Chapter 196: Corruption Tide First Appears

The furnace of Anvilburg finally lit the first formal flame; red-hot iron molten flowed in the trenches, the heavy hammering sound like a rousing war drum, announcing that new power was rising on this land.

Coordination between the Three Cities grew ever more seamless; supplies and personnel flowed smoothly, and the whole alliance operated like a precisely meshed gear set, running efficiently.

However, amidst this thriving prosperity, an unsettling, faint corruption began to drift in on the southeast wind, spreading silently.

The first to notice the abnormality were the Night Elves.

The Night Elves, through plants and nature spirits, sensed that in the distant forest edge, vitality was continuously draining, plants showed abnormal withering and mutation, and some small animals became agitated and violent.

"My lord, there is an abnormality in the southeast!" Moonshadow Elder reported to Li Qingxuan via the communication stone at once, tone grave: "Nature is wailing; a kind of corrosive power is contaminating the land."

Almost simultaneously, the Icefield Magic Wolf Pack tasked with outer perimeter watch sent a tense, uneasy feeling, letting out threatening low growls toward the southeast, as if sensing a great danger.

Li Qingxuan immediately climbed to the highest watchtower of Guangtan Fortress, exerting his vision to look toward the southeast.

Although the distance was still far, his powerful spiritual power had already caught a layer of ominous gray-green mist faintly shrouding the sky below, and the nauseating chaos and corruption contained within.

"Lure the wolf to devour the tiger?" Li Qingxuan's eyes turned cold; he instantly understood the source of this aura.

This is certainly not natural; it must be the work of the Shadow Hall!

They indeed have not given up, switching to this poisonous scheme of luring the tiger to devour the wolf!

"Issue the order! The Three Cities enter first-level battle readiness! All non-combat personnel take shelter! Combatants take your positions!" Li Qingxuan's voice spread instantly across the Three Cities via the communication stone.

The alarm bell rang long! The three cities, just immersed in construction enthusiasm, instantly entered a state of war.

The Dwarves dropped their tools, grabbed war axes and heavy hammers, and quickly climbed the newly built walls of Anvilburg.

The Elf Hunters, like light birds, hid among the woods and battlements of Moonlight Ring, their longbows drawn to full.

In Guangtan Fortress, Chen Xiulan, Li Jing, and Huang Rong each attended to their duties.

Chen Xiulan climbed the watchtower, her longbow pointed toward the southeast.

Li Jing and Huang Rong stood beside Li Qingxuan, silently awaiting the monsters' appearance.

Li Qingxuan personally took command of Guangtan Fortress; this is the core pivot of the Triangular Defense Zone.

Huang Rong and Li Jing stayed close at his side, while Chen Xiulan not far behind continually reported the situation to Li Qingxuan.

Queen Aister presided over Moonlight Ring, while the Tongxu Clan Chief took charge of Anvilburg's defense command.

The corruption's aura grew ever stronger.

One day later, the elf scout responsible for forward reconnaissance returned with more definite intelligence—large numbers of corrupted derivatives were surging out from the Fu Hua Zhao Ze in the southeast, like a gray tide, spreading toward their alliance!

These derivatives had twisted forms—some like swollen slimes, others like beast carcasses parasitized by vines and fungi; their common trait was exuding a corruption aura, their bodies possessing extremely strong regenerative and contaminating power, making ordinary physical attacks largely ineffective.

"They are extremely numerous, and… the land they pass over sees plants wither, water sources polluted, as if all vitality were being sucked away!" the elf scout reported, still shaken.

"We cannot let them approach our walls!" the Tongxu Clan Chief's voice came through the communication stone, with the dwarves' characteristic stubbornness: "Our walls and furnace must never be defiled by these filthy things!"

"They fear pure energy and flame." Moonshadow Elder added, "Natural spells and enchanted flame should be able to inflict effective damage on them."

Li Qingxuan quickly adjusted deployment: "Elf units, prioritize enchanted arrows and natural spells to snipe large targets, slowing the Corruption Tide's advance! Dwarf warriors, your task is to build a fire line beneath the walls—the molten iron and high-temperature charcoal in the furnace are the best weapons! I will personally slay their leaders! The wolf pack will clear small enemy groups and scouts that bypass the line!"

With the orders issued, the Three Cities began to run like a war machine, operating efficiently.

When the first wave of corrupted derivatives surged into view like rotting pus, the battle erupted!

From the Moonlight Ring side, emerald enchanted arrows and spell light shimmering with moonlight fell like raindrops into the Corruption Tide; struck derivatives emitted piercing shrieks, their bodies rapidly withering and collapsing.

But their numbers were truly too many, wave after wave.

On Anvilburg's walls, the Dwarves roared, hurling red-hot charcoal chunks and freshly molten iron smoking with cyan vapor through specially made chutes toward the base of the walls!

Sizzle—!

A grating, corrosive sound and burnt stench spread, as swaths of corrupted derivatives turned to ash in the heat, forming a brief line of flame and lava.

Guangtan Fortress's giant crossbow let out a deep roar; its massive bolts, carrying great kinetic energy, pierced and tore apart some huge corrupted monsters like moving flesh mountains.

However, the Corruption Tide did not retreat because of this; instead, it surged forward even more frenziedly.

The pus and fragments left from slain corrupted derivatives actually writhed and gathered on the ground, forming new, even more bizarre conglomerates that bared teeth and claws, continuing to advance.

Beneath the walls, the Dwarves continually replenished charcoal and molten iron; their faces full of resolve, sweat dripped down their beards, instantly evaporating in the heat.

The Elf Hunters' fingers twitched slightly from continuous bow-drawing, but their gaze remained focused; each shot struck its target precisely.

Under the Wolf King's lead, the Icefield Magic Wolf Pack moved like white grim reapers on the outer fringe, their sharp teeth and claws ripping open the bodies of corrupted derivatives one by one, though also splattered with nauseating pus, their fur stained with filth, yet they did not retreat, precisely pouncing on those derivatives trying to slip in from the flanks or stray alone.

Just as the battle stalled and pressure mounted, the Shadowy Thorns that usually lay dormant around Guangtan Fortress's outskirts were fully activated by this intense aura of death and corruption!

Deep-purple vines, like awakened giant pythons, surged madly from the soil at the base of the walls!

They were no longer the previous relatively slow writhing, but now carried a famished ferocity!

Only see those thick Shadowy Thorn Main Vines, as if alive, actively rushing to meet the surging Corruption Tide!

Their sharp mouthparts frenziedly opened and closed, accompanied by a chilling metallic scraping sound.

"Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!"

The vines, like deadly poison dragons, precisely pierced the bodies of the corrupted derivatives!

Whether swollen slime-like monsters or beast carcasses parasitized by fungi, before the Shadowy Thorns' metal‑chewing sharp mouthparts, they were as fragile as paper!

The deep‑purple vines instantly darkened further, stained by filthy blood and slime, yet the dark‑red energy flow on their surface surged and flashed with unprecedented speed!

They were devouring!

They were absorbing!

The flesh of the corrupted derivatives, imbued with chaotic and corruptive energy, seemed to become the most coveted nourishment for the Shadowy Thorns!

With each derivative devoured, the vines seemed to thicken a fraction, their spines sharpening a hair's breadth!

They were no longer merely passive defense, but actively surging through the Corruption Tide, piercing and strangling!

A main vine thrust violently into the base of a corrupted aggregate, its mouthparts frenziedly opening and closing, forcibly tearing huge chunks of writhing corrupt flesh from that massive body!

The aggregate emitted a silent roar, its movements grew sluggish, and more foul fluid seeped from the wound, drawing even more Shadowy Thorns to swarm in!

The situation on the battlefield instantly changed!

The Elves of Moonlight Ring felt their pressure greatly reduced; they stared in shock as the vines, once mere defensive facilities, now transformed into the greediest predators, battling alongside against the Corruption Tide.

The dwarves of Anvilburg were also dumbfounded, seeing the Shadowy Thorns even actively wrap themselves around the fire‑burned, sluggish derivatives and suck them dry!

The frenzied consumption of the Shadowy Thorns not only greatly slowed the advance of the Corruption Tide, but it also seemed to be evolving and growing at a visible pace; their colors deepened, their aura grew fiercer, as if the endless corrupted army were the long‑awaited feast they had been waiting for.

The battle was extraordinarily brutal.

The Corrupted Derivatives know no fear, fear no death, they hurl their bodies at the fire line and the Shadowy Thorns, attempting to pollute the city wall with their corrupt bodily fluids.

The dwarves took turns going to the front, constantly replenishing fuel to maintain the fire line.

The elves' arrows and spells were also being continuously depleted.

Li Qingxuan did not act rashly; his spiritual power enveloped the entire battlefield, closely monitoring the movements of the Corruption Tide and any possible leader hidden within it.

He knew that if that source were not eliminated, these derivatives would be virtually endless.

On the first day, under the desperate resistance of the Three Cities Alliance, the Corruption Tide was firmly blocked outside the joint defense zone, leaving vast scorched and withered traces, as well as countless twisted remains.

However, everyone knew this was only the beginning.

The source of the Corruption Tide has not yet revealed itself, and the Shadow Hall's conspiracy will not be so simple.

This corruption tide, guided by the Shadow Hall, is the New Life Alliance's first true and severe trial.

Whether they can hold back this filthy torrent will be revealed in the battles to come.

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