Free Web NovelThe council chamber was filled with an indescribable smell, like a mixture of sweat, candle wax, and blood that hadn't yet dissipated.
The spot where Commander Baron had fallen had been cleared, but no one had wiped away the blood on the floor.
That sword strike was too sudden and too absurd.
Everyone realized one thing: Kyle Remont was no longer the Young Lord who could be reasoned with.
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The nobles stood around the long table; no one dared to sit down again.
Some were arguing in low voices, some were praying incoherently, and others repeatedly emphasized that "the city gates are still held, the garrison is still there," as if saying these words could keep the situation under control.
"We must first stabilize the Knight Regiment."
"Isolate the Young Lord, at least... at least don't let him get his hands on a sword again."
"No, he just killed Baron! Who do you think would dare to approach him now?"
Panic continued to ferment within their words.
No one noticed that the air in the distant corridor was changing.
The first to notice something was wrong was a young viscount standing against the wall.
He suddenly stopped talking and tilted his head to listen.
It was the sound of footsteps, but not human ones.
It sounded like nails scraping against stone walls, or a heavy body being dragged across the floor—intermittent, yet rapidly approaching.
"Did you... hear that?"
Before the words could finish, the heavy doors of the council chamber shook violently.
In the next instant, a rift was torn through the center of the wooden doors.
Iron bands twisted, wood splinters flew, and a cold wind carrying the scent of blood and alchemy medicine rushed in.
A noble let out a voiceless scream.
Dark shadows flooded in from outside the door.
The knights in the council chamber were not slow to react.
Several knights clad in heavy armor immediately formed a formation, spears pointed forward, as Battle Qi lit up on the surface of their armor.
Two Extraordinary Knights had even finished gathering their Battle Qi, their blades humming as they prepared to face the enemy.
When the first monster crashed into them, the formation did indeed hold.
Spear tips pierced its chest, and blades shattered its shoulder bones. The monster was cut down on the spot, blood splattering everywhere.
Someone whispered in a trembling voice while retreating: "It's those things from underground..."
"They can be killed!" someone shouted, but their voice immediately changed pitch.
A second, a third, a fourth—they kept flooding in.
No formation, no coordination, no regard for the corpses of their companions, not even a concern for their own lives.
Pierced monsters continued to crawl forward; monsters with severed arms used their teeth to bite.
Battle Qi slashes could send them flying, but could not make them stop.
An Extraordinary Knight was pounced upon by three monsters at once.
He roared, erupting with Battle Qi and shattering one body by force, only to be grabbed around the waist by another monster in the next instant.
Sharp claws pierced the gaps in his armor, and scales rubbed against metal, making a teeth-gritting sound.
The Extraordinary Knight continued to swing his sword to break free until a fourth monster bit into his throat.
The defensive line began to collapse.
The knights in the city were not cowardly or incompetent; they were fighting, using every technique and ounce of strength they had.
But the numbers and the madness itself were consuming everything. fгeewebnovёl.com
The nobles began to retreat.
Tables and chairs were knocked over, candlesticks fell to the floor, and flames spread rapidly along the carpet.
Some fell, some were trampled and dragged underfoot. The council chamber, once used to discuss taxes and fiefs, had turned into a slaughterhouse with no escape.
Only the approaching dark shadows and the nearing screams remained.
By the time the last knight was overwhelmed, the fate of the castle had been decided.
Only then did someone finally remember the city gates.
They rushed out of the council chamber, sprinting down the corridors, slamming through one heavy wooden door after another, boots slipping on the stone floor, armor clashing together in a chaotic and urgent din.
Some screamed to lower the drawbridge while running; others ordered the guards to assemble with voices hoarse from shouting.
But orders were meaningless now.
The inner portcullis leading to the city gates had been locked tight since early evening.
That was an order Kyle had personally given; to prevent traitors and surrenders, all external keys had been recalled, the winches were sealed, and the drawbridge's pivot was fixed with alchemical wedges.
Even if there were still generals alive in the city, they wouldn't be able to unlock this defense system in a short time.
Some threw themselves at the winches, hacking with swords and smashing with hammers.
Sparks flew, but the iron chains remained motionless.
That structure, originally designed to withstand battering rams and Mana Cannons, now coldly rejected every desire for survival within the city.
The city gates remained silent, a silence more cruel than any roar.
The stairs leading to the city walls were also quickly lost.
Those narrow spiral passages, which should have been an advantage during defense, were now a nightmare.
The fleeing crowd huddled together here; those in front stopped, while those behind continued to push desperately.
Once someone fell, they could never get back up.
Flames spread along the corridors, and everything flammable was burning.
Thick smoke was trapped inside the fortress by the heavy stone walls, unable to dissipate, and soon lowered to the level of people's breathing. Some lost their way in the smoke, crashing into dead ends and being cornered.
Those stone walls that originally symbolized safety now cut off all paths to survival.
The defensive design of Grey Rock Fortress was originally intended to make foreign enemies pay a price in blood.
Every door, every portcullis, and every spiral staircase was meant to slow down besiegers and buy time for the defenders.
But it was never designed to leave a way out for those inside when a disaster erupted from within.
Flames spread between the corridors and towers, illuminating the frantically fleeing figures and the silhouettes of monsters crouching on beams, windowsills, and city walls.
They were in no hurry to chase, merely moving forward, pushing all living things little by little toward the depths where there was no exit.
Grey Rock Fortress was no longer a fortress.
It had become a hell sealed by its own hands.
The night was dyed red by the firelight; screams echoed repeatedly within the thick city walls, but they could no longer reach the outside.
Before dawn, there would be no more order here, only destruction.
Screams that could be cut off at any moment soon grew thin, swallowed by flames and choked off by thick smoke.
But the disaster was not over. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
The unrestrained Dragon-blood Monsters were still roaming inside the castle.
They surged outward along the corridors, stairs, and towers, crashing again and again into the closed city gates and portcullises.
The heavy iron doors shook, the stone walls echoed, and the entire castle was like a trapped behemoth, rumbling low in the night.
It was just that the doors made from precious minerals could still hold for now.
Everything Kyle had reinforced to prevent internal strife—the inner portcullises, drawbridges, and locking wedges—instead became the only barriers at this moment.
The monsters were trapped inside, temporarily unable to rush toward the residential areas outside the castle.
But every impact made those guarding outside the city clearly realize that this was not safety, only a delay.
The night was dyed red by firelight, and by dawn, Grey Rock Fortress had fallen completely silent.
There were no flags of surrender, nor any cries for help from survivors.
Only charred city walls and the scent of sulfur and blood escaping from the crevices.
The Red Tide vanguard approached shortly before the disaster occurred.
Louis stood on a high slope outside ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the city, looking at this fortress that should have been impregnable.
The city gates were tightly closed but covered in impact dents; the walls were intact but constantly emitted low, muffled thuds, as if something was wandering inside.
A knight stepped forward quickly, knelt on one knee, and spoke in a very low voice.
"My Lord, inside the castle... there are no signs of living people anymore."
He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"But something is still moving down there. A great many of them, sealed inside the city. The garrison, the nobles... all wiped out."
Louis did not speak immediately; he just looked at the silent castle.
From this morning's Daily Intelligence System, he already knew the fate of this castle.
Sixty complete forms and hundreds of semi-finished Dragon-blood Monsters.
When they were injured, their ruptured flesh would automatically repair itself.
More importantly, they possessed Battle Qi—unstable but very real; blood-colored Battle Qi surged intermittently between the gaps in their scales.
These were the monsters created single-handedly by that mad dog, Remont.
He knew all this information in advance, but only to that extent.
He did not know the details of the chaos or its duration.
However, those questions did not require his speculation.
"You don't need to worry," Louis finally spoke. "There is already a plan. Pass down the order: blockade the perimeter, evacuate the nearby residents, and no one is allowed near the city walls."
Thus, the vanguard knights fanned out, blocking roads, driving people away, and pulling them back.
"Step back, don't stop, move now."
Some cried out, some struggled, saying they still had relatives in the city, but those who refused to cooperate were seized by the Red Tide Knights and taken away, dragged onto carts and pushed away from the site.
There was no more time for explanations.
Cordon lines were quickly established, layer upon layer; anyone approaching the city walls would be driven away.
Grey Rock Fortress was completely isolated, the living were cleared out, and the city was sealed tight.
Louis withdrew his gaze and turned to leave the high slope: "Let the plan begin."
