Castle in the Wilderness

Katpa Hills.

A group of uninvited guests arrived here.

Count Earl Jesse Swan, a great goblin under Marshal Dolo who had made Hobgoblin contributions in the Unification War Anzeta, led the empire's vanguard south.

They traversed the narrow Anzeta Corridor, crossed the vast Anstica Mountains, and arrived at the Katpa Hills.

The Thrace Kingdom kept its promise; they withdrew all their troops from Carterpa, but also dismantled their only outpost there— Glenan Castle.

The Imperial advance team now faces a desolate hilly region teeming with monsters and beasts.

They need to establish a forward outpost in this desolate region to prepare for the future southward invasion of the Embers of the Burned Empire.

This sounds incredibly difficult.

However, the empire had already made full preparations for this, and had even planned the location for the city's construction long ago.

On their first day in Caterpa, the advance team, under the command of Count Jessell, arrived at the target location on the map.

They burned and felled large tracts of forest, erected tents, built wooden fences around them, and set up simple camps.

The next day, the mages accompanying the army began sending out beacons and drawing magic circles at the camp.

From the third to the twenty-first day, an infantry legion composed of Tiefling, Hobgoblin, and humans swept across an area of dozens of miles, riddling all the wild beasts and monsters with holes and using the meat obtained to supply the army.

On the twenty-second day, the Imperial Magic Department finally opened a permanent portal to the Kattepa Area, allowing the Empire's manpower and resources to be continuously transported in.

On the twenty-seventh day, Earl Jessell led his infantry and dragon legions to attack the orc tribe in the southwest and annihilated them all.

On the thirty-eighth day, the Empire Engineering Department dispatched dozens of civil engineering players, led by [Ti Tong Pao Lu], to assist the advance team in completing the construction of the new city.

Tahan City, whose name in the Draconic means "conquering the south," was thus gradually built up from nothing.

It has now been seventy-three days since the advance team arrived in Carterpa. The outline of Tahan City has been built, and players, Ogre, and Frost Giant from the Empire are busy transporting goods.

Large engineering machines manufactured by the Church of the Machine God were disassembled into parts, transported through the portal, and then reassembled.

[The Ti Tong Pao Lu] was wearing a white safety helmet and had his arms crossed as he directed the construction team.

"Frost Giant over there, stop slacking off!"

"Everyone, perk up! That newbie over there needs to be some work!"

"Ogre! How many times have I told you not to eat concrete! What's so good about that stuff?"

Having completed a year-long construction project in Istaria City, these construction teams have accumulated extensive experience and can be considered seasoned civil engineers.

Jesse stood on the city wall, which was already mostly completed, Hobgoblin gazed at the distant hills with his yellow eyes.

"Cunning humans"

"You think you can stop the empire's advance by burning down the original city and releasing monsters? Heh, you are too naive."

"The South will eventually become the territory of the Empire."

He gripped the gun tightly and said, word by word— the Hobgoblin Earl held a delicate and compact gadget, the latest "pistol" from the Embers Armory, which was convenient to carry and he loved.

"Earl Lord! We have discovered the lair of the Hill Giant in the southeast."

"There are about 130 Hill Giant there."

Suddenly, the Red Scale Conqueror, riding Wyvern, circled down from the sky and reported respectfully.

That was the largest Hill Giant tribe in Carterpa, and it was notorious for eating almost everything in the area.

Jesse immediately smiled, exhaled a puff of white smoke, revealing a mouthful of yellowed sharp teeth, and the scales on his forehead protruded slightly.

"Very good."

He raised his pistol high and pointed it at the sky.

"Then let these uncouth fellows see what they're made of—"

"Bang!"

"The power of the empire!"

The gunshots drew everyone's attention in Tahan City —except for the construction workers who were busy cleaning up the ash and had no time to spare.

Jesse stood atop the city wall, surveyed his surroundings, raised his hand, and fired several more shots.

"For the Embers of the Burned Empire! For His Your Majesty Keosius!"

"For the Embers of the Burned Empire!"

"For His Your Majesty Keosius!"

"Conquer! Conquer! For the Great Blueprint of the empire!"

Monsters and humans alike in the city raised their arms and cheered, celebrating yet another impending victory—except for the players who were fighting the dust.

Celebrating before the start of a war is a long-standing tradition of the empire, because they know that under the emperor's Dragon Wing, any battle will be won easily and decisively.

Thus, under Count Jessé's mobilization, the army in Tahan launched a massive attack.

Meanwhile, the Hill Giant tribe was still fast asleep.

These simple-minded, Limbs strong giants lay haphazardly in the wilderness, their animal hides untanned, simply bound together with hair and leather straps.

Sweat dripped from the Hill Giant onto the rotting animal hide, emitting a strong odor, while leftover bones and scraps of meat lay nearby.

The chief of the Hill Giant is called "Bone Club," who wields the thigh bone of the previous chief as a weapon and is the tallest and fattest in the tribe.

"Call"

The Bone Club emitted a heavy snoring sound, kicked the giant squeezed next to it away, and even rolled over.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek rang out.

His experience told him that this was not common in the mundane life of the Hill Giant, which consisted only of searching for food.

"Hmm?"

The Bone Club slowly opened its eyes and tilted its head back to face the sky.

"Is this edible?"

The Hill Giant thought this, and instead of dodging, he inexplicably Big Mouth.

What came into view was a metal sphere that seemed to grow larger and larger.

Immediately following was the flash of fire from an explosion.

"Boom!"

The massive, obese skull of the Bone Club was thus blown apart, with fragments of the skull flying everywhere.

"Roar!"

Who is it?

The Hill Giant were awakened and roared in anger, only to find that their makeshift camp had been turned into a sea of fire.

In the sky, Red Scale Conqueror riding Wyvern constantly swept past, dropping bombs and spewing out scorching flames at them.

"Little bug!"

"They're in the sky!"

The Hill Giant angrily hurled stones into the air, but could not reach the Wyvern that had soared high into the sky.

The Red Scale Conqueror now have increasingly precise control over distance, making it difficult for ordinary throws to harm them.

Just as the Hill Giant were enraged and powerless, more gunshots rang out, and several giants fell to the ground with a thud.

The Hill Giant turned their heads in surprise.

A dull thud.

The wilderness trembled.

Jesse was riding on the back of Terrestrial Dragon Beast, drawing his long sword from his waist. Behind him were the Empire's Dragon Beast Cavalry, who charged toward the Hill Giant like moving hills.

"For the Empire!"

"Kill them all!"

"This land belongs to His Your Majesty Keosius! No one is allowed to lay a finger on it!"