LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 26: Fall Of The Frontier
Explosions reverberated through the residential district as the lord's manor was lit on fire and, with it, the death of the lord of the frontier. He lived in relative peace, never minding the sufferings of those who were under him; maybe it was better this way, even though he was notorious to his people; outside, he was obscure, and nobody knew his name.
What should the people who live in the castle know about someone who lives in a dumpster fire called the Frontier? The upper echelons of society dubbed the place where criminals and outcasts live, where the constant threat of horde attacks takes place, and where the lines of borders were countlessly redrawn in the past century.
Only an insane person would dare to live in such a place, and unless they have a situation that forced them to, then they really have no place to go but to the frontier.
The frontier's survival was fought with desperation by those same criminals and outcasts, seeking to live a new life so that their former would be forgotten and left behind. Unfortunately, all of that ended, and with the death of the lord, their dreams came with him.
The night was still and silent. The noise that could be heard from miles away was the stronghold; its burning embers gave light into the surrounding area. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end; multiple individuals conspired to take down the place, and when they made their move, things moved, and eventually, the place was broken into.
Nobody knows who these individuals were, whether they were a ghoul or any living being from another race. Maybe it was their very own kind, but who would be an insane person to do that? They must be courting their own death with such actions. Unfortunately, soon their names would become known and all hell would break loose.
Soon, the embers of light that stood strong for years was snuffed out, and with it the illumination from the crimson moon fluttered and was replaced with the rays of the sun. Dawn has arrived, showing its full might, and ending the horror that was known as "The Twilight of The Red Moon."
The morning glory of the sun washed over the abyss, and soon the light came into darkness, but unfortunately, it was already too late, and it failed to save the fire that stood for so long in the cold, dark abyss of the night.
With the sun up, the damage can now be seen as it was evidently present even from afar. The gates were destroyed by a huge explosion, with parts of the wall crumbling down. The Fat Men's routes were sunken into the ground, as copious amounts of corpses littered the entire stronghold.
The stench of rotting and fresh bodies assaulted the sense of smell; it was so strong that even the gust of wind was not able to do anything about it. It blew, it stayed, it blew stronger; it was still there, that even the morning wind was useless against it.
At the center of a park in the stronghold, a group of ghouls were gathered; along them were civilians consisting of young men and women, and even children were there, including the elderly. Beside them was a giant cage, and in front of the cage was a fat man with a chain on his belly connecting it to the cage.
Amelia looked in horror as he entered the cage along with the other civilians. She was confused, and in fear; just earlier, she was caught but was not killed by the ghoul. Instead, she was forcibly taken in the hand and was brought with the other civilians, and all those who resisted were killed and feasted upon.
By this time, the ghouls were no longer in the state from earlier, but she still could not do anything, as there were dozens if not hundreds of ghouls around them.
"Were the ghouls intelligent enough to form an army? But the majority of them are low ranked? Is someone leading them? Is that even possible? Then that must only mean there is a high-rank ghoul that is so intelligent and strong that it was able to make other ghouls follow it." Were the thoughts of Amelia that were running through her mind?
Anyhow, she has a younger sister to protect, so she kept her sister closer to her. In this world, ghouls were dangerous, but sometimes sentient being like themselves are more dangerous than something that has risen from the dead like a ghoul was.
With fear and anxiety ever present in her heart, she steeled herself, as she cannot rely on anybody other than herself, in this godforsaken world. Glancing around, she was disappointed, as it seemed like there was no one that was able to move out and ask for reinforcements.
With those thoughts in mind she felt depressed, what is about to happen is that nobody knows what is about to happen, but anyhow she pushed it back into her mind as the fat man started to move, pulling the cage like a carriage and out of the stronghold.
Fortunately, she was wrong, as a young man was able to witness everything from the start to the finish. He felt dread as he froze in place by what he witnessed. After the carriage of cages left, he found a place to hide, and waited out, until he was sure that there was no ghouls left.
He even lowered his breath and covered his mouth whenever a ghoul was coming and checking around his area, and when a few hours had passed and there was no longer any sight of ghouls, he moved out and made haste towards another settlement that was near the stronghold.
He needs to make it, as the news of ghouls organizing into armies is news that will shake the world. They have to organize a coalition and fight in a united front, that is what he believed, or else they risk an extinction.