Belk Lorren walked step by step on the path leading to the inner castle. The sharp pain from the small wounds on his body constantly stimulated his already tired mind and stimulated him to stay awake.
The fog had thinned out, but the smell of blood still lingered in the air. There were still suspicious shadows flashing by, and there were footsteps coming from the depths of the nearby streets. Every shadow and footstep could be a hidden monster. They might have completed their transformation, or they might be transforming. No matter what, Belk could not take the risk.
The voice was still lingering in his mind:
"Become like this … You can live by eating stones … Sir."
For this reason, people were willing to become monsters.
At this moment, the young Marquis suddenly remembered a sentence he read in a report:
… … The above areas have collected food six times, the houses are empty, the leaves are all eaten, the number of starving people … …
In the past, it was just a description and a few numbers. He had also found it shocking, but it was only a shocking feeling.
Now, he finally saw what the "world" looked like with his own eyes.
What was unbelievable was that between the "world" and his "world", there was only a wall and a castle.
He finally knew why most of the orders of His Highness were difficult to implement, and why the nobles and lords could never be relied on.
The people who lived in the castle could not imagine what the outside world looked like.
Belk looked up and saw the main gate of Solin Castle in front of him. The suspension bridge … … did not rise, and there were no guards.
An indescribable uneasiness suddenly surged in his heart, and Belk immediately quickened his pace.
He clenched his longsword, crossed the suspension bridge, walked through the empty courtyard and the barracks, opened the main gate of the castle, and entered the same empty long hall on the first floor.
There were no moving figures in sight, but the disturbing smell of blood was everywhere. There were traces of fighting everywhere in the long hall. There were people's blood, and there were also broken crystal clusters.
It was not an invasion from the outside, but a battle broke out from the inside. The guards resisted for a short time, but in a short time, they took the initiative to stop fighting … …
Belk quickly made these terrible judgments based on the traces on the scene, and at the same time, he did not stop walking. He quickly ran to the second floor according to his memory, and ran to the hall on the second floor of the castle.
The door of the hall was open, and there were no guards in sight. In the center of the hall, Belk saw what he didn't want to see the most.
A tall figure in black armor stood there. Edmund Moen heard the movement from the door. He turned his head, and a face that had been symbiotic with the spread of the crystal was reflected in Berk Lorren's eyes.
Belk felt his heart skip a beat. He immediately pulled out his sword and prepared for battle. But soon, he realized that Edmund Moen's eyes were not completely crazy. In those eyes that were almost crystallized, there was still the light of reason as a human being.
He cautiously leaned forward. "Your Highness, can you hear me?"
Edmund Moen stared at Belk. His body was trembling slightly, as if there were two wills fighting for control of this body. In the process, he said in a hoarse voice, "Kill me, now."
This terrifying order made Belk's mind go blank for a moment, but he came back to his senses two seconds later and made the calmest judgment.
He raised his sword and strode forward. "Yes, Your Highness."
The sword ignited with an illusory and hot flame. Belk knew how powerful the prince in front of him was, so he gathered all the magic in his body. With a sharp sound, his sword pierced towards Edmund Moen's heart.
However, when the tip of the sword was only a few centimeters away from his heart, Edmund suddenly raised his left hand. His hand that was covered with crystal clusters directly grasped the sword. After a series of dazzling sparks and screeching sounds, Belk's sword couldn't move forward anymore.
Two pairs of eyes stared at the scene. Then Edmund raised his head and said, "Run."
Belk immediately let go of the sword. Without hesitation, he rushed to the side of the hall and directly jumped out of the castle through the window.
In the shadow of the corner of the hall, a cluster of winding vines slowly wriggled. With a slight rustling sound, they all retreated into the depths of the darkness.
…
On the west side of the Great Wood Path, in Boulder City and the White Pine area, in the land controlled by the royal family, the thick fog had completely dissipated.
The fog had left the city and the countryside, and in the places that had been infected by the fog, people had turned into monsters.
Countless twisted giants formed by flesh and crystal clusters were gathering together, forming a disaster that spread like fire. As long as there was human habitation, there would be a terrifying crystal cluster army gathered together. The giants in black robes were the commanders of these armies. Under the leadership of these commanders, the crystal cluster giants took over all the villages and towns in just a few hours, and then began to spread towards the direction where the royal army was stationed.
One of the most important strongholds of the royal army, Boulder City, was under attack. This city, famous for its thick walls, was facing its greatest test in history.
"Hold the line! Hold the line! Shield bearers — hold the line! "
"We need more kerosene here! We need more stone shells! "
"The battle mages are exhausted — use the catapults! The personal guard mages are about to arrive! "
Burning oil bags and rune-engraved stones whistled into the air, flying away from the city walls into the distance. Huge crossbow bolts cut through the air with the bang of the strings, smashing into the 'crystal cluster tide' in the distance. The Knight and the noble officers who were supervising the battle ran on the city walls, shouting themselves hoarse as they commanded the battle. They used all kinds of spells to strengthen the walls and boost the morale of the soldiers, which was already on the verge of collapse. However, those monsters were still gathering below the city walls.
This was the crystal cluster army transformed from the entire population of the region. In front of such numbers that could cause a qualitative change, mere stone shells and kerosene, even the fireballs and lightning of the mages, appeared weak and powerless. These attacks landed on the heads of those monsters like a stone thrown into the sea, unable to cause too much of a splash.
A noble officer in dark blue armor with a ribbon on his shoulder stood on the city walls, watching as more and more crystal cluster monsters surged from the distance. Those monsters not only relied on their powerful bodies to fight, they also had terrifying spellcasting abilities. Powerful arcane lightning constantly burst out from where the monsters were most concentrated, and after each lightning bolt, a terrifying crack would appear on the walls of Boulder City, or a large number of soldiers would fall. If the situation continued to develop like this, the fall of the city would only be a matter of time.
"How much kerosene and stone shells do we have left?" The noble officer turned and stared at a Knight's adjutant nearby.
"We can hold on for two days, my lord, but I'm afraid it's still not enough. There are too many monsters, and there are still countless more behind!"
Kerosene was the most effective way to fight against those monsters, but the bags of kerosene thrown out by the catapults could not stop the tide of attacks, and the mages who could continuously cast large-scale fire spells … they were too few in number, and all of their magic had been exhausted!
The noble officer's face was gloomy. He heard a loud bang from the west side of the city walls, followed by a wave of screams and clamor.
A large number of soldiers who were on the verge of collapse fell into chaos. Starting from the area that was attacked, the defenders began to show obvious signs of wavering and retreating.
The Knight who was supervising the battle stepped forward at the first moment, using battle techniques to boost morale to forcibly maintain the defensive line. The soldiers who were affected by the supernatural power returned to the city walls under the influence of hormones and mental stimulation. However, their eyes were bloodshot, their movements were unbalanced, and their inner consciousness was rapidly approaching collapse. It was completely unknown how many more catapults they could operate.
What was more frightening was that even the Knight's who were supervising the battle behind the soldiers … their faces were already showing signs of wavering.
These were already the kingdom's elite troops. They could fight head-on with the powerful Eastern Knight's for an entire day on the battlefield, but that was only a war against 'humans'. Now, they were facing monsters.
This was beyond the limits of human willpower.
Another Knight's adjutant ran up the city walls, his face full of horror and his voice full of uncertainty. "My lord, it has been confirmed. Many of the monsters have fragments of clothing and armor from the Third, Fifth, and Sixth Knight's Regiment and the kingdom's soldiers. They … they are transformed from our soldiers!"
The noble officer's eyes widened. "How many people know about this?!"
"All the defenders saw it …"
It was over.
The Knight's Regiment and the conscripted troops stationed on the north-south vertical line of Giant Wood Road were all done for. This city should be done for soon too.
However, before the noble officer could sigh, a nightmarish shout suddenly came from afar.
"Count Thorin has died in battle!"
After a brief moment of astonishment, the noble officer immediately widened his eyes. He wanted to find out which idiotic messenger was shouting at the front of the formation. But soon, he realized that the voice came from below the city wall, from the midst of the monsters.
An incomplete corpse was thrown into the sky by the monsters, and Count Thorin's head with his eyes wide open entered the line of sight of the defenders.
In the end, the count still failed to take back his territory and castle.
The defensive line on the city walls began to collapse at a speed visible to the naked eye. It began to retreat, and large gaps and gaps began to appear. The defenders fell into an irreversible retreat, and the Knight's Regiment who were supervising the battle no longer had the ability to reorganize the defensive line.
Because even the morale of the Knight's Regiment had collapsed.
Dozens of huge arcane lightning arcs hit the city walls at the same time. Accompanied by continuous explosions, the magnificent stone walls shook violently as if they would collapse in the next second.
This city could no longer be defended.
The moment the noble officer and his adjutant realized this fact, a sharp whistling sound came from the sky. Accompanied by the whistling sound, the entire sky was quickly covered by large patches of shadows.
Countless icicles and howling winds swept across the battlefield, as if the winter that had just ended had returned to this world. In this sudden icy storm, a new ice wall quickly blocked the front of the city walls, and hundreds of monsters were nailed to the frozen cliffs by the icicles.
But in the next second, this ice wall was continuously attacked, and about half of the monsters that were nailed to the ice wall began to struggle. This would be fatal to a normal person, but it could not kill them completely.
With a cracking sound, the entire ice wall quickly cracked open.
A majestic female voice came from the sky and resounded across the battlefield. "Mountain Division, follow me to bring up the rear. The Wang Family's Knight's Regiment and the Guards' Regiment, bring the civilians and break through to the northwest!"
This was the voice of Duchess Victoria Velde.
The Knight's adjutant reminded, "My Lady, this is the order to retreat."
The noble officer looked at the almost completely collapsed defense line and took a deep breath.
"Retreat!"
On the 12th of the Month of Recovery, Ansu Year 738, the largest fortress of the kingdom's army on the Holy Spirit Plains, Boulder City, fell.
A huge army formed by Crystal Cluster Giants began to spread in the direction of Saint Sunil City.
…
A few days later, Solderlin and his Steel Rangers, who had just crossed the Pompeii area and were moving north along the east bank of the Dorgon River, encountered a completely unfamiliar enemy.
It was an extraordinarily tall human that seemed to have been infected by some kind of crystal parasite.
The ground burned by the individual burners was filled with a thick burnt smell. A large number of completely carbonized corpses and scattered crystal clusters were piled up in the range of the burners. The fully-armed combat team members were on guard outside, and Solderlin and a few Steel Rangers were examining the strange corpses on the battlefield.
The high-grade ranger frowned.
What happened in the north?
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