On the edge of the giant log crossing area, Soldering and his Iron Ranger soldiers are approaching a small town.
The multipurpose tanks that the advance team took stopped outside the town. These sturdy vehicles made of steel temporarily acted as shield generators and energy stations, and built a temporary stronghold on a stone high ground outside the town. A ranger warrior climbed onto the top of the chariot, facing the direction of the town, and pressed a mechanism on the side of the closed helmet with his hand.
The crystal eyepiece inlaid on the helmet visor was activated by magic power, and it first turned red. The warrior glanced at the town with the vision of detecting magic power, and then the goggle switched to blue—the eagle eye skill newly added in the second-generation eyepiece enhanced From the user's vision, many details in the town are immediately presented to the observer.
After a brief observation, a slightly muffled voice came from inside the Ranger's helmet: "Sir, there are wandering crystal cluster infected people in the town, and there are obvious magical reactions everywhere."
"The whole town has been infected..." Soldering said with a gloomy face, "It seems that we have entered the infected area and cannot move forward."
"I haven't found any traces of the Eastern Border Legion or the Kingdom Army along the way..." the ranger warrior said, "Could they have all been wiped out?"
"... There is no way to be sure. Although the noble army's combat power is low, at least there are a large number of extraordinary people sitting in the town, and it is not so easy to wipe out the whole army," Soldering said in a deep voice, "Maybe they gave up all the wilderness areas and are now Relying on the big city to stick to it, it may also be fighting with the crystal cluster infected in the farther north... "
He talked about his own analysis, but he didn't have much confidence in his heart.
As a high-level ranger, and a high-level ranger who has experienced the great development seven hundred years ago, he still feels extremely difficult when facing the situation in front of him.
The weird "sinister pollution" and the huge number of crystal cluster infected people hindered the intelligence collection work. Even with the elite and powerful Iron Rangers, he couldn't determine the situation in the deeper part of the contaminated area.
This is not the same as it was seven hundred years ago. Seven hundred years ago, human beings fought on the wasteland. Generally speaking, there is no need to consider whether there are reinforcements or safe areas in the wasteland ahead, because in the end, they will basically develop into a reckless one. The wave-mang will live, but the whole army will be wiped out, there is no other route ahead, and the devil tide pressing behind will not give people room to think, but here... the situation is much more complicated.
Solderin was analyzing the intelligence collected in the past few days, while at the same time, several other ranger fighters were still observing the situation in the town: this was the first time they had witnessed a large number of crystals in a non-encounter situation. The sight of clusters of infected people gathering together is a good opportunity to observe their activity patterns.
Soon, the fighters discovered something interesting.
"Sir, these 'monsters'… appear to be organized."
Solderin was stunned for a moment, then immediately activated Falcon Vision (the eagle eye spell of the elf system) and looked in the direction of the town.
As the warriors see it, the druse infected are... organized.
They are not wandering aimlessly, but are moving in an organized manner, and some extraordinarily tall individuals are directing them. Soldering saw the scene of those "monsters" working together in groups of three or four to carry things. It was the scene of them patrolling and guarding all over the town, and such a scene... was never observed in the wild encounters before.
Soldering frowned, and slowly recalled more details: Although the previous encounters in the field were all melees, the organization of the crystal cluster infected people seemed to be traceable.
They do have cooperation and a certain degree of command when they attack.
They... seem to retain a certain ability to think
If that's the case, the situation is even worse - they can think, but the way of knowing is completely alienated, which means that they are not just monsters that have been infected and lost their minds.
These druse infectors... are an army.
While thinking about it, the situation in the distant town suddenly changed.
Solderin saw that the cluster infected people gathered on the west side of the town became inexplicably agitated, and then several extraordinarily tall cluster giants appeared in his field of vision, and those cluster giants quickly gathered a large-scale army. The team left the town and rushed towards the northwest.
Driven by curiosity, Soldering looked towards the direction of the crystal cluster infected people. At the end of his vision, he saw a cloud of rising smoke and a flash of magic power erupting.
Fighting broke out there.
"There may be survivors—get in the car!"
…
When dusk fell, the majestic southern portal finally appeared in sight.
Belk stopped on the wilderness. In the warm spring wind, he looked at the rolling mountains in the south and the majestic fortress standing proudly among the mountains.
A mottled horse restlessly stopped beside him, pawing the ground under its feet and snorting.
This horse was "picked up" by him on the road. The owner of the horse may have fled, leaving this poor animal wandering in the wilderness. Either way, it was a great help in the second half of the trek, shortening the journey considerably.
Perhaps because he finally saw the end of the journey, Belk suddenly felt a lot more relaxed. He patted the motley horse's neck with a smile, and said lightly, "You have made great contributions—almost worthy of a knighthood."
The variegated horse snorted and shook its neck slightly.
Belk nodded in a good mood, then got on his horse and controlled the temporary traveling companion who couldn't speak to move on to the fortress in the distance.
He knew that he was passing by the edge of the territory of the Earl of Pompeii, but he didn't plan to meet the plain nobleman, and he didn't even plan to stop in any of the nearby villages and towns—on the one hand, to save time and minimize twists and turns, On the other hand, it's because he really doesn't feel tired.
Even though he had trekked in the wilderness for more than ten days, even though he hardly rested, he really didn't feel tired.
He just vaguely remembered that he had been tired—but that seemed to be a long time ago.
The variegated horse began to trot in the relatively flat wilderness, and the comfortable wind was blowing head-on, which lifted Belk's spirit, and a strange sense of anticipation and joy came to his mind, making him feel more relaxed. Seeing the majestic walls of the Rock Fortress getting closer, the young Marquis began to plan the follow-up in his heart—
First of all, he will pass through the Rock Fortress and enter Rock City. He will tell Sir Walder what happened at the Great Timber Crossing, and ask him to help warn the ruler of the southern border.
A hint of confusion suddenly flashed in Belk's eyes.
What happened to the giant log crossing? What happened to Solienberg again
He was in a trance for a while, but this brief trance was quickly ignored, he suddenly didn't care what he was going to warn, he just remembered that his task was to go to the southern border, to warn, to deliver important news, and with his Given his identity and the importance of the message he conveyed, he will undoubtedly be personally received by Duke Gawain Cecil...
These strong thoughts kept coming up, and wave after wave impacted Belk's thoughts, but suddenly, a scene appeared in his increasingly trance-conscious consciousness.
A pair of eyes, a pair of bright eyes flashed through his mind.
Those eyes... a little familiar.
In this brief moment, Belk suddenly woke up.
He felt his heart beating, his breathing was short of breath, and sweat was dripping down his neck. A large number of messy and broken memories were being quickly reorganized in his mind, but it was difficult to form an accurate impression, which even gave him a splitting headache. In this terrible state, he suddenly felt waves of heat in his chest.
Belk subconsciously put his hand into his bosom, and touched something that was constantly heating up—it was a small amulet, the amulet of the God of War.
This powerful talisman, which has received the highest level of blessings, possesses various solidification spells, and can enlighten the wearer's spirituality, is releasing more and more heat, and along with the heat, there are waves of waves Power, Belk held the amulet in a daze, only feeling that his brain was constantly being washed and reshaped by it, and his messy and broken memory pictures were finally reassembled one by one.
He recalled the dense fog in Thorinburg, the change at the giant log crossing, and the owner of those eyes.
At the end of all the memories, he heard the last words spoken to him by the prince he swore allegiance to:
"run."
There was a loud bang in his mind, and Belk woke up completely, and realized his strangeness for so many days—
He's been here by some kind of obsession - but it's not his own obsession.
He actively or passively stayed away from everyone along the way—as if he was trying to avoid being disturbed or blocked by anyone.
He made it out of the most polluted areas - with little pursuit.
He is being controlled.
Belk jerked the rein, bringing the roan to a halt.
He looked up at the rock fortress in the distance, and suddenly felt that illusory expectations and impulses appeared in his mind again, but this time, he forcefully suppressed those thoughts that did not belong to him.
He turned over and got off the horse, holding the God of War amulet tightly in his hand. The sharp edge of the amulet pierced his palm—while the blood flowed out, he saw the sparks emerging from the blood.
It was the glint of some crystalline particles in the sunlight.
At this moment, Belk finally realized that he had become a source of infection, the most dangerous source of infection that used the body of a high-ranking expert as a container and completely disguised as a human.
The heat of the God of War Talisman began to decrease, and the power stored in the Talisman was gradually exhausted. He felt that his clear consciousness was shaken again, and those forcibly suppressed and heterogeneous thoughts were trying to regain the dominance of this body.
He raised his head and looked at the rock fortress in the distance. In the difficult thinking, there was only one thought that was extremely clear: we must... warn.
Time to be awake is running out.
Belk looked around, and then pulled out his family long sword.
He came to a nearby boulder, raised his long sword, and the tip of the sword slashed across the stone, and the debris flew—
"The giant wooden crossing is covered by the plague, His Royal Highness Edmund has been controlled by a curse, and the Eastern Legion may have been wiped out...
"Major pollution areas are concentrated in...
"Beware of Plaguebearers masquerading as humans - they are characterized by crystals in their blood."
The long sword hung down, and Belk looked at the handwriting he left behind, feeling a little proud in his heart.
Even though he passed through the giant log crossing in a dazed state, he still remembered the areas where the cluster giants were mainly entrenched. This information... might be useful.
After finishing all this, he turned around, glanced at the majestic high wall of Rock Fortress, then looked away, and smiled slightly at the mottled horse that accompanied him on the last journey—
"run."
In front of the sudden coercion, the variegated horse neighed loudly, turned and ran away.
Belk exhaled, put the long sword on the ground, supported his body, stood upright, and looked towards the direction of the east.
"It's so far..."
Two seconds later, a huge column of magical flames that could be clearly seen from as far as the Rock Fortress rose into the sky, illuminating half of the sky.