When Cohnal, Melisse, Nyana, and the rest of the bloody knights finally reached their destination, they couldn't help but stare at those mountains. They easily found the route in which Vitalar's group was ambushed, and Zaos died. It was hard to believe that their Captain died so young. One could easily imagine him living on the battlefield until he was sixty or even seventy. He was that much of a beast, after all.

The bloody knights have fulfilled their duties for the past five months, capturing enemies and guarding towns and villages against attacks. Still, the unit didn't have the same energy as before.

"Lieutenant Cohnal, Melisse, and Nyana," A soldier suddenly approached and then said. "Commander Vitalar is calling for you."

Those three looked at each other and then sighed. They missed the times where the Captain was around, and Vitalar didn't use every single chance to show his authority. As if things weren't annoying enough, when they reached the tent that Vitalar's men had armed for meetings, they found some annoying smiles coming from three Captains that joined that expedition. Like Zaos, they commanded one thousand men, but they weren't that famous because of Zaos' unit. Still, now they have received their opportunity to shine Since Zaos was declared dead.

Aside from those three Captains, Ruvyn sent two men and two thousand soldiers of the region to help. One of them was Elius, and the other was Arlen. If it weren't for those two who knew and fought alongside Zaos, those three units would have picked a fight with the blood knights more than a few times. Regardless, the kingdom also reunited a force of four thousand men and sent them to follow Vitalar's command. So, he had ten thousand men under his command.

"Thank you for coming so fast, everyone," Vitalar said. "It is time to decide the details of our attack plan. I know a few things about ambushes, but I am not familiar with large scale battles, so I would like to hear your opinion."

"This is the first time that they will have to defend their base, right?" The Captain of the first unit, who was a brown-haired man, asked. "Since that is the case, we should attack them as soon as possible."

"I agree, without experience, they can only do so much with magic and the terrain on their sides," The captain of the second unit, who was a blond man with long hair, said.

"We received reports that the followers of the demon god were chopping down trees and carrying them to the mountains," Elius said. "They are planning to fight us and protect their base, even though they don't have experience. If they use those logs against us, we suffer a lot of damage."

"Logs? Why would they use that when they can use magic and their powers have been increasing?" The Captain of the third unit, who was a red-haired woman, frowned and then asked.

"How odd… it seems they are preparing themselves for a long fight," Arlen frowned. "I didn't expect that kind of thinking from them. They only tried to use magic against us and when they didn't do that, they used mercenaries."

"Are there any signs of mercenaries bands in the north recently?" Cohnal asked.

"None," Vitalar replied. "Regardless, the scouts noticed many other weird things. They saw the followers of the demon God stocking food as well. If I didn't know any better, I would say that they are using the strategies the soldiers in the north used against them many times."

"Since that is the case, we can't let them learn more from this battle," Melisse said. "Not to mention, our supplies will only last for so long. We need to attack as soon as possible."

"Agreed, the problem is the snow avalanches," Elius said. "It might happen again, no… the followers of the demon god will use that to bury us alive."

  The room grew silent since everyone recalled Zaos. Against the current enemy, his skills certainly would come in handy, but no one could say that since it would be a waste of time.

"How do you think we should proceed, Arlen?" Vitalar asked. "You are the most experienced one here, after all."

"They won't use the avalanche unless they know that they will be able to get rid of many of us, so let's attack them at night with everything we got," Arlen said. "They will be caught off guard and the darkness will prevent them from seeing many of us. If we are fast enough, they will lose the chance to use their cheap tricks."

"I guess that is the best way to proceed, you will lead the attack," Vitalar said.

"All right, but I will take the blood knights with me," Arlen said.

"No problem," Vitalar said.

Using that unit would be the best option since they were eager to avenge their Captain. That will light the fire of the unit one last time before they are disbanded. Arlen was trying to use that fire to make the battle end as soon as possible.

In the end, the bloody knights and Arlen's men rested during the whole day and didn't do anything until sunset. After a light dinner, they prepared to attack, but much to their surprise, as soon as both units began their preparations to move. The area trembled, and then they heard a sound coming from the mountains. It was a snow avalanche…

"What the…" Cohnal frowned.

At first, all soldiers felt shivers when they thought the snow would reach them even though they were five hundred meters away from the mountain's base, but soon they relaxed since that didn't happen. It seemed that the enemies messed up even before the battle. Thanks to that, many soldiers assumed that the mission would end fast since the followers of the demon god had no experience in protecting anything. However, when they approached the mountain base, they saw that the path had been completely buried. They could always climb that. Anyway, but it would be hard to keep any formation along the route with such deep snow.

"Melisse… do you think it was an accident or was it planned?" Cohnal asked.

"I have no idea… all that I know is that our plans will be delayed again," Melisse replied.