Chapter 484 - 389: Birth of the Heart of the Giant Beast and the Green Ghost
Chapter 484: Chapter 389: Birth of the Heart of the Giant Beast and the Green Ghost
At the head of the torrent of steel was not the Duke’s Thunder Dragon Knight Order.
At the very front, a banner unfurled in the wind.
It was the banner of Raylo of the Black Stone Territory.
As the Lord most familiar with the Jade Swamp, his army had naturally been tasked with leading the vanguard.
The sky belonged to the airborne forces.
Raylo’s mount, the Storm Griffin King "Baofeng," led the charge, its agile form at the very front. Its tawny Iron Feathers glinted under the sun with a metallic sheen.
Behind it, thirty Griffin Knights formed a sharp spearhead. Farther back, two hundred Pegasus Knights spread their white wings, resembling a moving bank of clouds.
On the ground, forty Mammoth Giant Elephants, like mobile hills, marched with heavy steps, making the earth tremble with every footfall.
However, what truly drew the frequent gazes of the Northern Lords following behind was the column of more than one hundred Hill Giants marching after the Mammoth Knight Order.
These Giants, averaging about ten meters in height, silently advanced, each shouldering a uniform Double-Headed Cone Hammer.
Three Domain Level Giants—Kado, Gordo, and Ug—walked at the head of the Giant Legion. These Giants were the most terrifying of war machines.
"My God, is that a Giant Legion?"
A Viscount from the eastern Northern Territory gasped.
"I thought the entire Northern Territory couldn’t even scrape together thirty Hill Giants."
"The Black Stone Territory... Has Count Raylo’s power truly reached this level?"
Another Lord muttered to himself, his eyes filled with shock and a hint of wariness.
Following the Giant Legion was the Moonlight Knight Order, led by Ed and Alex.
This elite unit of four hundred was the core fighting force of the Black Stone Territory. Mixed into their ranks were twenty Knights riding fearsome Earth Dragons. The thick Scale Armor covering their mounts and the sulfurous breath they occasionally exhaled all spoke to their powerful bloodline.
A phalanx of two thousand Knights and Knight’s Attendants formed the main body of the Black Stone Army.
At the rear, the hundred-meter-long Golden Dragon Sun flew slowly at a low altitude, its golden scales shimmering like burning Flame.
He did not release his Dragon Mighty, but the shadow cast by his unfurled wings was still enough to make all creatures bow their heads.
Six Sky Dragons and one hundred Pegasus Knights formed the Sun Knight Order, serving as the rearguard and aerial support for Raylo’s forces.
After Raylo’s vanguard passed, came the main force of the Thunder Dragon Knight Order: six thousand men led by General Gaius.
Their uniform Armor, grim Weapons, and an aura of iron-blooded slaughter proved their identity as the Duchy’s sharpest blade.
Finally, there were the private armies led by dozens of Lords who had answered the call. They merged into a massive torrent, following slowly behind the main force.
A few hours later, the grand army arrived at the northeastern border between the Black Stone Territory and the Jade Swamp.
Here, human territory came to an abrupt end, giving way to a boundless swamp filled with a dark green mist and the stench of decay.
"Make camp!"
The order was quickly passed down. Soldiers began to set up camp and construct fortifications.
The massive war machine came to a temporary halt, but the tension in the air only grew thicker.
Inside the central command tent, Aiden Duke issued a new directive.
"Send out the Scouts. I want to know about every movement in every inch of that swamp. The Iron Feathered Eagle Knights of the Thunder Dragon Knight Order will coordinate with Count Raylo’s Pegasus Knights to conduct a wide-range reconnaissance."
"Yes, sir!"
A Messenger accepted the order and departed.
"And to ensure there are no mistakes,"
the Duke added,
"have ten men from my Thunder Eagle Guard sortie to provide cover for the Scouts."
The Thunder Eagle Knights were the Duke’s most elite aerial force. Every one of them was an experienced Tier Four Sky Knight, and their mounts were powerful, high-blooded Tier Four Thunder Eagles.
With them as guards, the Scouts’ safety was all but guaranteed, unless they ran into a Domain Level Flying Magical Beast.
Wars begin with intelligence.
For two full days, the camp remained in an eerie state of calm.
Only the ceaseless departure and return of Scouts brought back news of sporadic disturbances from deep within the swamp.
On the morning of the third day, an Iron Feathered Eagle Knight landed in the camp with new intelligence.
"Reporting to the Duke! Southeast of the Jade Swamp, approximately one hundred kilometers from our camp, we’ve discovered a Mire Lake more than three kilometers wide. Strange bubbles are continuously surfacing from the lake’s center, and several hundred Swamp Demons of various kinds have gathered around it, as if waiting for something."
Aiden Duke merely gave a slight nod after hearing the report, signaling an aide to mark the location on the sand table.
They had received a great deal of similar intelligence over the past few days—a Demon uprising here, a miasma anomaly there. The disturbance at this Mire Lake didn’t stand out as particularly significant.
However, two days later, another report concerning the same location caught Raylo’s attention.
"...Around the Mire Lake, signs of Lizardfolk activity have increased dramatically. Preliminary estimates suggest that over three thousand Lizardman Warriors have gathered there. They’ve constructed a crude altar by the lakeside and appear to be conducting some sort of large-scale ritual."
"Lizardfolk?"
A Count frowned slightly.
"A rabble not even worthy of consideration. They’re most likely just trying to take advantage of the chaos for their own gain."
Most of the other commanders in the tent shared this view. In their eyes, a gathering of a few thousand Lizardfolk in the Jade Swamp was hardly worth their attention.
"No."
Raylo suddenly spoke. He stood and walked over to the enormous sand table, drawing the eyes of everyone in the room.
His finger tapped on the spot marking the Mire Lake.