The Town of Sellia was of considerable size, and due to population decline from various causes, most of its houses were vacant. There was more than enough room to accommodate the Dragonblood Knights and their dragonbeasts. The Dragonblood Knights were quickly assigned lodgings and settled in for a night of rest. They had traveled all day, and with a battle to fight tomorrow, they needed to be in peak condition. Meanwhile, the sorcerers began packing their few belongings, preparing for the move to Stormveil. The next day, the order of Dragonblood Knights marched in force toward the Sellia Crystal Tunnel. Unless the Dragonblood Knights encountered an enemy they couldn't handle, Bai Shi had no intention of intervening. He would let them handle it themselves. Though casualties would undoubtedly be painful to witness, Bai Shi wanted an army that could fight and kill for him on the battlefield, not a useless force that could only advance under his protection. The tunnel's narrow entrance limited the speed at which the Dragonblood Knights could enter. Due to the size of the dragonbeasts, only three or four Dragonblood Knights could advance abreast. If they utilized the walls on either side, a few more dragonbeasts could climb along them. But the Dragonblood Knights, being new to these dragonbeasts, were clearly not yet accustomed to such a stunt-like maneuver as scaling walls sideways. After all, gravity was still very much in effect. This crystal tunnel was located within a mountain, and its internal terrain was extremely complex. It wasn't just deep horizontally; there were also significant vertical drops, often requiring stairs to navigate. The tunnel was easily defended and difficult to assault, its tiered terrain ideal for ambushing invaders. However, for the Dragonblood Knights mounted on dragonbeasts, this no longer posed a significant obstacle. The dragonbeasts' vertical climbing abilities were superb, making this tunnel the perfect terrain for them to excel. Just as they entered the crystal tunnel, the Dragonblood Knights encountered a large number of the Kindred of Rot. They were in a cavern, slightly wider than the passage, divided into two levels by a set of stairs. The Kindred of Rot had been lying in wait, prostrate on the ground with their tails held high and their feelers twitching idly, as if at rest. Seeing the invaders, they were startled at first, then immediately scrambled to their feet. The Kindred of Rot raised their glaives, blocking the Dragonblood Knights' path of advance. Behind them, several more of the Kindred began to destroy the stairs leading up. One of them let out a loud, piercing shriek from its mouth, a sound unintelligible to human ears. The shriek echoed through the cavern, quickly relaying news of the invasion to their comrades in other chambers. In an instant, a cacophony of shrieks rose and fell throughout the caves. The message was passed along until every Kindred of Rot in the complex had been alerted. The first few Dragonblood Knights to break through immediately spurred their dragonbeasts to accelerate, charging forward ferociously. Although this cavern was wider, it was still not spacious enough to fully deploy their forces. The Kindred of Rot were now alerted, and countless reinforcements were bound to pour out from the tunnels ahead. If they were bogged down in this narrow space, only the few at the vanguard would be able to fight, their comrades unable to support them. Therefore, this vanguard had to break through immediately and reach a more open cavern where the army could spread into formation. The few Kindred of Rot swung their glaives, attempting to halt the knights' charge. But the knights simply blocked the attacks with their shields and charged right past them, ignoring them completely. The vanguard's duty wasn't to kill these enemies, but to keep advancing and clear a path. Their comrades following close behind would take care of them. In fact, before the knights behind them even had to act, the Kindred of Rot were trampled to pieces under the dragonbeasts' feet. As the Dragonblood Knights continued their charge, they soon burst through the passage and into a massive cavern beyond. However, just as they were about to exit the passage, a terrifying number of the Kindred of Rot appeared at the far end, a dense, teeming mass. The Kindred of Rot raised their weapons skyward and sprayed innumerable insect threads from special organs in their bodies. The dense threads rained down on them like a torrential storm, blanketing everything. The knights held their shields before them, the dense threads clattering against the metal, yet they never slowed their charge. The volley of threads was powerful enough to pit their shields; the damage was not to be underestimated. Any armor not covered by a shield was quickly pierced, drawing blood. The dragonbeasts fared even worse; their bodies were riddled with holes, spraying silver blood. Realizing how badly the threads were injuring their mounts, the knights shifted their shields to protect the dragonbeasts' heads. The dragonbeasts were the key to breaking through the blockade; they could not afford to lose them. Fortunately, despite their severe injuries, the artificial dragonbeasts had not lost their mobility. Heedless of their wounds, they crashed through, sending dozens of the Kindred of Rot flying as they finally broke out of the passage and into the spacious cavern. Although the vanguard was immediately swarmed, a flood of their comrades poured out of the passage behind them. Once a dozen knights had broken through, the Kindred of Rot could no longer hold them back. They could only watch as more and more Dragonblood Knights fanned out along the cavern walls, establishing a battle line. The fresh knights formed a protective line around their vanguard comrades and took over the fight. The Dragonblood Knights and the Kindred of Rot clashed in close-quarters combat, and the battlefield instantly became a meat grinder. While the weapons of the Kindred of Rot were well-crafted enough, the creatures themselves lacked armor, relying only on their natural carapaces for defense. Against the Dragonblood Greatswords, these carapaces proved far too fragile. With a swing of a Dragonblood Greatsword, the Kindred were cleaved in two, sending flesh and ichor flying. The sorcerers from the Town of Sellia had also entered, providing a great deal of offensive support. Stella cast Ancient Darkness, summoning a massive, dark vortex in the center of the cavern. The dense volley of insect threads was completely swallowed by the darkness, and the Dragonblood Knights no longer had to worry about ranged attacks. The knights continuously cut down the Kindred of Rot, rapidly advancing their front line. However, among them were some peculiar Kindred of Rot, almost identical in appearance to the others. But the fluid that spattered from their bodies was thinner and darker in color. When this fluid splashed onto the ground, no one noticed anything unusual at first. But after a few moments, once the fluid had evaporated, a strange change occurred on the battlefield. Gradually, some of the Dragonblood Knights began to act strangely. One knight, about to swing his sword and cut down a Kindred of Rot, suddenly felt his entire body go numb. In that instant, a Kindred of Rot knocked him from his mount with its polearm and began to relentlessly strike him with its glaive. This was not an isolated incident. Hakan soon realized the air in the area was toxic. He ordered the knights to quicken their advance and avoid lingering in one place for too long. After clearing away the Kindred of Rot surrounding their fallen comrades, most of the knights were able to get back on their feet. The knights' armor had absorbed most of the damage, saving them from immediate death, but many were now afflicted with Scarlet Rot from the glaives. A few, however, were not so fortunate and were killed by strikes that found the gaps in their armor. As the number of Kindred of Rot in the area dwindled, a distinct shriek echoed from further back in the tunnels. Upon hearing this sound, a small contingent of the Kindred of Rot remained to hold the line, while the rest retreated. Hakan did not order the Dragonblood Knights to pursue them. The tunnels ahead were the enemy's home turf, likely dense with traps and ambushes. Charging in recklessly was not a wise choice; it was better to secure this advantageous open space first. Hakan directed the knights to tend to the wounded and began to reposition the dragonbeasts. He had the knights from the rear of the formation move to the front, allowing those who had been fighting to rest. No one tallied the number of slain Kindred of Rot, but the ground was littered with so many corpses that an exact count was impossible. It was at least a thousand, by a conservative estimate. He took a quick tally of the casualties. Eighty to ninety knights had suffered injuries of varying degrees, including wounds, poisoning, and Scarlet Rot. Around a dozen had been killed in action during the melee. Most of the dead were from the vanguard that had led the charge. Hakan looked at the bodies before him and shook his head. To have breached the tunnel with so few losses was already an excellent outcome. Hakan took out the Neutralizing Boluses he had received from Bai Shi and administered them to the knights afflicted with Scarlet Rot. The wounded were gathered, and the knights capable of using incantations began to heal them as a group. Once the healing was complete, the wounded were back on their feet, full of vigor. Bai Shi had been observing from the sidelines, wanting to see how the Dragonblood Knights performed. While he had never seen a proper medieval army in battle, he had to admit the Dragonblood Knights' performance was impressive. Aside from a lack of ranged options—only a few knew Storm Blade—they were quite capable in all other aspects. Of course, this was also related to the disparity in individual combat prowess. The Kindred of Rot were slightly weaker than common soldiers, which contributed to such a successful outcome. The Dragonblood Knights secured the entire cavern, sealing off all entrances and exits to prepare for the next stage of the assault. But just then, a tremendous noise suddenly erupted from one part of the cavern. It sounded like a heavy door being forced open. Immediately after, the thundering of hooves echoed from deeper within the cave, growing closer and closer. The Dragonblood Knights formed a defensive line, gathering before the passage where the sound originated. After a moment, several of the Kindred of Rot scrambled out of the passage in a panic. They saw that their path was blocked by the Dragonblood Knights, yet they refused to stop. Because behind them, a far more terrifying monster was in pursuit. The knights cut down these few Kindred of Rot and finally saw what manner of creature was chasing them. A rocky beast with massive twin mandibles emerged from the passage. It was none other than a Fallingstar Beast, a creature that had descended from the stars to the Lands Between.