More and more people were caught by the "spiders", and the same scene repeated. A few minutes later, the woman who had been motionless suddenly stretched out her trembling arms and crawled in a strange posture. Her eyes were rolled back, and her expression was stiff. She did not even notice that her knees were bleeding from the friction as she crawled. She crawled straight into the inner city.
The white "spider" was right behind her head, and several thin tubes extended from its abdomen, all of which were inserted into the woman's skull. Its limbs were hooked around the woman's head, and from a distance, it looked like a hat embedded in her head.
When she crawled into the inner city, more and more humans — or puppets controlled by the white "spiders" — rolled their eyes and crawled into the inner city on all fours like giant cockroaches.
One after another, the humans who could not escape in time were caught by the spiders. Most of them did not even have time to react before a needle pierced through their skulls or cervical vertebrae. When they realized that they could not escape, they tried to fight back with their weapons. They did kill a few "spiders", but they were immediately drowned by the white shadows that surged up from all directions.
At the same time, more "spiders" were crawling out of the inner city. Not long after, there were even "flying spiders" flapping their wings.
This was a devastating blow to the people living in the city. Whether they tried to escape or hide, whether they were old or young, or strong soldiers, whether they were humans or animals, as long as they were alive, they could not resist the attack of the "spiders". All of them were crawled on their heads and killed with a single needle.
In a moment of desperation, someone found a sealed cavalry helmet and put it on. As a result, he was immediately bitten to death and eaten by the countless spiders. It was obvious that these spiders were controlled by an intelligent being. When they realized that the target was no longer useful, they would choose to kill.
Soon, after midnight, not a single one of the nearly ten thousand people in the city who could have survived were spared, and all of them perished. The streets were as quiet as a graveyard, clean and empty.
Meanwhile, in the inner city, countless human corpses were crawling towards the top of the spell formation. Many of the people who were pressed under the magic circle had been squeezed into meat patties under the force of dozens of tons. However, more figures were still squeezing and climbing without making any sound.
Under the moonlight, the ground of the inner city was already covered in a layer of red blood and 'fungal carpet'. The crawling figures made the place look as disgusting as a giant cockroach nest. As the number of corpses increased, the tiny red tentacles on the ground grew taller and taller, gradually covering the squirming figures and enveloping the pile of corpses. Finally, a towering tree of flesh and blood was formed.
Before dawn, even the chirping of birds had disappeared from the quiet city, leaving only one sound …
At the center of the thirty-meter-tall, fifteen-meter-wide Giant Flesh Tree, the heart-like sarcoma emitted a heartlike pulsation.
"Plop, plop …"
***
Inside the tent, Solon did not sleep the entire night.
He didn't dare to sleep. From time to time, he would look back at the outline of the city in the darkness in the south. He always felt an inexplicable uneasiness in his heart.
Because of the clear weather, they could still vaguely see the edge of Florence City under the moonlight even though they were 60 kilometers away from the city.
However, Solon did not know what had happened in the city. He turned his head to look at the soldiers he had brought with him, thinking about countermeasures.
The Orcs had extraordinary physical strength, so it was not a problem for them to march for a day. However, the "auxiliary soldiers" who followed them — the humans who had been incorporated from Fortress Lerth — had limited physical strength. At this time, they were so tired that their soles were blistered and they could not stand straight.
Solon had left many people behind in Florence City when he withdrew in a hurry. Now, there were still 460 Orcs and 1,800 "auxiliary soldiers" who followed him.
These auxiliary soldiers were carefully selected "elites". Their combat power was much weaker than the Orcs, but they were good candidates for logistics troops and "cannon fodder." Solon did not treat them as casually as he treated slaves. Instead, he formulated strict "military laws" to ensure their rights and interests and cultivated these people's sense of superiority over other humans. Since last year, the loyalty of these people had obviously increased significantly. The fact that 90% of them followed him during the "emergency retreat" showed that his policy was very effective.
But now, Solon was worried about the whole "strategic direction." After returning to the base camp, should he continue to stay there and develop, or should he choose to "retreat"?
Fortress Lerth was already the northernmost part of the territory of these kingdoms. If he retreated, he would have to consider entering the "glacial plains" and becoming neighbors with the barbarians. Before this, he had already led the orcs through a "Great Retreat" that resulted in heavy casualties … After surviving through the harsh winter in the mountain range, the number of orcs was reduced to just over two thousand. Calling it a "Strategic Retreat" could only be described as "Tragic".
Thanks to Solon's strong faith, he had indeed led his people to victory in battle after battle. Now, they were able to live a well-fed and warm life.
However, he was also faced with the dilemma of "going from extravagance to frugality." Everyone had just eaten a mouthful of hot food. If they retreated to the icy and snowy plains with harsh natural conditions before the enemy attacked, none of the overseers would agree with his choice.
Although they were loyal enough, the order to "retreat" was very likely to greatly reduce Solon's own prestige and thus shake his ruling position.
So … should they continue to move east? Could they avoid it?
Solon sat in front of the campfire and stared blankly for the whole night. When the sky started to brighten, he still could not make the next decision.
However, returning to Fortress Lerth was the current primary goal, and he had no intention of changing it. After eating a few pieces of hard bacon, Solon got up and was about to give the order, but suddenly, he turned his head to the side as if he had sensed something.
With his sensitive senses, he could see that there seemed to be some shadows swaying on the ground hundreds of meters away.
Solon suddenly shuddered. He was indeed a little apprehensive now. He immediately shouted, "Get ready for battle! Quick! "
The Orcs fought bravely, but their style was rough. They did not think about whether or not to hide anything. One by one, they shouted things like "get ready for battle" and "get up quickly", causing the sleeping soldiers to quickly get up from the ground.
As soon as such sounds were heard, Solon realized that something was wrong. However, the Orcs were like this, and it was too late to stop them. He picked up the chain hammer, and before he could give the follow-up order, he saw a sudden light in the distance.
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