North of Moon City Fortress, a gigantic canyon stretched out like a line to the sky, seemingly carved by the axe of a Heavenly God. It spanned dozens of miles, a boundless expanse with swirling wind and snow.
Two black cloaks rustled in the wind and snow.
Wild Dog, cloaked, stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing into the distance.
The heavy snow obscured his vision.
The howling wind was as bitter as the wails of ghosts.
He gripped the drawstring of his cloak tightly and lifted his head, "The elite of the Fourth Legion have been placed in the rear..."
A deep, hoarse reply traveled through the cold wind and snow.
The voice was like the sound of a strike on a rusted iron drum.
It resonated for hundreds of meters, profoundly deep!
Looking up from the cliff, one would notice two figures, one large and one small... and although Wild Dog’s stature was already massive, he appeared slender and weak like a child beside the other figure.
This "monster," huge as a hill, referred to by Wild Dog as "under my command," the man who led the Fourth Legion, was none other than the famous Rust Bone General of the North Continent!
He stood on the cliff’s edge above the canyon, wearing a black iron forehead protector, holding an iron sword in both hands. His colossal body seemed to weigh tons, causing snow to scatter from the cliff. The protruding mass of rock seemed unable to bear his immense weight and looked as though it might break off at any moment.
A gust of wind blew past.
The huge black cape was lifted, revealing tens of thousands of snow-white scales that appeared stretched to the point of bursting.
The Rust Bone General wore a set of heavy iron armor, each scale the size of a baby’s fist, as if each possessed its own life, breathing, and sucking in the wind and snow into its crevices.
He took a deep breath.
As if in unison, tens of thousands of scales opened like vertical pupils, rustling and trembling as they exhaled streams of white air, sweeping the snow-covered landscape clean!
Just one glance was enough to cause a tingling in the scalp and a sense of oppression.
It was hard to imagine how much immense strength was contained in such a towering body, and how terrifying the force of a full-powered sword strike would be?
Wild Dog endured the chill of the exhaled air from the heavy armor’s scales.
He said in a low voice, "Under my command, are we truly just going to wait here... without taking any other actions?"
"Staying here... isn’t that what Duke commanded?"
The Rust Bone General glanced at Wild Dog.
The latter hastily lowered his head, saying in a deep voice, "...Yes."
"Just ahead lies the Super Large Disaster Realm," the Rust Bone General, standing with his sword planted, said calmly: "Trapped inside are one hundred and thirty-eight people. Even the ’Heavenly Eye’ is stuck and unable to extricate itself. If the Fourth Legion goes rashly, will the situation improve?"
Wild Dog took a deep breath and said, "I just... want to do something."
A large hand patted his head.
Like a kind father stroking his child.
Wild Dog felt very odd... usually, he hated this gesture, and except for Duke Zhu Xue, he had no other master.
But now, he found that he did not dis large hand.
"In the future, you will see more of such ’Super Large Disaster Realms’."
The voice of the Rust Bone General was husky, but it strangely brought a sense of peace to the listener.
"Due to the location of North Continent ... disasters like ’black spots’ spreading and evolving around the Fortress are inevitable. If the Empress and the Angel Envoy do not act, the Disaster Realm will hatch... Perhaps some disasters signify opportunity, fortuity."
"But a ’Super Large’ ... almost certainly spells disaster."
The Rust Bone General was highly regarded in North Continent, known for his iron blood, ruthlessness, and fearless bravery.
In every battle of the Fourth Legion, he personally took the field, leading the charge at the forefront!
Yet Wild Dog had never imagined that the first lesson this general would teach him was...
"Remember, if you encounter such a ’Super Large Disaster Realm’, the first thing to do is to make sure you survive," the Rust Bone General said softly: "Only by living does anything else have meaning."
Wild Dog was stunned.
"The Fourth Legion can enter the Disaster Realm at any time. But if we issue orders when the situation inside the Disaster Realm is still unclear ... how many will die in vain?"
"I watched every one of them grow within the Fortress."
"Each of them is my ’bone’."
The general spoke softly, "Now ... all we can do is wait. The Sky-reaching Tree has entered the Disaster Realm; if even two Transcendents cannot send back a message or save themselves, then what the Fourth Legion can do ... is to sever the disaster’s connection to the real world."
Wild Dog’s pupils narrowed slightly.
It took him ten seconds to understand the meaning of the Rust Bone General’s words.
"You mean... to give up?"
The Rust Bone General fell silent for a moment.
"Sometimes, giving up... is an unavoidable choice."
"I’ve known Zhou Jiren for a long time ... severing the connection was his entrustment to me before entering the Disaster Realm," the general shook his head, saying, "Before cutting off the connection, I will try to enter the Disaster Realm for one last attempt, but I won’t delve deep, to ensure I can extricate myself."
This was the worst-case scenario.
"Even after severing the connection, there’s still a possibility of ’rescue’."
The Rust Bone General murmured, "It’s just that... hope will become very slim..."
Wild Dog silently calculated the time.
The Grand Judge from the East Continent had been in this Disaster Realm for ten days now.
From a timing perspective.
Hope... was already very slim.