No one had expected the Intis Army, on which the allied forces had pinned such high hopes, to suffer devastating losses barely two months into the war. The northern front had gone from an advantage to a disadvantage.
Meanwhile, the Lenburg Army had yet to suffer any major losses.
More importantly, the Beyonders of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom had not even entered the war.
After this phase of the fighting ended, the popes of the Storm Church and the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun held secret talks with the pontiff of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery.
The Three Great Churches quietly adjusted their strategy toward Lenburg.
In other words, the churches no longer believed the governments of Intis and Loen could defeat Lenburg.
Major General Lawrence Zaratul of Intis's Bureau 8 glanced at his two companions: Finn Houston of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun and Rory Hunter of the Church of Steam.
They were hiding in a mountain hollow, waiting for nightfall before moving.
They shared a mission: investigate a stretch of woods north of Isara for signs of Lenburg Beyonders.
It was a strange assignment. After discussing it, the three had concluded that their superiors wanted to know whether the area contained an important Lenburg military installation—or perhaps a Beyonder facility.
That made caution essential.
For the past few days, the three Sequence 5 Beyonders had rested by day and traveled by night.
Once darkness fell, they made their final preparations, swiftly left the hollow, and continued on their way.
Strangely, a warm breeze blew toward them from up ahead.
It was already December. There should have been no warm breezes on the Northern Continent!
The three concealed themselves. The surrounding farmland looked perfectly normal, so they