Wolf Mountain loomed close.
Jagged cliffs rose like fangs, and the orc fortress clung to them. Scattered bonfires burned across the stronghold, smoke rolling through the night wind, thick with the stench of blood.
Hong Chen stood at a high vantage point, overlooking the entire fortress.
Below, orcs gathered around shattered wooden platforms, tearing into raw flesh. They bit, swallowed, fought over scraps, guttural growls rumbling from their throats—creatures of endless hunger, never to be satisfied.
Hong Chen's gaze did not waver.
He raised his hand.
The Ten Attendants closed in at once, soundless as shadows.
"Targets," Hong Chen said, his voice low and steady.
He pointed toward several areas within the fortress where the fires burned brightest.
"High-ranking commanders."
"Leave none alive."
The Ten Attendants nodded simultaneously. No questions. No hesitation.
Their figures slipped into the rock shadows and the night, vanishing without a trace.
Hong Chen did not watch them go.
His eyes fixed instead on the deepest part of the fortress.
There, a raised platform built from colossal beast bones and black iron stood in grim silence.
"The chieftain is mine."
As the words fell, he stepped forward.
The first orc never had time to react.
A flash of steel.
A head flew free.
Blood splattered against the rock wall before it could fall, and the second orc's throat was crushed by a single kick.
Hong Chen did not slow.
He moved through the camp like a silent wind.
His blade did not revel in slaughter, yet every strike took a life.
Shouts began to rise.
"Enemy—"
The word never left the mouth.
A flicker of blue flame flashed in Hong Chen's palm.
Not an eruption.
Just an instant.
The orc did not even scream before its body collapsed into ash within the cold fire.
Hong Chen entered the heart of the fortress.
He saw the chieftain.
An orc far larger than its kin—one red eye glaring, tusks bared, a massive axe embedded in the stone beside him.
The moment the chieftain saw Hong Chen, that lone eye constricted sharply.
Not with rage.
But with fear—
the kind carved deep into memory,
the terror of facing a natural predator.
"You… you are that—"
The orc's voice trembled, thick and broken.
Hong Chen stopped.
"So you remember," he said softly.
In the next instant—
The blue flame erupted in full.
No roar.
No struggle.
The chieftain never raised his axe before the cold fire swallowed him whole.
His massive body twisted, cracked, and collapsed, until nothing remained but charred bones scattered across the ground.
The flames died out.
Hong Chen stood amid the ashes.
One by one, the Ten Attendants emerged.
Their blades bore no blood.
"High-ranking commanders eliminated."
Hong Chen nodded.
He turned, looking out over the entire Wolf Mountain fortress—
and at the orc warriors who had finally realized what was happening, now charging forward in frenzy.
"Begin."
It was not a command.
It was the announcement of something long since inevitable.
In the next moment—
Wolf Mountain descended into true hell.
That night,
only screams remained upon Wolf Mountain.
There was no moonlight.
Only blue flames,
and ten blades without shadows.
They burned silently
within the orcs' nightmares.
狼山近在眼前.
岩壁如獠牙般嶙峋,兽人要塞盘踞其上,篝火零散,烟雾混着血腥味在夜风中翻滚.
红辰立于高处,俯瞰整座要塞.
下方的兽人们围着残破的木台啃食血肉.
他们撕咬,吞咽,争抢,喉咙里发出野兽般的低吼,仿佛永远填不满的饥饿之鬼.
红辰的眼神,没有一丝波动.
他抬手.
十待立刻无声靠拢.
"目标."
红辰的声音低沉而平稳.
他指向要塞内几处火光最盛之地.
"重级将领."
"一个不留."
十待同时点头,没有询问,没有迟疑.
身影如影,迅速没入岩影与夜色之中.
红辰没有再看他们一眼.
他的目光,落在要塞最深处.
那座用巨兽骨骼与黑铁堆砌而成的高台之上.
"塞主就交给我."
话音落下,他已迈步前行.
第一名兽人还未来得及反应.
刀光闪过.
头颅飞起.
血溅在岩壁上,还未落地,第二名兽人已被一脚踢碎喉骨.
红辰没有停步.
他穿过营地,像一道无声的风.
刀不贪杀,却每一次都取命.
惊呼声开始响起.
"敌..."
话未出口.
蓝色的火焰在他掌心一闪而逝.
不是爆发.
只是一瞬.
那名兽人连惨叫都来不及,身体便在冷焰中崩解成灰.
红辰走入要塞深处.
他看见了塞主.
那是一名体型远超同族的兽人,独眼赤红,獠牙外露,巨斧插在身旁的石地之中.
塞主在看见红辰的瞬间,独眼猛地收缩.
那不是愤怒.
而是源自记忆最深处
面对天敌般的恐惧.
"你...是那个..."
兽人的声音含糊而颤抖.
红辰停下脚步.
"看来,你还记得."
他轻声开口.
下一瞬
蓝炎,彻底绽放.
没有嘶吼.
没有挣扎.
塞主连斧都未能举起,便被冷焰吞没.
巨大的身躯在火中扭曲,崩裂,最终只剩下一地焦黑的骨骼.
火焰熄灭.
红辰站在灰烬之中.
这时,十待陆续现身.
刀上无血.
"重级将领,已清除."
红辰点头.
他转身,看向整座狼山要塞.
也看向那些终于反应过来,疯狂冲来的兽兵.
"开始吧."
那不是命令.
更像是在宣布一件,早已注定的事.
下一刻
狼山,陷入真正的地狱.
这一夜,
整个狼山只剩下惨叫.
没有月光.
只有蓝色的火焰,
和十道没有影子的刀影.
它们在兽人的噩梦之中,
静静燃烧.