章 64: Chapter 64: The Attacked Outpost
Chapter 64: The Attacked Outpost
"What's wrong?"
Hearing the voice from outside, Alex immediately asked. This carriage, of course, didn't have any advanced technology like autopilot; the driver was a young man named Garrison, sent by Clark. Garrison was a sharp kid. Because of his age, he hadn't been sent to the frontlines but was instead responsible for logistics in the rear, so he hadn't been injured.
Due to his quick wits and familiarity with the terrain, Clark had entrusted him with driving the carriage.
"It's like this, sir. The outpost... something seems... off..."
"The outpost?"
Alex raised an eyebrow at this and then pushed open the door to step out of the carriage, walking over to the driver's side. Seeing Alex approach, the young man respectfully nodded and pointed ahead.
"Sir, look over there..."
Following Garrison's direction, Alex quickly spotted the outpost not far down the hill. According to Clark, this outpost was the safest place in the area, manned by fifty soldiers and a paladin of the temple. It served as a critical connection between Order's Fortress and the Northern Alliance's rear, usually bustling and heavily fortified.
But now, it looked dilapidated. The once-solid walls had several breaches, and black smoke could be seen rising. This wasn't just "something off"; it was clear that something was seriously wrong.
"How could this happen? Could the outpost have been breached too?"
With his Zerg-enhanced body, Alex's vision was more than ten times that of a normal human, practically like having a built-in telescope. A quick glance was all he needed to grasp the situation at the outpost. The young driver, however, lacked this ability; to him, the outpost was just a tiny black dot. If it weren't for his experience telling him that the smoke was coming from the outpost's direction, he wouldn't have suspected anything was wrong.
But now, as he stared at that distant black dot, Garrison grew increasingly uneasy.
"It doesn't make sense. Even if a pack of black wolves attacked, the outpost should have had enough strength to hold them off. How could this happen...?"
"I'll go check it out."
Alex interrupted the young man's monologue, patting him on the shoulder before scanning the surroundings.
"Move the carriage to a safe spot first. I'll investigate what's going on there."
"You're going alone? Sir, wouldn't it be...?"
But before Garrison could finish his sentence, he heard a soft "whoosh" by his ear. When he turned to look, he was shocked to find that Alex, who had been standing near him just moments ago, had vanished like a ghost.
"...That's seriously spooky."
Looking at the now empty spot, Garrison patted his chest. If he hadn't seen Alex's near-teleportation-like abilities on the city walls, he might have thought he had encountered a legendary forest spirit or ghost...
Unaware of what was going through Garrison's mind, Alex had already reached the gate of the outpost, his expression grave as he surveyed the scene.
If he had only suspected before, he was now almost certain that the outpost had fallen. The gates were wide open, with bloodstains all over the walls and ground. Scattered weapons and charred corpses littered the area, clear evidence of a fierce battle.
But what made Alex's expression so serious wasn't just that the outpost had been breached. It was the faint smell of sulfur lingering in the ashes on the ground.
While black wolves could breathe fire, their flames were infused with magic and left no scent. In fact, there was only one type of fire that carried this distinctive sulfuric smell.
Hellfire.
In Alex's memory, there was only one group of people on this continent who used such fire.
Cultists.
Specifically, followers of the Church of Doom. According to their "holy book," there was a detailed prophecy that the world would ultimately be consumed and destroyed by flames. The followers of the Church of Doom were particularly fond of using fire to demonstrate their power and authority.
Hellfire, with its primal, raging nature that could turn everything to ashes, perfectly embodied the cultists' obsession with the flames of destruction. As a result, they learned how to summon this fire from the depths of hell to use in combat. The more skilled the cultist, the more adept they were at wielding this power.
Why did Alex know this? Simple. Although he had a new body, Conrad's memories were still intact in his mind. As a cultist, that guy was pretty competent. Alex even unearthed a little secret from Conrad's memories—one could gauge a cultist's strength by how strong the smell of hellfire was on them.
Alex also learned from Conrad's memories that some crazed high-ranking followers would even infuse their bodies entirely with hellfire, using secret techniques to bind its power. This allowed these high-ranking cultists to wield extremely powerful hellfire at will, and if they were losing a fight, they could self-destruct...
The situation at the outpost struck Alex as strange. From the outside, it was clear the outpost had been violently attacked. It had faced a fierce assault right from the start.
However, the interior of the outpost seemed relatively undisturbed. Most of the rooms were intact, with only signs of a search having taken place. This indicated that after the outpost was breached, it quickly surrendered, and everyone was taken away...
Hmm?
Suddenly, Alex's ear twitched, and he turned his head to look at the wall beside him. His eyes began to change, the deep brown irises shifting to a golden hue, with the pupils narrowing into vertical slits.
This was another ability Alex had inherited from the Zerg genes. With this ability, he could not only see in the dark with ease but also use a form of "infrared detection" to scan for living beings. However, these abilities came with a downside—his eyes would inevitably transform into those of the Zerg when activated.
This was hard to explain to others, so unless he was alone or in a dire situation, Alex preferred not to reveal his Zerg-derived powers.
Soon, the world in Alex's eyes began to shift. A vivid red color enveloped everything before dimming down. He quickly spotted a crimson figure on the other side of the wall, poised in a battle stance.
It was clear that whoever it was had sensed something and was preparing to launch a surprise attack.
A survivor? Or an intruder?
Alex tightened his grip on his longsword, blinking as he retracted his gaze. Then, he reached out, firmly grasping his sword before slashing it forcefully against the wall!
The brilliant sword light struck the stone wall like a battering ram, causing it to cave in and shatter. Simultaneously, Alex's perception of the world began to shift.
The flying debris suddenly seemed to slow down, turning lazily in the air like snails moving across the sky. It reminded Alex of the "bullet time" scenes in FPS games he used to play in his previous life.
In fact, that was his inspiration—time manipulation had many uses, and this was one technique he had developed.
After all, in his past life, the ways to utilize time in games were practically endless!
With a swift leap, Alex dashed through the breach in the wall. He quickly spotted a figure retreating in a panic. Clearly, the person hadn't anticipated that his opponent would ignore the front door and instead take down the wall.
The figure raised a longsword, attempting to counterattack. But unfortunately for him, in Alex's perception, his movements were as slow as a crawling turtle.
Before the figure could fully raise his sword, Alex's Skybreaker Sword was already pressed against his neck.
At that moment, time resumed its normal flow.
"Crack... crack..."
The shattered stones scattered across the ground, dust filling the air. The man struggled briefly, but before he could make another move, Alex got a clear look at his face, causing him to pause in surprise.
"Knight Conan? Why is it you? What are you doing here?"
(This chapter ends)
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