A warm orange flame flickered rapidly as a breeze of cold wind swooped from above the protective palisade around them. Even after the last bell had rung to announce the death of Citranus, allowing the darkness to rule Niuran until his resurrection, the outpost was still bustling with movement as humans moved around the camp carrying heavy wooden crates onto the many carts outside the gates.

"General." A soldier's voice pulled me from my thoughts and see myself in front of the mirror. "Lady Hope is asking permission to enter." I set down my razor on the nightstand and look at the saluting soldier. He was a young man, too young and light-skinned to be one of my mercenaries I began our reconquest. He must be one of the many of our lost kinsmen who had allied with us.

"Let her in." I splashed my face with the cold water before going to meet the representative of Lord Akkad. I wonder how she found I was here on an inspection.

I see the two flaps of the tent were wide open letting a bright silvery light inside. A feminine figure wearing a forest green mantle stood at the threshold of the tent with her hands interwoven on her abdomen. The guard allowed her to enter before closing the flaps causing the candles to stop flickering.

"Greetings general Roddern..." The woman's face was illuminated by the warm light displaying her seductive features. Her smiling sea-green eyes stared at me while her slender lips curled into a happy smile as she sat down in a chair beside me. "Or should I refer to you as King Roddern?" Her pale hand gently brushed against my forearm. I knew Hope was not her real name but it fitted to perfection for me to ever delve further for petty truth.

"Let us not praise the day before its end."

"No need to be so humble. It is only a matter of time before the Firmusa will be in your hands. They can't hide behind your ancestors' walls for too long," She said. "Lord Akkad doesn't want this war to drag on unlike that pup wearing a golden hat."

"I don't see how he could gift me with anything which can breach the curtain walls of Firmusa." The entire city was built to be one continuous fortress. Every street could be used by the defenders to bleed the attackers dry for each step taken. Even large-scale magic would have been largely pointless to use, they would only cause the tall zigzagging buildings to collapse onto the narrow alleyways blocking further entry, bottlenecking my troops. Even the artery which was the vast parade road in the middle of the city. leading to the gates of the second level like an artery was designed for defensive use first, dividing the city in two where no movement from one side to the other couldn't be spotted and harassed from the top of the secondary and tertiary walls. Truly a sign of our ancestors' genius which unfortunately will have to be damaged to rid the pretenders of it. Lord Akkad was a powerful mage but capturing Firmusa in an assault required power beyond what humans could muster.

Most likely the Firmusans will hide behind their wall and avoid attacking us in the winter causing the impregnable city to be packed with additional troops. On the bright side losing a High Marshal to a pointless intrigue must have sparked an internal conflict in their halls of power. Each high noble must be petitioning the king in favour of their own candidates allowing us to safely reorganize

.

"My dear Roddern, did you like the last gift I gave you?" The woman referred to a group of tribals from the Ridge. The tribals were presented to me quite a long time ago before I had even accepted to come back but I had refused to accept them in my company. Their infectious bloodthirst aimed to please their bloody-handed god was something which turned my bowels in disgust. To see humans still worshipping primitive gods, such a shame. Regardless of my wishes Pruina in all her infamous fairness had caused harsh winter to come early this year causing us and the squatters to suffer greatly, making me choose between my heart and reality. "If you allow me to make a potion for all of your brave soldiers I'm sure some rowdy humans will stand no chance against your might." Her pearly white teeth reflected the warm light as her lips neared mine.

"No," I stood up away from her. "Having a mage for an ally and polluting my soldiers with witchcraft is a different matter altogether, out."

"Ohhhh," The pale witch shrugged her shoulders at my words. "Your long-lost homeland has been occupied for far too long. We will see if you will be next to visit me in my tent~?" She said before she lifted a tent's flap and disappeared into the night.

"Why must I deal with witches to save my Motherland? Pruina, Citranus, Corin, Tinnbera, Elemosina, Idicac is my quest not justified enough for you? If this is all to test my will, give me a sign of what is my trial. Is it to remain pure even in war, Elemosina? Is it to overcome my enemies by any means necessary, Idicac? Should I become a soulless merchant of war who will sell water to a fish to save my people and for them to have something to call home once more? If so tell me and I shall become it but this silence is murderous to my soul and I do not know if I can do it for much longer without some sort of miracle to cause this bloody war to end." I fall onto my bed and pray for my soldiers' future.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"My Lord!" A shout from outside causes me to spring up from my contemplations.

"Fluddson what are you screaming for." I stare at my second in command. His grey mane fluttered in the violent blizzard raging outside.

"One of our soldiers informed me her brother is dead." He said stepping inside, his great battle axe hanging on his back.

"It's sad but things like this happen sometimes, especially in war."

"I know but the thing is she and her brother shared a connection with each other and she told me her brother was killed by humans. I checked and he was assigned to a forager party for this camp." He said, his face told me he was not joking and was well aware of what that information indicated.

"Order everyone to prepare for an attack and demand Lady Hope to quickly come here." Even some snot-guzzler of a noble with a command staff filled with other nobles with rotten brains can come up with lucky ideas.

"I told you, you will come back." Hope smirked as she stirred a bright green concoction that bubbled a hideous smell into her tent. "Come here." She ordered her guard to step closer. She cut his hand causing his blood to drop into the cauldron causing its contents to turn bright crimson.

"Don't look at me like that. You ordered me to do it," She smiled, pushing the bulky mute guard to the side. "Anyway, how long do we have until they arrive?"

"I would say as soon as dawn breaks." I explain, entertaining the witch question.

"You will not send for reinforcements? There aren't too many of your people to defend this fort." She used very generous language to describe the current situation. There were slightly over a hundred soldiers assigned to this supply hub with half of them having to hide in the wilderness because of the sudden blizzard unable to return from their patrols.

"No, the blizzard creates too much of a wall to send anyone outside. At best they would wander aimlessly until the weather calms down and at worst they would be dead men walking." I explain. "I hope their army gets lost or is attritioned enough for us to defend with certainty."

"Mmmm, would you like to try this?" She said, offering up her brew, making it look appetizing

.

In disgust I take a sip of the foul-tasting potion, I instantly felt warmer but felt nothing else. Over the course of two bells, the potion was distributed among my soldiers.

"When does your potion activate fully and will it be ready for the assault?"

"Ohh, my king it is already active but to fully manifest I would have to do something more." She gave me a strange smile. "Don't worry in the next few hours all of you will become more than-" Her words were suddenly drowned by terrifying screams.

Everyone peeked their heads outside to see what happened. A spector hovered over the main campfire, whipping its chains at the humans attacking it. I see how my younger soldiers try to use tactics taught by me against the monster, forming a shield wall protecting people behind them in an incredible show of disciple, the problem was that against monsters those tactics were akin to a death sentence as a singular attack from the rarely seen monster fell into the center of formation where they were unable to dodge because of the tight formation.

"What is happening!" A black ribbon swordsman leading a hurriedly formed squad shouted.

"We have to get inside the warehouse!" I scream back, unsheathing my sidearm.

"What if there are more of them there!" Hope shouted, causing the swordsman to stop for a split moment.

"Leave the spector to u-" He tried to grab the representative beside me and shield the physically weak human but suddenly something hit the side of his face causing him to fall.

"Spread out quick!" I roar as a half-dressed cleric casted a protection miracle of Marin which caused a thin layer of blessed ice to form on our bodies.

"They are using ward-piercing spells." The witch stated as the air around me was filled with ice shards as another of my people fell lifelessly onto the snow-covered ground with her head rapidly decaying.

"Don't be in the open!" I shout again, confused by what was happening. Are we ambushed in our own camp? "Fuck, it was an undead horde, it was not Firmusans who killed that soldier."

"What do we do now, my Lord." The cleric beside me asked, his voice was shaking in fear.

"You are running toward the warehouses and then you either kill them or die trying." I ordered causing my soldiers to instantly focus on the job they had to do.

I could feel the taste of blood in my throat as I deeply inhale the frigid air into my lungs. I swung my sword at the puppeteered bodies of the brave soldiers in front of the tent, their still-warm blood splashing onto my face.

Leading the surviving soldiers as far as I could before I charged toward the spector surrounded by a pack of gruesomely disfigured zombies. The pale light coming from my sword gained power as I drove my blade into the spector's ethereal body. Hacking my way out from the small horde of zombies surrounding me, I eventually lose sight of the group in the ever-intensifying blizzard.

"?" I hear my blade make a metallic ring as I swung my weapon behind me. "Curses!" An undead I never saw before clawed at my face, a black skeleton with villainous blue flames in its hollowed skull staring at me with an uncaring and unfeeling gaze, his claws dripping with my blood.

"Die!" I shouted, my blade slipping between the undead's spine and head causing it to spring up and disintegrate into dust. My body started to feel cold as the low-level undead started to swarm me.

I grunt in pain as I decapitate the last undead in front of me. "My body isn't what it used to be."

I hear footsteps behind me and swivel around and my heart stops.

"Fluddson!" A tall undead shuffled slowly towards me, his grey hair soaked in blood, his remaining arm weakly swung at me while the large hole in his right shoulder oozed blood creating a bloody trail behind him. "I'm sorry friend, rest now." I swung my weapon causing his head to tumble to the ground as I feel the corner of my mouth tremble.

"What are you?" I utter as I see a bloody angel emerge from one of the tents wearing adventurer's clothes before pointing the tip of her strange polearm at me. "Did you do this!" I scream but the tall and deathly pale elf didn't respond, instead thrusting her spear at me.

I block the thrust and instantly feel the strength of the horrific undead. The monster was at least Mithril if not Adamite level threat but like most monsters, she lacked technique and relied primarily on strength to attack but that didn't mean blocking the monster was easy as I felt each hit deep in my bones.

I swung at the spear-wielding undead, activating [Swiftness] I switched to reversed grip slashing the undead's cheek or I would have if not for her instant reaction. I could have followed up my attack but my body refused to listen, feeling exhausted from the fighting.

"Are you enjoy this?" I could feel my body give up as the frost took its toll on me. Inhaling deeply I took one last step forward, slashing weakly at the deadly and cold-hearted beauty. "Save me from this shame." I mutter as my knees give up mid-swing.

"Somewhat." I hear as I am sent to the Ice Palace to be judged by Pruina.

Why is it so hot and dark here?