Two shadowy figures, one male and one female, stood atop a large rock, looking down at the shouting, oblivious humans below.
The male shadowy creature stood upright, its head raised, and the red fleshy sac on its chest, which had been shriveled, rapidly inflated and grew into a huge sphere.
Alfonso, sitting on the mound, placed his greatsword beside him, took a deep breath, and said to Randall beside him, "Cover your ears with your hands."
"Cover...your ears?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a sharp, piercing noise, like thousands of pieces of glass being ripped apart by a saw blade, spread from the mountaintop to the entire hillside.
Throughout the entire army, apart from physically strong species like orcs, werewolves, and tauren, most soldiers were caught off guard and directly stunned by the shadow's shriek.
The sound was so unbearable that for a moment Randall even thought his soul had left his body.
Unable to support his body any longer, Randall collapsed heavily to the ground.
With a cacophony of sounds echoing in his head, the scenery before his eyes slowly blurred.
A biting, cold wind swept across the barren hillside, and withered old trees, like twisted and deformed mummies, emerged from the soil.
Randall walked along the muddy, filthy path. Every blade of grass and every tree before him felt like a sharp iron needle piercing his heart, making him tremble all over.
A terrifying, crooked old tree blocked out the night, and a woman's bare feet swayed in the strong wind.
Randall knelt before the old tree, staring at the unrecognizable corpse gnawed by maggots, his fingers digging deep into the soil, his face ashen.
Randall's shoulders slumped limply, and he murmured, "I thought I had gotten rid of all this..."
"Humanity...original sin..."
Hearing the muffled voice from the air, Randall looked up and shouted, "Who are you?!"
"Guilt...self-blame...regret...delicious."
"Tell me! Who are you?!"
The strange sound vanished completely, as if it had never existed.
The next second, Randall felt someone slapping his face.
He forced his eyes open, and the scenery before him returned to the appearance of the Far Ash Hills.
Aldenan kept patting Randall's face with his furry paws. When he saw that the latter was slowly waking up, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "We were worried that something had happened since you hadn't woken up for a long time."
Randall shook his groggy head, looked at the squad members gathered around him, and asked in confusion, "How long have I been unconscious?"
The minotaur Bulville replied, "About ten minutes."
Barbara cupped Randall's face in her hands and asked with concern, "Are you alright? Your body is so cold, and there's no color in your face."
"I'm fine."
Randall struggled to his feet and asked the others, "When do we launch our attack?"
Kellogg tossed the dagger in his hand, flicking his tongue, and said, "The battle is over."
"What did you say?!"
Seeing Randall's astonished expression, Aldenan gestured with his paws and said excitedly, "It's such a shame you didn't see it! After those two strange war beasts on the mountaintop roared, the entire enemy defense line collapsed completely. The enemy's heads exploded like ripe watermelons. Blood gushed out of their veins like boiling water, reaching as high as seven or eight meters into the air."
Randall frowned, pushed aside the people in front of him, and looked towards the distant mountaintop.
To his astonishment, the soil and rocks on the hilltop were no longer recognizable. A crimson substance completely covered the top of the hill, making it look as if it had been painted with red paint.
With a feeling of unease, Randall slowly walked towards the top of the mountain.
Valkyries circled in the sky, searching for any escapees; Crusader soldiers were counting the enemy's corpses and equipment; Dragonbone Knights and Beastmasters were transporting and healing the war beasts wounded or killed in battle.
Stepping onto the dark red soil, Randall endured the sticky, swamp-like feel under his feet and went straight to Alfonso, who was directing the cleanup of the battlefield.
"grown ups."
Hearing the voice behind him, Alfonso turned around and nodded to Randall: "The cleanup here will be done soon. You and I will return to the command camp later."
Just as Randall was about to say something, a gaze from a short distance made him alert.
He looked back and saw the male shadowy creature lying on a high rock, seemingly dozing, but its open, dark eyes were fixed on Randall.
Lander suddenly had the illusion that those pure black eyes were like bottomless black holes, slowly dragging him into the abyss.
Forcing himself to look away, Randall noticed that behind him, the female shadow was carrying a relatively intact corpse in her mouth, nimbly weaving through the rocks and returning to the male shadow's side.
After placing the corpse next to her companion, the female shadow raised her paw, signaling for the other to make the first move.
The male shadowy figure squinted and shook its head, its body facing Randall, its insect-like mandibles twitching slightly as if it were saying something.
The female turned her face toward Randall and looked him up and down.
A moment later, as if losing interest in something boring, the female shadow lowered her head and used her mandibles to crush the corpse's skull, beginning to feast on the brain matter inside.
Hearing that chilling voice, Randall closed his eyes, turned his head away, and forced himself to calm down.
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