Everyone who heard Isabelle’s words had been shaken by the time her small speech was over, and the fortress had stirred to life once again as confused Harvesters went to a state of alertness once again. The reason for the panic was simple: another large wave of snowpyres had emerged from somewhere deep within Heritage, and were sweeping the entire place.

The Southern elites dispatched to join up with those of the East-West alliance had been cut down dramatically when they blundered into an ambush by the snowpyres, which explained why Nexus had only detected thirty-odd troops from the Southern Continent.

Winston and the others had snickered at these words, which Gaius had chalked down to the tendency for the beastfolk to gloat at the misfortunes of their enemies, but it had died out swiftly after the Southern Knight described the size of the snowpyre horde. It was, if her words were to be believed, over ten thousand strong, which dwarfed the snowpyre army that Gaius himself had seen a few weeks ago. Most of the Southern elites had never made it out from the deadly ambush.

Gaius, however, had felt uneasy the moment he heard her words. The monsters used heat to see their enemies, which meant that his actions of using multiple wildfire sigils in battle and as a distraction might have very well drawn the horde over.

“I didn’t know that the snowpyres used heat to see, though,” said Nalus.

“Well, you can record my contribution when we return,” replied Gaius, with an added emphasis on ‘when we return’.

“I’ll get my father to prepare a nice big table of food for everyone.”

Everyone laughed…well, everyone except for the Knight, who was still lying on the bed. The staff officers of this makeshift fortress and Gaius had turned the area around Isabelle’s bed into an impromptu meeting room for some inexplicable reason. There wasn’t really a difference from their tent and their current meeting location, because both structures were equally roofless.

In fact, when one considered the unique circumstances of Heritage, it was unbelievable that something like a roofless tent had been invented. These tents were the same as that in the basestation, other than the fact that the roof was absent.

Gaius shoved that thought process away, and returned to the conversation.

“…should be good,” Nalus was saying.

“Enough about food, Campmaster,” said Winston. He turned to look at Gaius, and asked, “What orders did you receive if the fortress was overrun?”

The little boy hesitated slightly, before taking out a small cube.

“That looks like a general-use battery to refuel artefacts,” said Nalus, “if we go by size alone. But I don’t think the Congress would give you such an item as our last resort, right?”

The boy nodded. “It’s an item that’s designed to sever the pathway between Heritage Basestation and our fortress here. If used here, the severing is temporary, but if it’s used in the Intersection, it’s permanent.”

Maybe it was the boy’s imagination, but his last word had seemed to last longer than it should have. It didn’t take long before everyone else present understood the implications of his words, and their faces paled slightly. After showing it around for another three seconds, the boy kept the artefact.

“So…we’re really facing a crisis in Heritage Basestation?” One of Winston’s handpicked staff officers asked, his voice quivering. “To the point that they’d abandon a passageway to Heritage and us?”

“Our job is to defend the passageway to prevent this from happening,” answered Nalus. “Gaius’ announcement earlier wasn’t any joke or some game by the Congress. Our orders are clear. We cannot afford to let anyone enter the camp from Heritage. Which includes these snowpyres.”

Bugles called out for the third time in a day, and the small group of staff officers rushed out. Gaius glanced at the immobilised Isabelle quietly, and followed them.

By the time Gaius and company had taken to get to a vantage point, the monsters were merely a few hundred metres away from the makeshift fortress. A sea of monsters that howled and stared at them like prey. He’d seen large scale battles before, at the Southern and at the Central capitals, but it was the first time he’d seen such numbers in a relatively close proximity.

The others were taking it far, far worse. The nervousness that had been on their face when confronted by an enemy troops three times their size earlier was a candle compared to the fear in their faces now. Nalus’ face had gone white entirely, as well as the joints in his hands, which were gripping his sword tightly.

Winston’s usable arm was trembling badly. Mai and the others…the word ‘dumbstruck’ was a good way to describe them, but the scale was somewhat lacking. The same went for whatever Harvesters that were on the walls. Whatever weapons that they were holding — be it a sword or a spear, or even the same knives that Gaius used — were dangling from their hands loosely, as their minds tried to comprehend the sheer size of the monster horde before them.

“Nalus,” said the little lecturer. “Get someone into Heritage Basestation now. Tell the Congress about everything’s that happened. We need to know how much time do we need before the mass teleportation begins. Without such a timeframe, none of us are going to have enough morale to fight.”

The Campmaster continued to stare into the distance.

“Nalus!” Gaius shook his shoulders, and the teenage boy regained his wits. “Did you hear me?”

“Y-yes, Lecturer Gaius.”

“Go!”

The teenage boy barked out orders, and one of Winston’s followers ran off. He turned to face the crowd, his eyes sneaking a glance at Gaius, who nodded back in encouragement, and took a deep breath.

“Harvesters!” His voice, now a calming baritone, rang out across the silent fortress. “We now face an enemy who outnumbers us by over a hundred to one. But do not give in to fear. We are Ark City’s last line of defence. We are those who the Congress entrusted their lifeline to. And we…are beastfolk.”

Nalus unsheathed his blade and raised it high. “We survived the humans! These monsters will not break what the human Paragons couldn’t! Am I right?!”

A moment of silence passed, before a guttural roar resounded across the world of snow. The air itself seemed to shake, as the elites of the beastfolk remnants howled in defiance of their fate.

“Now’s a good day to die!”

“For Ark City!”

“We will not fall here!”

Cries like this filled the air. Nalus nodded at Gaius, who leaped into the air gently. His fingers fluttered, creating a small handful of wildfire sigils that trailed his ascent, with the eyes of every Harvester fixed on him.

“We are ready!” The sigils winked out, and the sky lit up with an ardent blaze, creating a giant, middle finger of fire and light. “Are you?!”

Raucous cheers and monster howls clashed, and a moment later, the battle began.