(Live Stream Commentary)
"Ladies and Gentleman, It appears that Ruler will not be disappointing us," Zero said, as he made the mainstream showcasing multiple scenes.
The 70% of the virtual screen was showing an army clocked in hodded in furr robes, riding on various mounts ranging from sand drakes, desert lions, and Sandstriders, and in the lead was the towering Sandshaper Worm.
There were six screens to the left and down on the main screen, showing the scenes ranging from a frozen lake shimmering as a crystal to a wide mountain pass covered in thick layers of snow with solid ice and earth as the ground and the walls of the towering mountains cloaked in a vast amount of ice and snow.
But to the viewers, The locations appeared different, as the few-meter thick layer of ice was transparent, showing the tens of pulse bombs located deep in the ice all around the central area of the lake, ready to explode and break the layers of ice and let the unlucky one experience the fast-flowing lake hidden underneath.
The ground between the mountain passage ahead of the lake was also transparent, showing the hidden bombs and vials of cold blue concoctions.
The same form of trap was set in the ice mountains just tens of meters away from the passage, ready to create an avalanche and bury everything at its base, and there were close to ten more areas, with a few having similar hidden traps and others having open traps, ranging from poisoned ponds making the creature go on a frenzy to, blocked paths, and long magic minefields.
"Ruler never ceases to surprise us, as before it was his strength, and now it's his intellect that is taking center stage," Zero said, as showed the amry scouts searching the frozen lake surface for any traps, but only find what Alex had intentionally left for them to find.
The scouts went back after dealing with the magic mine and mapping out the tempered areas of the lake, and minutes later, the army began their march forward, spreading out through the frozen lake with no more than twelve to fifteen individuals in each.
"Those of soft hearts, please activate the safety mode because the following few minutes are going to be nothing but a show of cruelty and misery," Zero said as the large regiment of soldiers began traversing the area of the lake, littered with pulse bombs.
As the army marched, the pulse bombs were triggered by the vibration, creating no mana disturbance until the very last moment, and even though the captain sensed the trap, it was already too late.
The thick layers of ice cracked, spreading like a spider web to hundreds of meters, and the fast-flowing water of the lake below gushed out, only accelerating the process of destruction.
The captain roared the order to move out, but his words were not needed as the moment the noise of ominous cracks filled the air, soldiers were frozen before they began rushing away.
The lines had a decent distance, but soldiers were still close, so when charged in random directions without any care for their surroundings, they crashed into each other, making only the lucky few in the central area escape.
In mere moments, the ground caved in, with bigger pieces of ice getting flipped upside down, dragging the unlucky into the icy cold lake that had its water moving at a speed that was hard to handle for even a peak Fourth Rank individual in normal circumstances, let alone in the state of panic and evergrowing chaos.
At least a few hundred fell into the lake, with tens getting killed in the first few seconds, dying a quick death by getting crushed, while many came underneath massive chunks of ice and were pushed deep into the water.
The lake was not without its inhabitants, so in mere moments, clean water turned red, and screams of panic and pain echoed through the surroundings, with those lucky enough to escape rushing to save their comrades.
"A single trap and close to 10% of the army is gone, which is not crippling, but it will put in their hearts, and that fear will lead them into their second trap," Zero said as the soldiers began to take control of the situation on the lake.
As Zero said, the captain, after losing a tenth of his men, was on full alert, spreading his senses to scan the area, knowing if there was one trap, there would be another, and he was happy to find small objects hidden in the section between the two mountains.
As there was no way ahead but through the path of the mountains, the captain took action, destroying the bombs and clearing the path for his army to march.
But unbeknownst to the captain, the vials of the concoction he destroyed release intense ice essence energy, something that magical treasure would release when they reach their peak.
While he could have sensed the energy and dealt with it, he did not because he was busy looking at the sudden avalanche in the near distance.
The captain roared the orders for the mages to advance and stop the path from getting entirely blocked, and the mages followed his command without question, casting elemental shields to guide the vast amount of snow and ice to one side.
The path was blocked, but on the right side, only a small wall of ice and snow was blocking it, and It took just a few minutes to remove and reopen the path and begin moving to the other side.
Barely 20% of the army had advanced from the narrow passage when roars of beasts echoed through the mountain valley, and looking up, the soldiers saw a large number of frost moon bears, hulking giants standing all over the pathways of the ice mountains.
The disturbance was bound to attract the attention of creatures, but because of the human numbers and strength, no creature was going to attack foolishly.
However, when presented with a reward in the form of a potential high-quality natural treasure and an opportunity in the form of a blockade, the king who ruled the Ice Mountain area was not going to back down.
The Frost moon bear king was an early-stage Sixth Rank creature, and as much as the natural treasures held value to him, the carcasses of the strong creature also held similar value to him, so seeing the opportunity, he was out for blood and reward.
The army was plunged into a battle against the bears, while Zero kept commenting on what he thought of Alex's plan and shiting to more thrilling situations from time to time.
Alex watched the entire event unfold, satisfied with his snare work, and kept watching the army get into one trouble after another of his creation, getting their number thin down by more than 35% before they finally reached close enough to the fortress.
The captain was told that the fortress would not be well-
defended, and after seeing the traps, he was certain, but he didn't attack right away, as planned, knowing he was up against a crafty enemy who was leading him by the nose.
After careful observation that the captain did himself and seeing that there was nothing out of their expectation and no new traps were waiting for his men, he gave the order to advance and capture the fortress and led the charge himself.
The two lieutenants took charge of the mage towers to keep the captain at bay, while Ordamion stood guard to protect against any attacks that slipped the defense of the mage towers.
Alex watched the battle begin, standing above the fortress wall, waiting for the Ice Troll King to arrive and complete the final part of his plan.
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(An Hour Ago)
'Her death should do the trick,' Alex thought as he looked a the hairy giantess, soundly sleeping on the massive bed made of stone and fur pelts.
Alex had infiltrated the core cave system of the Ice Troll clan and, after some searching, had found one of the queen's chambers and was ready to execute the final part of his plan.
Alex used the Ruler pride skill and instantly used the abyssal chain to keep the troll queen from moving, swiftly appearing above her and swinging his sword that pushed in pure darkness and sword instant at her neck.
Alex was not at his peak strength, but he was still stronger than the majority of early Sixth Rank individuals, so while the troll queen had the defense, strength, and instinct of a true Sxth Rank creature, she could do little against the attack she never saw coming.
The sword sliced through her neck, decapitating her in an instant, and following that, Alex let his aura loose to lure the nearby troll to his location.
"MY QUEEENNNN," A troll roared as he barged into the chamber, but the roar turned silent as he saw Alex standing above the decapitated corpse of his queen.
"Hey, Ugly Mug, tell your weakling of a king that the fortress master will be coming for his little stronghold and will turn it into his grave with all of his weak subjects," Alex uttered before he used the temporal beacon skill to teleport back to the fortress.
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