Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 502 Suspicion of Allied Forces
Nangarmir, Karen City.

Lani stood behind the chest-high battlements at the edge of the north city wall tower. The cool evening breeze swept over her, and she frowned slightly, tightened the collar of her plain white cloak with her slender hand, and sighed softly.

Since leaving home twenty days ago to go to the front lines in Karen, she hasn't had a good night's sleep. As a result, her rosy face is covered with an inescapable weariness, and even the evening breeze, which is far from autumn, seems cold and unbearable.

The contents of that ancient book were too astonishing. At first glance, I only felt the excitement of suddenly discovering a turning point in a desperate situation. My mind was filled with thoughts of wiping out those damned giant remnants and rescuing that stupid, stupid dragon who was trapped in a deadly situation. But as time went by, the more I thought about it, the more anxious I became, fearing that the record was just a fabrication by my predecessors and that all my efforts would be in vain.

But besides these things, what else can she do now?

The World Geographical Survey Report of the 495th Year of the Eternal Calendar—this is the name of the tattered ancient book that has survived to this day. It records the process by which the Eternal City sent an expedition more than two thousand years ago to re-examine the geography of the world, verify and correct previous data, and then re-compile a detailed local history.

Most of the rest of the report was useless, except for two extremely startling entries.

Back then, the Eternal City sent out a total of 112 expedition teams. Among them, the 59th team investigated the area of ​​today's North Gmir Volcano, and the 107th team investigated the area of ​​the Northern Starfall Peak, which is the core of the Giants' Holy Land and the location of the Flame Cauldron.

The former claims that Mount Gemir is not an isolated volcano, and that there is a giant ley line, 80 kilometers wide, that runs underground from the northwest to the central part of the Altar, then turns north 3,000 kilometers west of the Eternal City, passing through the Sacred Tree Forest and disappearing into the far north ice field.

The latter claims that the ever-burning flames of the Flame Cauldron seem to originate not only from the flames of the evil god. According to the exploration and analysis results of Team 107, Starfall Peak was the largest active volcano in the border area during the Archean era, and it only went out in ancient times.

In other words, Saint Hethenes, the first king of the giants, may not have "transformed" into the flame to ignite the eternal flame of the giants, but rather "merged" with the flame, transforming the furnace fire that already existed in the world into the divine personification of the giant god.

Given the Eternal Civilization's immense power at the time, they must have thoroughly investigated these reports upon receiving them. Sky City, as an ally, may also have had backups. Unfortunately, the trauma inflicted on the Star-Moon Civilization by the Forbidden War was too severe. The most valuable data of the Eternal City was almost entirely lost, and the remaining eight or nine tenths were buried deep underground along with the Noxians. As for Sky City, Priest Lance's reply also indicated that all relevant historical materials were lost, most likely destroyed when Fam Azra collapsed.

In other words, apart from these two vague records, neither Longyue nor the other side could find any other evidence of the existence of the "Furnace Vein". However, even such a vague clue was enough for them to bet everything on that one possibility.

If the Furnace Leyline truly exists, it means that the Furnace Tree's runes radiate far beyond the Golden Tree and Lesser Golden Trees across the border regions. Instead, it has carved out an energy channel that runs across the world underground, with Mount Gemir and Meteor Peak being two important nodes that echo each other from east to west.

In this way, the strategic significance of breaking through Grimir goes far beyond the scope of besieging and isolating the altar. They have a full opportunity to disrupt the energy flow of the Jedi Seal, and even send external forces directly to the North along the ley lines, like a sharp knife piercing the heart of the Giants' court, ending this protracted war in one fell swoop.

Lani had already sent over ten urgent letters to the front lines in Pelum and the Sky City fleet, believing that both her mother and Priest Lance would quickly seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Yet, even after doing all this, she still couldn't find a moment's peace. Extreme despair is often not frightening; what is frightening is hope that is within reach yet can vanish at any moment.

Even disregarding the reliability of intelligence, from a purely strategic and tactical perspective, the North Gmir volcano region is a perilous place where one is almost guaranteed to die. It is barbaric, backward, and brutal. No amount of derogatory or slanderous words from the outside world can adequately describe even a fraction of the harshness of the local environment.

In a desperate situation where even normal breathing is a luxury, those who can take root and survive are either inhuman monsters or beings who have erased all their humanity and transformed into monsters.

Convicts and outlaws are merely at the bottom of the volcanic food chain; cannibalistic mountain demons, mutated hybrids, and ferocious, cruel mountain tribes are the true protagonists of that land. In addition, there is the Serpent God Cult, which has been entrenched in the heart of the volcano since the beginning of the resurrection era, and is rumored to worship the only indigenous deity outside of the three great dynasties.
Lani certainly didn't think they would be a match for the regular armies of the Dragon Moon Dynasty, but time was of the essence and opportunities were fleeting. Ratan and Marlenia had to stay in the Southern Territory to hold back the 150,000-strong Golden Army of the Hoslau Islands, while the Kalia forces in the Dikedas direction still had to confront the 200,000 elite troops of Radagan. At most, only a few heroes could be dispatched to coordinate the operation. Among them, Chief Mugram and Second-in-Command Mulitil also had to stay with their mother in case of unforeseen circumstances. The only one who could truly play an important role was her aunt, Lalana.

With Priest Fur and Lord Ingwell who had already set off, the high-end combat force was sufficient, but if the giant serpent deep within the volcano truly possessed the legendary power comparable to a god, a swift victory would still be difficult. Furthermore, the bloodthirsty local natives, almost indistinguishable from star beasts, would greatly delay the conquest of Gmir.

The original plan agreed upon by Lucia and Ingwell was to use the three fortresses that had just been established along the Boiling River as a base, recruit a large number of mercenaries to expand northward, and at the same time train giant wolf riders in the rear, with the aim of launching a full-scale northward expedition a few years later and completely annihilating the barbarians who did not submit to the king's rule and the Serpent God Cult.

But the situation changed too quickly. North Gmir had to be attacked now, and the three planned fortresses had only been completed half a year ago. The mercenaries' exploration of the north had just begun. Fortunately, Auntie brought back a lot of wolf riders from the Shadowlands, which barely created the basic conditions for fighting this battle.

However, no matter what, the current preparations are extremely inadequate, and a quick victory is required. Any famous general of the time would be in a terrible predicament. Moreover, Lani is not interested in military affairs and is constantly worried about the situation in Lucia. How can she be at ease?

"Sigh," seeing that no one was watching her, she leaned against the city wall, propped her cheeks up with her small hands, and sighed deeply.

With neither Lucia nor his elder brother around, it's impossible to find someone to talk to or share the burden at a time like this. Even if it were his second brother, he could just spout off some useless past battle examples and give a bunch of pointless analyses.

Just as she was feeling down, a commotion suddenly came from the south of the city. She turned around and saw a large group of dark figures rapidly approaching the city gate. Although there was no sound of horses' hooves, their speed was faster than galloping horses!
Lani's heart skipped a beat. She was about to rush over to meet the enemy when she discovered that the south city wall was brightly lit, none of the sentries gave any warnings, and the sound of machinery slowly opening the main gate could be heard from inside the city wall.

She knew Governor Clive well; he was no rash man. This commotion could only mean one thing: the approaching force was not an enemy, but an ally.

But in the middle of the night, those shadowy figures didn't even light torches, yet they moved so fast. What friendly force would make a rescue mission look like a night raid?

(End of this chapter)