Ironthorn's Eternal Night
On the mottled walls of Ironthorn Fief, the dark red old blood had long since frozen into layers of blackened, hard shells.
The lord guarding this place is Viscount Perry.
This Viscount, blind in his left eye and with a full head of white hair, has been guarding the Eternal Night Wall for over twenty years.
The fact that it has been able to hold out for so long must mean it has something special about it. The walls of Ironthorn Fief are not very high; its real killer move is laid out on the gentle slopes hundreds of meters around the territory.
The area was densely covered with barbed Pig Iron caltrops mixed with high-purity Holy Silver fragments and quenched with potent neurotoxin.
Last year during the Blood Moon Season, the Frenzyblood Werewolf, known for their speed and ferocity, charged through this area. However, the faster they pounced, the deeper their feet and bellies pierced through. The Holy Silver burned through their flesh, and the venom seeped into their bloodstream through the wounds. The wolf pack fell one by one on the slope, eventually piling up into an insurmountable heap of corpses.
He even earned the nickname "the Wolves Cannot Cross the Thorns".
At this moment, Viscount Perry stood atop the city wall, clad in heavy Chainmail, his only remaining right eye coldly fixed on the Ghoul Legion slowly approaching from the Gray Fog, a hint of coldness still lingering on his lips.
He was waiting, waiting for those beasts to walk into that patch of thorns and get their bodies pierced by the poisonous thorns.
But when the Ghoul army of Nampham was still a hundred paces away from the band of poisonous silver caltrops, it suddenly stopped in an orderly fashion.
The entire formation fell silent, save for the heavy, sticky panting from the monster's throat.
That oppressive feeling also emanated from the Gray Fog, pressing heavily on the Ironthorn Fief ahead.
The forward line slowly parted to the sides.
Silver Sword Commander a Bone Warbeast made of the remains of several High-Tier Demonic Beast stitched together, slowly emerging from the formation.
Its empty eye sockets swept across the shimmering silver caltrops in front of it, as if it had figured out the layout of this trap with just one glance.
The Silver Sword Commander's skeletal jaw opened slightly, and a Bone Whistle pierced the wind.
The rear troops moved quickly.
At the very back of the formation, hundreds of blood-soaked humans were driven out by Ghoul.
These people are all civilians who were captured by Ghoul after the surrounding nodes collapsed in the past few days.
Heavy ropes pierced their collarbones, binding the living people together like livestock.
The whip lashed down, tearing flesh from behind. The barefoot prisoners cried out as they were driven into the thorny thicket.
Holy Silver Powder will not burn human flesh.
But those barbs can still pierce the soles of the feet and calves.
As soon as the first batch of prisoners stepped inside, screams erupted one after another.
Someone stepped into the brambles and fell face-first down the slope. The person behind him was dragged down by the chains and tumbled along with them, their bodies slamming hard against the iron spikes.
Rolling, trampling, and squeezing, the large patch of caltrop that had been standing upright was pressed down layer by layer by living people.
The venom spread through the wound, and the person in the muddy water quickly began to convulse, foam at the mouth, and their cries gradually changed tone.
The old soldier on the city wall was trembling, the bowstring was taut and drawn, but the arrow tip hesitated to fall.
Those people below, pierced by barbs and struggling in the mud, are all living, breathing compatriots.
"Shoot!" Perry's only remaining right eye bulged with blood, and he forced out a hoarse roar.
"Shoot them! Don't let these corpses flatten the caltrops!"
The rain of arrows finally subsided.
Countless Refined Steel arrows, whistling sharply, pierced the gentle slope, mercilessly piercing the still convulsing and writhing bodies.
Some people had just raised their heads when an arrow pierced their eye sockets; others had half their bodies caught on iron spikes and then a single arrow pierced their chest from behind, causing them to shudder violently before finally going still.
The Silver Sword Commander stood at the front of the formation, his empty eye sockets, flickering with ghostly green soul flames, watching everything without moving.
One corpse after another fell onto the caltrops, and the layers of carcasses quickly spread out on the gentle slope, carving out a path of flesh and blood for the Ghoul Legion behind them.
The Viscount's hand gripping the sword tightened little by little, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged out.
He had guarded the Eternal Night Wall for so many years, and in his mind, Ghoul were always low-intelligence beasts that only knew how to pounce, bite, and tear, and that relied on hordes of corpses to push forward.
Driven only by the smell of blood, they rush forward. It's a miracle that they can refrain from eating humans. It's impossible for them to use human lives to gradually dismantle human defenses. But this Legion is an exception.
The strength in Perry's chest gradually subsided.
The group standing opposite them was no longer a bunch of Ghoul instinctively pushing forward.
But the human corpses kept piling up, filling most of the hundred-meter-long gentle slope.
Soon, dozens more Corrosive Acid Corpse green pus, were driven out of the formation.
They were like walking poison sacs, staggering as they stepped onto this path paved with blood and flesh.
The Silver Sword Commander raised his greatsword and pressed it forward.
The Second Tier Ghoul behind immediately raised their arms in unison, and dozens of heavy bone spears flew out with a piercing sound, accurately piercing through the Corrosive Acid Corpse and pinning them one by one to the pile of corpses.
The next instant, the swollen belly burst open one after another.
Thick, black acid poured down like a burst dam, mixing with human blood and rushing into the caltrop field.
The remaining Pig Iron barbs, fragments of Holy Silver, and the foul-smelling flesh all churned up together.
Yellowish-green toxic fumes surged up the gentle slope, the hissing corrosion sounds so dense they made one's teeth ache. The poisoned iron spikes were gradually corroded through, and the Holy Silver Powder quickly lost its effectiveness under the acid contamination.
Flesh, bone fragments, and molten iron churned together, eventually forming a charred, shiny, hard road on the gentle slope, the stench making one's stomach churn.
The city walls fell silent except for the sound of the wind. The Viscount's eyes were bloodshot, as if they were about to burst.
The Ironthorn Fief belt that made Ironthorn Collar famous was thus gradually dismantled.
Meanwhile, the Silver Sword Commander had already raised his Cross Silver Sword high.
The Ghoul Legion, which had been suppressed for a long time, suddenly burst into a series of ear-piercing roars, stepping on the black path paved with corpses and molten iron, and pressed towards Ironthorn Fief.
The heavy iron city gate finally collapsed under the repeated assaults of the mutated behemoth.
After the elite Ghoul surged into the city, stepping over broken wood and bricks, the Ironthorn Fief's defenses crumbled instantly.
The outer caltrops, gentle slopes, and Caltrops were all removed, and the city gate collapsed. The defenders had nowhere to take hold and could only hold out against the broken walls.
But at this moment, it wasn't just the lower-level ghouls that rushed in.
A dozen or so Third-Tier Ghoul Commander pressed forward, with Second-Tier Elite in front pushing forward with their tattered shields, while the cannon fodder behind poured in through the gap.
The human Knight and warriors had just formed a small formation when they were breached from the side. Before they could even throw their spears a second time, sharp claws were already slashing at their faces.
Without fortifications and traps, and without the help of defensive equipment to deflect the force, these warriors could only be devoured by the monsters one bite at a time.
The situation inside was even worse. The Convicts and civilians didn't even have decent armor and could only huddle together in houses and cellars, shivering.
Cries and the dull thud of bones breaking echoed from the depths of the streets and alleys, only to quickly cease.
Resistance in the city was extinguished one after another, until only a small area in Sacred Flame Altar remained.
Several Third-Tier Ghoul quickly dragged up several corpses of the guards, which were covered in filthy blood, and slammed them hard against the base of the Sacred Flame Altar.
As soon as the corpse crashed into the base, its flesh burst open, and filthy blood mixed with bone fragments splashed into the transmission gears and Rune slots.
Before long, a series of sounds of metal breaking and Rune overload exploded, and the platinum flames suddenly retracted inward.
The remaining flame struggled fiercely in the filthy blood for a few moments, but eventually dimmed and was completely swallowed by the darkness.
Only a few dozen guards remained standing around Perry.
But these last few people soon fell one by one in Sacred Flame Altar.
Just as Perry stepped forward with his sword, the Ghoul Commander wielding Cross Silver Sword was already in front of him. He raised his hand and swiftly pierced the Viscount's chest with a single, clean strike.
Perry's body jolted violently, and his greatswords clattered from his hands and crashed into the bloody mud.
Blood kept gushing from the wound, but his unfocused eyes remained fixed on the Silver Sword piercing his chest.
The pattern on the sword hilt slowly emerged as blood washed over it.
Perry's eyes widened suddenly.
The old face, stained with blood, convulsed violently. He stared intently at the two eerie green flames beneath the Commander's mask. His bloodied lips moved with difficulty, managing to squeeze out his last words: "This sword—how could it—"
In your hands----"
The Commander did not answer; the soul fire beneath his mask continued to flicker coldly.
With a simple twist of its wrist, the iron gauntlet gripped the hilt, and swiftly pulled the Cross Silver Sword from the Viscount's chest.
Perry's body shuddered, and then finally stopped moving completely.
Thick darkness, accompanied by teeth-grinding chewing sounds, slowly swallowed up this ancient, decades-old Long Night Fief.
The Silver Sword Commander stepped over a mountain of severed limbs, his blood-dripping longsword slightly raised.
It has already chosen its next Long Night Fief to devour, and is ready to continue tearing apart humanity's defenses at its predetermined pace.
Just then, a piercing flapping sound of the membrane wings rang out.
A mutated bat, specializing in delivering battle reports, swooped down from the depths of the Blood Mist and landed firmly on its rusty shoulder armor.
The ghostly green soul fire in the Silver Sword Commander's empty eye sockets suddenly flared.
It was sent to probe the outermost outposts of the Defense Zone, and the vanguard of Blackpine Fief was completely wiped out.
Upon learning that an entire vanguard had perished there, the Silver Sword Commander slowly turned his head, his gaze piercing through the Blood Mist, and looked toward Blackpine Fief.
They were reassessing the threat level posed by that unassuming territory.
After a very brief pause, the Ghoul Commander immediately revised his plan.
The Cross Silver Sword, still dripping with the Viscount's hot blood, was slowly raised, its blade leaving a cold afterimage in mid-air before finally fixing itself straight in the direction of Blackpine Fief.
After their revelry, tens of thousands of mutated monsters quickly regrouped and reassembled into a formidable, heavily armed army.
This dark war machine, which had swallowed countless lives, roared toward Blackpine Fief, where Shien was located, amidst a stench of blood.