The brass fortress was blocked by an unknown force.

It seems that communication from here to the outside world has been completely cut off overnight, and clouds of smoke like sea fog drift throughout the entire vicinity of the Gorgon Pass, which does not hurt anyone, but once you enter it, it is like walking into a labyrinth.

On the first day of this blockade, the Elven Ranger sent scouts to try to get through that layer of smoke, and the results were very disappointing.

They can't get out.

Always going around and back into the cordoned off area from the same side, after a few attempts this operation was stopped by the higher-ups, the loss of a few people was not the most terrible, the commanders were most afraid that these scouts would bring other "things" out of the smoke.

The men assembled in the Brass Fortress to defend the gnolls were all elite soldiers, and these people were very knowledgeable, Lord Pa Ying in the port of Chardo said that he had seen something similar in the Misty Sea, and the elven ranger general, Lady Philosia Emmagill, had actually seen the same fish-man monster.

Not only her, but the commander of the Songhai people here, "Sun Priest" Wumeng, also knows a lot about this thing.

They had always believed that the appearance of these smoke represented an evil force hovering around, although they did not say it explicitly, but everyone actually knew that it was the ghost of the subspace shadows.

Whether it is an elf or a Songhai people, they all belong to the kind of immortal species that can live very well, and they don't know a lot about subspace within their kingdom camp, but just like calling that villain in a certain world, who would put a nasty and dangerous name on the lips of a normal person?

And the most important thing is that the relationship between the elves and the Songhai people has always been bad, and it can even be said that it is close to hostility.

The owner of the Brass Fortress, the High Lord of the Brass Dwarves, Hadran Earthhammer, did not even dare to arrange the two groups together, lest they themselves fight first. In this case, let alone sharing intelligence, not giving the wrong guidance is already a great help.

But it was a pain for the human defenders in the Brass Fortress.

This group of human short-lived big-headed soldiers didn't know much about subspace, and after everyone else understood the current situation, they were still kept in the dark, and no one came to explain to them, which made the human soldiers more and more anxious.

Especially in the face of martial law in the Brass Fortress in recent days, the order of ordinary soldiers to stay in the barracks is almost like confinement.

The commanders on both sides have been trying their best to reassure the soldiers, and the only good news is that both human legions are truly elite and very well organized, and they know their duties and risks in the Brass Fortress, so there has been no large-scale chaos.

But if it goes on like this, things may have to take a new turn.

On the seventh day of martial law at the Brass Fortress, a dwarven guard came to inform the commanders of the two armies to go to the throne room to discuss matters, which made Brigadier General Padrew of the Plantagenet Kingdom and Major General Misoyan of the Nordtov Kingdom immediately realize that things might have changed again.

It stands to reason that the Plantagenet and the Northerners have never been friends, but in this situation, both sides are at least human, and they have a unified position when it comes to communicating with foreigners, so as the dwarven guards are on their way to the throne room, the two generals begin to communicate privately.

"These foreigners don't see us as trustworthy companions at all!"

Major General Misoyan touched his well-repaired mustache and whispered to Brigadier General Padru, who was wearing a knight's armor beside him:

"They all know what the hell the smoke is up there is, and my guards heard the elves hiding together and whispering as they went out for a walk. But you see, it's been a week, and no one has come to explain this and the current situation to us. ”

"Who's to say it isn't?"

Brigadier General Padru, who was dressed in knight's armor and held his helmet and had short blond hair, was younger and more daring, and he was obviously very dissatisfied with the treatment of himself and his soldiers, so he deliberately replied in a rough voice:

"Next to our barracks was the infantry battalion of the dwarves, and I could hear them preparing every night when I went to bed, and the noise was so loud that I couldn't sleep. I sent someone to ask, and I was told that there was no military action at all.

This is a fool!

If you don't want us humans to stay here, why don't you let us in in the first place? This attitude was as tiresome as a city that was always quiet, and if we knew that we were suffering such a crime here, we should have responded to the invitation of the famous Third Lord to help out at the Knights of the Blood Alliance.

Maybe there could be a better treatment. ”

"Tsk, are you talking about Lord Yvette Liad Cappadocia?"

Major General Misoyan glanced at his foreign counterpart with a strange look in his eyes, and he whispered:

"That lord is indeed alive and well, but did she invite you too?"

“？”

Brigadier General Paderu was shocked when he heard this, and exchanged glances with Major General Beiyan, and then the two men sadly found that the fantasy of the two of them immersed in their "masculine charm" was ruthlessly pierced by the cruel reality at this moment.

The third lord of the blood alliance probably didn't invite them for the sake of their charm, he originally thought he was the king of the sea, but after a long time, he didn't even think he was a water ghost! At most, it belongs to the category of "drug residue".

Scald!

When the two generals were in a kind of speechless embarrassment, the dwarven guards who were leading the way in front replied faintly:

"Brigadier General Padrou, you have not received the wrong information, there is no infantry battalion of our dwarves next to your barracks at all, there is a warehouse and utility room, no one is lying to you!

Maybe you're having auditory hallucinations? ”

"Impossible! There was the sound of soldiers running and armor colliding every night, and I had been in the army for more than 30 years, so I couldn't make a mistake with it. ”

The Brigadier General of the Plantagenet Kingdom apparently didn't think there was anything wrong with him, and he still felt that the dwarves were fooling him.

But Major General Misoyan, who was younger and more knowledgeable, narrowed his eyes, and he reached out and pulled Brigadier General Padru, who was a little irritable, and motioned for him to remain quiet.

The two human generals soon crossed the Dwarven Trade Zone, which had been greatly deprived of martial law, and arrived at the Throne Room.

To their surprise, even though the fortress was under martial law and the dwarven trade area was crowded, the noise and noise of the mountain fortress still hadn't improved much, making one wonder where all the noise was coming from.

The surrounding dwarves seem to have long since adapted to the strangeness of their city, and they don't pay attention to it.

The throne room was filled with the top commanders of the fortress at this time, and the two human generals were the last to arrive, but no one was upset.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Lord Hadland, who was sitting at the top, waved his hand a little haggardly and signaled the meeting to begin.

The silver dwarf earth priest beside him immediately stood up from his chair and said in a loud voice:

"I've invited you here today to discuss how to deal with the fog woven by the subspace aura on the outer layer of the fortress, and the increasingly wild snooping and raiding of the Gnolls on the Gorgon Pass this week."

"Wait!"

The human brigadier general said loudly:

"Before we get into that, would you please explain the current situation to us poor humans? What is the fog woven by the breath of subspace? Why didn't you say such a big thing in advance? ”

"Huh?"

This question made the High Lord stupid, and the Lord of Hadran said in surprise:

"Are you kidding? We've had three meetings in the last seven days, and both of you have been there each time and you've made a lot of constructive comments and so on! Do you say it's your first time in a meeting? ”

", something happened."

Major General Misoyan rubbed his brow with a headache, and he explained:

"Major General Padru and I were indeed invited to a military meeting for the first time, and we stayed with our soldiers for seven days. So I'm curious, who are you going to do with all three meetings? ”

"Is it confirmed that it is three meetings?"

The Ranger General, who was seated to the left of the Supreme Lord, wearing a silver moon mask and carrying a silver flame bow on his back, said in a hoarse voice:

"Why is there only one such all-hands meeting in my memory?"

"I remember twice."

The halfling mechanic, who was in charge of quartermaster logistics in the fortress, flicked off his engineering glasses in some disbelief, and said in a sharp tone:

"I also made minutes for me to see if it was twice, yes, in the last four days. Wait, you said it's been a week? That's not right! My punch-time hourglass display has only been around for four days. ”

"Obviously, the shroud of subspace has affected all of us, so much so that our perception of time and space has become extremely problematic, and even some chaotic memories have been fabricated."

Sitting opposite the Elven Ranger, the tall Songhai General with the crown of the Golden Sun Holy Emblem said in a low tone:

"For example, the issue we're discussing this time, if I'm not mistaken, this is the fifth time we've discussed a similar issue, and I'm more worried about the people who are present in this throne room right now.

Including me.

How many are 'true'? ”

"Don't you Songhai people worship the Creator and claim to have the highest resistance to pollution in the subspace of all mortal races?"

The Ranger General said coldly:

"You can't tell what's going on around you, what's going on? Lord Umon. ”

"I didn't carry the relics of the Creator, I lacked the divine power of creation, I am just an ordinary Songhai person far away from my hometown here, even the sun is disgusted here, and the power of the scorching sun is obviously not enough to dispel the current haze."

The questioned Songhai general responded in a deep voice:

"But in my memory, the Brass Fortress is a sacred place belonging to the Mother Earth Goddess, and with the divine power from Lady Gaia blessed here, the invasion and infiltration of subspace should not be so easy, so I can't be sure who is real and who is fake.

However, with the fact that it is clear that this place is no longer blessed by Mother Earth, those who are still claiming that Gaia protects this place and trying to confuse the public are definitely problematic! ”

In the next moment, the eyes of everyone present were on the silver dwarf priest beside the Brass Dwarf Supreme Lord.

He tried to explain with some trepidation, but when he saw everyone draw their weapons, he abandoned this futile cover-up and replaced it with a malicious mockery as it dissipated into smoke:

"Yes, Songhai people, I can tell what the problem is for the seventh time, but I'm curious, how long can you protect your mind? Guess if what you see next is true? ”

"Huh"

The scene of the entire throne hall changed as if the world was turned upside down in the next second, the originally peaceful meeting tore off its disguise in an instant, and Brigadier General Padru, who was full of vitality just now, was already lying on the ground, his body was pierced by three broken spears, and he was already out of breath.

Major General Misoyan, on the other hand, covered the wound on his waist and gasped with a pale face.

All the commanders around him were wounded, and even Lord Hadran Earthhammer held the power of Gaia's Relic Earth in his throne with a low gasp.

"How many times has this been? Damn it! ”

The human major general asked with difficulty, and the Songhai general, who had one arm cut off, gritted his teeth and glanced at the thirteen blood marks he had drawn on his leg, and said:

"The thirteenth. I think so, I'm now. Frankly, I can't be completely sure that the true vision given to me by the Creator has been obscured by filth, and I am no longer pure. ”

"Now is not the time to say this!"

The only Ranger General still standing in the room had a mechanical warbow as tall as her own, and her feet were littered with the corpses of armed kobolds and gnolls, and in the distance there were strange burned bones of nezumen.

She said in a dumb voice:

"How long is it until the next illusion strikes?"

"Nobody knows, it's happening faster and faster."

The Brass Dwarven Lord said:

"Are we going out this time?"

"Of course! Our soldiers are still out there fighting the rat people and the damned barbarians who have dug up the ground and stormed the fortress, and we can't give them up. Now the place above the fortress trade zone is still in our hands, and we can still hold on!

The premise is that no more people can be deceived by the illusion of subspace.

The tragedy of Brigadier General Paderu was enough once. ”

Major General Misoyan spat a mouthful of bloody saliva to the side, and he said with a somewhat desperate wry smile:

"Who the would have thought? While the Black Flame Pass was still supporting, the Brass Fortress was about to fall first. What the hell is going on with you dwarves? Why didn't Gaia even say hello when she abandoned you?

We were almost caught off guard and pulled into a desperate situation.

Damn it!

This battle is really embarrassing. ”

The High Lord was silent, but the answer was clear to everyone present.

The elven general glanced at him and said:

"It's all about this time, aren't you going to destroy those burning gold? We had already confirmed in the first illusionary riot that the subspace breath had infiltrated through the gold-burning ores.

It's harmless on its own, but once it's stacked in large quantities, it can be problematic.

I remember that our Elven King warned you! ”

"Gaia has abandoned us, and without those burning gold as explosives, how are we going to fend off the gnolls and their mad minions out there?"

The Dwarven Lord shouted:

"The front line is now sustained by the iron-hearted warriors of the Brass Fortress, and the only reward they want is the priceless gold. I have promised all the riches of my kingdom to my people, my people have been hired to burn gold, and even the greedy miners have taken up their axes to fight for us!

Oh my God, can you think about the realities?

We can't destroy the burning gold now, it's the expensive things that have been stored up right now that are keeping the morale going, or the fortress will be destroyed in an instant! ”

"When you piled up the things from the subspace in your warehouse, when you chose to burn gold away from Mother Earth's teachings. The fortress is finished! ”

General Songhai, who had lost his arm, propped up his scarred body with his curved sword, and said with a look of disgust:

"Your current behavior is only to quench your thirst, the sun is above, I can't imagine that a hundred years ago you were not like this, and now your people are willing to fight for their homeland because the king pays for it?

You're done.

Even if the gnolls don't destroy you, you'll be doomed after this battle.

Keep guarding your riches, High Lord.

My soldiers and I are leaving this desperate fortress.

It's a grave of gold, and there's more hope for us to go out and fight guerrillas with those stubborn shield dwarves than to stay here. ”

"Well said, Songhai people, so good that I have to forget your identity as a Songhai person."

The Ranger General also shook his head and said:

"I have ordered my rangers to break out, and we will continue our safari in the mountains south of the Gorgon Pass, and if you can't hold out in the north, we can give you a hand. But remember not to go near the fog, we have already paid too much price for rash attempts. ”

(End of chapter)