The sound of thunder split the sky, and like lightning descending from the heavens, Damian appeared in the largest fortress of his domain in the far north, where no human except for his army could live due to its proximity to the border of the demon castle.
The Point of Dead Swords, the zone of endless war, is where Damian planned to expand his territory to keep the entire north focused on a single warfront, given the recent results.
When Damian appeared, Drogo, who had taken the position of commander of this legion composed mostly of his warriors, saluted alongside the other soldiers.
There was a sense of security with Damian's presence on the front line.
From what he had heard, some humans had begun selling information for false victories in their own territories, which enraged Damian, as he was affected by the war.
Demons could infiltrate shielded cities thanks to the noble families controlling those same barriers.
These traitors passed information to the demons in the northern part of the mountains through special channels and were sometimes more difficult to find for extermination than orc spies sent by demons.
In the area where there were three great families, all of them were situated behind Damian's domain, which kept them safer but also exposed.
The Harden family, now led by its successor, Calisto Harden, was beyond the city led by Bastian Ars, and to its right was Adonis, who seemed to keep his territory calm.
Because Damian's territory accepted any refugee needing a new start, this was sometimes dangerous, as merchants passing through safe routes somehow extracted information from the city of Snowstorms.
Damian suspected that much of this information was being sold by Baron Adonis.
"How is the army?" Damian asked, his voice devoid of any hint of equality towards his subordinates.
Drogo immediately responded, "There are fifty thousand combat puppets underground, fifteen thousand elite warriors, and ten thousand garrison troops handling arrows, catapults, and spear launching."
"Good, let's rest a bit."
...
"The enemy before us is the Williams family. This family is an emerging military aristocracy. Only Damian Williams and his gens army, which constantly takes new lands under his command, remain in combat."
Although Damian could now be considered the heir to the old lord, who should already be old, it was known that he had participated in numerous battles, and his level of combat experience was truly high.
The Damian family apparently had three legions spread across their territory, weakening them, a cavalry legion, and at least a dozen magical catapults. This invention kept the border secure for a long time.
Upon learning that Damian was probably the same elder who participated in the defense of the north forty years ago and had also achieved military feats, Adonis became interested.
"Now I must eliminate great defenders of humans for future inventions. Six years ago, I promised my father that I would fight for humans, but if we let Damian expand, he will soon reach the capital, and it is not crazy to imagine that he could even be the next governor."
Adonis' right-hand man nodded and said, "You are always right, my lady. The ruler of that city is truly very capable. I never heard of the inventions coming out of that city before, but they are so good that they sell all over the continent."
"The borders of snowstorms are well fortified, and obviously, it is difficult to consider an invasion. Without a magical shield, they are easy to attack, but we must know that they are good at defending." A white-skinned demon with green hair named Albion said this when the meeting reached its densest point.
"Although the heavy catapult is powerful, it is very cumbersome to transport and requires a large number of accessories to mount it. We could take advantage of that and attack a less fortified point."
A heavy catapult required dozens of ox carts to transport it and about fifty installation and operation services.
The orcs and demons were limited by their transport capacity when heading south, and it was impossible to carry too many heavy trebuchet accessories.
"You are right; there is no possibility of winning in a frontal fight against those humans who have set too many traps both in the sky and on the ground. Can we use a strategy to lure Damian to lead his troops to attack and strike him in the open field?"
Both humans and demons proposed their ideas.
Compared to fifty years ago, Damian not only improved in strength, but his army also became powerful. His experience in commanding battles also increased, and the use of troops became much more prudent.
"Luring the enemy is a strategy. Shall we pretend to withdraw our troops tomorrow to see if Damian will seize the situation and pursue us?"
"If we pretend our city is being invaded by demons, Damian's army would respond to our call, and we could attack him then." Adonis said he was somewhat interested. In any case, he would benefit.
...
Border of Snowstorms City.
The scouts discovered something unusual the next day. Two and a half orc legions left the camp and took a detour towards the valley that connects the north with the south.
The orcs guarding the northern part of the valley only had half a brigade left.
After the news reached the outpost where Damian was, there was a meeting of concerned officers.
Even Drogo thought it would be a good idea to attack, take more territory, and expand the walls with magic.
According to the army's strength, if they attacked the remaining demons now, there was a forecast of total victory.
"Although we have combat balloons, the overall situation of a strong enemy does not change overnight. Moreover, demon scouts have the advantage at every moment. As long as they want to hide their tracks, it is difficult for our scouts to detect them."
"We have accurate information, but this could be a coincidence or a trap."
After careful consideration, Damian rejected the majority's opinions.
Only when officers perform military feats can they be rewarded and achieve better development.
Drogo, in all these months, had to achieve military feats to accumulate meritorious titles.
Soldiers are subjectively greedy for merit. Once greed arises in their hearts, they will convince themselves of certain thoughts, ignore some problems, and behave less objectively.
Although Damian also wanted to perform meritorious acts, he was not as anxious as the other soldiers. Instead, he could consider the overall situation. Seeing that Damian resisted the temptation and was not eager for titles, Drogo let out a long sigh.
The current situation is very unfavorable for the demons and orcs.
The entry point where demons invade is a three-way intersection where several mountain paths converge. It is a strategic point where orcs must be stationed.
This mountain pass must be garrisoned by troops.
In the face of the threat, the troops stationed there must not be lacking.
The defenders were very few, and the families of other minor nobles could be easily defeated.
At this moment, Damian has troops, but he cannot go beyond his territory right now.
But when doubts were growing, shocking news arrived: Count Adonis' city was being attacked by demons.
The orcs suffered a defeat in the last battle; despite killing a powerful demon, they lost about 15,000, while the demons lost 50,000 soldiers.
After suffering this loss, of course, the demons could not continue the war, so they withdrew four legions from other areas to strengthen their forces and attack Count Adonis' city.
In this war, the two legions were used to face the two new counts, Adonis and Harden.
The main armies had withdrawn to replenish their ranks. Although all the counts invested in their armies, few could recover as Damian did after each loss.
Facing the attack of an orc legion, Duke Adonis barely managed to hold onto several important fortresses. The path was opened, allowing the orcs to pass through the count's territory and approach the villages to plunder.
Count Adonis was not as wealthy. He only organized two thousand troops, and their quality was not as good as Duke Roger's.
Facing the attack of an orc legion, Count Adonis could not resist and was now trapped in the castle. The situation was not optimistic in everyone's eyes.
Whether Count Adonis can survive depends on the rescue efforts deployed for them.
Because there were four more legions, after receiving the letter, the commander of the Orc Legion immediately decided to send troops to support.
Adonis' territory was large, rich in minerals, but very small in population, as it was the most attacked. That is why they could not do much to defend themselves.
The question everyone was asking was, What decision would Damian make?