dognovel Chapter 220 The Beast in the Dark
Chapter 220 The Beast in the Dark
The area outside Saint-Remy at night was like a lifeless wasteland. Under the dry soil and withered weeds, there was no other sound except for the occasional creaking sound.
In such a dark environment, the temporary camp built by the Crusader Knights acted like a lighthouse, dispelling the darkness nearby and pointing the way for possible victims.
In order to prevent various forms of invasion by the apostles, Captain Payen, who always acted cautiously, chose to establish a stronghold north of Saint-Remy, which would take a day's normal march to reach. This would not only reduce the impact of the plague on the soldiers, but also allow them to meet up with the army behind.
The whole group of tents was surrounded by a wall made of logs, and outside the wooden wall were a large number of wooden chevaux de frise and trenches to prevent the invasion of wild animals. At the four corners of the wooden wall, there were lookouts for observing the outside. Even at night, the light of the torches also illuminated the area around the camp. If someone chose to attack at night, they would be discovered by the soldiers above immediately.
In the tent in the center of the camp, Captain Pa Ying was discussing future arrangements with his men.
"Based on the existing evidence, we can now confirm that the city of Saint-Remy is one of the origins of the plague, or more likely the place where the plague first spread. In other words, the cultist who is running rampant is most likely hiding somewhere in the city."
After hearing the news, everyone's face looked particularly solemn under the candlelight.
If Saint Remy is really the base camp of the apostles, then we must make comprehensive preparations to deal with the apostles. After all, no one knows what the apostles look like. If it is some kind of huge monster, there is a high possibility of heavy losses.
"Let's put the apostles aside for now. I think the most important things right now are the rats. The further we go towards Saint-Remy, the bigger the rats we see." An officer nearby said. The rats he killed in the past few days have grown from the size of a fist to the size of a puppy. He couldn't imagine how big the rats would grow after entering Saint-Remy.
Seeing an officer talking about this, Captain Pa Ying said after listening to his speech:
"This is what I'm worried about. If we rush in like this, we'll probably be attacked by the rats. Add to that the cultist, and we don't stand a good chance of winning with just a thousand people."
"So, I'm going to write to Captain Charlie of the Black Watch and Count John to ask for help. Before the reinforcements arrive, we should eliminate as many rats as possible in Saint-Remy, so that we will have fewer people to attack..."
Just as Paying was giving orders to everyone, a soldier rushed in from outside the tent. When everyone was puzzled, the soldier hurriedly said to Paying:
"Captain, the camp is under siege by monsters!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard running and shouting outside the tent. Pa Ying had already arranged the defense positions of each team so that in case of an emergency, the soldiers could reach their respective combat positions without his orders.
At this time, everyone understood that this attack was most likely caused by the apostles, so they all became alert and looked at Paying opposite them.
"Everyone return to your original combat positions and do not let any foreign creatures enter the camp!" Captain Pa Ying said decisively. Although he did not know the strength of the invaders, all they could do now was to hold the camp. Otherwise, once the camp was breached, the army that fell into darkness would be more easily defeated by the apostles.
Soon, Paying and others climbed up the watchtower under the escort of soldiers. However, he was really surprised when he saw the situation outside: countless figures attacked the wooden wall of the camp from the darkness. Looking carefully through the light, these creatures had the size and speed of wolves, but made squeaking sounds like mice. There was no doubt that this was another trick of the apostle.
However, facing such a large number of monsters, the soldiers were not afraid. Under the command of the officers, arrows and lead bullets rained down on the monsters under the wall, and the monsters' wailings were heard everywhere.
Fortunately, because of the arrangement of chevaux de frise and trenches, the monsters have not yet reached the city wall. But as time goes by, the corpses of the monsters gradually overwhelm the chevaux de frise. Other monsters step on the corpses, cross the chevaux de frise despite the arrows from the city wall, and then rush straight into the trench.
Looking at the monsters climbing up the trench, the soldiers would certainly not let them succeed. Arrows and lead bullets soon hit the monsters' faces. In the light of the fire, the soldiers on the wall also saw the true faces of the monsters. Huge rat heads stretched out from the trench and roared at the soldiers. Their interlaced fangs and the mucus in their mouths after they opened their mouths made the soldiers feel not only hideous but also disgusting.
Of course, Payen also saw the faces of these rat monsters, which further confirmed his guess and made him glad that he did not bring people into Saint-Remy at the first time.
However, watching the trenches gradually filled with corpses, Pa Ying gradually became worried. Although he had killed many rat monsters, they continued to attack the camp endlessly. If this continued, sooner or later the corpses would pile up as high as a wooden wall, and then the soldiers would have to fight the rats in the camp.
"Sir, why don't we pour kerosene into the trench and use flames to block the monsters' attack." An officer suggested at this time, but was quickly rejected by Paying.
"What a joke! All the buildings in the camp are made of wood. Are you trying to burn all the soldiers in the camp by pouring kerosene now?" Pa Ying had just rejected the officer's ignorant idea when an idea suddenly occurred to him. After thinking deeply for a while, he hurriedly said to the officer next to him:
"Get me a bottle of kerosene and a piece of fuse for the shell."
Seeing that Paying had suddenly changed his mind, the officer hurried down the watchtower and returned a short while later with what Paying needed.
Looking at the kerosene bottle and fuse in his hand, Pa Ying first put them aside, then drew his sword, poked a hole in the kerosene bottle that was big enough to penetrate inside, and then stuffed the fuse in.
"Bring a torch." Pa Ying continued. The officers around him knew what Pa Ying was going to do, so they tried to dissuade him:
"Sir, this is too dangerous. Once the kerosene inside burns, the entire watchtower will be burned down!"
"Don't worry, I'm confident." Pa Ying said as he took the torch and aimed the flame at the fuse. Sparks soon began to appear on the fuse in the flame.
Seeing that it was already on fire, Pa Ying asked everyone to stay away from him and then stepped back a few steps. Then he threw the oil bottle out like a shot put. The burning oil bottle drew a bright arc in the night and fell into the darkness.
Suddenly, a ball of fire suddenly appeared from where the oil bottle fell to the ground, like a blooming flower, and as time passed, the fire continued to spread to the surroundings. Pa Ying immediately observed carefully with a telescope, and saw burning rat monsters constantly running out of the flames, and the struggling figures of the monsters could be vaguely seen in the flames.
After seeing the good effect, Pa Ying immediately ordered everyone:
"Throw the kerosene bottle at the monster, then light the kerosene with the fire arrow. We're going to have a rat barbecue tonight!"
The soldiers who received the order quickly brought the boxes full of kerosene bottles to the watchtower, and the soldiers on top also threw the kerosene bottles out with force. For a moment, countless kerosene bottles flew over the top of the trench and fell straight outside the chevaux de frise, so that the soldiers on the watchtower could smell the kerosene outside.
When they felt the time was right, the archers fired flaming arrows under the command of the officers. As the flaming arrows collided with the kerosene on the ground, the outside soon became a sea of fire. Amid the sound of burning, the soldiers saw countless monsters struggling and rolling, just like hell.
As the sun rose from the horizon, the camp gate slowly opened and the soldiers placed a heavy door panel over the trench, but the trench had already been filled with corpses.
Pa Ying arranged for the soldiers to go out and clean up the corpses outside the camp. After all, too many corpses would easily lead to an epidemic.
Looking at the wasteland littered with corpses, Captain Pa Ying sighed:
"Let's go find reinforcements as soon as possible."