The cold in the north was severe. Blizzards raged fiercely, and biting winds relentlessly swept in, cutting into the skin.

The Red Hawk Knights moved forward silently. Even when wagon wheels got stuck in crevices or people caught colds, they did not stop their march.

It took them a full week to reach the northern border. The border guards had gathered to welcome the knights.

Demian leapt off his horse and removed the hood of his black cloak. His silver hair and refined features gleamed in the winter sunlight, fitting well with the desolate northern landscape.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Lord Vandermir.”

The guard captain, his head bandaged, approached Demian and greeted him. Golden eyes narrowed.

“You’re injured. Was there a battle?”

“Yes, the barbarians launched a surprise attack last night. One of our food storage facilities was raided.”

“I see.”

“Shall we go inside?”

As Demian nodded lightly, the guard captain led him to the guardhouse. Isaac took charge of directing the subordinates to organize the luggage.

The interior of the guardhouse exuded a clean yet dark and austere atmosphere. Fighting life-or-death battles large and small every day had cast a deep shadow of death over the place.

The winter wind howled, shaking the windows, the sound echoing like the cry of a ghost.

As the snow that had briefly stopped began to fall again, the sun disappeared, deepening the shadows.

“We were surprised to hear that Lord Vandermir would be taking up the post.”

The guard captain spoke softly, his voice cutting through the heavy footsteps.

“You must have personal reasons, but the northern border is in greater crisis now than ever before. It will be difficult to gain the upper hand and survive easily.”

He was not unaware that Demian had been forcibly dispatched instead of receiving a death sentence for the charge of patricide. Even in a place where outside news was hard to come by, one could obtain information about the new person in charge.

Demian gazed steadily at the guard captain who was indirectly warning him of death, then asked bluntly.

“Do you want to die fighting here?”

“…Pardon? Of course not.”

The guard captain turned back with a bewildered voice.

He flinched when his eyes met Demian’s expressionless gaze. The golden eyes were burning intensely like hot iron.

“Then, don’t be so quick to speak pessimistically to others. I will survive and bring everyone back.”

“…I apologize for my thoughtless words. This way, please.”

The guard captain apologized politely and opened wide the door to a room on the upper floor of the building. It was the conference room previously used by the representative of the dispatched knights.

A large map of the northern border area hung on the wall, with a long oval table placed in front of it.

“We’ve mainly planned strategies here so far. Please feel free to use this place as you wish.”

“Understood.”

Demian sat at the head of the table and folded his arms. Before long, Isaac arrived with the senior knights.

“We’re here, Commander.”

“Sit down.”

“Yes.”

The knights took their seats one by one. Demian addressed the guard captain standing across from him.

“I’d like to know exactly what the current situation is with the border guards and the border.”

“Nearly half of our border guard forces have been killed or injured by attacks from the barbarians and magical beasts. The troops dispatched earlier all returned after a major operation failure.”

It was a situation that made one sigh. While people in the capital were bickering with their mouths, this place was being pushed further towards the precipice.

The guard captain approached the map and pointed to the western part of the border.

“The barbarians are mainly stationed and active here. So the western sector is heavily guarded, but yesterday they attacked from the south and caught us off guard.”

“No significant movement from the north and east?”

“Yes, the east can be considered the stronghold of magical beasts. Their range of activity is wide, spanning to the north and south, making it difficult to approach easily.”

Demian slightly furrowed his brow at those words.

“So the fact that they risked danger to attack from the south and target the food storage yesterday means they must be facing a serious food shortage over there.”

Both the border guard side and the barbarian alliance side were trying to avoid contact with magical beasts as much as possible. The damage was greater than fighting among humans.

Without denying Demian’s conjecture, the guard captain spoke somewhat gloomily.

“In fact, we’re also short on food. The road to the border is treacherous, making food supply difficult, and the nearby villages are too poor to make a living.”

The north, where all four seasons were winter, always had food as the biggest problem. Recently, with the outbreak of war, food consumption had accelerated, causing concern.

At that moment, Isaac raised his hand and spoke.

“Don’t worry about that anymore. We’ve brought food, and there’s someone in the capital who has agreed to send it steadily.”

“Is, is that true? But there have been many cases of food being damaged or stolen on the way here.”

“That person’s daughter is the future Archmage, so it should be fine. She’ll surely cast strong protection spells on it.”

Isaac winked. The guard captain glanced at him, belatedly recalling that Demian’s wife was famous as the future Archmage.

Demian, who had seemed lost in thought, slowly opened his mouth.

“It’s best to attack as much as possible when the enemy is suffering from food shortages. Let’s set up fake food storage and lure them in, then we’ll ambush them this time.”

“Then, it would be good to actually place a small amount of food there. However, the question is how much of their forces the barbarians will actually withdraw from the western sector.”

“They don’t need to withdraw. It’s better if they concentrate their forces there. We’ll go around to the east and attack from behind.”

Everyone stirred at this radical statement. To cross the eastern sector teeming with magical beasts and strike the barbarians. The risk was too great.

The guard captain tried to dissuade him with a shocked expression.

“Lord Vandermir, that’s too dangerous!”

“I know. But they’re not fools. If we set up a food storage, they’ll target it while concentrating their forces near the border. Because we might counterattack. Instead, their defenses elsewhere will be empty.”

“Still, it would be better to fight humans rather than…”

“If you only try to stay safe, you can’t win in a fight. They took risks to attack us, so we need to break through even greater danger to attack them.”

The Red Hawk Knights gradually began to agree with Demian’s firm resolve. They knew well that their commander had never lost in such gambling-like battles.

“I think it’s better to do as the commander says.”

“I agree. It’s not like we haven’t fought magical beasts before, and if we do well, we might pass through safely without encountering them, right?”

“Yeah, yeah! We’re originally a very lucky knight order, aren’t we? Let’s give it a try.”

In the end, despite the guard captain’s dissuasion, the plan to attack the barbarians by going through the east was approved.

Late at night, Demian massaged his stiff neck.

He had spent days secretly setting up fake food storage facilities and leaking information, meticulously organizing the attack route.

The barbarians had taken the bait, and the Red Hawk Knights had completed their battle preparations. It was the day before the operation.

Tomorrow, when Demian’s first battle under his command begins, every day after that will be dyed in blood. A protracted fight will unfold until one side gives up.

Demian was not afraid of that. His life had been a worse war than this from birth until now.

It was truly an unfortunate life, but looking back, it wasn’t entirely unfortunate either.

In his studies abroad, which he left for as if being chased away, he met Lucas, and when he became a Sword Master and formed a knight order, his current comrades gathered under him.

In the capital where he settled for revenge, he met a crazy magician as if by fate and fell in love, becoming family with her eccentric family members.

‘We received word that Lord Yohim of the Borderlands will provide military support.’

This morning, Lord Yohim of the Borderlands, whom he met through business, also stepped up to help. Even though it would be more beneficial for him to stay put, he valued the connection made through trading light-emitting stones.

He now knows that the life he thought was alone is no longer alone.

Demian surveyed the room stained with the hands of many people. All those who had passed through here had either returned miserably without any significant achievements or had not returned at all.

The current guard captain had also been urgently promoted after his predecessor died in battle.

But Demian had no intention of ending up like that. There was someone he had to meet when he returned, and feelings he had to convey.

He had no intention of closing his eyes without handling either of the two.

Demian’s gaze swept across the desk. Pens of various colors that had lost their owners were stuck in a holder. His pen would never be stuck there.

He made a firm resolution.

The Red Hawk Knights moved before the barbarians. It was natural since they had a much longer distance to travel.

Before the short northern day ended, they entered the eastern sector. Perhaps because it was the main activity area of magical beasts, there were no traces of other life forms.

They quietly crossed the silent forest where not even the sound of birds chirping could be heard. If magical beasts appeared, they would fight, but there was no need to move noisily and attract attention.

The sun set as they walked, and darkness fell. Soon the barbarians would start their activities too. It was better to reach their base before that, so they hurried their steps.

Demian, who was leading at the front, suddenly stopped when they were about halfway there.

“Battle preparations.”

He quietly ordered, placing his hand on the sword at his waist. The knights lined up behind him drew their swords one by one.

Soon, a magical beast with a wolf’s head, a bear’s body, and a crocodile’s tail appeared.

“Grrrr.”

“I’ll go first.”

To reduce the energy consumption and damage to his subordinates, Demian willingly kicked the ground. The magical beast that howled fiercely swung its sharp claws.

Demian avoided it with light movements and slashed at the body covered in white fur with his sword. He could feel that although the skin was thick, it wasn’t impenetrable.

“Kwaaaaak!”

“Everyone attack. Stab swords into its body so it can’t move!”

“Yes, Commander!”

The knights dodged the magical beast’s haphazard attacks like flying squirrels and coordinated their sword thrusts.

The smell of hot blood wafted through the cold air. The magical beast writhed in pain. It started to rampage, losing its reason.

“Fall back! Don’t get hit by its front paws!”

Warning his subordinates, Demian also slightly distanced himself from the magical beast. It was too excited now to approach recklessly.

Demian, who was hiding his body behind a rock covered in pure white snow, paused as he touched the ground. He turned his head to check the identity of the soft sensation wrapping around his hand.

‘This is…’

The culprit was a small flower blooming under the rock. Rainbow-colored petals shone brilliantly even in the darkness.

It had the exact same appearance as the Dilay flower, the main ingredient of the truth serum, which Sally had explained to him once.

‘Why is this here…’

Demian was puzzled by the sight of the flower, thought to be extinct, blooming modestly. No matter how he looked at it, it was a Dilay flower.

Demian glanced at the magical beast, which was showing signs of fatigue after struggling alone, and plucked the flower by its roots, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and put it in his bosom.

Wasn’t it the key ingredient in the magic potion Arasila was researching? He acted thinking it might be helpful if he brought it back to her.

Then he immediately got up.

“Everyone stab their swords at once!”

At Demian’s command, the knights moved in unison. As attacks came simultaneously from all directions, the magical beast flinched, and swords were thrust in.

The magical beast shook its body, shaking off the knights, and was about to throw back its head to let out a long cry.

At that moment, Demian’s figure with his sword raised appeared above the pitch-black eyes. Without hesitation, he thrust his sword into the magical beast’s open mouth and slashed downwards with his full weight.

“Keureureuk―.”

Unable to even utter a death cry, the huge body collapsed with a thud. Demian roughly wiped off the blood that had splattered on his cheek and looked back at his subordinates.

If the magical beast’s blood spreads, other beasts will surely start creeping in.

“From now on, we move quickly!”

“Yes!”

The knights ran out, cutting through the darkness. Fortunately, they didn’t encounter any other magical beasts after that.

When they arrived at the entrance of the barbarians’ camp, as expected, only a minimal number of guards remained. They quietly took care of them and infiltrated.

The Red Hawk Knights moved in relentlessly, setting fire to the weapon storage they had identified in advance and destroying the tents one by one.

The barbarian alliance, belatedly grasping the situation, fell into chaos.

“Intruders! Intruders have attacked!”

“Eliminate the enemies!”

“Destroy as much as possible!”

Shouts erupted from all directions. The knights advanced, eliminating the confused barbarian warriors. As Demian swung his sword, he thought of only one thing.

Surviving and seeing Arasila again.

He had even collected the Dilay flower to strengthen that resolve. The urgency to bring this to her as soon as possible would make him stronger.

As the barbarian warriors, who had been helplessly overwhelmed, began to regain their senses and start a full-fledged counterattack, Demian calmly repelled the enemies rushing at him, recalling Arasila’s words.

‘I’ll tell you when you come back.’

Arasila, I have so many things I want to say to you, and so many things I want to hear from you.

So I will surely return for you.

After grasping victory in this war.

Strength flowed into the hand holding the sword. A stronger will to live than ever before was moving Demian.