Great time travel

Chapter 30, Scourge of the Undead
Three tall and strong walls surround the fortress city.Lantil.

——According to ancient Chinese military terminology, this is a triple "urn city", and there is a more popular name: "city within the city", which means to build another circle of city walls inside the city to strengthen the defense.Jesus with triple walls.Rantier, not only spared no effort to completely build two more cities in the middle of the city, but also deliberately avoided the gates of each circle of the inner city and the opening of the outer city wall, so that those who managed to break through the outer city wall The enemy had to go through some detours before they could find the gate of the second city wall.

A city with such a structure is undoubtedly the nightmare of all besiegers. Just think about it, after going through all kinds of hardships, one city wall was finally breached, and what appeared in front of it was another wall that was bigger than before. Even taller and thicker city walls are needed. Such a huge contrast is really enough to make any elite soldier feel desperate.And during the siege battle, such a shock would even recur twice.

However, the fortress city.The enemies Lantil needs to guard against not only come from the enemy forces outside the city, but also exist within the city walls.in yeah.In the middle of the outermost layer of Lantil and the middle layer of the city wall, there is a large area surrounded by high walls and watchtowers, like a special prison area.Unlike the strong fortress in the inner city, although the stone walls and watchtowers surrounding this area were equally strong, the direction of defense was not facing outward, but aimed at the inside.

——It's a very strange design, not to defend against external enemies, but to guard 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.Lantel's communal cemetery.

There are similar cemeteries in other towns in the kingdom, but there is no fortress city with frequent wars.Rantier occupies such a vast area.

The human civilized country in this world, the reason why the cemetery is built as heavily guarded as a prison or a concentration camp is to prevent the birth of the undead.In other words, to prevent the dead from crawling out of the grave again, disturbing the world that belongs to the living.

Although there is still no set of more accurate theoretical statements about the cause of the undead.But people have at least known that in the dying places of the living, unclean things are often born.Among them, those who died unexpectedly and had no one to pay tribute to them, that is, those who were filled with resentment when they were dying, had the highest possibility of being reincarnated as undead creatures.The evidence is that wandering undead often appear in places such as battlefields and ruins.Not only that, but the undead have another problem.That is, although there will only be some weak skeleton soldiers at first, if they are left alone, they will easily evolve into stronger undead monsters, such as liches, bone dragons, and vampires, which will bring huge damage to the human civilization world. disaster.

For example, on the Kaz Plain on the outskirts of the fortress city, the kingdom and the empire have been fighting for years. Besides fighting each other, they have to regularly organize a joint sweeping team to clean up the undead creatures that appeared due to the war. It's all a nightmare.

Therefore, as a border fortress with frequent wars, it is also located on the edge of the Kaz Plain, the famous undead disaster area, ye.The chance of undead creatures appearing in Lantel is much higher than other places.In order to prevent the dead from becoming undead, the municipality had to spend huge sums of money to build a prison-style cemetery.It is also necessary to arrange for adventurers and guards to patrol the cemetery every night, and eliminate those newly born weak undead as soon as possible to avoid catastrophe.

Fortress city yeah.There is a wall around Lantier's cemetery, and this wall is the boundary separating the dead from the living.Although the four-meter-high wall was not as high as the city wall, it was enough for people to walk on it. The gate made of steel was also quite solid, and it was absolutely impossible to break through easily.There are watchtowers on the left and right of the gate, and patrol soldiers are stationed day and night, taking turns watching the cemetery below from the watchtower. In other words, the security at night is often stricter than that during the day.Inside the cemetery, there is also a lamp base that has been cast with the magic of [permanent light], and it is quite bright even at night.But after all, there are still many dark places, especially in those places blocked by tombstones, the vision is even worse.

All these guards that were so strict that they were on the verge of an enemy were entirely to guard against the undead who might be born in the cemetery at any time.

For the fortress city.For the residents of Lantil, the Bajas Empire army that invaded from the east only came once or twice a year.As for the tide of monsters gushing out of the forest to attack the city, it only exists in the legends of the old people.However, in order to rebury the dead who violated the laws of life and death and awakened into the earth, the battle with the undead in the cemetery in the city was going on almost every night without a break.

This may seem a bit stupid, but the problem is that if the corpses are thrown in the wild at will, then more powerful undead monsters will be born-perhaps, as time goes by, the humans in this world will take the trouble and gradually give up burials completely , to cremate the body into ashes instead.

But at least in this 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 with a long gun looked at the cemetery absently, yawned and said to his companion who was watching:

"...Tonight is really extraordinarily peaceful, and nothing has appeared until now."

"...Yeah, five skeletons appeared during the last rotation? The number of undead creatures seems to have decreased a lot in the past two days."

"...Well, the souls of the recent batch of dead must have been summoned back by the gods, right? If so, it would be very lucky."

Several other guards on duty at night were also attracted by this topic, and joined in the discussion one after another, pouring bitter water to each other: "...if it's just skeletons and zombies, even if there are a little more, we can still handle it. But spears are really not suitable for dealing with skeletons , It’s a bit troublesome to fight.”

"...I think the most troublesome thing is the ghost. It's just a phantom. It's useless to cut it with a sword. It's impossible to hide in a bunker..."

"...Cut, it's obvious that you guys are too stingy and reluctant to buy magic items to restrain the undead, so you are frightened by the ghosts with little attack power! The most terrifying undead creature should be the 'Bone Worm', that kind Hundreds of thousands of skeletons are entwined into a giant centipede, which is taller than a house when standing upright! I only encountered it once in my life, and I was so scared that I didn’t dare to move at that time! If it weren’t for the few guards nearby Mithril-level and orichardt-level adventurers came to rescue me, and I was already dead." A grizzled veteran took a sip of strong wine from a copper pot, muttering.

"...Well, speaking of it, defeating monsters is an adventurer's duty, so why do we need to top the tank?"

Another young soldier sighed and grumbled unhappily, "...they have already paid so much tax to the above, and the city hall wants us to take risks to hunt down undead creatures, not even a copper coin allowance , this day is really miserable..."

— As I said before, Li.The Kingdom of Yestige does not have a standing regular army, even if it is a fortress city located on the border.Randyll is no exception.Then the question arises, who should be sent to defend the city once there is a real war?
The correct answer is to rely on mercenaries and militia, plus a small number of private guards from local nobles.

As for adventurers, theoretically speaking, adventurers cannot participate in the struggle within human beings, at least they cannot participate in wars between countries.Otherwise, once an adventurer has a position, how can it be possible to set up a network in various countries and become an international organization?
As an alternative to the regular army, the fortress city.The mayor of Lantier used tax money to recruit a mercenary army as an elite core force during the war.However, due to limited financial resources, the martial arts of this mercenary army is good, but the number is pitifully small, far from enough to perform the most basic daily duties.

So, yeah.In addition to paying taxes, the citizens of the city of Rantel must also serve the king in the army.The city hall will regularly select a group of young and middle-aged men, let them not only earn money to support their families, but also take the weapons and protective gear provided by the government, act as unpaid militiamen, and perform life-threatening voluntary labor to maintain the city's vitality. run.Of course, the militia is also divided into ranks and ranks. The best positions are naturally guarding the city gates and municipal mansions. Not only does it look more decent, but it is often lucrative.The most unlucky thing is guarding the cemetery. Not only is there no oil and water, but they also have to fight against undead creatures day and night. Besides, they are just a group of civilians with weapons. Totally incomparable.Therefore, the casualty rate of the militia remains high, and the medical expenses are not reimbursed-no wonder they are so full of complaints.

——The reason why you can’t use all the adventurers to guard the cemetery is mainly because of the consideration of saving money: those who conscript the militia are 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, not daring to slack off, otherwise, if there is an outbreak of undead, the first to suffer will be their relatives and friends living in the city with family……

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"...No way, we have to wipe out these undead creatures when they are still weak, so as to prevent them from becoming those hopelessly powerful monsters!" The old soldier sighed, "...But...thinking about it this way, there is no such thing now. The appearance of the undead, on the contrary, makes people feel a little bad."

"...Why?" someone asked.

"...Well, I just feel that our surveillance has missed something..."

"...Old man, you think too much, the probability of undead creatures appearing usually is not so high. It is said that only after burying the corpses that died in the war with the empire, the undead will often appear. When there is no war , probably like it is now?"

A middle-aged militiaman said carelessly, while the other militiamen nodded to each other in agreement.Except yeah.In addition to the city of Rantel, where war dead are often buried, other places also bury corpses, but undead do not appear so frequently.

Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case.

The next moment, they heard a faint rustling sound from the direction of the cemetery, as well as the smell of digging the soil.

If it is on Earth, everyone's first reaction must be tomb robbers.But in this fantasy world where undead creatures frequently appear, and in the city public cemetery where undead frequently appear, most of you local militiamen understand what this means.

In the cemetery tonight, there must be another undead popping up!
They exchanged glances with each other, and were about to take up their weapons, when someone suddenly exclaimed: "... Huh? Ah, hello! Look there!"

A guard points to the cemetery.Everyone turned their heads to look, and found that under the illumination of the magic lights, two patrol soldiers were rushing towards the gate.Both of them were out of breath, their sweaty hair stuck to their foreheads, and their wide eyes were bloodshot.

The sight in front of them made the guards guarding the gate of the cemetery feel bad—the militiamen patrolling the cemetery were at least in groups of ten.Why are there only two people now?Moreover, seeing them throwing away their weapons and running desperately, they are definitely running away.

"... Quick, 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 to open the door.Before the gate could be fully opened, two patrol soldiers rushed in from the cemetery.Then before the janitor asked for details, he panted and shouted: "...Quick, close the door quickly! Hurry up!"

Facing the distraught and pale faces of these two people, all the militiamen on duty at night were terrified, and they worked together to close the door again and put the bolt on it.Then I turned to them and asked, "...what the hell happened? What happened to the others?"

Hearing this question, the patrolman who raised his head showed a startled expression: "... was, was eaten by undead creatures!"

This answer surprised everyone. Although they have to fight against undead creatures every few days here, they are no longer the kind of rookie cowards who would pee their pants in fright when they saw a skeleton soldier, but they died all at once. Personally, it still surprised them.

How many monsters have emerged?
Immediately afterwards, they heard the sound of galloping horses trembling all over their bodies, and saw a large rotting sea of ​​undead creatures!

——With the help of torches and magic lights, countless undead creatures can be vaguely seen, like dark clouds, with a strong rancid smell, constantly approaching the gate from the depths of the cemetery.The number is jaw-dropping!There are not only "regular" zombies and skeletons, but also some rare and powerful undead, such as ghouls, wights, bone worms and so on.No matter which guy can kill a large group of people in an instant!
And in the places where the lights can't reach, there are also countless shadows, constantly squirming in the dark!
After seeing the huge number of opponents clearly, all the humans present couldn't help but gasped for a breath of rancid air.

"...What's going on with this number..."

"...It seems that there are definitely more than one or two hundred... there should be thousands...or even tens of thousands..."

The pungent rancid smell and creepy roar came along with the evening wind, which made the militiamen feel cold from the soles of their feet to the bottom of their hearts.Immediately afterwards, hundreds of thousands of undead creatures slammed into the wall and the tremors of the gate, causing many people to scream in despair.

——It's over, it's all over now!
To put it bluntly, after all, these people are just ordinary people who have taken up weapons. How can they have the confidence to wipe out so many undead creatures?

In the end, it was their captain who woke up first, bit the bullet and began to issue orders: "...Run the alarm bell! You two run to the city gate for help! The rest of you go up to the wall with me, and use long guns to kill these The undead go back! Don't forget, behind the city wall is our family!"

Immediately, amidst the rapid bells of "clang clang clang clang", the captain of the militiamen rushed up to the wall with a long gun in his hand, and stabbed the zombies and skeletons crowded under the wall vigorously. the stench of blood and corruption.

However, just before he had time to shoot a few shots, the brave captain let out a scream, and the spear in his hand fell to the ground.

"...Wow! Help! Someone help me!"

The militiamen who followed the captain on the wall were shocked to see a smooth pink intestine flying out from the body of a zombie under the wall, wrapping around the captain's neck.Before the others had time to reach out to help, the stinky intestines pulled violently with astonishing force, and immediately pulled the struggling captain off the wall and fell into the undead creatures below the wall!

Then, with a few short screams, the brave captain was eaten alive by the ghouls.

Then, before these frightened militiamen had time to react, with the sound of "whoosh", strips of pink objects suddenly shot out from the abdominal cavity of the undead creatures under the wall, like a frog's retractable long tongue Usually, they accurately rushed towards the necks and limbs of the militiamen who were not protected by armor.Those militiamen who were unfortunately recruited, even if they were not directly "teared off their corpses" and became bait, they all covered their wounds and screamed and fell down. After a while, many alienated blood vessels full of blood sprang from their bodies. It was infected by some kind of evil poison.

At this time, another group of militiamen and a few adventurers heard the bell and came here to rescue them with spears and swords. Seeing the militiamen guarding the gate fell to the ground crying and injured, they rushed forward one after another. Reach out to help.Unexpectedly, as soon as he got close to the wounded, the blood vessels on his body started to move like small snakes or tentacles, and immediately entangled the rescuers who came behind, making them unable to move for a while.

"...Oops! Cut them off!" Seeing such a terrifying scene, an experienced adventurer was startled and hurriedly shouted.

However, what answered him was a gloomy and deep voice from the other side of the wall:
"...It's too late! Explode!"

In the next moment, those militiamen infected with the evil toxin instantly swelled up, and then exploded with a bang!In an instant, it turned into a strange purple poisonous blood, scattered and splashed in the night, and landed on the clothes and armor of the people. It was like being burned by strong acid, and green smoke came out.And those who were splashed on the bare skin of their heads, faces, necks and wrists rolled on the ground in pain...

——In the blink of an eye, half of the reinforcements gathered from everywhere when they heard the alarm bells were reimbursed, and the rest of the people were also trembling with fear. throw stones far away, or shoot arrows in the direction of the cemetery indiscriminately.

At the same time, the skeletons and zombies crowded under the wall, trampled on each other, gradually piled up into a "skeleton ladder". At the beginning, a few zombies stepped on the carrion of their companions, and appeared staggeringly in the unguarded place. On the wall of the cemetery... Immediately afterwards, with a loud "bang", the steel gate of the cemetery was also pushed down by the huge crowd of corpses, and a mighty wave of undead took the opportunity to rush out in large numbers, showing a hideous look to the living. Fangs!
At this point, the weak militiamen and adventurers were finally overwhelmed by despair, turning around and fleeing howling.

"...I can't stand it anymore! I can't stand it anymore! I have to let adventurers of the orichanite level and the mithril level!"

"...I don't think there is any use for steel-level adventurers! This city is finished! Open the outer city gate and escape!"

"...The wilderness at night is not necessarily safe, let's go to the inner city first!"

"...But it's midnight now, can I still go in? The city gates should be closed and locked at night!"

"...Even at night, there are people who want to come in and out! I know that there is a small door on the west side that is still open..."

Amidst the darkness, the escaped adventurers and the rout soldiers trampled on each other, finally escaped from the cemetery that had become an ogre den.

However, the enemies lurking in the dark obviously did not intend to let these prey escape easily—accompanied by bursts of ominous rumbling roars and violent tremors as if the earth was shaking, the two sides of the street and the center of the street cracked one after another. Big cracks, countless pairs of withered black hands with almost only skeletons left, slowly stretched out from those cracks, and then slapped the ground heavily, pulling out the entire body, instantly blocking the way of the fugitive!

Then, this long street crowded with thousands of refugees quickly turned into a terrifying flesh mill.

Skeletons and zombies slowly pouring in from all directions quickly blocked the escape route of the remaining humans.There are also hideous and terrifying undead monsters, jumping back and forth between the houses and walls, continuously shooting out strips of pink intestines from the abdomen, knocking down and killing the dying people one by one.A puff of blood mist exploded under the night, accompanied by heart-piercing screams, which made people's faces change.

The militiamen and adventurers guarding the city wall looked down at the killing field below them in fear, not even daring to breathe.

——On that day, human beings finally recalled the horror once brought by the undead, and the humiliation of being slaughtered wantonly by aliens.

However, relying on the barrier of the two tall city walls, it should be possible to confine these undead creatures to the outside of the residential area and inside the outer wall. In such a narrow area, they cannot harm ordinary civilians in the city, right?Fortunately, some people think so.

Then, a more terrible tragedy happened...

I saw a small gate of the second city wall suddenly burst and collapsed at this time for some unknown reason. Immediately afterwards, before the city guards had time to react, there was a huge white bone worm, also known as a skeleton centipede giant undead monster, With a pungent rancid smell, it rushed in from the open door at an alarming speed, knocked away the adventurers who rushed to the door to meet them, and broke into the residential area inside the second city wall in one breath!

And what followed behind this bone worm was a large black mass of endless undead creatures!
——A magnificent fortress city.Lantel has been completely swallowed up by the undead frenzy so far!