Chapter 185: Destruction of the Fortress III

"What... is that what they were planning? The destruction of the whole fortress?"

Larkson gritted his teeth, "I need to go..."

However, his legs gave out as he lost all feeling in his knees.

"Shit, the poison...!"

Tap— Tap— Tap—

Footsteps sounded, following the appearance of dozens of hooded figures.

"Haha... I’ll be damned." Larkson chuckled self-deprecatingly, his gaze focused on the demonic humans that had just arrived.

However, unlike the demonic humans earlier, the hooded figures only rushed towards him while brandishing each of their weapons.

The only sounds they made were low, beast-like growls

Even though he could no longer move his lower body, Larkson would not just passively wait for his demise.

He hurriedly took some of the debris from the collapsed floor and threw it at his opponents.

Unfortunately, his already weakened strength and depleted aura made it so that the demonic humans only received scratches from them.

"Do I really have no choice?"

As if accepting his predicament, Larkson’s lips slowly parted.

[Heart Igni—

BOOM—!!!

But before he could finish, one of the walls exploded as a figure dashed through the dust and beheaded three demonic humans in one straight motion.

It only took a few seconds for the dust to settle, revealing the figure’s appearance.

Larkson’s eyes widened as he saw the back of a youth with blonde hair.

Whoosh—!!!

The other demonic humans’ poisoned daggers cut through the air.

"What ou—"

The commander was not able to finish warning the youth, as a barrier made of mana manifested and protected them both.

"Uncle!"

At this moment, Larkson heard an ever-so-familiar voice, followed by a pair of dainty arms covered with white gloves that hugged him from the side.

His eyes teared up as he could not help but call out, "Sweetie..."

Hearing how he called her, Aurelia felt a lump in her throat.

It was the way he called her a few years ago, when she always visited their house and played with her cousin.

It was also the nickname that she thought she had forgotten.

"Hic... I’m sorry..." Aurrelia could not stop tears from streaming down her face.

"No, I should be the one saying that. I’m sorry..."

Before Larkson could further comfort her, Pandora stood beside them and planted her staff on the ground, making three layers of mana barrier instantly appear.

"Commander, I’m sorry to spoil your reunion, but we need you to tell us what happened. Regis told us earlier that we should ask you."

Hearing her voice that was devoid of emotion, Larkson’s expression became serious once again as he recounted what happened.

He started from his meeting with Regis and their plan of solving the issue of demonic humans within the fortress.

While he was narrating what happened, Aurelia noticed that festering wound on his stomach and swiftly applied top-notch potions on it from the pocket of her black dress.

After carefully sanitizing the wound, she skillfully bandaged it with expertise.

Since Aurelia thought that she no longer had any chances of pursuing the path of mana, she allocated her time to learning miscellaneous skills such as first aid, herbology, and whatnot.

It took Larkson a few minutes of talking to fill in the group about what happened.

He also did not forget to mention the details of his deal with the demonic humans.

"They told me that they just wanted to take back something from our family and they would cure my family in exchange for giving them my niece..."

Pandora and Aurelia listened carefully, remembering every single detail.

Meanwhile, Killian was outside the mana barrier and fought the seemingly endless horde of demonic humans that attacked them.

***

At the same time...

A lone boy stood atop the watchtower of the fortress.

Due to the high altitude, the fierce winds made his snow-white hair dance.

A wry smile could be seen on his face as his blood-red eyes scanned the perimeters, "To think that two cults joined forces this time..."

Regis’s location enabled him to see what was happening near the fortress gates.

There were three different hordes of enemies that were approaching from each direction.

From the East, he could see a huge number of demonic humans that were being led by a hooded figure.

From the North, a large number of monsters and beasts were approaching.

A beast that was over ten meters big could be seen amidst the horde, its features that had a resemblance to those of a dragon were obvious.

"A skeletal wyvern..." Regis sucked in a cold breath.

’Just how did they manage to... Even if they’re from the Cult of Death and Extinction, which specializes in necromancy, that’s a bit too much, isn’t it?’

According to what he read from the books back in Corelli Fortress, Wyverns, although not pure dragons, were one of the species that inherited a decent amount of power from their bloodline.

"Wyverns typically have the strength ranging from four to Five Stars. Let’s hope that it’s been weakened by necromancy..."

As Regis muttered, his eyes wandered over towards the West, where he could see a lone figure sitting on the ground without moving.

At that moment, the lone figure in the distance seemed to have made eye contact with him.

In an instant, two pairs of crimson eyes met.

Ba-Dump—

Regis’s eyes became serious as his heartbeat echoed in his ears.

Among all the enemies approaching the fortress, the greatest sense of danger came from the lone figure to the west.

Fortunately, the figure stayed put and did not move an inch.

Though Regis was certain that the lone figure posed the greatest threat, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief upon realizing they had no intention of acting immediately.

At this moment, he noticed from his peripheral vision that a mist seemed to be covering the entire fortress.

"They’ve finally arrived."

As if to respond to his remark, a familiar feminine voice resounded in his mind.

(We’ve met with the commander, Brother. What should we do next?)

(Enemies are approaching all the gates, but the East and North gates are facing the most urgent situations.)

On the other side, Larkson grimaced upon Regis’s words.

He still held onto the faint hope that the ringing of the bells earlier had only been a mistake.

This time, Larkson responded, (What should we do? Demonic humans still roamed the fortress...)

Near him, Pandora, Aurelia, and Killian, whose sword was covered in blood, listened attentively with serious expressions.

(You have less than an hour to eradicate all the demonic humans in the fortress.)

(After that, since the Command Hall is near the East Gate, you need to gather all the forces that you can and gather there.)

(There’s an army of demonic worshippers of various races who are approaching from the east as we speak.)

Hearing the nigh-impossible demands of Regis, Larkson only closed his eyes and asked,

(Alright, we’ll do that. How about you?)

(Well, those scums managed to control the monsters and beasts from the forest and the mountain range. They even had a skeletal wyvern at their disposal, so I’ll be a bit busy.)

(What!? A skeletal wyvern!?)

At this moment, Larkson had disbelief all over his face.

(Aside from the others, just that alone has the strength that might reach Five Stars!)

Even he, the fortress commander, was only at the Peak Stage of the Three Star Realm.

The Bakurad Fortress only killed the monsters and beasts who wandered outside the forest since they had a high chance of wreaking havoc in the surrounding areas.

However, not once, in their hundreds of years of establishment, has there ever been an expedition that ventured to the Duskmire Grove, much less the Drakaroth Heights.

After all, they were well aware of the dangers that resided in those areas.

In addition, monsters and beasts that wandered out of the fortress were commonly injured and thereby driven out of the forest by competitors and predators.

To make it short, it was the first time Larkson had heard about one of the apex predators wandering out of its habitat and deliberately attacking the fortress.

He then asked with a concerned voice, (Will you be alright?)

(Haha, it’s not like we have a choice, do we?)

(But to face them alone...)

(Just focus on your side, because the earlier you eradicate those demonic worshippers, the earlier you can help me.)

(Understood.)

(I’ll be going outside the fortress now, you can disable the magic spell, Pandora.)

(Okay, Brother.)

Just as she was about to dispel Mist Communication, Larkson looked at her and said, "Wait."

"Can you make my voice heard throughout the entire fortress?"

Pandora nodded.

"Then may I ask you for this favor?"

Pandora did not reply and only focused on closing her eyes.

"You can speak now."

Larkson began to speak, his voice carrying both dignity and solemnity

(Dear citizens of Bakurad Fortress, this is your Fortress Commander.)

As Larkson’s voice echoed in their minds, the citizens of the fortress immediately took action.