The streets of the capital were filled with carnage. 

After the Kez had emerged from the skies, countless hunters from the capital began to fight off the Kez invasion. The reserve forces from the government had arrived and set up a defensive perimeter, and the hundreds of clans from the capital, both large and small, immediately sent hunters out to support the defense effort.

There were far fewer civilian casualties during this invasion than in the past, and soldiers were still entering the fray via the teleportation portals throughout the capital. The invasion temporarily entered a stalemate.

"Damn it, what are all you hunters doing?  Shoot those damn bugs down from the sky! Don't let them near the teleportation arrays at any cost!"

Countless green-winged bugs were hovering near the vicinity of the array, and a commander was howling as his machine gun continued to patter away. The appearance of these military personnel caused the independent hunters to congregate.

During such a critical period, it was important for the allied forces to cooperate; otherwise, the Kez would eventually take control of the teleportation array. Before any of the military commanders arrived, although the hunters were all fighting for a common cause, none of them were willing to follow a single leader.

However, they did submit to military command, and these military personnel could partition up the gathered forces effectively.

The situation by the teleportation array quickly stabilized. The highest-ranking soldier present, Li Tian, gathered the forces right outside.

"I'm Li Tian, third commander of the reserve troops stationed at the capital, and I've been sent over here to protect the teleportation array! Let's introduce ourselves as I connect your devices to the military's communication channel. Lad, you over there! You've been very efficient in your attacks. Who are you?"

"I'm Zhang Lie!" Zhang Lie didn't expect he would be the first to be called out, and the other leaders immediately took note of him.

Li Tian connected his device to the military network, then did the same with Zhou Hong, Yun Bing, Chu Feng, and the other factions' leaders. He quickly catalogued the forces at his disposal. The strongest hunters present were the Yun and Chu elders, Chu Zhennan and Yun Chongzheng.

Both of them were in the second realm of the dimensional world, and had filled up their superior gene fragments to capacity. They were easily able to handle the regular woofbugs and green-winged insects that had appeared, and it would be trivial for them to defend one side of the perimeter.

"We don't have much time, so we'd better discuss how to repulse the next wave of attacks," Chu Zhennan suggested. "After the first wave's defeat, the Kez must have learned something about how strong our defenses are, and subsequent waves will only get harder and harder to defend against!"

Chu Zhennan's whole body was covered in red and green insectoid fluids, a clear sign of how valiantly he had fought against the Kez, but his eyes were gleaming resolutely.

Li Tian nodded seriously. "Yes, it's a standard strategy for those damned bugs— they start by sending some cannon fodder in to test the waters, and once we've depleted our stamina, that's when they'll send elites over. That last wave, well—those weren't even strong enough to be considered cannon fodder. We'd best get ready. Now, let me announce the hunters responsible for defending each side of the teleportation array!"

Li Tian divided the thousands of hunters present into five groups: north, south, east, west, and skyward. Zhang Lie and the others, as hunters of the younger generation, were sent to the north, where the density of bugs would be the weakest.

Just as Li Tian finished assigning everyone their roles, a tremendous buzzing sound filled the skies. The second wave of attacks was here!

"Everyone, head to your designated positions! These bugs are still small fry, so preserve your stamina and energy— let us soldiers shoot them down first!"

The woofbugs and green-winged insects filled land and sky, swarming toward the teleportation array like a black tide. Li Tian raised, aimed, and fired his machine gun into the mass of bugs, as did his subordinates.

Of course, none of the hunters were willing to stand by and do nothing.

Some launched low-stamina long-ranged attacks, and others fired whatever weapons they could find. A few close-combat specialists headed to the outskirts of the perimeter, thinning out the numbers for the long-ranged attackers.

Kill, kill, kill! In a matter of seconds, the fighting between man and bug resumed anew. Gunshots and genetic energy fired into the air, splattering blood and viscera all over. After an indeterminate period of time, the tide of bugs finally thinned, but so did the number of hunters defending the perimeter.

Fortunately, the bugs weren't able to break through to the teleportation array, and reinforcements were continuously being sent through the portal.

"We've defeated another wave of bugs!" Li Tian reported, from a vantage point by the top of the teleportation array. He glanced at the bugs surging from the horizon and knew that the next wave of attacks was quickly approaching.

A significant fraction of the defenders had been wounded or killed in the previous onslaught; even the Yun and Chu clans, who were working together and were being protected by their two elders, had suffered significant losses, let alone the Zhou, He, and Qian clans.

On the other hand, Team Zenith, under Zhang Lie's capable leadership and having been assigned to the easiest front, suffered few injuries.

The harsh buzzing that once again filled the skies sparked the hunters' fighting spirits once more. Li Tian pointed the smoking barrel of his gun toward the green-winged insects leading the formation. "Another wave is approaching!" he called out. "Kill them all!"

The skies were still darkened with buzzing insects. Zhang Lie didn't know how many of them he had killed; his mind was growing dim, his arm robotically raising and lowering, genetic energy sweeping out from his blade with every blow.

Other hunters were having the same experience: Chu Feng repeatedly thrust forward with his sword, Yun Bing nocked and loosed another arrow, Li Tian pointed his gun at yet another insect...

Finally, with all their effort, the hunters managed to repel the second wave of bugs. 

This time, the casualties were even more serious. Several hunters from the Chu and Yun clans had been taken out of commission. From Team Zenith, Yang Ze and Zhou Ying had been heavily injured.

Except for Zhang Lie, the other members of Team Zenith all sported some kind of injury or another.

The Kez left them not a single moment of breathing room, and another wave of insects covered land and sky.

"That's a greenflame demonbug!"

"I see a black-tipped scarab!"

"And there's a hellwind beetle over there!"

The defenders began to yell out every species they could identify: these were lifeforms that they had only ever learned about in books and reference material, but now they were seeing them for themselves.

A devastating pressure seemed to crush the defenders' spirits. These bugs were all elites; they were far too strong for the weakened defenders to handle! 

It was only Zhang Lie who was eager to fight against these bugs, because he knew that the appearance of the elites indicated that this incursion was coming to an end. If they were able to hold out against this final wave, they would win!

But if they didn't, they would die.

"Everyone, we're almost done! This is the last wave!" Li Tian tossed his smoking gun aside and dashed into the midst of the bugs with an impressive surge of genetic energy. At the same time, the elders from the various clans, who had conserved much of their energy and stamina, rushed into the fray.

The final battle had begun!