The campfire crackled softly as the silence grew heavier. The tension in the air was like a thick fog no one dared to cut through.
Everyone stood in a loose circle, still processing the scale of what had happened. The icy wind blew gently now, as if the storm that had raged hours ago had never existed—but the scars left behind were too deep to forget.
"Do we really need to report it? Won’t be troubleso and we might be punished badly,"Vic spoke out.
"So... what do we do now?" Albert finally asked, his voice breaking the silence. His tone was stiff, uncertain, almost childlike compared to the mature, hardened battlefield he was used to.
No one responded at first.
Then Gare quietly stepped forward. He took out a folded parchnt from inside his coat and handed it to Robert. "This ca with the last ssage from Lord Kael. It was written to hand over this to you in case sothing like this happened."
Robert, calm and stern as always, took the note without a word. He opened it slowly, his eyes scanning the words carefully. His face remained unreadable, but the others leaned in slightly, waiting.
Robert finally spoke, his deep voice cutting through the quiet camp. "It has instructions."
They straightened up.
"The first instruction is this—" Robert paused and read slowly, "—Baret, Gare, and Chris are to stay back at the border. You will form squads and continue training. Your main task is to hold the borders and engage with any monsters that show signs of movent."
Chris blinked in surprise. "Wait... but didn’t the monsters retreat? They’re going back to the icy forest, aren’t they?"
Albert scoffed and crossed his arms. "You think this is a one-ti thing, kid? Monsters always co back. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow—but they don’t just disappear."
"This ti was different," Gare added, rubbing his chin. "It was organized. It wasn’t just a random surge. The Serpent Fang did sothing that brought them together. That’s never happened before."
Chris nodded slowly, the realization settling in. "I see."
Vic raised his hand halfway before speaking up loudly. "What about ? What the hell am I supposed to do, huh?"
Robert looked at him without much expression, his voice cold but calm. "You’re free to act as you see fit. Stay, return—it’s up to you."
Vic blinked, caught off guard by the freedom. "Wait, that’s it? No orders? Just like that?"
Robert didn’t reply, his eyes already going back to the letter.
Baret shifted nervously. "Is there anything more?"
Robert gave a firm nod and continued reading. "If sothing happens... don’t declare dead right away. Contact the duchy first. The Ring of Veydrin that I carry keeps track of my life. Don’t you dare do sothing that foolish and declare dead without confirmation.If I returned and learned that I am dead, I swear I would kick your ass first."
Albert, Baret, and Chris looked away awkwardly. Vic rubbed the back of his neck, muttering, "Damn... he’s serious."
Robert kept reading. "Also, keep tracking the groups Chandler was following. There’s another Serpent Fang unit that took a different path. They’re involved in sothing else. Maintain contact with our spies and scouts."
Robert lowered the note and looked at Gare with a sharp gaze. "I assu you’re aware of this?"
Gare nodded. "Yes. I received partial information before the blast. Chandler marked their trail but we lost contact after the first wave of explosions. They may have gone south, bypassing the old frozen gate routes."
Robert clenched the paper in his fist, eyes burning. "So there are more of those vermin..."
The fire glinted in his cold eyes, and everyone could feel the anger pulsing in his veins.
"I want every one of those bastards caught," he said.
He turned swiftly. "Albert!"
"Yes, sir!" Albert snapped to attention.
Robert then turned to Vic, who was now standing a little straighter.
"I assu you’ve made your choice?" he asked.
Vic nodded, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Yeah... I’m staying. I ain’t going only to get punished.I will work here until further notice."
Robert gave a short nod, then spoke firmly, "Here are your orders. Form a team and trace all alternative routes that lead beyond the walls. Look for any signs of passage, any disturbance. Seal them off. I want every path blocked—if they get in again, it’ll be on your head."
Vic swallowed hard, then gave a nod. "Understood."
Robert turned to Gare. "You’ll go with them. anwhile, reestablish contact with any surviving scouts or watchers who had been following the other Serpent Fang unit. I want to know what they’re doing."
"Understood," Gare replied imdiately.
Robert glanced over them all one last ti. "Are the instructions clear?"
"Yes, sir!" they all said in unison.
.....
While the tension along the northern borders began to ease and the soldiers finally found ti to breathe, far beyond the North, past the battered fortresses and through the untouched trails of the ancient winter forest, sothing strange was unfolding.
The night sky shimred above in swirling aurora lights—vivid streaks of green and pale blue dancing across the stars. The landscape below was silent, an untouched expanse of snow-covered trees and frozen silence, save for a sudden movent among the mounds.
A woman stirred her body. Her crimson hair stood out like fire against the white snow.
Lyria blinked several tis, adjusting to the surreal light filtering through the trees. Her mind was groggy, vision hazy.
Opening her eyes, a single thought ran in her mind.
Where...?
"Did you wake up?" a familiar voice muttered beneath her.
She froze and looked down, her heart skipping.
Kael was lying flat in the snow, grimacing in discomfort—and she was sprawled on top of him.
Wide-eyed, she instantly leapt up, trying to compose herself, though a deep flush crept across her cheeks. "Yes!"
Kael winced, groaning as he sat up slowly, rubbing his back. "Then could you please get off sooner next ti? My ribs feel like frozen sticks..."
"I didn’t ask to teleport like that," Lyria snapped, crossing her arms and turning away to hide her red face.
They had passed out mid-teleportation—Kael’s surge of mana had ripped a hole through the space around them. Whatever destination he had intended... he never expected to fall into another cold icy hell.
As Kael moved, he noticed sothing heavy cradled in his arms. His brows furrowed as he looked down—and there it was.
A large egg, nearly the size of an ostrich’s, faintly pulsing with a soft glow. The shell shimred with a gradient of pale silver and blue, as though the aurora itself had kissed its surface.
Lyria, regaining her composure, turned to him. Her voice carried both curiosity and alarm. "Master... what’s that?"
Kael grinned—slowly, mischievously, with a spark of excitent in his eyes. The pain from his back seed to vanish in an instant.
"Now that," he said, holding the egg up against the aurora sky, "is a very good question."
The egg pulsed again.
And sothing... stirred inside.
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