He looked around, scanning the terrain. The air blew sharply and coldly, with the snow drifting down making the ground damp. Sparse trees dotted the slopes, and beyond that lay open ground stretching toward the horizon. It was like a war ground waiting to be written in blood. The most update n0vels are published on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱 His eyes narrowed, and his voice dropped lower. "Also, make sure to guard the water body. If it’s poisoned, we’ll be completely screwed." Riley’s cold mask shifted. For a brief second, something faint flickered in his eyes. It was like a new respect. He turned to Kael and gave a small nod. "I was about to suggest that." Martina listened closely. Her eyes lingered on Riley, then on Kael. She turned her head and looked at the long line of soldiers gathering behind them. Five thousand men and women, tired but hardened, waiting for orders. The weight pressed on her shoulders like an iron chain. Her job was to push back the crawling demonic army. It was not a glorious clash of two massive forces, but in a war of shadows and teeth. This was not a war of honor. It was going to be a constant grind. The difficulty in dealing with demons was that unlike hugs human forces that marched in group,small demons sneak through the gaps and attack the human territories causing immense bloodshed and loss. Small fights like these were breaking out like sparks across a dark plain. The demons never stood in one place and were too difficult to locate so humans followed the same strategy. They broke into battalions, fast and vicious, slipping through lines to strike where no one expected. And so the Allies had been forced to adapt. Martina’s voice carried steady authority as she spoke. "Follow Sir Riley’s command and set up the camp." Orders spread quickly. Soldiers moved to clear the land. First, the leftover wild grass was cut, and snow was cleared leaving empty earth behind. Then axes rang through the woods. Trees fell with sharp cracks as men dragged the logs back. Riley’s instructions were precise. The trunks were cut in rows, long and short. The long ones for the outer layer, the shorter ones for the inner. Half buried into the soil, reinforced with dirt and rock. In between, wooden planks were set up. The walls rose into two layers. Spikes were driven in, angled outward, ready to tear into any who dared approach. Kael stepped up to Martina and spoke quietly. "Order a squad of water mages. Those damned demons may try fire raids.Don’t underestimate them.They might burn the camp and make everything collapse. We need people ready to counter that." Martina gave him a sharp nod. She could see the sharpness in his eyes, the look of someone who had seen these things happen before. Above them, the cold wind carried the faint cries of distant horns. The snow kept falling, covering the ground in white, as if mocking the blood that was yet to stain it. The frozen ground cracked under heavy feet, and the snow melted and sank under a strange pressure. What remained were deep uneven footprints, jagged and wide, almost as if the ground itself recoiled from their weight. A group of demons walked slowly over the slope,and their shadows stretched long in the pale light. The air grew heavier with every step they took. The one in front wore armor made of bones, the carcass of countless beasts fused into a shell of death around his body. The jagged ribs of animals jutted out like blades, and his shoulders were crowned with broken skulls that rattled faintly as he moved. His skin was dark and ashen, veins glowing faintly with a dim, pulsing light. From his forehead, two horns curved upward like a crown of violence having sharp edges as if they had been cut from stone. Behind him, others followed, their frames just as twisted and grotesque, horns of different shapes bursting out of their flesh, some curling downward, others split and cracked, dripping with black resin. Their eyes glowed faint red, not with life but with hunger. The leader stopped, bit his lip until black blood spilled, and spat into the snow. His voice was low and sharp. "Human... Never thought they would venture here again after being beaten to dust." One of the demons behind him chuckled, which sounded like bones breaking apart. "Kekeke... these humans. They just don’t know how to quit. They will tremble once we crush them again." Another licked his cracked lips, the long tongue dragging across sharpened teeth. The leader raised a crude scope, bone and metal bound together, and peered into the distance. Down below, tents were being built,and their forms scattered across the snowfield. "Carefully craft the layout we are seeing," the leader muttered. His voice was calm but cold with promise. "We will bring it back to the Demon General. Let him plan the attack as soon as we return." A smaller demon at the back groaned with hunger, his belly rumbling. "It has been so long since I tasted humans." He slapped his stomach with a hollow thud, the sound echoing in the cold air. "I will make sure to chew them down to the bone." The leader turned his head, his eyes narrowing in disgust. "Defeat them first. All you think of is eating, you idiotic bastard." The demons grumbled and snorted, but they turned and began to retreat back into the frozen woods. Their heavy steps faded, swallowed by the crunch of snow and the eerie silence of the mountain. A bit around them, resting against the bark of a frozen tree, sat a lone figure hidden in the dark. His coat was ragged, his body sunk into the shadows as though he belonged to them. A faint ember glowed in his hand as he lifted a cigar to his lips and took a slow drag. Smoke drifted upward into the white sky, curling against the wind. Kael’s eyes wandered across the world in front of him, cold and tired. His gaze was not sharp but empty, carrying the weight of loneliness. His voice was dull, almost lost in the quiet. "I wonder what this means in these times. The demons, the old comrades, the same smell of snow mixed with blood and ashes... and me." "Is this called fate?" He let out a slow exhale, his lips curving into a smile that was not joy but something broken. The corners of his mouth twisted as his face sank into shadows. "Now that," he whispered, his voice cracked and bitter, "is going to be a very big and grand welcome." Kael laughs with a weary smile. It was not the laugh of someone joyful but the sound of something frayed, of a man who had seen too much. It echoed across the frozen trees, mixing with the emptiness of the mountains. He sat there alone accompanied with the smoke, the snow, and his laughter that faded into silence.