Read Novel Full Chapter 322: Fort
Chapter 322: Fort
Of course, they’d have to get stronger before they posed a threat to Grady. For better or worse, they had time. This war wasn’t ending anytime soon.
‘Now then…’
Why in the hell was Grady allowing them into the fort?!
The most basic reasoning would be to show how intermingled Lust was with the Akkuron forces. That Lust was trusted enough to be let into their compound. But that was the issue…
‘We’re not trusted.’
Why was Grady so sure Vale wouldn’t use the information he gathered during this visit against him?
‘Actually…’ Vale hung his head. ‘It’s quite obvious we pose no threat to them at the moment, nor could we even betray them and go to Celestia.’
Rivania’s spite made it quite clear where Vale stood in the world order.
Okay, perhaps their reasoning made some sense, but Vale was still worried. More so on the individual level…
‘I hope none of them try to become a hero.’
The hero who slew a Vice.
Vale, having already deactivated [Charm] and [Fatal Attraction], looked over at Eric, who was staring at his chest.
“How did you build it so quickly?”
The question was half rhetorical, half awe-inspired.
Before Vale lay mounds of grass that weren’t there before. Each mound elevated and met a jagged brick wall. Peering over those walls were the barrels of oddly shaped cannons.
There was one that especially stood out, which was white and larger than the rest.
Then, poking up from different areas within the compound, were sniper nests. Of the six, all occupied, four of them had their snipers trained on Vale.
Their targeting him made his skin crawl.
It was an odd, grating feeling to know your life could end at any moment. Perhaps that was every moment in life, but in this moment, it was made eerily present.
Eric eventually replied:
“The people on this front were handpicked. Chosen on the basis of how well they could help fortify, repair, and occupy.”
Nodding along, Vale followed Grady’s back, and the small cohort made for the inside.
Not even entering through a door, Vale climbed the outer grass mound, then dropped onto the ramparts of the sanctum.
His eyes lit up in horror when he saw the inside.
Despite already seeing it on the diorama, seeing it in person was chilling.
On either end of the fort were turrets. Bunkered areas with the tips of high-powered guns poking out. Then, on the ground at the back of the fort, was a line of auxiliary.
Artillery lines were set up, and there was a convoy of bunkered metal vehicles.
Sights Vale never thought he’d get to witness on Pandora…
Hell, these were sights he’d only ever seen in the paper back on Terra!
Lining the rest of the place were gigantic tents and barracks. Then there was the odd assortment of facilities, each with their own focus. One seemed tailored for communication, another was a medical tent, a field kitchen, an area for a latrine, as well as a few more whose use Vale couldn’t glimpse.
But, while Vale was absolutely frightened…
Salome, standing next to Vale, looking out at the same sight, muttered:
“How impractical. If an enemy gets in, archers have no safe place to fire from.”
‘Gets in? Who the hell is getting in this place?!’
Also…
‘It seems Salome needs a lesson on modern weaponry.’
Grady turned and smiled.
“Make yourself at home. You may stay as long or as short as you want.”
Then, he left them behind. As Grady descended into the camp, a crowd of cheers erupted as the Iron General raised his sword and screamed:
“Who wants to test their blade!”
Anthony and Cole, having long left them behind, were sitting in one of the snipers’ nests, watching them.
Eric, glancing over at Vale, asked:
“Anywhere in particular you’d like to explore?”
Vale smiled as he pointed to the far end of the compound, toward the line of vehicles. Despite the harrowing situation he was in, there was also a childlike curiosity that his wondrous mind begged to answer.
“I wish to see them.”
‘I wanna drive one!’
Stepping down the slope, the three descended onto flat ground, where droves of soldiers, some armed with rifles or pistols, greeted them.
Not that the greeting was necessarily warm…
They looked at him like critics admiring a horrible piece in an unfunded art gallery, not because they were impressed by him, but because the novelty of his existence caught their fancy.
“Wait, Eric…”
“Yes?”
‘Before I go see the cool trucks…’
There was a seed he wanted to sow.
Vale stopped and turned to the crowd.
“Nice to meet you all. I am Valentin Laurent, Master of Lust. You all may call me Vale or Lust.”
Salome smiled deviously as she folded her arms around herself and said:
“And I am Salome, Queen of Lust. You may all call me Queen Salome.”
Vale smiled at her introduction.
‘Really took what I said the distance, huh?’
She seemed to have cast off her Queen of Ruin title and traded it for a better, more fitting one.
Not that Vale minded.
Vale didn’t really see himself as a king at the moment, but if he ever became one in mind, there was only one woman fit to be his queen.
The soldiers showed mixed reactions, but a few of the brave ones stepped out of line and spoke up.
A young man jumped and said:
“Salutations, Lust and Queen Salome!”
“Hello.”
“Welcome to Akkuron.”
There were also a few, perhaps many, who muttered amongst themselves about the obscenity of enlisting a Vice.
There were also those who saw Salome and couldn’t help but gawk and gossip about her.
Especially so since she was currently wearing the scandalous outfit she’d been summoned in.
Vale ignored the haters and laughed.
“Thank you for the kind greeting! I know my reputation precedes me, yet you’ve shelved your disdain. Now then…” Vale coughed, then shouted to the small group, “Who here has shared a drink with a Vice?!”