Chapter 607 - 446: Mass Grave
Chapter 607: Chapter 446: Mass Grave
Thanks to the intervention of the Griffin Knights and Pegasus Knights, the sporadic harassment from the Swamp Demons didn’t slow the army’s advance in the slightest.
From the center of the column, Marshal Gaius and several Domain Level Powerhouses watched with looks of approval.
"Iron Blood" Luke, in particular, watched the orderly and efficient flying troops in the sky and said to Raylo beside him in his rumbling voice.
"Your Highness, your flying corps is the sharpest spear in the entire Northern Territory."
Raylo simply gave a calm nod, his gaze fixed on the depths of the swamp.
’This little scene is just an appetizer. The real danger still lies hidden in the place where the miasma is thickest.’
「Nightfall.」
The army chose a relatively high, dry patch of ground to make camp.
Bonfires blazed, pushing back some of the gloom and cold, but the swamp at night was destined to be anything but peaceful.
From the distance, the eerie howls of various Demons echoed intermittently, like the wails of countless tormented souls, keeping the sentries on watch perpetually on edge.
Inside Raylo’s command tent.
He was personally pouring tea for a guest.
The guest was none other than Great Elder Gu, who had accompanied the army.
"To think that a world with less than half the Magic Power concentration of the Giant Dragon Realm could nurture a presence so close to the World Destruction Level..."
Gu lifted the teacup but didn’t drink, merely sensing the warmth of the steam. His cloudy eyes gazed outside the tent, his voice tinged with a hint of wonder.
"Great Elder, what do you think are the chances of the being at the center of the swamp ascending to the World Destruction Level?"
Raylo seized the opportunity to ask the question that had long been on his mind.
Gu slowly shook his head.
"It’s hard to say. The will is hidden very deep, but its very essence is far beyond the Catastrophe Level. It must have been dormant for a very long time, preparing for its ascension to the World Destruction Level."
"Its dormancy is not just for accumulating energy, but also for waiting..."
Raylo asked curiously.
"Waiting?"
The Great Elder gazed into the deep darkness of the night outside.
"My world is far more abundant in energy than this one, yet in the nearly eight hundred years since I reached the Catastrophe Level, I have still seen no hope of ascending further!"
"To ascend to the World Destruction Level, accumulating energy is merely the foundation. What’s most important is the fateful opportunity to achieve it."
The Great Elder took a sip of tea and paused for a moment, as if savoring the flavor.
Then, he said.
"If I’m not mistaken..."
"...the being at the heart of the swamp intends to devour the life force of the entire swamp, trading its very existence for a chance to ascend to the World Destruction Level!"
Raylo was appalled.
Having said his piece, the Great Elder finished his tea. He rose, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked out of the tent.
Raylo rose to see him off, watching the Great Elder’s figure disappear into the night.
He walked out of the tent and looked up at the night sky.
’His mind was in turmoil.’
’Devour the entire swamp?’
’The thought was simply too horrifying.’
「Three days later.」
「High noon.」
The pungent stench of blood grew thicker, so much so that even the pale sunlight seemed to be stained with a faint, scarlet hue.
The army had finally reached its destination.
The moment they saw the sight before them, everyone’s breath caught in their throats.
It was a pit so vast it defied imagination, as if some ancient Giant Beast had torn a vicious bite out of the very earth.
The Mass Grave!
At that moment, the chilling name became a visceral, brutal reality that assaulted the eyes and soul of every soldier.
The depths of the pit were already carpeted in layer upon layer of corpses.
There were humans, Kobolds, Goblins—and even more Goblins and Jackal-Wolf Folk...
Their twisted bodies were piled high, their black blood soaking the soil and dyeing the bottom of the enormous pit a nauseating shade of blackish-red.
Several thousand corpses, and this was only the beginning.
At the edge of the pit, squads of tall, slender, scale-covered Snake-men were grinning savagely as they pushed batch after batch of captives to the brink.
Hands rose, blades fell.
One freshly severed head after another rolled away as warm blood gushed out, forming scarlet waterfalls that fed the lake of despair at the bottom of the pit.
Cries of agony, pleas for mercy, and furious curses mingled with the excited hissing of the Snake-men.
The faces of all the human experts present turned grim with fury.
Every rolling head, every spray of fresh blood, was like a heavy hammer blow to their hearts.
"All forces... prepare!"
Gaius’s voice rang out, laden with the power of an erupting volcano.
At his command, the Allied Army of the Thunder Dragon Duchy swiftly began to deploy into formation.
The Black Stone Army under Raylo’s command also sprang into action.
The heavy Mammoth Knights formed the vanguard, with the Earth Dragon Knights deploying on the flanks.
High above, the Griffin and Pegasus Knights formed an attack phalanx. The cold light glinting off their long spears was thick with killing intent.
The Hill Giants formed a separate formation, awaiting their orders.
The opposing Snake-man Legion had noticed their arrival.
Amidst shrill hisses and the blare of a Horn, the Snake-men ceased their slaughter.
A dark, oppressive mass of Snake-man phalanxes began to assemble.
Wielding Poisoned Curved Sabers and Long Spears, they writhed their thick, serpentine tails, rapidly forming ranks on the muddy ground. Their cold, slitted pupils were fixed on the sudden appearance of their new enemy.
Raylo’s pupils constricted slightly.
Across from the Mass Grave, the assembled Snake-men numbered at least three warbands, totaling over thirty thousand.
At that moment, from the dense woods deep within the swamp behind the Snake-man phalanxes, even more Snake-man Warriors poured out in a continuous stream, rapidly reinforcing their battle lines.