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The Semifinals and the Legion of Death
The following day, the highly anticipated semifinal round finally arrived. The Snow Horizon Arena was suffocated by a sea of humanity. The spectators’ roars thundered, generating a tidal wave of enthusiasm that superheated the freezing air in the Ice Kingdom’s capital.
General Hameng stood tall upon the levitating podium, raising his hand to silence the uproar. “Everyone… prepare yourselves!” he roared, his voice cleaving the air. “The First Semifinal Match, the Ice Kingdom against the Water Kingdom… BEGINS!”
Cheers detonated thunderously. The exact moment the echo of that command faded, Prince Raden seized the initiative. He stepped forward and gracefully raised a single hand. From the thick ice-coated arena floor, the air molecules condensed instantaneously. SWOOSH! Pillars of water erupted upwards and transmuted into a violently churning, domed wall of water, flawlessly concealing his entire team’s formation from sight.
On the opposing flank, Diyah stomped her foot fiercely onto the arena floor. “Do not allow them to construct their defensive momentum for too long! Shatter the formation!” she commanded.
Instantaneously, the layer of ice beneath her boots responded. Dozens of ice pillars as sharp as spears shot out, tearing through the floor and rocketing like missiles toward the water dome.
However, before the ice pillars could annihilate their target, the silhouette of Tanu—one of the Water Kingdom’s vanguard combatants—burst through the water wall. His muscular physique was encased in an armor of high-pressure water currents. Capitalizing on the momentum of the raging tide, he unleashed a punch as heavy as a cosmic sledgehammer. BLAAM! Tanu smashed the very tips of Diyah’s ice pillars, pulverizing them into fragments of crystal dust that scattered into the air.
”His velocity is astounding!” Julia murmured in shock. Wasting no time, Julia raised both her hands. A blue luminescence blazed. Dozens of razor-sharp ice chunks levitated in the void before rocketing downward like a rain of ice arrows, primed to pierce Tanu’s skin.
Simultaneously, Lira—the archer of the Water Kingdom Team—vaulted backward nimbly. Her crystal bow radiated an oceanic blue luminescence. She drew her bowstring and unleashed a barrage of water arrows spinning like drills. CLANG! CLANG! The water arrows collided with surgical precision against Julia’s ice rain mid-air. Detonation after detonation echoed, generating a dense, freezing vapor mixed with splashing water that drenched the arena.
On the right flank, Suta pushed his velocity to its absolute zenith. Both his hands maintained a death grip on the short ice blades he had condensed from his Qi. He leapt, spinning in mid-air, and slashed savagely toward Bram’s neck. Yet Bram stared at him tranquilly and effortlessly parried the cross-slash utilizing his long water spear.
”Do not underestimate me! Try withstanding this barrage!” Suta roared, his pride ignited. He unleashed a relentless, unbroken tempest of strikes. His ice blades bounced wildly as they clashed against the shaft of the water spear, emitting an ear-piercing cacophony of ringing metal.
Bram flashed a cynical, condescending smirk. He spun his spear with extreme fluidity, conjuring a miniature whirlpool that swallowed every ounce of momentum from Suta’s slashes like a quicksand marsh. Exactly as Suta lost his equilibrium, Bram slammed the butt of his spear into the earth. BWOOSH! A water shockwave erupted from beneath the floor, striking perfectly into Suta’s solar plexus and launching the youth dozens of meters backward.
”Ughh!” Suta coughed violently upon landing, a thin trail of blood leaking from the corner of his lips. His entire array of internal organs throbbed in agony.
Witnessing her comrade violently suppressed, Andin shot forward to the vanguard line. She slapped the air and summoned her colossal ice shield. “All of you, take cover behind me!” she shouted loudly.
From the opposing direction, Prince Raden twitched his fingers. The water currents that had been orbiting him mutated into dozens of liquid spears that launched with the velocity of bullets. Andin fortified her martial stance and braced her shield. The thick layer of ice shuddered violently, deflecting the bombardment of projectiles. The lethal water splashes flash-froze the moment they collided with Andin’s aegis, creating fragile frost flowers.
Exploiting Andin’s protection, Diyah and Julia took cover within her shadow. Julia concentrated her peak Qi, conjuring and hurling a colossal ice boulder the size of a reef straight at Lira. However, once again, Lira’s razor-sharp instincts intervened. A high-pressure water arrow was fired, striking flawlessly into the dead center of the ice boulder, detonating it mid-air into harmless snowflakes.
On the left flank, Kahar roared ferociously. He vaulted forward, swinging his colossal ice hammer straight at Tanu’s head with his absolute remaining strength. “HAAAAH!”
Tanu crossed both his arms, which were wrapped in a vortex of dense water. BOOM! A deafening explosion echoed across the entire stadium as the ice hammer clashed against the water armor. The sheer pressure of that collision caused the ice tiles beneath their boots to fracture into spiderwebs. Kahar ground his teeth, pushing his hammer with every ounce of his might, desperately attempting to crush Tanu’s defenses.
Yet the water element was far too flexible to be shattered by raw, unadulterated brawn. The water currents continued to flow, patching Tanu’s defenses seamlessly. Capitalizing on Kahar’s pushing force, Tanu pivoted his waist and launched a brutal knee strike squarely into Kahar’s solar plexus. Kahar’s massive frame was launched into the air, flying a considerable distance before finally crashing violently against the arena’s boundary wall.
Kahar crawled back to his feet with staggering steps, his visage flushing crimson as he endured the bone-crushing agony in his ribs.
I am the only one left to invert the tide of this battle, Diyah thought. Her eyes glinted sharply. “Sage… Spear!” Diyah screamed. She finally unleashed her ultimate strike. Her silver spear rocketed forward, blazing with a dense ice aura layered with golden lightning, thrusting straight to cleave the void toward Raden’s heart as he stood tranquilly amidst the whirlpool.
Raden did not shift a single centimeter. He merely raised his hand in a relaxed manner. The water currents encompassing him instantaneously formed a multi-layered, spiral spear that rotated with the velocity of a drill, arresting the trajectory of Diyah’s assault in mid-air.
”Your elemental spear is indeed exceptionally powerful and pure, Princess,” Raden stated flatly, praising the absolute might of that Golden Seal. “But my oceanic currents possess an embracing force you cannot shatter.”
Diyah refused to surrender. She forced her Qi circulation with every ounce of her might, compelling her golden aura to rocket forward, attempting to pierce Raden’s defensive whirlpool. However, before the tip of her spear could tear through the water, Raden stomped his foot.
A colossal pillar of tidal water detonated directly from the subterranean ice beneath Diyah’s footing. BLAAR! The aquatic impact launched Diyah into the air. The maiden rolled several times upon the tiles before successfully plunging her spear into the ground to arrest her fall, panting heavily, desperately hunting for an oxygen supply.
Seeing Diyah severely suppressed, Julia gripped her sword tightly, then channeled the absolute limits of her Qi energy. “Diyah, hold on! Give me three seconds!” she screamed.
Julia chanted her supreme ice assault, conjuring a lethal blizzard vortex that instantaneously engulfed the arena. The temperature plummeted to illogical depths, making the air feel like scalpel blades piercing the skin. The vision of the Water Kingdom Team was instantly blinded by the absolute whiteness of the storm.
Suta, still clutching his chest from his internal injuries, forced himself to sprint back into the snowy mist. With lightning speed forged from his training in the God Room, he slipped through and thrust his ice blade toward Bram’s ribs from a blind spot. Bram successfully parried via pure reflex, yet the tip of Suta’s ice blade successfully shredded his robe sleeve and carved a bleeding laceration.
At the central axis, Andin stomped her foot fiercely. Her ice shield mutated into a circular, spike-layered barricade, repelling every water projectile assault piercing through the storm from all directions. “Now is the time, Diyah! Execute him!” Andin screamed, opening a breach.
Diyah unsheathed her silver spear. The golden-ice aura snaked out, incinerating the stormy air encompassing her. She borrowed the repulsive force from her legs, vaulting through the dense mist, and targeted Raden’s neck once more with fatal velocity.
However… Raden, with the absolute elegance of a sovereign of the seas, merely raised a single hand toward the heavens.
”Enough playing around.”
The water across every corner of the arena abruptly boiled due to extreme gravitational pressure. The currents of water transmuted into a colossal typhoon vortex that swept the entire arena spotless in a matter of seconds. Julia’s ultimate blizzard evaporated and was utterly eradicated without a trace. The spectators in the tribunes screamed hysterically, mesmerized by the absolute dominion showcased by Raden.
”Impossible… this destructive yield…” Julia was so shocked her eyes bulged. Before she had the opportunity to react, a high-pressure water arrow from Lira slammed brutally into her abdomen. Julia’s body was blasted far into the air, flying beyond the arena’s boundary lines, and crashed violently against the stadium’s barrier wall. Fresh blood trickled from her temple as she fell unconscious.
”Julia!!” Andin shrieked hysterically and attempted to charge forward, breaking formation to protect her best friend. Yet her steps were locked down as Bram swung his spiral water spear, smashing and pulverizing Andin’s ice shield into a million fragments, blasting Andin away as well.
Suta, who recklessly attempted to counterattack, was instantaneously halted by Tanu. A devastating water punch landed flawlessly on his solar plexus, forcing Suta to drop to his knees and vomit blood, entirely stripped of his remaining stamina.
Kahar, who had only just managed to crawl back up, was beaten back down once more. Mira’s water whip coiled around his legs like a python, dropping the ice giant back down to kiss the marble floor violently.
In the blink of an eye, amidst the utterly devastated battlefield, only Diyah remained standing alone. The maiden’s breaths were severely ragged, and the silver spear in her grasp trembled as she endured the crushing mental pressure.
Diyah swept her gaze, seeing her comrades sprawling, bathed in blood one by one. She ground her teeth. “I… I will absolutely never surrender!” she screamed, shattering the silence of the arena.
She forced her legs into a sprint, gathering the absolute last dregs of her golden power, and launched a suicidal thrust straight at Raden. Her ice aura froze the air along its trajectory. The spear shot perfectly straight, saturated with the absolute resolve of a princess who refused to bow.
However, the disparity in their power hierarchies was far too absolute. Raden did not evade the spear’s trajectory in the slightest. He merely flicked his index finger lightly.
From beneath the frozen earth, a high-pressure water pillar shot upward like an enraged oceanic dragon, slamming into Diyah’s petite frame from the flank. BLAAAR! The maiden’s body was violently hurled against the arena’s marble floor. Her spear was torn from her grasp, emitting a pathetic, ringing clatter. The absolute entirety of her remaining strength evaporated.
From his throne, King Bawigan stared at the arena with a visage painting a concoction of pride and sorrow. You have all fought valiantly and heroically enough, my children. Do not force away your lives, the King mused inwardly.
Diyah struggled to crawl back up, forcing both hands to support a chest that felt pulverized. But before her knees could even stand, Raden had already strolled slowly and loomed tall directly before her. The razor-sharp tip of the spiral water spear rested coldly against the base of Diyah’s neck. A single millimeter of movement, and her neck would be pierced.
”This battle is concluded,” Raden stated with an extraordinarily flat tone, as if he had merely extinguished a candle, rather than vanquishing an elite royal vanguard.
Absolute silence instantaneously crushed the entire stadium. Tens of thousands of pairs of eyes held their breath, waiting for the referee to declare the Water Kingdom as the victor and eliminate the host.
Yet, amidst that lethal silence, Raden lowered the tip of his water spear. He turned his head toward the referee, and with an exceedingly loud and resolute voice, he announced, “General Hameng! We of the Water Kingdom… hereby officially declare our SURRENDER!”
That lunatic declaration detonated like a thunderbolt in broad daylight.
”Hah!? What are you babbling about, Prince?! Are you absolutely serious with this lunatic decision?!” General Hameng exclaimed, his eyes bulging as he stared at Raden as if the youth had been stripped of his sanity.
The shockwaves spread as fast as a plague. A deafening uproar of sheer confusion instantly flooded the arena. Every single pair of eyes anchored onto Raden with absolute disbelief. Even the incapacitated Ice Kingdom Team froze, utterly incapable of digesting that sentence.
Haaa… what is wrong with his brain? Is he deliberately degrading and insulting the residual pride of the Ice Kingdom?! the half-conscious Julia mused inwardly, grinding her teeth to suppress the suffocating humiliation.
After verifying that Raden absolutely refused to retract his words, General Hameng finally raised his right hand high. “Very well! Because the Water Kingdom has withdrawn from the battlefield… The victor advancing to the finals is—THE ICE KINGDOM!!” his voice boomed, shattering historical tension.
Hysterical cheers detonated. The entire Horizon Arena quaked from the disbelieving screams of the spectators. The host, the Ice Kingdom, emerged as the victor despite, on paper, having been utterly butchered.
Diyah, still seated on the floor, panted heavily. Sweat mixed with flecks of blood dripped from her chin. She stared blankly at her comrades, who lay groaning in agony, then lowered her visage. “What… what exactly are you doing to me, Raden…?” she whispered softly, her voice nearly swallowed by the uproar.
Julia, limping while clutching her ribs, hobbled closer. The wounds on her beautiful body were glaringly apparent, yet her eyes blazed, radiating a wrath primed to detonate. “What is the meaning behind this cheap theatrical farce, Raden?! You defeated us, then surrendered solely because of the intimacy of our engagement?! Are you oblivious that a method such as this has trampled upon our honor and insulted the Ice Kingdom before the eyes of the entire continent?!” Julia screamed, overflowing with emotion.
Raden stared at his fiancée for a moment. His gaze, usually ferocious, now appeared dimmed and harbored a profoundly deep burden. He sheathed his spear back into a puddle of water. “I absolutely did not intend to insult any of you, Julia. It is merely that… there is someone veiled in the shadows who absolutely forced me to execute this scenario.”
”Hah!? Someone forced you? What do you mean?!” Julia was stunned, her brow furrowing fiercely as she processed the impossible intelligence. Considering Raden’s extraordinarily high cultivation boundary, what lunatic mortal on this continent possessed the capability to pressure him into forfeiting a sacred tournament?
Raden scratched the back of his head nervously, forcing a bitter, faint smile. “Later, when the time is right, I will undoubtedly explain everything to you. But for now… your condition is critical, you must be treated immediately.” He grasped Julia’s arm gently, guiding and supporting his fiancée as they abandoned the arena.
Diyah, still seated, watched Raden’s retreating back. Her heart hammered with an erratic rhythm. Her brain endlessly replayed that sentence: Someone forced him? Someone capable of commanding this invincible Water Prince? Could it be… is this an illogical scenario orchestrated by Brother Ken?! Diyah thought, her breath catching in her throat at her own deduction.
The roaring cheers of the arena gradually felt distant from Diyah’s eardrums, while seeds of awe and brand-new questions took deep root in the corners of her heart.
”Very well, for the next Semifinal match, will the two teams please prepare and enter the arena immediately!” General Hameng called out, guiding the progression of the event.
In the specialized tribunes reserved for the Sky Kingdom’s contingent.
Prince Nasse was confronting a middle-aged man with a stern visage covered in battle scars—General Empu, the supreme commander overseeing the security of the Sky Kingdom Team.
”Prince Nasse,” General Empu stated with a lowered, heavy baritone, “His Majesty the King has just dispatched a clandestine edict. He commands us to bow our heads and play by the Fire Kingdom’s rules. If we refuse and insist on winning… our entire populace in the capital will suffer the consequences of their massacre.”
Nasse’s eyes bulged. His visage instantaneously paled, and his eyes widened to contain the shock. “Wh-what?! What do you mean, Uncle?! If we possess the absolute power to eradicate them, why must we kneel and evade this sacred match?! And since when was the honor of my kingdom’s team forced to submit to their cowardly threats?!” he exclaimed, his tone trembling, saturated with wrath and shredded pride.
General Empu drew a long breath, staring at Nasse with eyes overflowing with pity, as if looking at his own son. “Our military might is currently being held hostage, Prince. His Majesty is also profoundly concerned for the safety of your life. He does not wish for you and your team to be injured or butchered by the vile, treacherous methods they have prepared in the arena later.”
Nasse clenched both of his fists until his knuckles turned bone-white, his lips quivering as he fought back the surge of emotion threatening to detonate. After several seconds of swallowing that bitterness, he closed his eyes. “Tch… very well. If that is indeed the absolute edict for the salvation of the King and my people, I shall swallow my pride and obey. I refuse to even set foot into that arena.”
General Empu nodded with profound respect. “An exceptionally wise decision, Prince. Uncle shall step forward and handle the rest of this charade.”
Moments later, the arena surface had been cleared of ice debris. The sun’s slanting rays struck the glittering crystal floor. General Hameng strode to the center of the arena crater, his voice echoing with profound bewilderment, piercing through the crowds in the tribunes.
”Ladies and Gentlemen, heed this announcement! Because the Sky Kingdom faction has just decided to unilaterally withdraw and refuses to fight… the Fire Kingdom Team is hereby declared the absolute victor, automatically securing their ticket to the Finals!”
The uproar of the spectators instantaneously exploded uncontrollably. Some cheered in disappointment, some mocked, and others whispered in bone-chilling terror, questioning what kind of dark political dominion could force a championship candidate of the Sky Kingdom’s caliber to withdraw without raising their weapons.
”The Decisive Final Match shall be held tomorrow morning!” General Hameng shouted again, his voice vibrating the stadium air. “The remaining two most formidable powers on the continent: The Host, THE ICE KINGDOM… shall clash against THE FIRE KINGDOM!”
Mad cheers roared, shaking the heavens above the arena, while the names of the two diametrically opposed kingdoms hung thick in the air, akin to two cosmic poles absolutely destined to annihilate one another.
That afternoon, precisely after the clamor of the matches concluded, Diyah ignored her desperate need for rest and immediately chanted a dimensional portal. She rushed swiftly toward the Korzian Realm, hunting for the answers to the mysteries gnawing at her chest ever since Raden’s surrender.
”Brother Ken!” Diyah called out, her voice echoing anxiously amidst the rows of colossal pillars and the glittering walls of the golden palace. She sprinted through the desolate corridors of the dimensional palace, turning her head left and right, yet the mysterious silhouette she sought showed absolutely no sign of his presence.
Diyah finally halted at one of the corridor intersections, panting from exhaustion. Hmm… perhaps Brother Ken has urgent affairs elsewhere. In that case, it is best I utilize my time to cultivate alone, she mused, attempting to soothe the disappointment that covertly crept into the corners of her heart.
With resolute steps, she altered her trajectory toward the God Training Room area. However, the moment her feet arrived before the obsidian stone door, her gaze fell upon something resting in the carved crevices near the entrance. A small silver box, adorned with a single sheet of parchment letter atop it.
”What is this?… A message from Brother Ken?” Diyah murmured, retrieving the scroll. Her heart fluttered lightly as she opened and read the brief sentence:
‘Princess, take this Pancasona Pill, swallow it to heal your wounds, and utilize its auxiliary energy to temper your potential today.’
Diyah stared at that rigid, straightforward handwriting for quite some time. “Hmm… only a frigid instruction like this? I assumed… at the very least he would spare a moment to write a congratulatory remark on my victory, or a microscopic sentence of encouragement.” She chuckled softly, mocking her own expectations, then shook her head slowly. “Hah… classic Brother Ken, the human block of ice.” Despite complaining, the maiden’s sapphire eyes continued to sparkle, radiating an undeniable warmth.
She immediately placed the invaluable pill between her lips, then pushed the doors of the God Training Room. The gravitational air within the chamber instantaneously assaulted her with a bone-piercing chill. Diyah stepped inside with a resolve that had perfectly petrified, prepared to torture herself for the sake of the final battle tomorrow.
In another corner of the continent’s dimension, thousands of miles away from the grandeur of the ice palace.
Ken Aruk was standing tall atop a branch of an ancient tree towering as high as a spire, surveying the dense expanse of the Star Monster Forest. His gaze, as cold as death, pierced the thick blue mist blanketing the blood-soaked territory.
On the adjacent branch, manifesting from spatial shadow distortion, stood a mysterious, black-cloaked silhouette—his intelligence right hand.
”They have been encamped and draining the contents of this forest for approximately one week, My Lord,” the shadowed assassin reported with a low yet unyieldingly firm intonation.
Ken narrowed his eyes. Down below, deep in the abyss of the forest valley, a massive legion of fire-red armored troops could be seen busily netting and chaining wild Star Monsters, shoving the savage beasts into colossal iron cages that had been engraved with taming Rune formations.
”So… the man spearheading the capture… is he one of the legendary Ten Dragons of the Fire Kingdom?” Ken asked with a highly calculative tone.
”Negative, My Lord,” his subordinate denied swiftly. “I have verified his identity in absolute detail. That man is merely an operational general from the Fire Kingdom’s military.”
Ken offered a faint nod, his visage unchanging. However, before he could launch a follow-up inquiry, the air behind them rippled. Another spy materialized from behind the shadows of the dense foliage and landed flawlessly upon the same branch.
”I seek an audience, My Lord,” the second agent greeted. “Today, I monitored five pivotal individuals who just touched down and breached the borders of the Fire Kingdom’s capital. They utilized a large-scale Spiritual Air Armada for transportation.”
Ken turned his head swiftly, his vigilance spiking. “A Spiritual Air Armada? Identify everyone in the vanguard escorted by that aerial fleet.”
”Their formation consisted of four veterans belonging to the Order of the Ten Dragons, and one additional fresh face who was newly appointed as a member of that demonic council. From the leaked intelligence I procured, the Order of the Ten Dragons has now expanded, forming five supplementary chief councils. The power fluctuations of those five new faces… are confirmed to reside at the absolute echelon of 1-Star God Kings.”
Hearing that lunatic data, Ken fell silent for a heartbeat. His brain processed the enemy’s balance of power at breakneck velocity. He moistened his lips, murmuring softly. “So… aside from the original formation of the Ten Dragons and King Adjong himself, they have covertly hatched five additional God King commanders? That implies the Fire Kingdom currently possesses a total armada of fifteen monsters who have attained and surpassed the God level?”
”Your calculations are one hundred percent accurate, My Lord,” the shadowed figure answered with an absolute tone.
Ken shifted his gaze back to the valley floor, staring directly at a blood-red armored man who was shouting commands to whip the monsters. “Then, what of the general down there? Does he also hold a seat among those five new chiefs?”
”Indeed, My Lord. His name is General Badu. He officially bears the title as one of the chiefs of those five new divisions. Another, far more terrifying fact… the Fire Kingdom faction has issued a clandestine edict dispatching two of their primary chiefs, escorted by a Legion of two thousand Undead Troops, to infiltrate the Ice Kingdom’s territory tomorrow, coinciding precisely with the Finals. I have not yet succeeded in unearthing the identities of the two executioner chiefs dispatched.”
Ken clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked. “Two chiefs and a legion of thousands of undead… An exceptionally brilliant scenario. Let us hope your intelligence is accurate, that the ones arriving tomorrow are indeed their high-ranking elites.” Ken smirked cynically, gazing far toward the northern horizon. “If that vanguard of death is currently marching toward the ice capital… then tomorrow’s arena is no longer merely about determining the victor of a tournament.”
They are undeniably orchestrating a blood-soaked coup and a concealed genocide plan to topple the Ice Kingdom while the attention of the entire continent is anchored to the arena. I must prepare a massacre to welcome them, Ken mused, killing intent slowly oozing from his mortal shell.
Ken drew a long breath, neutralizing his emotions, then delivered an absolute edict. “Very well. Let the generals down there have their fun draining their stamina for the time being. When the zenith of their exhaustion arrives… we shall descend and plunder every single Star Monster they painstakingly caged.”
With a simple, dismissive flick of his hand, Ken’s body and those of his two shadow executioners faded, melting flawlessly and vanishing, swallowed by the shadows of the lush, primordial trees.
Meanwhile, at the epicenter of the Fire Kingdom’s military exploitation camp at the bottom of the forest.
A scout soldier sprinted frantically and dropped his knee to touch the snow-covered earth, directly before General Gayus and General Badu, who were conversing by the campfire.
”Reporting, Grand Generals! The Undead Legion has officially been deployed from the border headquarters. According to combat velocity calculations, they are projected to arrive and breach the borders of the Ice Kingdom precisely at the crack of dawn tomorrow!” the soldier reported, his voice quivering against the freezing chill.
”Then what of their commanding leadership? Which specific chiefs were mandated by the King to spearhead that parade of death?” General Badu pressed, his eyes narrowing, radiating malice and inter-factional political suspicion.
”That intelligence is absolutely sealed, General. The direct edict from the palace merely stated… two grand chiefs will personally descend to lead and execute the cleansing plan decreed by His Majesty King Adjong,” the soldier explained. He then continued his message. “And His Majesty also issued a specific directive: General Badu and General Gayus must immediately return and escort the Fire Kingdom’s contingent at the tournament arena tomorrow, prior to the arrival of the two primary chiefs to initiate their intervention!”
”What is the estimated travel time from the depths of this forest back to the Ice Kingdom’s territory, General Gayus?” Badu asked, turning to his comrade holding the logistics map.
”If we strike camp tonight and force the vanguard into a night march, we can absolutely guarantee our arrival at the Ice Kingdom’s gates exactly at sunrise, General,” General Gayus answered with a calculative tone.
General Badu snorted harshly, radiating profound dissatisfaction yet lacking the audacity to defy the order. “Hmph. Very well then. We must fold the tents immediately. Command the remaining trapping squads to secure two more elite monsters, after which we lift our feet and evacuate this hellish forest before the late night freezes us solid.”
Gayus merely responded with a mute nod, yet his gaze reflected the blazing glint of dark ambition.
The dense fog of the nocturnal forest slowly crawled down, swallowing the entirety of the crimson encampment. The curtain of night veiled the lethal maneuvers being orchestrated behind the scenes, harboring a secret of continental-scale massacre primed to detonate and shatter the very existence of the Ice Kingdom exactly at the heart of tomorrow.