Under the command and guidance of the two Knight, the soldiers and civilians in Cecil's territory were finally mobilized.
The news of the impending attack of the Aberrations had spread throughout the camp, but with Gwen's intentional guidance and hints, the panic and pressure caused by this matter were temporarily suppressed, or rather, shifted away. The previously brought back spoils and Gwen Cecil's name played a decisive role in this regard.
In this regard, Gwen himself was most satisfied with the fact that at least until now, there were no fugitives in the camp.
Although the serfs and civilians might be ignorant, they were not stupid. As long as they knew that this was a desolate land far away from civilized society, and that outside the camp were either mountains or primitive forests, and that monsters were roaming between the mountains, it would take at least three to four days to escape to the relatively safe Tanzania Town. With the Aberrations close by, running out would only result in faster death. This way, those who tried to escape would naturally weigh their own lives.
Gwen had specifically asked Heti to emphasize this point to the people.
So, despite the slight fear and the burning fire and the endless monsters in Cecil's territory a few months ago, the people tried hard to muster up their courage. They heard that the heroic lord from seven hundred years ago had a way to deal with the Aberrations, and when they saw Heti and Rebecca confidently commanding the soldiers to prepare for war, they also tried their best to muster up some courage.
The tasks assigned to them were also one of the driving forces that boosted their confidence.
In the furnace area, the "slag" that could be used as a weapon, the creation of treadle traps, and the engraving and repair of runes were all tasks that even illiterate civilians could do well. While they were doing these tasks, there were soldiers who constantly emphasized that these things could be used to deal with the monsters. Thus, the workers began to feel that the "ancient duke" was probably really capable, and they worked even harder.
In fact, even the soldiers in charge of 'reading out the orders' weren't sure what they were for. They were only following orders and shouting out the words they heard from Gawain to the civilians who were working.
"Put the crystal fragments in the lowest layer, and then put the stone pieces engraved with magic circles! If the stone pieces are broken, come here to replace them! "
"Put the finished things here!"
"Remember to check if the crystal is lit up. If the crystal doesn't shine, it can't be used. Come here to replace it!"
"These things you are making are all weapons, specially designed to deal with the monsters. This is the instruction of Duke Gwen! He is the nemesis of those monsters! "
Gwen led Rebecca and Heti through the open space in the northeast of the camp. This open space was specially used for "art". Gwen originally intended to name this place as the Louvre to represent its position as a treasure house of art, but no one understood this meme, so he had to give up.
He bent down and examined the things that were neatly stacked at the statistician's feet. They were wooden containers half a foot square and less than two inches high. The wooden boxes were filled with Rebecca crystals, and on top of the crystals were pieces of black stone engraved with an explosive array.
But these structures alone were not enough to detonate the magic version of the "mines". They still needed a rune trigger to activate.
This last step could not be done by the civilians or serfs. Considering the risk of accidental detonation, the rune trigger was left to the last step. These wooden boxes would be buried in the open space at the mountain pass in the southwest of the camp. Only when burying, the soldiers and specialized trap craftsmen would combine the rune trigger on the magic circle.
The rune trigger had a rather simple structure. The "trigger mechanism" was a pair of runes separated by a thin piece of stone. Above it was a layer of wood. When the wood was stepped on, the stone would shatter, and the two runes would come into contact with each other, forming a complete rune circuit. Then, the detonation magic circle would be activated, and finally, an explosion would be triggered.
This was the otherworldly version of the landmine. Although the technical details were different from their distant relatives on Earth, the idea was similar. It was obviously not in line with the Knight spirit of this era. But Heti and Rebecca's comment on it was that it did not matter what the Knight spirit was, this thing looked cool!
In this world where supernatural forces existed, the "mines" were particularly convenient. They did not have to worry about the problem of "laying the mines for a while, but when they were removed, they would be cremated". Heti would leave her own magic mark on each detonation magic circle. This "magic trick", which was not even a Level 1 spell, could ensure that every mine could be quickly located. After the battle, all the undetonated mines could be easily found and removed.
Of course, there was a limit to the number of magic marks that Heidi could support. However, in this battle, her magic marks were more than enough to support her.
After checking the work here, Gwen left the defense of the camp to the two families, Knight and Rebecca, while he took Heti to the Gloom Mountains.
On a rock wall in the north of the mountains, more "Rebecca's Crystals" were placed.
In fact, most of the crystals accumulated in the camp these days had been transported here. In order to ensure that they could trigger a collapse of a sufficient scale, Gwen dared not be stingy in the "equivalent".
Previously, with the help of Heti's Evocation Hand and Weight Reduction, the workers and materials had already been transported in place. With the help of some simple ropes and scaffolding, the stonemasons had already dug holes in the mountain wall and stuffed a large number of crystal particles into the holes and between the original cracks on the mountain wall. But the task of drawing the detonation magic circle could only be done by Heti herself.
Heti, who was only Level 3, could not use a mid-rank spell like Fly. Even the low-rank Levitation spell could not be maintained for too long. So she could only stand on the ground and use Evocation Hand and Telekinesis to complete the work of drawing the detonation magic circle on the rock wall. She also watched and adjusted with Sorcerer's Eye. This kind of precise control was actually beyond the ability of a low-rank mage, but fortunately, Heti, in addition to being a low-rank mage, was also an official believer of the "Goddess of Magic". She prayed to the Goddess of Magic and received a short blessing before starting the work, so this work could go on.
In order to ensure that this large detonation magic circle could function properly, Gwen this time spent a lot of money. He took a large amount of powdered mithril and purple crystal dust from the mountain's treasure vault, and combined with the alchemy potion made by Pitman, he made it into the most expensive "pigment" in history. Heti could directly "paint" these magic-conducting materials on the rock wall, which saved a lot of carving and inlaying work, and also shortened the time.
And now, the most precious thing was time.
When Heti drew the huge lines and runes one by one, Amber's figure came out from the shadows of the nearby trees. She had a nervous look on her face and whispered to Gwen, "Those monsters are very close, at most half a day."
"I know, I think it's about time." Gwen nodded slightly. "Are they following the predicted route?"
"I almost walked into another path," Amber said with a hint of fear. "Then I mustered up the courage to leave the shadow state for a moment and lured them back to this path. But in return, they have become even more irritable."
Gwen looked at Amber with a little surprise. "… Why are you so brave this time?"
Amber pursed her lips. "Tsk, we've already come this far. What's the use of cowering now? I might as well go with you. Maybe I can survive."
As she said that, she could not help but look at the cliff in front of her.
This high cliff was next to the mountain path where they had encountered the four mutants. Below the cliff was the path they had taken. It had weathered the vicissitudes of life, and the cliff itself was indeed quite fragile and could collapse at any time. Moreover, there was only one path below the cliff, and when the mutants passed through it, they would inevitably form a crowded and long line. When the cliff collapsed, they would have nowhere to hide. This was indeed a very good ambush spot.
If there was a high-ranked magus here, he would definitely choose to blow up the mountain wall to kill these monsters. After all, for a powerful magus, it would only take one Extreme Flame Burst or one Earth Elemental Disintegration to make the mountain wall collapse.
But at this moment, the one who wanted to do all this was a level-three low-ranking magus who could not even shoot a Frostbolt, and a large group of stonemasons, peasants, and serfs.
This made Amber feel very strange.
Translucent hands moved on the cliff, smearing mithril powder and purple crystal dust on the surface of the stones as paint. Many runes had been formed, making the whole cliff look as strange as some strange religious totems. On the top of the cliff, there were simple rope ladders and brackets that the stonemasons had used before. Those were the "traces of construction" that could not be removed in time and were not ready to be removed.
It was proof that ordinary people had participated in this incredible project.
Not far away, the stonemasons and apprentices were resting. They had used up a lot of strength and courage — it was not easy to dig a hole in the mountain wall with a few ropes tied to it, especially when they were pressed for time and had to work continuously. But they still completed the challenge. Even Gawain found it a little unbelievable. He originally thought that the work would take more time, and the completion rate would not be able to meet his expectations.
But soon Gwen understood that this was not because the stonemasons and apprentices were inspired by any sense of honor, and most likely had little to do with the desire to survive. It was because the poor people of this era lived like this.
Was it difficult to dig a hole in the cliff with a rope? It was not much harder than fixing the spire of the lord's castle with a rope, nor was it much harder than picking herbs on the cliff for the lord.
It was said that four hundred years ago, in some mountainous areas in the western part of the kingdom, serfs were not even allowed to use ropes to pick herbs because at that time, the local rope was even more expensive than the serfs' lives.
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