Torch Town, south of the border.
Torch Town was one of the only four towns on the border. Its richness was equivalent to that of Monte Town. Tall torches with orange flames were strung throughout the town.
The flames in those torches were made from the body fat of a magical beast known as the fire-swallowing beast, who lived south of the border. The fire-swallowing beast was a magical beast that ranged from bronze to silver tier. Its entire body was flaming red, and it had the shape of a giant toad. The oil in its body was drained and used to fuel the torches, allowing the flames to burn for an extended period.
The town used the torches to keep everyone warm throughout the winter, and at night, the flames illuminated the surroundings. Every year, when the winter ended, the town would host an event known as the Torch Festival. The celebration was hosted for warriors who had killed the most magical beasts. They carried torches and ran around town to enjoy the admiration of the other citizens in town. That was how the town got its name, Torch Town.
Torch Town was different that year. The ten-meter-high town wall was in disrepair and riddled with holes. It was also covered in dried blood streaks. Soldiers with numb faces clutched spears and patrolled the city walls sleepily.
The town had become even more miserable. There was a lot of black smoke in a lot of the houses. They appeared to have burnt not long ago. Torches representing the spirit of the town were scattered all over the ground. They were already extinguished; the charred torches were soaked in the melted snow. A couple of pairs of leather boots trod on them.
The owners of those leather boots were a few soldiers in red armor. They hurried to the city hall as they shook the snow off their bodies and walked into the hall.
The mayor of Torch Town, Lubin Campbell, sat in the hall accompanied by dozens of officials who stood around a large table with serious expressions on their faces. Lubin got up excitedly when he saw the guards approaching them.
“You’re back. How’s the investigation?”
“My lord, we’ve already investigated it. The collapse of the Dragonspine Snow Mountain seems to be related to the border count. Those black rats that had appeared seem to be connected to the mountain’s collapse.”
The leading soldier knelt on one knee respectfully as he said that.
Just half a day ago, a swarm of black rats appeared in the vicinity of Torch Town. Those rodents gnawed on everything in sight, including the walls. Furthermore, the rats’ bodies split into two when they consumed food, and they could not kill them no matter how hard they tried.
Even soldiers who were brave and good at fighting were terrified. When they killed a rat, more rats would pounce on them. In a few minutes, the armor and longswords on their bodies would be completely devoured, and they would lose their weapons and armor. The protective combat aura on the bronze-tier warriors was nothing to those rats.
It was difficult for the silver-tier elites to escape.
There were a lot of silver-tier rats in the group. They were each the size of a human and possessed six wings. Their flying speed was substantially faster than that of comparable level warriors. They would not be able to withstand it if two rats surrounded and assaulted a silver-tier fighter. The most terrifying aspect was that the rats ate the corpses of the fallen warriors and continued to breed. The death rate was not even close to the rats’ reproduction rate.
In the end, it was Lubin who asked the Mage Guild in Torch Town to take action. They used large-scale magical arrays to destroy more than half of the rats and forced them to escape. However, no one knew when those rats would come back. Therefore, Lubin sent people to get more information about the rats. The people he sent were the few silver-tier guards in front of him.
“Those rats appeared after the Dragonspine Snow Mountain collapsed.” They must have been living on the snowy mountain a long time ago. Lord Sylvan was aware of this; therefore, why would he destroy the Dragonspine Snow Mountain? Could he have let those devil-like rats out on purpose?”
Lubin’s expression was unsightly. The cruelty of those rats had far exceeded all the magical beasts he knew, so he named them the devil rats.
Torch Town had existed on the border for decades, but that was the first time it had suffered such severe damages. Not only had the town been defeated, but a third of the residents had also died. As the mayor of the town, that responsibility fell on him.
“Mayor, Torch Town has suffered such a degree of damage because you neglected your duty. If you hadn’t decided not to ask the border count for help in the winter, we wouldn’t have been so miserable! Are you trying to shift the blame to the border count by saying that now?”
“You are right. Perhaps since Torch Town did not spend money choosing reinforcements from Fairy Castle, the border count was displeased and destroyed the Dragonspine Snow Mountain to free those devil rats! Maybe the border count was disappointed in us. I heard that Monte Town, who has been competing with us, is doing well. It appears that they had acquired a significant amount of high-quality materials from a location known as Blackmoon Castle and prospered.”
“That may be proof that the border count values Monte Town. If this goes on, Monte Town will become stronger, and our town will become weaker. In such a situation, we won’t be able to maintain the same strength as Monte Town.”
Behind him, a few elderly officials spoke in a flurry of words, which made Lubin’s face turn even uglier.
As expected, those folks had placed the blame on him. They could not do anything else, but they were masters of eluding each other.
Everyone had agreed on the decision not to seek assistance from the border count. For whatever reason, the number of magical beasts roaming around in the winter was unusually low. Even if some great magical beasts were to invade the town, the town’s gold-tier Mage Guild elites could defend them. There was no need to seek assistance from the border count. However, who could have predicted that such a horde of rats would pursue them?
Just as he moved his lips and was about to explain, a scroll floated out of his chest. It burned intensely, and a line of glowing words appeared on the burning scroll.
[All mayors at the border, including Monte Town, must head to Blackmoon Castle immediately upon receiving this message. From today onward, Blackmoon Castle will become the ruler of the border. All the towns will be under their command. Fairy Castle will also cooperate with them. Anyone who violates this rule will be expelled from the border. The address of Blackmoon Castle is as follows…]
“What’s going on?”
Lubin looked confused. That scroll had been given to him by the border count. It was meant for him to ask for help in times of crisis. He had planned to use it if the devil rats returned, but he did not expect the scroll to burn on its own and gave him an order.
“The border count had chosen to make Blackmoon Castle the largest town on the border. Isn’t Blackmoon Castle just a force that sells things to Monte Town? He even asked the other four towns to cooperate with him. He must be dissatisfied with Torch Town!”
“It’s all your fault for making that wrong decision, Lord Mayor. I wonder if our town can still retain its original form after it becomes Blackmoon Town’s subordinate. Will we continue to be the city hall’s officials?”
The officials discussed that eagerly. Instead of guessing the purpose in the border count’s mind, they were more worried about whether they could keep their jobs. Someone looked at Lubin and said, “Lord Mayor, what should we do now?”
“What else can we do? The border count has already said so. If we don’t comply, we will definitely be expelled from the border. We might as well go to Blackmoon Castle! I remember that Blackmoon Castle is a new force on the border. I don’t know why the border count thinks so highly of them. Maybe they bewitched the border count. Well, I’ll bring more specialties from our time. By then, we can’t be certain of who will control the border.”
Lubin clenched his fists and began to arrange for his subordinates to prepare carriages and supplies. Even though Torch Town had encountered a disaster, it was not a problem to prepare gifts worth more than 100,000 gold coins.
In his opinion, the border count only sent that message with one purpose, which was to consolidate all the forces at the border. Blackmoon Castle was most likely his puppet, which could also be Torch Town. He could probably tempt the border count if he gave him enough benefits.
He knew that they could not underestimate Blackmoon Castle; they had managed to get the border count to issue such an order. He had only heard of that new force and did not know more about them. However, the name had been deeply engraved into his mind. The other three towns on the border had also received the message.
The words Blackmoon Castle swept across the entire border like a storm; everyone was shaken.
