Dark clouds gathered, covering the entire sky above Fort Greta at an astonishing speed. In less than a minute, the previously clear sky had been shrouded beneath clouds as dark as nightfall. Winds heavy with moisture began blowing across the plains and hills, and even the sound of trees swaying from the direction of the forest seemed to carry the muffled rush of splashing water. The soldiers desperately resisting the Aberrant assault soon noticed this unusual change. Those who still had the strength looked up and immediately saw a "smiling face" stretched across half the sky, still expanding.
"What the hell is that?!" A knight captain with a vicious scar across his cheek stared in shock at the wavering smile floating among the clouds. It was so unnervingly bizarre that even this battle-hardened knight felt his skin crawl. "That cloud is grinning at me! And it looks like a girl's face!"
The shriek of a projectile tearing through the air came from nearby. A battle mage assigned to provide fire suppression beside the knight captain fired a volley of Arcane Missiles toward the enemy, then looked up as well. The supernatural being, whose mind had already gone hazy from excessive casting, rubbed his eyes hard and muttered dreamily, "Am I about to die...? They say that when people are dying, they see the faces of those closest to them in the sky... Did my grandfather turn into a beautiful girl after going to heaven?"
Before the battle mage finished speaking, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded nearby. A knight in light armor rushed around the corner of the barricade. The young messenger knight shouted, "The king's orders! Friendly fire support is about to arrive! Leave this area immediately! The entire army is to withdraw toward Fort Greta! The king's orders—fall back to