My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 157

He asked his heart in front of him.

“It’s impossible, sir. The failure of the ritual has turned almost all the soldiers into low-intelligence beasts. We can only guide them to attack in a certain direction, but we can’t command them.”

A human face emerged from the fleshy wall beside the heart. This was a confidant of Duke Nikolai, who had been assimilated into the living city, during the ceremony.

"Then, what about the other half-step ascendants?"

"They suffered heavy casualties, but the remaining 11 are still incredibly excited, ready to go in and wreak havoc at any moment!"

"My nobles?"

"They're all dead—the fat ones were made into military rations, the thin ones were used as firewood, the old ones had their brains preserved to provide us with knowledge, and the young ones were left with nothing—"

"What's the situation at the front?"

“Our soldiers are powerful, but they are terribly unintelligent. Your Grace, they are far too stupid—we need more advanced and intelligent people to guide their attack.”

"Then let's send some half-ascended beings over there. Hopefully, those guys who only know how to indulge in pleasure in the end will do something worthwhile."

He was clearly a thirst for desire, but from beginning to end, his only desire was to "reach higher" rather than to "enjoy pleasure".

The being known as Duke Nikolai will stop at nothing to become the celestial being he desires.

Chapter 89 8.14.15

The period from August 9th to August 14th can be described as the most difficult time for the Duchy of Kosiché.

Although the situation hadn't deteriorated to the point of widespread poverty, the escalating casualties forced the Duchy of Kosiché to tighten its defenses, converting some of the barricades into complete traps before finally surrendering them. Those hostile, deformed soldiers were truly remarkable; they accepted anything, even traps, finding immense pleasure in them, completely disregarding any possibility of explosion.

Every time they captured an abandoned barricade, they were blown up by the traps inside. As the number of attackable barricades dwindled, their troops eventually converged on a single road. But as that road narrowed and the battlefield constricted, Duke Nikolai's deformed soldiers faced increasingly fierce resistance.

In extremely narrow terrain, it might be impossible for regular soldiers to engage in one-on-one combat with deformed soldiers. However, by the same token, when only one deformed soldier can be deployed within the same battlefield width, the regular army of the Duchy of Kosice, with its well-developed combat system, can use multi-faceted support to allow the soldiers holding the line to withstand the attack of a single deformed soldier.

On the surface, it appears to be a one-on-one battle between deformed soldiers and shield bearers at the front. However, from a bird's-eye view, Duke Nikolai's deformed soldiers are almost entirely limited to melee combat; their rear troops are blocked and can only watch. But the Duke of Kosice's side, in addition to melee fighters, also has ranged crossbowmen, sorcerers, support personnel to help the shield bearers control the enemy, and healers to treat the shield bearers.

With support from various quarters, a shield bearer can hold out on the front lines for an extended period. What the Duke of Koschie needs now is time—if they can hold out until Hela completes the ritual, they will achieve final victory.

Thus, as the defensive lines gradually tightened, Duke Kosiché's soldiers gained a foothold on the last two most fortified lines. Duke Nikolai's deformed soldiers wanted to continue advancing, but due to the narrow passage, all they could do was push and shove their way forward one by one.

but.

Just as the generals at the front were optimistic that they could withstand the enemy's attack and hold out for the remaining 15 days, Duke Nikolai's living city began to stir again.

Its claws had rested and were now ready to be used. Under the tense gaze of everyone, the claw slowly rose from the center of the living city and finally slammed heavily into the salient district, a corner of the territory actually controlled by Duke Kosiché.

Claw tore down the defensive wall and foundation of that corner, creating a ramp between the city grounds and the wasteland outside, which the soldiers could climb, while also inflicting heavy casualties on Duke Koschie's soldiers.

"Its claws could clearly extend even further... Is it because that's actually its weakness, and if we destroy it, the entire living city will be affected?... In any case, now we have another defensive gap that needs to be filled by soldiers, and Duke Nikolai has gained an attack ramp with a relatively wide battlefield—although it will also be more difficult to attack... This is truly..."

"Fortunately, the number of our militia is increasing day by day, and the defensive line built by those Sarkaz mercenaries using local materials is indeed stronger than we imagined."

"But our pressure has also increased. Although we've moved all the mobile naval guns from other areas to the two front lines to assist in defense, but..."

"The damage caused to those monsters by the shells' penetration is negligible. We need more [striking] or [slashing] weapons, not penetrating ammunition... Ugh, this is a tough problem."

"Ugh."

Although the newly emerged breach in the sloping defenses was also a terrain that was easy to defend but difficult to attack, compared to the narrow streets, this wide slope gave the deformed soldiers a wide open space to display their skills, which in a sense made the burden on the Duchy of Kosice even heavier.

Furthermore, with the addition of a connected terrain feature, the creep that had previously been unable to spread into the city due to the high-temperature traps and Hela's help now had a purpose. To prevent the creep from spreading down the slope to the rear of the barricades, Mr. Bozokasti had no choice but to order the Sarkaz mercenaries to dump all the flammable materials on the slope and set them on fire.

The fire burned for a long time, and the black smoke not only hindered the spread of the fungal carpet but also impeded the Sarkaz mercenaries' observation. Moreover, the worst-case scenario for Koschei and Yang Hao had indeed occurred—their scouts scattered across the hills disappeared one by one, and in addition to the scouts, some of the noble private soldiers who had come to support the Koschei duchy's war effort also went missing.

Although the number of those private soldiers was not large, when the troops at the front discovered a group of brand-new alien soldiers dressed in the uniforms of noble private soldiers... it still severely damaged their already low morale.

"The most important intelligence those scouts brought us before they disappeared was that Duke Nikolai's living city was not 'complete.' The back of his city still retained its normal mechanical structure; in other words..."

"That city's weakness is behind it? Hmm, like how any creature with a butt has its weakness in the door where it poops?"

"Sigh, can you use a different analogy?"

Yang Hao nodded thoughtfully, but Kosic rolled his eyes at the crude yet realistic analogy he had made, sat on Yang Hao's lap, and sighed.

However, it must be said that this is indeed a good idea—after all, Duke Nikolai's living city is currently facing outwards. If someone were to bring a mobile city over, they could use naval cannons to fire a couple of shots at its still-metal city's rear...

Perhaps they really can make the living city scream in terror? But the question is, where has His Majesty the Emperor, who's been running around with the Saint-Germain-des-Prés for so long, advanced to now?

Yang Hao smiled wryly and said that it was best not to consider His Majesty the Emperor's support for the time being, since it seemed that her situation might be even worse.

..... .....

Because they are facing tireless aliens that can fight indefinitely as long as they are well-fed, the front lines are actually engaged in continuous 24-hour combat.

Exhausted soldiers would quickly relieve themselves during the brief periods when the monsters "ate their meals." Even so, the relentless 24-hour battle against mental pollutants still caused some psychological problems for these iron-willed warriors.

In this situation, soldiers with abnormal mental states were quickly sent to the rear for treatment as they were deemed "potentially contaminated." The more regular soldiers sent to the rear for recuperation, the more militia were deployed to the front lines. In this context, many militiamen even had to strip their comrades of their equipment shortly after their deaths—though this was driven by necessity, the militiamen's mental fortitude was not as strong as that of properly trained soldiers...

This directly led to a vicious cycle: if the militia retreated further, there would be no way to continue replacing the personnel!

Fortunately, not all militia members are so fragile... Those who were infected, having witnessed much of life's ugliness, are actually the most steadfast in their defense of the Dukedom of Koschche. Furthermore, their early struggles for survival have made them accustomed to retrieving their comrades' equipment. In a sense, they have become the backbone of the constantly rotating frontline troops—if only their training were slightly more advanced.

"Those monsters are outrageous!" During a break, a blood-covered infected militiaman wiped the filth off his body with a wet towel, whispering to his comrades who were still awake in the rest area about the enemy's strength. "I saw old Wake—the old guy who could lift two metal doors—get cleaved in two by those deformed monsters! Four or five of us attacked together and couldn't take it down. In the end, the warlock came and burned it to death with a fireball... Sigh, and I didn't even have time to collect old Wake's body before those monsters devoured him completely..."

"...But thankfully, those monsters are only after people. Otherwise, our defenses would have been breached long ago. If they had spread to the cities behind us... my God! We would have been doomed!"

Another infected soldier ate his roasted potato with lingering fear. He was thankful that the monsters didn't seem very intelligent, and in fact, they weren't.

"But this is just too terrible... It's one thing that the bodies of our infected people will have to be disposed of sooner or later, but what about those normal little children? Their parents won't even get to see them one last time..."

The infected person who had initially struck up a conversation sighed and slightly changed the subject.

"But that also means that at least we don't have to worry about the plague that corpses might bring, right?"

Faced with his companion's answer, he paused for a moment, then could only nod, helplessly indicating that what he said was quite right.

"That's true."

At the front, the soldiers and militia on Kosiché's side had no chance of recovering the bodies.

On the one hand, after killing one person, those man-eating monsters are most likely to attack another person next. In this case, it is extremely difficult to recover the body, and it is not only a thankless task, but also does not bring any turning point.

On the other hand, this was also the result of the soldiers' deliberate actions.

Because those monsters have designated "meal times." When their mealtime arrives, they immediately crouch down and search for corpses to eat. If there are enough corpses, the soldiers on the front lines can get about 10 minutes of rotation time or a chance to catch their breath.

If there are no corpses around, the monsters will launch an even more ferocious attack on the living—this time their goal is to feed, so after killing a person, all the monsters will swarm over, tearing off every piece of flesh from the dead and swallowing it.

In that situation, there might only be less than a minute to catch one's breath.

Moreover, they eat very cleanly... They will abandon armor and other difficult-to-gnaw equipment, instead licking the flesh and bones protected by the armor clean. The corpses they have eaten will be left with relatively intact weapon and armor remnants, and because they are no longer burdened by the corpse, this equipment can even be pulled back directly by devices such as grappling hooks.

Therefore, in order to give the soldiers more time to rest and to recover more equipment for the militia, the commanders on site strictly forbade the soldiers from retrieving the bodies. While everyone understood this, understanding and emotional acceptance are two completely different things...

Infected warriors know everything about their afterlife, but ordinary people... are less so. Militia groups composed of ordinary people often end up losing more lives than gaining anything by fighting monsters for corpses. After much deliberation, the only solution is to send in more regular soldiers and Sarkaz mercenaries to keep a close watch on them, to prevent further mistakes.

It wasn't just the officers who took these protective measures; high-ranking generals also did the same.

And so, the time came to 3:20 p.m. on the 14th.

Just as the war was once again at a stalemate, Yang Hao received a message from Ms. Therese.

She said she had successfully established a company in Kazdel using resources provided by the Duchy of Koschche. She is currently doing well, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, she should be able to expand her business externally in the near future.

Before Yang Hao could even stammer, "What good news are you reporting to me while I'm still at war?", Lady Therese's tone shifted again—she subtly indicated that she needed more resources for external business. Of course, she was also aware of the current difficulties faced by the Duchy of Koschei.

"Because the initial operation went smoothly, I can now provide 5 elite Sarkaz mercenaries to assist you in the war—but in exchange, I need some resources and a long-term commercial contract. These resources and the contract can be given to us after the war ends, how about that?"

"...A good deal. I agree."

"Then please bring your diplomatic team to Kazdel to sign the trade agreement. My warriors will arrive within a week."

It's just icing on the cake; there's not much else to say.

A timely act of kindness is something to be remembered for a lifetime.

The Duchy of Koschke was currently shivering in the snow—so Yang Hao gratefully accepted Lady Therese's gift, unaware that Kazdel was now clearly in an unbalanced situation due to his previous resource interference.

Chapter 90

On the night of the 14th, in order to check on Hela's progress and also to be able to keep her company while she worked alone from time to time, Yang Hao chose to take Sonia's mother with him to Hela's ceremony to see how she was doing.

When Yang Hao arrived at the rooftop of the building where the ceremony was being held, Hela, who was working at the center of the ceremony, appeared very focused. She did not notice Yang Hao and Sonia's arrival, but stood still, raising her scythe horizontally towards the front line while muttering incantations.

Under Yang Hao's observation from the [Puppet Stage], Hela had already collected enough souls—some taken from the deformed soldiers of the Nikolai Duchy, and others from the soldiers of the Koschie Duchy. She wasn't picky at all; she used everything she could, even the item Yang Hao had given her that refreshed its mineral resources daily and was taken from the House of Lament.

Come to think of it, that mineral crate didn't actually bring Yang Hao much benefit... It only spawned iron ore and stone ore, and at its worst, it even spawned a bunch of clay ore...

So—after much thought, Yang Hao decided to simply give it away.

Then, when Yang Hao delivered the item to Hela, he saw Hela's character attributes again...

But then again...

Hela, why is your surname "Elegy"?

Is your mother really the same Miss Elegy who pinned me to the chair and made me suffer terribly?

This, this isn't—never mind, whatever's done is done anyway. As long as Kosichek doesn't know about Miss Elegy's existence, it should be fine, right?

Kosichello inexplicably felt a sense of déjà vu about Margarita... He shivered, but recovered after Sonia's mother asked with concern, "Are you cold?" and hugged him.

"No, no... Hela is just very focused. Let's wait here until she rests before we talk about it."

"Yes."

Back to the topic.

Hela had already summoned everything she needed—souls, political points, and items from the House of Lamentations. Now all she needed was time, plenty of time.

She won't be able to complete her ritual for the "Sixth Calamity" until August 29th. The calamity she unleashes will likely greatly influence Duke Nikolai's every move—but this doesn't mean Duke Nikolai will be defeated. After all, one thing needs to be made clear: if Duke Nikolai could kill those poor civilians once, then he also has the ability to kill their spirits again.

Those undead that will suddenly appear and attack Duke Nikolai in the future are ultimately just crucial support, not the final blow. What Yang Hao should do then is not to sit on the sidelines and watch the tigers fight, but to launch an attack on Duke Nikolai's living city based on the movements of the undead.

Hopefully, His Majesty the Emperor's main force will arrive by then, allowing her Saint-Germain Castle to fire a couple of shots at the steel rear of the Duchy of Nikolai. Sigh.

He sighed and sat down to one side, while Sonia's mother stood behind him, wrapping her arms around his abdomen. They watched the living doll intently performing its work in the distance, waiting for the moment it would stop.

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

Meanwhile, Kal'tsit's research has yielded some results. She is currently packing her things, preparing to take the prototypes to the front lines to test whether her experimental work can produce any effective results.

Of course, she had obtained Ms. Kosichrie's permission before going to conduct the test. On the other hand, in a sense, Kal'tsit was genuinely impressed by the inspiration those alien creatures had given her—this was probably the first new species she had discovered that showed no signs of infection after consuming Originium fragments.

They consume large numbers of infected individuals without showing any signs of illness. They can ignore the effects of the Originium piles and continue their normal activities. In a sense, they also possess the ability to survive in areas with the highest concentration of Originium—provided there is enough food.

If these alien monsters weren't their enemies, creations produced by someone through a blasphemous ritual... perhaps Kal'tsit would have been happy to leave a few samples for research, to help her study of Oripathy?

"...Those fungal mats have truly amazing structures. They're intolerant of both high and low temperatures, yet they're extremely resistant to toxins and radiation. And given the right nutrients, they can even corrode metal for complete adaptive modification..." Kal'tsit murmured to herself as she got into the truck, watching Mr. Grovazel help her load the test samples before she also got into the driver's seat to move forward. "And their activity is even higher at night than during the day... Is it the same with those alien soldiers?"

"Perhaps? I heard from the soldiers at the hospital that the alien soldiers become more active after dusk, and so do the flesh puppets."

"It's a pity we couldn't get samples of those flesh-and-blood puppets, otherwise we could have conducted more in-depth research. Alas, but then again, the brains of those alien soldiers were truly appalling. Apart from a few areas responsible for instinctive control, the rest of them were more like a sponge than nerve tissue."

"I heard it's because of something like... a virus?"

"No, the virus couldn't be that thorough. That was clearly man-made... I just don't know if the two dukes can obtain the relevant information. Oh, by the way, Grovazel—you've worked here for so long, you should know some of Duke Yang Hao's temper, right?"

"Ah? Yes, he is a refined and approachable person, very kind to commoners and the poor. May I ask why?"

"It's nothing. I'm just curious—what did Duke Nikolai think after learning that he killed countless civilians to create this blasphemous thing? And what did he think when he learned that these things have the best adaptability and immunity to Oripathy and Originium?"

Kal'tsit was very curious about this question. After all, in the long run, if the Duchy of Kosichä could use the samples obtained from this crisis to develop a cure for Oripathy, it would be an achievement worthy of being recorded in the annals of all nations in the world!

That means the number of copies is definitely not enough.

What if this research takes more than a decade, and what if the sample is completely lost during that time?

What would he do?

Would they do the same thing as Duke Nikolai just to get more samples?

She frowned. She could understand what such a long-term—and even less-than-profit-driven—great research could bring, but...

"Wouldn't the adults just abandon this kind of research and switch to researching other things?"

Grovazel's unwavering answer surprised her for a moment.

Chapter 91

When Kal'tsit and Mr. Grovazel arrived at the front, they were fortunate enough to see Duke Yang Hao and his bodyguard, Lady Sonia, who seemed to have just finished their inspection and were preparing to return home.

"Master Yang Hao."