Northern Territory.
Every morning, a thin mist blanketed the endless wasteland, only dispersing once the sun had risen higher.
Stretching, Gwen climbed out of bed.
She struggled a little to put on her clothes, then pinched her stomach in dismay. Her waist, once utterly free of excess flesh, had somehow grown a little softer.
Over the past month, she had actually put on some weight.
After washing up, Gwen stepped out of her room and happened to meet Hodge, who was holding a ledger and making entries.
"Morning, Hodge. How's the transport work going?"
"Most of them have been sent off, but you know about the rest. No matter what, they refuse to leave. They insist on finding Bazel and fighting this final battle."
"The final battle..." A smile unconsciously appeared on Gwen's face. She had never imagined that the fighting in the Northern Territory would one day come to an end.
Over the past month, she had followed Castel's Expeditionary Force across the Northern Territory. Three of the four former grand dukes had failed to make even the slightest splash before Castel.
There was no need to mention Dragonfang. He and all his troops had died on the battlefield. The airship bombardment had not even left behind minced flesh, let alone corpses. No one even knew which crater he had died in.
What could be confirmed was that he really was dead—all of the Dragonfang Army had fought to the death under the control of Transcendence power. No one had fled.
Morale that would never collapse was an extraordinarily powerful advantage on any other battlefield, one that could almost change the course of a war. But against Castel...
It had changed the battle, too. The Expeditionary Force had wiped out the entire Dragonfang Army without even needing to pursue