Chapter 30, Natural Disaster of the Undead (Part 1)
Three tall and solid walls surround the fortress city. Lantier.
——According to ancient Chinese military terminology, this is a triple "barbican city". There is also a more understandable name: "city within a city", which means building another circle of walls inside the city to strengthen its defensive role. It has a triple wall. Lantier not only spared no effort to build two more complete cities in the city, but also deliberately avoided the gates of the inner city and the openings of the outer city walls in each circle to allow those who managed to break into the outer city walls. The enemy had to go through some circuitous trek before they could find the gate of the second layer of the city wall.
A city with this kind of structure is undoubtedly the nightmare in the hearts of all attackers. Think about it, after going through all kinds of hardships and finally breaking through a city wall, what appears in front of you is another wall that is even bigger than the previous one. There is also a taller and thicker city wall. Such a huge contrast is enough to make any elite soldier despair. During the siege, such a shock even occurred twice.
But, it’s a fortress city. The enemies that Lantel needs to guard against are not only from the enemy forces outside the city, but also exist within the city walls. Yes. Between the outermost layer of Lantier and the middle layer of city walls, there is a large area surrounded by high walls and watchtowers, like a special area of a prison. Different from the solid fortress in the inner city, although the stone walls and watchtowers surrounding this area are equally strong, the defense direction is not outward, but aimed inward.
——A very strange design, not to defend against external enemies, but to defend against the people inside. It feels like a prison, a prisoner of war camp or a concentration camp.
But this is actually a fortress city. Public cemetery in Lantier.
There are similar cemeteries in other towns in the kingdom, but there are no fortress cities with frequent wars. Lantier covers such a vast area.
The reason why human civilization in this world builds cemeteries as heavily guarded as prisons or concentration camps is to prevent the emergence of the undead. In other words, to prevent the dead from climbing out of the grave again and disrupting the world of the living.
Although there is still no relatively accurate theory about the causes of the undead. But people at least already know that unclean things are often born in the dying place of the living. Among them, those who died unexpectedly and had no one to care about them, that is, those who were filled with resentment when they died, were most likely to be reincarnated as undead creatures. The evidence is that undead wandering around battlefields and ruins often appear. Not only that, the undead have another problem. That is, although there will only be some weak skeleton soldiers at first, if left unchecked, they will easily evolve into stronger undead monsters, such as lichs, bone dragons, and vampires, thus bringing huge consequences to the human civilization world. disaster.
For example, on the Katz Plains on the outskirts of the fortress city, the Kingdom and the Empire have been fighting for years. In addition to fighting each other, they have to organize joint mopping up teams regularly to clean up the undead creatures that appear due to the war. Otherwise, once the undead craze breaks out, which side will be affected? It's all a nightmare.
Therefore, as an important border fortress town with frequent wars, it is also located on the edge of the famous undead-stricken area, the Kaz Plains, yeah. The probability of undead creatures appearing in Lantel is much higher than other places. In order to avoid turning the dead into the undead, municipal authorities had to spend huge sums of money to build prison-style cemeteries. Adventurers and guards must also be arranged to patrol the cemetery every night to eliminate the newly born weak undead as soon as possible to avoid causing catastrophe.
A fortress city. There is a wall around Lantier's cemetery, which is the boundary between the dead and the living. Although the four-meter-high wall is not as high as the city wall, it is enough for people to walk on it. The steel gate is also quite strong and solid and cannot be easily broken through. There are watchtowers on the left and right of the gate, and patrols are stationed day and night, taking turns monitoring the cemetery below. In other words, the security at night is often tighter than during the day. Inside the cemetery, there is also a lamp holder that has been enchanted with [Eternal Light], which is quite bright even at night. But after all, there are still many dark places, especially those places blocked by tombstones, where the view is even worse.
All of this is so tight that it feels like a huge enemy, and it is entirely to guard against the undead that may be born in the cemetery at any time.
For the fortress city. For the residents of Lantier, the invasion of the Bahas Empire army from the east only comes once or twice a year. As for the tide of monsters coming out of the forest to attack the city, it only exists in the legends of the old people. But in order to bury these dead people who had awakened against the laws of life and death back into the earth, the battle with the undead in the city cemetery was going on almost every night.
This may seem silly, but the problem is that if corpses are dumped in the wild at will, then more powerful undead monsters may be born. Perhaps, as time goes by, humans in this world will take the trouble to gradually give up burials completely. , the body was cremated into ashes instead.
But at least in this current era, the fortress city. Lantel's guards and adventurers still have to fight the undead night after night.
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Under the dim magic light, a guard holding a spear looked absently at the cemetery, yawned and said to his companion who was watching next to him:
"...It's been extraordinarily peaceful tonight. Nothing has appeared so far."
"...Yes, there were five skeletons in the last rotation? It seems that the number of undead creatures has decreased a lot in the past two days."
"...Well, the souls of the recent batch of deceased people were probably all summoned back by the gods, right? That would be very lucky."
Several other guards on night watch were also attracted by this topic and joined in the discussion one after another, pouring bitter words on each other: "...If it's just skeletons and zombies, even if there are more, we can still deal with them. But spears are really not suitable for dealing with skeletons. , it’s a bit troublesome to fight.”
"...I think the most difficult thing is the ghost. It's just a shadow. It's useless to attack it with a sword. You can't even hide in a bunker to prevent it..."
"...Tsk, it's obvious that you guys are too stingy and reluctant to buy magic items to restrain the undead, so you are frightened by ghosts with little attack power! The most terrifying undead creature should be the 'Bone Worm', that kind of thing The giant centipede formed by hundreds of skeletons looks like a giant centipede when it stands upright. The house is even taller! I've only encountered this once in my life. I was so scared that I didn't dare to move. If it weren't for the several Mithril-level and Orichalcum-level adventurers who were on guard nearby to come to the rescue, I would have died. ” A gray-haired veteran took a sip of strong wine from the copper pot and muttered.
"...Sigh, speaking of which, defeating monsters is the responsibility of adventurers. Why do we need to top the tank?"
Another young soldier sighed and complained unhappily, "...we have already paid so much tax to the superiors, and the city hall still wants us to take risks to fight the undead by ourselves, without even a copper coin allowance. , this life is really miserable..."
——As I said before, Li. The Kingdom of Yestije does not have a standing regular army, even in the fortress city located on the border. Lantier is no exception. Then the question becomes, once there is a real war, who should be sent to defend the city?
The correct answer is to rely on mercenaries and militia, plus a small number of local nobles' personal guards.
As for adventurers, theoretically speaking, adventurers cannot participate in intra-human struggles, at least not in wars between countries. Otherwise, once the adventurers take a stand, how can they set up branches in various countries and become an international organization?
As a substitute for the regular army, the fortress city. The mayor of Lantier used tax money to recruit a group of mercenaries as an elite core force during the war. However, limited by financial resources, although the martial arts of this mercenary group are good, their number is pitifully small, far from enough to perform the most basic daily duties.
So, yeah. In addition to paying taxes, the citizens of Lantier must also perform military service for the king. The city hall will regularly select a group of young adults, who, in addition to earning money to support their families, must also serve as unpaid militiamen with officially provided weapons and protective gear, performing life-threatening voluntary labor to maintain the city's safety. operation. Of course, the militiamen are also divided into three, six or nine levels. The best positions are naturally guarding the city gates and municipal official residences. Not only do they look more respectable, but they often have some money to make. The most unlucky part is guarding the cemetery. Not only do they have little to gain, but they also have to fight the undead day and night. Moreover, to be honest, they are just a group of civilians with weapons. Their experience and quality are different from those of experienced adventurers. Totally incomparable. Therefore, the casualty rate of the militiamen remained high, and medical expenses were not reimbursed—no wonder they were so complaining.
——The reason why all adventurers cannot be used to guard the cemetery is mainly due to the consideration of saving money: the militia is recruited for free, and there is no need to pay.
However, no matter how resentful these local militiamen are, they have to bite the bullet and continue to fight against the undead without any slack. Otherwise, once an undead outbreak breaks out, the first ones to suffer will be their relatives and friends living in the city. and family...
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"...There is no way, we must catch all these undead creatures while they are still weak, in order to prevent them from becoming those hopelessly powerful monsters!" The veteran sighed, "...but...thinking about it, now there is no way The appearance of the undead makes people feel a little bad.”
"...Why?" someone asked.
"...Well, I just wonder if our surveillance missed something..."
"...Old man, you are thinking too much. The probability of undead creatures appearing in normal times should not be so high. I heard that the undead would often appear only after burying the corpses of those who died in the war with the empire. When there is no war, , probably like now?”
A middle-aged militiaman said carelessly, while other militiamen nodded to each other and agreed with this statement. Except yeah. Outside of Lantel, a city where war dead are often buried, corpses are also buried in other places, but the undead do not appear so frequently.
Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case.
The next moment, they heard a faint rustling noise coming from the direction of the cemetery, as well as the smell of digging dirt.
If it were on earth, everyone's first reaction would definitely be tomb robbers. But in this fantasy world where undead creatures frequently appear, and in urban public cemeteries where the undead frequently appear, most of the local militiamen understand what this means.
There may be undead spirits emerging from the cemetery tonight!
They exchanged glances with each other and were about to pick up their weapons when someone suddenly exclaimed: "...Huh? Ah, hey! Look there!"
A guard pointed toward the cemetery. Everyone turned to look and saw two patrols running towards the gate under the illumination of the magic lights. Both of them were panting, their sweaty hair stuck to their foreheads, and their wide-open eyes were bloodshot.
The sight in front of them made the guards guarding the cemetery gate feel bad - the militia patrolling the cemetery operated in groups of at least ten people. Why are there only two people showing up now? Moreover, looking at them throwing away their weapons and running with all their strength, they were definitely fleeing.
"...Hurry, open the door quickly! Open the door quickly!"
Seeing the two men shouting desperately in front of the door, the guards hurried down the stairs and opened the door. Unable to wait for the door to be fully opened, the two patrols crawled in from the cemetery. Then before the doorman could ask for details, he gasped and shouted: "...Hurry up, close the door quickly! Hurry up!"
Facing the pale and lost expressions of these two men, all the night watch militiamen were horrified. They worked together to close the door again and put the bolt on the door. Then he turned back to them and asked: "...What happened? What happened to the others?"
Hearing this question, the patrolman who raised his head showed a horrified expression: "...Been eaten by undead creatures!"
This answer surprised everyone. Although they had to fight the undead every few days here, they were no longer the kind of rookie cowards who would pee their pants in fear when they saw a skeleton soldier, but eight people died in one go. Personally, it still surprised them.
How many monsters have appeared here?
Immediately afterwards, their whole bodies trembled as they heard the sound of thousands of horses galloping and saw a large putrid ocean composed of undead creatures!
——With the help of torches and magic lights, countless swaying undead creatures can be vaguely seen, like dark clouds, carrying a strong rancid smell, constantly approaching the gate from the depths of the cemetery. The number is jaw-dropping! Among them are not only "regular" zombies and skeletons, but also some rare and powerful undead, such as ghouls, wights, boneworms, etc. Any one of them can kill a large group of people in an instant!
And in places where the light cannot shine, there are also countless shadows, constantly moving in the darkness!
After seeing the huge number of opponents, all the humans present couldn't help but suck in the cold air with a rancid smell.
"...What's going on with this quantity..."
"...It seems that there are definitely more than one or two hundred... there should be thousands... or even tens of thousands..."
The pungent putrid smell and blood-curdling roars were carried by the evening wind, making the militiamen feel cold from the soles of their feet to the bottom of their hearts. Immediately afterwards, hundreds of undead creatures slammed into the walls and gates, causing many people to scream in despair.
——It’s over, it’s all over now!
To put it bluntly, these people are just ordinary people who have taken up weapons after all. How can they have the confidence to wipe out so many undead creatures?
In the end, it was their captain who woke up first and started to give orders: "...Sound the alarm! You two run to the city gate for help! The rest of the people follow me on the wall and use spears to kill these people. The undead push back! Don’t forget, our families are behind the city wall!”
Immediately, amidst the rapid ringing of the bell, the militia captain held a long gun and rushed up to the wall. He stabbed the zombies and skeletons crowded under the wall with all his strength. Every shot spattered turbidity. The stench of blood and corruption.
However, after just a few shots, the brave captain let out a shrill scream and the spear in his hand fell to the ground.
"...Wow! Help! Someone help me!"
The militiamen who followed the captain up the wall were shocked to see a smooth pink intestine flying out from the body of a zombie under the wall and wrapping around the captain's neck. Before anyone else could reach out to help, the smelly intestine pulled hard with astonishing force. The captain, who was still struggling, was pulled off the wall and fell into the undead creatures under the wall!
Next, with a few short screams, the brave captain was eaten alive by the ghouls and devoured everything.
Then, before these frightened militiamen had time to react, with the sound of "swish" wind, pink ribbon-like objects suddenly shot out from the abdomen of the undead creatures under the wall, like the retractable long tongue of a frog. Generally and accurately, they pounced on the necks and limbs of the militiamen who were not protected by armor. Those militiamen who were unfortunate enough to be recruited, even if they were not directly "teared off their corpses" and turned into prey, they covered their wounds and screamed and fell down. After a while, many alienated blood vessels full of blood sprang out of their bodies. It seems that he was infected by some evil toxin.
At this time, another group of militiamen and several adventurers heard the bell and came to the rescue with spears and swords. When they saw the militiamen guarding the gate wailing and falling to the ground with injuries, they rushed over one after another, thinking that Reach out for help. Unexpectedly, as soon as they got close to the injured, the blood vessels on their bodies started to move like small snakes or tentacles, and they instantly entangled the rescuers coming from behind, making them unable to move for a while.
"...Oops! Cut them off quickly!" Seeing such a terrifying scene, an experienced adventurer was suddenly startled and shouted quickly.
However, what answered him was a sinister and deep voice from across the wall:
"...It's too late! Explode!"
The next moment, those militiamen infected with the evil toxin swelled up and then exploded with a "pop"! In an instant, the poisonous blood turned into a strange purple color, splashing in all directions in the night, falling on everyone's clothes and armor, and suddenly it was like being burned by strong acid, and sizzling green smoke came out. And those who were splashed on the exposed skin of their heads, faces, necks and wrists were rolling on the ground in pain...
——In the blink of an eye, half of the reinforcements that had gathered from everywhere after hearing the alarm bells were wiped out, and the remaining people were also terrified. They were all trembling and did not dare to approach the wall anymore, just aimlessly. Throwing stones from afar, or shooting arrows indiscriminately in the direction of the cemetery.
At the same time, the skeletons and zombies crowded under the wall were trampling on each other and gradually piled up into a "bone ladder". Several zombies began to stagger on the carrion of their companions and appeared unguarded. On the cemetery wall... Immediately afterwards, with a loud "bang", the steel gate of the cemetery was pushed down by the huge group of corpses. The mighty wave of the undead took the opportunity to pour out in large numbers, showing its ferocious form to the living. Fangs!
At this point, the weak militiamen and adventurers were finally defeated by despair, and turned around and fled, howling like ghosts.
"...I can't stand it anymore! I can't stand it anymore! We have to let adventurers of the orichalcum-level and mithril-level come!"
"...I think it's useless even if there are adamantine-level adventurers! This city is doomed! Open the city gate outside and run away!"
"...The outdoors may not be safe at night, so let's go to the inner city first!"
"...But it's already midnight, can you still get in? The city gate should be closed and locked at night!"
"...Even at night, people still have to come in and out! I know there is a small door on the west side that is still open..."
In the darkness, the fleeing adventurers and defeated soldiers trampled each other, and finally escaped from the cemetery that had turned into an ogre cave.
However, the enemies lurking in the dark obviously did not intend to let these prey escape easily - accompanied by waves of ominous rumblings and violent tremors as if the earth was shaking, strips were cracked on both sides and in the center of the street. Large cracks, countless pairs of withered black hands with almost only skeletons left slowly stretched out from those cracks, then slapped the ground hard, pulled out the entire body, and instantly blocked the way of the escapees!
Next, this long street crowded with thousands of refugees quickly turned into a horrific flesh and blood mill.
Skeletons and zombies slowly poured in from all directions, quickly blocking the escape path of the remaining humans. There was also a ferocious-looking undead monster, jumping back and forth between the house and the wall, constantly shooting out strips of pink intestines from its abdomen, knocking down and killing the dying people one by one. Puffs of blood mist exploded under the night, accompanied by heart-rending screams, which made people's faces change.
The militiamen and adventurers guarding the city wall were looking down at the killing field at their feet with trepidation, not even daring to take a breath.
——On that day, mankind finally recalled the terror once brought by the undead, and the humiliation of being wantonly slaughtered by aliens.
However, relying on the barrier of two tall city walls, it should be possible to restrict these undead creatures to the outside of the residential area and inside the outer wall. In such a small area, they cannot harm ordinary civilians in the city, right? Some people think so happily.
Then, an even more terrible tragedy happened...
I saw a small door in the second layer of the city wall. I don't know why it suddenly burst and collapsed at this time. Then, before the defenders had time to react, there was a white bone worm, a giant undead monster also known as a skeleton centipede. With a pungent rotten smell, it flew in through the open door at an astonishing speed, knocked away the adventurers who rushed to the door to fight, and broke into the residential area within the second city wall in one breath! And following this bone worm was a vast expanse of black undead creatures!
——A magnificent fortress city. Lantier has been completely engulfed by the undead craze!