In the wake of the battle of Fort Lungpierce, the entire Delair Dukedom army of over 70,000 troops had perished, as had their two generals, Kevin and Cooper.

The City of Freedom had also suffered heavy losses, with only less than 4,000 soldiers remaining.

Thankfully, they had managed to defend Fort Lungpierce, barring the enemy from access to Newfando.

Sherry, Shiba, and the other commanders were cheering excitedly with the surviving troops to celebrate their victory, but the celebrations quickly died down under a somber atmosphere as they took into account just how many of their comrades had fallen. As Shiba went to examine Bracken's wounds, he discovered that Bracken had already passed away, unable to survive the excessive blood loss. Looking at the faint smile on Bracken's face even in death, Shiba closed his eyes with a pained expression. Sherry made his way over to him upon seeing this, then patted him on the shoulder in consolation.

"I'm sure he saw us win before he passed," he consoled.

Shiba heaved a long sigh in response.

Erwin's face was completely devoid of color, and he was well past the point of exhaustion. Despite the victory, there wasn't any hint of joy in his eyes. He looked at the grey and murky sky up above, and he felt like he could collapse at any moment. All he wanted was to lie down and sleep so he could block out all of these exhausting emotions.

This night had felt far too long for him.

Lana could see that he was barely able to remain on his feet, and she hurriedly approached him to lend him her support.

Even Aglea was feeling the effects of overexertion, let alone Erwin. Throughout the rest of the battle, Perry had constantly remained by her side for fear that harm would befall her, but his concerns were unnecessary as no one among the enemy ranks was capable of harming her. Her suit of azure armor was truly like an impenetrable fortress, but that didn't mean that her heart was just as impregnable.

At the foot of the city wall, almost the entirety of the Striking Salamander mercenary legion had been wiped out as well.

However, the deathly figure leading the mercenary legion was still standing, unwilling to fall even though his body was riddled with wounds.

He stared blankly at the silver-haired woman atop the fortress wall with nothing but gentle affection in his eyes. She was so beautiful, and he felt utterly blessed to be able to see her one last time before he passed.

Onean was also looking back at him, and surprisingly, there was no disgust in her eyes, only a hint of surprise.

She watched as his body gradually disintegrated in the wind, and only then did she realize that he had come to see her one last time.

Onean was unable to understand the adoration that Lucidy held for her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but be moved. After all, any woman would be moved to a certain extent at the sight of a man so devoted to them, but for a woman like Onean, these emotions would fade before too long.

Erwin was also watching as Lucidy faded in the wind, and much of the resentment that he harbored toward Lucidy also faded. Even though he was aware that Lucidy had been drugged back in Finklan, he still deserved to die countless times over for what he had tried to do to Onean. However, now that he was actually dead, Erwin was able to let go of much of his resentment. Watching Lucidy fade away with the wind made him think of how Theresa had passed, and he was overcome by another wave of sorrow. Not even the slightest trace of her body remained, and he was wondering to himself how he was going to take her back to Newfando with him.

...

While the battle at Fort Lungpierce had been raging on, each side had also been trying to undermine the other by advancing deep into enemy territory.

Chinba, Georgina, and the members of the Shadowfeather Division were wreaking havoc incessantly all over Ogtan, much to Sanfesa's fury and frustration. Even though she had sent large numbers of troops to capture Georgina and his men, they were always one step ahead, able to evacuate the scene before Sanfesa's men arrived.

Meanwhile, over in Newfando, someone attempted to stage a rebellion while Erwin was away fighting on the front lines. Thankfully, Lia and the clergymen of the Universal Church were able to assuage the unrest among the people, while Yuho stepped up even though he was only standing on one leg, raising a people's army that quickly quelled the rebellion. The identity of the mastermind behind the rebellion was truly astounding.

As it turned out, it was Chahan, the first friend that Erwin had made since coming to the north.

Yuho was aware of who this person was, so he didn't rush to punish him. Instead, he locked up Chahan so that Erwin could decide what to do with him once he returned from the front lines.

Meanwhile, Menpo was sent by Lia to Belama in the south to meet the unit of troops led by Ewen and Yuran, but even after waiting for a few days, Menpo didn't spot anyone coming out of the canyon.

He couldn't help but wonder if Ewen had decided to go rogue, but the problem with that theory was that without Lana's sunsteel amaranth, he would perish before too long from the heavendew in his body. Given how proud and ambitious Ewen was, there was no way that he would risk his own life over the men under his command, so where had all of the freemen gone?

The story of their plight began from when they left the Fano Dukedom and began to traverse west through the Great Warandele Canyon.

In response to that "gentle" letter from Lana, Duke Soleil put on a great display of generosity, supplying the freemen with sufficient military resources, including equipment and dry rations. He was thanking the heavens that the Fano Dukedom was finally going to be rid of this plague, and those supplies were a small price to pay. After all, for him, any problems that could be resolved through the use of Loonies couldn't be considered a problem.

After Ewen and his men entered the Great Warandele Canyon, nothing of note happened on the first two days. He repeatedly cautioned his men not to touch the plants on the cliff faces around them. There were many of them that even Ewen was unable to identify, and he had no idea how many magic potion ingredients there were among them. The majority of plants that could be used as magic potion ingredients were extremely poisonous, so the utmost caution had to be exercised.

Hence, along the entire journey, they had been using their blades to clear the path ahead, and they were advancing very carefully.

However, on the third day, as they were passing through a section of mountain path that was lined with sheer cliff faces on either side, a thunderous rumbling sound suddenly rang out not too far away, following which a section of the canyon collapsed violently.

"Get into defensive formation!" Ewen immediately ordered.

The freemen were terrified by the sight of the magic beasts rushing out of the collapsed section of the canyon.

These magic beasts were burly creatures with tiger heads and horse bodies, and even the shortest ones among them were in excess of nine feet tall. What was most concerning of all was that they could only hear the creatures' pounding hooves, but they had no idea exactly how many of them there were.

Looking into the ferocious eyes of the magic beasts, everyone was feeling extremely tense and uneasy.

The leader of the pack of magic beasts said something, and all of the other magic beasts were stirred up into a raucous frenzy of excitement.

Ewen looked on with a grim expression at the giant axes and flails that the magic beasts were wielding, and he knew that this was going to be a tough storm to weather.

"Prepare for battle!" 

Given how narrow the mountain path was, escape and retreat were both unfeasible options, so they could only face the magic beasts head-on.

Yuran turned toward the men around him as he yelled, "What are you all standing there like idiots for? Hurry up! Raise your shields if you don't want to die!"

Everyone around him immediately returned to their senses upon hearing this, and they immediately raised their shields, but the hooves of the horde of magic beasts were far too powerful to contend with.

In addition to that, many of the magic beasts were able to run directly up the cliff faces on either side before leaping diagonally into the freemen's ranks.

The terrain in this narrow mountain path made for a terrible battleground for humans. The entire unit of troops was spread out in a long line, and the soldiers at the back were unable to help their comrades at the front. All they could do was watch as their comrades up ahead fought for their lives.

In contrast, the magic beasts were practically flying over the cliff faces with their powerful hooves.

The freemen were completely powerless to resist as these enormous magic beasts trampled through their ranks, and it didn't take long for them to suffer heavy losses.

Furthermore, all of the magic beasts were wearing suits of heavy armor on the lower halves of their bodies, so they didn't have to fear the spears of the freemen at all.

Ewen looked on with tightly furrowed brows as he examined the armor worn by these magic beasts. Judging from the quality and craftsmanship of the armor, this was equipment that was only available to regular armies or top-tier mercenary legions. With that in mind, he couldn't help but wonder who had forged these suits of armor for these magic beasts. Could it be that they had learned to forge their own equipment?

"Brothers, we fight for our lives here! We can't run away, so all we can do is stand our ground!" Yuran roared as he raised a pair of short axes and engaged one of the magic beasts in battle.

With a powerful sweep of his ax, he was able to sever one of the magic beast's legs, and before it had a chance to react, Yuran's other ax had already plunged into its abdomen.

Despite the high-quality armor that the magic beast was wearing, it was still unable to escape the fate of death in the face of Yuran's formidable power.

Meanwhile, Ewen stepped over the cliff face, rising up into the air in just a few steps. From there, he could see that there were roughly 700 to 800 of these magic beasts in total.

He nocked an arrow to his bow, and bright purple light began to glow from his shoulder. The arrow was fired, and one of the magic beasts instantly had its head pierced through.

Moustache also detached himself from the main unit in an agile fashion, then scaled to the top of a hill before sniping the magic beasts from his vantage point.

With these two powerful archers keeping the magic beasts in check, the battle wasn't completely one-sided.

The leader of the magic beasts was furious to see Ewen shooting down its brethren with reckless abandon, and it let loose a wild roar as it raised its giant ax, then exerted tremendous force with all four of its legs at once, springing up into air directly behind Ewen.

Ewen had just shot down a few magic beasts, and he wasn't expecting an attack from behind at all.

A burst of excruciating pain speared through his back, causing him to give a muffled groan.

The blade of the giant ax had cleaved itself firmly into his back, and if the ax hadn't been obstructed by his quiver, there was a very good chance that he would've been killed on the spot.

Yuran could see that Ewen had just suffered a severe wound, and he immediately picked up a throwing halberd that was laying beside his feet before hurling it at the leader of the magic beasts.

However, the leader of the magic beasts was able to react very quickly, and it sidestepped slightly to evade the attack with ease, as if it had eyes on the back of its head.

At the same time, Moustache also came to Ewen's aid.

A silver arrow flew through the air before piercing through the magic beast's abdomen, and it threw its head back as it roared with pain.

All of the other magic beasts on the mountain path immediately erupted into a raucous frenzy upon seeing this, seemingly having been driven into a blind fury by the fact that their leader had been wounded.

Yuran could see that these magic beasts were about to go berserk, and a grim look appeared on his face. With their powerful bodies and high-quality equipment, these magic beasts were already extremely difficult to deal with. If they were to go berserk here, the consequences for the freemen could be catastrophic.