Chapter 22: Iron and Blood
Gurgle, gurgle…
Large bubbles appeared in the magma beneath the fortress, and the Imperial Army also noticed this change.
Carlos revealed a smile. Matters were proceeding according to his predetermined plan.
"Waited so long, it's finally ready. Anna, go ahead."
Carlos seemed to be speaking to someone.
"Mm."
A faint, ethereal female voice came through. There appeared to be an invisible woman near Carlos.
After about several dozen seconds, the magma bubbling with large bubbles beneath the fortress stopped churning and began to show signs of solidifying.
Crack, crack.
The congealed magma split open with cracks. These cracks were not chaotic but formed a linked large-scale alchemical array.
Boom, boom, boom…
The ground within a radius of over ten kilometers began to tremble.
Bang!
The solidified magma layer ruptured. From the fissures in the magma layer, even hotter magma surged out, the cracks erupting like fountains spewing magma.
Gurgle, gurgle…
The magma flowed down the slope, and Imperial soldiers not far from the magma immediately retreated.
The magma continued to rise higher and flow down the slope. Within just a few seconds, a rolling magma slope had formed beneath the fortress.
Behind the battlefield, Carlos's adjutant stood on high ground watching the magma breach. He held a black stone slab in his arms, engraved with a highly precise alchemical array.
"The height isn't enough yet."
The adjutant's jaw muscles bulged. He could clearly see that the magma flow beneath the fortress had already begun to engulf the Imperial Army, screams forming a continuous chorus.
"Still not enough."
Adjutant Rona's gaze turned fierce. At that moment, a large number of Imperial soldiers were being swallowed by the magma.
Informing these soldiers in advance could have significantly reduced casualties, but doing so would have likely exposed the plan, leading to even more deaths.
The screams of soldiers being burned by the magma carried far. Not only the ordinary officers of the Empire but even the tribal forces on the fortress were stunned.
"This Carlos is a madman!"
Minotaur Armstrong's cheek twitched. Although he knew something of Carlos's ruthlessness, he hadn't expected Carlos to be this ruthless—using soldiers' lives to execute a plan.
Gurgle, gurgle…
The higher the magma rose, the more magma flowed down the slope, and the heavier the Imperial Army's casualties became.
Soon, the tribal forces on the fortress felt the scorching heat of the magma. Their hair and beards began to singe, and they started to retreat. If the magma surged onto the fortress, they were doomed.
Minotaur Armstrong didn't retreat because he believed that no matter how crazy Carlos was, he wouldn't let the magma flood the fortress. Once the magma solidified, it would form hard rock. If the magma surged onto the Black Soil Fortress, the tribal forces could at most escape down the stone slope on the other side, with minimal casualties.
If the magma solidified atop the Black Soil Fortress, not to mention the damage to the fortress's overall structure, just clearing the rock afterward would be a massive project. The fortress would effectively lose a kilometer, and the tribal forces would strike again from this weak point.
As Minotaur Armstrong expected, when the magma rose level with the fortress, Adjutant Rona behind the Imperial Army smashed the stone slab in his hands.
With a crack, the stone slab shattered, and the magma surging beneath the fortress instantly stopped.
Carlos had a reason for not letting the magma flood the fortress. On one hand, cooling magma formed rock that was hard to clear. On the other hand, to kill the tribal forces on the fortress, there was no need to let the magma surge up—that would only alert the enemy.
When the magma stopped level with the fortress, Minotaur Armstrong on the fortress breathed a sigh of relief. This matched his expectations.
"Run!"
A shrill shout came from the side. The goblin inventor, with his short legs, sprinted toward the other side of the fortress, jumping onto the stone slope built by the tribal forces on that side and continuing to flee.
Initially, the goblin inventor thought the alchemical array in the magma was a "Heat-Cold Exchange Alchemical Array," but it wasn't.
Seeing the goblin inventor's reaction, Minotaur Armstrong's hair stood on end.
"Retreat from the fortress!"
As Minotaur Armstrong roared, he also ran toward the stone slope on the other side of the fortress, but he was too slow.
The color of the magma that had stopped surging began to change, from fiery red to blue-black. A layer of ice crystals quickly spread across the magma's surface.
With such a drastic temperature shift, the semi-solid magma slope rapidly cracked.
Hiss!
Hot and cold met, and a large amount of steam rose. This was not ordinary water vapor but superheated steam far beyond the critical point.
The steam spread, and with the west wind that night, a vast cloud of steam quickly enveloped the Black Soil Fortress. This was the weather Carlos had most desired.
"Ah!!"
Heart-wrenching screams came from the fortress. Four types of "dishes" appeared on the fortress: steamed orcs, steamed goblins, steamed dwarves, and steamed trolls.
The thirty thousand tribal forces stationed on the fortress writhed in agony within the steam. The terrifyingly hot steam corroded their skin, and if they breathed, it also eroded their internal organs.
Within a few seconds, the fortress fell silent, covered only in a vast expanse of white steam. The tribal forces on the fortress were all dead.
A smell of cooked meat drifted through the air. Some newly conscripted Imperial soldiers began to retch.
Silent, cruel, terrifying—that was the Black Soil Fortress now.
"Blood for blood. My ancestors built this fortress, and the tribal scum won't take it from me."
Carlos spoke these words slowly, one by one. This was Carlos—fierce, iron-blooded, and more ruthless than anyone at critical moments. Only such a man could hold the border. Those so-called heroes couldn't keep the tribes out of the fortress. In war, there was no such word as "despicable." As long as you could annihilate the enemy, what did despicable matter? The dead couldn't call the enemy despicable because they were already dead and couldn't speak.
The steam lasted for over four hours before beginning to thin. The sky was even starting to lighten.
On the battlefield, Carlos said something else to the invisible woman.
Meanwhile, behind the Imperial Army, Adjutant Rona ordered the troops to regroup, and the command was quickly relayed to the entire army.
Within just a few minutes, over two hundred thousand Imperial soldiers had reformed their ranks. The confusion in the soldiers' eyes had vanished, replaced by a resolute gaze that made one wonder if these were the same half-routed rabble that had been desperately pushing backward just hours ago.
Several thousand soldiers carrying large water barrels on their backs marched in orderly ranks, quickly running toward the Black Soil Fortress. When these soldiers reached the solidified magma slope, they unstrapped the half-human-tall, thick water barrels from their backs and poured the water at the base of the slope.
Hiss~
Steam rose. After being watered, the slope's temperature gradually dropped, its surface turning a gray-black, honeycomb-like texture.
Barrel after barrel of water was poured, rapidly cooling the magma slope's temperature. The thousands of soldiers gradually advanced upward, continuing to pour water.
After several thousand barrels of water were emptied, the magma slope was still a bit hot underfoot, but it was barely bearable.
Thump, thump, thump…
War drums sounded from across the fortress. The tribal forces were assembling. Both sides were separated by the fortress, but there were slopes on both sides—one formed by the cooled magma, and the other prepared in advance by the tribal forces to prevent the Imperial Army from retaking the fortress. With this slope, the tribal forces' difficulty in attacking the fortress was greatly reduced.
Although the Imperial Army hadn't retaken the fortress, they had created a slope leading straight to the top.
Thus, the Black Soil Fortress was like a mountain, with both sides able to easily charge up to the top. Now, it was a matter of who could drive the other back.