??Chapter 264: 263. Contagious_1
Chapter 264: 263. Contagious_1
Black Keep Fortress is a true fortress.
Its exterior was almost entirely built from dark black stones, making Lu Ban struggle to determine when they were quarried. The mottled traces on them were not sothing humans could produce; only monsters could leave such twisted wounds.
The entire fortress resembled an imnse hemisphere that enveloped the ground, blocking out sunlight and only allowing for small windows suitable for shooting weapons.
Above the hemisphere, watchtowers, high walls, and trebuchets were scattered like stars across a chessboard.
Outside the fortress, one could vaguely see the remnants of so structures. According to Jonah, this place was once the capital of a country, but the spread of Black Forest destroyed that realm. It wasn’t until later that Hei Tower reclaid this fortress from the demonic beasts.
Encircling Black Keep were defenses up to five layers thick, including wooden stakes, stone walls, trenches, and spikes. Every imaginable thod to block the movent of monsters was employed here, and since the beasts of the Demonic Tide varied, these defenses at least could stop a portion of those with physical forms.
Covering the entire fortress was a magical detection spell that could instantly identify and restrict those creatures without physical forms. Lu Ban saw that the number of mages inside Black Keep had visibly increased, signifying that, as a main defensive point, the fortifications here were even more rigorous.
“The Demonic Tide will spread from the west, and at that ti, the entire area will be enveloped in endless darkness. What we need to do is attract as many of the Tide’s beasts as possible, ideally congregating them near this fortress, so they have no ti to go beyond the Black Forest.”
Before dinner, Jonah explained the details of the battle to Lu Ban and the other Forest Rangers.
“We must hold out for at least three days. When the Tide recedes, to have survived is to have triumphed.”
“Wait, if the Eternal Night brings darkness and it only fears sunlight, aren’t we just sitting ducks here?”
Lu Ban blurted out.
The other young Rangers exchanged glances, anxiety apparent on their faces.
“This is precisely our purpose at Black Keep.”
Jonah pointed downward.
“The architecture of Black Keep has been modified to deploy a powerful spell with the support of a certain number of mages: ‘Eternal Sunlight.’ This spell can to so extent simulate the sun and impact an area of about ten miles around. We attract the arrival of the Eternal Night, then cast this spell to annihilate most of the Eternal Night’s clan to the greatest extent possible.”
“I see.”
Lu Ban clapped his hands.
Seeing Lu Ban’s action, the other rangers hesitantly followed suit with their applause.
“…Put down your hands, cough cough, this is only the most ideal scenario. If the fortress is breached too soon, we’ll have to use the spell prematurely. Then the creatures of the Eternal Night will avoid this fortress and attack the regions beyond Black Forest. Once those areas fall, it’s only a matter of ti before we are consud here too,”
Jonah said, clearing his throat with a touch of embarrassnt.
“Don’t worry, with the support of magical light, the clan of Eternal Darkness will have great difficulty storming the fortress. Our task is to carefully bide our ti.”
He consoled them in conclusion.
At dinner ti, Lu Ban wolfed down his al at the table.
The food consisted of at soup, at sauce, mashed potatoes, bread, vegetables, and more, its taste passable at best. But the weather was so cold that Lu Ban had a voracious appetite, gobbling down two large bowls and still feeling unsatisfied.
“Think about it, if you get eaten by the creatures of Eternal Night tonight, wouldn’t you regret not eating more this evening?”
Lu Ban said to the astonished Birmingham.
“That does make sense… I’ll have another bowl then!”
The young man also went for an extra serving.
Lu Ban was quite pleased with the ample food at the frontlines.
After dinner, it was Lu Ban and Birmingham’s turn to stand watch at night, so the two headed up to the high walls of the fortress.
From there, they could view the vast forest beneath the moonlight. Amid the biting cold wind, the trees undulated like waves, snow landing on the ground and startling so animals, putting the night watchers on even higher alert.
There were many others on the walls keeping watch, huddled by the furnace next to the light of the watchtowers. The weather was really too cold, and if it weren’t for the Obelisk of Prophecy’s report, everyone might truly believe the coming Demonic Tide would be Frost.
Lu Ban scanned the horizon, his “True Sight” providing excellent vision. He could see that, on the far side of the skyline, a patch of forest seed to be completely shrouded in darkness, impenetrable even to the moonlight shining upon it.
That was perhaps the encroaching Eternal Night.
“At the latest, the Demonic Tide will arrive tomorrow night.”
Jonah’s voice ca from behind the two of them.
“Nervous?”
He asked Birmingham because it was clear that Lu Ban wasn’t nervous at all.
“I’ll complete the mission with all my strength.”
Birmingham straightened his body.
“You don’t need to be so uptight, we are comrades in arms now.”
Jonah patted the young man’s shoulder.
“I was very scared when I went through the Demonic Tide, scared that I would be killed by monsters, scared that my teammates would die because of my hesitation. Even now, I don’t like to rember those days.”
“But rest assured, this fortress has never been lost since it was retaken—it has always been the bulwark against every Demonic Tide, and it won’t be a problem this ti either.”
Lu Ban, hearing Jonah’s words, wanted to quip about not jinxing them by making such statents, but suddenly he saw that a person on the neighboring watchtower was acting strangely.
That person’s companion stood in front of the watchtower, gazing ahead, while he himself sat by the stove, suddenly drawing the dagger from his waist.
The man didn’t attack his companion but, shaking, pointed the blade toward his own throat.
Lu Ban imdiately manifested “Testant,” sending out a Speech Bullet ant to disrupt, but just as it fired, the man’s blade pierced his own throat.
Lu Ban saw an expression of serene calm spread across the man’s face, and then he pulled his hand back.
Chunks of blood spurted out, instantly turning cold, and the man’s companion cried out for help, but everyone knew that it was beyond hope.
Lu Ban and his companions ca to the watchtower, looking at the body that had been brought down.
The corpse’s face bore a joyful, peaceful smile, as if he were in a contented sleep.
“He put up a struggle just now, as if his body was being controlled by soone else.”
Lu Ban said. He looked to Jonah; such paranormal and mysterious phenona could only be understood clearly by a mage.
“Is that really what happened?”
Jonah’s expression was slightly odd.
Before he could explain, they saw that the companion of the man who had just died suddenly pulled out his own knife.
“No, please no…”
The blade moved toward his own throat, as if he was resisting so force with all his might.
Birmingham tried to help but was imdiately stopped by Jonah.
“Don’t go over there, it’s contagious…”
He raised his hand, looking toward the terrified Forest Ranger.
“It might hurt a bit, but at least it’ll save your life.”
The Forest Ranger hadn’t reacted yet when Jonah clenched his right fist and turned it.
Pffft—
The Forest Ranger’s hands, as if severed by a blade, fell off, and the dagger, losing support, dropped to the ground.
“Don’t touch him, it’s the plague.”
Jonah looked solemn and then added.
“The ruler of The Twelfth Magic Tide, plague.”
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