Chapter 197 - 130: October: Defense Month 3
At the rear, upon receiving the report from his troops, the lord gritted his teeth and issued a risky order.
"Order the front-line troops to establish a defensive perimeter with a 500-meter radius centered on those tunnel exits. If any Ratmen appear, kill them on sight."
Upon receiving the order, the army immediately spread out, encircling the open ground around the earthen slope.
A moment later, a few Ratmen appeared out of thin air. They were instantly shot until they looked like pincushions.
Immediately after, more Ratmen appeared in succession, all meeting the same fate. Witnessing this, everyone’s morale surged, and they attacked with even greater ferocity.
The Ratmen appeared in an endless stream, only to be killed just as quickly. To prevent a mountain of bodies from blocking their line of sight, the front-rank Blade and Shield Soldiers had no choice but to toss the corpses behind them.
Meanwhile, the territory on the other side seemed unaware of the situation, as it never stopped teleporting Ratmen over. The soldiers were exhausted but happy. ’This is all experience points!’
Elsewhere, the lord ordered all the civilians to hurry, pile up the Ratmen corpses, and set them ablaze.
As a highly educated man, he couldn’t understand what was going on with these Ratmen. ’How dare they invade when they’re this weak?’ But he did know one thing: rats carry a host of viruses and bacteria. As an "upgraded version" of rats, the Ratmen couldn’t possibly be clean.
’To prevent the corpses from spreading plagues, viruses, or some other bizarre contaminants, cremating them is the safest bet.’
SKREEE~
HISS~
As the fire caught, a bizarre sound emanated from the pile of corpses. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard, making everyone’s skin crawl.
The moment they heard the sound, the surrounding civilians all grew dizzy and collapsed.
Those closest to the pyre were foaming at the mouth, their breathing shallow and ragged.
BLEGH—
The lord heard the sound as well. He felt a wave of dizziness, then doubled over and vomited.
He looked up and saw that while the soldiers were also suffering, they were clearly in much better shape. He shouted, "Quick! Pull those people back!"
The soldiers fought through the discomfort, ran to the pyre, and dragged the collapsed civilians away.
As the fire blazed higher, the sound from the pile of Ratmen corpses grew fainter.
The grating sound, which felt like a psychic assault, eventually faded. Shortly after it vanished completely, the fire died down.
The lord walked up to the embers. Seeing a few wisps of smoke still rising, he ordered a few men to take small sticks and poke through the ashes, checking for anything that hadn’t been completely incinerated.
Sure enough, hidden beneath the ashes were disgusting creatures that looked just like the Ratmens’ eyeballs.
Realizing they were exposed, they immediately let out a piercing shriek. The civilians who had gone to probe the ashes instantly buckled and fell to the ground.
The nearby Crossbowmen immediately opened fire on the eyeballs. The creatures weren’t fast, and within moments, they were all shot dead.
The fallen civilians were immediately dragged away from the ashes and, after a quick inspection, sent to the physicians for treatment.
Then, a Mage from the territory cast the "Fire Wall" skill on the ashes. Raging flames scorched the patch of ground once more.
Finally, a few more civilians went forward to sift through the remains. Only after they confirmed that everything had been reduced to ash did the lord approach, finally feeling at ease.
He stood before the patch of ash, a symbol of his victory, feeling rather pleased with his caution.
Just then, a small hole burst open in the ground by his feet. A tiny figure, topped with a massive, eyeball-like body, squirmed out. It latched onto the lord’s foot and began scrambling rapidly up his pant leg.