Chapter 703 - 692: The Beginning of the Fall
Chapter 703: Chapter 692: The Beginning of the Fall
Late at night, several vampire-transformed bats hovered over the Northern Territory.
He flew very high, high enough that the Magic Cannon had difficulty hitting him.
They spread apart, scattered so that if an enemy came after them, they could quickly escape in different directions.
The wind howled.
Below, there was a sound.
At first, it was very light, like the wailing of the night wind passing through the valley, but upon listening carefully, it was not the wind.
Puki, Puki, Puki, Puki...
A neat, endless sound, thousands upon thousands of Puki trampling the frozen earth.
Under the moonlight, countless Puki formed massive formations, endless, stretching to the horizon of the vampires’ view, blending with the night.
The speed of the Puki’s march was not fast, but they could travel day and night.
Just like now, the Puki Masters took shifts day and night, resting in the bellies of Fat Otaku Puki controlled by other Puki Masters when it was their turn.
The bodies of these Fat Otaku Puki were empty, like small mobile huts.
The Puki Masters curled up inside, warm and comfortable, listening to the faint sounds of Puki outside, sleeping soundly.
The Puki Masters issued the simplest follow command to their Puki, so even during marching, they could get plenty of rest.
The bats circled once more, roughly estimating the number of Puki.
This advance army had noticed the bats overhead, but now the Empire spies had learned to be cautious.
They knew the power of the Fungal Mat, understood what landing on the ground meant.
Even if they had flown for days and nights, their wings sore to the point of breaking apart, they did not land, giving no chance to those below.
Chasing them in a frenzy would only delay the march, it wasn’t worth it.
After enough circling, the bats flapped their wings and flew south.
...
Inside Dean’s castle, the lights were bright.
A bat landed before the tent, transformed into human form, and hurried inside.
His face was filled with fatigue, eyes sunken, but his steps were steady.
He presented the report in hand, silently retreating to the side.
Dean took the report, his eyes scanning the words.
He turned around, walked to the massive map on the wall.
The map was marked with countless symbols in red ink, including cities, mountains, rivers, and the previously surveyed area covered by the Fungal Mat.
He extended his hand, drawing a line north of Cold Bay Castle.
That was the latest discovered direction of the advance army, pointing towards Cold Bay Castle.
Prior to this, there were already two other lines drawn on the map.
"Three-pronged advance... Cold Bay Castle, Dragon Horn Castle, Round Tower City."
He pondered over which direction was the true main assault of the Fungus Castle.
After all, there was not enough intelligence to rely on.
Due to the existence of the Fungal Mat, the vampire spies under Dean’s command could not land to rest, restricting the reconnaissance range, making it impossible to detect further news, leaving Dean only to infer by himself.
The main armies on both sides had yet to collide, but the confrontation between Dean and Louisa had already begun.
Fortunately, Dean was not the kind of incompetent who rose to rank through petty business deals, he quickly understood the situation.
Cold Bay Castle was the easiest to breach, yet its location was the least important.
If the Fungus Castle’s main force attacked there, sacrificing an insignificant piece to reveal the movement of their main force, gaining time to maneuver his troops would not be a loss for him.
And if not, the strength of Cold Bay Castle could hold the advance force for a long time.
The next was Dragon Horn Castle, it was the most fortified amongst the three cities.
Elite Demon Race guarded it, city walls defended even against the Dwarf siege Combat Puppets, and the stored supplies were enough to last several months.
Even if the Fungus Castle’s main force concentrated their attack there, it could hold until he deployed reinforcements.
Then...
Dean’s gaze slowly shifted to the last city.
Round Tower City.
This city was at the northeastern corner of the Empire, traditionally the territory of the Demon Race, serving as the barrier separating the Northern Territory from the Mountains.
On the map, its position was like a bolt, wedged between the Northern Territory and the Dwarf domain.
In the past, the Northern Territory was filled with Demon Race tribes, even if they made way, the Dwarves had little to communicate, and some tribes might even try their luck in the Mountains.
Thus, in the past, Round Tower City wasn’t as crucial.
Its inner defenses were functional enough, better than Cold Bay Castle, but far inferior to Dragon Horn Castle.
But now things were drastically different!
With the rise of Fungus Castle and alliance with the Dwarves.
If given more time, Dean would certainly upgrade Round Tower City’s defenses, but alas, there wasn’t time.
The Northern Territory began to stir after the Dwarves took action, clearly a joint military operation by both sides.
On the Dwarf side, although Duke Levi shared the pressure, Dean also needed to guard against their joint effort to capture Round Tower City, joining the Northern Territory and the Mountains.
Once Round Tower City fell, the passage between the Northern Territory and the Mountains would be completely opened.
Then, whether the Fungus Castle troops reached the Mountains to join the Dwarves in attacking Duke Levi’s territory, or both advancing to the Northern Territory to assault his domain, the situation would be much grim.
Therefore, Round Tower City must not fall!
Thinking it through, Dean personally led half of his main force to Round Tower City, leaving the other half as a fallback plan, ready to respond at any moment.
However, when he led the army halfway, a vampire responsible for communications from a nearby city frantically landed before his war beast.
"Master Dean, Cold Bay Castle has fallen!"
Upon hearing the news, Dean’s first reaction was somewhat surprised, followed by doubt.
Based on the intelligence he gathered regarding the Fungus Castle Marshal Louisa.
Setting aside the scenario of why a vampire traitor possessed Lord Level power, the opponent was not an amateur in military strategies.
Able to trap Eugene’s army in the Northern Territory, although largely due to Eugene’s lack of understanding of Puki, her own command and leadership skills were also quite exceptional.
Why would she choose to deploy the main force in the direction of Cold Bay Castle?
Heading south from there leads to either sturdy fortresses or a narrow terrain unsuitable for the Puki’s numerical advantage.
If something’s unusual, there must be a reason, for a moment, Dean’s heart raced: "Could it be another new Puki warfare tactic?"
He understood, if that were truly the case, he might soon suffer a major setback.
Dean took the detailed report, quickly flipping through it.
Then he showed a mixed expression of relief and disbelief.
The good news was, it wasn’t a new Puki warfare tactic, and the Fungus Castle’s main force wasn’t there.
The bad news was, a traitor opened the gates, the defending nobles were ambushed and killed, the advance army almost effortlessly captured Cold Bay Castle.
Dean crumpled the report into a ball.
He couldn’t understand, before the action, he had specially reviewed the detailed report on Cold Bay Castle, the report had clearly stated the traitorous cleansing was proceeding smoothly.
How could the traitors open the gates, assassinating the City Lord?
In a haze, he recalled over a century ago, the scene when he joined the army to attack human and Dwarf cities.
Back then, they occasionally encountered situations where, as soon as the Empire’s army arrived, the city would surrender and open its gates.
How did the situation reverse now?