Using the moonlight to determine the river's location, Gray quickly found several landmarks that he vaguely recognized.
In the past, when the Antasia sailed to this river, Gray would always sail a distance downstream and wade across at a calmer section of the river.
But this time, he's planning to go big.
Gray activated the fixed-direction auto-driving mode and then entered the second floor from the platform at the top of the fortress.
The second floor was Gray's private area. Looking at those familiar things, Gray began to arm himself.
Inserting the enormous brass key into his chest, Gray changed out of his coat and put his armor back on, then reached into the large, heavy brass mechanical gauntlets.
Looking back at the familiar furnishings on the second floor, he put the World Tree ornament that Ed had given him into his pocket, turned around and pulled the lever near his arm armor, while praying for the favor of the Grand Foundry Master.
Just like last time, Gray turned the timer on his left arm armor; this time, he needed three minutes to prepare.
Upon reaching the top of the fortress again, Gray noticed that it was now less than a hundred meters from the river.
He returned to the control panel and began to slow down, while constantly keeping an eye on the movements of the Blood Corpse behind him.
As he got closer to the horde of Blood Corpse Blood Corpse, he was able to observe some of their characteristics.
A large portion of the Blood Corpse wore clothes made from the fur of Aberration monsters, indicating that they were originally members of that nomadic tribe, only becoming part of them after being devoured by the Blood Corpse.
Other Blood Corpse, with even more Shattered and decaying flesh, wore tattered clothes whose style he could not discern.
Gray couldn't help but suspect that these Blood Corpse were like thawed popsicles, perhaps wearing clothes from before the Demonic Tide erupted...
Among the more decaying, Blood Corpse, Gray noticed a very peculiar individual.
Compared to other Blood Corpse that are completely devoid of reason, this Blood Corpse looks like a monster with a little bit of brains.
His running posture was more human-like, and although his clothes were tattered and looked very worn, there were no obvious defects on his body.
More importantly, Gray could sense that the Blood Corpse was constantly staring at him, no matter how he moved on the fortress platform, its eyes remained locked on him.
hateful.
Gray's expression remained unchanged, but he cursed inwardly.
Within the vampire clan, the hierarchy is extremely clear. Even if a higher-ranking vampire orders a lower-ranking vampire to their death, the lower-ranking vampire can only obediently comply.
If there is a transformation relationship between the two, this manipulation ability will be even stronger.
If this seemingly formidable Blood Corpse is the leader of Blood Corpse others, then he is not fighting a pack of monsters fighting individually, but rather a pack of wild wolves that can understand commands.
As a new tremor came from below the fortress, Gray realized he had reached the embankment.
He yanked the brake lever, and Gray's body lurched forward.
The armor and gauntlets on his body significantly increased his weight, making it almost impossible for him to overcome the inertia during sudden braking.
With such a full set of metal gear, Gray had absolutely no chance of swimming across the river.
But he already had a plan, and the wind-up timer on his left arm was ticking away.
The fortress came to a complete stop on the riverbank, with only a dozen steps separating the horde of Blood Corpse from Gray.
A Blood Corpse looked at Gray standing on high, let out a hoarse roar, and then leaped up.
However, its jumping power was not great enough. It barely managed to jump to the second floor but failed to grab any foothold and fell back down, hitting the heads of other Blood Corpse and being swallowed up by the Corpse Tide.
The Blood Corpse, along with the river, have surrounded Gray's fortress, pressing forward relentlessly, trying to push the fortress into the river.
Gray pulled the last lever, driving the four anchor pins at the four corners of the fortress into the embankment, rendering the Blood Corpse ' pushing efforts ineffective.
The Blood Corpse quickly changed their attack methods, or perhaps they never intended to drown Gray in the first place.
With all the doors below sealed shut, they began to pile on top of each other under Gray's watchful gaze.
Hundreds of Blood Corpse, like a clump of growing mold, climbed upwards along one side of the fortress, quickly breaking through the second floor and beginning their ascent to the top floor.
Gray stood calmly on the rooftop terrace, watching; after all, he couldn't do anything unless these guys climbed up.
He actually had no desire to kill any monsters related to vampires, because according to records, that would leave a soul mark on him, thereby attracting more Blood Corpse.
But now, he has no choice but to do it.
An ugly head peeked out from the edge of the terrace and suddenly let out a loud cry, which sounded like both a cheer and a threat.
However, he was met with a fully charged, clockwork-like punch from a brass clockwork.
With the arm spring and internal clockwork working in tandem, this powerful punch, doubly accelerated, slammed into the Blood Corpse's face. Before its roar could even fade, its neck was already completely empty.
The shattered head flew downwards, with the largest piece landing in front of the high-ranking Blood Corpse who was commanding the other Blood Corpse with a low growl.
His roar immediately changed tone, and the Blood Corpse launched an even more ferocious charge.
At this moment, Gray was like a lone hero, standing alone on the city wall, blocking the swarming enemies who were attacking the city.
Each swing of his fists created a small gust of wind, and the heads and other body parts of the Blood Corpse were either shattered into pieces or smashed into mud under the heavy blows, while Gray, with his almost entirely metal upper body, completely ignored the monsters' biting attacks.
With one kick, Gray sent a Blood Corpse tumbling off the fortress. He then turned and kicked down another Blood Corpse that was trying to ambush him from behind.
He was now completely bloodthirsty, and he bent down to clamp the massive arm armor around the opponent's head and chest.
He roared like a beast, forcefully pulling his hands outwards, tearing the Blood Corpse's head and half of its spine out. Gray let out a triumphant roar, stomping the corpse under his feet and throwing the head at the Blood Corpse leader as a provocation.
The merchant, engrossed in the battle, began to ponder: if he had lived more than a hundred years ago, before the Demonic Tide, and possessed such immense strength, he might have been able to follow in the footsteps of the renowned berserker of that era.
It is said that those blood-soaked warriors could tear their enemies apart like paper, shattering the hearts of those who witnessed it. This allowed them to single-handedly pursue and kill hundreds or even thousands of people, forging their own legends.