Morning came beneath dark clouds and falling snow.

The battlefield between the southern coalition and the trenches of Elarion had changed completely overnight.

Yesterday—

The valleys had been filled with confidence.

But today—

They were filled with corpses.

Frozen bodies still covered large sections of the battlefield where the first assault had collapsed beneath rifle fire. Recovery teams had managed pulling back many wounded during the night, but thousands of dead still remained scattered across the snow-covered ground between the armies.

Broken shields.

Discarded spears.

Blood frozen black beneath drifting snow.

And beyond that field of death—

The trenches of Elarion waited silently once again.

Inside the southern camps, no one laughed anymore.

The atmosphere had become cold.

Focused.

War drums echoed through the camp while officers moved between formations shouting final assault instructions.

This time—

everything looked different.

Gone were the lighter assault formations used yesterday.

Now the coalition prepared something heavier.

Massive steel tower shields were brought forward from supply wagons and distributed among selected heavy infantry units.

Each shield stood nearly as tall as a man.

The shields looked more like portable walls than battlefield equipment.

Behind them assembled rows of heavily armored infantry wearing reinforced breastplates and thick plated helmets specifically prepared for advancing under rifle fire.

Farther back:

lighter infantry,reserve troops and battlefield mages formed into secondary support lines.

Mana enhancement circles glowed faintly beneath the feet of mage detachments while defensive spells spread across shield formations like pale blue mist.

At the command ridge overlooking the battlefield, the southern nobles observed the new formations carefully through spyglasses.

This time—

No arrogance appeared among them.

Only grim determination.

One heavily armored commander pointed toward the advancing shield formations below.

"The rifles rely on exposed targets."

Another nodded.

"The shields deny them that."

A battlefield mage nearby added calmly:

"The mana reinforcement should weaken penetration further."

Several commanders visibly relaxed hearing that.

Yesterday’s slaughter still haunted the army.

Today they needed proof that the rifles could be countered.

Kassian Valcriox stood near the ridge edge silently observing the battlefield.

The new formation was sound.

Far superior to yesterday’s reckless assault.

But even then—

Something still unsettled him.

The trenches ahead remained too calm.

No visible concern or rushed repositioning.

Always silence.

Far across the battlefield inside the underground command bunker, Lucien calmly studied the approaching assault formations beside Malen and Cedric.

"Enemy heavy infantry leading."

"Large shield formations confirmed."

"Light infantry and mage detachments positioned behind."

Cedric crossed his arms.

"They learned."

"Yes."

Lucien’s gaze remained fixed on the operational map.

"But adaptation creates patterns."

Malen slowly nodded afterward.

Because tightly packed shield formations possessed one major weakness:

They clustered together.

And clustered troops died beautifully under artillery.

Above the bunker, Elarion riflemen occupied firing positions throughout the trench lines while artillery crews waited beside loaded cannons hidden behind reinforced ridge batteries.

This time—

the guns stood ready with explosive shells.

Heavy iron rounds rested beside every cannon position while fuse crews prepared ignition charges carefully.

The artillerymen looked calmer than yesterday.

Almost eager.

Because unlike the riflemen—

They already knew what the explosive shells could do.

Then the southern assault began.

War horns echoed across the valleys.

Thousands of heavy infantry advanced slowly through the snow beneath overlapping shield formations while lighter infantry and battlefield mages moved behind them in organized lines.

The formation looked like a moving iron wall.

The large steel shields overlapped carefully:

front to front,edge to edge forming a continuous barrier of steel across the advancing lines.

Behind them, soldiers marched almost completely hidden.

From the southern ridge, the nobles observed confidently.

One commander nodded slowly.

"Better."

Far below, the shield wall continued advancing toward the trenches.

Inside the northern trenches, riflemen watched the approaching formations carefully.

One young soldier stared at the advancing wall of steel nervously.

"...Those shields are massive."

Beside him, an older veteran calmly adjusted his rifle sight.

"They’re also heavy."

The younger soldier frowned slightly.

"What does that matter?"

The veteran glanced toward the artillery ridges behind them briefly.

"You’ll see."

Lucien allowed the enemy formations to continue advancing.

No artillery fired yet.

No rifle volleys.

The coalition commanders noticed immediately.

One southern officer smirked slightly.

"They hesitate again."

Another nodded.

"They know the rifles won’t stop the shields."

The heavy infantry continued advancing.

Snow crunched beneath thousands of boots while shield edges scraped together with metallic grinding sounds across the frozen battlefield.

The formation looked terrifying now.

An iron tide moving slowly toward the trenches.

At six hundred meters—

Lucien finally spoke.

"Rifles. Fire."

The trenches erupted instantly.

Thousands of rifles thundered together across the battlefield while smoke burst from trench lines in coordinated waves.

The bullets slammed into the advancing shield wall violently.

CLANG.

CLANG.

CLANG.

Most rounds struck steel directly and ricocheted away into the snow.

Some shields shook heavily beneath repeated impacts but held.

From the southern lines, several commanders visibly relaxed.

"It’s working!"

The heavy infantry kept advancing.

But not perfectly.

Because the shields were not flawless.

Small gaps existed between overlapping edges.

Vision slits remained exposed.

Leg spacing changed unevenly while marching across snow-covered ground.

And through those imperfections—

Death entered.

One heavy infantryman screamed suddenly as a rifle round slipped through a narrow shield gap and tore through his eye socket.

Another soldier staggered backward after a bullet punched through the slit of his helmet.

A shield bearer near the western flank collapsed instantly when a shot slipped beneath his raised shield and shattered his knee.

The formation survived.

But men still died.

Inside the trenches, Elarion riflemen adjusted calmly.

"Aim for gaps."

"Lower edges."

"Vision slits."

The firing changed afterward.

No longer random volleys.

Now the riflemen searched for weaknesses carefully.

And slowly—

The shield wall began bleeding.

The southern infantry continued advancing despite casualties.

Behind the shield wall, battlefield mages raised defensive mana barriers intermittently while light infantry prepared for eventual trench assault.

The coalition commanders watched carefully through spyglasses.

One noble nodded approvingly.

"Much better."

Another pointed toward the battlefield.

"The rifles cannot stop the advance now."

Kassian remained silent.

Inside the Elarion command bunker, Lucien studied the battlefield calmly.

"Range?"

An artillery observer answered immediately.

"Four hundred meters."

Lucien remained silent.

The shield wall kept advancing.

Heavy infantry stepped over corpses from yesterday’s assault while rifle fire continued cracking across the battlefield.

Three hundred fifty meters.

Three hundred twenty.

Three hundred.

Then—

Lucien spoke calmly.

"Artillery."

"Open fire."

The mountains exploded.

Every northern artillery battery fired together.

Unlike previous bombardments—

There was no restraint this time.

The first explosive shells screamed across the battlefield before crashing directly into the advancing coalition formations.

And then—

The valley vanished beneath fire.

BOOM.

A shell detonated directly beside the central shield formation.

Steel shields shattered apart instantly while fragments tore through the infantry packed behind them.

Bodies exploded backward across the snow.

Another shell landed moments later near the western advance.

The explosion ripped through clustered infantry like a giant invisible blade.

Men disappeared beneath smoke and blood while shield fragments spun violently through nearby formations.

Then came more.

And more.

And more.

The artillery batteries fired relentlessly now.

The battlefield transformed into hell within seconds.

Heavy infantry formations that survived rifle fire suddenly began disintegrating beneath fragmentation bombardment.

The massive shields became useless against explosions.

One shell landed directly behind a shield wall and detonated among tightly packed support infantry.

The blast tore bodies apart instantly.

A mage lost both legs beneath flying steel fragments while nearby soldiers collapsed screaming into the snow.

Another explosion struck near the front line.

A heavy infantryman disappeared completely beneath the blast while men around him fell shredded by metal fragments ripping through armor and flesh alike.

Blood sprayed across the snow in enormous arcs.

Panic spread rapidly through the coalition advance.

The shield formations had been designed against rifles.

Not explosions.

Now entire sections of infantry were vanishing beneath artillery fire.

And because the troops marched tightly packed—

Every shell caused catastrophic casualties.

One explosion tore through an entire shield cluster at once, sending broken steel plates and mangled bodies crashing across the battlefield.

Another shell detonated among the light infantry reserves behind the main line.

The blast ripped through dozens of soldiers simultaneously.

Men screamed.

Bodies burned.

Formations collapsed into chaos.

And still—

The artillery kept firing.

From the southern command ridge, the nobles stared in horror.

One commander lowered his spyglass shakily.

"...Gods..."

Another noble shouted angrily:

"What are those shells?!"

Nobody answered.

Because no one there had ever seen artillery like this before.

This was not ordinary bombardment.

This was destruction on a scale that felt unnatural.

Kassian watched silently as another artillery shell exploded inside a clustered infantry formation.

Bodies flew through the air.

Steel shields spun violently across the battlefield.

Men burned alive in shattered armor.

Entire sections of the advance disappeared beneath smoke and fire.

And for the first time since the campaign began—

Kassian truly understood something terrifying.

Lucien was designing a trap and they have fallen in it.