Volume 10 Bugs Chapter 22: The Fallen Fortress
At the southwestern edge of the Sitvinia lowlands, there is a mountainous area. As the terrain rises, the air becomes drier. The muddy swamps become fewer and fewer, and the dense rain forests and vines around them are gradually replaced by some tall broad-leaved trees. The undulating mountains are connected together, like a huge barrier, separating the lowland swamp from the central mountain area to the west. Only a rugged path is left between the two peaks, allowing the two areas to penetrate each other.
The Rubble Fortress stood on the hillside of one of the peaks, like a beast ready to attack, ready to tear the road in front of it with one claw and block the footsteps of the invading enemy - this was originally the meaning of the existence of this fortress, but now, the iron hoofs of the Doomsday Empire have broken through the natural barrier of the mountain, and this solid fortress has become a stronghold for the enemy. Under the sunset, the walls of the fortress showed a pale color, and the whole fortress was like the body of a dead soldier, exuding an indescribable dark and desperate atmosphere.
The closer we got to the fortress, the thicker the eerie atmosphere became, and the more animals that had undergone terrible mutations appeared. Whether it was wild beasts like blue wolves and black bears, or swamp reptiles like crocodiles and pythons, or even reptiles like poisonous bees and centipedes, they all appeared before us in a creepy way.
I even felt that they could no longer be called "animals". There was only a gray and lifeless pupil in their eyes. Even if they were standing in front of you, it always felt like they could not see anything. Their limbs were cold and their movements were stiff. I did not feel a breath when I was fighting them. Most of the animals had huge wounds on their bodies. These wounds were so serious that each one was fatal. Many of the wounds had begun to fester, even exposing the internal organs and bones inside, emitting a disgusting stench. But these mutant beasts seemed to have no sense of pain at all. They became even more crazy during the battle, making it almost impossible for us to resist.
Yes, I fully believe that these filthy monsters are no longer "animals". They are just a group of zombies who don't know they are dead, driven by hunger to look for fresh flesh and blood. I doubt that they were deliberately created by the guys in the Doomsday Empire - they don't need to create these monsters, let alone so many - but they were infected because they lived around the fortress and came into contact with contaminated water and food, and became the half-dead state they are now.
But the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I became. Just because the beasts were contaminated, they became so terrifying. How far have they progressed in their research?
Are we late?
Have they succeeded?
I was worried about this all the way, but I never dared to speak out this terrible thought.
You know, this is a dangerous place that even adventurers above level 50 will feel troubled by, and only Niu Baiwan and I have reached level 50, while the other three are still hovering around level 48 or 49. The gap in strength forced us to face more dangers than expected. On the way forward, the weakly defended dwarf bard Nocturne in B-flat minor died three times, Ding Ding Xiaoge and the fairy fell to the ground and died twice, and even I was unfortunately killed in the siege of a group of "carrion wolves" - fortunately, Niu Baiwan mastered the resurrection spell, so my life was able to continue with difficulty.
Faced with such a huge danger, I once thought of retreating. But every time I thought: once the evil demons of the Doomsday Empire successfully developed this horrible toxin, the entire continent would not be spared, and we might be the only ones who have a chance to save the world, I could not retreat. Even if my strength is not enough to save the continent from danger, even if I am destined to be buried here, fall into eternal silence, and never be resurrected, I also hope to fight hard here and seek a death worthy of pride.
My friends who travel with me are even less lacking in the courage to take risks, but their courage probably comes more from the strong immunity to death of their unique life form, rather than a sense of crisis about the survival of the continent.
"Let's try our luck. If we die, we can always start over. But if we're lucky... hey, we should be able to get some good equipment..." This was Nocturne in B-flat minor's entire understanding of our adventure, and it actually won the unanimous approval of everyone else.
When I thought about the fact that the survival of the continent depended on these unscrupulous bandits who were desperate to steal equipment, my heart couldn't help but feel cold.
After a desperate fight, we stepped over the corpses of mutant creatures and finally stood in front of the gate of the rubble fortress. Under the attack of the army of the Doomsday Empire, the two beech doors, which were more than two people tall and as thick as a palm, had already become riddled with holes. The door panel on the right was barely hanging on the edge of the city wall and was already shaky. Whenever the mountain wind blew, the metal lock connecting the door panel to the city wall would make a weak "creaking" sound, making people worry that the city gate might collapse completely at any time.
In the city gate, a turbid space vortex kept rotating, drawing in all the light that tried to pass through it, stirring it into a turbid ball of light, making it impossible to observe the scene on the other side of the city gate.
Obviously, this is the second magical space blessed with the magic of "copy" that I have seen after the mausoleum in the forest. For an adventurer, this magical light curtain of isolated space often means powerful enemies, insidious traps, danger of death and rare treasures - and the temptation of the last thing is always much stronger than all the threats before it.
As a warrior known for his tenacious defense, I should always stand at the forefront when facing danger. I winked at my comrades, signaling them to get ready. Niu Baiwan and the fairy cast several attribute-enhancing spells on me, and then I tightened my weapons in both hands, gritted my teeth, and plunged into the light curtain.
I thought I would be greeted by a sudden fight. I had prepared myself mentally to attack the enemies lying in ambush at the gate of the fortress. Unexpectedly, the gate was empty , not even a ghost, not to mention the swarm of zombies, skeletons, monsters and demons. It seemed that the enemy's guard work was quite lax, and no one noticed us who broke in.
A ruined castle appeared before us without any obstruction.
The wreckage of overturned buildings was everywhere. The stone walls collapsed and crumbled under the attack of heavy weapons and powerful magic, shattering into ruins all over the ground. You can hardly find a complete house here, and there are broken walls and ruins everywhere. Large burn marks are like tragic wounds, covering the body of the castle. Although it has been lost for a long time, there are still several fires in the fortress that have not been extinguished. The billowing smoke was thrown into the sky by the raging flames, like a series of ghosts who were unwilling to leave, torn and crushed into a thin layer of black air by the mountain wind, condensing into a shadow of death, shrouding the entire fortress in the grayness of destruction.
All of this is silently telling us what a fierce battle once broke out here.
The fortress was full of a level 51 humanoid monster called "Corpse Eaters". They were obviously victims of the horrible toxin and had completely lost their souls. They could only drag their decayed and broken bodies and wander aimlessly in the ruins of the fortress. Fresh flesh and blood had a fatal attraction to these monsters. As long as we approached, they would rush over and tear our bodies apart with their sharp fingers and teeth.
Although these zombies who have lost their intelligence can only fight clumsily with bare hands, their nails dripping with venom and their faintly blue teeth are weapons that should not be underestimated. The venom attached to their bodies can be transmitted to the opponent through wounds. The damage caused by this toxin is much more threatening than their physical attacks. If the victim is not treated after being poisoned, the vitality of the injured will continue to be damaged for a long time, and each time he will lose nearly 300 points of vitality.
Fortunately, we were well prepared and bought sufficient antidote potions at Miss Lemore's manor. Moreover, as a paladin, Niu Baiwan can also use the sacred magic of "purifying toxins", which makes the most powerful attack methods of these "corpse eaters" unable to exert their true power.
These "scavengers" were all wearing the armor of the Continental Alliance soldiers. There was no doubt that the evil imperial invaders had used their evil magic to turn all the Continental Alliance soldiers who were originally guarding the Stone Fortress into zombies. These warriors who once fought bravely had now completely abandoned their own wishes and became accomplices in killing their enemies.
No one likes to face such a situation: we are alone and helpless, but we have to fight against a castle. Our opponent used to be the bravest and most trustworthy comrade, but the reality does not allow us to have any mercy.
Just when we all thought we were the only ones left alive in the castle, there was a sudden metallic sound of weapons clashing and noisy shouts from the other side of a certain wall ahead, mixed with some painful cries. A young and brave voice shouted loudly:
"Fight to the end! The people of the Most High God will never succumb to evil!"
I never thought that in this abandoned fortress full of zombies, I could actually meet partners from the Continental Alliance. This is really good news that makes us excited. But it sounds like their situation is very bad, and they even shouted the unlucky slogan of "fighting to the end". If we don't help them quickly, I'm afraid there will be more "scavenging corpses" in this castle soon.
After passing through a collapsed wall, we came to a small square. The square was divided into three levels by stone steps. On the top level, we saw the two warring parties:
Standing on the left was a strange monster named "Merrill the Three-Headed Polluter". It was huge, taller than the strongest horse I had ever seen, and more than five steps long from head to tail. Its claws were as sharp as a wolf's, but thicker and stronger than a bear's. The sharp bone claws flashed a bright blue light, and its right front paw was scratching the ground frantically, leaving several deep marks on the rocky ground.
The most terrifying part of this monster is not its claws, but its heads - you heard it right, I said "those heads". There are three different heads growing on the front of its sturdy body. The one in the middle looks like a wolf's head, but it is not complete. The left side of the wolf's head seems to have been chopped by a sharp blade, and even the ear has been cut off at the root. The terrible wound has spread all the way to its left cheek, and its left eye has begun to fester. The one on the right should be the head of a mountain black bear, but it is not as fat and thick as an ordinary bear head. The muscles on the bear's head have begun to atrophy, and a lot of facial fur has fallen off, revealing a lot of dry and dull skin. The third head should be a green horse's head, but you can never find such a terrible head on the neck of a horse. Most of the mane on its back and neck has fallen off, leaving only a few tufts hanging listlessly. The pupils of the horse's head are empty, but shrouded in a layer of misty black air. Staring into its eyes, you will feel like you are being swallowed by this horrible black mass.
This monster was definitely not born like this. Many of its main joints had obvious scars, and traces of rough stitching could be seen. From the stitching gaps, yellow-green pus and blood would drip out from time to time. Where the pus and blood dripped, it turned the dark brown soil into a mass of black mud, and it took a long time to return to its original appearance.
In front of the suffocating and terrifying appearance of the Three-Headed Polluter, its opponent looked completely vulnerable. Opposite it were a dozen mainland soldiers. Judging from their overly simple armor, they should be the private soldiers of a poor noble. I said they were wearing "armor" which was a bit too flattering. In fact, it was just a few hard metal pieces tied on the outside of ordinary coats, which could barely block several vital parts of the body. Several of them were holding ordinary standard spears, two archers stood behind them, and in the middle was a middle-aged priest in a white robe. They were all covered with scars, and several of them had completely lost their combat effectiveness.
On the ground, several corpses dressed in the same clothes as them had been torn to pieces. Although it was very disrespectful to say this, to be honest, I had seen too many corpses wandering around and biting people recently, and now seeing a few of these "authentic" corpses that were motionless really made me feel a lot more relieved...
The leader of this group of soldiers was a young man with brown hair. He was the only one in the group who wore a full set of armor, but it was just a "light metal armor" with very low defense. Even I could dig a few holes in this flashy level 13 armor with just my fingers. He was holding a very ordinary long sword, which had no magical properties that could produce additional damage, and the attack power bonus was also very ordinary. But even with such simple equipment, this brave young man still fought tenaciously against the huge beast Merril. His left leg seemed to have just been injured, and blood oozed from the wound, and he moved a little slowly. Everyone could see that it was difficult for this young noble to continue to support himself.
Thank goodness we have arrived before a tragedy has occurred. If the young noble had died, I am afraid we would have been forced to abandon the mission entrusted to us by Mademoiselle Lemoire.
Because this handsome and tough young nobleman is the brother that Miss Lemore misses and the real owner of the small manor, Baron Bink.
