176: Enemy at the Fort

When Ryan announced the official establishment of the “Black Panther Fortress Paladin Order” on the spot, “The Paladin’s Holy Dwelling Architectural Compendium” appeared in his system space.

At the same time, Ryan’s Lord Prestige rose to 90 points.

The system simultaneously condensed the eighth golden handshake icon representing [Reputation] and the ninth yellow flag icon representing [Diplomacy], and issued a new system task.

In the [Reputation] icon, Ryan’s personal reputation values in known factions were listed.

Currently, there were only two factions on the list—

Ryan’s reputation value in [Black Panther Fortress]: Revered 1080

Ryan’s reputation value in [Gorebest]: Respected 10205

Note: Depending on your personal reputation value in different factions, you can enjoy different discounts when shopping; you can meet different people and events.

Personal reputation value is also closely related to diplomatic relations.

The higher the reputation value, the less likely the host’s actions within that faction’s territory will be rejected by the plane.

In the [Diplomacy] icon, there was only one diplomatic relationship—

The diplomatic relationship between [Black Panther Fortress] and [Gorebest] was: Friendly (Informal Temporary Alliance).

Note: The system recommends that the host give his faction a name that is more in line with the plane’s customs, in preparation for the future establishment of a Duchy, Kingdom, or Empire.

The stronger the host’s faction, the higher the anchor point stability within the faction’s territory, and the higher the host’s spell power, weapon power, and check advantage.

…

When Ryan finished reading this information, he believed the system was guiding him to establish a nation.

After all, the area covered by the teleportation network he had built was already very large.

It was just that the Young Duke couldn't spare the time to think about these future developments right now.

After a night of rest, tens of thousands of Gnolls gathered outside the mist.

Ryan likewise summoned the phantom of an adult Pearl Dragon to clear the area.

Then, the Allied Forces continued to advance southwest.

Midway, they rescued a pair of Elf and Human spouses.

The Human male ranger Lothar Dominus and the Elven female ranger Sanna Fia Amastasia were a cross-racial couple who usually lived in seclusion in the Cloudpeak Mountains.

They had a son who was captured by the Gnolls.

They both wanted to go to Quagmire Fortress to rescue their son, but they didn't expect there to be so many Gnolls in Saint Cavell Valley.

Even they themselves almost died at the hands of the Gnolls.

The two had been hiding and sneaking in the valley for many days.

Their arrows were also exhausted, and today both of them were severely wounded.

If Ryan hadn't saved them with the mist in time, they would either be two corpses by now or have been captured by the Gnolls.

Ryan not only ordered someone to give them healing potions but also gave them arrows.

The two, who were once again drawing their bows and shooting arrows, had extremely skillful archery.

It caused the Young Duke to turn his head frequently.

As it approached noon, the Allied Forces had left the forest and entered a vast, boundless plain.

Ryan looked at the nearby stream and the fertile soil beneath his feet; his racial talent from before his transmigration made him feel that if grains were planted here, the yield would surely be good.

In the evening, a wide river flowing from the southeast to the northwest appeared before them.

A sizable drawbridge spanned the river.

On the high mountain across the river was the magnificent and enormous Quagmire Fortress.

This fortress-type stronghold was like a giant beast curled up by the riverbank.

The main keep, constructed from stacked boulders, stood over a hundred feet tall, its broken fangs-like shape piercing the sky.

The scattered towers on the periphery were like scattered beast bones, their rugged silhouettes reflecting golden light in the setting sun.

Charred black ironwood watchtowers were interspersed throughout, their rough wood grain and the cold, hard texture of the rock creating a ferocious contrast, and the only rotten drawbridge leading into the fortress from the east spanned the river like a withered bone, with many human skulls hanging from its iron chains, swaying hoarsely in the fishy wind.

After a full day of forced marching, the Allied Forces were exhausted.

Ryan and the other two commanders discussed setting up camp on the east bank of the bridge and attacking Quagmire Fortress early tomorrow morning.

The mist covered half of the drawbridge, making the west side easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Only needing to defend the east bank of the river would save half their energy.

Immediately, the Allied Forces, following the example of last night's camp and Cloud Mist Peak, built simple wooden towers on both sides of the bridgehead, and then, on the south side, at the junction of the stream and the great river, enclosed a large camp with wooden palisade walls.

After the camp was assimilated, as the Allied Forces moved in, Ryan dispatched his Dragon King avatar, flying invisibly over Quagmire Fortress to scout.

Not long after, the message sent back by the Dragon King’s consciousness was—

New Gnolls were continuously pouring out from multiple underground entrances and exits of this fortress.

Inside the fortress, there were many “sinkhole”-like architectural structures, which held many Human, Elf, Halfling, Gnome, and other humanoid races captive.

There were nearly ten thousand Gnolls visible on the surface of the entire fortress.

They were constantly surging outwards.

The only exit—the bridgehead—was blocked by the Dragon King avatar with continuous dragon breath.

Soon, the land outside the fortress was also filled with Gnolls.

Besides the Gnolls constantly walking towards the drawbridge to their deaths, many Gnolls began to walk into the southern mountains.

The Dragon King also saw the place with the magic mark that the Druid and Xysteria had mentioned.

It was a low-lying area near the western part of the fortress.

Gnolls were indeed coming out from there.

However, it seemed there were not as many Gnolls pouring out as from the other several structures.