On the edge of the Giant Wood Crossing area, Saldrin and his Iron Rangers soldiers were approaching a small town.

The multi-functional chariots that the advance team took stopped outside the town. These solid steel-made vehicles temporarily acted as shield generators and energy stations, building temporary strongholds on a stone high ground outside the town. A Ranger soldier climbed to the top of the chariot and headed towards the town, pressing a mechanism on the side of the closed helmet with his hands.

The crystal eyepieces embedded in the helmet armor were activated by magic, and first turned red. The warrior roughly glanced at the town with his vision of detecting magic, and then the goggles were switched to blue. The new Hawkeye technique added to the second-generation eyepiece enhanced the user's vision, and many details in the town were immediately presented to the observer.

After a brief observation, a slightly dull voice came from the Ranger's helmet: "Sir, there are wandering crystal clusters infected in the town, and there are obvious magic reactions everywhere."

"The whole town has been infected..." Saldrin's face turned gloomy, "It seems that we have entered the infected area and can't continue to move forward."

"No traces of the Eastern Legion and the Kingdom Army were found along the way..." said the Rangers soldier, "Will they be completely finished?"

"...I can't confirm that although the noble army has poor combat power, at least a large number of extraordinary people are in charge. It is not so easy to be wiped out," Saldrin said in a deep voice. "Maybe they have given up all the wilderness areas and are relying on big cities to defend themselves, or they may still be fighting with the Crystal Cluster infected people further north..."

He talked about his analysis, but he didn't have much confidence in his heart.

As a high-level ranger and a high-level ranger who has experienced great development seven hundred years ago, he still feels particularly difficult when facing this situation.

The strange "God-Infested Pollution" and a huge number of Crystal Clusters infected people hindered the intelligence collection work. Even with the elite and powerful steel rangers, he could not determine what the situation was deeper in the polluted area.

This is different from seven hundred years ago. Seven hundred years ago, humans were fighting on wasteland. Overall, they didn't have to consider whether there were reinforcements or safe areas in the wasteland ahead, because in the end they would basically develop into a wave of recklessness. If the recklessness survives, they would survive, but the recklessness would be wiped out. There was no other route ahead, and the tide of recklessness that was pressing step by step in the rear would not give people room to think, but here... the situation is much more complicated.

Saldrin analyzed the information collected in recent days, while at the same time, several other Ranger soldiers were still observing the situation in the town: this was the first time they had witnessed a large number of infected people in a non-encounter battle, and it was a good opportunity to observe their movements.

Soon, the soldiers discovered some concerning situations.

"Sir, these 'monsters'... seem to be organized."

Saldrin was stunned for a moment, then immediately turned on Falcon Vision (Elf-type Hawkeye) and looked towards the town.

As the warriors saw, the Crystal Clusters infected... were organized.

They were not wandering aimlessly, but were moving in an organized manner. Some particularly tall individuals were directing them. Saldrin saw the scene of the "monsters" cooperating in groups to transport things, and also saw the scene of them patrolling and warding everywhere in the town. This scene... was something that had not been observed when they encountered it in the wild before.

Saldrin frowned and slowly recalled more details: Although they were melee when they encountered in the wild, the organization of the Crystal Cluster infected people seemed to be traced.

They do have cooperation and a certain degree of command when attacking.

They... seem to retain a certain ability to think?

If this is the case, it would be even worse - you can think, but your cognitive methods have been completely alienated, which means they are not just monsters that lose their minds after being infected.

These crystal clusters infected people... are an army.

As I thought about it, new changes suddenly occurred in the situation in the distant town.

Saldrin saw the infected people who gathered on the west side of the town inexplicably restless. Then several particularly tall crystal cluster giants appeared in his sight. The crystal cluster giants quickly gathered a large team and left the town and rushed towards the northwest.

Driven by curiosity, Saldrin looked in the direction of the infection of the crystal clusters. At the end of his vision, he saw a rising smoke and the flash of magic when it burst out.

Fight broke out there.

"There may be survivors - get in the car!"

...

When dusk came, the majestic southern gateway finally appeared in sight.

Belk stopped in the wilderness, and in the warmer spring wind, he looked at the continuous mountains in the south and the majestic fortress standing proudly among the mountains.

A horse with mixed fur colors stopped by him uneasy, constantly digging the land beneath his feet with its hooves and making noise.

The horse was "picked" on the road. The horse's owner might have fled, leaving only the poor livestock wandering in the wilderness. Of course, it could not compare with Belk's once loved horse, and could not even compare to any war horse in the army. However, no matter what, it helped a lot in the second half of the difficult trek, greatly shortening the time of the journey.

Perhaps he finally saw the end of the journey, Belk suddenly felt much more relaxed. He smiled and patted the neck of the variegated horse, with a light tone: "You have a great contribution - you are almost worthy of a knight."

The variegated horse sniffed and shook its neck slightly.

Belk nodded in a good mood, then turned over to the horse, controlling the speechless temporary travel companion to continue to move towards the fortress in the distance.

He knew he was passing by the edge of the territory of Count Pompeii, but he did not intend to meet the plain noble, nor even stay in any nearby villages and towns—on the one hand, to save time and minimize twists and turns, and on the other hand, because he really didn't feel tired.

Although he had been trekking in the wilderness for more than ten days, and although he had hardly had much rest, he really didn't feel tired.

He just vaguely remembered that he had been tired-but it seemed like it had happened a long time ago.

The variegated horse trotted in the flatter wilderness, and the comfortable wind blew towards him, encouraging Belk's spirit. A strange feeling of expectation and pleasure came to his heart, making him feel relaxed. As the towering walls of the Rock Fortress got closer, the young marquis began to plan the follow-up in his heart--

First of all, he was going to pass through the Rock Fortress and enter the Rock City. He wanted to tell Sir Wald what happened at the Giant Wood Passage and ask him to help warn the rulers of the southern border, Giant Wood Passage, Solinburg, Solinburg...

A trace of confusion suddenly flashed in Belk's eyes.

What happened at the entrance of the Giant Wood Road? What happened to Solinburg?

He was in a daze, but this brief trance was quickly ignored. He suddenly didn't care what he wanted to warn. He only remembered that his task was to go to the southern border, to warn and convey important news. In his identity and the importance of the news he conveyed, he would undoubtedly be received by Duke Gowen Cecil himself...

These strong thoughts kept rising, and waves of impacting Belk's thoughts, but suddenly, a scene appeared in his increasingly trance-difficult consciousness.

A pair of eyes, a pair of bright eyes flashed through his mind.

Those eyes...a little familiar.

In this short moment, Belk suddenly woke up.

He felt his heart pounding, his breathing was rapid, his sweat was falling along his neck, and a large number of messy and broken memories were quickly reorganizing in his mind, but it was difficult to form an accurate impression, and even made him feel a splitting headache. In this terrible state, he suddenly felt a burst of heat on his chest.

Belk subconsciously reached into his arms and touched something that was constantly heating up - it was a small talisman, the amulet of the God of War.

This powerful amulet that has received the highest level of blessing, possesses various magical techniques to enlighten the wearer's spirituality, is releasing increasingly stronger heat. With the heat released together, there are waves of tides of power. Belk held the amulet in a daze, feeling that his brain was constantly being washed and reshaped by it, and his messy and broken memory images were finally recombined one by one.

He recalled the thick fog in Solinburg, the changes at the entrance of the giant wood, and the owner of those eyes.

At the end of all the memories, he heard the last word that the prince he swore to be loyal to him:

"run."

There was a loud bang in my mind, and Belk woke up completely and realized the strangeness he had been in so many days-

He came here driven by some obsession - but this obsession was not spontaneous.

He actively or passively stayed away from everyone along the way—as if trying to avoid being disturbed or blocked by anyone.

He escaped from the most polluted area - barely pursued.

He is being controlled.

Belk suddenly pulled the reins and stopped the variegated horse.

He looked up at the rock fortress in the distance, and suddenly felt an illusory expectation and impulse appearing in his mind again. However, this time, he forced himself to suppress those thoughts that did not belong to him.

He turned over and dismounted, holding the amulet of the God of War tightly in his hand. The sharp edge of the amulet pierced his palm - while the blood was flowing out, he saw the flash of light emerging from the blood.

That is the flash of some crystalline particles in the sun.

At this moment, Belk finally realized that he had become a source of infection, using the body of a high-level powerful man as a container, completely disguised as the most dangerous source of infection for humans.

The calories of the God of War Talisman began to decline, and the power stored in the Talisman gradually dried up. He felt his awake consciousness shaken again, and those forced-suppressed, heterogeneous thoughts are trying to retake the dominance of this body.

He raised his head and looked at the rock fortress in the distance. In his difficult thinking, there was only one thought that was extremely clear: he had to... warn him.

There is not much time to wake up.

Belk looked around and then drew out his family sword.

He came to a nearby huge rock, raised his sword, the tip of the sword passed by the stone, and the debris flew—

"The entrance of the giant wood is covered by a plague, His Highness Edmond has been cursed and controlled, and the Eastern Legion may have been completely destroyed...

“The main polluted areas are concentrated in…

"Be careful of plague carriers disguised as humans - their characteristic is that they contain crystals in their blood."

The long sword hangs down, and Belk looks at the handwriting he left behind, and a little pride rises in his heart.

Although he passed through the giant wood entrance in a daze, he still remembered the areas where the crystal cluster giants were mainly occupied. This information...maybe useful.

After all this, he turned around, looked at the towering wall of the Rock Fortress, then withdrew his gaze and smiled slightly at the horse who accompanied him through his last journey—

"run."

In front of the sudden pressure, the variegated horse made a loud neigh, turned around and ran into the distance.

Belk exhaled, leaned his sword on the ground, supported his body, stood straight, looking towards the east.

"It's so far..."
Chapter completed!