Ghoul Vanguard Corps

A cold wind swept through the dark-colored tower of the Inner Fortress. Shien stood with his hands behind his back on the edge of the stone platform, his eyes slightly closed.

Deep within the sea of consciousness Deep Blue Grid, while at the western edge of the Gray Fog, large patches of red dots representing Magic Creature were advancing at an almost constant speed.

At the very front, four exceptionally bright Third Tier high-energy reactions, like four iron stakes driven into the battle line, firmly pressed the restless beast horde behind them into an orderly queue.

Shien suddenly opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing in his icy blue pupils.

This is the most serious crisis since the outbreak of the Blood Moon Season.

No matter how fierce those Beast Tide were before, deep down they were still wild beasts driven forward by the Blood Moon.

The Beast Tide in front of us is no longer an option; it's Legion led by four Third-Tier Ghouls. We must strike hard.

Shien's alert level immediately rose to the highest. "Sound the highest level alarm! All Third Tier Knight within the Defense Zone, cease patrolling the outer perimeter and immediately assemble at the Western Inner Wall."

"Release the bolts of all heavy Rune Steam Repeating Crossbow from the high Dark Bunker on the west side and fire them all."

The messenger standing nearby tensed up. This was the first time Blackpine Fief had used heavy Rune Steam Repeating Crossbow during the Blood Moon Season.

This single order clearly illustrated the perilous nature of the current situation.

He dared not ask any more questions and turned to ring the bell to give the order.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The deafening sound of the highest level alarm bell ripped through the Long Night.

As the command flags waved rapidly, Blackpine Knights, clad in heavy Holy Silver armor, hurried to their positions in the Hidden Passage and rear rest camps throughout the Defense Zone.

This heavily armed elite force tightened their formation and adjusted their charging distance as the command flags rose and fell.

A long wall of steel, gleaming with a sacred platinum luster, slowly rose up in the Long Night.

In a short time, a full seventy Tier Third Tier Heavy Knight formed ranks behind Fabien.

Meanwhile, the Gray Fog pressing down on the western defense line was finally slowly pushed away by a nearly tangible, chilling aura.

The true core of this crisis soon became clear to the Knight.

Those were four Third-Tier Ghouls with severely deformed bodies, clad in ancient heavy armor.

Beneath the monster on the left wing was a Many-Legged Behemoth pieced together from countless pale, white bones.

On the right wing, a giant frog, its body swollen and constantly spewing out a ghastly green venom, rode.

From a slightly different angle, there was also Corpse Bat with half of its skeleton exposed, drifting low along the ground.

The largest of the Ghoul, positioned in the center to bring up the rear, rode a Two-Headed Armored Direwolf and carried a massive, skeletal hand covered in barbs, wielding a Great Horse-Cleaving Sword stained with dark red and black blood.

Within the hollow eye sockets of that withered skull, two eerie green flames burned silently.

It raised its head slightly, glanced over the front trench at the ugly defensive line hastily put together by humans, and its eyes revealed disdain.

Behind these four monstrous generals, a hundred Second Tier Ghoul clad in tattered Chainmail followed silently.

Further on, there were countless low-level cannon fodder Magic Creature, stretching as far as the eye could see.

When they appeared, the air along the entire western defensive line seemed to sink.

The Third-Tier Ghoul Commander, riding Two-Headed Dire Wolf, slowly raised his greatsword, stained with black blood, and slashed it heavily forward.

The hundred Ghoul and low-level Magic Creature that had been suppressed at the bottom of the army formation immediately staggered out of the ranks under the drive of the higher-level will.

They charged straight up the First Ring of reverse ice slope, their deathly gray eyes hollow and vacant, unmoved by the nearby cover and the flesh and blood of living people.

The one in front crashed into the Pig Iron stakes of the Second Ring, its chest and limbs slamming into the ravine.

Those behind continued to press forward, stepping on the corpses of their own kind, precisely crushing the brittle pottery jars buried in the shallow soil, forcing out the ghastly green Venom Mist from the bottom of the ditch ahead of time.

These cannon fodder have no fear and no way out.

Those in front fell, and those behind stepped over the corpses to move forward, like a black tide of rotting flesh that only pushed forward.

On the Inner Fortress command tower, Shien's mind raced, calculating how this Ghoul army was using the cheapest Gray Blood to test the depth of the Blackpine Fief trap inch by inch.

The officer beside him was already sweating profusely. He spoke in a low voice, "Sir, should we open fire immediately to intercept them?"

Shien raised his hand, immediately suppressing his impatience. "Activate Contingency Plan Seventeen."

The tactical lights on the top of the tower switched accordingly, with two yellow and one red lights flashing alternately at an extremely fast pace.

On the front lines of the battlefield, Fabien's gaze was fixed on the tower lights, and the changing lights instantly pieced together a complete command in his mind.

"Infantry, listen up! Fang-Splitting Formation! Clear the center! Retreat from the Flanking Communication Trenches and trenches! Shields, keep locked!"

The entire defense line was as if a hole had been smoothly torn open.

The infantry in the center, carrying Ironbound Oak Shield, retreated rapidly along the designated points, one layer after another, into the Flanking Communication Trenches.

Without warning, a wide passage leading directly into the depths of the Third Ring Road was opened in the center of the previously blocked defensive line.

After the frontline infantry retreated to the flanks, their formation slightly inward, completely exposing the gap in the center.

Without hesitation, the Third-Tier Ghoul Commander riding four Aberrant immediately concluded that the breach was a result of the human front collapsing under immense pressure.

A shrill roar suddenly tore through the Gray Fog, and they led dozens of Second-Tier Elite and the remaining cannon fodder straight into the open area in front of the Third Ring.

The Ghoul vanguard, who had just thought they had breached the defenses, crashed right into the inner wall and were now under the high line of fire.

At the top of the tower, Shien slowly raised his right hand.

Inside the high-level Dark Bunker on both sides, conventional Semi-Automatic Steam Repeating Crossbow fired first.

The dense barrage of Refined Steel arrows, like a torrential downpour of metal, precisely covered the Second Tier Ghoul and low-level cannon fodder that were about to disperse and reassemble.

One dull thud after another echoed as flesh was pierced.

The body of Second Tier Ghoul was no different from a rag in the face of such pure physical kinetic energy; it was torn apart, bones and all.

Rows of corpses were immediately nailed into the mud.

The Ghoul vanguard's previously intact defensive layer was shredded by this barrage of fire.

The four Third Tier Commander had been so imposing just moments before were now empty.

Shien calmly ordered, "Steam-powered heavy crossbows, snipe high-level targets."

As the order was given, the crimson array lights on the command tower suddenly flashed, and the seven high points simultaneously spewed out blinding High-Pressure White Steam.

The next moment, the seven Heavy Automatic Rune Steam Repeating Crossbow simultaneously shed their disguises, like seven steel monsters finally opening their eyes, ready to hunt!

The crossbow arm, guide rail, and pressure-bearing casing were tightened layer by layer, and the Rune engraved on the surface were illuminated by the boiling Sourceblood energy at this moment, with cold light flowing along the steel veins and lighting up section by section.

The superheated steam violently forced open the cylinder valve, pulling the heavy Solid-Steel Mechanism backward inch by inch.