Iron Gleam Fief's First Blood Moon Season

When Blood Moon Season truly arrived, the Sacred Flame Domain over Iron Gleam Heights contracted by an inch.

The change was tiny. In an Inland castle, most people would have overlooked it. But within the Eternal Night Wall, every retreat of the Sacred Flame's boundary tightened the chest.

The white-gold flame atop the Sacred Flame Altar had visibly diminished.

The domain of light that had once illuminated the entire fief now stopped at the foot of the wall, exposing a stretch of stonework stained by the dark red moonlight.

The wind lifted Elena's short red hair. Her shoulders were straight, and she looked ready to strike at any moment.

She stood atop the western wall, one hand resting on the cold railing, her gaze passing over the edge of the heights to the Gray Fog lowlands below.

The Gray Fog began to change. Dark red seeped through its depths, climbing little by little.

Elena's fingers tightened. The iron railing gave a faint creak.

This was her first time facing Blood Moon Season head-on.

In the Inland, she had heard armor plates collide during a Knight's Charge, infantry shouting as they broke, fabric tearing when a war banner snapped, and the tremor when a spear formation met heavy cavalry.

Those battles had a rhythm, set by horns and drums, with clear formations and distinct advances and retreats.

What lay before her was something else entirely.

The rustle of monster claws scraping across the Frozen Tundra came in layer after layer. The longer she listened, the tighter her chest grew and the shallower her breathing became.

The Gray Fog crept closer, spreading toward Iron Gleam Heights.

An unfamiliar feeling stirred in Elena. She soon realized that unfamiliarity itself was the cause.

She remembered standing on this stretch of wall when she first