Chapter 359: The Cutting Cold of War

The war had begun in full. The dead from the rear lines were surging forward now, a tide of rotting flesh and rusted armor. The enemy generals, massive hulking figures, moved slowly, their presence alone enough to freeze the advance of any who dared approach. Soon they stopped altogether, standing like towering sentinels in the middle of the battlefield. They weren’t meant to fight yet. They were a wall, an unbreakable line meant to keep anyone from reaching the castle.

Princess Charlie fought beside Luke, the two of them moving in sync, weaving through the chaos and exploiting the gaps opened by the survivors ahead.

[Estimated Time Until End: 05 hours : 47 minutes : 13 seconds]

A small group of undead broke through the defensive line, charging straight toward them. Charlie spun her sword in a graceful arc, cutting through them before their claws even reached her armor. Luke raised his bow and loosed a quick volley.

[You have slain a…]
[You have slain a…]
[You have slain a…]

Three corpses hit the dirt, this time staying down for good.

Luke reached for another arrow from his quiver, twenty in total, prepared before the battle began. The Meditation skill had already restored what he’d spent, leaving him with a full mana pool and enough ammunition to last through the early waves.

“Hey, human, you move too much,” Franky hissed from under his shirt.

“That’s the least of our problems,” Luke muttered, sprinting to catch up to Charlie. He crouched quickly, plucking reusable arrows from fallen corpses, and drew the string again in one fluid motion. The next shot pierced through an undead’s chest, dropping it mid-charge.

“I can’t believe I’m a rat,” Franky grumbled.

Luke’s eyes caught the red glow in the distance, dozens of them. Midnight Wardens. He drew another arrow, aimed for one of their helmets, and fired. The impact cracked through the metal, piercing cleanly and killing the creature instantly.

“Their damned helmets ruin the arrows,” he said, inspecting the broken tip before tossing it aside.

“Let me help, human,” Franky said, poking his small serpent head out from Luke’s collar.

“Sure, I’ll ask the armored zombie to politely die to your acid next time.”

“Thanks.”

“No, idiot, that was sarcasm.”

“What’s sarcasm?”

“Forget it. I already explained that once.”

They pressed forward through the chaos. The group’s formation was an inverted V, cutting through the undead horde like the point of an arrow. Luke held the center, shielded on both sides, with Princess Charlie leading the charge at the front. The full lineup was tight and disciplined: Luke, Charlie, Allison, Evangeline, Jack, Anne, Mason, and a squad of Erza’s maids led by Christine, Ronan’s fiancée.

Charlie shifted her blade into a shield, deflecting a Warden’s spear before smashing its skull with brutal precision. The shield morphed back into a sword as she rammed it through another Warden’s chest, then struck the creature’s jaw with her free hand, shattering bone.

Jack moved up beside him, keeping his wand ready The team had two main healers, Jack and Anne, and Christine as a backup. And they were going to need every bit of healing they could spare. Luke stowed his bow and pulled the kukri from his inventory. Gripping both tightly, he hurled them forward—each blade finding its mark.

Above, arrows streaked across the dark sky, leaving trails of fire that rained down ahead, setting the field ablaze. The thunder of cannons never ceased; the survivors were using every trick they had left, triggering the traps they’d prepared in the days before the war.

Then something strange began to happen. Snowflakes started to fall.

“I thought the rule was to save mana,” Erza said, dodging a warden as the maids finished the creature off with quick precision.

“It’s not me,” Allison replied as they ran forward.

Luke looked up, stunned. Snow was drifting down through the dark sky, settling over the chaos of battle.

Snow? Already? The timer still had hours left. They were deep within the heart of the kingdom, far from the walls that held back the winter. Twenty minutes—was that really all it took for the cold to reach them? Unlike the outer strongholds, this fortress was supposed to be safe from the frost. The snow shouldn’t be falling yet.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The same realization hit everyone at once. Don’t tell me… during the war, we’ll be caught in a blizzard?

The thought vanished as something darted toward them—a massive zombie mantis. Erza spun gracefully, releasing razor-thin threads that bound the creature’s limbs. Anne surged forward, leaping high, and in a blink the monster’s head rolled across the ground.

“Don’t waste a single drop of mana,” Erza said, glancing at Luke.

“I know,” he answered.

Ahead, soldiers were clearing the path. Fire bursts lit the air; mages unleashed bolts of lightning and jets of water. Arrows floated in midair, loosed by unseen hands. Pushing through the ranks, they reached the archer towers positioned ahead. Luke caught sight of a team manning a catapult, launching stones into the distance.

“Jerry said he hasn’t seen anything strong yet, aside from the generals,” Evangeline said beside him.

A group came running toward them. The maids raised their spears.

“It’s us!” Quinn shouted.