In the second week of Frigid Moon, cold winds from the northern mountains howled without cease. A heavy snowfall lasted through the entire night, covering the long defensive line across the northern region. Even the seas of fire and smoke raised by Magic Cannons and legion spells cooled before nature's power, and the mountains along the edge of the dark wasteland were clad in silver.
Yet even the most ordinary soldiers knew that this brief, quiet winter day would not last long—the cold could only slightly slow the Aberrants' movements, but their attacks would not cease because of changing weather. On that polluted, corrupted land, clashes between the frontline troops and the Aberrants would soon begin anew. In some sense... they had never stopped for even a moment.
In the northeastern region of the Gondor Wasteland, within what had once been wasteland territory, Andesha Wendell walked across the cold, barren ground, listening to the faint crunch of snow beneath her boots. Amid the unceasing wind in her ears, she heard subtle sounds that seemed to come from deep underground. An intermittent tremor occasionally rose from beneath her feet, creating the illusion of an earthquake.
The Typhonian commander stopped and looked toward the dark mountains in the distant north—that was the Cecilians' defensive line, and where that "Living Forest" had taken root.
"Did you feel the tremors beneath our feet?" Andesha turned to look at the adjutant beside her. "It seems to have started again."
"Yes, General," said the female adjutant, who had short silver-white hair and dark skin. She nodded with a serious expression. "That is Lady Beltira's Living Forest launching attacks underground. Her main root system has already spread beneath our feet. I heard it has now reached the vicinity of the magic scorch marks—but it has encountered extremely