612
Chapter 612
ARGHHHH!
The outer beings monsters advanced toward Thermo Fortress while making loud, horrific screams.
Leo jumped down from the watchtower back to the fortress walls.
He and Daria’s expressions hardened as they saw the terrifying appearance of the outer beings monsters, which were different from regular monsters.
Helen Draker, the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, ran to where Leo and Daria were.
Helen had also rushed out immediately upon the sudden appearance of the monsters.
She approached Leo and said,
“Commander, these monsters are unlike any kind we’ve seen before.”
Leo nodded in agreement with Helen’s words.
“Indeed. The fact that monsters completely different from the Immortal Legion suddenly appeared is ominous.”
Helen watched the monsters advancing toward the outer defense line with a serious expression after hearing Leo’s words.
GUUGUGUGU!
Unlike regular monsters that mostly took beast forms, the outer beings monsters had no fixed shape.
Some were humanoid, some were beast-like, and others were either a combination of both or completely amorphous with no defined form.
The monsters of various forms were about to engage with the outer defense line.
Thermo Fortress’s outer defense line consisted of iron bars through which magical power flowed.
While it was the most effective defense line against beast-type monsters, they didn’t know what effect it would have on outer beings monsters. Helen, Leo, and Daria quietly watched the situation, hoping it would be effective.
The leading outer beings monsters at the front charged straight toward the iron bars without hesitation.
CRASH!
The outer beings monsters continued charging and slammed their bodies into the iron bars.
CRACKLE!
The magical power flowing through the iron bars enveloped the charging monsters’ bodies.
If they were regular monsters, they would have collapsed immobilized from the magical power’s impact, but the outer beings monsters were different.
They continued ramming their bodies while enduring the magical power flowing through the iron bars.
The other monsters following behind did the same.
CRACKLE!
They simply kept charging forward, completely disregarding the magical power flowing through the iron bars.
Watching this from above, Daria frowned and said,
“These are clearly different from the monsters we’ve faced until now. Their resistance to magical power is strong, they’ll likely break through the iron bars at this rate.”
That’s when it happened.
ROARRR!
A huge roar came from behind, and a monster with a massive body resembling an Orc appeared.
Surprisingly, this monster only looked like an Orc above, the waist below was similar to a spider.
CLATTER!
The monster quickly approached while moving its many legs, then reached out and picked up another monster made of rock that was nearby.
The monster tore off the rock monster’s head and threw the separated body toward the iron bars.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
When the rock monster’s solid body was thrown with the Orc’s powerful strength, the magically charged iron bars crumpled and shattered.
Leo’s eyes widened as he watched this from atop the fortress wall.
“H-how can a monster be capable of this?”
Originally, monsters only acted on instinct to commit slaughter, lacking intelligence for complex actions.
However, the monsters now attacking Thermo Fortress not only showed organized behavior but even demonstrated using tools to remove obstacles.
This meant that the methods they had used to stop monsters until now were completely ineffective against these ones.
GROWL!
When the iron bars blocking their path disappeared, the monsters began pouring through the gap.
Seeing this, Leo clenched his teeth and said to Daria:
“Commander, the outer defense line has been breached. Prepare the first defense line and get ready.”
Daria nodded at Leo’s words and immediately went down below the fortress wall.
Helen also issued orders through her aide to have the Allied Forces troops stand by.
If the monsters broke through the first defense line and approached the fortress walls past the second and third lines, they would have to fight them directly with troops.
The monsters instantly crossed the outer defense line and approached the first defense line made of ramparts.
Simultaneously, the mage units waiting atop the fortress walls signaled to each other.
As soon as the monsters approached near the first defense line, the mages raised magical power.
“Fire!”
Instantly, magic circles appeared on the ramparts and all kinds of attack magic rained down toward the monsters.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
WHOOSH!
CRACKLE!
Fire magic, explosion magic, lightning magic, they bombarded the monsters that approached the area with attacks regardless of type.
The monsters caught in the sudden shower of magic collapsed with their bodies exploding and riddled with holes.
ROARRR!
The monsters' horrible screams echoed around the first defense line.
Seeing this, the mages pulled back while other waiting mages sat before the magic circles.
They waited for more monsters to gather within attack range.
The monsters in the back charged toward the ramparts, trampling over the corpses of their fallen companions.
ROARRR!
When the mages activated their magic again, another bombardment rained down from the ramparts.
The ramparts capable of long-range magical attacks were one of the defensive measures created by Hades.
This method was developed specifically for siege warfare, since using magic on the frontlines risked counterattack if mages depleted their magical power.
While they had only trained with it since the Immortal Legion had never reached the first defense line, they could now confirm it was highly effective in actual combat.
Leo and Helen were observing the monsters being bombarded with magic from the fortress wall when they noticed strange movements from the monsters that had pulled back.
CRUNCH!
Protrusions emerged from the surface of the monsters in the rear, and then long tentacles shot out from within.
SLASH!
Those tentacles wrapped around the scattered remains of other monsters and pulled them in, attaching them to their own bodies.
RUMBLE!
The monsters that attached the dead monsters' corpses to their bodies grew even larger and transformed into more grotesque forms.
Some even transformed the attached corpses into massive wings.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Monsters that spread their wings began flying over the ramparts toward the sky.
Those monsters flew straight toward the fortress walls, leaping over the ramparts.
SCREECH!
The monsters that passed the first defense line through the air dove toward the fortress while screaming.
But at that moment, an enormous light flashed in the sky.
BOOM!
With a tremendous sound, the diving monsters crashed into an invisible wall and plummeted to the ground from the powerful impact.
SPLAT!
The monsters that crashed into the solid ground scattered into pulp.
The barrier of the second defense line had activated, blocking the airborne monsters.
Thermo Fortress had evolved into an iron fortress capable of defending against all kinds of attacks while facing the Dark Mages of the Abyss, monsters, and the Immortal Legion.
The second defense line's barrier was also the result of efforts through many previous battles.
That's when Daria and the knights of the Horse Palace appeared atop the mobile watchtower installed in front of the fortress wall.
They aimed their bows at the monsters.
Daria, standing at the front, pulled back her longbow's string and was the first to shoot toward the target area.
WHOOSH!
Daria's signal arrow flew toward where the monsters were gathered with a sharp sound.
Then the Horse Palace knights fired their arrows at that location.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Dozens of arrows flew at once.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The solid arrows pierced through the monsters' bodies without exception.
The monsters hit by arrows retreated further back.
But then something began flowing from the arrows.
HISSSS!
Pale green smoke flowed from the arrow shafts and spread to the surrounding area.
The surface of the monsters' bodies touched by the smoke began to bubble.
SCREECH!
The arrows used by the Beast Palace knights contained lethal biological poison.
While ineffective against the undead Immortal Legion, it was consistently effective against living monsters.
While ordinary knights might have been reluctant to use bows and poison, the horse Palace knights, comprised of commoners, were prepared for practical combat.
Survival and victory were important to them, while knightly honor held little meaning.
HISSSS!
As the lethal biological poison spread, the monsters began collapsing with agonized groans.
Seeing this, Daria fired another signal arrow to mark the attack point.
SWISH SWISH SWISH!
The arrows and poison fired by the horse palace knights dealt devastating blows to the monsters in succession.
The monsters began retreating behind the outer defense line to avoid their poison.
That's when it happened.
SCREECH!
A strange sound echoed from beyond the horizon.
The surviving monsters began hastily retreating toward where that sound came from.
While it would have been appropriate to pursue and capture them if they were an enemy knight order or legion, pursuing monsters was rather dangerous.
If they sent pursuit forces to confront them head-on, they couldn't predict how the monsters would react, which could lead to greater allied casualties.
Leo could finally breathe a sigh of relief as he watched the monsters retreat beyond the horizon.
But this wasn't the end.
'If this first raid was at this level... the main force composed of even stronger ones will come.'
They needed to first find out who was controlling these monsters to attack the fortress.
That's when someone appeared behind Helen.
It was Shadia, the Vice Commander of Nemesis.
She approached Helen and whispered something in her ear.
Helen's expression darkened after receiving the information from Shadia.
After Shadia disappeared again, Helen took a deep breath and turned toward Leo.
"Commander, we have a problem."
"What problem? Did something happen to Rome?"
Helen shook her head at those words.
She slowly opened her mouth.
"These monsters... it seems they haven't appeared only here."
Helen furrowed her brow and continued.
"News has come in that similar attacks are occurring in major kingdoms and cities across the Central Continent."
* * *
CRASH!
The massive golem blocking Baron and Harvey Draker fell with a loud noise.
Behind them lay the remains of dozens of fallen golems.
Harvey Draker glared at the broken golem remains and said,
"Something's strange."
Baron questioned Harvey Draker's words while putting on his gloves.
"What do you mean strange?"
Harvey Draker pointed at the golems and said:
"There are too many Guardians. The Rue I remember has long since lost its function. With the city's administrator and leader gone, there shouldn't be this many Guardians even in a security zone..."
He continued while clenching his teeth:
"It must be Zeke Draker, that bastard must have done something."
Baron responded to Harvey Draker in an emotionless tone:
"You believe Zeke Draker has such abilities? That he can even move an ancient city that's lost its function?"
Harvey Draker glared at Baron with glowing red eyes.
"You still don't understand what I'm saying. Zeke Draker's abilities surpassed the transcendent level long ago. His power is beyond even Arthur Draker..."
At that moment, an tremendous pressure emanated from Baron's body.
RUMBLE!
Harvey Draker grimaced at the pressure bearing down on him.
Baron looked down at him and said,
"Do not sully God's name with your worthless judgment."
Harvey Draker was about to snap back at Baron's attitude but stepped back instead.
He realized fighting with a fanatic would only hurt himself.
He clicked his tongue once and shifted his gaze as he spoke to Baron,
"The Book of the Dead is that way."
Harvey Draker went inside with Baron, passing through the golem remains.
Soon an arched entrance appeared.
When Harvey Draker raised his hand to the arched entrance, strange markings appeared on the back of his hand.
SCREECH!
He had secretly stolen the authentication key from the leader when escaping this place originally, implanting it in the back of his hand to breach the security zone.
WHIRR!
When authentication completed, the invisible barrier installed at the arched entrance disappeared.
Harvey Draker and Baron entered immediately.
A massive cavity appeared, with a single glass tube placed in the middle.
Baron slowly approached the glass tube.
'Is that it?.'
Inside the glass tube placed in the center of the cavity was a single book with a black cover.