My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 156

From the pile of flesh and blood on the edge of Duke Nikolai's city, a huge, sharp claw suddenly shot out.

The sharp claw stretched for several kilometers and embedded itself directly in the defensive wall of the Kosichè Duchy's salient. Amid the panicked screams of the soldiers, it tore down an entire wall, along with the soldiers on it.

Chapter 87

"Boom——!"

As the defensive wall collapsed, the soldiers on it, along with their protective equipment, plummeted dozens of meters to the ground. The soldiers below stared in disbelief at the wall's collapse. They stared blankly at the direction of the wall's fall, blankly at the world outside after the wall collapsed, and finally blankly at the huge, scarlet claws that were still clinging tightly to the collapsing defensive wall and pulling it back.

"What the hell is this..." a battle-hardened veteran murmured, watching the bloody city rapidly approaching in the distance accompanied by strange, air raid siren-like sounds. "Can we really fucking beat these monsters?!"

"Whether we can win or not is another matter, hurry up! There are still people alive over there! After we rescue them, we'll leave the trap zone and head to the pre-arranged barricade to meet up!"

"Yes Yes!"

The soldiers quickly restored order, although their morale remained low due to the indescribable thing, but their duty as soldiers compelled them to complete their mission.

As Duke Nikolai's flesh-and-blood city advanced, albeit slowly, the soldiers of the Kosichean duchy rescued some of the surviving soldiers. They salvaged everything salvageable, and even the unsalvageable corpses had their weapons retrieved—as for the rest, they doused them with flammable cooking oil, liquor, and cotton. Before leaving, they planned to burn everything, including the corpses, in one fell swoop.

They couldn't let their comrades' corpses become food for the enemy. Therefore, no one hesitated for a moment when setting the fire. The torches ignited all the combustibles in an instant, and the flames scorched the corpses. The pungent smell of the burning flesh nearly made some of the militiamen assisting the regular army in the recovery work vomit, as they covered their mouths and noses.

"Hurry! We need to evacuate!"

The soldiers were stern and fierce, while the auxiliary troops were pale. They evacuated all the danger zones as quickly as possible, activated all the traps in the trap zones, and then everyone returned to their respective barricades, ready to deal with the approaching enemy at any moment.

1 o'clock sharp.

Duke Nikolai's flesh-and-blood city attacked. It crushed the friendly soldiers who had not yet had time to dodge its tracks, and then crashed straight into the salient of the Kosiché duchy.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, the earth shook violently across both cities—where the two forces collided, buildings collapsed, roads cracked, and the ground undulated and fractured like waves. Even the soldiers, who had held their breath and were prepared, were left dizzy and disoriented by the impact; some even vomited up their stomachs, despite the protection of their armor and helmets.

Some officers who responded quickly used the most traditional method of slapping their subordinates to bring them back to their senses. At the same time, other soldiers who were close to the detonation point of the trap also left these dangerous places before the trap was triggered.

The salient of the Duchy of Kosiché, apart from one main connecting passage, has been separated from the main city thoroughfares. The dead ends created by barricades and traps, disguised as inhabited areas, can deplete some of Duke Nikolai's forces, but the more significant threat lies in the traps that cover almost the entire salient.

These traps are made of pure Originium and various igniters or explosives. They can be triggered even when buried under bricks. Moreover, some of these traps have the amazing effect of raising the temperature of the site. However, these things are very expensive to make, and even regular armies cannot produce many of them, so their numbers are extremely rare.

Those tower-like traps were placed at the crossroads about 200 meters in front of the actual barricades. They should hold for a long time, preventing the spread of corruption.

"They're coming!"

As Duke Kosiché's soldiers took their positions at their respective defensive points, Duke Nikolai's soldiers finally arrived.

They surged forth from the [bridge] connecting the two cities after their collision. Another portion was ejected directly from the [balloons] suspended in the sky. These deformed, grotesque soldiers roared inhumanly as they swarmed around towering flesh golems, slowly advancing towards the barricades of the Duke of Koschie's army.

These monsters seemed to possess the ability to discern the true attack points; they ignored all the disguised barricades and moved directly towards the actual barricade positions. Corrupted flesh followed them wherever they went. The stench of the flesh-covered carpet was unparalleled, even from kilometers away, and the flesh soldiers walking on it seemed to receive a strange boost.

Their bodies were unnaturally swelling, and some soldiers who looked noticeably thinner became, in the next moment, "extra organs" of larger soldiers.

"What the hell is this thing?! [Elegant Ursus profanity!]" The soldiers on Kosichean's side were sweating profusely, terrified by the towering flesh golem, and confused by the deformed soldiers slowly approaching.

"It doesn't matter what it is! A trap, trigger the trap already!"

"Oh, oh!"

The soldiers hastily triggered the trap. With a deafening explosion and subsequent flames, the tower, atop the Pure Originium, reached temperatures only seen in the sweltering summer heat—the traps the soldiers had set were fully activated.

They watched in terror as the grotesque soldiers and towering flesh-and-blood puppets were slaughtered in the explosions and flames, howling in agony. Before their hearts could even calm down, a smile crept onto their lips as the group of flaming, deformed soldiers charged toward them, howling and crying merrily.

Ignoring the rubble and debris along the way, disregarding everything that might harm them, they charged fiercely towards the barricades with their burning bodies—

They emanated a nauseating stench of burning flesh and the aroma of meat. Their voices gradually lost their human emotion, until finally, all that remained were strange, sizzling sounds.

The soldiers rushed to all the breaches, trying to stop the onslaught of these madmen and aliens. Their equipment certainly allowed them to fight so bravely.

As of 1:20 PM.

The vanguard soldiers of the Duchy of Nikolai, braving the fire of traps and barricades, engaged in their first real battle with the soldiers of the Duchy of Kosice.

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

"..."

3pm sharp.

Duke Kosiché picked up the latest battle report.

To be honest, the situation above was worse than expected, but not as hopeless as she had imagined.

It's like when you're in a hotel with your girlfriend and you're constantly worried that her parents will barge in to check on you, but instead, it's her sister who barges in—although both can essentially be attributed to the same thing, being found out by her parents and being found out by her sister are two different concepts, aren't they?

This is exactly what Kosichrie is facing now. She had considered that Duke Nikolai's first attack would break the morale of her army and allow him to take advantage of the situation, but she hadn't expected that Duke Nikolai's troops would be under such circumstances with [unexpectedly low control].

"They've almost broken through our frontline defenses, and yet they've started eating, ignoring our firepower, just because they're hungry?" She frowned, muttering to herself about something incomprehensible to both humans and immortals: "This... squatting down and tearing at the flesh of corpses right in front of falling axes and swords? This... while their bodies are indeed very sturdy, even immune to some extent to small crossbow bolts... isn't this just too... excessive?"

Simply put, the mutated soldiers of the Nikolai Duchy are creatures with more bestiality than humanity, and low intelligence... in some ways even more foolish than Originium Bugs.

Their physical abilities are indeed very strong. Even the Sarkaz swordsmen who use their greatswords like wooden sticks cannot compete with them in terms of strength. However, in contrast, their intelligence is exceptionally low.

Even Originium Bugs wouldn't start eating instead of fleeing just because they're hungry in a dangerous environment, but these guys... actually started eating right there at the very moment they were about to break through the first barricade—which was exactly 2 PM—because of the rumbling sounds coming from their stomachs?

And it completely ignored all the attacks and started eating the corpses on the ground—no, is this...is this really a living being?

Even a paramecium wouldn't act like this, would it? Placing "desire" above "life"... what kind of nonsense is this?

Kosichrie was shocked by this, but what shocked her the most was another, even bigger piece of good news.

That is the tactical disadvantage caused by their low intelligence.

"And their intelligence is so low? They don't even understand the advantages of expanding their gains after breaking through the front lines... They only launch a siege on a single individual at the very front, and only move on to the next one after that individual is completely eliminated? This is truly..."

I wonder if Duke Nikolai lowered the intelligence of his soldiers to the minimum and raised their physical fitness to the maximum when he transformed them.

all in all.

These incredibly strong, tough-skinned alien soldiers, capable of taking on five regular Koschie ducal armies by brute force, were not as intelligent as one might imagine—Koschie meant that she never thought these alien soldiers would be as stupid as Originium Bugs, and setting aside their low intelligence did not mean they could be controlled by sorcerers.

They are completely incapable of distinguishing between what is more important and what is less important; they will only instinctively attack the nearest and seemingly most threatening units, without reacting at all to the vulnerable yet highly lethal crossbowmen or sorcerers behind the enemy's breached lines.

These guys... are just too stupid! Kosiché was incredibly grateful for their stupidity, but even so...

"...Even against such a foolish enemy, we've suffered over 200 casualties after just two hours of fighting?"

They are still too troublesome.

She could fight against well-trained elite troops with just her physical strength and brute force. If it weren't for the barricades her husband had set up in the salient area, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Thinking of this, the immortal black serpent took a deep breath. She was extremely grateful to her husband, but beyond that, she noticed something else worth noting...

“Monica, have the scouts outside, responsible for intelligence gathering, focus on monitoring all movements in Duke Nikolai’s city. I need to find out exactly how often that [Claw] will be used again. Also, the group of [Balloons] in the sky, and the movements of those uncontrolled monsters.”

"Yes."

The maid in the mirror world responded and then left.

Kosiché judged that Duke Nikolai was unable to fully control his soldiers.

Because if Duke Nikolai had complete control over everything in his territory, the claws that stretched out from the city alone would have been enough to destroy everything in the Duchy of Koschche—but he did not do so.

And it wasn't just that claw. Those chained balloons flying in the sky would have been a nightmare just for them to relieve themselves anywhere over the Duchy of Kosiché, but Duke Nikolai didn't do that!

Kosiché didn't think Duke Nikolai was that kind of fool. After all, he was a nobleman who earned his title through military achievements. She believed that it wasn't that Duke Nikolai didn't want to do it, but rather that he wanted to do it but lacked the ability to do so.

She boldly speculated that this was likely related to the unfinished "city ritual".

However, she needed more information, more information. Meanwhile, her husband, who could provide that information, had already taken Hela to the ceremony site to make preparations...

Do we just have to wait for him to come back? No! I need to get back here as soon as possible too...

Kosichrie bit her lower lip, then got up and left the audience hall—she needed to use some kind of Originium Arts to observe the battle situation at the front and gather more information.

She can't just stay in the back.

...... ......

While Kosiché was preparing to head to the city control tower's monitoring room to learn about the battle situation at the front, Yang Hao and Sonia were leading the Templar Knights in a tense setup of the ceremony Hela was about to use, which was less than a kilometer away from the front lines.

This is a good place. Located on the roof of a mid-rise building, it won't affect traffic and logistics below, but Hela can use her abilities to stop the spread of the creep—and most importantly, it's a place where enough souls can be collected, and Hela needs to consume a large number of souls to perform her rituals.

“Dad, I need twenty days—during which time I cannot leave the entire circular ritual area. So…”

"Don't worry. I'll leave enough people to protect you—"

"But Dad, I mean, are you safe?"

Standing at the center of the circular ceremony, Hela used her sickle to carve an inverted cross. Watching her father with worry, Hela completed the final touches of her ritual.

Faced with his daughter's worry, Yang Hao simply turned his head to glance at the front lines from which the sounds of battle were coming, then turned back and smiled.

"Don't worry. Dad's safety is guaranteed, but you need to be safe too, understand?"

"Yes..."

She nodded. Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the living doll pointed her scythe towards the front line, seemingly intending to first absorb souls for future use—so that once the Templars had cleared the area, she could proceed with her 20-day ritual.

During Hela's ceremony, under Sonia's protection, Yang Hao also began to focus on his work. He discovered that although Duke Nikolai's first attack seemed terrifying, it also exposed Duke Nikolai's weakness.

The most direct point is that Duke Nikolai did not have complete control over his city!

[Event: The Weakened Living City]

Fragments of the Holy Grail, blood, flesh, and soul—these four elements, when combined in a grand, celebratory Holy Grail ritual, can transform a massive steel city into a living, breathing creature, and the person who completes the ritual can gain complete control over that ferocious beast.

The problem was that Duke Nikolai overestimated the number of his subjects and underestimated the amount of blood required for the living ritual. After barely meeting half the requirement, his ritual failed—in this state, he could only barely control the movement of his city, unable to fully control the weakened city that had transformed into a ferocious beast.

The unfinished ritual also severely affected all his soldiers. Instead of "ascending" to a higher realm as planned, they became a group of mentally deficient beings. Although they were several times stronger than the soldiers controlled by the other nobles of the Sherlock Holmes nightclub, it was still a disgrace to Duke Nikolai.

Fortunately, there's still a chance... If he can obtain enough flesh and blood from the neighboring Duchy of Kosiché, he can resume the living ritual. Furthermore, with a large quantity of flesh and blood, he will have the opportunity to challenge the Holy Grail, and if successful...

At that time, the being known as Duke Nikolai will ascend to become a terrifying celestial being.

He finally understood what the six-pointed star array spanning the entire city was for, and he finally understood just how vast Duke Nikolai's ambitions were—that bastard, he wanted to become Sichen, and not only did he want to become Sichen, he also wanted his subordinates to become Ascended!

If he hadn't underestimated the costs of the [Living Ritual] and the resources of his city, and if the ritual had actually succeeded, Yang Hao's side wouldn't have had a chance to fight that monster...

Fortunately, he failed. The living ritual was forced to fail halfway through. Although the city transformed into a ferocious beast, it was incredibly weak. That's probably why the claw couldn't be used multiple times—if Yang Hao's puppet stage hadn't deceived him, Duke Nikolai's city could only use the claw once every five days at most after the living ritual failed. Moreover, his soldiers were rendered mentally impaired by the failed ritual, further reducing Duke Nikolai's control. This was Yang Hao and his group's advantage.

But even so...

The pressure on the front lines is still too great.

Unlike Kosiché, who could only barely make out the general information, he was different.

However, he can directly see the complete intelligence.

So far, the frontline fighting has lasted 2 hours, 1 minute, and 40 seconds.

科西切公爵领损失247名正规军士兵,124名辅助兵，以及大概300人的负伤——而尼古莱公爵只付出了3个血肉傀儡，以及300名畸形士兵的死亡。

With a casualty ratio of approximately 600:303, Yang Hao's team still held the advantage on the defensive...

This is really...

"We can't hold out for that long."

He swallowed hard and murmured.

"We must end this war as soon as possible, or we must get His Majesty the Emperor's army to our aid immediately..."

He swallowed hard. Sonia, behind him, gently stroked his hair, looking at him with concern.

...... ......

3:42 p.m.

Inside the flesh control tower of the Nikolai Duchy—now more accurately described as a living city—which has been transformed into a ferocious beast of flesh.

He was wearing a long red robe.

Holding a red scepter.

His face had patches of white and black skin; one patch looked like a wild beast, while the other looked like a woman.

Duke Nikolai, who has three arms and four legs, is looking at the enormous heart beating in front of him with disappointment, and lets out a heavy sigh filled with saltiness.

"Are we still unable to control the every move of all those foolish pack animals?"