FAZER LOGIN"Boss, should we bail?"The question broke through Hanks's thoughts.He turned his head and glanced at the subordinate standing beside him. Beyond the man, thousands of soldiers marched through the northern wilderness, their formation stretching along the road toward Galios. The atmosphere among them had grown increasingly tense with every step, and the closer they came to their destination, the heavier that tension became.It wasn't difficult to understand why.Along the way, they had encountered several scouts from the Beast Kingdom. Roland and his men had dealt with them swiftly, leaving none alive to report the Fourth Army's movements.But that would only delay the inevitable.Sooner or later, the enemy would discover that an army was approaching Galios.And when that happened, the consequences could be disastrous.Hanks scratched his chin, his gaze drifting toward the distant horizon.Galios was only a day's journey from Northfall. If they failed to capture the city quickly, rein
Sia briefly studied the man who had once stormed the Blue Towers before finally answering his question."We have enough rations to last one month," she said. "If we reduce the portions given to the soldiers, we might be able to stretch our supplies to two months at most."Ethan nodded, his expression thoughtful.Beneath Sia's composed exterior, he could sense the mana she was carefully suppressing. It was a faint but unmistakable presence, like a raging river concealed beneath a layer of ice. She was clearly holding back a considerable portion of her strength.Back when he had attended the academy, Sia had been among its most promising students. Her talent had stood out even among the gifted young men and women who aspired to become powerful mages, and her potential had been something few could afford to overlook.And judging by the mana she was suppressing now, she had only grown stronger.She wasn't the only one, of course. There were several other names Ethan could still recall, pe
A burst of interference crackled through the communication crystal, followed by Green's increasingly distorted voice."Ah, damn it! He's here! Carry out your plan!"The connection went dead.Ethan immediately tried contacting the Baron again, but no matter how much mana he channeled into the crystal, there was no response. After several attempts, he finally lowered his hand, realizing that continuing would only waste precious time.Still, that brief conversation had revealed enough to change his plans.The First Army was operating somewhere to the northwest, most likely near the region where the defeated Ifrit and Ironwing armies had retreated. More importantly, General Masashin, one of the two commanders of the Beast Kingdom, was personally hunting them.That explained Green's urgency.It also presented Ethan with an opportunity. With Masashin occupied elsewhere, Northfall City Fortress would be missing one of its most dangerous commanders, giving Ethan a chance to strike before the
The last beast soldier had only one chance left.He had to escape.Beyond the forest lay the hills where three thousand beast soldiers had established their camp. If he could reach them and report the Human Empire's army's movements, their entire situation would change. The enemy would have time to reinforce their defenses, prepare an ambush, or even launch a counterattack before Ethan's forces could reach them.Ethan had no intention of letting that happen.He didn't immediately give chase. Instead, he remained atop his horse, studying the battlefield with an expression of complete composure.Chasing a concealed enemy through unfamiliar terrain was a waste of time.There was a better way.The birds.Hundreds of them circled above the forest, their silhouettes barely visible against the dark sky. Ethan reached out with his mana, establishing connections with several birds and borrowing their senses to survey the surrounding area.Their fields of vision spread across the forest.One b
The captives finally broke after an unspeakable night of interrogation.By dawn, they had told Ethan and his commanders everything they knew, revealing a strategy far more insidious than the straightforward military campaigns they had expected from the Beast Kingdom. General Masashin had not limited his efforts to conquering cities from the outside; instead, he had begun dismantling the Kingdom from within, quietly removing the people who could organize resistance before the Imperial armies ever reached their gates.According to the prisoners, Masashin had dispatched several small units into the cities that had not yet been conquered. These soldiers traveled in disguise, posing as merchants, travelers, mercenaries, refugees, and even ordinary townspeople, allowing them to slip through checkpoints and enter cities without raising suspicion. Once inside, their mission was simple: identify the officials whose deaths would cause the greatest disruption and eliminate them.Lords.Nobles.Mi
A few days passed.During those days, Ethan continued his surveillance without rest.Using the birds scattered throughout the surrounding wilderness, he constantly scanned the land around them, extending his senses anywhere between five and ten kilometers depending on the terrain. Mountains, dense forests, hills, and open grasslands all affected how far he could see, but Ethan had learned to compensate for the differences.It was an ability that only he could perform.The magic itself should have been extraordinarily demanding. Maintaining surveillance over such a vast area for hours at a time, then repeating the process day after day, would have been enough to exhaust even a highly accomplished mage.For Ethan, however, every spell cost only a single point of mana.One.That was all.Even the legendary mages would have struggled to maintain such magic continuously for several days. Not only was the range enormous, but the spell itself consumed a considerable amount of mana under norma






