The night wind cut like a knife. Flames still lingered on the snow, and the embers of the Red Cloud Fief flickered in the distance.
Louis swung into the saddle without looking back at the ruins that had just been cleansed by fire and drenched in a rain of corpses.
The ranks of knights behind him were silent, the deep crimson mushroom of flame from the Brood Hive's explosion still reflected in every pair of eyes.
"Next," he said softly, almost to himself, without a trace of emotion.
Dozens of riders rode through the snow, heading southeast along the mountains.
The knights said nothing. Only the sound of hooves pounding snow weighed on their hearts like heavy war drums.
"From Blackpine Ridge to Cold Deer Plain, all seven beacon towers have gone dark." A scout knight galloped over, his brow tightly furrowed. "The Gwen Family has been wiped out. The crests of Heller and Tawen Castle have been torn from the watchtowers. We couldn't even find their bodies."
"What about Greenhill Castle?"
"In three hours, Insect Corpses emptied the entire fief. A Brood Hive nested right in the town center, but the main hive has already moved. Its location is unknown."
These were all fiefs near the outskirts of Snowpeak Commandery.
Louis remained silent for a long time, a topographic map of Snowpeak Commandery spread before him.
The ravines and snowy forests he had once considered natural barriers were now crumbling one by one.
Insect Corpses were crossing the rifts with increasing frequency, day and night.
Louis did not rush.
He raised his head and looked at the others. "From now on, the Red Tide Legion will enter 'targeted rescue mode.'"
His voice was calm, as though he faced not an insect tide devouring the Northern Frontier, but a complicated