"Sir… why are we the only ones moving in the direction where the enemies are?" Zaos asked as he and Verkan dashed through a grove while riding their horses.

"You will bite your tongue if you talk while riding," Verkan said. "Although your squad has the battle experience, and I can tell that you endured one hellish of training given by Elius, I don't think the ten of you would be that useful in delaying the enemy. They will be more useful while they pass the message to the other villages and towns and in the evacuation. Don't worry, though. They will have their chance to fight. A massive battle between all of the forces and the enemies is inevitable at this point."

"Is that so… that explains why they are doing what they are doing," Zaos said. "That doesn't explain why I am here. Let's not mince words here. I am aware that I can be a bit more useful than them, but it is not like I can do more than half of my squad alone."

"You are honest and humble… are you really Laiex's kid?" Verkan frowned. "While he calmed down after graduating, he was the opposite of you at your age… Regardless, I am bringing you with me because of our name and because under the right circumstances, you can be more useful than you think."

"Under the right circumstances, you say…" Zaos frowned.

"You will see it when the time comes," Verkan said.

"For some reason, those words always make me feel uneasy…" Zaos said.

As they moved toward the East, Zaos asked Verkan's opinions about the incident. One of the things he had assumed was that some followers of the demon god stayed hidden in the mountains and approached just like that group they ambushed in order to ambush the villagers that might try to escape once they hear about the army. It was a common tactic, waiting in one of the few routes they could use to escape. However, despite the fact that they failed to reach their goal to find the main group, they stopped their plans to prevent the information about the army from spreading.

As for how an army managed to reach the other side of the country without anyone noticing… they probably crossed the followers of the demon god territory over the course of the last year. All in order to have massive numbers and deal a single but a blow powerful enough to decimate all the soldiers stationed in the region. Without the Northern base, they could invade the other parts of the Sairus Kingdom as they see fit.

"Sir… there is something weird about this whole situation," Zaos said. "I know that by attacking from the sides, the enemy will have plenty of forces to destroy many towns and villages, but they won't be able to destroy the base since we can use the mountains to ambush them in many places. So, why did they waste a whole year on this plan? It can succeed, but… a direct attack in the northern base would be more effective. Not to mention, the soldiers stationed in other parts wouldn't be able to join the main army."

"You are not half bad for a ten years old brat," Verkan said. "If you think a bit more, then you will understand why they 'wasted' their time moving to this side of the region."

Zaos had to think for quite a while, but he didn't find a proper explanation. Without attacking the Northern base directly, the only chance for that kind of lateral attack to work is when…

"The attack is coming from both sides," Zaos felt shivers while imagining two armies destroying all the towns and villages in the region as they marched to sandwich the Northern base.

"You got that right, this army of ten thousand… there is probably another coming from the opposite direction," Verkan said.

"We have to warn the commander!" Zaos said.

"Don't be a fool. As soon as the commander hears about the news coming from us, he will realize the enemies' plan," Verkan said. "The followers of the demon god also know that that is another reason why some of their groups stayed nearby some towns and villages and prepared the ambushes."

Thanks to Verkan's guard, not a single village will be caught off guard, so the ambushes won't work. Even if they try anything, the enemies will only manage to put up a difficult fight. If they focus on defense and retreating, the soldiers should have no problem in defending the civilians.

"The key here is to hold back the enemies' army on this side as much as possible," Verkan said. "If we keep holding them back, the other army will wait for them and will be attacked by our own forces. We can think of the mountains like the walls for the Northern base, so they will have to siege the place. Even with siege weapons, the offensive side is always the one which faces most problems."

"I understand the logic… but can we hold them back?" Zaos asked. "How many soldiers do we have in these parts?"

"Around three thousand," Verkan replied. "Considering that the first target on the enemies' side was a town called Levenesse, I would say we already lost three hundred men. Five hundred if we consider the other villages and the places we will lose before reuniting all the soldiers in a single place."

"What are the chances of them moving toward the same place?" Zaos asked. "Wouldn't it be more reasonable to make them use the shortest routes toward the northern base? Wait, ah…"

"So, you finally remembered…" Verkan said. "We will fight them at Rustbury. We will protect that town for as long as we can."

Rustbury was a town much smaller than Krisaldia. It barely had five thousand inhabitants. The main reason was the fact that it was built over two sides of a massive frozen river. The river was referred to as 'frozen death' because many people who tried to cross it broke the ice and were drowning or freezing. The only safe route one could use to reach the other side was by using Rustbury's stone bridge.