Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 32 [The Exiled Caravan]

As night fell, the bronze-white twin moons hung high in the dark sky, like two giant eyes watching the earth with great interest.

Thump, thump. The dull, slow hooves of the wild beast echoed in the night sky, like the beating of a dying heart. It looked as if it had just been rolled twice in a razor-sharp mixer, its body covered in blood-red lacerations. The wounds were dry and gleamed with a faint red light. Its thick right foreleg had been repeatedly slashed by the superb swordsmanship of a cavalryman, almost hanging by only a few bits of muscle and bone.

It whimpered, and with a loud thud, the huge armored head covered in blood-red sword marks fell heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

The heavy fortress chariot being dragged behind the beast lost power and rolled forward several meters due to inertia before crashing into the beast's carcass and coming to a stop.

The gold-plated, iron-clad body armor and wheels were covered in blood-red sword marks. Half of the left rear wheel had been blasted off by some kind of explosive potion, and the axle was also badly worn, riddled with dents from the blood-red sword marks.

Clang! The gold-inlaid iron-clad wooden door was kicked open, and a wooden staircase was violently kicked open, landing heavily on the ground, connecting the interior of the fortress vehicle with the weed-covered ground.

"Northerners..." Musa, the demon commander of the hunter squad, roared, two faint flames spitting from the corners of his mouth. He clutched the blood-red sword wound on his side, swaying as he leaned against the chariot wall and jumped down the steps of the fortress chariot.

“This place is different from the hot desert in the east. The climate in the north is dry and cold, and the tactical environment is suitable for the middle league. We didn’t fight the northerners along the way, so we neglected the equipment issue and were careless.” He gritted his teeth and growled, “But those kinds of enchanted weapons and splash-type lethal magic potion launchers… even if we were wearing ordinary armor, they wouldn’t be of much use.”

Five demonized individuals, bearing varying degrees of injuries, disembarked from the vehicle—these were the only remaining members of the hunter squad.

Two demonized scouts died while exploring, and five demonized warriors perished under the swords and guns of the Imperial Blood Sword Riders.

Of the twelve demonized beings, only five remain, each bearing varying degrees of blood steel wounds.

"You, the one who can fly, go check if the North Asian Blood Sword Cavalry have caught up." Musa stretched out his giant hand, grabbed the neck of a demon with slightly fewer wounds, and hurled him forcefully into the air.

The demonized being was thrown into the air by a tremendous force, frantically deforming its limbs and unfurling thick, tough membrane wings bearing blood-stained steel sword marks from beneath its black robe. It glided crookedly and with difficulty, using the powerful eyesight of the [Vosha Wyvern] demonized form to gaze into the distance, checking the direction from which the war chariot was approaching.

"No, I managed to shake them off." He landed awkwardly, folding his wings back into his body.

"Valak of the Kana Plain is a notorious homebody, known far and wide for his reluctance to go out. I thought Valak had just become a cowardly coward from staying in the comfortable underground city, which is why he was spouting nonsense about not approaching the empire's borders with such a straight face." Musa panted, touching his jaw covered with blood-red scales.

"The Empire has actually acquired the ability to mass-produce Bloodsteel weapons. The precious swords that could only be issued to meritorious officers decades ago can now be mass-produced and supplied to elite guards—if such a Bloodsteel Guard is stationed in every outpost along the border, then it is indeed unwise to be close to the Empire's border."

"And that damned potion sprayer. The Erdrick Empire is a belligerent ram. This is probably some new contraption they're preparing for war."

"Like the Bloodsteel weapons, the potion sprayers will probably be mass-produced in their Magic Foundry within a few years and distributed to the elite troops on the front lines. At that time, the North will probably start dreaming of conquering the continent like the ancient empire, like a hundred-armed giant, swinging its fists and beating up every one of its neighbors."

“Valak deliberately didn’t make things clear… He wants to see us get our comeuppance—he’s like a raven, aloof, cunning, and loves to have fun.” Musa exhaled two plumes of black smoke from his nostrils and slammed his fist against the side of the chariot beside him.

thump.

Wow!

Like the last straw that broke the camel's back, the chariot, covered in bloody sword marks and splattered with magic potions, finally collapsed under the strain. The axle, which had been bombarded and cleaved, broke completely, and the broken wheels, missing a third of their length, rolled to the side and crashed into a rock.

“Musa-Salamanda… what should we do next?” The demonized beings looked at the leader of the hunting squad. “The chariot is destroyed, and we can’t enter the Erdrick Empire.”

Musa took a deep breath and pulled out the Wujin Compass from his pocket.

Within the quartz crystal at the center of the compass, a drop of blood trembled slightly. The wheel spun, its bluish-gold pointer pointing towards the territory behind the walls of the Erdrik Empire, towards the town on the horizon obscured by the Erdrik Wall.

"Take all the remaining supplies from the tank, and the oil spray guns on both sides of the tank," he ordered. "There's still a lot of oil left from the eastern Garwana Desert, and the flint oil spray guns are still useful."

The demonized beings echoed each other, removing the flint nozzles and large metal canisters from the abandoned chariot and packing up the remaining supplies inside.

"It's been so long, the Sand Tyrant's patience is almost worn away by the sandstorms. If we don't bring back Talia Ronove's head, the Sand Tyrant Sitika will torture us to death," Musa growled.

“But if we run away, we will become the new target.”

“We’re going to die anyway, might as well take a gamble. At least the Yankees don’t have the habit of slowly torturing prisoners of war…” He suddenly raised his head, sniffing the air with his reptilian nose. “Wait a minute…”

The demonized individuals looked at each other in bewilderment.

“There are demons nearby.” Musa sniffed around, becoming excited. “Not Valak warriors. The weak kind, with very little psionic energy… exiles, homeless people who are too weak for any dungeon to take in.”

"The exiles are too weak to defeat high-level adventurers. They saw off their noble demon features, disguise themselves as lowly human merchants, and wander around the world with their own caravans, offering different goods to the dungeon lords of different regions in exchange for permits to gather and hunt demonic resources, travel permits, and residence permits."

“They are very experienced in infiltrating humans—we will take control of their nomadic tribal leaders, blackmail them, and get them to lead us into the Yankees’ city walls!”

Musa roared and, leading five demonized beings, charged toward a blurry fire and the outlines of a dozen or so trucks in the distance of the night.

……

The Wall of Erdrick, the border, the western thirteenth outpost fortress.

The heavy clatter of military boots echoed in the dimly lit brick corridor, like the ticking of a clock counting down to Judgment Day.

The Blood Officer walked past the twelve disheveled Blood Sword Guards with his hands behind his back and a cold gaze.

The young Blood Sword Guards looked as if they had just escaped from a scorching fire. Their neat Imperial swordsman uniforms were burned to shreds and interspersed with wounds from attacks by demonized individuals. Their faces were blackened by tar and soot, and their once tidy and clean hair was stuck together with oil.

cough cough...

The wounded swordsmen stood disheveled before the officer, coughing occasionally and spitting out bits of charcoal and kerosene from their mouths.

"Enemy formation?" The officer strode to the end of the column, then slowly turned around, his boots clicking rhythmically, repeating the countdown of a clock—twelve clicks, twelve steps, perfectly aligned from the front to the back of the column, every step perfectly spaced. He repeated this from the back to the front.

“A high-ranking demon, leading ten demonized beings, driving a heavy war chariot pulled by wild beasts, capable of spraying Supar oil,” the Blood Sword Guard captain replied. “Sir,” he added.

"Didn't you deal with it?" the officer asked, glancing sideways.

"The warhorse has been burned to death, sir," the captain of the sword guard replied in a low voice. "We can't catch up."

"What are the casualties among the Sword Guard personnel?" The officer paused at the head of the team, then continued the twelve-step countdown of the trial.

"Both suffered severe burns. We immediately used the reverse circuit on the sword hilt to transfer life force in reverse for treatment and administered healing potions," the sword guard captain replied. "As you can see, sir, Chris and Morag are in good condition now."

"Battle results?" "Five enemy demonized beings were killed, sir," the sword guard captain replied. "Of the remaining demonized beings, three were lightly wounded and two were seriously wounded. The high-ranking demon commander sustained a minor injury to his ribs. Of the two beasts pulling the trailer, one was killed and the other had its leg severed. The enemy fortress chariot withstood seven shots from a magic-infused gun, and its axle was severely damaged."

"Barely acceptable." The officer nodded. "Let's review the proceedings."

"Knowing that the enemy came from the eastern desert and was well-prepared, I should have anticipated the presence of the Supar Fire, used the magic gun to destroy the flint lance from a distance, and then approached the chariot for close combat," the Sword Guard Captain replied.

"Furthermore, the boarding maneuver during the chase was too reckless. The eagerness to get onto the roof and fight the high-level demons led to the loss of control of the warhorse, which was unable to dodge in time and was burned to death by the oil spray guns on the side of the chariot. Without the warhorse, once someone falls behind, it is impossible to form an effective military formation. In order to preserve the formation, we had to abandon the chase."

“First mistake. The warhorses are jolting, and the prototype potion guns don’t have high accuracy yet. They’re only good for close-range armor and shield penetration. It’s difficult to destroy the flint lances at long range.” The officer strode forward. “Besides, according to the description, both the chariots and the oil-filled flint lances are covered with the heavy iron armor used on chariots, making them difficult to destroy quickly.”

"Your potion guns are probably firing too indiscriminately, hitting the armor, wheels, and axles here and there, and some shots miss. If twelve men took turns firing at the same fixed spot, it would be enough to blast through the armor of the chariot, shatter a wheel, or destroy the entire axle—instead of leaving the enemy chariot slightly damaged in every part, yet still able to continue its escape."

"The second point is correct. When boarding, you must ensure that the enemy vehicle has been completely destroyed or temporarily immobilized. If the enemy vehicle still has good mobility, then boarding haphazardly can easily break up the formation. We are not desperate bandits, nor are we duelists who like to show off. We are sergeants, and we are not allowed to abandon our comrades and act on our own."

"do you understand?"

"Understood, sir." The twelve Blood Sword Guards responded in unison, coughing intermittently.

"Alright, go find the Legion's apothecary to treat your throat and burns, and wash off the kerosene. Today's sword and gun practice and marching drills are canceled. Get some rest." The officer waved his hand. "Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." The twelve sword guards lined up, jogged quickly, and left the room.

The blood-stained officer stood with his hands behind his back, watching their departing figures disappear down the corridor. A figure in white, however, brushed past the guards in the opposite direction, appearing at the end of the corridor and striding towards the officer.

He was dressed in chainmail and a sturdy breastplate engraved with intricate spell circuits. He carried a high-powered crossbow and a longsword on his back, with small round shields strapped to his arms. A quiver of bolts, a potion pouch, and a tool pouch hung at his waist, making him look like a high-ranking adventurer.

"Is this what you said you were busy with, Commander Bennett?" he asked the Blood Officer sarcastically, watching the Sword Guards' departing figures.

"The discovery of a high-ranking demon so close to the border is certainly a serious matter," the officer replied calmly. "Besides, it's a good opportunity for the young men to practice. Just like clever puppies, if you want them to hunt, you have to start training them to pounce on live prey from a young age; simply tearing apart toy targets won't do any good."

"Give us an explanation for what happened a while ago." The white-clad swordsman and crossbowman snorted. "During the large-scale assault operation organized by the Alliance's Fallenthorn City stronghold, sword marks from Bloodsteel weapons were discovered in the fourth ring where the cave dwellers were located. After the operation was halted due to food shortages, the autopsies of the intercepted supply convoy also revealed that the victims died from Bloodsteel weapons."

“Valak is just trying to sow discord.” The officer casually walked to the simple wooden table in the room, pulled out a chair, and said, “Don’t tell me the Alliance can’t see through Valak’s little trick. Have a seat.”

“That’s not what I meant—of course the Alliance knows this is Valak’s trick. But the Bloodsteel weapons Valak seized mean you sent people to the fourth ring of the dungeon, why?” The white-robed adventurer sat angrily opposite the officer. “We had an agreement—the Alliance can teach soldiers individual combat and survival skills, but you are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the dungeon and adventurers. You’ve ruined all of that!”

"It was just routine military drills. I just happened to help you with the fourth ring test. Why are you making such a fuss?" The officer raised an eyebrow. "Is it any big deal?"

"Valak is very good at running a business from home. His carefully raised cavemen are fatter than pigs, and his caveman army is known for its strength in the Northwest. Compared to his fat and round beasts, the skinny cavemen of other demon lords are like malnourished bean sprouts!" The white-robed adventurer pressed his hand on the table.

"Level 11 [Flame Thorn] Augusta has gained confidence after slaughtering weaklings in other regions! According to the original deployment plan, he should have been worn down by the burly caveman legion in the fourth ring of Valak, realizing his disadvantage in legion warfare, putting away his arrogance, and leading other adventurers to make a fortune in the fourth ring before returning to advance to level 12!" The white-robed adventurer replied angrily, "Do you know how difficult it is for us to cultivate an 11th-level adventurer? High-level adventurers are always a scarce resource!"

"Your Blood Sword Guard wiped out the main force of the Fourth Ring, leaving only a few weak cave dwellers. This caused Augusta to misjudge the situation and lead his team straight into the Third Ring, where he became increasingly arrogant. In the end, he died in the Valak Dungeon along with a group of adventurers who were blinded by greed!"

"What do you mean by the Blood Sword Guards wiping out the main force of the Fourth Ring?" the officer frowned. "The cavemen raised by Valak are very strong. We only killed a small portion of the outer perimeter of the Fourth Ring, less than a third of the main legion. We sent in thirty-six young men, and two of them died. In the end, we couldn't withstand the elite cavalry formation of the cavemen, so we retreated."

“Oh…” The white-robed adventurer was silent for a moment, “Then why did they…”

The two looked at each other quietly.

"In other words—Valak deliberately withdrew the main force of the cave dwellers in the fourth ring, and pretended to be easily slaughtered by the Blood Sword Guards, making it seem as if he was severely injured, and then deliberately lured Augusta and the others into the third ring..." The white-robed adventurer realized.

“I already told you, it’s just a little trick by Valak.” The officer chuckled. “While you adventurers are individually powerful and skilled in exploration and solo combat, you know nothing about military strategy. Demon Lords are not just powerful individual demons; they are also monarchs and commanders, possessing mature macro-tactical thinking and strategies.”

"Alright... we misunderstood, I apologize." The white-robed adventurer nodded. "Our cooperation is indeed necessary. Individual combat strength and the ability to survive and explore unfamiliar environments cannot replace tactical thinking and military strategy."

"Of course, military formations cannot replace strong elite combat power and the ability to survive in the perilous Demon Realm." The officer smiled. "The Erdrick Empire and the Adventurers' Alliance are complementary and ironclad allies. Don't let Valak sow discord between them."

“That makes sense, ally,” the white-robed adventurer greeted him. “Also, there’s something else I wanted to discuss with you today.”

"Please speak," the officer gestured.

The white-robed adventurer pulled out a small runestone wheel, on which a beast's eyeball, two thin white petals, and a quartz plate containing strange impurities and shadows were fixed in the catalyst slots—this was a four-phase spell, meaning it required the use of four catalyst slots, making it more complex than the three-phase spells commonly found among adventurers.

"Shadow magic?" The officer looked at the runestone wheel with interest. "Did you record anything interesting?"

The white-robed adventurer activated the magic circle clockwise. The shadow in the quartz crystal passed through the beast's eye and was projected by a beam of light, leaving a projection on the wall of the fortress room.

The projected image showed a huge, dark, crow-like creature that, like a swordsman, gripped a rapier with its wing claws and soared through the sky.

Because of the distance of the image, the image is slightly blurry, but the steel-like beak and blood-red eyes are clearly visible on the face covered with black feathers.

His bloodshot eyes held a hint of mockery, an expression reminiscent of the famous Lord of Kanas, Vallaq.

The officer remained expressionless.

"Have you seen it before?" the white-robed adventurer asked. "It looks like I have."

“My lads mentioned a shadow like that once,” the officer frowned. “They said they encountered a giant, humanoid demonic raven that used a rapier, could fly, and would circle overhead mocking them, deliberately throwing huge droppings at their heads. It was incredibly swift, had a powerful ability to dodge, and once it flew high in the sky, it couldn’t be surrounded by the sword formation, nor was it beyond the effective attack range of the magic potion gun.”

“There’s more than one. There seem to be many of these crow-men.” The white-robed adventurer replaced the quartz disc in the magic circle wheel with another one.

The projection on the wall switched to the blurry outlines of a flock of crows in the sky. At first glance, it seemed unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that each shadow of a demonic crow was actually a crow-man swordsman wielding a rapier.

"What do you mean?" The white-robed adventurer looked at the officer.

"Whatever," the officer sneered.

"Are you so confident? How many secrets does the Imperial military still hold?" the white-robed adventurer asked. "Do you really intend to reclaim territory on par with an ancient empire?"

“That’s a bit of a stretch, ally.” The officer stood up and left. “Get back to work.”

"After all, it takes adventurers to transform the desolate demon realm into a habitable zone."

(End of this chapter)