My Players Are So Fierce

As Murphy left the Creation Place with a peculiar fatigue and returned to Shadow Valley, a report regarding the Blackflame Mountain Pass was finally delivered to the Transia embassy on the Ligurian Peninsula.

Given the communication efficiency of this world, such an important report should not have been delayed for so long.

But the problem was, even before the Blackflame Mountain Pass had fallen, Lord Hether had already noticed that communication from the Brass Fortress was completely cut off.

Whether it was a Calculating Pearl or Spiritual Energy messages, or even the Blood Crystal Stones used by vampires for communication, none could function.

Murphy said it was the power of subspace causing trouble, which forced all report transmissions back to the most primitive means of transport.

They needed to use the Thieves Guild’s channels to pass on messages, and to prevent interference from dusk, they also had to ask Lady Shani, currently at Klim Fortress, to use her Thorn Clan’s intelligence network to transmit the reports.

This in and out caused a significant delay.

This delay meant that the report arrived at the Ligurian Peninsula two days after the Blackflame Mountain Pass battle ended, in the afternoon, a report transmission speed that would lead to a court-martial in a war involving Spiritual Energy!

However, the current dire situation left both the sender and the receiver speechless.

After receiving the intelligence personally delivered by one of Duchess Shani’s offspring, Professor Malcolm wasted no time bringing it into the embassy.

He found Lord Paryen on a balcony high in the building where he was painting and handed it to him.

The Millennium Lord of the vampires was quite poised.

Even though the situation was dire, it did not disturb his artistic mood.

When Professor Malcolm handed the report to the Lord, he took a moment to glance at the artwork the Lord had been busy with.

It was an oil painting created from a high-altitude view overlooking the entire Charldo Harbor.

The Lord’s artistic level was indeed extraordinary, capturing Professor Malcolm, also a “man of culture,” who instantly liked the unfinished piece.

Not only did the Lord realistically depict the Half-body city as he saw it, but he also used some surrealist techniques to shape the smoke shrouding the architecture of Charldo Harbor into a “tangible” form.

Upon closer look, the smoke in the painting resembles some malevolent entity extending its claws into the bustling city.

This detail imbues the beautifully scenic painting with a certain inexplicable but definitely existent “religious meaning.”

But the Lord didn’t paint because he had ample free time.

In reality, after dealing with the Witch Cafe issue, Lord Paryen should have left here through the Brass Fortress back to the Blood Covenant Clan’s station.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to leave; he’s trapped.

More accurately, the route through the Brass Fortress and Gorgon Mountain Pass is no longer traversable.

Just as Lord Hether had predicted, many people at Charldo Harbor have already noticed the peculiar situation of the Brass Fortress over the past few days, where any message intended for that direction fails to connect, as if some force is blocking the area.

This is no trivial matter!

The Brass Fortress, a military bastion that has resisted the main forces of the Jackal army in several Black Disasters, hosts not only the army of Brass Dwarves but also the Elf Ranger Corps and some Sanghani emissaries.

Actually, Murphy and Triss’s mockery of the Goldenrod Kingdom and Nordtov Kingdom as inactive is incorrect.

The kings have dispatched troops to support the Black Disaster, but their support was not directed at the Blackflame Mountain Pass.

They clearly made a judgment based on past experiences.

The elite Antani Ranger Brigade of the Goldenrod Kingdom and two vanguard brigades of the Southern Border Army of the Nordtov Kingdom are presently stationed at the Brass Fortress as well.

That area is currently the most densely populated with troops on the continent, and the Jackal people from three clans have indeed begun attacking strategic locations near the Gorgon Mountain Pass surrounding the Brass Fortress, though they haven’t launched an attack on the main body of the Brass Fortress yet.

Not only is Lord Paryen waiting for news at Charldo Harbor, but the Castia Elf Kingdom has also sent a high-status Priestess of the Moon to preside here, representing King Quirion’s attention to the battlefield situation.

After all, the commander leading the Elf Ranger Corps is King Quirion’s only sister.

The situation at the Brass Fortress has aroused the concern of many, but even someone of Lord Paryen’s stature cannot yet discern what exactly is happening at the Brass Fortress.

“The demon’s smoke…”

While the Lord was reading the report, Professor Malcolm glanced toward the Gorgon Mountain Pass and cursed softly:

“That damn smoke obstructed the scouts sent by the Steam Lords.

I’ve heard even the Sanghai’s Navigation Scarabs get lost as soon as they enter it.

Such a worrisome situation, perhaps it’s some kind of Jackal magic?”

“The Jackal people couldn’t pull off such a thing, Professor.”

Lord Paryen was anxious, but he remained composed on the surface.

He read the report, frowned deeply, and casually explained:

“It must be some sort of subspace power variant.

That strange mist reminds me of something similar I saw during a trip to the Misty Sea.