BANG! BANG! The grenade erupted, blasting bits and pieces of dirt, hot air and shrapnel in every direction. A massive cloud of white shot up from the core of the explosion. But, before anyone could even sigh a breath of relief, an ice guard shot out from the dust cloud, gliding across ice of its own creation like a silent assassin. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶 'Shit.' Joel brandished his halberd, the trigger of his rifle echoing a hollow click. He tossed the useless gun to the side, gathering his courage as his hands gripped his weapon's polearm. Milan pulled a heavy shield from his back, slamming it hard against the iced grounds and standing shoulder to shoulder to Raj. Raj moved to bite off another grenade's pin, only to see the remaining 11 ice guards shoot out from the cloud of smoke. What was the point? The grenades were useless anyway… "ROOOOOOARRR!!" Another roar shook the battlefield. The Variant Invalid stalked forward. By this point, the engineers had only just reached the gate once again. As for the troops who could only move on foot, they were still over 50 meters away. Unfortunately, in these conditions, many of them were having trouble finding stable ground to stand on. The white wolf crouched, its powerful limbs shattering the ice beneath its feet. BANG! In this new world order, there were many sights the common people could have never dreamed of seeing in the past that they could experience now. Watching as a five meter tall and almost ten meter long wolf cross hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye… was definitely one of those things. A massive shadow seemed to swallow the sun. Joel looked at the halberd in his hands while Milan and Raj looked toward their shields. Then, they looked toward one another, bitter smiles on their faces. At that moment, they heard a rain of bullets coming from their back, only to look and find that at least a dozen of the almost hundred troops they had led the vanguard with hadn't retreated and were now shooting toward the massive wolf in the air. Milan opened his mouth to reprimand them. He knew these men well, they were the same teammates he had shared a field with for so many years. One of them was even a rookie of barely 15 years old. However, he didn't even have the time to do this much. To the front, the ice guards had reached them. Joel stabbed out with his halberd, only to find it snapped in two before he could even complete his first pierce. Milan and Raj stood as shields before him, their feet digging into the slippery ground as they tried to give Joel some cover. But, just as quickly as they tried to form a line of defense, they were sent flying back and crashing into Joel. BANG! In that instant, the Variant Invalid wolf landed on the ground, causing it to quake. It didn't even spare a glance toward Milan and the others as it looked toward the wall, a toothy, sinister, snarling grin lining its snout. Milan and Raj coughed violently, feeling as though all the bones in their body had been broken. They struggled to stand, looking toward the ice guards and white wolf with a hint of fear in their eyes. They felt as though this was all a play orchestrated by the white wolf. With such strength, with such leaping ability, couldn't it have claimed the Fort for itself long ago…? Why did it wait until now…? They simply didn't have anyone capable of stopping it. Miles watched everything from above, his jaw clenched. "Close the gates!" The harsh words grated on the ears, but it was clear by now that Miles had shown enough mercy. Even if his enemies wanted to use this to point out his weaknesses, he had plenty of evidence on his side. This was all he cared about. As long as the optics were in his favor, that was all that mattered. By now, the trucks had already crossed through the Gates. The only ones lagging behind were the running soldiers who had had to retreat by foot. As they watched the Gate slowly close, those too far away felt a bout of despair while those who felt they still had a chance pushed their bodies to the limits, driving themselves forward as fast they could. Unfortunately, the ground was in terrible condition. Where there was no snow was too easy for even the most coordinated of men to slip and fall. And, where there was snow weighed down the legs of those trying to escape, easily halving their speed. BANG! The Gates slammed shut. By now, only half the hundred troops that had come managed to make it back. As for those who were close, they banged on the steely gates with despair ringing from their voices. Their efforts resounded like dull thuds. The Gates were too think and too solid. Even if one stood on the opposite side, it would have been impossible to hear a thing. All this time, the white wolf watched without even attempting to stop them. It raised its head haughtily, emitting the air of a King of Beasts. "Concentrate your fire!" Miles barked out an order. The bombardment of artillery shells had maybe been the only reason the tactical unit hadn't been completely surrounded and wiped out by Invalids. But now that Miles had ordered for them to concentrate their fire onto the white wolf, what chance did they stand anymore? At that moment, a rookie helped Milan to stand while a few others helped Joel and Raj. Milan opened his mouth to yell at the rookie once more, but the breaks to his ribs caused him to wince. In the end, he sighed. Was there a point in yelling anymore? "Damned kid, we already told you not to join the army, but you didn't listen. Now you don't even listen to my orders. Why you all do such stupid things is beyond me." Milan shook his head. Though the white wolf was ignoring them now, that wasn't out of mercy. Would you care much about an ant you could crush any time you wanted? While Milan was lost in his thoughts, though, he didn't expect the rookie who helped him up to actually respond to his words. Looking forward seriously, the scrawny little guy in an oversized military uniform and helmet stood straight with his underdeveloped chest sticking out as far as he could force it to. "Respect the game. Persist to the end!" Milan was stunned out of his thoughts. For a moment, he could sense a sliver of Leonel's overbearing aura. A sudden laughter rocked the battlefield. Whether it was Joel, Raj or Milan, their gazes went red without even having to look in the direction it came from. "Well said, rookie!" It was only then that Milan realized it wasn't an illusion.. He really had sensed it.