The Blood Moon descended, the Wallwalkers deployed!

The blood moon season had arrived at last.

A dark red lunar disc first appeared deep within the Gray Fog, slowly rising through the mist. The sacred flame nodes across the Twelve Defense Zones were suppressed at once, their once-steady white-gold sacred flames contracting inward.

The Water Spirit Defense Zone was the first to send a confirmation code. Several observation posts along the main river simultaneously spotted broad ripples spreading across the surface. Within half an hour, aquatic Demon Beasts were coming ashore in continuous waves.

Alarms sounded from Windridge. Countless flying Demon Beasts approached the sacred flame nodes along the peaks, charging into the territory through volleys of arrows.

Beneath the same blood moon, all twelve defense zones began sending reports on the opening of the blood moon season back to the Tear Knight Defense Line through their Sacred Flame Echo Consoles.

The central command post of the Joint Mobile Force Legion also shifted to a wartime footing.

The real-time positions of several combined battle groups lay before Gavin. Routine training had been canceled, and every unit was stationed where it could deploy according to combat-readiness requirements.

Their first assignment was a sacred flame node near the outer edge of the Water Spirit Defense Zone, where two groups of Demon Beasts had appeared at once.

The local garrison could not possibly hold that node. If the beasts occupied the road and the territory, subsequent casualty evacuations and supply shipments would have to take enormous detours, or retaking the territory would cost a great many lives.

After reading the request, Gavin moved a battle group marker onto the main map. "Deploy the Second Combined Battle Group."

Before Gavin's order had even left the camp, the recorder responsible for the Water Spirit sector brought another enemy update from the Echoing Platform.