The repetition of the days had made Stan accustomed to the life of war in the fortress, and since he did not belong to the armies of any of the kingdoms, he was able to act as he pleased, rather than having to follow the instructions given by his superiors every day to prepare for a battle that could come at any time, as the soldiers did. However, as a knight ordained in Canrito, Stan still regulates his behavior with the strictest precepts, and every day at dawn, he will emerge from the warm bed, wash his face with cold water, and begin the day of training.

It starts with an hour of jogging, then heads back to camp to finish breakfast with your mates, and after a short rest, it's time for a day of confrontation training. After his previous experience and Barrede's guidance, most of the soldiers in the fortress are no match for Stan, and only a few officers are able to match him. Even Lucius had been grappling for quite some time before relying on his veteran experience to defeat him. Stan, the knight of Canreto, quickly spread among the soldiers, and although Stan emphasized that he was Doyle several times, no one paid attention to him and still called him that.

In his free time, Stan and the three mages take a walk around the fortress, where the majestic scenery is rarely seen even by Stan and Ray, who are from the Frontier Country, let alone Ness and Nerfi, who are always holding Stan and asking questions. At this point, Nerfi no longer seems to be as aloof as usual, and Stan even begins to wonder if she is beginning to accept herself, but soon, after returning to the fortress, Nerfi reverts to his usual attitude of ignoring him, much to Stan's confusion.

What should come always comes, and just as everyone gradually began to become numbed by the repetitive training, the scout in front finally brought a different message than usual. The dark tide came, just at the foot of the northern part of Blackridge Mountain, and the scouts' reconnaissance range even reached the edge of the North Mirror, so they could be spotted when the dark tide was just approaching Blackridge Mountain. In addition, using the ravens and the scouts at the relay station to deliver messages will be able to notify the people in the fortress when the dark tide is halfway through.

"It's finally here. Adeline handed the parchment roll in her hand to the guard standing beside her. "It is only near noon, and the dark tide is tireless, and they will march all night, and at this rate they will appear under the walls at noon morrow. ”

"Maybe earlier. Elonhan looked at the note quickly, frowning. "We'd better set up early in the morning. ”

The Great Sage nodded. "Inform all commanders and officers, we need to let them know immediately. ”

Elonhan nodded slightly and left quickly.

Everyone in the hall looked serious, and the news from the scout in front of them was worse than they expected. The procession of the Darktide stretched for miles, filling almost the entire valley, and in addition to the countless ghouls, there were also many demons, as well as demon mages in cloaks and tattered mage robes. Dragons were also mentioned in the scouts' reports, and although they only saw five black dragons, Adeline told the commanders with great certainty that there were definitely more than five dragons involved in the attack on the fortress. There was no mention of a knight riding a dragon, and Adeline reminded all officers present to be prepared to deal with the Ethereals.

The meeting was over quickly, the tactics had already been arranged, and they had been practicing for many days, all that remained was to set up the formation before dawn tomorrow, waiting for the arrival of the Dark Tide army. The faces of the people who left the hall were full of sadness, most of the officers didn't even know what the demon looked like in their lives, but the first battle with the Dark Tide had to face such a large Dark Tide army, which was indeed a difficult thing for most people to accept. But they are all soldiers, and as soldiers, they have long had the consciousness of dying on the battlefield, and since they have arrived here, they are ready to stay in this valley forever.

The atmosphere in the fortress was suddenly a lot quieter than a few days ago, many soldiers were symbolically trained for a period of time, leaned to the side blankly, and looked at the sky blankly, after all, they are just ordinary people, and when facing the battle of life and death, they will also be afraid, and what they have to face is not an ordinary enemy, but a group of monsters. From time to time, the commanders walked past the hesitant soldiers, shouting slogans, hoping to give them strength so that they would not lose their courage before the battle.

As it grew dark, the fortress was once again lit with countless torches and fires, this time no one making a loud noise, only whispering conversations and scattered singing. Stan slowly paced the city walls, his mind in turmoil, whether they could win this seemingly hopeless war, whether his comrades and himself would survive, and Fern, who had not been heard from so far, was he still alive? All of this pressed down on him like the peaks on either side of the fortress, and Stan felt dizzy and held on to the walls.

"What's wrong, are you worried about tomorrow's battle?" Rui's voice sounded on the right.

Stan squeezes his hand between his eyebrows. "Yes, even Adeline is not shy about showing that she is not sure, and I don't know if there is any hope for us. ”

"If there is any hope, we all have to try, we have no way back. Rui also leaned against the wall. "When Ness and I escaped from the Mage Tower, we had no idea that we would be like this, and I began to wonder if there was a strange force driving it all forward. ”

"Aren't you mages fond of explaining everything in terms of fate? perhaps, this is the punishment for believing in fate so much. Stan shook his head helplessly. "But why, to involve Fern and me?"

"When Fern returns, you can talk to him and see if you can draw conclusions. Rui smiled and patted his companion on the shoulder. "Stan, you've changed, you used to be, you didn't have any confusion, your heart was like a spotless mirror, you could keep any doubts and confusion out, but now, you're more and more like Fern, what made you like this?"

"I ...... I don't know. Nerfi's smile flashes through Stan's mind. "Maybe it's her ......"

"Same as I thought. Rui smiled again, and smiled very comfortably. "At the very least, you dare to admit your inner confusion and dare to face it, and at this point, you are still much better than Fern. ”

"Thanks, Rui. Stan laughs too. "Fern has his strengths, which I can't beat. ”

"Of course, everybody has merit, just like that person. Rui raised his chin to the left side of the knight.

Stan turns his head to the left in confusion, where Nellfi is slowly walking towards him. The knight looked back nervously, but only Rui's back was gradually fading away.

"Stan, tomorrow is the decisive battle, do you have any plans?" Nerfi stopped a few paces to the knight's left and looked at him quietly.

"I will be by your side to protect you, as I said on my deathbed in Maurice. Stan licks his lips, being alone with Nerfi always makes him nervous.

"Won't you protect Ness and Rui, they're your best companions, too. Nerfi propped her hands on the walls and looked out at the dark night sky.

"Of course I do...... But I swore to Maurice, so you'll be my highest priority. Stan also turns north, learning to look at the sky.

Nalfi didn't pick up the topic, the two of them looked up in silence, there was no light in the dark sky, and finally, Nerfi spoke, "Believe it or not, Stan, I think we're tied together." ”

"What...... What?" Stan flashed excitement in his heart, looking nervously at the mage's side face.

"Don't get me wrong, I mean all of us, Ness, Ray, you, and Fern you've been talking about, and maybe others, I'm tied to all of you. Nerfi gave Stan a faint glance and turned his head away.

Stan touches his chin in disappointment. "I also feel that we are stuck in something, something much more complicated than we know. ”

"Yes, an extremely complicated thing. Nerfi's hands left the walls. "I'm going to rest, and in order to fight better tomorrow, we have to give it our all to have a chance to live. ”

Stan looks at the girl in front of him solemnly. "We're going to live, we're going to be!"

Nerfi smiled. "Thanks, Stan. The girl turns away, leaving Stan alone, reminiscing about his beautiful smile.

In the room where the girls rested, the fire in the fireplace was blazing. Ness knelt alone in front of the fireplace, her hands clasped tightly together, the light of the fire dancing on her face, the shadows reflected on the wall flickering. Seven gods, I beg you, let Fern return safely, even if he doesn't succeed in destroying the dragon egg, even if we lose this war, as long as he can come back, I am willing to exchange it for any price.

The fire in the camp was gradually extinguished, the soldiers were in their tents, and the fortress was quiet, but how many people could sleep on the night before the battle? However, they all knew in their hearts that the winter night before the great battle would be the last winter night they had spent for most of the soldiers in this fortress. And they themselves will be one of these soldiers.

The last winter night, cold and long.