NOVEL WEB Chapter 442: Might as Well Not Have Tried to Comfort
"Is the Flame King famous in this world?"
Fang Zhou recalled the Holy Sword that the queen had birthed from the flames; the title was indeed well-deserved.
"Of course, he is famous, as he was humanity's last ruler."
Night Mouse lamented, "After the apocalypse arrived, the Flame King led the last elite warriors of humanity to attack the Black Soul King, suffering total defeat before Fran Fortress, completely burying humanity's last hope."
Fang Zhou questioned, "You seem to have a low opinion of her?"
Night Mouse shook his head, "This is an objective description, not a judgment. In some ways, I quite admire her for being able to become a ruler respected by all as a woman."
Fang Zhou chuckled, "If you go back out there, you'll know that female rulers are common, outside are male rulers who are rare."
He asked again, "What is the Flame King's name?"
"I don't know, many people only know her title, but her real name, not many know."
As they flew and chatted, Night Mouse shared many stories about the Flame King, and Fang Zhou quietly memorized them for later use to flatter the Flame King, hoping she might respond.
Last night, Fang Zhou had traversed more than half of the Cold Valley, and after flying for a short time after dawn, he reached the valley's end.
The dense forest suddenly disappeared, and before him appeared a vast swampy mountain range.
Seeing the mountain range, Fang Zhou couldn't help but suck in a breath; the term "mountains of corpses and seas of blood" was something he could only feel through imagination.
Yet at this moment, he could finally witness firsthand what "mountains of corpses and seas of blood" truly meant.
The mountain range before him was completely covered in corpses, layers upon layers piled up, fully covering the ground without leaving a single gap.
Some places even had so many corpses piled up that they formed mountains, becoming mountains of corpses in the truest sense.
No blood could be seen, as these corpses had long dried and decayed, leaving behind skeletal remains and endless armor and weapons.
Faced with this awe-inspiring scene, Fang Zhou suddenly remembered what he saw the night before: countless soldiers following the Flame King into battle, a vision from who knows how many years ago, and now they all lay here.
Seeing Fang Zhou's silence, Night Mouse also spoke, "Quite overwhelming, isn't it? When I first saw this scene, I was too shocked to speak, experiencing for the first time how human life is no more than a mere count, so insignificant and humbled."
Fang Zhou snapped out of it, patting Night Mouse's shoulder, "Don't be pessimistic, while alive, one should look forward, breathe hard, live two more years if possible."
Night Mouse: (￣□￣)
You might as well not have tried to encourage me.
The two leapt over the mountain range, the horrific scene below left them without words.
As Night Mouse said, on such a grim battlefield, human lives were indeed merely numbers.
While flying over the halfway mark, Fang Zhou noticed atop the highest mountain of corpses seemed to be a crimson treasure sword embedded slantingly.
Fang Zhou's eyes lit up, wasn't that the Holy Sword given to the Flame King by the goddess?
It was right in such an obvious spot, like inviting someone to pick it up!
Not picking it up would be unreasonable, Fang Zhou was about to change direction to fly towards it when Night Mouse urgently pulled him back, "Are you about to pick up that Holy Sword?! No, you can't pick it up!"
Fang Zhou retorted unhappily, "Why can't I pick it up?"
Night Mouse wore a helpless expression, "If it could be picked, I would've taken it already. If you dare touch the Holy Sword, it will immediately awaken the Flame King's Heroic Spirit. She is humanity's last strong figure, a symbol of the Fire of Hope, and even dead now, she could crush you with a finger."
Fang Zhou was unperturbed by Night Mouse's belittling, only confused, "You've never picked it, how do you know all this?"
"Er..."
Night Mouse sulked, "I forgot why I know, but my memory isn't wrong; don't act recklessly."
Under Night Mouse's persuasion, Fang Zhou could only temporarily abandon this great opportunity to snatch.
Right, just temporarily, upon return, Fang Zhou intended to try picking it up and running.
The two flew over the mountain battlefield, finally arriving before Fran Fortress.
Fran Fortress's walls were much taller than Lorric City's, appearing more majestic upon close view; the walls bore many signs of past battles, perhaps from catapults or other weaponry causing craters.
As they neared Fran Fortress, Fang Zhou and Night Mouse had to land on the ground.
Without Night Mouse's reminder, Fang Zhou already saw anti-air cannons all over the walls, along with wandering goblin soldiers and a type of creature with tumor horns roaming around.
As per Night Mouse's introduction, they were called Tumor-horned Gulu, though the name sounded cute, they were fierce and terrible creatures, very dangerous.
Fang Zhou couldn't help but glance at Night Mouse.
How the heck is the name Tumor-horned Gulu cute?
Flying over the walls was impossible, and the Wolf Teeth Gate before Fran Fortress was tightly shut, seemingly impossible to enter.
But Night Mouse had already told Fang Zhou the method; outside the fortress, there were three camps, and as long as the bonfire in the campsite was lit, the goblin soldiers guarding the gate would automatically open it, a command engraved in their minds while alive.
Without delay, Fang Zhou and Night Mouse immediately followed the left side of the wall, where there were two camps that could be dealt with first.
Below the walls was another area of swamp forest, inhabited by many monsters, the swamp emitting a toxic gas.
Reaching the swamp's edge, Night Mouse pointed at the mists spreading over the swamp, saying to Fang Zhou, "Those mists are poisonous, we should find some dried Poison Purple Moss nearby to negate the swamp's toxicity."
Fang Zhou shook his head, pulling out a gourd, "No need for such trouble, I have a Universal Detoxification Elixir."
Night Mouse did not wish to discourage Fang Zhou but had to speak the truth, "A few Detoxification Pills won't last long, we..."
Before finishing, Night Mouse saw Fang Zhou pour out a handful of pills from the gourd, several falling to the ground which he had no interest in picking up.
Night Mouse: (;°□°)
Fang Zhou turned to look at him, confused, "You wanted to say something?"
Night Mouse opened his mouth, speaking, "I was saying, it's great you have Detoxification Pills, we don't need to waste time."
The two took Detoxification Pills and then flew into the Poison Mist Swamp.
Inside the swamp indeed lurked many creatures, such as a Cursed Doll that would spray venom, and would explode upon death, causing splashes of venom around.
There was also a Crystal Lizard with crystals on its back that could lash out with a long tongue from its mouth to attack enemies.
These creatures were hardly threatening; Fang Zhou wasn't even interested in fighting them.
The most dangerous were the Crowmen nesting in the trees.
With hands and feet, clad in tattered cloaks and armor, they had crow heads and a pair of wings.
Flying silently, these Crowmen were extremely fast, if not careful, they would rapidly close in.
Night Mouse had already warned Fang Zhou, yet when encountering Crowmen for the first time, Fang Zhou was still startled.