Blood River Fortress lay somewhat toward the center of the Northern War Zone of the Human-Demon Battlefield.
Mountain ranges stretched endlessly around it, and the Earthly Meridian was majestic. The courses of the mountains on both sides formed a vast, slowly sloping V-shape.
Blood River Fortress stood at the very bottom of that V-shape.
A great river ran through the surrounding mountains.
Originally, this river had been called Cry Dragon River. Its waters surged and twisted through the mountain ravines, making a faint sound like weeping. Since the river was also long, it came to be known as Cry Dragon River.
But ten thousand years ago, a great melee had erupted here. The Human and Devil Races had deployed over ten million troops between them, and in the end, not even half had left alive.
From that day onward, the clear waters of Cry Dragon River had taken on a trace of crimson. Especially at night, without sunlight shining upon it, it looked exactly like a river of blood.
Gradually, it came to be called the Blood River.
After that great battle ten thousand years ago, Cry Dragon River Fortress, which had originally been able to station only fifty thousand troops, was upgraded and expanded into Blood River Fortress, capable of housing three hundred thousand soldiers. It had remained so ever since.
The entire garrison zone of Blood River Fortress covered a north-south defense line of four hundred thousand li and an east-west depth of one hundred thousand li. Beneath it were four small military fortresses, sixteen military outposts, and over a hundred Beacon Towers.
Each of those four small military fortresses required at least ten thousand troops, every military outpost required at least one thousand troops, and each Beacon Tower was staffed with two squads, a hundred men in