177: Attack on Fort Quagmire 1

At dawn the next day, when the first rays of sunlight shone upon the Allied Forces camp, Lion Black was already prepared.

Inside the perimeter walls, over a thousand Allied Forces officers and soldiers stood in neat formations.

Standing on the high platform in front of them were the Allied Forces Commander-in-Chief—the priest and lord of Kedas, Cedas Ohmri; the Allied Forces Deputy Commander—Burning Flame Kewenruide of the Flame Fist; and the Grand Duke of Gorebest—the Young Duke, Lion Black.

"We have traveled a long distance, crossing nearly a hundred thousand li, traversing high mountains, and despite the siege of tens of thousands of Gnolls, we have still arrived here," Cedas said loudly to the thousand or so officers and soldiers before him. "We have sacrificed dozens of comrades; may their souls rest in peace in the Lord's Kingdom of Heaven!"

As the priest lord bowed his head in silent mourning, praying silently, the thousand-plus people also lowered their heads in mourning.

"Today, we will attack Quagmire Fortress for the sake of the homes behind us! To avenge our comrades! To seal the planar rift! To slaughter all the Gnolls!" Commander-in-Chief Cedas raised his holy staff high and shouted the slogans.

The thousand or so people in front also shouted along: "Avenge our comrades! Seal the planar rift! Slaughter all the Gnolls!"

When the voices of the Allied Forces subsided slightly, Deputy Commander Kovenreid also stepped forward.

"Soldiers of the Flame Fist! Soldiers of Gorebest! Allies of the forest! Today, the fact that we can stand here is a great miracle! Today's battle will surely go down in history! Every one of us will win our own glory! Long live the Southern Sword Coast Allied Forces!"

Following the speech by the high-ranking officer of the Flame Fist's second tier, Burning Flame Kewenruide, the thousand-plus people once again erupted in enthusiastic shouts: "Long live the Southern Sword Coast Allied Forces!"

Finally, the 10-year-old Young Duke, Lion Black, stepped forward.

Here, he was the youngest.

But no one looked down on him.

On the contrary, over these past few days, the strength displayed by this 10-year-old boy was the most powerful of them all.

"Comrades of the Southern Sword Coast Allied Forces! Over these past few days, we have fought together and killed tens of thousands of Gnolls," the boy's clear voice echoed in the courtyard. "This is a magnificent achievement that the entire Ferun has never even heard of! And we, we have done it!"

The thousand-plus people erupted into another round of cheers.

Lion nodded while slowly scanning the familiar faces below the platform.

"Across the river, the gates of the Gnoll fortress are practically non-existent. Shortly, we will charge over! Fight all the way to the deepest part! Seal the planar rift inside! Then slaughter all the Gnolls! Shall we!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The shouts from below shook the heavens.

The Young Duke once again cast the "Dragon Soul Awakening" spell.

A phantom of an adult Pearl Dragon appeared in the sky by the river.

Accompanied by a loud and distant dragon roar, "Advance!" the boy ordered, and an invisible force field slowly opened the courtyard gate.

The three commanders led the Allied Forces and walked out.

When they stepped out of the gate, the tens of thousands of Gnolls outside the fog had already been wiped out by the dragon breath of the adult Pearl Dragon phantom.

The corrupted land outside the perimeter wall was immediately neutralized by the priests in the front row using holy water.

On the bridge, Dragon King made a move, swallowing the mountain of Gnoll corpses piled on the bridge deck into its system space, clearing a path for the Allied Forces.

Subsequently, it and the adult giant dragon phantom flew together toward the opposite bank of the river, following the road, breathing dragon breath all the way to the gate of Quagmire Fortress at the foot of the mountain.

When the Gnolls saw the figure of the giant dragon appear in the sky, commanders ordered the Gnoll soldiers to close the heavy wooden gates.

Whether due to long disrepair or the dragon arriving too quickly, the gates had not yet closed when these soldiers had already perished in the dragon breath.

The giant dragon's breath continued until it reached the far west of the fortress, and then, at Lion's request, it used its dragon claws and dragon mouth to deal with the Gnolls, especially the spellcasters.

It persisted until its summoning time ended.

As for Dragon King's dragon breath, after being replenished by seawater again last night, it was still very abundant.

It sprayed back and forth on the path the Allied Forces were to advance, eliminating new Gnolls appearing from other directions.

After the Allied Forces passed through the narrow, long, ascending stairs, spellcasters on the high platforms and towers began to cast area-of-effect attack magic toward the center of the fog.

Lion quickly cast the 6th-circle arcane spell: "Eternal Pearl," creating a 30-foot-diameter pearl barrier overhead, which could immunize against spells below the 9th circle, lasting until the next change in moon phase.

But this could only block a portion.

Priests successively cast defensive divine spells for the soldiers, and fairies began casting healing spells for the injured soldiers.

Various summoned animal spirits, elementals, and nature guardians rushed toward the various passageways leading to the high platforms and towers, attempting to stop those Gnoll spellcasters.

At different crossroads on the path ahead, many Earth Wolf Spirits and Abyss Corruption Spirits—two types of monsters unaffected by the fog—began to spring out.

The Abyss Corruption Spirit is a type of evil magic spirit.

Although their combat power was much stronger than the Earth Wolf Spirits, they were firmly suppressed by the turn undead abilities of the Holy Knights and priests.

The lord of Kedas even cast the 5th-circle divine spell: "Celestial Summoning."

A celestial creature spirit: Guardian Holy Spirit, emerged from the void.

Its body was translucent like dawn light piercing through mist, with a pale golden halo flowing along the edges of its silhouette, as if it were a handful of starlight soaked in divinity.

The humanoid spirit body was faceless and silent, with only a sacred rune on its forehead glowing brilliantly, indicating an eternal connection to the celestial oath.

Flowing threads of light wove its torso, the ends stretching into two pairs of faint, shimmering wings; every gentle flap scattered tiny specks of light, as if stardust were falling into the mortal world.

Its feet had no substance, yet it always hovered three inches off the ground, dragging a trail of starlight like a galaxy when it drifted.

When it spoke, the voice sounded like a duet of harp humming and temple bell ringing, every syllable laden with the power of purification: "Lost ones, the radiance of the heavens shall protect your souls." The voice was gentle yet unquestionable.

When it saw dying soldiers of the Allied Forces crawling on the ground, it would lean down and whisper, its gurgling tone like a clear spring in the forest flowing over wounds; starlight seeped into the flesh with the words, and the festering, corrupted skin healed and regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

And when it faced the evil spirits stirring in the darkness, its tone suddenly transformed into the judgment horn of the Seven Heavens, the magnificent bell ringing shaking the monsters' scales until they cracked: "Begone! Evils of hell, where the radiance of the heavens shines, there is no place for you to stand!"

Wherever the sound wave reached, the corrupted creatures wailed and curled into ashes.

Mithril-colored runes occasionally appeared on the surface of the Guardian Holy Spirit; that was the manifestation of the Celestial Shield.

When claws attacked, the runes would splatter like gold foil, dissolving the killing intent into nothingness.

This existence itself was a paradox: as solemn as a deity visiting in person, yet gentler than melting snow in early spring.

It did not belong to the mortal world, yet it fought for the mortal world—in the shadows swept by its light wings, hope quietly grew.