The sky was black as ink, without a single trace of starlight.
Only the scattered torches lit among the army tore brief, feeble gaps through the clinging darkness.
Kryudera's army moved across this dead-silent land like a soundless torrent of steel.
The clatter of armor, heavy footsteps, and the occasional low snorts of the Earth Beasts intertwined, oppressive beyond measure.
They were already very close to the ultimate destination of this expedition: the polluted Styxia.
Ahead of the procession, the scenery grew increasingly bizarre.
Whatever life might once have existed had been utterly wiped away, replaced by vast stretches of withered, twisted plant remains stained an ominous black, as though all their vitality had been drained away in an instant.
The ground was covered in a viscous blackish-red substance that seemed not yet fully solidified, like a festering wound upon the earth.
It even gave off a sickly-sweet stench of rust mixed with rotting seaweed, enough to make one retch.
The air was thick with heavy moisture, yet it carried a bone-deep chill.
Kryudera reined in her mount, an exceptionally mighty Earth Beast.
She raised a hand, signaling the army to halt.
Torchlight flickered across her stern features and golden eyes.
"This is land that has been eroded by the Black Tide."
Her voice was not loud, yet it reached every soldier's ears clearly, carrying a metallic chill:
"The Black Tide's power is polluting these waters and their shores."
"Warriors who follow Caesar's will!"
She swept her gaze across the resolute yet weary faces around her, illuminated by the firelight:
"Rest and recover here. Check your equipment. In half an hour, we begin the siege!"
Elsewhere, outside Okhma City, in the allied army's main camp.
Within the command tent, the atmosphere was utterly unlike the deathly stillness in the