Chapter 350: Chapter 349: Let the Flames Purify Everything, Die, Insects! Chapter 350: Chapter 349: Let the Flames Purify Everything, Die, Insects! Watching the Double Silver Striped Beetles, Richard knew that it would be quite difficult to deal with them using swordsmanship alone. So, he stored his Great Sword back into the Space Iron Ring and stretched out his hand, activating the No. 3 Ring. The “Chain Explosion” Magic Rune Magic was released.

“Whoosh!”

A jujube-sized, dark red Mars shot out, rapidly flying toward a Double Silver Striped Beetle that had emerged from the ground and was the closest. After hitting the body of the Double Silver Striped Beetle, the Mars expanded like an inflating balloon and then exploded with a bang.

“Boom!”

A large burst of flames emerged, melting away most of the attacked Double Silver Striped Beetle’s shell, but it did not die immediately due to its tenacious life force. In the residual flames of the explosion, another jujube-sized dark red Mars emerged, expanding in volume and causing a second explosion.

“Boom!”

The unfortunate Double Silver Striped Beetle was engulfed by the flames and blown to smithereens. Its nearby companions were also affected, battered with wounds and oozing dark green juice from their broken shells.

Magic Rune Magic–Zero-Circle High Order–Double Ring Explosion!

Seeing the effects of the Double Ring Explosion, Richard nodded in satisfaction. Although he had conducted experiments and obtained corresponding data in the underground laboratory of the research facility, it was still more realistic in actual combat.

Next, without hesitation, Richard kept activating Magic Runes, continuously releasing the “Chain Explosion” spell.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The explosions rang out like firecrackers, and by the time it was quiet, the Double Silver Striped Beetles were cleanly dead.

Richard slowly exhaled, slightly relaxed, then his eyebrows raised as he looked toward the corridor leading to the depths of the tomb. He heard the “whoosh whoosh whoosh” sound of a large number of Beetles surging forward; it was apparent that the entire Insect Swarm had been alarmed.

Richard’s expression became tense, knowing in his heart that what had just occurred was merely an appetizer, and the real test was now. If he could not successfully deal with the approaching Insect Swarm, all his preparations would be for naught.

It was time to see if the massive amount of earth-moving work that he had been exhausting himself with would work as planned.

Thinking this, the Insect Swarm coming through the corridor had already shown itself.

Rushing at the forefront were countless black Beetles, followed closely by Silver Striped Beetles with a single stripe and Double Silver Striped Beetles with two stripes. Behind them, there were the extremely troublesome Silver Shell Beetles and the Golden Silver Beetles that he had not yet engaged in combat.

Richard’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the Insect Army. With a raise of his hand, the No. 3 Ring was activated once more.

This time, he released not the Chain Explosion, but the Cold Ice Fragments.

The damp air in the hall suddenly surged, and a large number of water molecules condensed into a pale blue Ice Cube shaped like a diamond that landed in Richard’s palm.

With a “crack” a piece the size of a finger broke off the Ice Cube and shot like a bullet toward the Beetle at the forefront.

“Whoosh! Puff!”

The black Beetle at the vanguard, being one of the weaker members of the Insect Army with hardly any defensive power, was directly pierced by the sharp Cold Ice Fragments and pinned to the ground, struggling a few times before going still.

“Crash!”

Frozen in the Beetle’s body, the Cold Ice Fragments automatically shattered, releasing the contained cold air, which erupted and enveloped a small area around it, slowing down the progress of the surrounding Beetles.

The insect army, which had originally been marching in tight formation with great momentum, immediately showed an incongruous depression, but fortunately, the following beetles quickly filled the gap and continued their attack.

As insects advanced, people retreated.

Richard stepped backward, retreating while controlling the ice cubes in his hand to constantly crack, releasing shard after shard towards the insect army.

Richard did this, not really to harm the beetles–for truly hurting them, a chain explosion would have been more effective.

The use of cold ice fragments was actually to disjoin the speed of the insect army’s vanguard from the overall speed, slowing down the subsequent beetles’ progress, and ultimately causing all the beetles to be squeezed together, greatly increasing the number of beetles per unit area.

In that case…
Richard formed another pale blue ice cube, holding it in his hand, sending out cold ice fragments with both hands, greatly slowing down the speed of the insect army as he stepped back through the No. 1 Hall, retreating into the passage deliberately transformed into a “three-section gourd.”

By the time the two ice cubes in his hands were completely consumed, Richard had passed through the first section of the “gourd” and reached the narrow checkpoint between the first and second sections.

Blinking his eyes, Richard saw that the insect army had already filled half of the “belly” of the first section of the “gourd.”

“Not bad,” Richard thought to himself, “But…it can be pushed to the limit even more.”

Thinking this, Richard raised his hand, and the Fourth Circle Ring was activated for the first time, releasing the Greasy Swamp Spell.

“Plop–”
Suddenly, a mass of sticky black oil-like liquid emerged on the floor of the passage swarming with the insect army. Some of the weaker black beetles got stuck in the mucus and could not move at all. Some of the stronger Double Silver Striped Beetles struggled to crawl out of the liquid but were greatly slowed down. The subsequent beetles, impatient, forged ahead, ruthlessly stepping on the bodies of their companions in the liquid to continue progressing forward. However, one misstep, a slip, and they would also fall into the liquid, becoming stepping stones for the beetles behind them.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh…”
The insect army pressed on relentlessly, covering the sticky liquid on the ground with sheer numbers and approaching the narrow checkpoint where Richard was stationed, ready to launch an attack.

Seeing this, Richard showed no fear, lightly flicked his finger, and a jujube-sized, dark red Mars flew out, striking the midst of the insects, followed by an explosion.

“Boom! Whoosh!”

The moment the explosion occurred, it was like a balloon filled with flames had been burst. The entire corridor in front of Richard’s checkpoint quickly caught fire. The high-temperature flames, like the tongues of an ancient ferocious beast, licked wherever they touched, and where they touched, beetles were screaming, struggling, and dying in droves.

The combined power of the Greasy Swamp and flames was fully displayed!

You see, although the Greasy Swamp was covered by the insect army, it hadn’t disappeared and was still present. In the process of being covered by the insect army, many beetles were smeared with the sticky oil, which was like unstable bombs within the swarm. Once ignited by high temperatures, the fire would instantly spread to all the beetles in the corridor, unstoppable.

Thus, in just a moment, hundreds of beetles perished in the sea of fire.

Of course, the death of a few hundred beetles was but a drop in the ocean for the massive insect army. The deaths of their companions did not invoke any fear in the remaining beetles. They continued to rush forward, fearlessly charging into the burning flames, determined to extinguish the fire by force.

Richard watched expressionlessly and raised his hand to release a second “Greasy Swamp.” The flames that had just subsided immediately awoke like a slumbering beast, mercilessly devouring the beetles that surged into its domain.

“Crackle crackle!”

After a while, the corridor was filled with a nauseating burnt smell. In front of Richard, the section of the corridor was covered with a multitude of scorched beetle corpses, dense and numerous, easily amounting to over a thousand.