Chapter 2310 - 102: Crow's Prophecy V

"Hey, Old Gailoite, have a sip... The southern nobles are slacking off, this month's supplies are late again, but there's at least some good stuff left in the cellar, right? At least it'll warm you up when facing Anstali."

"Save it for me, I might need it when I come down from above."

Gailoite pushed aside the deer leather pouch handed to him by his colleague, wiped the frost off his beard, and squinted up at the tall watchtower. The wooden watchtower stood like a lone giant, perched on this snow-covered rock, gazing out at the dark distant forest.

The Watchers called these towers the 'Grey Giants', and there wasn't just one of them; they were distributed along the border of the forest, with a line of vigilance established in the long summer, watching over the shadow under the Dragon Roar Mountains.

Gailoite was an old soldier, but he had never seen such a cold winter in twenty-five years. The forest had yet to shed all its autumn leaves, Anstali's breath blew cold from the north, and bitter weather arrived swiftly, with snow following closely behind. A thick layer of ice had formed in the cellar a few days ago, something never seen before.

Grabbing the creaking ladder, he climbed up shakily, his thick clothes now an unbearable burden, not to mention the heavy chainmail outside, a sword, a shield, and a bow.

However, these cumbersome clothes did not make him feel warm; against the eerie cold wind, they seemed nonexistent, leaving him with a deep chill from his soul.

He gasped for breath, looking up, the howling North Wind, known as Anstali's breath by the Watchers, carried snowflakes, forming into a tangible force that blew south, making the whole watchtower creak and sway.

The Lone Mountain hung ominously on the horizon — it was the Dragon Roar Mountains, legends say a giant dragon fell dead here, its dying wail formed this eerie mountain range. Now, a terrible giant dragon was truly subdued here, with its army of henchmen.

Gailoite looked at the Lone Mountain's strange shape, resembling the spread wings of a dragon, feeling unsettled. In his hometown, a legend said dragon wings signified death; those who've seen the shadow under dragon wings never return alive from the battlefield.

The northern sky was dense with black clouds, letting no light through, but suddenly, the old soldier saw something up in the sky in that direction. He blinked hard and saw from the mountain's gap between the peaks, a swarm of creatures flying out —

Creatures swarmed over the sky, tiny black dots filled the northern sky, and in mere moments, the sky was overflowing before the old soldier's eyes. "Ouli above...!" Gailoite gasped, but twenty-five years of seeing life and death forced him to calm down, gripping the ladder, lowering his head to shout to his colleagues below:

"Quick, the bonfire!"

"What? Old Gailoite, did you see something?" A voice drowned by the snowstorm shouted back from the side.

"The bonfire!" Gailoite released one hand and gestured down forcefully: "Quick, light the bonfire!"

And at that instant, the old soldier suddenly heard a sharp crack, like something breaking. He felt his hand loosen, his whole body seemed to lose its support and floated —

In the midst of the spinning sky and earth, he saw his colleagues staring at him dumbfoundedly, saw the broken wooden ladder, the 'Grey Giant' collapsing in the biting cold wind, saw the Lone Mountain, saw the shadow spread like dragon wings...

"They said this thing was reliable..."

"Those damn bastards must have cut corners..."

Gailoite's thoughts flashed through his mind.

Overnight, seventeen beacon fires ignited throughout the Northern Territory.

...

The snow was getting heavier.

Fang Hong reached out to measure, large snowflakes fell on his palm and melted away. He looked up to see through the window a pillar of black smoke rising straight into the northern sky, turned around to ask, "What's that?"

"They say an army has appeared in the north, formed by crows and the Undead," Luo Hao replied without lifting his head, several pages of light screens hovering before him, he gently swiped his hand, quickly browsing the information above. He had the habit of checking community news every morning, and Miss Tata was kneeling at a desk not far away, doing the same.

Only Nini lay on her 'Papa's' shoulder, eagerly reaching out her tiny hand to catch the falling snowflakes, but she couldn't reach that far. "Army?" Fang Hong asked with some surprise.

"Some say it's the Dragon Witch's army, and as for where this army plans to attack, there is yet intelligence. Also, a similar army appeared to the west, advancing along Egon Forest's border, this army is made up of dragon beasts." Luo Hao paused, "This should be the one we saw in Charter City not long ago."

Nikopolas' army?

Two armies?

Fang Hong didn't expect so much to happen overnight, where is the Dragon Witch Nikopolas planning to attack next? North at Gula, or south at Elpaxin?

He reached out and gently clasped the ring hanging on his chest that still held warmth, increasingly perplexed at what the enemy planned to do, is she planning to destroy the entire Northern Territory? But Lady Misu, where are you?