense each other now, if only bits of code.

'My recruit is an idiot!' the old one complained.

'Sniff. I haven't been sharpened in a million years. But the old guy feeds me well...'

The glove sighed and collected the falling Monarch bits. Someone had to work in this Legion. And sadly, with this bunch of inbred idiots, the glove was it.

The locust swarm wasn't nearly a quarter gone though, and fighting resumed, as Yen arrived to take care of her husband, and the fire disciple poured fire spells every few seconds.

Deng Xi joined in as well, swatting the higher ranks when they got close.

Then Lithos and Ventu arrived and added their own attacks, holding the swarm back, then an hour later Saren and Hestia arrived as well.

Joined by a common cause, they torched and set ablaze the locusts, and used sword qi to butcher the Sovereign or other high ranks insects.

Their qi should have run out in minutes, but every locust cloud killed recharged the spent qi, when used wisely. "You're still looking pretty Saren." Deng muttered while supporting his son on a bigger swarm.

"Yeah, my wife is well and young Pef filled us with pills from somewhere." Saren Xi said in a relaxed tone.

"You too, huh. No wonder there's two more Sovereigns in that fire sect." The Patriarch remarked glancing at Hestia with a frown. That woman was almost out of qi, and she barely helped.

"Yeah, these bugs are nothing. The Phobia siege was messy." the son said in a more sober tone.

"So I've heard. 150 Fire Tyrants left though. Not shabby at all." Deng commented while swiping his knife and exterminating a dozen Tyrant ranked insects in a single second.

Saren just smiled and shook his head. The old Master would butcher them all in 10 seconds.

He gathered his fire qi and signaled Ventu for a push. The fire wave became a firestorm, fueled by Ventu's wind. He kept fueling it, as the kills climbed and his qi remained constant.

And another hour later, Pef coughed in surprise, as he was still alive, and surrounded by family and allies.

"Hey guys. Glad you could make it..." he said in a weak voice, then tried to rejoin the fight.

His wife Yuan held him back, with two fingers. "We got this, hubby. Heal and recover. And never take more than three strikes, please."

Then she launched four more giant fireballs way above the insect swarm, and detonated them 50 kilometers away. "Huh, that's the end of them. Soon it won't be worth spending this much qi..." the Lady Ignited said in a soft whisper.

She spent in this fight more qi than in her entire life. And it wasn't a short life.