Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 31 [The Wall of Erdrick]

The sturdy stone brick city wall stretches between the hills and plains, like a dragon's spine coiling around the earth, extending for thousands of miles. Watchtowers, beacon towers, and alarm bell towers stand tall within the city wall, like sharp thorns and scales on a dragon's spine.

Thousands of blood-red battle flags stood atop the city walls, fluttering and stretching to the unseen horizon.

The blood-red battle flag features five swords pointing to the sky, painted in jet black ink, and riveted together with iron hoops and nails to form a ferocious iron crown.

The sword crown symbolizes "the sword is power." The hilt represents authority, forging a hard and cold, immortal monarchy through powerful military force. The five swords respectively symbolize Erdrich's founding emperor and the four horsemen who followed him in laying the foundation for the empire.

The "Wall of Erdrick" was built after the "Battle of the Hearts." As an empire renowned for its military might, the Erdrick Empire originally believed that "wherever the iron hooves trample, that is the border," and disdained building such absurd and ridiculous things as city walls.

However, the war between kings that swept the world turned the fertile plains at the world's center into a cradle of plague and the undead, and the Erdrick Empire was also severely weakened in this war. The ever-expanding desolate demon realm made the habitable zone less and less territories available for occupation, and maintaining a huge army was no longer worthwhile.

As the desolate demon realm expanded, the demon kings activated magic arrays to obscure the sunlight and used earth-devouring demonic insects to dig marching tunnels. They also sent their sun-fearing cave-dwelling legions to the imperial border in an attempt to conquer the border provinces.

In this situation, the emperor at the time ordered the construction of the "Wall of Erdrick," and the towering walls and the mages who took turns operating the exorcism spells almost eliminated the possibility of the cave dweller legions invading.

However, after the Adventurers' Alliance was established, adventurers with dreams flocked to the wasteland, using their elite individual combat skills to infiltrate the Demon King's lair dungeon and wreak havoc and loot. The constant harassment actually restrained the Demon King's military operations, leaving him no time to send legions out to conquer.

Since the Alliance stronghold pierced the depths of the desolate lands like a spike, the walls have remained untouched by the caveman legions for years. Allocating further funds and troops to these thankless and arduous tasks would be an extremely unwise waste. The number of guards has been dwindling, and maintenance of the walls has gradually become lax.

As large sections of the ancient city walls fell into disrepair and gradually collapsed, many bandits and fugitives from both within and outside the empire began to roam the border area. Although the imperial soldiers stationed at the border outposts could see them, they had become too lazy to pay attention to them unless there were special circumstances.

Like the Erdrik Empire, the Wall of Erdrik has lost its original appearance. Its primary function now is probably only to collect customs duties from merchants crossing borders, and…

"A large amount of magical energy has been detected." The sergeant, wearing a spiked steel helmet and a fishbone cavalry coat, raised a spherical glass bottle filled with magical potion indicator and reported to his superior.

The spherical potion bottle is flashing blue light.

“These are high-grade magical materials, from the Valak Dungeon in the Kana Plains,” the merchant caravan leader explained. “Here is the cargo list, sir.”

"Check the materials and compare them with the goods list. If there are no problems, pay the corresponding tariffs according to the Imperial Tariff Law." The officer, wearing a black military dress coat, stood calmly on the flag base by the door, hands behind his back, giving instructions. "Also, check the people."

"A person?" the train conductor asked, puzzled.

"These caravan guards are all adventurers," the officer on duty explained expressionlessly. "Under normal circumstances, the concentration of magical energy is roughly equal to the standard of strength. According to the Alliance's third edition of the evaluation standards, adventurers of level five and above will have a relatively high concentration of magical energy in their bodies."

"The mutated characteristics of a demonized individual can be actively concealed, and they may disguise themselves as a normal human. However, the adventurer level and experience of a demonized individual often do not match the concentration of demonic essence significantly. Suspicion can be identified by the huge difference between their self-reported level, experience, and demonic essence indicator."

"Some high-ranking demons also try to conceal their features with clothing and forcibly suppress the concentration of overflowing demonic energy. Sometimes they disguise themselves as adventurers of level five or above to infiltrate the empire. Therefore, high-ranking adventurers also need to undergo simple routine checks when entering and leaving."

"However, since these are guards hired by shrewd merchants to accompany the group, their backgrounds and resumes have already been investigated and screened once, so there shouldn't be any serious problems. And with such a large number of people, a quick screening will suffice. There's no need for detailed questioning of each individual. Let's hurry up and get through the process quickly, and not block the way at the checkpoint."

The officer waved his hand, and several civilian officials ran to inspect the goods, while dozens of soldiers hurried to the convoy of carriages.

At a pass on the Wall of Erdrick, a massive, iron-clad gate, the size of a hill, stood open, wide enough for nearly a hundred carriages to pass side by side. Heavy cables and winches, each more than a person's thickness, were fixed to the tall gateposts on either side, connected to a magic-powered system.

Hundreds of soldiers in spiked helmets, carrying heavy long-handled lances and longswords at their waists, patrolled the gates on foot. They wore fishbone cavalry coats with rib-shaped breastplates, the hems of which fluttered in the fierce winds along the border like hundreds of black battle flags.

Two squads of lancers on horseback galloped back and forth outside the gate, observing the situation in the surrounding area.

In addition, more than twenty heavily armored guards, armed with halberds and giant shields bearing the imperial sword crown emblem, stood guard on both sides of the gate.

The brick and stone walls and the tops of the fortresses were filled with heavy crossbows and cannons, and dozens of lightly armored soldiers carrying longbows or potion bottles and throwing slingshots patrolled the area.

Under the azure sky, a blood-red sword-crowned banner fluttered, its long flagpole and banner resembling sword marks that severed the white clouds flowing beneath the blue sky.

The two caravans carrying demonized supplies stopped between the gates of the checkpoint, looking as tiny as a group of insects on the tip of a giant finger.

“How magnificent!” Samael exclaimed softly.

He felt the black-armored figure beside him tremble slightly, and extended his dark blue bronze gauntlet, gently pressing it against the back of Talia's hand.

"Relax, it's not a big deal," he said cheerfully. "Just think of it as a vacation...don't put pressure on yourself."

Although he was somewhat uneasy, in this tiny alliance of two, even if only one person was uneasy, it was enough—a full fifty percent.

One of the two people has to be able to maintain emotional stability and a positive outlook, right? If both of them are pessimistic and depressed, they probably would have already joined hands and found a good burial site to jump together.

“Okay,” Talia replied.

Samael was taken aback. He felt the black, claw-shaped gauntlet beneath his hand flip over and grip his cold, bronze gauntlet in return.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked in a low voice.

“No,” she replied.

What a joke! How could my body not be cold? Samael tried to pull his icy gauntlets from her warm palms, but moving the gauntlets only resulted in a tighter grip.

He turned to look down at Talia, but saw her with her head down, like a child afraid of getting lost.

This expression reminded him of someone or something from the past, like holding a sick and weak fledgling in his palm. He dared not struggle any longer and let her hold him.

"Adventurers, please cooperate with this simple routine check." The soldiers in cavalry coats shouted, spreading out to conduct spot checks, opening the doors of carriages one by one, and raising their glass bottles of potion indicators to ask random questions.

Samael activated the helmet UI and extracted the audio of conversations between the surrounding soldiers and adventurers.

Clang! The carriage door opened, revealing a blonde woman carrying a long sword. The soldier raised his hand, a vial of indicator medicine in his hand flashing a faint blue light.

"Rank? Occupation? Where are you from?"

"Level 4 Swordsman. Kingdom of Florence, Sunny Fish Harbor."

"Roll up your sleeves and take a look. Do you see any feathers or scales on your forearms?"

The sound of sleeves being swung.

"Thank you for your cooperation, ma'am." The sergeant closed the door and left.

Clang! The carriage door opened, revealing a medium-sized, fully armored knight inside, clad in iron armor, wearing an iron helmet, and carrying a steel warhammer. The indicator vial glowed with a soft blue light.

"Rank? Occupation? Where are you from?"

"Level 6, War Knight. Holy Light Theocracy, Saint Justin Snowwind Monastery."

"Is the horn just for decoration on the helmet? Take off the helmet."

The soft sound of the helmet rubbing against the hair.

"Thank you for your cooperation, cultivator." The soldier nodded, closed the door, and left.

Clang! The carriage door opened, revealing two brothers inside, one lightly armored with twin swords, the other heavily armored with a greatsword. The indicator vial glowed with a soft blue light.

"Rank? Occupation? Where are you from?"

“Level 5 assassin. A native of the Empire, a Yankee, from the Marshall Province of the five north-central provinces.” The dual-sword assassin rubbed his hands together. “We are brothers, we’re in this together.”

"Oh, we're from the same hometown," the sergeant said casually. "How long have you been working here?"

"It's been almost three years, hasn't it?" the assassin asked, looking at his brother.

“This is the third year.” The elder brother, a greatswordsman, nodded.

"Lift up the hem of your clothes and take a look. Do you see any tail feathers or a tail?"

Whoosh. The sound of a coat swaying.

"Alright. Thanks for your cooperation, fellow villager."

Clang! The carriage door opened, revealing two heavily armored knights inside, one in black armor and the other in bronze armor. The indicator light shone brightly, flashing a deep blue light!
"Rank? Class? Where are you from?" The sergeant frowned as he looked at the indicator potion bottle in his hand, slightly tense, and stared at the two knights in front of him.

“Level 7, War Knight, Holy Light Theocracy, St. Justin Snowwind Monastery.” Samael took a gamble. “We both come from the same monastery.”

"Oh, you were with that guy from earlier, right?" The sergeant relaxed slightly. "Level seven?... How long have you been an adventurer?"

“It’s been four years, hasn’t it?” Randall, who was driving the carriage, interjected.

“Yes, it’s been over four years,” Samael replied. “It’ll be the fifth year soon.”

The sergeant nodded. "Those two horns, are they helmet decorations? Take them off and let me see."

He pointed to Talia's black helmet, which featured demonic double horns.

Talia reached out and grabbed the horns of the helmet, lifting it up to reveal the lower half of her face, indicating that the horns were not on her head.

"That's all, thank you for your cooperation, monk." He closed the carriage door and left. "What a conscientious and responsible person," Samael remarked, feeling Talia's hands tightly gripping his arms.

He raised his other hand and gently patted her hand.

“We’ll be there soon,” Samael said in a low voice. “Always so nervous.”

Talia suddenly brought her helmet closer, pressing the front of her Black Horn helmet against the side of Samael's helmet.

“Valak issued a warning, and they caught up quickly.” A faint buzzing vibration came from the contact between the helmets. “Back in the ruins of Rondoran, they stabbed my arm and collected my blood. The Demon Lord Sitika can use witch metal to create some complex, high-precision psionic equipment, including a cursed compass that can track a creature based on a blood sample, no matter where it escapes.”

“It’s nothing serious,” Samael shook his head and replied in a low voice. “We’ll take it one step at a time and deal with it later.”

After the convoy passed through the checkpoint and the commander paid the customs duties for the demonized materials, it quickly continued its journey.

Passing through the imperial checkpoints, the road ahead winds its way to prosperous towns and golden fields of wheat rippling on the horizon. Flocks of sheep graze on distant slopes, their rear ends bobbing up like machine guns spraying chocolate chips.

……

With a deep, rumbling roar like the wind, two wild beasts raised their rhinoceros-like hooves, opened their bulldozer-like jaws, revealing huge long teeth, and dragged their fortress-like armored chariots to a stop at the edge of the Kanas wasteland.

Crack! Snap!

"Taqadama! Taqadama!" Two dark brown-skinned demons in blood-red leather armor wielded long whips, lashing at the wild beasts and shouting in a language from the eastern desert, but the beasts still did not move forward.

"What's going on?" came an impatient growl from inside the fortress vehicle.

The gates of the tank fortress swung open with a roar, revealing a brown-skinned figure carrying a long whip with barbs and a throwing blade, a long curved sword inlaid with gold at his waist, and exhaling a small amount of black smoke from his nostrils.

He had the light brown skin of the eastern desert, vertical pupils of dark gold like a lizard, deep red scales on his face and jaw, and even sharp fangs in his lower teeth, as if the chin of a fire-breathing reptile had been sewn onto a human face.

He wore light, blood-red leather armor and boots, both covered in crimson scales and adorned with jingling gold chains and pendants. Over this, he wore a loose, white robe in the Eastern style, revealing the scarred brown muscles of his chest and abdomen.

This is the style of equipment used in the hot desert region. Lightweight gear won't get stuck in the sand and hinder movement, while the wide white robes provide sun protection, breathability, and wind and sand protection. Exposed skin areas allow for rapid heat dissipation during combat, preventing heatstroke and fainting.

“Musa Salamanda.” The two demonized beings bowed respectfully. “We are approaching the walls of Erdrik. Inside the fortress, Imperial war mages are casting a banishing spell, and the wild beasts are trembling in fear.”

The high demon known as Musa squinted, gazing at the distant walls of the Erdrik Empire.

“The city wall… those stupid Yankees.” A low, rumbling growl came from his throat, sparks and black smoke spilling from the corner of his mouth as he pulled a golden compass that shimmered with blue light from his robe pocket.

A drop of blood was contained in a quartz tube at the center of the compass, surrounded by a ring of complex markings that rotated, and a golden pointer with a faint blue glow pointed straight toward the city gate.

“She’s right there…she’s already entered the Erdrik Empire, trying to use the North Asian soldiers to stop us.” Musa examined the direction and markings of the Witch Gold Compass. “The North Asians are blind donkeys; they can’t even see a half-demon.”

“The military strength at the front of the city gate is too strong; we can’t force our way through.” He stroked his scaly chin. “The North’s city walls are remnants of the ancient Erdrik Empire. They’ve been in disrepair for years and have many collapsed sections. You two, go north along the North’s border for a while and scout out the collapsed sections. We’ll try to enter the Empire through the collapsed sections of the border walls and continue our hunt for Ronove.”

“Musa Pasha (My Lord), the Lord of Kana once warned us not to get too close to the Empire’s borders,” the brown-skinned demonized man respectfully reminded him.

*Smack!* The demonized man clutched his face and collapsed to the ground, writhing. A jagged whip mark had torn his face to shreds. Under the demonized body of the [Dune War Scorpion], his bloodied face slowly healed. He cowered and retreated, too afraid to speak again.

“If we don’t get Talia Ronove’s head, the Garwanasha tyrant will boil you all alive in a pot with mutton.” Musa put away his blood-soaked barbed whip. “And I will be reduced to chopping carrots and onions into the pot that boils you, to gag you—if I fail, Master Sitika will no longer trust my abilities, I will lose his favor, and be relegated to the underground kitchen of the second ring, piling charcoal, cutting roasted meat, washing dishes, and being ridiculed by other demons.”

"Go scout ahead and report back if anything goes wrong." He cracked his whip in the air, the sharp blade at the tip clanging.

The two demonized beings dared not delay any longer and strode quickly northward along the city wall.

The two traveled dozens of miles north along the ancient city wall of Erdrik, and finally spotted a gap in the wall amidst the shady trees.

The area around the collapsed city wall did not have the same tight defenses as the city gate. Instead, along the border of the Erdrik Empire, there was a large fortress with Erdrik sword-crowned flags flying at intervals, like a border outpost.

“The border post shouldn’t notice the stowaways…” the male demon said in a low voice.

The two carefully crossed the border between the two outposts, using the shade of the trees to conceal themselves as they sneaked in to scout ahead.

The area around the outpost was strangely quiet, with no signs of any soldiers patrolling. The only sounds were the soft chirping of birds and the footsteps of rabbits among the low bushes and shrubs.

However, the moment the two stepped in, a bell device suddenly popped up beside their feet, connecting a bubbling potion bottle to a simple magic circle. The next second, the bell rang loudly in a blinding blue light!

Ring ring ring!

"A demonic indicator!" The two demonized individuals suddenly recognized the glowing liquid in the potion bottle!
High-concentration magic detection alarm devices have been installed along the Imperial border! Ordinary bandits and smugglers with low magic content and weak strength will not trigger the alarm, but if powerful criminals, smugglers evading taxes on high-level magic materials, dangerous magic users, or demons approach, the device will immediately sound an alarm!
The two sprinted towards the Empire, hoping to shake off the pursuers from the border outposts in the chaos once inside, and then find a way to contact the demon commander Musa.

A soft rustling sound came from somewhere in the woods.

The male demon suddenly raised his hand, his right hand instantly covered by a black exoskeleton, transforming into a deformed, twisted claw that stretched into a sword-like shape, and turned to stab at the source of the sound!

Ding.

With a soft thud, a flash of blood, and the black pincers fell to the ground with a thud, the cut clean and shriveled as if it had been devoured by some monster, gleaming with a faint red light.

"Ah!" he screamed, his face turning deathly pale. He gripped his wrist and gritted his teeth, swallowing the rest of his wail.

The demon's healing power was completely useless at this moment; the scarlet wound showed no signs of healing and continued to crack!
The hemorrhage was destroying his body structure, and he could barely stand. Relying on the willpower of a demonized being, he forcefully used his hands to plug the broken end!

Clang! Whoosh! Twelve shadows rapidly approached from different directions, twelve blood-red longswords neatly paired up and gently collided with each other, forming a beautiful sword flower, pointing at the two demonized individuals in the center of the circular encirclement. From above, they resembled blood-red spider lilies blooming with a cold demeanor.

The twelve Imperial Sword Guards, dressed in tight-fitting black military uniforms, stood in unison, their chests emblazoned with the Erdrik sword crown and the iron crown of the King. They held identical blood-steel longswords, their postures elegant and powerful, their heads held high as if they were performing a military dance at a ball. Their right hands, holding swords, pointed towards the center of the encirclement, while their left hands, in a gesture of military salute inviting someone to dance, were behind their backs, yet concealed a deadly intent, as they half-hidden a dark metal gun-shaped object with a small quartz tube attached to it.

The Potion Gun. A masterpiece of the potion makers of the Erdrik Empire's legions. Although it is a prototype weapon that has not yet been mass-produced, its terrifying power has already been leaked in scattered battlefield rumors on the empire's borders. Pre-loaded and ready to use at any time, it can be fired instantly upon raising its hand, has high lethality, powerful armor and shield penetration, and its strong impact can instantly disrupt a battle stance. Its booming sound can also drive away magical beasts.

"Bagman!" the female demon exclaimed instinctively. She grabbed her wounded companion, darted past the blade of a blood-steel longsword, and spun around like a dancer. Suddenly, a scorpion tail emerged from beneath her robes and stabbed at the unsuspecting Imperial Sword Guard before her!
If we can defeat just one of the sword guards and create a gap in the encirclement, we might be able to escape!
*Snap. Snap.*

Two soft slashing sounds rang out as the sword guards on either side simultaneously drew their swords to protect their companion, effortlessly slicing the demonized scorpion tail into three pieces with two swift strokes! Amidst a flash of blood, the two pieces of the scorpion tail fell to the ground!
Two blood-red swords clashed in the air, and the sword guard in the middle raised the magic gun in his left hand.

As his companion's sword swept through the air and left the range of the gun barrel, the dark muzzle behind it was revealed in the gust of wind.

Boom!

Amidst the deafening roar of the artificial thunder, the mutilated female demon's body was thrown backward. Behind her, the three Blood Sword Guards raised their swords in unison and swiftly cleaved the corpse into three pieces, preventing the blood splattered from the body and the potion gun from obstructing their view.

The sword blade instantly drained the blood, and the corpse shrank instantly, as if it had been exposed to the scorching sun on a gallows.

"Stop." With a cold command, the twelve Blood Sword Guards ceased their slaughter, raised their longswords diagonally, and assumed the [Blade Reversal Stance], surrounding the still-living, heavily wounded male demonized warrior.

The male demon was panting, weakly struggling to prop himself up.

A swordsman officer, with his hands behind his back, dressed in a military uniform, a blood-steel longsword and a magic potion gun at his waist, his leather boots silently treading the grass, slowly approached the sword formation.

"Valak sent you?" He stared expressionlessly at the demon in front of him.

"..." The demon remained silent.

“Oh, right, of course, probably not.” The officer said thoughtfully. “That skin color indicates they are from the Eastern Supar Empire. Valak wouldn’t be so destitute as to recruit mercenaries.”

"..." The demon remained silent.

"So far to the northwestern border? Why?" the officer asked. "Are you a demonized being? Or—a product of some failed life alchemy of the Supar Empire?"

The male demon suddenly moved.

Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha!
The Blood Sword Guards around him remained vigilant, and the moment he made a move, six blood steel longswords with fierce barbed tips pierced through his chest!

However, the demon had already pulled out a potion bottle from his pocket. The sword pierced the potion bottle, and the flare inside shot into the sky, leaving a blood-red scorpion and skull in the air.

"Who are you calling the police for?" The officer calmly looked at the demonized corpse pierced through the heart by six swords and waved his hand.

The six longswords retracted in six different directions, splitting the corpse into six pieces. The cut flesh was dry and glistening with a faint bloody light.

The twelve Blood Sword Guards sheathed their bloodsteel longswords, fastened the safety on their potion guns, and tucked them back into their waistbands.

They are one of the many secrets the Empire is steadily advancing. They are stationed at border outposts because they are close enough to the desolate lands that they can easily ride to the Kanas Plains to slaughter monsters or infiltrate dungeons for training. Normally, they only come out to check when the alarm sounds; they are not allowed to show themselves unnecessarily when there are no missions.

"He was sending a message before he died, that there might be high-level demons nearby." The blood-stained officer gazed into the distance. "Go ride your horse, find him, and deal with him."

The twelve Blood Sword Guards bowed silently, turned and lined up, then ran quickly toward the stables.

A moment later, amidst the neighing of warhorses, twelve cavalrymen, dragging blood-steel longswords, galloped out of the outpost's perimeter and headed towards the plains beyond the border, leaving behind a trail of hoofprints bearing the imperial crest with sword crowns and iron caps.

"Take the body back and have the Legion's potion master examine it," the officer called to the other helmeted soldiers in the distance.

(End of this chapter)