Chapter 111

Sakavi stands on the cliff behind the dark, overlooking this fortress built relying on the terrain of the pass, with steep mountain walls on both sides, like a natural barrier.

The fortress is irregular in shape, roughly extending along the trend of the pass, perfectly integrated with the surrounding terrain, giving people a feeling of being naturally formed. Seen from a high place, the entire fortress is like a giant monster, entrenched in the pass, guarding the key passage.

"Gisk," Sakavi's voice could not tell joy or anger, like rolling rocks, "you did... better than I imagined. In just two months, it's not easy to make this fortress stand firm in the wind of the Howling Canyon."

The dragon head turned toward the Gnoll commander who stood straight but could not hide his fatigue and a hint of smugness.

"However—" his tail tone dragged out slightly, his slit pupils contracting, "the construction period was fast enough to make me a bit surprised. This shell that looks hard enough... inside, did you secretly change the 'material' that wasn't enough in weight to catch up with the progress?"

"You can rest assured, Grand Duke, here it is guaranteed to be able to withstand the attack of five complete legions. Look at this front, the original road was completely dug off, forming a huge chasm three meters wide. The bottom of the ditch is covered with wooden stakes coated with poison."

"Only a suspension bridge hung by iron chains connects the two sides. This suspension bridge is paved with heavy iron plates, covered with barbs to prevent enemies from climbing."

"Behind is a thick city wall twenty meters high. It is densely covered with demon skulls and broken weapons, both as trophies and as deterrence."

"On the city wall, every ten meters, a 'Stone Crusher' is set up, which is a catapult improved by Underground Gnome engineers, capable of throwing burning asphalt barrels."

"Not bad, then what is the internal situation? I am very curious."

"Grand Duke, please walk this way; evaluating with your own eyes is better than me saying ten thousand sentences."

The huge iron-inlaid gate slowly rose in front of them, making a muffled gear rotation sound. Behind the gate is a Weng City with a depth of about thirty meters. On both sides are steep protective walls full of shooting holes, and above the head is a closable ceiling with movable grilles.

Passing through the Weng City, it is the main passage leading to the inner fortress. The passage is wide enough for four fully armed Minotaurs to walk side by side, but every twenty meters, there is a steel cage that descends by half a meter and has a drop gate groove at the top.

Gisk pointed to the hidden dark groove on the ceiling: "If they really break in, we can drop the iron-inlaid thorn gate in sections, cut them into several segments, and cut and annihilate them in the passage."

On the walls on both sides of the passage, in addition to conventional torch slots, a large number of bowl-sized circular recesses were reserved. Gisk explained: "These holes can be poured with acid, sprayed with fire, or inserted with spears."

"The hard stones like basalt in the canyon outside are just right to fill in, cheaper than burning bricks, and harder."

Entering the main hall of the inner fortress, the space is high and wide. Supporting the dome are four extremely rough, unpolished native rock pillars, which are part of the mountain itself.

In the center of the hall is a huge fire pond, above which is a cleverly chiseled flue and ventilation hole, also serving as a vertical evacuation channel in an emergency. "Smoke can go out, and people can climb up if necessary; it connects to the observation post on the top of the mountain."

The surrounding walls were chiseled with multi-layered wall shelves and trestle roads, forming a three-dimensional defensive platform. The material looks like the corner stones dug out during excavation, simply piled up and reinforced.

On one side of the main hall, there are several passages leading to the depths. Gisk pushed open a heavy wooden door, inside which is a dry storage cave. Bags of grain, barrels of clear water, piles of weapons and arrows are classified and neatly stacked, and the cave walls are moisture-proofed.

Another smaller cave is piled with sulfur, saltpeter, and refined grease, magic scrolls, and magic potions, well-ventilated and away from the living area.

The living area is chiseled along the inside of the mountain, small but practical. The rough stone beds are covered with dry grass and animal skins, and each bunk has a personal storage compartment.

The public toilet is a deep-dug tunnel, connected to the closed septic tank at the bottom of the fortress. "Regularly adding lime and herbs can control the smell, and can also produce a small amount of flammable gas, which is led to the kitchen stove through ceramic pipes or... led to certain traps when needed," Gisk explained, carrying a pragmatic coldness.

As they walked, Gisk pointed out those inconspicuous but fatal details: trigger mechanisms for tripwires hidden under the threshold, movable baffles installed on the inside of the ventilation holes that can throw explosive objects inward, certain ordinary-looking but loose stone bricks, behind which are pit traps full of poisonous thorns.

"The secret tunnel of the command hall connects the north and south sides, providing messengers with intelligence transmission when the gate is closed. A small door only for small troops is set on the side of the main city wall, used for patrol teams to enter and exit, without affecting main road traffic."

"On the cliffs on the east and west sides, there is a defensive tower and ten watchtowers respectively, ensuring that it can withstand all forces trying to sneak attack the fortress from above, and two Harpy squadrons are stationed on them, responsible for patrolling the surroundings."

Sakavi silently scanned this fortress that came to the desperate ground, from the rough yet exceptionally sturdy structure to every detail full of battlefield wisdom.

Gisk pointed to the direction of the coalition supply line faintly visible in the distance.

"The construction period was tight, but I didn't cut corners; I just... 'optimized' the process and material sources." He grinned, "Every penny and time saved turned into more traps, thicker walls, or... fuller warehouses."

"Very good." Sakavi's dragon pupils flashed with a cold light, "The coalition once let us act as a shield on the front line, bearing the fiercest impact of the demons... then now, it is time for them to pay some substantive price for their strategy."

His sharp claws tapped the rock wall, making a muffled sound.

"The chess game of the battlefield has always been back and forth. Now, it is our turn to move."

"So you have already planned the next step of action? I have been waiting here until I got moldy."

"I have a good news and a bad news here, which one do you want to hear?"

"Of course it's the good news, is it going to war? I have been waiting for a long time."

"That ancient ruin group in the north, it's time to clean it up." The voice was like a muffled thunder deep in the ground.

"Verna's intelligence is very timely; some Adventurer's Guilds with hands too long have already drilled into holes they shouldn't have drilled into like mice. How they got in is not important, what is important is..."

The dragon head turned toward Gisk, his gaze cold.

"My territory cannot accommodate running hyenas. Your mission is to completely clear the demons entrenched there."

He paused slightly, letting the following words carry more weight.

"And the 'bad news' is that after cleaning up, you can't come back directly. You have to build a city there for me, not just a fortress."

"But a town that can take root, can live, and at the same time can put the blade tip on the throat of every coveter. We want to control not only that ruin, but the right to speak in the entire region."

"Any force that still wants to hit the idea there, before reaching out, must first weigh the bed crossbows you have on the city wall, and the garrison that can surge out of the streets at any time."

Sakavi's sharp claws tapped the ground, "Cut the grass, and remove the roots. What I want you to build is that 'root' that no one can bypass."

"Grand Duke, who will guard the 'gate' here?" He spat at the sturdy but isolated fortress under his feet, "The wind in the Howling Canyon carries the smell of blood, and every time the tide rises in the direction of the Blood Rage Sea, new twisted things are washed ashore. This ghostly place is like a piece of meat thrown into a pack of hungry wolves, and it can be gnawed into nothing in the blink of an eye."

He turned around, facing Sakavi, the questioning revealing responsibility: "The people I take north cannot be too many. Who do you plan to let fill the gap left behind? The new recruits can't hold the next wave of real impact."

"Within three days, Shadow Claw will lead his entire swamp Lizardman legion to enter this place. They have very rich defensive experience and are better at fighting in the damp environment along the Blood Rage Sea. The defense of the Dark Ridge Pass will be handed over to experts who are more adapted to this 'stinking ditch' than you."

His topic then shifted to the north.

"And you, Gisk, take your most elite men, as well as the purification materials 'provided' by the coalition. Your mission is to stand firm in the northern ruin group and build a fortress town that guards the passage."

Sakavi's sharp claws pointed to the area marked on the map, his voice low and clear.

"Remember, that place not only overlooks the ruins, but is also separated from the Scorched Trace Wasteland by the sea. Whoever masters that place masters the throat of future cross-sea operations. What I want you to build is a nail wedged into a strategic hub, a sharp thorn that makes all latecomers flinch."

"Now, you can rest assured to be that 'sharp thorn.' The 'bones' here will be taken over by lizards who are better at gnawing hard bones."

"Grand Duke, Shalute's side... is a bit abnormally quiet."

He used his claws to roughly outline the trend of the Broken Blade Canyon in the floating dust on the ground.

"Two months, enough for a messenger Harpy to go back and forth ten times. Even if the canyon is not completely opened, with the ability of the Ogre scouts under his command, releasing one or two batches of people back to deliver a message is doable."

Gisk's yellow pupils stared fixedly at Sakavi, "Now this kind of complete silence has only two possibilities: either he is fighting too smoothly and can't take care of it at all; or..."

He paused, not saying the second half, but the meaning was already clear.

"I think we can't just wait. At least send a capable and fast small team, not needing too many people, but must be the best mountain scouts and lurkers, to sneak in and see the situation."

"Even if they can't help, they must know what is behind that 'door'—is it a triumphal flag... or a mess that needs us to clean up?"

"There is no need to worry about this."

Sakavi's dragon claws drew a deep mark on the rock ground, as if moving a piece on the sand table.

"I will send Uglu, leading his entire Minotaur battle group to take over the defensive line. Those horned barbarians are just right for building an iron wall that can't be pushed in the canyon."

He paused slightly, a deeper consideration flashing in his molten-gold slit pupils.

"As for Shalute... he has his own battle to fight, his own stone to chisel through. The Minotaurs will guard his rear for him, allowing him to focus on gnawing the hard bone in front of him."

"Reinforcement is not to intervene in his war, but to ensure that his back will never suddenly become the front line."