Poisoned Land (1)

In March 1895, the demons invaded from both sides of the Onerola continent. Time, which had once turned back, once again rolled over the same muddy and bumpy road, and a long period of resistance to the invasion began.

People on both sides of the Straits witnessed the terror of the demons with their own eyes, and the so-called "rumors" were broken without being attacked. As a result, those who were originally hesitant rushed to the interior to escape. Even people in the Midwest were worried and anxious all day long.

The demons were like a combination of many different creatures, reminiscent of the experimental monsters in the earliest science fiction novels.

But the creatures, technology, or magic of this era are not capable of creating such a thing. It is as if creatures that should not exist in this world have appeared before people. They have no choice but to believe and flee.

The cities along the East China Sea were once the most prosperous areas in the country, but now only ruins remain.

Qiu Ne sent out almost all the troops he could, no longer worrying about being stabbed in the back by any other country.

In fact, no country in the continent of Onerola was spared.

Qiu Ne, Li Wei'er and Sahe had jointly informed all the countries on the mainland of the fact of the demon invasion, but only a few people heard about it in advance.

Millions of demons, devils, and monsters wantonly destroyed the land and life. War fell on the entire continent, like a tongue of fire licking paper, scorching from the edge and turning it to ash.

Darkness began to spread from March, the month of growth, and spring passed by cruelly.

It was a time when the coastal town of the once prosperous and beautiful Quene Empire was soaked in blood.

Despite having nearly all the high-ranking knights and wizards in the kingdom, the most elite knightly orders, and a huge trained army, the front line was pushed inland a kilometer with every passing month.

Just half a year after the war broke out, standing at the train station closest to the front line, one could often see unfamiliar young faces landing in military uniforms. They were all urgently conscripted soldiers who had completed basic military training in their hometowns and stepped onto the battlefield.

Because magic stones need to be used to save people, even the unnecessary use of teleportation stones has been reduced.

High-ranking knights and wizards with powerful magic, and even low-ranking citizens who possessed even the slightest bit of magic power and were able to move freely, became the earliest warriors.

Therefore, those who were recruited in the later period were ordinary people without any magic power.

At first, they were young men and women who were naturally strong.

Later, there were younger faces.

The number of people is decreasing.

Most of them died in their first battle.

February 1898. Eastern Front.

A soldier on night watch from the 4th Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Army of the Chunye National Army, who was warming himself by a fire in the camp, sneezed in the snow and took a step towards the charcoal stove.

"Ah Qiu! I'm really worried that I'll be frozen into a stick when I go out to pee!"

The captain of the third row team 1 knocked him and said, "You should worry about whether the flying monsters in the sky will pick you off."

"The nighttime is when the defense network works the hardest! If you have to be scared even when you pee, you'd rather be arrested! Oh! These days! When will it end? This winter is too damn cold! I used to live by the sea and it wasn't this cold."

He used to be an ordinary fisherman in a coastal town, and now he is a corporal in the army.

"Because water has a high specific heat capacity... Oh, what's the point of saying this now? The beach is now occupied by monsters, and we can't go there even if we want to. Those monsters are obviously not used to the sea, but they are not afraid of them at all. Monsters are really monsters!"

The fisherman's corporal came over unnoticed, trying to get together with the two of them to share body temperature.

"Hey, stay away from me and go get your charcoal! You haven't washed for a month?! I'm about to vomit! Get out of here!"

"Tsk! What's the point of washing frequently? Won't you still come out of the mud the next day?"

The fisherman was still shivering. He shook for a while wrapped in a quilt. His eyes became blurry and he really wanted to run over and hug the iron barrel that had been blackened by charcoal.

A hand behind him lifted him up and put him behind.

"Lieutenant Hall?"

Howl poked the bloody sword into a bucket of ice and snow, and the blood seeped into the frost and snow debris.

Hall said: "If you hold that thing, you will burn yourself very quickly, which will greatly increase the chance of infection, which is difficult to treat."

Behind Hall, Mike also came in.

"Captain!"

Both men stood up and saluted.

Mike pinched his nose: "What a sour smell!"

He quickly locked onto the fisherman who was shrinking his neck and kicked him: "Go take a shower! Didn't you listen to what the wizard said? Everything you touch is poisonous! Sooner or later, you will be poisoned to death!"

The fisherman immediately rolled and crawled to take a bath.

Mike glared at the captain who was gloating over the misfortune: "What are you laughing at?! You are the captain! Just keep an eye on the people! You can't even do such a small thing? How many more people do you want to die?!"

The captain also crawled away.

Hall sat down by the fire, and the two men tore off their bloody coats and threw them into a snow bucket.

The two of them warmed themselves by the charcoal fire.

When the snow melted, blood seeped out, and blood of many colors mixed together. Hall pulled out the sword, wiped it with the discarded bandage that was used to bandage the wound, threw it back in, and covered it with a lid.

Hall said calmly: "That man just now reminded me of when you first went to the battlefield."

Mike lay on the ground and did one-handed push-ups: "Nonsense, I was still young at that time, it was normal to be sensible."

Hall smiled, exhaled, and looked at the white mist a little dazed.

During these three years, each winter was colder.

Some people had to have their limbs amputated due to freezing because they did not keep warm during night duty. It was also terrifying to have to have their limbs amputated again when they were sent back home.

They were just two ordinary soldiers.

I thought that after surviving the war on the mainland and getting a decent military officer position, I could return home and enjoy the glory and live out the rest of my life in peace.

Who could have imagined that demons would invade?

They didn't know how they survived these three years.

In fact, they are not too surprised now, because only those who survived have the time to think about these things, and those who didn't do it are just dead.

In the past, a body could be sent back.

Now it's no longer possible. Those who were bitten to death by the demons, those who died with the demon corpses, and those who were soaked in their blood will all be burned by the flames of the undead wizard. Otherwise, they will become the next poisonous breeding ground.

In this cold winter, Mike worked out vigorously. Sweat oozed out of his muscles. He panted and said, "I hate summer more than winter."

Since the first hellish summer in 1895, they have vomited physiologically every summer since then.

Human soldiers fought bravely, and more demons died in the battle than humans. However, when the broken flesh of the demons fell to the ground, their blood seeped into the earth and rivers.

Where the devil's blood passes, the flowers no longer bloom, and the spring grass no longer grows again with the wind.

At least, they did not see any green growing on the blood-stained ground for the next two or three years.

Only then did people realize how terrifying the demons really were.

Where they live will be a battlefield of death and slaughter, and where they die will become a poisonous place with no grass growing.

Whether dead or alive, they are taking life.

The water source is contaminated by corpse poison, and even water purification stones cannot extract water. The only way to obtain clean water is through inland transportation.

Since there is no way to purify the poison, the only thing they can do is to concentrate it, let wizards extract it, and then use the fire of the phoenix to burn it to death.

Ordinary fire and heat simply evaporate the toxins.

During one hot summer day, an entire platoon of soldiers was eroded and dissolved alive by poisonous rain falling from the sky.

It must be the immortal wizard and his immortal bird flame.

The battlefield west of Liweier could also be Dragon Flame. They are already struggling and won't have any more dragons to support them.

The only one on this battlefield who has the method to completely destroy the demon corpse poison.

But even for an immortal wizard, the toxins he can extract from the human body are limited.

The tiny toxins remaining in his body accumulated and he was powerless to recover.

Such people were sent to the camp every day, and he was the only one who could burn the bodies.

Even though he survived many battles, he was still poisoned by the demon's corpse.

Some soldiers whose names were not even memorized were sent to the battlefield like expendables, fighting to the death, and only a nameplate was left, which was mailed back. How many families were tragedies caused by this?

This has been a common scene for them over the past three years.

It was not enough to just survive. Their wounds could not come into contact with the flesh and blood of the demons. The blood on their swords and clothes could not be washed away casually.

The summer heat seemed to catalyze poisons in all directions. Standing on the battlefield, even breathing had to be done with extreme caution.

Winter is really much kinder.

Only then did they realize that the continental war among humans seemed like a fight between children.

After three years of fighting, even if the conscription age was lowered to fourteen, the available combat force was still not enough.

The demons are still sending their forces across the ocean to the mainland, and the greatest despair is to kill them all.

Hall sighed softly, "I... am a little fed up..."

Mike paused. He was the kind of person who would talk without stopping and complain, but he rarely heard Hall say such a weak word.

"We also celebrated the Winter Fire Festival this year on the front lines... Except for those who were seriously injured, we had no chance to return to the rear..."

Mike jumped up and fell silent.

He wanted to say something like "End the war as soon as possible and go home as soon as possible", but he couldn't do it.

He couldn't imagine how the war would end.

In the eyes of many people, this is not a war between humans and demons for victory, but a war in which humans are losing their lives and trying to survive at the hands of demons.

The same is true for battles big and small. Failure will bring huge casualties, and the land will be further devoured by darkness. Victory will only leave an indelible scar on the battlefield, on which life can no longer be born and survive.

贏也是輸。

他們甚至找不到活到最後的法子。

外頭年輕的運輸兵的聲音打斷了兩人的沉默。

“要處理的東西，這裏有嗎？”

霍爾讓人開始搬運周圍營地裏的雪桶，裏面是沾着魔血的碎冰雪。

運輸兵看着兩人的表情奇怪地歪了歪頭，沒說什麽，開着裝載滿雪桶的板車，駛向了最近的醫療營地。

運輸兵剛接替前輩上任。

他眼神不錯，遠遠地望見了營地前站着的那個人。

他一望見那個背影，就确信了。

運輸兵的手從方向盤上滑了一下，立馬轉回來，運輸車運着雪桶過去，停下。

那人轉過身子。

纖長的人影映入眼簾，運輸兵的眼神一瞬間亮起來，又迅速暗淡下去，他呆住了一會兒。

和他想象中的不一樣。

單薄的黑色襯衣長褲罩着單薄的身軀，領子開了倆扣子，散着，可以看見清晰的鎖骨，領口別着小顆藍色的制熱魔石。脖子紋着一道淡白利落的刀痕。

袖子挽到胳膊，臉、手、脖子露出的皮膚幹淨又白，在一群髒兮兮臭烘烘的兵蛋子裏頭，很是惹眼，只是那膚色太過蒼白，在刺目的光線下都有些透明了，看不出多少血色，這個人仿佛曬不黑。

筆直而堅定地站在那裏，抄着手，漂洗過幾十次的衣服穿在他身上也顯得整潔熨帖，穿出了貴族禮服的質感。

黑色長發用絲帶紮起來落在肩頭，容貌五官更是頂級的貴氣優雅，只是那一紅一紫的眼眸下，有着淡淡的青灰痕跡，臉頰也比照片看上去瘦削許多。

一個與魔杖等身，憂氣凝郁、心力交瘁，破碎得有些可憐的人。

仿佛只是由那一根堅硬的脊梁骨，撐起了疲憊不堪的身體。

和他想的不一樣。

年輕的運輸兵看着這個大不了他幾歲的人。

許多人和他一樣被不死的巫師與騎士皇子的名號吸引過來。

也和他一樣，在見到真人時失望。

感受到了現實與想象的差距。

他以為意氣風發的巫師與指揮官，從來就不存在。

英格爾看向他，蒼白的眉峰蹙起，念出命令：“把東西卸下，去隊長那邊報道。這是最後一批，其他的先不等了。”

在這裏的，只有長官。

運輸兵行了軍禮響亮回應，幫助卸貨的人将雪桶搬下去。

前方已經列了幾百只雪桶，當然，桶的外形是各有區別的，這也都是從廢墟裏翻出來用的。

迅速搬完，運輸兵不敢怠慢，撤回隊伍中站好。

英格爾身邊跟随着幾名随行巫師，他們舉起了手中魔杖。

英格爾展開手掌，長長的魔杖落在手心，他面無表情地下令：“死的擺好，活的站好，有想吐的，不要忍着，但是不能吐地上，吐前面桶裏。人都齊了，遲到的，拖也給我拖過來，不來的我過去打斷他的腿。”

臉色青紫的中毒病患回答的聲音更蔫兒了，他們盯着前頭塞了髒東西的雪桶與滿地的屍身，拔毒之前，肚子裏的營養餐已經在翻滾了。

他們臉上只有恐懼和敬畏。

英格爾等了一會兒，揚手，念動咒語，身後的巫師們也随着他一起動手。

很快，黑紫色、黑紅色的液體從屍體上、雪桶裏、活人身上飄出。

屍體和髒東西都沒怎麽樣，畢竟死物。活人就痛苦萬分了。

他們七竅裏、皮膚上都滲出毒液，往上方飄去，拔毒結束後，一跪地，就直接趴在桶裏嘔吐去了。

嘔吐物裏的毒素也在往上飄。

屍毒凝聚成黑色的液态球體。

英格爾穩定了形狀，揮出魔杖。

不死鳥圖騰從魔珠上騰弋而出，張開嘴吞噬了毒素。

透明的蒸汽升騰。

毒消失得無影無蹤。

然後鳳凰落地，赤紅的火焰羽毛和長尾卷過地面的屍體，燒成了幹淨透明的灰燼。

途中輕輕掃過幾個活人，卻沒有任何損傷。

英格爾把魔杖收回。

他身後的巫師代為道：“如果不想死得太難看的話，注意後續排毒，你們自己要對自己的命負責。”

英格爾揮了揮手示意他們離開。

然而正要離開的時候，另外幾個人闖進了營地。

當然，說闖，有些不恰當，只是速度太快，卻沒人敢阻攔。

金發金瞳的騎士。

騎士皇子行動如一道閃電，模樣更是無可挑剔，仿佛落地的太陽，與巫師形成鮮明對比。

他身後昆佩烏跑着趕過來，“長官！”

英格爾反應過來的時候右手已經被艾利克斯扣住，他下意識用左手去捂自己的後頸。

艾利克斯臉色非常難看：“和我先進去！”

英格爾心中不快，甩又甩不開他的手：“你先冷靜一下，松開！”

除了剛開戰那一天，艾利克斯哪怕裝也會在其他士兵面前裝一下，很少這樣公開控制不住情緒外露。

英格爾有些不祥的預感，他飛快道：“如果不是緊急支援任務，先讓我去治療。你知道還有很多人等着拔毒。”

艾利克斯聲音不由自主地提高了，他看向英格爾身後的巫師們：“你們先去！聽從命令！”巫師們被震了一下，連忙撤步。

英格爾反握住他的手臂，擠出幾句話：“只有我能滅毒，你發什麽瘋？！”

運輸兵還沒來得及走，見到這一幕，忍不住問身邊的老兵，“他們關系那麽差的嗎？”

老兵搖搖頭，低聲道：“大陸戰争時期好像沒有這麽差，但又總是三天兩頭吵起來，最近還算少的，他們到處飛，不怎麽能碰面。啊啊，反正我們別多探究了，不是我們能想明白的。”

艾利克斯不顧他人的眼光，用力把英格爾拽進了一個議事營帳，他把其他人都趕了出去。

“昆，在外頭看着，不要讓人接近！”

昆佩烏只能聽令。

進去後，英格爾終于甩開了他的手，條件反射挂了隔音和防禦的罩子。

“快點說完，我就走了。”

他不耐煩地捏了捏眉心。

艾利克斯這三年要麽跟他冷戰，要麽就是見到他就想把他送回去，然後一言不合吵起來，他們好好交流也只在作戰會議上。

任憑如何沒脾氣的人，這樣的關系持續三年也會受不了，原本對付魔族戰争就夠嗆了，他還孜孜不倦給他添堵。

比驢還倔說的就是艾利克斯。

哪怕他知道艾利克斯這麽做的本意是為了保護他。

艾利克斯深吸了一口氣，把袖子裏的信件甩在他面前，“這件事你要瞞我多久？！”

英格爾心中一沉，他打開信件飛速浏覽。

他抿着嘴唇重新疊好了信，他本來還想嘴硬一下，拖延一會兒，可看到艾利克斯的臉，他張開的嘴又默默合上。

米莉亞在對付魔族的時候，知曉了英格爾可以用不死鳥火焰滅毒的消息，于是讓人回去搜索關于祖先留下的文獻中關于不死鳥的事情傳說。最後發現了不死鳥的辛秘，那是只有族群延續至今的長壽的精靈族才能做到的傳承。

米莉亞知曉不死的巫師的能力，她認為記載的內容可能會對英格爾造成一定沖擊，所以她就先與艾利克斯聯絡上，把這封信交給了他。

不死鳥不死的真相，就這樣被她揭露。

艾利克斯聲音裏有些顫抖，那是壓抑怒氣的餘震，他擠出聲音：“你想怎麽解釋？女神三年前就已經把不死鳥的事情告訴你了對不對？所以你才怕成那樣！你為什麽要來！為什麽！”

英格爾喘了幾口氣，把翻湧上來的回憶壓下去，他捏着信道：“艾利克斯，是，我已經知道了，我是在知道這一切的情況下，選擇了戰鬥！我自己選的！”

艾利克斯搖頭：“……你不可以選擇這條路。”

英格爾難以置信地擡起頭，他看見了艾利克斯眼中的決絕，艾利克斯重新捏住他的手腕道：“你馬上給我回去！再也不要來了！”

怒火難以遏制地沖上來，英格爾看着他咬牙切齒道：“我說了多少遍，不要拿‘保護’當借口！我不需要你保護，而且保護不代表着你可以不尊重我的意願把我關起來！”

艾利克斯眼中毫無悔意：“應，我知道我做的是錯事，但是要我重來一遍，我還是會這麽幹。我不後悔。”

英格爾一臉荒唐地道：“艾利克斯……任何人都可以說出這樣的話，你不可以。在你身邊的所有人，你有問過他們的意見嗎？你有為了保護他們而把他們關起來嗎？為什麽！為什麽只有我！你連問都不願意問我！”

艾利克斯脫口而出：“你和他們不一樣！我可以為人類犧牲，艾列娜可以，那些戰友可以，唯獨你不行！你說過，你不想成為我的朋友。你也從來沒說過我們是朋友。你不是我的戰友，也不是我的朋友，你就不應該站在這片戰場上！”

英格爾懵了。

他看着艾利克斯的眼神仿佛在看一個陌生人。

他認識的那個艾利克斯，就算會為了這件事而生氣，卻不應該說出這樣的話。

They have been fighting together for so long, why would they deliberately say such absolute words?

His heart felt like it was stabbed with a knife, blood was blocked inside, and it hurt terribly.

Wu Rui rushed in from outside, and the protective shield was quickly removed. He grabbed Alex's arm and shouted, "Alex, what are you doing!"

Although it was soundproofed, he still saw something. The atmosphere between the two was more serious than their previous quarrels!

Kunpeiu also hurried in.

Alex refused to let go and just stared at Inger. He had no intention of taking back what he had said.

He is serious.

Inger's fingertips started a fire that devoured the letter.

He was gasping for breath, as if he were having difficulty breathing.

However, Alex didn't care about all this. If we talk about fear, he is the most afraid now.

For an ordinary person, death is the end.

But it was different. The price he had to pay was different from that of others. His worst premonition came true.

Even if he didn't know this news, he couldn't continue to tolerate it. Let alone knowing this fact!

This cannot go on any longer.

A strong light burst out from his body, shocking Wu Rui so much that he let go.

Inger tried to get out of his sight, but he couldn't.

Alex stared at him, and finally spoke out the words that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time:

"Am I a saint in your eyes? Am I a god? Why do you think I don't care? Gods always look at things from the perspective of all mankind. They love their creations equally. But they will also sacrifice a few people for the continuation of the human race. I can sacrifice voluntarily. But I can never ask others to do the same thing as me. I am a prince of a country. I hope the people of my country survive more than those of other countries. I am also a person. I have friends, family, and comrades. I hope that the people I love can survive more than others. This is natural. I am not a saint. I am not as noble as you think. I don't want to send people who are afraid of pain, don't want to die, and may not die to the battlefield. Is this wrong? I hope that all human beings can survive. If someone must sacrifice, it can't be you, absolutely not!"

The ending note with tears of determination pierces my heart.

It was the first time that Inger experienced such a complex emotion.

He could not hate or complain, because he knew that the person in front of him was afraid for him, worried about him, and would do anything to protect him.

But he couldn't accept the stubborn attitude that didn't care about anything else, even his own wishes.

Alex didn't want to see him die, but did he want to see his friends die on the battlefield?

He had clearly prepared for the worst and made up his mind. Why did Alex say that and hurt his feelings?

This was a selfish and reckless side of Alex that he had never seen before.