382: Chapter 39: Undead Pandemic_2 382: Chapter 39: Undead Pandemic_2 “My siblings are too young and still don’t understand the situation.
Uncle, if you would please put them under the sleeping spell to avoid alerting the stronger orcs above.”
Typically, the tension is too high in a narrow secret chamber like this, and the chances of a powerful orc stationed right above are quite slim.
Even if by chance there is one stationed there, with such a bustling orc army camp, the chances of them noticing any movement below are almost non-existent.
However, these are dire times, and all hope for the Leibron family lies in this secret passage.
It’s always wise to exercise a little caution.
The old man nodded slightly, and a sleep spell was cast.
With no children causing distractions, the remaining adults stayed exceptionally quiet.
All were armed and armored, and had it not been for the look of sorrow on everyone’s faces, no one would have known this was a group of refugees.
As they moved silently down the secret passage, the sound of running water echoed in their ears half an hour later.
What lay ahead was an underground dark river.
Clearly, when the ancestors of the Leibron family built Bertelli Fortress, they carefully chose the location.
The existence of the underground dark river not only solved the fortress’s water supply problem, but also provided a golden corridor for escape.
Without it, to avoid the orc army outside the city, they would likely have to dig a tunnel dozens of miles long manually.
Such a project would take decades to complete manually.
“Let’s rest for now.
The outlet of this dark river isn’t far away.
It’s about ten miles from the orc army camp.
If we leave now, it would be hard to avoid being spotted by enemy scouts.
There are at least three hawkman thousand-man teams in the orc camp.
Once we expose our tracks, even the gryphon cavalry would have difficulty evading their pursuit.
We will wait for your father’s signal.
Once he manages to hold off the orc army, we will leave from here by boat.”
Where the old man pointed to, there were specially crafted small canoes.
They were very close to the water surface, only tens of centimeters high.
Once someone got in, the distance to the water surface became even narrower.
If a fat person were to get in, they would probably sink.
The interior structure of the boat did not seem designed for seated passengers, but rather for people to lie down.
No matter how one looked at it, it seemed uncomfortable.
It did not seem designed for the living, but rather seemed more suited for the dead.
The unique design only had one explanation: The distance between the water surface of the dark river and the overhead space was limited, so the draft of the boats had to be reduced.
In case of collision, these lifeboats could very quickly become their coffins.
Suddenly a water creature emerged from the river, looked at everyone, and seemed to confirm something.
After a while, it finally spoke:
“The bloodline is not wrong, but how has your Leibron family deteriorated so quickly?
In just a mere hundred years, you are already on the run.
Looking at the strength of you young ones, it shouldn’t be too difficult to preserve the family.
Has the outside world changed so swiftly?”
Far from it being weak, a troop of over a hundred people would carry significant force anywhere.
Apart from the children, the weakest among them was an intermediate magician.
Most of the guards were Senior Knights, and there were even over a dozen Silver Knights and Golden Knights.
The three leading elderly men were either Sorcerers or Earth Knights.
They would be considered powerful anywhere.
“Elder Kelongdo, Bertelli City has been invaded by orcs.
The Leibron family has been defeated and now we have to fight for survival.
The next head of the Leibron family, Anthony, begs you to ferry us a distance in honor of our ancestors.”
The young man had already advanced and knelt down before the monster as he spoke.
“Enough, young Anthony.
Do not give me these unnecessary courtesies.
I had an agreement with your ancestors and I will honor it.
However, a word of caution beforehand.
I will only help you flee from this place.
Whatever happens afterward will be your own business.
The grudge between the humans and orcs should be resolved by you.
Don’t even think about dragging me into it.
When you decide to leave, just lie down in the boat.
I will take you away.”
After speaking, without caring about whether the others agreed, the shiny monster dived into the water, showing its stance through actions.
…
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
Accompanied by continuous war cries, the blood-drenched Bertelli defense force was on the brink of collapse.
Count Lanton slowly drew his sword as he saw soldiers falling one by one around him.
However, they did not rush into the attack but led the soldiers to slowly retreat, intentionally drawing the orc army into the inner city.
Although the legendary Witch King was formidable, he had ultimately been sealed for countless years, and how much of his strength remained was uncertain to Count Lanton.
The power of the Undead Pandemic mainly depended on the strength of the caster.
Even after setting up many auxiliary magical formations in advance, how many could still operate due to the war was unknown to anyone.
To die with greater value, Count Lanton decisively chose to keep resisting, inducing the orc army to pursue.
Unsurprisingly, Count Lanton’s conspicuous armor soon attracted the attention of an orc officer who personally led his troops in pursuit.
“Humans, surrender quickly.
I can assure you that you won’t become food if you surrender!”