*** Northern Front – The Frozen Fields of Ilden ***

The snow was falling sideways.

A thousand torches flickered in the white haze, their flames fighting to stay alive against the cutting wind. Beneath them, men moved, tired, hungry, desperate, their armor patched with leather and mismatched steel.

Elberich's mercenaries.

Specifically, the cheaper ones, men perfect for razing and causing chaos.

Thirty banners, none the same, all marching under a hope that reinforcements will come.

"Keep the pace! Once their formation breaks!" the commander shouted, voice hoarse, frost collecting in his beard. "We strike!"

The ground trembled under the distant creak of siege machines. From the enemy encampment beyond the ridge, the faint orange glow of firelight painted the snow in sickly color. Drums echoed, the rhythm of Arethrusian zeal.

They didn't know they were walking into their graves.

FWOOSH!

FWOOSH!

"The enemy's returning fire with arrows!"

One of the mercenary generals yelled out. They managed to get close by using the nearby forest as cover to hide their siege engines, but now that they had released their first volley.

It was now an all-out battle.

"Everyone, attack!"

The band of mercenaries charged forward, the siege engineers remaining to continue to operate the trebuchet as they fired endlessly onto Marquis Raven's ranks.

***

"What the...!?"

Marquis Raven looked irritated as he saw the enemy army coming out of the forest; he expected an actual threat.

But what greeted him were barely armed bandits.

'Then...?'

He looked back at the banners, and it hit him: a random mix of banners? That meant they were mere mercenaries meant to distract and delay his preparations.

"Cavalry unit! Take down that blasted trebuchet!"

Marquis Raven ordered.

"Footsoldiers! destroy those lowlives!"

SLASH!

CLANG!

FWISH!

The sounds of fighting rang out as the two sides met face to face in the frozen battlefield.

But it was no use, Elberich's mercenaries were easily pushed back as the Marquis' fully armed men were culling them left and right.

They were at a complete disadvantage.

And yet...

They achieved their mission...

Marquis Raven's siege engine preparations... were fully destroyed.

BOOM!

The sounds of explosions rang out from behind the Marquis, causing him to look back now with an angered expression, his fists clenching his silver sword tightly.

"Retreat!"

"Fall back!"

He was flanked by a small number of petty brigands who wielded gunpowder, singlehandedly destroying all the materials he needed to prepare for the siege.

SLASH!

But the moment the explosion rang out, those same brigands were wiped out, one of Raven's second cavalry units chasing them down before they even had the chance to flee.

It was a complete slaughter. Raven's army had completely pushed back the mercenaries in mere minutes, and the sounds of the trebuchet were now completely gone as his first cavalry unit had already killed its engineers.

And as for the mercenary's main army? currently being chased by his foot soldiers as they retreated into the forests.

It was a decisive victory for him... and yet.

At the same time, it was crippling.

"Bastards!"

Marquis Raven yelled out in anger, surprising most of his soldiers who stayed behind to protect him.

'Gunpowder...? Mercenaries with trebuchets...!?'

His mind began to create answers: who could have possibly done this? Who in their right mind had the resources to even manage this...?

And then he had it.

'Elberich... that coward! He purposefully sent weak mercenaries to attack me for the mere purpose of preventing me from creating siege engines!'

***

"Run!"

SLASH!

The sounds of dying men filled the forest as one by one they were slaughtered.

Leather versus steel, the answer was obvious; they had no chance, and that's when they realized it.

Their lord, Elberich, had used them as sacrifices.

"We've been tricked!-"

SLASH!

The cries of the dying were swallowed by the storm.

Men stumbled through the frost, their lungs burning, their boots sinking into the endless snow. The forest that once hid them now felt like a tomb, every tree a shadow, every whisper a death call.

"Don't stop!" the mercenary commander roared, his voice barely audible above the clash of steel and the howling wind. "Keep—!"

An arrow struck him through the throat.

He fell, gurgling, hands clawing at the shaft until the snow drank his blood.

The survivors scattered, but it didn't matter. Cavalry poured into the trees like wolves, their sabers flashing as they cut down one deserter after another. The sound of hooves and screams merged into a single, awful rhythm.

It was over in minutes.

Only the wind remained.

Snow covered the corpses faster than the blood could freeze.

High above the battlefield, meanwhile, through the drifting haze of snow and smoke, a lone falcon circled. Its eyes glimmered with faint, unnatural light.

When it finally turned and flew south, no one saw the shimmer of magic that rippled off its wings.

***

By dawn, the battlefield was gone beneath a new layer of snow.

Only the blackened remains of trebuchets and twisted iron jutted out from the frost. The cold had frozen the dead mid-motion, their faces locked in silent screams.

And in the ruins of his own camp stood Marquis Raven, his arms crossed, his face filled with wrath.

"Father..."

"Yes, my lord?"

"Call the rest of the alliance... it seems we've been outplayed."

Marquis Raven answered with a bitter reply; he had no casualties, but the sheer amount of time, gold, and resources wasted was enough to make up for it.

"All of them... even his vassals... all of them are devils."

He muttered, mounting his horse once more as he surveyed the remains of his camp, most of the soldiers doing their best to put out the fires caused by the ambush and explosions.

*** Snowkeep - War Room ***

"Can I have a word with you, lord Justinian?"

Fenrix entered the room without even a sound; his cloak was covered with snow, a sign that he was outside just moments ago.

Inside the war room, Justinian and Cassia were still having their moment, making up for lost time as the two of them were engaged in conversation.

But the moment Fenrix had entered.

An awkward moment had briefly happened.

"Is this... the wrong time?"

Justinian looked at the entrance, seeing Fenrix, and shaking his head with a simple chuckle.

"No, what is it you want to tell me?"

Fenrix placed a hand over his left eye, his pupils glowing a subtle violet as he released his hand, revealing its strange energy.

"I've received news that Marquis Raven's siege engines were destroyed."

"What!?" Cassia replied for Justinian, her surprise loud enough to cover the room.

"What do you mean?"

"It was Lord Elberich, my lord; it seems he gave us more time to work with."

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