On the front line of Winterwolf Castle, the flames of war have been ignited on this land, and they are still burning.

On the east side of the line, a fierce battle had just ended in the narrow valley area, and a legion of Typhon's Extraordinaries tried to attack the Cecil's supply lines from the valley in a covert detour, but in the process of marching, it alarmed a mobile corps that happened to be temporarily stationed nearby - fierce fighting broke out in the encounter, and the entire area was set on fire by the army of the Transcendents and ordinary people armed with steel machines, and after three hours, the remnants of Typhon retreated, and the Cecil Corps, which had suffered some battle losses, rested on the spot and continued to be on guard. Until reinforcements from the rear arrived.

A young officer with bronzed skin arrived on the battlefield that was still smoking, and the cold north wind howling through the valley, carrying the pungent smell of the earth burning and the charring of flesh and blood, all made the young man who trusted Maryland couldn't help but squint his eyes slightly.

He looked up in the direction of the end of the ramp and saw three wrecked vehicles lying in the crater, smoke billowing from beneath the twisted and bent armor plates, and farther away he could see soldiers in action—soldiers cleaning the battlefield and putting bodies in body bags.

The Typhonians didn't take all the bodies with them when they retreated - these dangerous remains were better taken back and burned thoroughly, leaving them here with no idea what would happen.

A company commander wearing second-generation magical armor with a blue heraldic ribbon on one shoulder came to the high ground and gave a military salute to the bronzed-skinned young officer: "Chief Payne, the collection of corpses is over. ”

"Hmm," the young officer known as Payne nodded, then frowned slightly, and his gaze fell on the wrecked chariots, "...... The Typhonians are gradually mastering the method of fighting the chariot in skirmishes...... Without having to rely on legion-level spells, their Transcendental units can also fight our tanks. ”

"It seems that this is true - their tactics are progressing very quickly, and they are always learning from us," the company commander nodded, "and now they have completely stopped using melee units to charge tanks head-on, and instead rely on various transcendent units to fight in small squads with each other - when conditions allow, they will use all kinds of magic traps, and when conditions cannot, they will use defensive knights to form squads of five or ten to resist one or two shells, and mages will quickly cast spells with the help of cover, Trap the vehicle with mire or rock spells, attempt to disrupt the mana cycle inside the vehicle with counterspells such as Arcane Impact, and perform close-range blasts with Stalkers, or rely on multiple mages to attack......

"At the moment, these tactics of the Typhons often come at the cost of large casualties, and can only deal with small groups of tanks and multi-purpose vehicles, but it's a fact that their tactics are constantly improving - and they have come up with some powerful 'new gadgets', such as the explosives used by the stalkers, which are very threatening."

“…… Can a hybrid army of transcendents be so difficult......" Payne couldn't help but frown, "Obviously they couldn't do anything against our steel chariots in an encounter not long ago......"

"Before the war with Typhon, we had never seen such an opponent who could use the Transcendent as if he were a normal soldier," the company commander said bluntly, "and even the historical archives of the Long Wind Fortress don't mention this kind of mixed forces and tactical changes—this must have been developed by Typhon in the last few years. ”

"We haven't seen the 'Troop of Extraordinaires', so we were caught off guard," Penn couldn't help but sigh, "and Typhon hasn't seen the 'Legion of Ordinary People' using steel machines, and they're caught off guard...... It was an eye-opener war for both sides. ”

His gaze swept over the battlefield, and Typhon's black banner landed on the icy earth, stained with dirt and ashes, and the red lines on its surface were particularly eye-catching.

He was glad that Typhon had come to war at his weakest moment—it might not have been "chivalrous" enough, but Penn knew that the age of chivalry was over.

After a moment of thought, he withdrew his gaze and looked at the company commander beside him: "Have those corpses been preliminarily examined?" The result? ”

"Yes, the examination has been carried out, and the results are basically in line with General Philip's prediction," the company commander immediately said, "Several enemy commanders have signs of physical mutation, and can be identified as 'completely infected', and most of the ordinary knights and some auxiliary soldiers have also shown strength and recovery ability beyond ordinary people, and can be identified as 'mental alienation'." All of these enemies are sane. As for the military mages...... They don't seem to be tainted by the spirit of the god of war. ”

“…… Therefore, among the Typhon troops who were sent to attack the Winter Wolf Line, the proportion of mentally polluted personnel is increasing, especially the officer class......" Payne nodded slowly, and said in a deep voice, "When the Winter Wolf Line first fell into our hands, only about half of the officers of the enemy who came to counterattack were mentally tainted ......"

"Isn't that normal?" The company commander was a little confused, "This shows that the contamination is spreading among Typhon's army, and that more and more soldiers and officers are being affected by the madness - their infections are on the verge of getting out of control." ”

"No," Payne shook his head, a serious look on his face, "you're mistaken about one thing—even though we call this a 'spiritual plague', the speed and scope of its contamination was limited from the beginning, and it's unlikely to spread so quickly now.

"This 'spiritual plague', it uses the belief in the god of war as the basic medium, according to the analysis of the scholars above, only the belief in the god of war reaches a certain level of piety, human beings will be infected by it - so if you are not a devout follower of the god of war, then you will not be infected anyway, and if you believe in the god of war, then you have been affected as early as the first few days of the outbreak of this 'plague'."

The company commander listened to his commander's explanation, and finally slowly reacted: "In other words, the number of 'infected' in Typhon's army should have entered a stable state a few days ago, and theoretically there should not be such an abnormal increase...... But what about those sudden increases in infections? ”

“…… I don't know," Payne shook his head, looking into the distance, "but we should figure it out soon." ”

……

To the east of Winterwolf Castle, in the snow forest near an unnamed mine, several hazy figures are moving swiftly between the trees and the snow.

Agile as beasts in the woods, shrouded in an ever-changing aura of magic, their forms blending in with their surroundings so much that only a close look could discern their fleeting silhouettes—they sped across the boundaries of the snowy forest, bypassing trails rarely touched by hunters, and finally stopping at a secret hideout deep in the woods.

A giant tree that had been dead for an unknown amount of time had fallen here, the huge trunk had weathered and decayed to form a wooden wall to hide from the wind and snow, and several warriors in white light armor and white smocks were guarding here, and when the team returned to investigate the situation, these warriors instinctively raised their vigilance, but soon they confirmed the identity of the comer through the identification mark they carried with them, and they relaxed a little.

"It's safe, you can turn off the Quguang force field."

A deep voice sounded as if out of thin air, and then the figures returning from outside the snow forest were undisguised one by one, revealing the same outfits as the soldiers left behind in the hideout.

It's a team of Steel Rangers who have penetrated deep into Typhon's territory - they've changed into equipment for easy movement in the snowy area during this snow-covered season, and they're all armed with warp light field generators that can hide their shapes.

They had been operating in the area for two days, and at the same time, several other squads were operating in several other nearby areas.

"Where's Chief Thorderling?" The team leader who returned from outside the snow forest glanced at the clear hiding place and asked casually curiously, and the moment his words fell, a magnetic voice almost came from under his nose: "I'm here." ”

The blonde Thorderling stood up from a nearby stake - the soldiers didn't even realize his presence before he could say a word and make a move!

The high-level ranger of the Silver Elf can be "invisible" in front of ordinary people without even using any extraordinary skills, this incredible ability made the team leader can't help but be a little in awe, and then he hurriedly gave a military salute and said to Thorderlin: "Sir, we have returned from Pinewood Town, and the operation is quite smooth. ”

"Tell me about your discoveries," said Thorderling, who always seemed to have a hint of melancholy in his graceful temperament, "the other squads haven't replied yet, and you're the first to finish the reconnaissance. ”

"Yes, sir," the squad leader nodded immediately, "the informant's information is accurate, we saw that several buildings in the Typhon barracks near Pinewood Town had their coats of arms replaced on the outer walls, judging by the shape, they should be the resting places of noble officers and knights. In addition, we have seen several large numbers of people coming and going, and there is a build-up of troops at a junction to the southeast, judging by the flags and coats of arms, it should be some national order from the central region......"

Listening to the squad leader's well-organized report, Toldlin nodded slowly: "Very good, you have seen something very important. ”

"It's a pity that we can't go further to the southeast," the team leader shook his head with some regret, "The magic sentry over there is too tight, and there are mage eyes everywhere - magicians don't want money, and there are even mages standing guard at the entrance of the village, and our Quguang force field may not work over there." ”

“…… It's not that magicians don't want money, it's that Typhon has always been rich," Thordrling pursed his lips and couldn't help but comment in a phrase that Gawain once said, "That's how money is possible." ”

As he spoke, the handsome blonde elf seemed to have a more melancholy temperament between his eyebrows, but he quickly shook his head: "The next time I communicate, I will send the information you have detected and the information you collected last time to the rear, and everyone will take a break during this time - after that we will move the place again." ”

After the explanation, the high-ranking ranger turned and left his hideout, and with great agility came to a large nearby tree, where he took advantage of the winter leaves to hide his figure, and sat down half-vigilantly and half-resting among the branches.

"Is the chief in a bad mood today?" The team leader couldn't help but glance over there, and said to his comrade-in-arms beside him, "I feel like he's frowning." ”

"He's been like this lately, it's fine," said a Steel Ranger soldier casually, "Elves, it's said that they are all very emotional, maybe they will sigh when they see the snow, dead trees, barren mountains, or something here......"

The team leader thought about it and nodded approvingly: "Oh, it makes sense......

The warriors kept their conversations low, but the voices still couldn't hide the elves' keen ears.

Sölderlin, who sat on the branch, twitched his ears, but did not pay attention to the boring chatter of his subordinates, he only adjusted his posture slightly, and barely caused any trembling of the branch, and then raised his head and squinted at the clear blue sky in the winter sky with a slight melancholy.

After a long time, he sighed softly, "...... Why don't they have hair?

"Conjured ...... Does that one still count......"

……

"This is the latest information from the front," Hetty put a sorted document in front of Gawain in the study of Cecil Palace, "The defense line of Winterwolf Castle has stabilized, although the counterattack of the Typhonians has become more ferocious each time, we have increased our forces in time, and Zero and the Earthly Python have also arrived near the Shadow Swamp in time, and the warriors have finally gained a foothold there. ”

Gawain took the document handed by Hetty, and while listening to the other party's report, his eyes quickly swept over the paper, and soon, his gaze slowed down, and after Hetty's voice fell, he said to himself, "Sure enough...... The percentage of 'polluters' in Typhon's army has increased by ......"

"Theoretically, there can't be such a 'surge' of spiritual pollution through the chains of faith – the unbelievers are not polluted, the devout are contaminated in large quantities in the first place, and there is no 'human-to-human' spiritual contamination between the two groups," Hetty said, "so...... You've got it right. ”

"Yes, let me guess," Gawain said with a smile, his expression complex and subtle, "look here, these signs of mobilization, these complex, subtle, and rapid reorganization......"

He sighed, his face laughing or crying.

"These 'new' infected have been gathered and redeployed from the rear, and Rosetta Augustus is unleashing his vast ruling and war machines, constantly sending Ares-affected soldiers to the front lines of Winterwolf in a series of personnel adjustments - he is using our power to cleanse this contamination, maybe...... He is still using this to purge his political enemies. ”

Listening to Gawain's words, Hetty's expression also became strange.