"Captain Yilaien, are you sure the orders from command center are correct? Are we being directed to the outermost, Polyhedral Fortress?"
From the sky to the ground, the invading army of the Giant World's native inhabitants was everywhere. This place had been occupied by evil creatures from another world just over a year ago, but now they had taken it back.
The proud native army failed to notice that among them was a small squad of over a hundred giants behaving suspiciously.
Instead of joining the main force to head towards the center of the evil's arrival, they turned back the way they came.
Many native soldiers tried to stop their retreat in the face of battle, but no matter who approached, they were instantly enraged by more than a hundred giants, who would beat the native creatures who tried to persuade them to death.
Watching this small group of giants brutally beat the native army blocking their way, no more native creatures tried to persuade them; they simply ignored their retreat.
Anyway, losing these hundred-odd giants won't affect the great battle, so let them do as they please.
Later, wherever this giant squad passed, the native army immediately made way for them, allowing them to swagger through.
What they didn't know was that while they were pretending to be deaf and dumb, the giants in this squad were whispering and plotting something, and the language they were using wasn't the language of giants, but the language of those evil creatures that had descended from another world.
" Malasha, there's no mistake. I've checked three times already. The command center told me that out of the fifty-seven fortresses around us, only this one is still intact, and none of the wizards inside are dead."
"Unbelievable, there are actually fortresses on the front lines." A ten-meter-tall giant stared with crazed eyes, as if searching for his next unfortunate victim, but his words were filled with utter shock.
This is not a squad of giants, but a squad of wizards disguised as giants!
Their fortress had been breached a day earlier, and their fate would have been the same as other fortresses that had been breached: all of them would have perished.
However, Yilaien, as the captain, possesses a very rare form of witchcraft: the ability to disguise herself as other creatures, provided she has enough blood samples from those creatures.
And they just happened to have a lot of giant blood, since it was customary for wizards to intercept it.
Before the fortress was breached, they all transformed into giants, successfully deceiving the native army, who had no ability to recognize such transformations.
Next, Yilaien wanted to lead the remaining hundred or so wizards back to the command center, and fearing being mistakenly injured, she had already reported her location and physical characteristics in advance.
The command center's order was to forbid them from returning and to have them assemble at an unconquered fortress to await further instructions.
Left with no other option, Yilaien and her group obeyed the command center's orders and headed to the nearest remaining fortress. Little did they know, this fortress wasn't in the rear, but rather at the very front lines of the war!
According to information Yilaien obtained from the information platform, the most forward fortresses were basically breached within the first few days of the battle. Even if they survived the first few days of the war, with such a strong native army continuously attacking, there shouldn't be any fortresses left!
He hadn't received any information about the frontline fortresses in ages; he thought they'd all been breached long ago!
"It must be Level Three Great Wizard as the captain; otherwise, it would be impossible for them to resist for so long."
"What incredible luck! There's actually Level Three Great Wizard here."
Yilaien muttered sourly in a low voice, deliberately suppressing her words so that no one around her could hear her.
Like Leo, Yilaien also encountered the same problem when she saw the indigenous army, numbering in the billions, attacking. She requested reinforcements of Level Three Great Wizard from the command center, but her request was rejected for the same reason: there were not enough Level Three Wizard.
Yilaien was furious when he heard this reason, because as far as he knew, 99% of the Polyhedral Fortress did not have Level Three Great Wizard presiding over them; only very important nodes had Level Three Great Wizard.
How could it be that there aren't enough Level Three Wizard???
This is blatant deception!!!
Unfortunately, he was just a minor Level-Two Elemental Wizard, and even if he had a thousand reasons to be dissatisfied, he could only obey orders.
But he really didn't expect that Level Three Great Wizard Level Three Great Wizard appear in the place where it was least likely to be at the forefront of the war. How could he, as a captain of the defensive fortress, not complain about this?
In that instant, he lost count of how many times he cursed the wizards at the command center in his heart!
This is outrageous! It's so unfair!
"We're almost there. Be careful. We're all in giant form now. It would be such a waste if we died at the gate." Based on the location, Yilaien judged that the Polyhedral Fortress mentioned by the command center shouldn't be far away.
In the current war situation, if they are mistakenly killed because they did not immediately identify themselves, they will not bear any responsibility.
Yilaien ordered the 'Giant Squad' to halt. The fortress should be seven kilometers ahead, and they were already on the edge of its attack range. Taking another step closer would mean being attacked at any moment.
"We've arrived. What's that smell?" The giant that Malasha transformed into wrinkled its nose. Even when it stopped breathing, a strange smell still rushed into its nostrils.
In the group, not only Malasha, but everyone frowned. A strange, foul odor, mixed with an overwhelming, lingering smell of blood, assaulted everyone's sense of smell.
The smell was like the pungent odor of tens of thousands of tons of corpses piled up in a huge pit and left to rot and ferment.
"The situation might change. I'll contact the command center first and have them assess the fortress's condition." Yilaien didn't dare to rush forward; at this point, she needed to proceed cautiously.
The lives of the more than one hundred wizards in the squad were all in his hands. He dared not make any mistakes. They had escaped with great difficulty, and he would be heartbroken if even one of them died.
Most importantly, over a hundred survived, which is a tremendous achievement. The death of even one person would diminish the amount of merit he had earned.
These wizards were both his team members and the fruits of his labor!
The current situation resembles a fortress that has undergone a brutal war; given the uncertainty, it's best not to rush over there rashly.
Soon, news came from the command center that it had been confirmed that the fortress was fine, and that their situation had been explained to the wizards inside the fortress. They could now proceed without worry.
Let's go.
With no other options, Yilaien could only trust the command center. If the command center said there was no problem, then there was basically no problem.
When their disguised giant squad got within five kilometers of the fortress, they understood why they had smelled such a strong odor earlier.
Centered on the fortress with its central, shimmering rune array, the terrain within a five-kilometer radius has sunk tens of meters.
Only the location of the fortress still has a stratum pillar supporting it; the rest of the area appears to have been attacked by powerful witchcraft, leaving behind one large circular crater after another. Dozens of these craters are connected together to form a terrifying circular sinkhole, forcibly altering the landscape within a five-kilometer radius.
These powerful sorcery-infused craters still held a faint aura they didn't understand—not elemental, but another kind of energy.
They couldn't determine what kind of energy it was, but they could sense that it caused considerable harm to ordinary life.
Within this sinkhole, formed by a series of interconnected circular pits, lay countless rotting corpses, piled high at the bottom. Not a single corpse was intact; most were simply a mass of flesh.
Upon closer inspection, one can discern that some parts belong to giants and others to wild beasts, but most are indistinguishable, a mixture of filth resembling mud and emitting a pungent stench.
Bubbles rose and burst from the muddy pile of corpses, releasing the nauseating, pungent odor they had smelled earlier.
Sunlight filtering through the gaps in the indigenous army could be seen wisps of red mist floating above the sinkhole.
In the flickering light, at the center of the crimson mist, stood a fortress gleaming with runic arrays, resembling a den of evil.
Creepy red, terrifying, stench of corpses, eerie...
No words used to describe evil in any civilization would be an exaggeration here!!!
When the entire native army arrived, they scattered in panic to both sides, clearing the area from a distance.
Some of the native armies even looked at them with pity, as if they were fools, after they saw this 'giant squad' approaching the sinkhole.
"This... this..."
Malasha rubbed his eyes, his pupils dilating as he stared at the scene before him in shock. His mouth seemed sealed shut, and he stammered "this" for a long time without uttering another word.
Such a huge sinkhole, just to cover one layer with corpses would require more than 100,000 bodies, but in their vague perception, the rotting corpses inside must be at least ten meters deep.
It's unimaginable how many corpses are buried in this sinkhole!
"They must be wizards from other fortresses. Come here quickly."
The fortress, perched atop the only remaining stone pillar in the sinkhole, was being adored by a wizard who casually emerged from within and waved to them.
In this vast army of natives, such an act was tantamount to putting oneself on the fire, offering one's own neck to the blade of death.
To Yilaien and her companions' astonishment, the circling native army acted as if they hadn't seen the wizard at all. They didn't even hear his voice, turning a deaf ear and a blind eye, pretending to be stupid as they continued their detour.
It's hard to imagine that in the heart of a war between two worlds locked in life-or-death struggles, there exists a place that remains undisturbed, like a paradise.