I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 262 - 262 261. Living Forest_1

Chapter 262: 261. Living Forest_1 Chapter 262: 261. Living Forest_1 The layout of Black Pine Town is different from other places.

In a common small town, roads extend in all directions, with one main thoroughfare running through the entire town and buildings lined up neatly along the roads.

Compared to a city, Black Pine Town is more like a fortress.

Surrounding the town is a high barrier, with sharp wooden spikes on top and sturdy wooden planks beneath. Clad in leather armor, Forest Rangers stand guard at the gates, and in the watchtowers, ready for battle.

This is a small town on the outskirts of the Black Forest, arguably the deepest settlement of ordinary humans in the Black Forest.

Lu Ban could see the older men at work, chopping down trees from the Black Forest, processing them into timber for transport, and drying animal skins, meat, and various herbs. This place looked more like a temporary outpost than a town for living.

“People are here only during relatively safe times, and in a couple of days, they will leave to go beyond the Black Forest,”

Birmingham explained.

“Why don’t they live outside the Black Forest? It should be safer that way, shouldn’t it?”

Lu Ban couldn’t help asking.

“This place once was outside the Black Forest…”

Birmingham’s voice grew heavy.

“The Black Forest is a living entity. Every Demonic Tide is an expansion of the forest. The areas engulfed by the Demonic Tides give rise to trees and eventually become part of the Black Forest, which is why we must resist the Demonic Tides.”

“So you mean this town was originally outside the Black Forest, but due to the arrival of the Demonic Tides, it gradually got swallowed by the forest…”

Lu Ban understood.

It appears that this was the true method of Pollution by the Night Country.

The Demonic Tide that arrives with the Blood Moon would slaughter humans, pollute the land, and the Black Forest would take the opportunity to expand, covering the earth like a fungal mat. Perhaps this Foreign Domain was once a normal planet, with the Black Forest as just a small part, but with each attack of the Demonic Tides, the forest has covered much of the land. When the Black Forest completely overtakes the last bit of pure land, the Night Country will fall into Eternal Night.

He turned to look back at the deep forest, where perhaps there used to be farmland, schools, homes.

But now, it’s all cursed land.

This is why the Night Country needs to resist the Demonic Tides. Evading them and retreating beyond their reach is a method, but it would inevitably lead to the loss of land, and eventually, there would be no place left to retreat to.

“Peace preserved through struggle endures, but peace sought through compromise will perish.”

Lu Ban lamented.

“Well said!”

Birmingham, hearing Lu Ban’s words, opened his eyes wide, a sense of pride gleaming within, as if to say, “That’s my little brother for you.”

“If everyone had your awareness, we wouldn’t have to worry about the Demonic Tide destroying us, because for every one of me that falls, there are thousands more.”

“Are there people who are unwilling to resist the Demonic Tide?”

Lu Ban discerned the implication in Birmingham’s words.

“Many people. Their understanding of the Black Forest is not intuitive, thinking it’s just beasts. They live in the safe inland and have lost any sense of crisis.”

Despite his young age, Birmingham had a disposition full of concern for the country and its people. He was ambitious.

Like the people of Dried Water Town and the Hai Family that Lu Ban had visited before, the villagers there were ignorant, naive, and numb to the situation. Now, it seemed their safe circumstances had fostered the growth of a cult.

With both internal strife and external threats at hand, the Night Country was in grave peril.

Lu Ban saw that the commander and a Mage were speaking with the steward of Black Pine Town.

“You must leave immediately for Black Keep. The Blood Moon will rise soon, and with the arrival of the Demonic Tide, it will become colder here, and more beasts will emerge. With your weapons, you have no chance of defending yourselves,”

the commander said to the steward of Black Pine Town, in an authoritative tone.

“We will evacuate tonight, and there’s one last batch of supplies to load onto the vehicles. These Forest Rangers will also join us to Black Keep,”

The steward pointed to the herbs and animal pelts that had not yet been packed away, as well as the wood that had yet to be processed.

“This Demonic Tide is the Eternal Night, and the magic pollution will reach the front line tonight. We have no time to lose,”

a Mage looked at the patch of sky exposed through the trees and said with a serious expression.

“Eternal Night? Wasn’t the Demonic Tide supposed to be Frost?”

Lu Ban blurted out without thinking.

Hearing Lu Ban’s words, the Mage looked over at him strangely.

“Who told you that?”

The Mage, the commander, and the steward of Black Pine Town all stared at Lu Ban.

Birmingham was at a loss for words, but after a brief pause, he still stepped in front of Lu Ban.

“He must just be confused…”

“Step aside,”

the Mage stated, rendering Birmingham completely immobile, unable to say a word.

The Mage looked at Lu Ban, his eyes a deep blue, seemingly similar in age to Lu Ban.

“According to the Obelisk of Prophecy, this Demonic Tide is the Eternal Night, the sixth out of the twelve waves. When Eternal Night arrives, the whole world will be plunged into lightless darkness. If one stays within the darkness for too long, they will be devoured by Demonic Beasts,”

the Mage said, causing the others to look on with eyes full of fear. The Demonic Tide sometimes comes once a year, sometimes several times within a year. In recent years, there have been at least three tides per year. The veterans among the Forest Rangers had experienced multiple tides and knew well the terror of each.

“What about the Frost?”

Lu Ban wasn’t afraid; he hadn’t seen a tide anyway and took it as an opportunity to learn.

“Frost is the third Demonic Tide, ruled by the Winter Wolf. The alpha’s howl announces the arrival of the tide. During Frost, the temperature will drop below freezing, and the mere cold will kill most living beings, not to mention the breath of the Winter Wolf can destroy most barriers,”

the Mage explained vividly, causing many to stop their work and come to listen.

“According to the Obelisk of Prophecy, there’s now a widespread phenomenon of the Night Country occurring west of Black Keep, a sign of the impending Eternal Night. As for the Frost, the current temperature is far from the harsh winter that precedes it,”

he said, pulling out a map. Most of the map was covered by Black Forest, with a marked area visible, along with the positions of Black Keep Fortress and Black Pine Town.

This was deep within the Black Forest, and the shadows of cities were only visible on the map’s edge.

Just looking at the intricate forest was suffocating; this was a world where humans were far more vulnerable than beasts.

“The creatures we hunted earlier…”

Lu Ban thought of the gray wolves with six legs and four eyes.

“These Demonic Beasts are everywhere in Black Forest. They probably fled their original habitats because the Night Country has covered the forest,”

the Mage explained.

“I see,”

Lu Ban nodded.

Still, he felt that the voice he heard in “Madman’s Knowledge” was not lying, and perhaps the Frost was lurking within that darkness.

On the other side, the Mage watched Lu Ban leave, signaling to the commander with a glance.

“I need to request the latest year’s observational data from Gray Tower. Maybe this Demonic Tide really is unprecedented,”