Even without logs, the followers of the demon god managed to keep the soldiers from climbing the path by alternating between using Fire Arrows, Earth Arrows, and Cold Whisper. When the soldiers came prepared to deal with one of those, they used another spell. Commander Arlen decided to create three groups of three hundred soldiers that were more or less equipped to withstand one of these types of magic and then alternate between them according to the type of attack. At first, that worked, but since the groups were too big for the small path ahead, they couldn't alternate that fast. When they got used to the whole process and could change positions really fast, the followers of the demon god attacked them with something new: giant snowballs. It was a pretty silly way of attacking, but they were highly effective since those snowballs had rocks inside them. When it hit the soldiers, it not only covered them in snow and made them lose their body heat, it also made them break a few bones.

"For the love of…" The captain of the second unit almost raised his voice and punched the table as soon as he showed up to the meeting. "What the hell is going on here?"

"If we knew that, we wouldn't have these frequent meetings," The captain of the first unit said.

"We don't have time to waste, we already lost six days without making any progress," Vitalar said. "Nevertheless, my men found what seemed to be six secret entrances to the enemies' base. I want each of you to attack one of those places at the same time."

"Isn't weird that you found them so suddenly?" Arlen asked.

"At first I thought that were the case, but then I realized that those were pretty old and they are hidden in the same way, the ones who dig those routes probably had died a long time ago and the current leaders don't know what to do to hide them better," Vitalar said. "Each of your units will try to attack those places at night, while I will give the order to the soldiers that were sent by the kingdom to attack the main path. That should be enough to dive their attention."

"I am not complaining, but your men found six of those paths before any other by climbing the mountains?" Cohnal asked.

"We found some of them, but whenever my men tried to climb it, a small avalanche happened and those route were also rendered useless," Vitalar replied.

  It seemed that Vitalar wanted to invade without alarming anyone, be it an ally or a friend. That would be an effective way to surprise the enemies since they wouldn't notice any weird movements coming from the soldiers.

"What is the plan once we manage to invade through those secret routes?" Melisse asked.

"Just attack as much as possible in order to cause havoc and make their concentration wane," Vitalar replied. "Once that happens, the other groups should be able to infiltrate as well."

  That was easier said than done. After all, there was no telling what would be waiting for them inside those caves. Considering what they have experienced so far, anything might happen, and traps in confined spaces like that would be even more effective.

  During the rest of the day, those six units didn't do anything aside from resting. They suffered some damage over the last six days, so they would need all the energy they could muster since Nyana, and the mages could only heal so many people.

"What do you guys think of this?" Cohnal asked.

  After that meeting, Cohnal invited Nyana and Melisse to his tent in order to talk about the recent events. Naturally, they couldn't help but feel suspicious after fighting without obtaining results for a full week… and also without suffering a single loss.

"Everything is strange, we know that, so what?" Melisse asked. "It is not like we are facing any normal army."

"… Are you thinking that the Captain may be among them?" Nyana hesitated in asking.

"What the… how come you would reach that conclusion?" Melisse frowned.

"If you think about it, it would make perfect sense that the followers of the demon god would want a warrior of his caliber," Nyana explained. "They can brainwash people, and even use their corpses like puppets."

"Don't talk about this to anyone, but I find it weird that the followers of the demon god are holding back and using such weird tactics," Cohnal said. "Maybe they brainwashed the captain and are using his experience to help defend their base."

"Do you think he survived?" Melisse frowned. "According to Vitalar, he was hit by a sea of snow that was as big as the northern base. Besides, isn't that whole theory weird? How come they use the knowledge of someone brainwashed this effectively?"

"I know it is weird, still, can you explain their tactics using any other theory?" Cohnal asked. "I don't like this, but we should prepare ourselves, we might have to fight the captain once we reach the enemy camp and in order to preserve his honor, we will have to deal with him fast."

  Melisse and Nyana nodded. If that kind of information spreads around, the other units will try to take him down and use that achievement to boost their reputation. They defeated a legendary young hero that fell and was being manipulated by the enemies' magic. That would be the worst way for their Captain's story to end. Still, their chances of them finding him and defeating him before anyone else was quite small.

"Let's just hope that if the captain was brainwashed or turned into a zombie, that he won't be able to use his skills," Cohnal said. "Well, if he manages to use it… I think that any unit that will face him will also face complete annihilation."

  It was insane to think that a single human could take down one thousand men, but considering Zaos's skills. If he had the support of the followers of the demon god, all those three could imagine that happening.