The Difficult Retreat: Blackpine Fief's Crisis of Survival
A thick, Gray Fog carried the pungent smell of blood.
The Silver-Sword Ghoul Commander rode atop a massive Bone Warbeast, his eyes fixed on the remnants of the human army who retreated like a black tide into the Inner Fortress the fifth Fifth Ring.
It slowly lowered its skull, its empty eye sockets sweeping over the ruins beneath its feet, piled up from the remains of Ghoul, Magic Creature, and humans.
After fighting for so long, this Legion, capable of crushing a large city-state, was dragged down in the mud by a small territory that wasn't even worth marking on a map, and even lost a third of its High-Rank Ghoul.
This battle loss is simply unacceptable to them.
This little territory has worn down its last bit of patience.
The suppressed rage and hunger rose slowly, causing the originally cold soul fire in its eye sockets to turn scarlet.
The urge to pounce on them and chew them to pieces, bones and all, was becoming increasingly overwhelming.
But the remaining sanity reminded it of something else.
This war has dragged on for far too long.
The Eternal Night Wall was never a solitary fortress.
The divine energy emanating from the Blackpine Fief's Sacred Flame Altar during its continuous overclocking was too conspicuous in the darkness. The Church's Mobile Holy Knight could pounce on that light at any moment.
It no longer has time to slowly grind along with this small territory.
Now that humanity has retreated into its final shell, it will not give the enemy any breathing room, nor will it give them time to wait for reinforcements.
Smash the tortoise shell violently, drag out all the remaining living creatures inside, bite and chew them up, and let the entire little territory, along with that Sacred Flame, sink into the Gray Fog.
The Silver Sword Commander yanked the reins tighter. The massive war beast beneath him reared up, letting out a piercing, mournful howl.
It raised its blood-soaked Cross Silver Sword and, with a heavy whistling sound, slashed it down heavily forward.
A long howl, almost piercing the soul flame, exploded from the depths of its chest. The sound wave was like a knife, completely severing the last vestiges of order.
This is a military order in its purest form.
All troops, launch a full-scale assault! Kill without mercy!
In an instant, the remaining twenty-odd Third-Tier Fallen Core, hundreds of Second-Tier Elite with bloodshot eyes, along with the tens of thousands of low-tier cannon fodder suppressed to the limit behind them, all fell into the most primal bloodlust.
The massive Legion, like a black tide bursting its banks, trampled through the mud and flesh, surging towards the high walls of the fifth Fifth Ring Inner Fortress.
The ground trembled violently, the tremors climbing up the foundation, causing the thick stone walls of the tower to groan under the immense pressure.
The model in Shien's consciousness clearly reflected the Ghoul horde rushing towards the Inner Fortress below.
The main force, having lost its formation, surged like a black tide bursting its banks, crashing headlong into the last physical buffer zone of Blackpine Fief.
The excessive trampling crushed the Pig Iron trigger plate buried at the bottom of the ditch.
The next instant, the High-Tension Pig-Iron Barbed Net buried deep in the mud sprang up, and the barbed wire swept across the bodies of the Magic Creature in front.
The Corrupt Rat Acid and Holy Silver Powder smeared on the iron spikes were also poured into the wound all at once.
The Holy Silver burned and the strong acid corroded simultaneously, causing it to explode inside the body.
Even Third-Tier Demonic Beast was driven mad by the excruciating pain that burned from the inside out.
Screams erupted in unison as a large number of mutated bodies were tightly entangled in poisonous barbed wire, convulsing wildly in the ditch.
Meanwhile, inside the high-level Dark Bunker on both sides, the Semi-Automatic Rune Steam Repeating Crossbow were pushed to their limits.
--
The Repeater Crossbowman pressed down hard on the trigger mechanism, and a barrage of Refined Steel arrows, no longer needing to be adjusted, fired directly at the Magic Creature trapped by the barbed wire.
Clumps of minced meat exploded, and the entire area was swallowed up by the metal storm.
The Crossbowman cranked the winch, their palms already raw from the hemp rope.
The Auxiliary Soldier poured ice water onto the red-hot gun barrels and rails, white steam exploding against their faces, but no one took a step back.
Just as the Blackpine Fief was about to fall apart, it unleashed its fiercest burst of fire.
Even the most powerful weapons have their limits.
Behind them, Low-Tier Ghoul surged forward relentlessly.
One cannon fodder fell on the poisonous stinger, and the dry-headed monster immediately stepped over the corpse to finish it off.
Layer upon layer of rotten flesh gradually filled in the venomous thorn groove of the fifth Fifth Ring.
The high-level Dark Bunker have also reached their limit.
Prolonged high-frequency firing turned the pure steel barrel of the semi-automatic crossbow a dark red color.
Immediately afterwards, the overloaded high-pressure cylinder finally succumbed to the strain.
"Boom! Boom!"
Scalding steam, carrying sharp pieces of iron, exploded violently in the narrow, Dark Bunker.
Several crossbow operators didn't even have time to react, or even to scream, before their bodies were torn apart on the spot by flying pieces of metal, falling bloodied and mangled between the mechanisms and steam pipes.
The crossfire network on the flanks fell completely silent amidst the continuous explosions of gunfire.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the black tide of Ghoul swept over the last trench.
At that moment, the entire defensive line seemed to have been brutally broken in the middle.
The front-line soldiers held their shields tightly, but their arms were already trembling.
The wounded soldiers behind them leaned against the mud wall, panting heavily, unable to even stand up straight.
The air was thick with the stench of blood, and even the platinum light emanating from the Sacred Flame seemed chilling.
But no one dropped their weapons and fled.
"Clang--Clang--!"
Just then, the dull sound of a retreating bronze bell came from above, piercing through the deafening sounds of battle in the trenches.
The warriors and Knight, covered in blood, froze, wondering why Shien would issue such an order.
Retreating into the Inner Fortress would mean abandoning all the Pig Iron traps and firing points on the outer perimeter.
Without this defensive system, relying solely on flesh and blood to cower inside the stone walls and withstand the zombie horde would be a recipe for disaster, as everyone knows.
At that moment, shock and instinctive resistance rose almost simultaneously in everyone's eyes.
But the military discipline ingrained in their bones suppressed all these thoughts.
Without a single argument, the entire dilapidated defensive line immediately carried out the order to retreat.
Fabien, his head covered in black blood, swung his Cross-Shaped Greatsword horizontally, instantly cleaving the oncoming Second Tier Leaping Corpse in half at the waist.
Two pieces of corpse, reeking of entrails, slammed into the mud. He stomped on the still-twitching remains, his voice nearly cracking as he roared, "Retreat! Everyone, retreat to the Inner Fortress gate!"
The heavily armored Knight squeezed out the last bit of Battle Aura from his Qi Sea, forcing a steel wall of men to hold off the retreating zombie horde, and inch by inch, he carved a bloody path through the horde with his heavy shield and sword.
Covered in mud and black blood, the wounded soldiers dragged each other backward, the crowd scrambling and tumbling into the depths of the black stone gate. Footsteps and gasps filled the air, yet no one was left outside.
"Boom--!"
The massive iron-clad inner Inner Fortress slammed shut with a clattering sound as giant gears engaged, several thick Pig Iron bolts hammering into the recesses.
With that muffled thud, the Five-Ring Defense Line in Blackpine Fief truly collapsed.
From the battlefield, the entire Blackpine Fief was enveloped layer by layer by the black tide of Ghoul, with only a tiny bit of Platinum Flame still holding it up at the very innermost point.
When the wind blew, the little flame stood alone in the darkness, looking as if it might go out at any moment.