readx;

The northern part of the province of Cannotti of the Pompeii Empire, which is only the end of September, is already a scene of ice and snow. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The snow has accumulated thick in the forests and fields, and the mountains are even more covered with ice and snow. The dazzling white and low-pressure clouds make the heavens and the earth cloudy, which looks oppressive and bleak.

On a dilapidated road full of potholes, several knights covered in mud and snow galloped from south to north. They were passing by an abandoned village that had long been deserted. Under the roadbed, dilapidated wooden houses, crumbling walls, abandoned boxes, clothes, and the bones of sick and dead domestic animals retreated as if flying.

Suddenly, there was a sad hiss. A war horse fell to the ground with exhaustion during the run, and the huge inertia caused it to roll several times in the mud. Fortunately, the knight reacted quickly, and almost the moment the horse stumbled, he took off into the air, and only then did he escape.

"Damn it!"

The fallen knight walked up to the muddy horse, and after checking it, he found that it had broken its leg, so he could only curse, put an end to the pain of the horse with his sword, unsaddle the saddle and baggage, and put it on another horse that accompanied him.

"Hurry up. One of the bearded knights in the lead lifted the hood of his cloak and showed a somewhat agitated face, and said to the fallen knight, "We must get to Red Clay within twelve prayers to find out what is going on." The general is still waiting for our reward. ”

"Return?" the fallen knight said without looking back as fast as he could, "Even a pig can guess what is going on in Red Clay Town, and we still need to investigate? It's a death anyway, what's the hurry?"

As he spoke, the other four knights also turned their horses' heads back. Everyone looked at each other, and their faces were a little gloomy and ugly.

This is a scout team from the Third Frontier Army of the Pompeii Empire, and is on order to investigate the situation in a place called Red Earth Town in the north.

It's been more than three months since the demons invaded the Pompeii Empire.

When the impression of the people in the south of the Redemption Continent of the Demon Race only existed in the daily battle reports of the first level of the history books, it was already full of wars and devastation.

From breaking through the Holy City to the present, the demon race can be said to have been like a bamboo. In the process, the Pompeii Empire was not without resistance. It's just that the troops invested in the early stage are only border troops and local guard troops in the northeast. Several times the enemy came down, suffering heavy casualties, and almost collapsed at the first touch.

Later, the strategy of the empire changed. The main force of the army and the elite knights were all transferred to the west, guarding the road to the capital city of Roman and the Holy Vantinoburg, only opening up the south.

What the upper echelons are thinking, everyone understands. Because of this, the Third Army of the Pompeii Frontier Army, which was originally stationed in the south, had already retreated in great strides a month earlier. Now the main force of the legion is already in the city of Moses in the southwest. Only a knightly brigade and two infantry battalions remained in the north.

Leaving these troops behind, naturally, was not to resist the demons.

In fact, because the legions were the first to retreat south, there were still many inhabitants, nobles, and a large number of local troops in the north who did not withdraw.

The road resources here are already tight, and even if you add some trails that go around the mountain roads, there are only two or three roads from north to south. The largest trade route is limited to a maximum of four horse-drawn carriages side by side. In addition, this year's snow fell very early, and the mud and slippery ground exacerbated the congestion.

When thousands of refugees along the way poured onto the road, it was a disaster.

Even if the army has the privilege of passage, it will not go far in a day. As for the refugees who help the old and the young, they are even more pitiful, not to mention walking slowly in the snow, and they have to go down the roadbed from time to time to make way for the army. Coupled with the lack of food and clothing, many old and weak women and children fell to the ground as they walked, unable to get up again.

Coming from south to north, the scout team didn't know how many frozen corpses they saw, and how many abandoned villages and castles they saw.

After all, this is not a war between humans, this is a race war.

The only purpose of the warring parties is to exterminate each other.

Besides, once it falls into the hands of the demons, no one knows what kind of torture it will be. And this fear of the unknown is even more frightening than death itself.

Therefore, when the demon soldiers pointed at the town where they were, everyone's only thought was to escape. Flee farther away.

In such a situation, the legion naturally needs some remaining troops to help those "in need".

Of course, with the virtues of Emperor Pompey, these people in need of help will naturally not be ordinary ordinary people. As far as the scouts knew, there were about 600 people in need of help, all of whom were nobles and wealthy people from the city of Pétain and its surroundings, north of Red Earth.

Although in terms of the scope of the empire as a whole, the local nobility of a medium-sized city is really nothing. However, the relationship between the major families of the empire is intertwined, and it is inevitable that they will be related to each other, and many of these nobles are side branches of wealthy families. Therefore, their safety must be guaranteed.

And for the Third Army, it was also big business.

These nobles fled from their homeland, not only taking all their wealth with them, but also scraping the ground when they left. Collected every copper coin. In order to leave safely, they paid the legion a large sum of money. And if they can successfully reach the capital Roman City, they will give an extra amount.

Now, however, it seems that the business has gone awry. The nobles who were supposed to arrive in Moses a long time ago have not been seen. Together with the troops left behind, a total of more than 3,000 large living people, it was as if they had been swallowed by a mysterious black hole. Not to mention people, not even a little news. dudu1;

The Legion also released the Falcon to try to make contact, but even the Falcon disappeared.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the corps commander personally ordered to send scout troops to the north to reconnoitre. There were twelve scout troops, and this one was the seventh.

To be honest, being selected for this mission among the many scouts is absolutely unlucky. What made this team of scouts even more uneasy was that the six squads sent out before did not send back any news. Everyone knew that things were not good, but they all kept them in their hearts all the way, until the fallen knight spoke it now.

The atmosphere was a little solemn for a while.

From the city of Moses, the squad had traveled almost thirty kilometers to the north, and twenty kilometers further on, there was a place called Boar Slope, which was now the first line of defense on the outskirts of the legion.

In other words, the area where the legion can guarantee security today is just south of the boar slope. No one knows what the situation is in the north and what the danger is. What's more, the place where this scout team was going was Hongtu Town, which was at least seventy kilometers north of the Boar Slope.

However, no matter how dangerous it is, after all, the military order is like a mountain. Now that you have been chosen, the task that should be performed must be performed. Otherwise, not to mention themselves, even their families will be implicated.

The punishment of soldiers in the Pompeii Empire for such crimes was very cruel.

Disobedience was punished with caning, thieves were cut off, and deserters were put to death. And the crime of lying about the military, which can lead to more serious consequences, will directly implicate the entire family.

In addition to the execution of the main culprit himself, the family members were also sent to the labor camp to serve their labor. If you're even less lucky, it's not uncommon to be sent to a brothel or a gladiatorial arena, or even a cage.

"Actually, it's not that bad," the leading knight saw that his subordinates were in a mood that was a little wrong, and immediately relieved, "When the legion left, the demon clan was still two hundred kilometers away. Even if those nobles were three days late, they wouldn't fall into the hands of the demons. My guess is that they might ......"

Before he could finish speaking, suddenly, he heard a terrible scream not far away. Immediately, a gust of wind came from the ground, and it hit like a mountain and a sea.

The scouts, both men and women, were unable to stand in the fierce wind, and staggered for a while.

And what made their faces change the most was that they found that with the appearance of the strong wind, a black mist like ink also appeared in the mountains and forests not far away.

Magic Mist!

The scouts were terrified, pulling the reins and spinning in place.

Demon Mist is a non-toxic, but extremely dense black mist. It usually appears with the appearance of the demon army.

Since the invasion of the Avalon Continent, the demon army has often used this black mist to assist in combat. They are like fish in water in the demonic mist, and they come and go freely. And human beings are in it, although they can't see their fingers, but their sight and action are also greatly limited, and their strength can't even be exerted.

In addition to the battlefield, the demons also habitually use demonic fog to conceal their whereabouts and control the occupied area. It can be said that this black fog has become the symbol of the demon race.

But how could there be a magic fog here?

While the scouts were in doubt, they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves, and a moment later, nearly a hundred knights rushed out of the mountain forest at the corner of the road ahead.

These knights were dressed in different costumes, some were noble knights, some looked like mercenaries, and some wore the same uniforms of the Third Legion as the scouts, and there were even a dozen of them, and they were also papal knights.

No one knew how these people got together, but now, they were all ragged and scarred, and their faces were black and red, covered with dust and blood.

As soon as they burst out of the grove, the knights beat their horses and galloped wildly.

Their expressions looked frightened and terrifying, and before the scout knights could come to their senses, one of the leading papal knights shouted at them: "Go!"

As soon as the papal knight's words fell, they heard a loud bang, and the scouts were shocked to see that the grove behind them suddenly collapsed. The towering trees disappeared without a trace in an instant, as if they had been swallowed by something, and the ground became a huge crater.

And along with the woods, there were four or five knights who were at the end. Even men and horses are like stones thrown into the water, completely disappearing.

A chill rushed up from the back to the scalp. The scouts dared to delay for half a minute, and they turned their horses' heads and urged their horses desperately, trying to escape from this terrible place.

And at this moment, I heard another loud explosion on the flat ground. Countless dirt trees and various war horses, human bodies, and fragments of clothing and armor rose from the big pit, and in an instant, a giant red worm like an earthworm came out of the ground.

At the sight of the giant worm, the scouts' pupils contracted dramatically. dudu2;

That's when they finally understood what was happening.

"Sandworms!"

One of the scouts let out a terrible roar, and his entire face was distorted in great terror.

Sandworms and sand beasts are two terrible war beasts in the hands of the demons. These two creatures are not protists of the continent of Avalon. It was brought from their native plane when the demons invaded. Among them, sandworms are the most terrifying.

Sand worms live underground and look like earthworms, but they are countless times larger. The body of the adult can reach up to two hundred meters in length and ten meters in diameter. They have a large circular mouth that can be opened to a diameter of more than thirty meters. The mouth is lined with five rings of extremely sharp teeth.

Whether it is mountain stone or steel, as long as it is swallowed into the mouth, it will be immediately twisted into pieces.

Since the Demon invasion, sandworms have been a nightmare for the human coalition. Driven by demons, they are able to sneak from the ground to anywhere without even noticing. I don't know how many battles there were, but the human coalition army lost because of the appearance of this insect at a critical moment.

Among the ten most dangerous demon creatures rated by the human alliance, the sandworm ranks fifth. And if you are ranked by the number of human casualties, sandworms can be ranked first.

This shows how terrible sandworms can be.

Even though three hundred years have passed since the final battle, and most of today's humans have never seen sandworms, this terrifying memory still lives in the vast history books and military books. Not to mention these scouts who have to face the demons directly, even ordinary people can recognize them.

And what terrified the scouts was not only the encounter with this legendary terrifying creature, but the most terrifying thing was that the demons had appeared here without realizing it.

You know, this is the rear of the Wild Boar Slope defense line, twenty kilometers deep into the hinterland of the legion's defense area!

What's worse is that because the strategy that the legion got was to keep a distance from the demons and let go of the south. As a result, there was not even a decent line of defense from here south to the city of Moses, except for a small number of patrols and a few small soldiers stationed in a few small villages.

In an unguarded situation, let the demons enter the city of Moses...... That kind of consequence made the scouts shudder.

By this time, the answer to what had happened in Red Earth had been revealed, and there was no need for them to investigate it anymore. Now their mission, all that's left is to run for their lives.

Only by living can we bring the news back.

Everything happened between the stone, fire, and lightning, and these thoughts only flashed through the scouts' minds. Turning the horse's head, they did not hesitate to urge the twelve layers of fighting qi and input it into the war horse's body without reservation.

In the midst of the neighing, the originally normal war horses, their eyes were red, and their body size doubled in an instant. Beneath the fur, knotted muscles and sinuous veins are clearly visible.

With the scouts urging them, the horses shot out like arrows.

Because of the suddenness of the incident and the time it takes to turn around and activate, the speed of the scouts is actually slower than that of the fleeing knights.

Almost as soon as they turned to urge their horses, hundreds of knights swept past them.

"What the hell is going on?" the scouts were equipped with the best fast horses in the army, and soon they were up to speed. As the lead horseman approached a knight in a tattered Third Legion uniform, he quickly asked, "How did the demons fight here?"

"Dead, all dead!" the knight's face turned pale, and his eyes straightened.

He clutched the reins almost mechanically and galloped with his horse. While subconsciously replied, "We were deceived by the demons. They're more than they seem. These sandworms suddenly appeared behind us. The defenders of the city of Pétain did not have time to retreat, they were surrounded, 30,000 dead, and even more than 200 papal knights. Our wild boar slope defense line was destroyed overnight, and many people were eaten by sandworms while they were still sleeping. ”

In just a few words, the knight painted a miserable picture for the scouts.

The leading knight anxiously asked, "How many troops are there in the demons, how many sandworms are there, where did they come from, in the west, and in the northeast, in the chicken coop town......

"I don't know, these people all fled all the way from the north, tens of thousands of people, just survived......" The knight only said this, and suddenly sat down and the front hooves of the war horse went limp, and he fell.

The scouts in the gallop only saw his body sink, and in the next second, he was already far behind. And before he could react, the huge sandworm had already volleyed down into the air, swallowing him in one bite, and the giant python-like body easily burrowed into the ground like a tofu.

"Hurry!"

The lead scout shouted, urging the horse to gallop. Soon, the crowd rushed past the deserted village they had passed before. However, just as they ran along the road to a small hill at the entrance of the village, suddenly, everyone restrained their horses, their pupils constricted, and their faces were like ashes. dudu3;

It's not that they don't want to escape, it's that they can't.

I saw that in the woods not far away, a few thin figures slowly walked out. They were not much taller than the dwarves, and they had long arms that mopped the floor, and they looked like monkeys. And on their faces, there is a mouth like a scorpion. On the back, there is a scorpion tail.

Demons, scorpions!

Among the eight races of the demon race, the scorpion race is the most insidious and fierce race.

They have a small population and a small body, but with their extremely fast speed, poisonous scorpion tail and hard skin, they still have extremely strong combat power.

From egg breaking to adulthood, ordinary scorpion people have to go through a total of five molts. Every time they molt, their strength grows stronger. And some gifted scorpion people can experience up to nine molts. By this time, their strength was comparable to the top sacred realm of the human race.

However, this is not the most terrifying thing about the scorpions. The biggest reason why they were able to rank among the eight major races of the demon race was because of the sandworms.

In the original plane of the demons, the sandworm was just a gentle creature. They live underground, feed on dirt and minerals, and rarely come to the surface, let alone attack other creatures.

However, when they were captured and domesticated by the Scorpions, everything was different.

The scorpion venom of the scorpion people is born with a controlling and stimulating effect on sandworms. They capture the larvae, raise them from an early age, inject scorpion venom every day, and feed them special medicines, so that the sand worms are not only larger and more ferocious than the wild ones, but also listen to their drive.

It can be said that scorpions and sandworms are completely symbiotic, and where there are scorpions, there are sandworms. Where there are sandworms, you are bound to see scorpions.

However, the scorpion's insidious cunning makes them not easy to appear. And once they show up, it usually means that the opponent has no way to escape.

At this moment, everyone saw in despair that the scorpions were staring at them with their brown eyes, which almost filled the entire socket. And as they appeared, in the woods behind them, in the deserted farmland, huge pits collapsed, and sandworms were burrowing out of the ground.

And beyond, the earth is rising.

The uplifted dirt pulled out straight lines and flew towards the south. It's as fast as a swordfish swimming on the surface of the water.

That's the trajectory of a sandworm.

Countless threads are countless sandworms. And the direction they are heading is the unsuspecting city of Moses!

At this moment, there was a dead silence all around. Only the restless neighing of the horses and the desperate gasps of the people.

Finally, in despair, the knights drew their swords and took off their spears. Among them, there are also several scouts who are like ashes. They knew they didn't have a chance to send the news back.

"Kill!"

The leading scout knight rushed out first.

Then the second, the third...... More than a hundred ragged and scarred knights, like a small swarm of ants, rose upright, dozens of meters tall sandworms, and launched a final charge.

"Kill!"

This hoarse, desperate and frantic roar echoed through the dark sky.

And then it gets weaker and weaker.

A few minutes later, the last sandworm bent and dived underground. Only a few large holes in the field and the village next to it were already empty.

After a while, a black mist filled the air, and even all of this was gone.

。 (To be continued.) )