Raising all of humanity: Starting with a backyard pool world

Chapter 45 [Different Paths, Same Destination; Crisis Approaching]

The central region of the continent of Ashem is a vast, uncontrolled wilderness.

Forests and hills intertwine here, and ancient dangers lurk in the shadows of the mountains, awaiting reckless intruders.

The dwarfs' group proceeded the most safely.

Lynch's expeditionary force maintained a defensive formation.

Fifty Iron Guards formed a hollow square formation, surrounding ten craftsmen and the pack animals carrying their equipment in the center.

The shields are closely linked, forming a moving wall of steel.

The procession moves slowly, stopping whenever night falls.

The craftsmen guided the soldiers to build a temporary camp with trenches, barricades, and simple arrow towers within half an hour.

The furnace is lit, smoke rises, and the dwarves gather around the campfire, polishing their weapons, drinking heartily, and using their rugged songs to dispel the loneliness of the wilderness.

Lynch remained silent most of the time.

He sat in his corner, feeling the changes his Frostfire Forging technique brought to the dwarven warriors' equipment.

"Heart of the Rock, how about a barrel?" Commander Thorin walked over, holding a leather bag filled with ale, and sat down next to Lynch.

"I'm not used to it," Lin Qi shook his head.

"You'll get used to it," Thorin patted his shoulder. "We have a long way to go before we reach our destination. Stay alert, but don't break your nerves."

"I understand." Lin Qi gripped the battle axe beside him.

The crisis occurred on the afternoon of the fifth day.

The group is traversing a narrow canyon with towering cliffs on both sides.

A sharp cry pierced the sky.

Dozens of enormous black shadows swooped down from the clouds above the cliff.

Those were the griffins that occupied this area, and they had made the dwarfs their new prey.

"Enemy attack! Raise your shields!" Commander Thorin's roar echoed throughout the canyon.

The dwarves reacted remarkably quickly.

The soldiers in the front row instantly crouched down and raised their tower shields diagonally upwards.

The soldiers in the back row extended their already-loaded heavy crossbows through the gaps in their shields.

"Fire!" Dozens of thick crossbow bolts whistled as they shot into the sky.

The griffin nimbly tumbled through the air, dodging most of the attacks.

However, a few that reacted a little slower were hit in the wings or abdomen by crossbow bolts and fell with cries of pain.

The herd was enraged.

They folded their wings and slammed into the dwarves' shield formation.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Claws and beaks frantically scratched and pecked at the shield.

The dwarves' heavy armor, enhanced by frostfire, demonstrated the benefits of its enhancement during this attack; sparks flew from the armor plates, yet it was not easily torn apart.

A griffin leader of exceptionally large size broke through the crossbow bolts.

With a clear objective, they headed straight for the center of the formation, where Thorin was directing the battle.

Having come this far, Lin Qi naturally couldn't just sit and wait to die. He took a step forward and raised the battle axe in his hand.

"Deconstruction".

Just as the griffin leader was about to touch Thorin, its hard beak and claws crumbled from the inside.

"Awooo?" The griffin leader let out a confused cry.

It couldn't understand why its most powerful weapon had suddenly disappeared.

"A great opportunity!" Thorin roared.

The battle axe in his hand cleaved into the soft neck of the griffin leader, exposed by the loss of its beak.

With their leader dead, the remaining griffins let out a panicked cry, circled a few times, grabbed the corpses of their companions, and fled in disarray.

The battle is over.

Thorin walked over to Lynch, looked at the headless griffin corpse, and then at the battle axe in Lynch's hand.

"Heart of Rock, your eyes are sharper than my axe." He looked approving. "I take back my previous assessment. You are not just a craftsman; you are a true warrior."

The surrounding dwarf warriors also cast glances at them with a mixture of awe and approval.

.....

The Black Tide Monarch's marching route was a straight line that ran through the continent.

Ahead lay mountains, and the legion trampled them flat.

Ahead lay a river, so the legion filled in the riverbed.

Any monster lair or indigenous tribe that stands in their way has only one fate—to be devoured.

A legion of several thousand men, far from suffering losses during their long march, snowballed, taking in the orcs and monsters they conquered along the way, and their numbers exceeded ten thousand.

The legion's morale reached its peak.

Beside a swamp, they encountered a small, weak tribe that worshipped a lizard totem.

The Black Tide Lord simply pointed forward with the totem pole in his hand.

"The next source of nourishment."

A hundred newly crowned Black Tide champions roared with bloodlust and led their respective forces forward.

The tribe's resistance was weak and ineffective, and was quickly overwhelmed.

After the battle, a champion offered up the head of the tribal shaman.

"My lord, this is their leader—weak and pathetic."

The Black Tide Monarch didn't even glance at it, crossing the newly conquered land and gazing towards the distant north.

"A straight line is the shortest distance; just roll over it, and you'll find the answer," he said to the old shaman beside him, who had been completely reduced to a servant.

The old shaman's body trembled uncontrollably. "Yes, great monarch. Your path is the direction the world is heading."

The Black Tide Monarch enjoys the feeling of trampling all rules under his feet.

The army is his will—pure, efficient, and unstoppable.

......

The Arcane Council's squad traversed the continent.

During the day, they use the cover of the forest to leave no trace.

At night, Lila leads her squad on several precise short-distance teleportations.

She drew a temporary rune circle on the ground with her wand. The circle glowed faintly, and the team disappeared.

The next second, they will appear in another dense forest several kilometers away.

In one night, they covered a distance that would normally take several weeks to complete.

"We are less than 500 kilometers away from our target area."

Lila put away a map she had just finished drawing and ordered her team members behind her, "Stay alert, the magical fluctuations in the east are becoming increasingly chaotic."

Valen, however, turned his gaze in another direction. "Lila, look south."

He held up a crystal imbued with Eagle Eye and handed it to Lila.

Through the crystal, on the extremely distant horizon, a writhing black line advanced northward.

"That is..." Lila took the crystal, and when she saw the composition of the black line, she was completely shocked.

An army that stretched as far as the eye could see, leaving the land scorched and lifeless wherever it marched.

The evil aura that devoured and polluted everything sent a chill and disgust through Lila, even from a distance.

"What amazing power."

Valen was not afraid, but rather filled with a yearning for power. "Look," he said, "there are no superfluous movements, pure destruction, pure efficiency. This army will not tire, it will only grow stronger with each battle."

Lila trembled with rage at Valen. She put down the crystal, her chest heaving. "Valen, they're devouring life! The land dies after they walk on it! It's a curse!"

She looked around at the vibrant forest and then thought of that desolate, scorched earth.

The world is an interconnected whole.

The necrosis of any part will affect the whole.

"We must stop them," Lila whispered.

"Stop them?" Valen said nonchalantly. "With what? The twelve of us? Don't be naive, Lila. The Speaker's job is to observe, not to be a world-saving hero."

Lila clenched her fists but did not refute.

Reason told her that Valen was right, but her emotions made it impossible for her to accept it.

……

a few days later.

When the dwarven expedition reached the foothills of the central mountain range, they discovered a trail that had been trampled by a massive army.

It was a scorched path where not a blade of grass grew. Lin Qi walked forward, squatted down, and touched the scorched soil with his hand.

It originated from the orc bloodline within him, yet was filled with savagery and destructive desires, emanating from the depths of the earth.

This made him feel inexplicably irritated.

Hundreds of kilometers away, on the banks of a river.

One of the Black Tide Monarch's scouts is reporting to him.

The scout held a few withered plant leaves in his hand.

"My lord, we found these downstream. Their life essence seems to have been completely extracted by some strange force."

The Black Tide Monarch took the leaf, squeezed it, and the leaf turned into ashes.

"It seems there are other insects eyeing this cake as well."

And in the higher, farther sky.

Lila and Valen, using their flying abilities, had already arrived at a mountain peak near the meteorite crater ahead of time.

From above, a magnificent yet eerie scene unfolds before them.

In the south, that black tide is surging relentlessly.

In the west, a brightly lit and heavily guarded dwarven camp has been set up and is ready for battle.

"They're all here." Valen hovered in the air, a playful smile playing on his lips. "It seems this grand show has no shortage of spectators."

The three hands are about to overlap on the dial in the center of the continent.