Even in the long history of warfare, the scene here can only be viewed as legendary.

Nearly twenty thousand soldiers, and only a couple hundred lavatories. When had a battle ever been this… impactful?

With an unstoppable smell rising into the heavens, the only gate of the Ku Kang Camp had been taken over.

The guard captains can only stare resentfully as the Snowdrifts soldiers garrisoned the walls around the portcullis.

“Cap… captain what should we do? If they open the doors for our enemies…We will be whipped to death for losing the gates even if we survive,” the injured guardsmen could only mourn as they watched helplessly.

“Don’t worry, the key to the winch is kept by …”

*Thonk*

The winch box that had been secured by multiple high-level defensive runes and made from Cherry Iron – a top-grade mortal realm metal – swung open before the captain could finished his words.

Guard Captain: “…”

Everyone else: “???”

The winch that lifts the portcullis is one of the most heavily guarded places in the camp for obvious reasons. Security details patrol the area day and night to ensure that no one could remain next to the metal box long enough to sabotage it.

The winch box that is designed to be impenetrable had failed so spectacularly that the guards still felt as if the sky had fallen.

While masquerading as patrols, the Snowdrifts soldiers had been slowly weakening it for the entire day. The traditional method requires time and heavy calculations but they only need to walk pass the box and gently touch it with their Star Rune weapon for the defensive runes on top to slowly erode. As both an Inscribed and Seal Weapon, no one expected it to have such a function too.

Only a very small number of friends closest to Kairos knows about the dragonlings staying within each blade. These creatures treats it as their home and as all dragonkin would, they greedily amass all kinds of materials to shore up their nest.

While there are plenty of legends where dragons hoard countless treasures, few questioned where those prizes came from. Well, the answer is surprisingly simple: They took it.

Fortresses, safes, and vaults included, there are not many places are dragon-proof.

Their kind, endowed with extraordinary affinity with the elements, could break both seals and runes and their excessively sharp claws could slice through the toughest doors.

Of course, the dragonlings born of Kairos’ Ki also had such traits, albeit their abilities are limited by their tender age. But when given enough time, these fledglings could nibble through both runic barriers and fortified metal. With so many Star Rune Weapons, what should’ve been impossible was easily cracked open for the first time in history.

Admittedly, this was no way the fault of the engineer as dragons should have vanished from Gaias and the unruly Cave Trolls aren’t supposed to be tameable in the first place.

The gates were pulled open, and several large men operated the winch to lift up the portcullis. It took a while with the rust on the chain, but they had plenty of time. On the other side, a great army awaited.

Esley Restrio and his soldiers were in complete incredulity that the northern gate was so easily taken.

They had just arrived after surviving the countless cannon fires, especially that pair of Void Cannons that appeared mid-way in their march and taken countless lives. Fortunately, the damage they taken was tolerable since a siege is supposed to last for weeks, months, or even years, but they merely suffered for a day.

…..

At the plateau’s southern cliff, the soil bridge that had been hammered repeatedly the whole day, finally grew to the point where soldiers can leap across onto the walls.

The Hall Master and his Ghosts stood at the front most as the spear point of their formation, together with the barbarians Red Blade, Swordy, Sword Slave, and the remaining leaders of the Snowdrifts that didn’t follow Kairos.

Without hesitation, they jumped onto the wall walk and killed the nearest enemy archers to secure their landing spot.

However, each of them, even the Triple S rankers, were exhausted.

Leading at the fore, they had protected the rest from arrows and cannonballs.

Alan’s face went completely pale, as testament to overusing his life force: the Origin Energy. Lux Cixton’s golem armour, the Woodland Guardian, is charred and splattered with the boy’s blood. Large pieces of bark destroyed by cannon fire are too damaged to repair and Lux’s determined figure seated within the golem’s chest could be seen.

The Ghosts of the nine halls and the Hall Master, while all of them are Triple S rankers, were specialised for stealth missions and largely unsuited for such extended confrontations. Their preferred weapons, thin long blades made for assassination, are warped and bent from repeated punishment.

The Void Cannon and Briar Root Cannon they faced were merely the beginning. The defenders brought out the rest of the four elemental cannons and killed thousands in less than a day. The Deluge Cannon, Metal Roaring Cannon, Inferno Cannon, and Mountain Rapturing Cannon, each were formidable in their own way. They destroyed many Star Rune weapons that tried to seal the excessive elemental damage and forced Alan to release the Minerva Barrier on less critical places in their army. Despite giving up on protecting everyone, the technique had already sapped a lot of their strength. Sweat rolled down their faces, and many were huffing but a hundred thousand enemy lies in wait… and more are coming.

Assigned by the White Emperor, the Frosthral defenders bore down mightily on the advance guards of the Snowdrifts. These warriors attacked fearlessly and threatened to overwhelm them or at least wedge them in and turn this small spot on their wall into a slaughter ground. As per their tradition, the Frosthral Barbarians are dressed in rough leathers sewn from the beasts they hunted and held forged irons from the metals they mined. They looked roughshod but truth they are like well-geared adventurers and better equipped than many armies. They fought the powerful creatures their armours were made from and picked the precious ores stolen from fearsome beasts which lurked in the ground, and thus they trusted their equipment.

With superior position, enchanted armours and weapons, and the benefit of a fresh army against one that was battered by powerful cannons, the White Emperor Reynold expected their complete victory and left the southern walls to deal with the intruders.

However, the Snowdrifts is a dangerous foe like a cunning beast with a lethal bite.

While exhausted, their numbers remained far more than Reynold predicted and the Snowdrifts’ barbarians were dressed in the shiny metals given to them by Siegfried. The old master smith had long prepared for this day, his forges were hot from the day Kairos had recruited him and never ceased. Of course, just one man alone could never equip an army, but Kairos had predicted this day: Four years ago, when the Snowdrifts business empire first raised up, they did not partner up with other merchants and instead took over the Hope enterprise – an entity that are far larger in scale than them. It seemed to be a bite larger than they could chew but not only did they managed to do, they excelled in it.

Instead of keeping the previous business model, the shops belonging to the Hope family were changed from general stores into blacksmiths, clothiers, kitchens, apothecaries, and medical halls.

They aggressively recruited countless weavers who loved their fashionable designs, blacksmiths from all over the world that admired the Star Rune weapons, Pill makers and alchemists that wanted to know the secrets to tame the famous Unknown Flame Sovereign, and top cooks that believed that the one chef closest to godhood is chef Laksa.

Their students were all over the world and Lyla ensured they stay with a fair pay package. It was largely unseen for merchants to treat their artisans more than money-making tools. But, they have the Phrixus’ war funds that they plundered from the Silent Lambs Empire and not much time. The embers of war had already been smouldering then, and it wasn’t difficult to guess the urgency.

Kairos had hoped that the salary they give will motivate their tradesmen to fill the Snowdrifts’ guild armoury. It earned their loyalty and exceeded his expectation, but a strange thing happened. Despite it being his plan Kairos did not expect that instead of putting a dent in their funds, the profits brought in actually made the Snowdrifts even richer than before.

The other businesses did not know how much capital the Snowdrifts possess and predicted that they will soon be bankrupt. Competitors were panicking at matching their wages and managing staff that quit almost immediately.

While Kairos figured out how much more he could give to his men, they returned to him quality work, fiercely patronised his brand, and spared his business from the high employee turnover and training costs that others faced when someone left or starved to death.

As a result, they had plenty of talented tradesmen, matchless equipment and could even fling enough money to bury their enemies. Before a war is fought, supplies must first be ready, and no one on Gaia can match the Snowdrifts’ extravagance.

There are good reasons that the top merchant of the undercities – Friztgen, and the Thief King Rielon, remained the loyal partners with Kairos of the Snowdrifts.

The confident smile on the faces of the Frosthral defenders turned grim the moment they attacked the Snowdrifts’ vanguard.

Swords bounced off, runic spells counterattacked, and the enemy threw stratagem plates at them as though those treasures could be found by the street sides.

There were overwhelmingly powerful enchantments protecting each soldier, as though everyone are generals. It can’t be helped, since their guild could match the wealth of an empire but only have two hundred thousand soldiers to spend on.

The Snowdrifts’ barbarians already knew the quality of the items they wore, or else they wouldn’t replace their traditional leathers, but they also didn’t expect there to be such a great difference.

Following the Hall Master’s instructions, the royal guards secured the immediately area and bunkered down. It was a tiny space that wasn’t enough to hold more than a hundred of their own, but they gave the rest time to pop recovery pills into their mouths and assimilate it into their meridian systems. The most important that the leaders need right now is to restore the stamina they lost. As soon as any of the ghosts, the Hall Master, the Barbarian Lords or the leaders of Snowdrifts regain enough strength, they will jump back into the fight.

However, although the Ku Kang Camp had been breached by the Snowdrifts from the south and the Saint Empire troops from the north, the Frosthral defenders still held obvious superiority in military power.

The strongmen posted here by the White Emperor pushed at their shields with determination.

The fight soon turned one-sided the Snowdrifts fought on the back foot trying to secure their initial landing spot. Even as many more join their side squeezing onto the walls, the space is too limited and their enemies’ attacks continued to stack on them. The royal guards struggled to persist, but they know that the time they can buy is only in the seconds. On their armour, a faint blue barrier continued to protect them.

Of all the generals of Snowdrifts, Alan’s condition was the worst. He knows that right now, his Minerva Barrier is crucial to securing a spot on this wall. If he stop using his Secret Art, the connection which links everyone’s Ki Barrier will be broken, and the frontlines will break with their soil bridge next.

Using Origin Energy is to burn one’s life force; a resource that do not regenerate easily. He could take no pills to help himself as the only viable option is actual rest, but the enemy is relentless and the fighting never ceased.

While the other Origin Energy users faced the same plight, they were at least given the right for moderation.

Alan coughed out a mouthful of blood and his complexion paled further. Two hands reached over to hold him up, one from each side. A soft white hand, slender and long as if sculpted from snow, and a boring ordinary-looking hand with tan skin that looked more used to the pen than the sword.

“George, Luciette…,” Alan breathed weakly, “I’m okay.”

He stopped the two commanders from transferring their Origin Energy into him. Every friend that earned Kairos’ trust had received a custom version of the Origin Cultivation method from him and unlocked the use of both Soul Perception and Origin Energy.

While the Origin Energy - which is one’s life force harnessed to be used - can be passed to another individual, the effect is greater for healing wounds than to help recover expended Origin Energy in another person. Without unhealthy cells where healing can be directed to, most of the Origin Energy will be lost in the transfer, and the small amount that could be absorbed will take significant time to fully suffuse into him.

Alan: “I… I can still hold on.”

Luciette: “Alan… You’re turning purple!”

Refusing their aid once again, Alan instead took out a small orb glass with a stopper at the top and a vibrant purple liquid within.

George: “A potion?”

Luciette: “No… it’s practically impossible to get one of those wizards’ concoction… The mages are not known to share anything. This, I believe, is uncle Laksa’s beverage?”

Alan coughed and wheezed as he pulled out the stopper with his teeth, then drunk deeply. The shiver in his hands subsided a little before he nodded to the two concerned friends, “Grape flavoured energy drink. Works wondrously.”

“Better than Origin Energy transfusion,” George conceded, “but you can’t maintain the barrier forever.”

Alan: “Don’t worry, we have prepared a little something.”

After saying so, he took out another bottle, this time filled with an acid green liquid, and drank from it.

Luciette and George both shook their heads. They knows that the fight will soon reach the back where they are standing, and Alan didn’t want them drained. However, he couldn’t keep up the barrier with drinking juice, no matter what wondrous properties Laksa put into it.

The energy drink doesn’t restore his life force, only help in its regeneration. Furthermore, there is a limit to how much his stomach can hold. To call upon the avatar of a goddess is no mean feat. Somehow, he had opened a link to divinity and kept it up for the entire day now.

Whatever preparation there are, it needs to be quick. From drinking a fist-sized bottle of juice every ten seconds, Alan started taking sips once per minute, and by ten minutes his body is entirely sluggish on George’s back.

Then, as the number of the warriors of Snowdrifts reached five hundred, the soil bridge cracked and groaned. At first they thought that the structure had finally been broken after the ceaseless cannon fire. Only Alan and the Hall Master had a smile on their faces as though victory is nigh.

Everyone else looked with contorted expression as the bridge that brought the Snowdrifts to the wall walk grew taller once again.