The bleak wind howled. Snowflakes as large as goose feathers once again began to drift down from the sky, falling endlessly.

Beneath the heavy snowfall, a dense swarm of Wilderness People in beast-pelt hats surged toward a city wall over ten blades high, like a tide of pitch-black ants.

War cries shook the heavens, interspersed with ceaseless screams of agony.

The air was frigid, but the atmosphere was fever-pitched.

Scalding blood splattered across the city wall, drenching it until it steamed in the dead of winter.

Leiden stood atop a watchtower, watching the slaughter from afar.

By his calculations, this host of Zor Elves had been assaulting the wall for three full days.

And yet, they still hadn’t taken it.

These High Elves were tougher than he had imagined.

WHOOOO~

A deep, desolate horn blast echoed.

The attacking Wilderness People and the defending Elves both breathed a sigh of relief. The attackers had reached their limit in casualties; their relentless assault had made no progress, and the pressure had long since become unbearable.

As for the defenders, they had earned another moment of respite.

’Another failure.’

Watching the Wilderness Corps retreat like the tide, Leiden lowered his gaze, his face devoid of expression.

’Sieges were never as simple as one might think.’

’A thousand defenders could hold off ten thousand in a siege. And these High Elves had more than a thousand men, all of them well-equipped, well-trained Warriors.’

’And our side?’

’We claimed to have forty thousand troops, but the real fighting force was only about twenty thousand, and they were worlds apart in terms of equipment and discipline.’

As a Giant Goblin with a natural grasp of military science, Leiden was not surprised by this outcome.

"However, they’ll only be able to hold out for one more day," he muttered in a low voice.

The Zor Elves were executing some unknown plan. The only thing he could surmise was that this wall, which had held for three days, would be completely shattered tonight. They would cross this once-insurmountable chasm.

Then, they would unleash a bloody massacre and pillage to enrich their monotonous lives, which had recently consisted of nothing but fighting.

"Lord Leiden, the high chieftains are holding a meeting."

A Bear Goblin approached respectfully.

Leiden nodded. A sudden gust of cold wind made him instinctively pull his neck down into his wide, wolf-pelt coat.

’This year’s White Calamity is even more severe than I thought.’

He climbed down the watchtower and headed for the tallest of the beast-pelt tents that sprawled across the mountainside.

When Leiden lifted the tent flap, he saw that the dozens of chairs arranged around a huge long table in the center were already mostly occupied. A single glance revealed a menagerie of different beings.

He found an inconspicuous corner to sit down in, only to unexpectedly run into an acquaintance.

"Leiden, you’re finally here." The voice was incredibly seductive, but the face it came from was so ghoulish that even Leiden couldn’t look at it directly.

It was the Harpies Queen, Aidan.

After their retreat from the south, they had rendezvoused with this host of Zor Elves just last night. As expected, their former Alliance Army had been broken up and absorbed into this massive force, a hodgepodge of countless factions.

"I thought you weren’t coming," Leiden said, glancing at her once before rubbing his hands together.

He was sitting closest to the entrance, where the cloth flap failed to block the biting wind. The intermittent drafts made him extremely uncomfortable.

"Those damned oafs just took all the seats up front! And Lady Laya doesn’t even scold them."

"We’re the ones who did the most work! If we hadn’t fought to the death to hold back those humans, the enemy would’ve known what was happening here long ago." Aidan snorted, deeply resentful of being forced to sit at the back.

So, upon seeing an acquaintance, she had immediately started to complain.

Leiden sneered internally, having no desire to talk with her any further.

’The Wilderness is a cruel place, ruled by the principle of survival of the fittest. If the weak are killed, they have no one to blame but themselves.’

’If this Harpies Queen didn’t have some minor use as an aerial scout, her kind’s pathetic strength would have them serving as cannon fodder, just like the Kobolds and Goblins.’

’The only reason she even had a seat here was that these butchers weren’t quick to discard a tool that might still have some use.’

Leiden glanced toward the front of the table: the Minotaur Chief, the Ogre Elder, the Lizardman Leader, the Pigman... the Jackal Wolf...

’Ordinarily, these were all ruthless figures in the Wilderness. He and the Harpies Queen were like two potatoes in a pumpkin patch—completely out of place.’

’In fact, if not for Gus, he wouldn’t even have this seat at the very back.’

Leiden did, however, notice one empty seat at the head of the table.

His question was answered soon enough.

"Hasn’t Gus arrived yet?"

A deeply alluring female voice drifted from the head of the table.

Leiden looked over and saw a stunningly beautiful Zor Elf. She had long, silver hair and wore exceptionally exquisite Light Armor. Her feet were propped up on the table, and her expression was one of pure languor.

All eyes in the tent fell upon another Giant Goblin. The question was clearly directed at it.

"Lady Eliya, Gus was sent to deal with those cunning Elves. He has not yet returned."

A Giant Goblin, dressed in the style of the Military Nobility, replied with extreme deference.

’This Zor Elf was the true commander of this grand Wilderness Alliance Army.’

’Her full name was Eliya Jin. But even as Leiden scraped his memory clean with a metaphorical bone chip, he could find no record of a Zor Clan with the surname Jin. This contingent of Zor Elves seemed to have appeared out of thin air.’

’By all rights, the Zor Elves had vanished into the river of history long ago. But the world was vast; it was impossible to say where they might have been hiding, only that they had chosen this moment to emerge.’

’There should have been clues, some thread to follow, but Leiden found he couldn’t grasp it at all.’

"It’s been half a day, and he still can’t catch a few rats. Gus is getting more and more useless."

The Ogre Elder sneered, his voice booming like a thunderclap.

Leiden kept his head down and said nothing.

’This Ogre Elder was a massive Giant Beast, four blades tall. In size alone, it was only slightly smaller than Gus. Its power ranked among the top three in this tent.’

’If Leiden angered it, no one would bat an eye if it killed him. Even Gus’s subsequent fury would be useless.’

"If he’s not here, then forget it." Eliya yawned, seemingly unconcerned.

’This Centaur, born with control over the Elements, had certainly caught her eye. She had wanted to recruit him. But if he couldn’t even deal with a few wretched High Elves...’

’...then his value to her would naturally diminish.’

"Lady Eliya has gathered you all here to discuss how to breach this city wall."

A heavy voice boomed, like muffled thunder on a clear day, making one’s heart tremble.

The sound involuntarily pulled Leiden’s mind back to a distant summer’s day.