I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 265 - 265 264. The Third Demonic Tide_1

Chapter 265: 264. The Third Demonic Tide_1 Chapter 265: 264. The Third Demonic Tide_1 The Forest Ranger collapsed on the ground, blood spurting from the wounds in his hands but swiftly turning into ice, stopping the blood in a certain sense, yet his complexion was pale, as if he might go into shock at any moment.

What was most astonishing, however, was that even so, his cheeks twitched, and he writhed on the ground like an insect, crawling towards the dagger, trying to let the dagger pierce his own body.

When he realized he couldn’t do it, he began to hit his head against the ground, trying to kill himself.

“No, no, save me, please help…”

But when he lifted his head, Jonah twisted his fist, and the Forest Ranger lost all his strength, collapsing limply to the ground.

“Thank goodness I have a habit of keeping a Mage Hand.”

Jonah felt somewhat relieved, but even more worried.

With a casual wave of his hand, he summoned some straw and felt, wrapping up the injured man, then packaged him up altogether, lifting him up through the air.

“Magic is so amazing!”

Lu Ban couldn’t help but marvel.

With that spell, he could stay in bed all day without moving, and food and drink would come to him on their own.

“…The situation is very dire.”

Jonah glanced at Lu Ban, whose eyes were shining, and then pointed at Birmingham.

“You two, come with me.”

They followed the floating Forest Ranger, accompanying Jonah to a room inside the fortress.

Jonah laid the man down, treated his wounds from a distance, and then bound him with ropes.

After a while, an older Mage arrived there.

“Are you certain it’s the plague?”

The Mage asked.

“Without a doubt, Lord Aili.”

Jonah replied.

“Activate emergency measures against the plague immediately, the inspection must be completed by noon tomorrow.”

The Mage named Aili quickly gave the order; he left the room, seemingly to contact the fortress’s commander.

“What is this plague?”

Lu Ban asked, following the spirit of learning whatever he could since he knew nothing anyway.

“The plague is the master of the last Demonic Tide; its Clan has no physical form but possesses extremely high contagion. Once someone comes into contact with the source of infection, they are immediately infected by the plague, and once infected, humans uncontrollably seek death.”

Jonah explained briefly.

“If one person is infected with the plague, other uninformed individuals can easily become infected, and ultimately an entire troop can die without resistance—that’s the horror of the plague.”

“In that case, isolating those who are infected and taking away their ability to move should be able to limit the plague, right?”

Lu Ban thought of the containment measures for infectious diseases on Earth.

“If it were that simple, then yes, but in truth, the plague is an evolving and strengthening Demonic Tide. Initially, only physical contact could spread it, but later it evolved so just coming within a certain distance could lead to an attack by the plague. Furthermore, those infected by the plague don’t immediately commit suicide; sometimes they are unconsciously controlled and go to crowded places to spread the infection. In the end, if the number of people controlled by the plague cannot be contained, then just a gust of wind can spread the plague over the entire land.”

Jonah’s expression was grave.

“The plague fears high temperatures and sunlight, but if Eternal Night arrives, combined with the current temperature, the plague becomes virtually unbeatable.”

“Lord Jonah, are you saying that two Demonic Tides have appeared simultaneously?”

Birmingham could hardly believe it.

“Although I’m reluctant to admit it, the fact remains as such.”

Jonah glanced at Lu Ban.

“Moreover, there might even be a third Demonic Tide.”

“A third Demonic Tide…”

Birmingham found it hard to believe.

The normal Demonic Tide was already enough to cause massive casualties. The simultaneous occurrence of two was unheard of, but now there was the possibility of three. When the Blood Moon rose and the Demonic Tide descended, these Forest Rangers stationed at the Black Fort might be utterly annihilated.

The perpetual darkness of Eternal Night, coupled with the silently invading epidemic and the potential of Frost, all attacking at once, would be too much to withstand, even with the Gray Tower’s high spire standing here.

“This man and the deceased did not leave the Black Fort today; they were infected with an immediate, initial-stage epidemic, which means that an intermediate-stage epidemic infector capable of controlling humans has already infiltrated the Black Fort. We need to be careful and try not to have physical contact with others as much as possible,”

Jonah advised once more.

That night, the Black Fort was brightly lit, as soldiers were called up one by one for the mages to conduct checks to ensure that those infected with the epidemic were screened out.

Lu Ban and Birmingham, having already been checked, returned to their posts on the night watch.

The neighboring watchtower was completely empty, and its flickering flames were like the Black Fort in the silent Black Forest, teetering on the brink of collapse.

Lu Ban looked at the flames and was struck with inspiration; he walked towards the watchtower.

“What are you doing?”

Birmingham failed to stop Lu Ban.

Looking at the watchtower, Birmingham felt nervous. After all, he was not a formally educated man and naturally feared that the epidemic might still linger in the tower. He would be compelled to immediately draw a blade and commit suicide if he touched it, so he could only watch helplessly as Lu Ban walked over and climbed the tower.

Lu Ban stood atop the watchtower and saw the splattered blood on the ground.

It was from the first person who had committed suicide.

“Strange, according to Jonah, touching the body would infect others with the epidemic, so the blood of the deceased should also be contagious. And yet, it’s just left here without any cleaning.”

He used True Sight to look at the blood. After acquiring knowledge about the epidemic, the blood itself seemed different in Lu Ban’s vision, its frozen crimson surface covered in tiny, unfamiliar text.

Lu Ban didn’t recognize these words, and the Silent Lands hadn’t translated them for him.

Lu Ban touched the frozen, congealed blood.

In an instant, a soft murmuring arose in Lu Ban’s ear.

He couldn’t make out the language, yet he surprisingly understood the meaning.

Nothing more than phrases spreading despair and inciting death, accompanied by a definite mental contamination. Even a confident common person, under the torment of mental pollution, would become weak and soon believe those words, birthing thoughts of death.

At that time, it could take control of a person’s body, completing the final step.

The words flowed into Lu Ban’s body through the point of contact, the murmuring in his ears becoming more and more cacophonous. However, to Lu Ban, these murmurings were far from comparable to the brief utterings of those great beings.

Meanwhile, grass began to grow inside Lu Ban’s body, within his veins.

The green plants devoured the words, crushed them, wore them down, and at last, the murmuring at Lu Ban’s ear also gradually subsided.

“At least an epidemic of this level seems to have no effect on me.”

Lu Ban felt that compared to the epidemic, the Winter Wolf was much more terrifying.

“However, if these bloodstains were left here untreated, it’s impossible that Jonah wouldn’t know the danger. If others were to come into contact with it…”

He seemed to have realized something, stood up, then brought cleaning tools and began earnestly cleaning up the watchtower.