August 8, evening.
The first wave of the Rat Tide reached the foot of Hell Mountain.
Like dark Clouds drifting along the ground, the Rat Tide spread through the Graypeak Mountains.
Even the most optimistic among them could hardly feel cheerful at the sight.
Breathing grew heavy. The Orcs, who would have challenged a White Dragon to a fight, tucked their heads between their legs. The Goblins retreated underground, where they would not have to see the Rat Tide that drove them to despair.
They hoped the Rat Tide might overlook them, but the changes to Hell Mountain were obvious. It was almost impossible for the rats to miss the summit...
In just a few dozen minutes, the surging Rat Tide completely surrounded Hell Mountain. Before darkness fully fell, the Graypeak Mountains had become an archipelago divided by a black sea.
According to the map sent by the Orr Empire, the other fifty-odd Allied Forces were scattered across the surrounding "islands."
The last trace of dusk vanished from the camp on Hell Mountain. Darkness gradually swallowed the black tide between the Mountain Range and hid the Rat Tide beginning its climb.
They would be fighting at night again.
On the bright side, night made it easier for the Vampires to move.
Femi told the soldiers along the Defense Line to rest while they could. The summit of Hell Mountain stood a full thousand meters above its base, and over the past few days, the Goblins had destroyed every shortcut to the top. The mountain was now easy to defend and hard to assault. The Slave Rats would exhaust themselves just climbing it, and even the normally unstoppable Rat Tide could barely make its way up.
The enormous bonfire at the center of camp roared, its heat driving off the chill