Chapter 408 – The Beginning
Chapter 408 – The Beginning
The successive booms had completely broken the tranquility in the third cemetery, the flames gushing from the muzzles of the guns illuminated the dim fog over and over again, shaking and twisted figures continuously emerged from the fog and fell one by one amidst the sacred flames and metal bombardment – and in the place where they fell, the pitch-black and unsettling substance had already spread out onto the path.
These were clearly no longer “restless corpses” – they were something more profane, more unholy, and must be destroyed here.
The old man’s marksmanship was so good that the monstrous things coming out of the fog looked like slow crawlers to him, and even through the fog, he was able to take them out one by one.
He was actually more skilled and experienced with his short sword and cane – but the old man knew that he had to avoid getting into a short tussle with those monsters too soon if at all possible.
He was old enough that the experience of a veteran could not counteract the aging of his flesh, and with enemies that he could never seem to kill cleanly, there was no way he could hold those monsters off across the trail once he got into a short fight.
It would take precise calculations to destroy as many monsters as possible with as little physical effort as possible, it would take stalling time, the Cathedral and the city-state authorities must be taking their course, reinforcements would come, no matter which side it was on – the city wouldn’t fall to the ground in such an inexplicable fog.
Faintly, there was the sound of other gunfire coming from the distance.
“Grandpa Watchman!” Annie shouted, handing the freshly loaded rifle to the old man once again, while looking somewhat nervously in the direction from which the gunfire was coming, “There’s shooting elsewhere too …… Is someone coming to help us?”
“It’s the guards from Cemeteries 4 and 2,” the old man lifted his rifle and shattered an ugly head emerging from the mist with a booming shot, while saying without looking back, “Someone will come to help us, don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid.” Annie struggled to say aloud, though her voice shook a little, and the old caretaker of the cemetery didn’t tear down the little girl’s forced bravery.
For she was brave enough.
“You are very brave indeed,” said the old caretaker, making it as easy as possible for him to act, even if his arms were actually beginning to shake, “Where did you learn all this? How do you know how to load rifles and shotguns?”
“My mom has several guns, she hangs them in her bedroom and living room,” Annie said as she quickly pressed bullets into the cylinder magazine of her double-barreled shotgun, “The year dad didn’t come back, mom bought several guns, she said she needed to protect the house …… Aaaah!”
The reed on the magazine catch suddenly disintegrated, and the sharp metal edge gouged a long gash in the little girl’s finger, and she gasped.
But in the next second, she used her other finger to vigorously return the reed to its place, handing the loaded shotgun to the old man in front of her, “Here you go.”
The old guard noticed the blood on the gun and heard Anne’s exclamation of surprise, but he was silent for just a moment before tossing the other gun behind him, “…… loaded.”
The gun roared again.
The hunched old man in black was like a bent and tough tree, firmly pinning himself in this thick fog, and gradually there was no more conversation between him and Annie, only silent shooting and an increasing gravity in his demeanor, as he counted, counted how many monsters he had already taken out, counted the number of times Annie had already passed the loaded shotgun or rifle into his hands.
“Last box of bullets.” He mumbled softly.
“Grandpa Watchman, last box of bullets!” Annie exclaimed at almost the same time.
“I know,” the old caretaker didn’t look back as he silently disposed of a monstrous freak who had almost made it to the front of the hut, and then beckoned behind him, “Load the shotgun and leave it and the rest of the bullets at my feet, and you go underneath my bunk, where there’s a dark brown box that is spare ammo.”
“Good! Dark brown case, spare ammo!” Annie immediately said quickly, then pushed the gun and bullets hard against the door and turned toward the house.
The old guard silently glanced down at the shotgun and bullets at his feet, then slightly sidestepped and casually closed the door to the room, and drew the short sword in his pocket, nailing it hard against the hook of the outside latch.
Almost the next instant he heard the sound of somewhat panicked footsteps coming from within the hut, followed by the sound of the girl banging hard on the door as well as exclaiming in alarm.
“…… Last time I’ll lie to you.”
The old caretaker said softly, then fired his one-handed gun in rapid succession at the closest of the monstrous freaks, before turning quickly and using his strength to jump from the doorframe, swinging his free left hand over a corner above the doorframe, and a pitch-black cane came out in his hand – before landing, he used the black cane in his hand to fiercely Before he landed, he slammed it down towards another monster that emerged from the fog, landing smoothly on the ground the moment the skull-crushing corpse fell to the ground.
Sweeping his eyes over the fog in front of him, the old man swung the black cane in his hand, and the dirty black fluid flung down from the cane like mutated blood, and then he pressed the cane hard on the ground, and the metal mechanism clicked, and the pitch-black cane immediately shortened by half an inch, while countless sharp blades popped out from both sides.
The moment the blades popped open, it was as if they were mixed with countless layers and layers of cries and roars from the past.
The foggy cemetery even fell into silence for a moment.
The old guard looked back at the door of the hut, at the corner above the doorframe where the hidden compartment was located – just like most of the guardian veterans, he chose to place the weapon that had accompanied him for half of his life above the last door he had guarded in the year of his retirement, but did not expect that he and this old buddy would once again be in front of this door fighting side by side. “We guard a door …… We are the guards of Bartok ……” The old man’s waist was still hunched over, and in the cold, dim fog he slowly turned his body, his eyes falling on the swaying figures, mouthing the oath that has been passed down from generation to generation of the Guardians, “We are sworn to guard the borders of life and death, the dead thus rest in peace, the living thus rest in peace ……”
The monstrous freaks in the mist stirred, and countless swaying figures began to cross that path and rush toward the still standing hut.
They were answered by the sound of the old guard’s gun, and the whine of staffs and swords breaking through the air.
“You don’t want to rest in peace, I’ll send you to rest in peace!”
Slashes, roars, the roar of rifles and shotguns firing, the last battle of the keepers made this cemetery tremble.
In the keeper’s hut, Anne’s small body huddled in the doorway, holding her head as she listened to the commotion outside.
She whimpered in small sobs, which eventually dissolved into howls at the roar of gunfire.
At twelve years old, she had been tricked once more by her caretaker grandfather.
……
At the same time, the Frost Outer Sea.
The dense fog was not limited to the skies above the city-state, and by midday, the fog had crossed the offshore boundary line and covered all the way to the patrol area of the Sea Mist Fleet.
In such a dense and bizarre fog, even the cursed fleet, which itself possessed transcendent attributes, had to tense its nerves.
On the bridge of the Sea Mist, Tirian stood in front of the wide porthole with his brows furrowed, gazing at the dense fog like a wall on the sea surface, while First Mate Aiden came behind him, reporting the situation in a serious tone, ”…… As of now, the connection between us and the Cold Harbor, the Ice Bay, and the Pirate Island have all been strongly interfered with, and all of the frequency bands are not responding, and the communication with the Frost Navy and the harbor area of the Frost Main Island is also being interfered with, but we can barely still get in touch. The fog has spread to at least a hundred nautical miles off Frost Island ……
“In addition, according to the reports of the small boats we sent to the edge of the fog, the extent of the fog has stopped spreading and the concentration has not continued to rise, but all efforts to navigate outward have failed – all small boats that have attempted to leave the fog’s range have spun around in the same place and have unknowingly turned back into the depths of the fog. ”
“What’s the situation in the stargazing room?”
“Still can’t observe the correct astrological signs,” First Officer Aiden’s expression was grave, “It’s as if a layer of fuzzy lenses suddenly appeared between the spirit world and the deep, deep sea, and the observed astrological signs have overlapping shadows, and the mental pressure caused by stargazing has risen steeply, making prolonged observation simply impossible. ”
“…… It looks like the blockade is complete, the Frost City State and the surrounding waters have been cut off from the ‘normal world’ outside,” Tirian’s face was expressionless, with only a piece of calm in his one eye , “Don’t waste your energy running out of the city.”
“Who created the blockade ……?”
“Use your brain once in a while – need you ask?” Tirion glanced back at Aiden, “The cultists, the group of lunatics who worship the Holy Lord of the Profound, aren’t they the ones who have been causing trouble all this time?”
“I know,” Aiden stared with an expression of “Isn’t this battle in front of us a bit exaggerated?”, “But with just a bunch of cultists, can they really create such a big battle?”
“A group of rabble of madmen may not have this ability, but the ‘Lord’ they worship is another matter,” Tirian placed his hand on the railing in front of him and said in a low voice, “The Holy Lord of the Profound …… Blocking space and time, interfering with the stars …… Is this the power of the ancient gods ……”
Aiden subconsciously gulped.
“So …… we’re really going to directly confront the power of the ancient gods this time?”
“Afraid?”
“A little bit,” Aiden nodded, but his face squeezed out another ugly smile, “but there’s no way, the world is like this – in fact, if you think about it, it’s nothing, when we first went up against the old captain, the big guys weren’t just like that. When we went up against the old captain, didn’t we all do the same thing?”
“That’s all right, let’s get everyone ready,” Tirian exhaled softly, waving his hand at the first mate, “After so many years away from the Frost, we may have to make a big mess of these waters again.”
(Tomorrow go to BJ business trip, more than twenty to Shanghai, next month may also go to SJZ, before also went to Chengdu, feel this period of time is either on business trips, or on the way to business trips …… Anyway, the first to send out the deposit, it will not be broken, and then look at the gap between business trips if there is a chance to double-shift.)
(End of chapter)